Craig Street Cats

06/22/2024

Where there’s a will . . . .

Clearly baby Gremlin does not like to be contained!

06/21/2024

Baby Gremlin update: our little emergency intake, Gremlin, is still having trouble with his eye. He was back to visit our friends at Grant Park Animal Hospital this week for a change in prescriptions. We are still hoping that we can save that eye, but only time will tell. Thank you to everyone who has contributed toward his care. Your generosity is helping a lot. Gremlin still has another 6 weeks in care, and many more vet visits before he will be ready for adoption. Your gifts will help make sure that he gets the very best care possible. craigstreetcats.ca/donate or e-transfer to [email protected]

06/20/2024

Are you a high school student, at least 16 years old, a cat lover, and looking for something to do this summer? We have openings in our Summer Internship Program! The application deadline has been extended to June 25th. Follow this link for more information:

Craig Street Cats Summer Internship Program offers students the opportunity to learn many aspects of cat care, and will appeal to those hoping to follow a career in animal welfare.

06/19/2024

Handsome, floofy boy, Stewart, is adopted!

06/19/2024

Mama Ferris and her babies are doing very well. All 3 kittens are gaining weight, and Ferris is taking such good care of them! This little family will probably be available for adoption toward the end of August. Donations toward their care will be very greatly appreciated. E-transfer to [email protected] or visit craigstreetcats.ca/donate for more options. Thank you!

Please remember to follow, comment, like, and share. The more people who know about Ferris and her babies, the more support they will get, and the easier it will be to find homes for them. Every interaction with our page and content helps support the cats.

06/19/2024

Otter’s 4 kittens, Narwhal, Beluga, Orca, and Dolphin are seeing our friends at Grant Park Animal Hospital for their spays and neuters this week, and they’ll be available for adoption soon!

Please remember to follow, comment, like, and share. Every interaction with our page and content helps support the cats.

06/17/2024

Teen mom, Ferris, isn’t taking a day off! When she arrived as an emergency intake, a couple of weeks ago, she was all skin and bones. Lots of good food helped her fill out, but we weren’t prepared for her delivery this morning! We knew she was pregnant, but thought she had another couple of weeks before she was due. Not so. Ferris gave birth to 3 beautiful babies this morning. At barely 6 months old herself, she’s a very young mom, but Ferris is taking great care of her kittens. If all goes well, the whole family should be available for adoption by the end of August. If you’d like to help them along the way to adoption, your gifts will be very much appreciated. E-transfer to [email protected] or visit craigstreetcats.ca/donate for more options.

Please remember to follow, comment, like, and share. The more people who know about Ferris and her babies, the more support they are likely to get.

Congratulations to Leana Hodge for guessing that Ferris was found at Buhler Industries!

06/16/2024

Alumni Update: Happy Pawthers Day from CSC Alumna, Mitten! At 17 years young this senior lady is still doing kitty parkour and daily sprints around the house. Mitten was part of CSC's very first litter of bottle babies, and is a testament to the value of indoor living, regular veterinary care, and proper diet (nothing but Friskies turkey and giblets pate, if you don't mind). She had a short career as a show cat, but really wasn't a fan of the show circuit. Mitten is living her best life with our founder.

Please remember to follow, comment, like, and share. Every interaction with our content helps support the cats.

06/15/2024

Saturday update on our little emergency intake baby. He's still eating and gaining weight, but his eye infection is worse. Our amazing foster mom zipped him into the vet this afternoon, and baby is now on 2 new medications. Other than that, he's bright and active. We are still cautiously optimistic. Your generosity makes stories like this possible. craigstreetcats.ca/donate

Please remember to follow, comment, like, and share. The more people who know about this little fella, the more support he will get. Every interaction with our page and content helps support he cats.

06/14/2024

This

YOU are that awesome animal rescue!

If you need help with a cat you've found, our automated response provides everything you need to know to help that cat or kitten. If you've lost a cat, our automated response provides you with everything you need to know to find your own cat and get them back home.

We have special documents on how to deal with moms and kittens, trapping, moving, deceased cats and adoption.

Here, you will also find posts about resources, educational pieces, shares from other organizations, if they are of relevance, and opportunities for low-cost spay and neuter.

Issues we will deal with on an individual basis:

"I need information so I can help a cat in my community."
"How do I go about adopting a cat out myself?"
"How do I trap a cat/kitten/family safely?"
"Where do I report animal cruelty?"
"How do I help an injured/sick cat?"

