Cacapon TNR

03/12/2024

Giving Tuesday: Support Your Local TNR Efforts! 🌟 This Giving Tuesday, consider making a difference in the lives of community cats by donating to Cacapon TNR. 🐾🌈 Join us in making a meaningful impact: Together, we can create positive change for our community and its beloved cats. 🐱💕

29/11/2024

We are so thankful for all of you! Thank you to our Board Members & Volunteers: Brenda, Hannah, Janice, Karen, Leslie, Loree, Shari, Stacey, Stephanie & Susie.
Thank you to our caregivers and feeders-without you, the cats we TNR wouldn’t continue to thrive and enjoy a healthy future.
Thank you to our supporters, donors and friends! This kind of work can be stressful and challenging, but your generosity reminds us to keep striving every day to make our world a better place for all. 🙏🐈❤️🐈‍⬛🙏
THANK YOU! Happy Thanksgiving!

05/11/2024

We had our largest clinic to date yesterday, when we took 35 cats to be spayed & neutered. We’ve already broken 2023’s record for surgeries done and it’s just now November! This has been an inspiring effort by Cacapon TNR volunteers and caregivers; we couldn’t have done it without you-our community of supporters, dedicated feeders, compassionate donors and animal lovers!

An increase in TNR’d kitties means an increase in additional treatments. Many of the cats trapped this weekend were battling severe Upper Respiratory Infections requiring antibiotics, like Macy and Clyde who came to us from a large, older colony in Slanesville.
We have a number of kitties with painful mouths who will finally feel better and eat without agony once they’ve had their dental procedures, which will happen over the next few days. This includes Abby & Eden who came from the same colony as Macy and Clyde, and the lovable Orange Chicken from Capon Bridge. Orange Chicken had quite a few wounds and cauliflowered ears due to torturous ear mites and infections. Bringing an end to their suffering and allowing them the quality of life they deserve - this is why we put our time and efforts into TNR.

Which brings us to young Tanner and Duke, both from Slanesville. Tanner is a sweet orange tabby whose eyes never recovered from the intense respiratory infection he suffered from as a kitten and we are so happy to report he received his enucleation yesterday. Duke is a gentle all black boy whose left eye was so badly ulcerated we were surprised it hadn’t yet ruptured, likely also from a nasty URI. Duke was in such obvious distress and pain that he received his enucleation while he was under anesthesia for neutering. In addition to having his eye removed, Duke also had many painful teeth and is scheduled for a dental procedure. Both cats can look forward to a long happy life, finally knowing what it feels like to be a cat that’s not in constant pain.

As most of you know, spay and neuter appointments alone can be quite expensive, and CTNR ensures the cats all get needed vaccinations, microchips and that beautiful ear tip😻. So many extra cats and extra treatments/procedures mean we find ourselves in need of your help.

We broke a few records for our November 3rd clinic. With 5 cats needing dental surgeries (that are now averaging over $400 each), that means we are spending over $2000 just on the dentals! Please consider a donation of any amount and help us continue this vital and necessary work of TNR. We want to make certain we can continue to help the vulnerable population of cats just like Duke, Abby and Orange Chicken to live their best healthiest lives🙏🐈🐱🐈‍⬛🙏
(Watch our slideshow from early Sunday morning when we loaded Loree’s van with all 35 cats. We had more cats than traps on hand, so a pair of sisters went in a carrier and we borrowed traps from Metro Ferals for their spays. Check it out, we’re pretty proud of it 😹)

01/11/2024

There are SO many benefits of getting male cats neutered-it reduces the risk of spraying/marking, it reduces the potency of the smell of their urine, they have less desire to roam which means they’ll have less instances of injury from fights, animal attacks or being hit by a car, they’re healthier and live longer with a reduced risk of many diseases (and eliminates testicular cancer) and finally-it greatly helps reduce suffering and euthanasia rates caused by the overpopulation of cats. For the love of all cats, get the males neutered this November at Augusta Animal Hospital’s No Nut November
💞🐈💞

NO NUT NOVEMBER
We will not be doing them on Monday November 4th

Starts November 1st - November 27th
You must bring them at 8:00 AM Mon-Fri
No food after midnight
MALE CATS ONLY!
Fee due at drop off
60.00 Neuter
10.00 Rabies

24/10/2024

Our fundraising dinner is just TWO DAYS away!!! If you haven't gotten your tickets yet, now is the time! We hope to see all of you there 😻

In-Person Ticket Sales:
Roy's (Berkeley Springs)
FNB Bank (Romney)
Bank of Romney (Capon Bridge)

Online:
https://www.zeffy.com/ticketing/f253a49d-2a51-4aaa-96d4-d00abee7745e

EDITED TO ADD: Zeffy, the platform we are using to sell online tickets, does not charge non-profits transaction or service fees. But they do ask purchasers to contribute a small percentage to cover their costs. The default is set to 17%, but you can choose any amount to give Zeffy.

