Focus on Ferals

⭐️ Lorne Update ⭐️ Two weeks into FIP treatment….we caught him playing!! Lorne hasn’t played for weeks. We have a long road ahead still. The FIP treatment is 84 days. But any improvement is notable, and a definite affirmation that these cats are worth all the trouble we go to. Thank you for always supporting us.

Meet Lil Bit 😍 Lil Bit loves to play. Lil Bit loves people. Lil Bit is stuck in a cage. Because Lil Bit has CH: cerebellar hypoplasia Our shelter is completely carpet free and we don’t have carpeted cat trees etc (disease control requirements for a shelter). She will struggle to get around on our floors. CH cats do best with carpet or a lot of area rugs that they can grip to help balance. She also does better with elevated food and water because of her head bobble. CH is NOT progressive, meaning it won’t get worse and it’s also not going to shorten her life expectancy. She has a hard time getting her body to do what she wants it to because this is a neurological disorder. But she doesn’t know she is any different and she loves life! Lil Bit is a cat we TNR’d for a woman with a local colony. We didn’t know she had CH when she came in for spay. The caregiver wanted to keep her inside, but it didn’t go well because Lil Bit was having potty issues. The caregiver just wanted her gone and even expressed regret for ‘helping these outside cats at all’ 😔. Lil Bit was scared and confused when she got here. She uses the litter here. We quickly realized she had CH, and the caregiver probably had no idea what it was or how to make life easier for the cat. We would have educated her, but she was already emotionally checked out and uninterested in helping this cat any further. So here we are. One should never regret helping the helpless. What kind of world would this be if no one did anything outside of themselves. Lil Bit is an angel of a cat and we just know someone will see the treasure she is. We would love an adopter but will also be happy with a foster home so she can get out of a cage! Adopt Lil Bit ➡️ https://focusonferals.org/adopt/adoption-application/ Foster Lil Bit ➡️ https://focusonferals.org/volunteer/foster-application/ Lil Bit is a young adult and should be good with other kitties who are not bullies 🙃. Located in By

Urinary blockages in male cats are an emergency. This video is a good example of a cat in pain that you should not dismiss. This is Champ. He’s been in a longterm foster home. Mom noticed him crying a lot last week and thank God our amazing vet agreed to see him. He was blocked. Catheter was placed for a few days with the hope that he would be able to pass urine on his own after catheter removal. He got blocked again. At which point the decision was made to perform a PU (perineal urethrostomy) surgery. This has cost us $1500 after a hugely generous discount. Please help if you can. Champ was released from the clinic after a full week’s stay and is being doted on by his foster mommy. ❤️‍🩹 Venmo: @fofcats PayPal: [email protected]

This is Sabrina. Sabrina is 1 of 100 cats at our facility. Many more are in foster yet under our medical care and instruction. She had a cyst drained earlier this year. Unfortunately it came back and the whole suspicious area was removed this week. We are waiting for pathology results 😏. She also needed her last 4 teeth removed. Sabrina is a take no sh*t/do what I want/you can’t make me kind of cat 😂 and we all love her for it. Even the Vet tells us to drop her off in the morning and they will sedate and examine her when they have time because she will not cooperate for an in-office exam. When she came back from the vet she had a cone which was necessary to stop her from messing with her surgical site. She was miserable as most animals are in a cone. It took three of us, she peed and pooped herself, and screamed bloody murder….but we got a super suit on her. An hour later she was happy as a clam 🙄. This is the kind of rescue we are with every cat who comes in here. We get creative, we improvise, we find a way to give individualized care to every cat. It’s why we can’t necessarily do higher volume. Sabrina doesn’t give two 💩’s about our efforts. But we do it anyway.

Another entry by an FOF volunteer! 😀 “Here’s a little glimpse behind-the-scenes at the cat center in Grandville PetSmart! There are some great cats there, and having them in the store gets them more exposure to the public. I’ve been volunteering for Focus on Ferals for 4 years and love spending time with the kitties at PetSmart. Sometimes when customers are looking at the cats through their windows, I hear them say things like “$100 for a cat?! I can get one on Facebook for free!” (Yes, we can hear you through the glass.) I’d just like to remind people that “free” cats are NOT actually free (at least if you’re going to be a responsible pet owner). A “free” cat will need to be seen by a vet and spayed/neutered, vaccinated, treated for fleas and parasites, tested for FIV/FeLV, and receive any necessary veterinary care for health concerns - all of which are NOT free. When you adopt a cat for $100, you are getting a cat who already has had all these things taken care of. AND, when you adopt from a rescue, it allows us to take in another cat in its place! Adoption saves more lives beyond just the cat you adopt. Can’t adopt? We always need volunteers! Volunteering allows us to take in more cats, as we can only rescue as many as we have the capability to care for. Thank you for supporting Focus on Ferals!” -Carly Van Eck, volunteer

⭐️ We have a new series coming up! ⭐️ We hope that getting the perspective from our volunteers’ viewpoint will be a welcome and refreshing change to the recent tone of our posts (which are typically written by the same two people, both of whom are suffering from burnout and record low morale). But rescue must continue. Here is the first one…… Written by Kayla, volunteering since 2020: I know I talk a lot about the shelter I volunteer for but when I say this place does amazing things, I mean it from the depths of my soul. This is Coyote who came to our shelter back in May basically on his death bed. The last video is of his progression this week playing. Coyote unfortunately lost both of his eyes due to them rupturing after every attempt to save them. Moe, has become Coyotes partner in crime. Helping him gain his confidence and becoming his best friend. None of this would be possible without our Director, Volunteers, and foster. 🐈 Coyote and Moe are available for adoption, together or separate! 🐈 Adoption App ➡️ https://www.focusonferals.org/adopt/adoption-application/ We are located in Byron Center MI 49315. 🐾 Please share! 🐾