Things that will not be responded to other than the automated responses:

"Can you post my lost cat?"
"Can you post a found cat?"
"Can you come out and trap a cat (that is not sick or injured)?"
"Can you trap my missing cat?"
"Can you do something about some person threatening/shooting their mouth off about trapping or relocating cats"
"Can you come get this cat ..... (fill in the blank with a reason)"

Please DO NOT send WLCA third party information, posts from other sources, posts from community groups, etc. If you want to intervene in something you've seen or read, by all means, go ahead if you think it's safe to do so. This one-person rescue manages two areas with community cats and there are no resources to intervene in other areas.

Cats, and local rescues, will have a much better existence if each block had one person or group of people to help cats. YOU find those like-minded people. You be their rescuer. Stop relying on 20 people in a city with 800,000 people and an estimated 300,000 pet cats plus an estimated 150,000 feral cats. You want to help a cat? YOU help the cat.

The ONLY thing that sets a rescuer apart from someone who isn't a rescuer is very simple. One person takes action and the other one doesn't.

06/13/2024

Update on yesterday’s emergency intake — the little fella is doing okay. He gained weight overnight and is eating well. On the down side — he has an eye infection. It’s being treated with an antibiotic ointment, and seems to be clearing up. It’s still early days for this baby, but we are cautiously optimistic about his chances. Stories like this one can’t happen without your support. Your generous gifts make them possible. craigstreetcats.ca/donate

Please remember to follow, comment, like, and share. The more people who know about this little orphan, the more support he will get. Every interaction with our page and content helps to support the cats.

06/12/2024

Another emergency intake. This little orphan, the sole survivor from its litter, is about 2 or 3 weeks old, and absolutely emaciated. One of our dedicated bottle baby fosters is doing her best for him. Your gifts make these emergency intakes possible. Please be generous. craigstreetcats.ca/donate

Please remember to follow, comment, like, and share. The more people who know about this little one, the more help he will get. Thank you!

06/11/2024

This morning at the feeding station, BiBi came running up for her breakfast. This 16 year old girl has been eating here every day for her whole life, but still won’t let anyone get close to her, and that’s fine. She is living her life, on her terms. She has food, shelter, and lots of people who keep an eye out for her. She’s spayed and vaccinated against distemper and rabies. Her life is good, thanks to your generosity!

Please remember to follow, comment, like, and share. Every interaction with our page and content helps support the cats.

06/09/2024

CSC at Manitoba Pet Expo! Drop by and say hello! Here till 3, at St. Norbert CC.

06/07/2024

We'll be there. Will you? Drop by and say hello!

Please remember to follow, comment, like, and share. Every interaction with our page and content helps support the cats!

06/06/2024

Bidding continues until 9 pm today! Still lots of heated bidding happening, and many great bargains to be had! Please remember that you must join the auction group and answer all the application questions before you can bid. Your bids will show up as soon as you have been formally added to the group. It might take an hour or two, but please be patient. https://www.facebook.com/groups/cscauctions

Direct link to the auction album: https://www.facebook.com/media/set?set=oa.433114169523158&type=3

Proceeds support our work with Winnipeg's community cats.

06/05/2024

Craig Street Cinnamon Girl: July 1st, 2012 — June 5th 2024. Tragically, Cinnamon died suddenly today while at the vet. She was not well this morning, and was taken immediately to Grant Park Animal Hospital for care. On arrival at the clinic, Cinnamon went “flat”, and died soon after. Staff tried valiantly to save her, but could not bring her back. No cause of death has been determined. Thank you to Dr. Jonas Watson and all the staff who worked so hard to save her.

Cinnamon came to CSC in August 2012, a very feral kitten. For several weeks we despaired of ever taming her, but by late September she turned into a purr monster. She was so pretty, and had such a rare coat (black smoke tortoiseshell) that we entered her into the Prairie Feline Fanciers cat show that October. Cinnamon charmed the judges, and was named the second best household pet at the show. For several years Cinnamon represented CSC at cat shows, proving that kittens born feral can become wonderful pets. She was quickly named a Royal, then a Supreme household pet, and ranked in the top household pets in North America.

Beyond those accomplishments, Cinnamon was just about as sweet as a cat could be. She loved being brushed and pet. She even cooperated with nail trims. More than anything, she loved her cat trees and scratching posts. Cinnamon will be remembered for her sweet disposition and very loud, drooly purr.

Good bye, Cinnamon. You were loved.

06/04/2024

City of Winnipeg pet owners in need!

