Winnipeg Lost Cat Assistance

23/06/2025

APPROACHING A ROCK AND A HARD PLACE

Hygge, our amazing, funny, and loving character of a cat still has not found a home to call his own and I'm being forced to make decisions I don't want to make.

He has been in care for a year and a half with zero interest. Not a single application since he was surrendered back to WLCA because of a dog that turned out to be too prey-driven and caused him chronic stress diarrhea.

He is on his second foster home, as he is not OK with other cats. I don't mean just a little not OK. Murderous not OK.

I was fortunate enough to have found a foster home with no pets. His fosters are amazing and love him dearly. However, they did not want another cat of their own because they wanted to travel. And they do travel. Every month. I approved this foster home knowing full well this was the case and I have been working around the schedule every month because the jaunts have been manageable. But it's not doing Hygge any favours. The uprooting stresses him out. He just wants to be back "home" with them.

Recently, I thought I had hit the jackpot when another person with no current pets contacted me and wanted to foster. We started out with a cat-sitting situation for a weekend that went very well. Unfortunately, the second cat-sitting visit wasn't as successful because Hygge got stress diarrhea for the few days he was there and he also zoomed around in the suite overnight. It made for a dicey situation as the foster thought perhaps the people in the suite underneath would be woken up and not too happy about the arrangement.

So, that was the end of that.

He is back at his current foster home and they will be leaving on a three week trip in August, starting the long-weekend.

IS THERE ANYONE OUT THERE who can look after Hygge for two, to three, weeks (Aug 1 to 22)?

IS THERE ANYONE OUT THERE who can give this amazing three year old a home instead?

CAN ALL OF YOU SHARE THIS POST 500 times?

I am slowly running out of options for him. I can't ask another rescue, or shelter, for a trade because they'd be in the same position as I am and his diarrhea would never end in a shelter setting. He starts out at new places with loose p**p but as time goes on, and he is less stressed, it improves. He has normal p**p at his current foster home. He also can't be in a shelter because he hates other cats and is super reactive to having them anywhere near. Just the sight of them sends him into a rage.

I can't afford to board him anywhere because I now have to pay for the remainder of Acana's dental myself ($400) and it's looking like I'll have to pay for Blue and Shadow's dentals as well. WLCA will be completely out of money if I don't pay out of pocket and Blue, Dot and Hygge still need food and vet care while they are under WLCA.

WLCA is slowly getting to the point of financial shut-down and I don't know what I'm going to do with these three cats.

WLCA has 20,000 followers, but you'd never know it. I have asked for hundreds of shares and I get maybe 75. I've put up posters in different stores throughout the city with no interest so far (but will continue trying), created a website no one is visiting because it hasn't been catalogued yet, created an online thrift store no one is buying from. These cats cannot go to pet stores. It's too stressful for them. No pet store wants to clean up diarrhea daily. I really don't know what I have to do to get them adopted.

Meanwhile, WHS, Tails of Freedom, D'Arcy's ARC, Winnipeg Pet Rescue and anyone else with a building is doing a decent number of adoptions. I mean, Craig Street Cats was able to get over 25 cats adopted in short order when they were shutting down. Where do independent rescues fit in? I just don't think it's feasible for rescuers like me anymore.

All I want is to get these three cats adopted and then I'm out.

WLCA will be there as a website for information, stories, news and resources for whoever cares to visit, and TNR. But no more rescue and adoption.

I had a good run for 14 years, but there just isn't enough help. I'm one person. I've found amazing homes for hundreds of cats over the years, but it's become impossible to get cats adopted without a permanent venue. I don't have that kind of money nor do I have enough supporters to fund a space.

Please share this post. I really need to find good homes for three cats. Not just any homes. Really good homes that are right for them. They deserve no less.

The three cats who need homes or fosters:

Hygge

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1073917561439108&set=a.461497786014425

Dot and Blue

https://www.facebook.com/WinnipegLostCatAssistance/videos/700834995803367

Blue

https://www.facebook.com/photo/?fbid=1003001808530684&set=a.461497786014425

Dot

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=998929718937893&set=a.461497786014425

19/06/2025

HOW MANY DEAD CATS WILL IT TAKE?