18/10/2024

Are any of our supporters dog lovers? If so, we need your help! One of our dedicated caretakers, “LB”, reached out in a panic last night as one of her beloved dogs, Chiquita, became really sick. She suspected pyometra, a painful uterine infection that turns deadly if left untreated. Like so many folks right now, LB is struggling in many ways and did not have the money or transportation to get Chiquita emergency care. Although we aren’t an emergency care organization, and our mission is to reduce the cat overpopulation crisis, we felt confident that with the help of our supporters, we could help Chiquita live. LB has done so much to care for the cats in her trailer park, always alerting us when a neighbor leaves behind an unaltered cat, and making sure they have enough to eat. We’ve been working with LB for 2 years and she ensures the cats roaming the park are not left to reproduce. These cats aren’t her responsibility, but she cares so deeply for them, and we need more people like LB.

With the help of our amazing volunteers, Chiquita made it to Augusta Animal Hospital today and had an emergency spay. It eliminated the pyometra and saved her life. Unfortunately, it depleted much of the funds we had earmarked to spay/neuter 25 cats this Sunday. If you can, please help us replenish the nearly $700 it cost for this emergency surgery. Without all of you, we can’t keep helping the cats (and dog!) of Morgan and Hampshire Counties.

P.S. Chiquita‘s story highlights the incredible importance of spay and neuter. Had she been spayed when she was a young dog, she would not have faced this painful emergency. Any cat or dog left intact faces dangerous infections and cancers of their reproductive organs. There are so many good reasons to spay/neuter, and this is just one of them. If you have pets that need to be spayed or neutered, please contact us and we will provide a list of low-cost spay/neuter clinics!

15/10/2024

Hi folks! It’s less than 2 weeks away before our first Cacapon TNR spaghetti dinner! Tickets are $25.00 for all you can eat. We also have a 50/50 raffle and silent auction.

You can purchase your tickets at the three physical locations listed below or at this link:

https://www.zeffy.com/ticketing/f253a49d-2a51-4aaa-96d4-d00abee7745e

Cacapon TNR wanted to take a moment to express our heartfelt gratitude for our sponsors’ generous support. Their commitment to serving our community has made a significant impact and has not gone unnoticed. Their contribution plays a vital role in advancing our mission. We are very grateful!

15/10/2024

💲 LOW COST VACCINE CLINIC 💲
Pre-Register for faster service or walk up the day of . Just remember that registrations are NOT APPOINTMENTS‼️

PRICE LIST:

🐈‍⬛ Feline Distemper - $15
🐕‍🦺 Canine Distemper- $15
💉 Rabies - $10
👉 Bordetella - $18
👉 Microchip - $ 20

CATS MUST BE CRATED!
DOGS MUST BE LEASHED!

ALL ANIMALS MUST BE MANAGED AND MAINTAINED BY OWNERS! ABSOLUTELY NO EXCEPTIONS
Pre-register to complete paperwork beforehand, speeds up service, there will still be a wait, this is HIGH VOLUME: waitwhile.com/locations/vcopopup

08/10/2024

Did you know that kittens as young as 4 months old become pregnant? By sterilizing feral cats, TNR prevents them from reproducing, which gradually reduces the number of cats in a given area. This can lead to a more stable population over time.

27/09/2024

Felix and Andy are heading for their eye surgeries this morning (9/27)!! After holding Felix since Sunday, we are now hoping his left eye can be saved, as he does seem to still be able to see shadows. We’ll discuss this with Dr. K and keep everyone posted on the outcome.

Thank you SO MUCH for the donations for these 4 deserving souls. We could not help these cats without all of you ❤️

23/09/2024

Donations Desperately Needed!

We are so pleased to report another 20 cats & kittens got their sterilization surgeries yesterday! Wouldn’t it be so great if all the uncertain conditions that outside cats face would ease up along with kitten season coming to an end? Unfortunately that’s not the case as evidenced by this weekend’s spay/neuter clinic. We did have some more extensive ailments that we are tackling and are asking for your help so we can get all these kitties feeling their best.