“TNR doesn’t work” “TNR is a waste of time” “Feral cats are suffering and need to just be exterminated” We’ve been doing TNR here for over 18 years. All these statements are misleading or downright inaccurate. We don’t ‘want’ there to be feral cats any more than anyone else does. That desire doesn’t make the issue magically disappear. But we are humane-solution minded. TNR stops the procreation while at the same time exponentially improving quality of life for all cats it touches. Don’t listen to the naysayers who don’t have a viable and humane plan for managing feral cat populations. Extermination isn’t a viable OR humane plan. Ignoring the issue also isn’t solving anything. These two cats are both in their teens now. Both living in a managed colony. Do they look like a waste of time/suffering/worthless lives? Because TNR done responsibly WORKS. TNR isn’t glamorous and doesn’t get the likes that cute kittens or fantastic rescue stories do….but it’s why we started this organization. And will always be a core service we believe in and provide to anyone who wants to help ferals. Help with TNR ➡️ [email protected]

Cats like Keaton 🥰 Are why we do what we do. March 16: intake with a severely lacerated eye. Nervous, not receptive to human touch. But not feral. We vetted him and let him chill. April 16: upon routine cat checks, he leaned into touch. He was just ready to put down his sword. And every day since he gets better and better. Keaton is FIV positive and will be getting a second opinion on his eye. But we are so thrilled at his ‘sudden’ change of heart towards us. We didn’t push him, and that’s what works for most of these cats. He watched us and waited until he was ready. We are fortunate to have the appropriate space and set up here, to allow these cats to come around, if and when they want to.

⚠️ Graphic Video ….with a happy ending! On Sunday we took in a pregnant cat who had been struggling outside in a trailer park. On Tuesday late evening, she delivered 6 kittens at our shelter. We don’t want this video to glamorize kitten births or make anyone think they should let their own cat ‘experience the joy of birth’. We couldn’t avoid this happening and getting it on video was pure luck. We have plenty of stories where births (and the struggle for life afterwards) are anything BUT joyous. We got lucky this time: all kittens are healthy and mom is very attentive. It will be 8 weeks before any of these kittens are available for adoption 😀. Mom plus 6 kittens will be COMPLETELY vetted from vaccines, to deworming, to spay/neuter to microchips. This ONE family will cost us a minimum of 💲1️⃣0️⃣0️⃣0️⃣. We had quite a few kittens already in our program before this addition of 6. Please help us if you can! 💰 Venmo: @fofcats 💲PayPal: [email protected] 🐌 ✉️ : Focus on Ferals 7962 Clyde Park Ave SW Byron Center MI 49315

🐱 Kitten Fosters Needed! 🐱 This video is just adorable. And you could also experience the joy of kittens (and kitten cams 📹 if you’re so inclined!) without the permanent responsibility, by fostering for us! We find that a lot of people overthink fostering. You just need a separate carpet-free space. Even a medium or large bathroom works! You can still go to work when you have foster kittens 😉. Foster Application ➡️ https://www.focusonferals.org/volunteer/foster-application/ Still have questions❓ We have answers❗️ Send in an app to foster and we will contact you to discuss everything else.

🐾 Barn Home Needed 🐾 We had a barn placement lined up for this trio and have been waiting for 2 months. Looks like we’ve been 👻. We’re sad for these girls as they really need a setting to live where they can be who they are; no interest in being handled but dependent on people for food and shelter. We combined all three of these cats who came to us as singletons, and from situations where they couldn’t be returned. Two were feral moms whose kittens have all been socialized and adopted out. This video was taken on the day we caged them all together. They were immediate friends, as you can see! These cats find comfort in each other and must stay together. It also helps them to acclimate to any new setting when they’re not alone. If you’re within 2 hours of Kent County MI and can offer these girls a safe and comfortable barn to call home….please reach out to our director at ➡️ [email protected]. We care about ALL our cats and even those who are determined to need a barn placement, must go to good places. We will explain rehoming procedure, and supply all the rehoming equipment as well as bring the cats to you. We do not charge a fee for barn cats; just the promise of a forever home with food and shelter. 🐈‍⬛ Please Share! These girls have been caged for months! 🐈‍⬛

Looking to add more Kitten Fosters to our team! 🐾❤️🐾❤️🐾❤️🐾❤️🐾❤️🐾❤️🐾 The cats and kittens just keep rolling in. This little 1 lb angel arrived today. A Good Samaritan saved her life by feeding her with a syringe and killing the fleas by hand. She started eating on her own today so things are looking up. But kittens like Sasha need lots of time and TLC before they are ready for adoption. If you live within an hour of our shelter, and have a carpet-free spare room where you can provide a safe haven, please fill out an application to Foster today! We have need for every kind of foster home: litters, single kittens, nursing moms, feral kittens who need socializing, shy/nervous juveniles and adults who are struggling in a shelter setting….even senior and hospice cats. ➡️ https://www.focusonferals.org/volunteer/foster-application/