With all the s**t going on in the US, Ukraine, Gaza, Iran, and Israel I didn’t need a new report of another mutilated and/or tortured, and killed, cat today.

But here I am. Again. News I don’t want to hear anymore, but have no choice.

Did you know cat killer Randy Jensen is still out and about? Yep. Not in jail. How about the Point Douglas cat killer? Was never caught. Still out there.

And it’s sickening that a s**t ton of people are just letting their cats out to fall into the hands of these deranged psychos. WHY?

This poor cat was let outside. As if there are no dangers out there. Now, the owner has found out in the worst way, how s**tty life is for cats out on the street. But their cat paid with his life.

ENOUGH! KEEP YOUR FU***NG CATS INDOORS!

15/06/2025

Tragic, unnecessary and a powerful reminder. Help them, and if you can no longer help them, find someone who can. Maybe the story is made up, maybe the cause of death something different altogether, but the message is valid and applies to all of us.

In a quiet corner of the world, hidden beneath ivy and shadows, a life came to an end.

No one noticed at first. The world kept moving. Cars rushed by, people scrolled through phones, laughter echoed from open windows. But beneath a patch of green, near an old stone fountain, a tiny heartbeat had stopped.

She was just a stray cat to most—dirty, unnoticed, forgotten. No name, no collar. No home.

But she had once known love.

---

Not long ago, she used to wait at the park’s edge every morning. Her fur, though matted, had a shimmer under the morning sun. Children sometimes threw her scraps, and old men spoke gently to her. But there was one boy—just one—who saw her not as a stray, but as a soul.

He named her **Mimi**.

He brought her milk in a paper cup, food wrapped in napkins, and stories whispered under trees. He told her about school, about being lonely, about dreams he didn't dare say out loud to anyone else. And Mimi listened—always there, her little body curled beside him, her purrs louder than the silence of his life.

---

But seasons change. And life, cruel as it is, does not always wait for goodbyes.

One winter, the boy stopped coming.

Maybe his family moved. Maybe school took him somewhere far. No one ever knew. But Mimi waited—day after day, in the cold, in the rain, in the wind that cut through her thinning fur.

Her eyes grew dim.

Her steps slower.

But still, she waited.

---

Until one day, she couldn’t wait anymore.

She lay down near the bushes, where the grass met the soil, in the only place that had ever felt like hers. With the last warmth of the earth beneath her body and the distant scent of the boy still lingering in memory, she closed her eyes.

She was not found by someone who would weep, nor buried by someone who knew her name. She was seen only later—by someone who took a picture, maybe in sorrow, maybe in shock.

But that moment—the image of her lying still beneath the ivy—tells a story louder than any scream.

A story of how even the smallest lives can carry oceans of love.

A story of how the world moves too fast to notice a final breath.

A story of how every creature, no matter how forgotten, deserves a goodgoodby

If you’re reading this now, pause.

Think of Mimi.

Not just as a cat, but as every lost, voiceless being who ever waited for someone who didn’t return. Think of how much love exists in silence. Think of how many lives pass without a witness.

Then go outside.

Look around.

And if you see a stray—feed her.

Pet him.

Name them.

Be the one who notices.

Because sometimes, one human heart is all a creature ever has.

15/06/2025

LOWER COST SPAY/NEUTER!

Craig Street Cats is holding a clinic with Bark and Meow, Tuesday July 17, and has a few spots available. Male or female cats are $175 and include spay/neuter, vaccines, parasite treatment, tattoo, transportation to the clinic in Grande Pointe and back. Drop off is in Wolseley between 7-7:30 am. Please call 204-421-1919 to arrange. Cats need to be fasted overnight. No food after 9 pm.

14/06/2025

We now have $399 left! Thank you!

————————-

We have $499 left to go for Acana’s dental coming up July 14! I think we can do it! That’s 4, $100 donations or 9, $50 donations or 25, $20 donations!

SPONSORSHIP OPTIONS FOR ACANA'S DENTAL

!! $399/1900 LEFT TO GO !!

