Johnson County Community Cats

10/14/2025

🖤 A Bartok update as promised 🖤

The last week has been one of the worst of my life because Bartok was not doing well at all.
His FIP is effusive and neurological which is a first for me. For several days he wouldn’t eat, wouldn’t drink, couldn’t use the litter box, and his meow absolutely broke my heart. It wasn’t good and I was almost certain we were going to lose him.

Then Friday he turned a corner and started to come back to me and by Saturday he was eating everything in sight.
Now he’s back to the Bartok we all know and love. Playing, screaming at us for food and to turn his toy on, wrestling with his little brother, screaming around the house like his brother Stark taught him to do, snuggling, getting underfoot, and just being the tiny menace he is.

I can’t thank you all enough for contributing to his treatment with donations, shares, words of encouragement, and suggestions.
I also want to thank Dr. Soto and Amber at BVH for getting in him so quickly for diagnostics.
A huge thank you to Dr. Baker who went out of her way to come see Bartok when I was panicking and for modifying his treatment plan as his symptoms changed.

Bartok is so loved by his community and for that I am eternally grateful.
Thank you all. 🖤

10/13/2025

Happy Vet Tech Appreciation Week!

This week I'll be sharing what Veterinary Technicians are and what we do. I'd like to start with going over the classes we study and skills we have to practice to graduate with an Associates of Animal Science degree.

For an understanding of biology so we can do physical exams, know what husbandry and nutrition certain species need, how diseases work, how to handle them safely, and collect samples for labwork, we take classes like Anatomy, Physiology, and Animal Diseases.

To be able to triage and recognize critical situations, we take classes specific to Nursing. This includes vital signs, intubation, CPR, and things like wound care, catheters, enemas, and injections. These things can be very different between species.

When your pet needs surgery, Vet Techs are with them through it all. Classes on Anesthesia and Surgery teach us to practice safety and sterility standards, provide an extra hand, assess changes in vitals, and make sure things go smoothly.

Vet Techs are the Veterinarian's right hand, so for them to diagnose and treat your pet, we draw blood, read cytologies, take x-rays, and run tests. For that, we take classes like Microbiology, Radiology, Laboratory Procedures and Therapeutics. Then, when your pet needs medications, we calculate their dose, get those ready for you, and show you how to give them. That's where an education in Pharmacology comes in.

After classes, at least 240 hours practicing these skills, and graduating, we have to pass a National and State exam before we can become certified. Then we can call ourselves Veterinary Technicians! Every year we have to renew our license and stay sharp through Continued Education (CE). Veterinary medicine is a world that requires life-long learning because science is always evolving and we need to be on top of those changes in order to be the best advocate for your pet!

What things here were you surprised to learn about Veterinary Technicians?

10/11/2025

I want to apologize for being MIA on this page lately and be transparent with you all.
Social media is an exhausting thing to keep up with, especially in a field that is as emotionally and mentally taxing as animal welfare and sometimes, I simply do not have the energy to spare for social media.
Lately we have a some medical cases that have been very complex which also means they are very mentally and emotionally challenging so a vast majority of my energy goes into them to ensure they are getting all they need to recover.

I am fortunate to have a team that helps not only with the day to day things but the other behind the scene things that need done. From phone calls to helping manage our social media to organizing events, it’s all done because I have a team of amazing people who care deeply about our mission to help cats.

All of this to say, I am thankful for patience, kindness, understanding, and support from our community.
I will be working to catch up on messages and to share some happy updates in the coming days (including an update on Bartok). 🖤

(Pictured is Boba Tea, our FeLV/FIP fighter and one major source of the stress and anxiety later. I wouldn’t trade it for a thing though, he is a perfect angel baby 🖤).

10/10/2025

The air is cooler, the vibes are spookier, and the leaves are changing, which means it’s time for the 2025 Johnson County Community Cats’ Halloween Pet Costume Contest! 👻🎃

🍫 Pets of ALL kinds are welcome and encouraged to participate!

🍬 Please dress your pet only to their level of comfort. Not everyone is a fashionista, and that’s okay!

🍂 Entries will close on October 17th at 11:59 pm. You can enter your pet(s) (for free!) here: https://form.jotform.com/202857510518152

🧡 Voting will begin the next day, on October 18th. As usual, $1 = one vote and all donations = direct support to Johnson County cats. Stay tuned for information on how to vote!

The Johnson County Community Cats is a non-profit, 501c3 cat only rescue and spay/neuter clinic.

10/04/2025

Can you help us help Bartok?