We have 2 Neuter-centric events at our Dufferin office coming up fast and we have just opened up scheduling.

Wednesday June 12 is for male dogs and Monday June 17 is for male cats!
(Update- our June 12 date is fully booked but dog owners are welcome to call us to inquire about future appointment options. Our June 17 male cat date still has openings!)

Cost for dog is $45 for their neuter/tattoo/license and vaccines/deworming can be added for an extra $25. Cost for cats is $20 and that includes neuter/tattoo/license/vaccines and deworming.

Dogs must be 6 months to 6 years and under 90lbs. Cats must be at least 4 months.

These openings are for City of Winnipeg residents in need only. You will need to answer some questions in order to qualify, your patience and understanding is appreciated!

Call Jessica at 204-914-3287 for more info about how to register for this event. You may need to leave a message and your phone call will be returned in the order it was received. (Remember- the best days to call are Tues, Wed, Thurs.)

Funding and support for these events is provided by Winnipeg Animal Services and the Winnipeg Humane Society

06/03/2024

We have just had a rather distressing conversation with Revenue Canada. Apparently, the cats owe the federal government a great deal of money for a payroll error made just before COVID hit. Then the world shut down, and nobody knew or did anything about it. The CRA have just now gotten around to letting us know about it. The amount currently sits at just under $24,000, but they will be adding penalties and 4 years worth of interest, so the total will be significantly higher. Interest will continue to accrue until the balance is paid in full. We will, of course, ask them to waive penalties and interest, but the officer in charge was not hopeful about that, meaning that the amount owing will just keep growing.

So, here we are, again, having to beg for your help. The cats have no credit available to them. There is no rich benefactor who can bail them out. This money will not help with vet expenses, rent, or food. It will go directly to the government, as it is received. If you can help, please clearly mark your gift as "for CRA". E-transfer to [email protected] or visit craigstreetcats.ca/donate for more options.

Thank you.

Please remember to follow, like, and share. The more people who know about the cats' predicament, the more help they are likely to get. When you share, please let people know why you are sharing.



Edit: some people are suggesting that this a nefarious scheme by the federal government to get money from us. It's not. We made a mistake when filing our payroll information for 2019. The only issue is that, because of COVID, we have not been notified until now. We will ask that penalties and interest be waived, but that decision is entirely up to the CRA.

Edit #2: while looking through some of the shares for this post, I discovered that some people are suggesting that there is some fraud happening, and suggesting that we are trying to get out of paying what we owe. Nothing could be further from the truth. Our CRA online business account still says that we owe $0.00, but we went through everything with the CRA officer today, and that will be changing soon. We made a mistake. We owe the money. We have no way to pay it without your help.

Edit #3: we have turned off commenting for this post, as there have been some very inappropriate and abusive comments made. They have been deleted, and the posters banned. To everyone who has been understanding and supportive, thank you.

06/02/2024

Just a heads up that we are closing early today because of the hail and rain. It's just after 4, and the sky looks like midnight, so we're heading home before the worst of this storm hits.

05/29/2024

Here’s a quick update on Crystal and her remaining teeny - tiny baby. They have been moved to a very experienced bottle baby foster home, with a foster mama who can tube feed neonatal kittens. It seems that Crystal does not have enough milk to feed her baby, so the foster mother will take care of that, while Crystal does the rest of the work. Great news last night was that little Nugget had gained 10 grams, and Crystal was taking amazing care of her kitten.

This is extremely specialized care, very delicate, and very expensive. Your generous gifts will help make sure that Crystal and her little Nugget get the very best that can be offered. E-transfer to [email protected] or visit craigstreetcats.ca/donate for more options. Thank you.

Please remember to follow, comment, like, and share. Every interaction with our page and content helps support the cats.

05/28/2024

More bittersweet news this evening. Another of Crystal’s tiny kittens has passed. She is taking special care of the remaining baby. To give you an idea of just how tiny this baby is, a normal new born kitten weighs around 100 grams. The remaining kitten weighs just 55 grams.

We need your help to make sure that Crystal and her kitten get everything they need. Please be generous. E-transfer to [email protected] or visit craigstreetcats.ca/donate for more options. Thank you.

Please remember to follow, comment, like, and share. Every interaction with our page and content helps support the cats.

05/27/2024

Bittersweet news this evening. Beautiful Crystal had her babies today. She gave birth to 5 very small kittens, but only 2 survived. Those two are tiny, and will struggle for quite awhile. Our amazing staff will do everything possible to help them thrive. Your donations will help make that happen. craigstreetcats.ca/donate

Please remember to follow, comment, like, and share. Every interaction with our page and content helps support the cats.