As you may have read, donations for Halo have exceeded the requested amount, so those funds are being put toward Acana's dental. The three siblings (Acana, Halo and Blue) all need a mouth full of teeth removed because of lymphocytic-plasmacytic gingivitis.

Acana's dental is scheduled for July.

If any of you would like to have a garage sale and donate the proceeds, or have a bake sale and do the same, or put together an auction for WLCA, or have a donation jar at a wedding, that would be really appreciated. For those that can't, who want to donate funds, the info is outlined below.

I have divided up the estimate into bite-size sponsorship chunks for those who can help. The following are available to sponsor:

IV fluids: PAID!
Anaesthetic induction: PAID!
Anaesthetic: PAID!
Nerve Block: PAID!
Dental X-ray: PAID!
Medication: PAID!
Hospital Stay: PAID!
Tooth extractions: 11.5 x $38

Total is $1900

Should the surgery come in at less than $1900, the balance will go toward Blue's identical dental in August. Excess donations from Acana's total will go to Blue's surgery.

------------------------------------------------------

Donations can be made in the following ways:

E-transfer to [email protected] (please send your security response word via email to the same address).

Call in a credit card to Machray Animal Hospital and ask them to credit the Winnipeg Lost Cat Assistance account for Acana's dental.

Make a cheque out to:
Winnipeg Lost Cat Alert (name isn't changed at the bank) and
send to 484 Stiles St, R3G 3A4 (volunteer that accepts mail-in donations for WLCA). Message the page to notify a cheque is on the way.

-------------------------------------------------------

Thank you very much, everyone! If the response for Halo is any indication of how it's going to go for Acana, we're going to be in good shape by the time her dental rolls around in July.

----------------------------------------------------------

Thank you Vicki for helping with IV fluids!
Thank you Donna for helping with tooth extraction, anaesthetic induction, one unit of dental x-ray, and medication!
Thank you Wendy for sponsoring medication!
Thank you Swapnil for helping with anaesthetic!
Thank you Robin for sponsoring anaesthetic!
Thank you Brenda for sponsoring the hospital stay!
Thank you Julie for sponsoring a unit of anaesthetic!
Thank you Dawn for sponsoring the other unit of x-ray!
Thank you Denise for helping with anaesthetic!
Thank you Carmen for sponsoring anaesthetic!
Thank you Sharon for sponsoring 4 units of anaesthetic!
Thank you Tanapan for sponsoring the nerve block!
Thank you Michelle, for sponsoring anaesthetic!
Thank you, Diane for sponsoring three tooth removals and one unit of anaesthetic!
Thank you Sandy for sponsoring two tooth removals and one unit of anaesthetic!
Thank you Melissa for sponsoring tooth removal!
Thank you, Kelley for sponsoring two units of anaesthetic!
Thank you Leah for sponsoring the last two units of anaesthetic!
Thank you, Christine for sponsoring a tooth extraction!
Thank you, Melissa for helping with a tooth extraction!
Thank you, Jennifer for taking care of 5 extractions!
Thank you Jamie, for helping with extractions!
Thank you, Kristjan for also helping with extractions!
Thank you June for helping with extractions!
Thank you Vicki for helping with extractions!

$399/$1900 left!

PLEASE SHARE THIS POST!

13/06/2025

Just an FYI that I have had no access to FB on desktop for several days now. Unsure the issue but it’s just another nail in the coffin for this platform.

So, if you have commented on anything, I can’t see it as there are moderation filters I can’t access. If you have something important to relay, please message the page as I do have access to Messenger.

08/06/2025

SHOP TIL YOU DROP!

I'm please to announce that WLCA has opened Missy Mia's Emporium! An online store where you will find new, and nearly-new goods. The best part? All the money goes to the cats!

The store is going to operate much like our auctions do. We are not using a payment gateway so we can keep all the money rather than hand out 3% to a processor. So, if you've purchased from our auctions in the past, you'll know how shopping at Missy Mia's will go.

The difference with the store is you will use an online shopping cart and rather than entering personal banking information, an order list will be created and sent to the store manager to fill. You will get a confirmation email. Once you reply to the email to confirm you were the person who ordered the items, payment info will be provided and once the total has been paid, you will be able to pick up your items.