Zeke was one of ten cats trapped Saturday morning at a colony in Augusta. This large ginger tabby stood out from the pack from the start, endlessly talking and asking for attention that we were so happy to give. While rubbing his ears and fat stud cheeks, we noticed his eyes were red, sore, and weepy. We wondered if he might have entropian, an extremely painful condition that causes the eyelids to roll inwards allowing the lashes to scratch against the eyes. Unfortunately we were right! Zeke received entropian surgery today (along with his much needed neutering) and he will be held for recovery before returning home.

Andy was trapped at the same Augusta colony as Zeke. Unlike Zeke, Andy was skittish and quiet. But it didn't take long to see Andy's left eye appeared to be missing. His eye had likely ruptured from a long festering upper respiratory infection (URI) that affects the majority of litters born outside. Andy will receive an enucleation surgery in the coming days and, once recovered, he will be returned to the safety of his colony feeling like a whole new cat!

This next story about Felix is a tough one. A pregnant female showed up at a home in Capon Bridge we TNR’d to completion two years ago. She gave birth to a litter of 5 and all of the kittens had terrible URIs. Treating feral kittens with medication is one of many issues caregivers face when caring for outdoor cats. Most cats and kittens living outside aren't able to get any treatments, but this caretaker was able to try to administer some antibiotics through food. Unfortunately, it seems Felix wasn't able to get as much of the antibiotics as his littermates. His respiratory infection worsened, and when we trapped him for this weekend’s clinic, we could see both of Felix’s eyes were in terrible condition. His right eye is bulging and opaque, while his left eye is cloudy, scarred, and enlarged. Dr. K revealed to us that Felix has no eyesight at all and will need a DOUBLE enucleation - both eyes removed - in order to put an end the painful condition he’s living with. After the initial shock of this diagnosis, we talked through the options with Dr. K. She let us know he had been maneuvering outside for quite a while without the ability to see. He was otherwise in great conditon and very healthy, which suggests he's been navigating his environment very well (likely with the help of his siblings and mother). Having his eyes removed will only help him live in his cherished home with his bonded siblings without pain. We spoke at length with his caretaker, who will keep a close eye on him. If he finds that Felix is struggling outside, he will consider bringing him indoors. Although this is a subjective decision that many may not agree with, indoor life is not the be-all, end-all, and many feral cats suffer being forced to live inside. His mental health is as important as his physical health, and we want Felix to be in the place he is happiest and most confident!

Merlin was part of a hoarding case handled by Morgan County Animal Control (MCAC), where they were forced to seize 9 cats in terrible conditions. MCAC does not intake cats, unless there are conditions that meet the criteria of animal cruelty set by the state. These cats met those criteria. MCAC works on a shoestring budget, and can't provide the extensive vet care often required by these cases. So rescues and shelters often step up to take on the fundraising to help these animals. CTNR helped by getting these cats spayed/neutered early August. It was then that Merlin was found to have severe dental disease. MCAC staff have been working hard to find placement for these cats, but that is incredibly difficult when a cat needs expensive treatment. Merlin is an absolute love bug, and deserves to be pain free and find his forever home. CTNR is determined to cover the expense of his dental (happening today), but we truly need your help to make it happen. He’s already been through so much.

Each enucleation will be ~$300 (x3), the entropian was $180, and the dental will be $350, so we need to raise almost $1,500. We know times are tough for everyone and want to assure you that every little bit helps us tremendously. In addition to all the spay/neuter surgeries, these additional treatments will mean a world of difference for these cats that have known too much pain in their short lives. We humbly ask for your help so we can ensure they return to their homes no longer in pain, looking ahead with their best chance at long healthy lives.

18/09/2024

In the rescue world, the term bottle baby elicits images of neonatal kittens, KMR, feedings every 2-3 hours, and exhausted caregivers. But it can be appropriately used in another, less common context: a cat with a bottle stuck on its head. You just never want to have to rescue that kind of bottle baby. But today was one of those days.