This breaks my heart to post but here it goes:

Most of you know our little ambassador cat, Bartok but for those who don’t here is a brief history;
He came through our clinic last year after having been brought in to JCAS.
He was a hot mess: huge polyps in his ears, difficultly breathing, severely underweight, sick, and megaesophagus.
We ended up pulling Bartok since his care was more than JCAS could provide and, to be honest, because he had completely stolen my heart.
We managed to get him past the worst of his issues and manage the ones we couldn’t fix but he’s always been so delicate.
Back in April I took him home because his health was fragile and we all agreed it was best for him.

He has absolutely been thriving at home.
He’s gained a significant amount of weight, recovered easily from his on again/off again upper respiratory/ear infections, and has been doing well with his megaesophagus.
Overall he has been loving life and has been as perfect as ever, like seriously, he is the most perfect cat and if you have ever had the privilege to meet him, you know I’m absolutely not biased in this.

This week I noticed he wasn’t feeling like himself. We and his vet had established a routine treatment when he had flair ups but this time it was different and he wasn’t responding the way he always does. I just knew in heart he had FIP and yesterday he was formerly diagnosed with it.
I’ve treated so many FIP cases now and I believe he’ll be okay. It was caught early and we were able to start his treatment yesterday with medication we had on hand but it just hits different because it’s Bartok.

Over the next 84 days Bartok will get medication everyday, periodic bloodwork, and whatever other medication/vet care he might need.
We have opted to go with oral medication as injections are painful for the cats and, to be completely honestly, it’s very mentally/emotionally hard for me to give them those injections every single day.

Unfortunately oral medication is much more expensive than the injections we’ve always used.
I honestly don’t know how much the entirety of his treatment will be since using oral medication is new for us and dosages change as weight does.

If you are able to donate towards his care, all of us here at JCCC would be eternally grateful.
I have attached the invoice for his medication.
I have personally covered his vet visit (and express shipping on the medication) so I have not included the cost of it here.
Donations can be sent via:
- Facebook Donate button
- Paypal: PayPal.me/jcccats
- Venmo: https://www.venmo.com/u/jcccats
- Snail mail: 4247 N State Road 135 Franklin, IN 46131

If you aren’t able to donate please share and send all the good vibes for Bartok.
I will keep you all updated on his treatment as we progress. 🖤

10/02/2025

‼️Help needed‼️

We have the opportunity to get this cat house for our two outdoor cats but it’s a bit of a beast and we don’t currently have what’s needed to move it.

It is 500 lbs and around 4 1/2 feet tall by 3 1/2-4 feet wide.

If you have any ability to help please give us a call at 317 914 4211. Janet would be happy to go over all the details with you!

09/21/2025

Sending a big THANK YOU to everyone who came out to support us for this year’s Pre-Loved Book Sale. We raised just over $4,300, all of which will be going directly towards helping cats!

Thank you again to our book collection locations - Fresh Pots Coffee Bar, Wild Geese Bookshop, Toodleydoo Toys, Herkert Family Eye Care, and Silent Book Club Indy. Thank you for all that you did to accommodate the large amount of donations we received; we couldn’t have done this without you.

Thank you to our supporters who loaned us their folding tables (they’re ready to be picked up now!), especially Franklin Heritage Inc./The Artcraft Theatre for supplying almost half the tables for our sale.

The biggest thank you goes to our small but mighty team of volunteers, for the many, many hours spent sorting, transporting, packing, and unpacking thousands of books.

We are re-evaluating what the pre-loved book sale might look like in future years. Stay tuned for more information to come in 2026 📚❤️

09/21/2025

Our Pre-Loved Book Sale will be open today from 11:00 am-4:00 pm, rain or shine! ☀️🌧️

We had an AMAZING first day of the sale and our goal for the year is in sight, but we need your help! We have so many great books left for you to sn**ch up today. Come see us at 4247 N State Road 135, Franklin, IN 46131 and help us meet our goal!

09/20/2025

Our book sale is underway! Come see us today at 4247 N State Road 135 Franklin, IN until 4pm or tomorrow from 11am to 4pm!

09/19/2025

The books are ready for our Pre-Loved Book Sale and we hope you are, too! We’ll see you tomorrow starting at 10:00 am!

https://facebook.com/events/s/jccc-pre-loved-book-sale/1315579766824828/

09/17/2025

Books, books, and more books! Who’s ready to fill up their bookshelves with some new pre-loved books this weekend?! 🙋🏼‍♀️📚

This is just a sampling of the hundreds of books we’ll have for sale this weekend. We’ll have a variety of adorable tote bags you can fill for a flat fee of $35.

Please tell your friends, bring your friends, and help us help cats and their owners in Johnson County!

We’ll see you on Saturday from 10:00 am-4:00 pm and Sunday from 11:00 am-4:00 pm at 4247 N State Road 135, Franklin, IN 46131.