Items will update when we get them in from donors like you. Please refer to the "Donate" page on our new website for more information. For those of you on a laptop, or desktop, you will see a "Shop" button at the top right of the screen. Those on mobile or tablet will find "Missy Mia's Emporium" under "You Help."

At this point in time, you do not need an account to shop, but you will have to fill out some form fields so we know who you are when you purchase items. In the future, you may need to create an account, but for now, I just want to see how this goes the way it is. We have eight items currently in stock (some with multiples and variations).

Check out Missy Mia's Emporium and think about what you might want to buy, or donate! Feast or famine is tough. We hope to receive a steady source of income for the cats in care.

The website is winnipeglostcatassistancedotca (replace the "dot" with a "." so Facebook bots don't follow WLCA around.

06/06/2025

ASK AND YE SHALL RECEIVE!

As per a request and because I was going to get it done anyway (the request just sped it up), the new WLCA website now has a small form where you can sign up for post notification emails.

Not wanting to do annoying popups (I hate them), I have installed the form on the Posts Archive page as well as any of the post categories pages - in the sidebar.

Once a month, you'll get a roundup of anything new that has been posted and you won't miss out on any of the news, educational articles, cat tales or resources. Because the site is new, there is plenty more content in the works.

The form will send an email with a confirmation link. Please check your SPAM folder if you do not see this email within a few minutes.

Click on the photo to see what the whole form looks like.

winnipeglostcatassistancedotca (replace the "dot" with a ".")

04/06/2025

26 TEETH LATER ...

Thank you to everyone who donated to help Halo get her full-mouth dental! She is left with her four canines and some dissolvable sutures. It was a 3 hour surgery. Thank you to Dr McDonell and RAHTs who did a great job for her.

She stayed the night with us and has been doing really well. Because she hasn't eaten here so far, I'll be getting her back to her foster home so she can be with her sister in familiar territory and, hopefully, her appetite will come back. Other than that, she's working on clearing the haze of anaesthetic and opioids. She's happy, giving head-butts and commiserating with our cats on the other side of the foster room door (they can see each other).

Attached is the invoice for the procedure. It's a little confusing because I purchased a bag of hydrolyzed food for Shadow as well.

So, the total reads like this for Halo only:

Including discount

1962.85 + $98.15 GST = $2061 - $293 total donation credits called in to Machray = $1768 out of the WLCA bank account.

The difference between this total and what is on the receipt is the cost of the bag of food for Shadow.

We are still about $599 short for Acana's dental, so if you are able to donate this month, or into July, that will help get her taken care of. Acana's dental is July 14.

Donations can either be called in to Machray at 204-586-9721 or eTransfered to [email protected] or cheques mailed to 484 Stiles St. R3G 3A4 (make cheques out to Winnipeg Lost Cat Alert).

02/06/2025

WE ARE LIVE!!

The new WLCA website is up and running. I've have been working hard on this for the last couple of months. Between wading through new best practices, SEO, accessibility and endless options, I have a functional and, I think, pretty nice website. Please note, there are some differences in the layout between mobile, tablet and desktop. You may want to view all options for fun. The content is the same for all views.

This site will keep evolving as I add more dynamic content and functionality, but it's a solid start and provides the public with information we have had available for some time. With the removal of the FB Notes section, it became impossible to provide well-written, downloadable documents.

Now, I have the opportunity to write, and the information will be available for as long as it is relevant.

Please comment, or drop me a line through the contact form. I'd love to know what works for you, what doesn't, what you'd like to see added, etc.

Facebook is annoying me once again, appending their own tracking to the WLCA website. I don't want them messing with the analytics, so I'm going to spell out the website address phonetically and you can type it in rather than use their rejigged link. Man, this platform makes me mad.

👇👇

winnipeglostcatassistance dot ca (replace the "dot" with a "." when you type it in - all one word, no spaces).

👆👆

PLEASE SHARE!

Thanks, everyone!
Claudia

24/05/2025

Attention anyone who helps homeless cats!