When I left to make an unplanned trip to Augusta this afternoon, I found my normal route was closed due to a car accident. As I took some back roads to get around the accident, I drove by an abandoned property and caught the sight of an odd looking cat. As a TNR trapper, you’re looking for cats even when you don’t realize you’re looking for cats. I slammed on the brakes, backed up, and spotted a cat with what appeared to be a 20 oz soda bottle on her head. I pulled in, turned off the car, and slowly got out. As soon as she heard me, she turned around and ran, running straight into a tree. I calmly got a blanket out of my car (the only “tool” I had with me), but when I turned around, she was gone. I spent about 15 minutes looking for her, but no luck. I did spot 2 other cats that looked like her, so I’ll be adding this site to our TNR list. I left feeling devastated, not sure what to do. I knew trapping her would be hard, because trapping is all about food/hunger. Could she even smell with that thing on? I put some feelers out for a humane net and planned to go back when I could get my hands on one. But I couldn’t stop thinking about her. I wanted to see if a drop trap might work, so I set off this evening. I spotted her next to the abandoned building as soon as I pulled up. I approached her and she didn’t run. Let me preface this by saying I didn’t know what the hell I was doing. I’ve never had to trap a bottle baby before. I thought if I could grab the bottle, she could pull her head out. So I slowly grabbed the bottle and gently pulled. She struggled to pull away, but that thing did not budge! She got away from me and ran into some prickly underbrush. I decided if I could get ahold of her again, I would try to get her in a trap. So I got a trap ready (stood vertically with the door open) and got a towel to wrap her in. She had gotten herself cornered under some thick, low growing brush, so I was able to grab her and lower her into the trap. I could tell she was exhausted. I used the scissors on my Swiss army knife to cut the bottle off her head. She was free!!! And she was stinky.

I have no idea how this cat got her head stuck in the bottle. There were bits of a cricket body, and what appeared to be a round foil-lined seal, in the bottle. Maybe she went after the cricket? Maybe there was something tasty on the seal? Or maybe something sinister happened. I really, really hope not.

BeBe is currently resting in a kennel equipped with a litter box, a comfy place to lay, and all the food and water she could need. She will be staying with me until she accompanies 19 other cats who will be getting spayed/neutered, vaccinated, microchipped, and treated for parasites this Sunday. Should she need a vet visit sooner, we’ll get her one. But she seems surprisingly healthy.

I often think about the butterfly effect. If the vet hadn’t been short on our microchips, and if that car accident hadn’t happened, I never would have come across Bebe. And she likely would have suffered terribly. It’s a good reminder that good things can come out of bad. I just hope the accident that closed Paw Paw Rd today was a
minor one.

One final thought…please DON’T LITTER! It can kill, literally.

If you would like to contribute to BeBe’s care and surgery, and the surgeries of the 19 other cats this weekend, please donate!!

13/09/2024

September is Happy Cat Month! This month long celebration is dedicated to promoting the health, happiness, and well-being of our feline friends. This is a time to focus on the mental and physical wellness of cats, encourage responsible pet ownership, and strengthen the bond between cats and their owners. How do you plan to celebrate your cat this month? 😺

07/09/2024

TNR (Trap-Neuter-Release) is a humane method for managing and reducing feral cat populations. It involves trapping feral cats, having them neutered or spayed, and then returning them to their original location. This helps decrease overpopulation, reduces fighting and mating behaviors, and improves the overall health of the cat population. Overall, TNR is viewed as a successful and ethical method for managing feral cat populations while promoting the welfare of the cats themselves and the communities they inhabit! 🐈

27/08/2024

VOLUNTEER HELP NEEDED:

We at Cacapon TNR are working our tails off to continue the mission of Trapping, Neutering/Spaying and Returning the MANY outside community WV cats of Hampshire and Morgan Counties. This year has been the most overwhelming so far. To continue helping the community in this way, it takes more than just the physical trapping and transport. There are dozens of tasks we need help with, but most of all we need:

Trappers:
CTNR has just 3 volunteers trapping in the field: Loree, Leslie and Susie. A couple weeks ago Leslie was put on strict bed rest after hurting her hip and the health of our volunteers always comes first. We miss you Leslie and are sending healing vibes every day! So presently we have just 2 volunteers trapping for both counties.
Our clinics are generally held every other Sunday, and we usually schedule trapping Thursday PM, Friday AM & PM, and Saturday AM. If you would like to learn how to use our trapping tools and have a few hours to give every other week, please DM us for more information.

Administrative Tasks:
We get calls, texts, emails and FB messages all day every day regarding requests for help. We need help with general data entry duties like registering microchips, etc. Loree is drowning doing all of this on her own. If you think you could give a few hours a week to respond to the constant requests for help and work with Loree coordinating the scheduling and communicating with caregivers, DM us for more information.

Social Media Volunteer:
Every clinic there are at least a few cats with stories we would like to highlight. We try to remember to take photos and video when in the midst of all the TNR duties, but we find ourselves lacking in the social media/posting/networking/sharing our efforts department. We’re also Gen X introverts that feel intimidated and unprepared regarding social media posting and digital communication in general. If you have some spare time you could put towards volunteering for a worthy cause, love to post on Facebook, daydream about creating compelling content for animal welfare nonprofits and feel generally comfortable using these social platforms to communicate our needs & show off the many ways we are helping our community- please DM us, we want to talk to you!