05/26/2024

Another heads up from WLCA. Again -- keep your cats indoors.

DECEASED CATS IN WEST-CENTRAL and URBAN COYOTES

Although we have no further information on the condition of the cats found with their abdominal contents outside of their bodies, I did some research last night into the attack and consumption behaviour of coyotes.

The most important thing anyone can do if they come across another cat in this state in the same area, or close to the same area, is to examine the body or have someone else who can do that attend, take photos and look for clues OR transport to WHS and ask to have someone determine if the cause was animal or human.

I received a report, last night, from a community member who had found entrails and nothing else in the same vicinity (Wellington, between Agnes and McGee) around May 6. With the information below about coyote consumption habits, we may be on to something.

Coyotes will generally attack smaller prey around the head and neck, so one would find bite wounds in that area. They start consuming the prey in the following manner and may drag that prey off to feed on:

"Feeding behaviour

Coyotes generally eat their kill. They start feeding in the abdominal cavity, eating the kidney, liver and lungs. The stomach and intestines are usually pulled out, but are not normally eaten, other than the surrounding fatty tissues. After the organs have been eaten the coyote will feed on the muscle tissue of the rear quarters or the rib cage and shoulder. Reliable signs of coyote feeding include muscle tissue with ragged edges and splintered and chewn ribs."

-Province of Ontario website

It is possible a coyote was roaming the area overnight or in the early morning hours and cats who were not able to get up trees or away from them wound up targets. Coyotes don't attack for sport. They attack to feed themselves, and because cats are smaller prey, would require more cats to satisfy their hunger, especially if they are nursing pups. Three cats would not be out of the question for a hungry coyote.

Many people do not know what a coyote looks like and may have seen a "loose dog" wandering the area overnight but thought nothing of it. For some parts of Winnipeg, loose dogs are not an oddity.

At this point, we cannot say for sure that this was not human caused and continue to ask people to be on the lookout for anyone or any animal that may be preying upon these innocent beings. If you have found a cat close to your home and you have a security camera or doorbell, please review your footage.

Again, the only way we're going to know if this was human or animal-caused is to have the body for examination.

I have included a brochure from BC about how to live with urban coyote. The more we expand construction into their territory, the more coyotes we will see in the city.

I'll say it again.

Keep. Your. Cats. Indoors.

https://wildsafebc.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Coyote-02-28-2018-min.pdf

05/25/2024

Thank you to the 33 incredible people who have contributed $2,995 toward the estimated $25,000 to $30,000 cost of caring for our 20+ emergency intakes during their stay with us. Your help will make all the difference for these cats and kittens. Please be generous. E-transfer to [email protected] or visit craigstreetcats.ca/donate for more options.

Mama Otter and her four babies are doing quite well. The babies are learning to love attention, and Otter is a wonderful mother to them. The kittens had a couple of weeks where their health was not very good, but lots of hands on care from our amazing staff got them over that hump. They are doing much better, and we hope that the whole family will be available for adoption soon.

Please remember to follow, comment, like, and share. Every interaction with our page and content helps support the cats.

05/25/2024

Sharing a heads up from WLCA. Please keep your cats indoors.

POSSIBLE ANIMAL CRUELTY
West-Central Winnipeg

Good morning WLCA nation,

I received a link to a post from a community member who was walking in the Ellice and Furby area yesterday. They came across three cats on the boulevard that were eviscerated. This is very unusual and highly suspect of animal cruelty. It is possible it could have been an animal (dog or coyote), however, to have found all of them in the same location is more than odd. If you come across any other cats in this area in the same condition, please note the exact location, take photos, pick the cat up, put them in a box, take them to the Winnipeg Humane Society and explain the situation.

We have a large homeless cat population in that area as well as a large number of people on various cocktails of drugs that can cause hallucinations, and other effects that could cause them to harm animals and humans. Someone who would otherwise never do something like this may be doing it because of the substances they have taken or because of a mental health disorder. Be very cognizant of anyone around if you are picking a deceased cat up in this, or other, area where substance users are frequently encountered.

Please keep your cats indoors - wherever you live. As angry as we can be about someone doing this to our pets and innocent homeless animals, we need to be looking at ourselves and our behaviours first when it comes to our pets. If you have had no problem letting your cat roam - think about how you would feel if one of the cats found were yours. Then, stop letting them outside to protect them.