Don’t pass up a great bargain on otherwise expensive supplies!

17/05/2025

AMAZING!

Thank you to everyone who has donated to Halo and Acana's dentals so far! We are still working on Acana's dental where we have $599 of $1900 left to go.

Twenty-nine people have contributed a total of $2809 toward three full-mouth dentals for Halo, Acana and Blue.

Shadow will also need a dental with extractions as he has broken teeth, but not because he has the same condition as these three kids do.

I know there are more than 29 people who follow WLCA, so please continue sharing Acana's post to reach more people.

Great work, everyone!

Share the post at link below or click on the photo and share from there:

https://www.facebook.com/photo?fbid=1095967829234081&set=a.461497786014425

SPONSORSHIP OPTIONS FOR ACANA'S DENTAL

!! $399/1900 LEFT TO GO !!

As you may have read, donations for Halo have exceeded the requested amount, so those funds are being put toward Acana's dental. The three siblings (Acana, Halo and Blue) all need a mouth full of teeth removed because of lymphocytic-plasmacytic gingivitis.

Acana's dental is scheduled for July.

If any of you would like to have a garage sale and donate the proceeds, or have a bake sale and do the same, or put together an auction for WLCA, or have a donation jar at a wedding, that would be really appreciated. For those that can't, who want to donate funds, the info is outlined below.

I have divided up the estimate into bite-size sponsorship chunks for those who can help. The following are available to sponsor:

IV fluids: PAID!
Anaesthetic induction: PAID!
Anaesthetic: PAID!
Nerve Block: PAID!
Dental X-ray: PAID!
Medication: PAID!
Hospital Stay: PAID!
Tooth extractions: 11.5 x $38

Total is $1900

Should the surgery come in at less than $1900, the balance will go toward Blue's identical dental in August. Excess donations from Acana's total will go to Blue's surgery.

------------------------------------------------------

Donations can be made in the following ways:

E-transfer to [email protected] (please send your security response word via email to the same address).

Call in a credit card to Machray Animal Hospital and ask them to credit the Winnipeg Lost Cat Assistance account for Acana's dental.

Make a cheque out to:
Winnipeg Lost Cat Alert (name isn't changed at the bank) and
send to 484 Stiles St, R3G 3A4 (volunteer that accepts mail-in donations for WLCA). Message the page to notify a cheque is on the way.

-------------------------------------------------------

Thank you very much, everyone! If the response for Halo is any indication of how it's going to go for Acana, we're going to be in good shape by the time her dental rolls around in July.

----------------------------------------------------------

Thank you Vicki for helping with IV fluids!
Thank you Donna for helping with tooth extraction, anaesthetic induction, one unit of dental x-ray, and medication!
Thank you Wendy for sponsoring medication!
Thank you Swapnil for helping with anaesthetic!
Thank you Robin for sponsoring anaesthetic!
Thank you Brenda for sponsoring the hospital stay!
Thank you Julie for sponsoring a unit of anaesthetic!
Thank you Dawn for sponsoring the other unit of x-ray!
Thank you Denise for helping with anaesthetic!
Thank you Carmen for sponsoring anaesthetic!
Thank you Sharon for sponsoring 4 units of anaesthetic!
Thank you Tanapan for sponsoring the nerve block!
Thank you Michelle, for sponsoring anaesthetic!
Thank you, Diane for sponsoring three tooth removals and one unit of anaesthetic!
Thank you Sandy for sponsoring two tooth removals and one unit of anaesthetic!
Thank you Melissa for sponsoring tooth removal!
Thank you, Kelley for sponsoring two units of anaesthetic!
Thank you Leah for sponsoring the last two units of anaesthetic!
Thank you, Christine for sponsoring a tooth extraction!
Thank you, Melissa for helping with a tooth extraction!
Thank you, Jennifer for taking care of 5 extractions!
Thank you Jamie, for helping with extractions!
Thank you, Kristjan for also helping with extractions!
Thank you June for helping with extractions!
Thank you Vicki for helping with extractions!

$399/$1900 left!

PLEASE SHARE THIS POST!