We need help. It’s that simple, really. In order for us to continue this necessary and meaningful work we really need some additional hands on deck. Please share our post and maybe someone who would like to volunteer their time with Cacapon TNR will see it.

Thank you for helping us continue in our mission to humanely control the overpopulation of outdoor cats through Trap, Neuter, Return
❤️🙏🐕🐈‍⬛🙏❤️

06/08/2024

We have rescheduled our fundraising dinner! Join us on October 26 at 6:00pm at the American Legion in Capon Bridge. We will have a delicious spaghetti dinner, a Silent Auction (stay tuned for updates on our auction baskets and items) and a 50/50 raffle.
Tickets are on sale now in Berkeley Springs, Romney and Capon Bridge (please see flyer for those location addresses).
We also plan to create an “event” and sell tickets online here on our FB page so if you want to attend but can’t get to one of the locations just sit tight, we will get the online tickets available soon!

01/08/2024

It’s been a busy, hectic summer of TNR and nearly a month since we posted any updates, so we wanted to share with you some of our recent Trap-Neuter-Return adventures!

A scheduling miscommunication with our TNR clinic had us trapping, processing, boarding, and transporting 21 cats for a clinic on 7/21 that been rescheduled to 7/28. CTNR volunteer, Leslie, showed up at the clinic (which is 1.5 hours away) at 7 am, only to find it empty. This meant that the majority of the cats had to be returned and retrapped the following weekend. Fortunately we were able to leave the most feral kitties at the clinic to be done during the week. So we did it all again on 7/28, taking 20 cats for spay/neuter. And will be doing it again this weekend, aiming to trap 25 cats. Two back-to-back clinics are exhausting enough, but 3 might break all of us! Please check on us next week to make sure we survived 🙂

CTNR volunteer Stacey has been taking care of kittens from a couple of different colonies & difficult situations where there was uncontrolled breeding and where upper respiratory infections abound. We don’t have the resources to do much fostering (we need all of our resources for spay/neuter), but this kitten season has been especially challenging for everyone. We could not be more grateful to Stacey for all the work she has put in with the 24/7 medications, feeding schedules, separating recovering kitties from the now healthy ones, socializing, ensuring play time, communicating, and transport for pickups and doctor appointments (often emergencies), and all the nonstop tasks involved in rehabilitating sick kittens. Of all of the sick kittens, William has had the toughest time. He and his brothers were just about to leave the vet’s office with antibiotics and an appointment to return in two weeks to remove his left eye when the abscessed eye burst right in the office. Luckily they were able to keep him overnight for eye removal the next day. Unfortunately, his incision still became infected and he had to have the abscess lanced and a drain put in. Stacey was so happy to report the drain seemed to have done the trick and William is finally playing and acting like a kitten again. His second set of sutures were removed this morning and we are all so pleased he’s finally truly recovering.

We had a very interesting situation at a Romney colony the weekend before last. Boots was a totally feral male that had gotten into a caretaker’s home. Luckily, they trapped him while he was hiding in a room. When Leslie arrived to pick him and his brethren up, she noticed an ear tip on his left ear. She sent pictures to Loree and she agreed it looked to be a proper eartip - straight across and the right amount had been removed. Susie was in the area and stopped by to take a look, as well. Susie also agreed it seemed to be an eartip. But we were skeptical! We had trapped at 2 nearby neighbors' houses for the past 2 months, but we definitely had not trapped this cat. And we didn't know of anyone else doing TNR in the area. As Susie was preparing to release him, his owner mentioned the size of his testicles. Susie got him at eye level for a really good look. As you can see from the photos, these did not look like the te**es of a cat who had been neutered. Then Susie inspected the eartip more closely and discovered it was a bit more "wavy" than it first appeared. Then his caretaker mentioned how he had been in their house for two months and had been trying to mount the females. Boots went to the TNR clinic this past Sunday and sure enough, he had NOT been neutered. He has become our cautionary tale reminding us that if there is ANY doubt a cat is altered, always assume they aren't. Susie was thiiiiis close to releasing him!!! Now Boots will no longer contribute to the kitten crisis we are all working so hard to alleviate.

We are still in the midst of a “Triple Weekend TNR”, but we wanted to take some time to show you what your support is helping us achieve. We are always in need of donations, and every little bit helps tremendously.
Stay tuned, in the next few days we will be posting the information for our upcoming fundraising spaghetti dinner to be held in October!