November 2016 Newsletter

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Greetings Yogie Fans!

Fall is finally here, but looking at this Louisiana weather you would never know it. We are still pushing temps in the high 80s and 90s. We want some cooler weather.

We want to thank everyone that came out to support us at both the Margaritaville Paws in Paradise and our Eat a (Hot) Dog, Save a Cat at Dunkin Donuts. We get to meet some great people and we even have some possible new volunteers. We need the help and look forward to welcoming them on board. So, thank you all again for supporting out cats at these events. They are a lot of work, but so worth the effort.

After all these years, we finally have a logo. We thank Corie Tesch for her design that pics our beginnings and current mission. We thank her so much for a great job.

We are happy to announce that the Shreveport-Bossier Louisiana Comic Con is returning for a two-day con on April 22nd and 23rd, 2017. This event will be held at the Hirsch Coliseum in Shreveport and Yogie and Friends has been invited back to be a vendor. We are thrilled to be a part of this. This is one event we also get a chance to get creative on costumes and have a little play for us. We cannot wait.

Just say “NO” November. We decided that we need to give ourselves a little break from doing events. Just for a little bit. We will still be caring for our cats as we always do, but we do a lot of events on our own or with other cat rescues and right now we need to take a little time for family and friends. We consider the cats our family too, so we will be sitting around and just loving on them as part of our rest. It’s a very relaxing thing to do.

The “Six Pack” Kittens: The kittens that we pulled from the local animal pound are thriving. If you are following us on Facebook, you will see these little beauties. We have named them, Bert, Ernie, Kay, Rocket, Dorian, and Ziggy. These kittens are a hoot and keep me busy. I’m afraid I have fallen in love with each one of them, and Ernie knows how to pull my heartstrings, but I will lovingly let them go to adoptive homes once they are ready. We will be putting them up for adoption in a few weeks.

the-six-pack

We’ve had a few medical needs with a couple of the cats, which is not unexpected, but they are all doing amazingly well. It does hurt the purse strings and we can use your help with donations. As you know we have always been, and remain, a 100% volunteer driven organization. Everything goes to the care of the animals. We use the money only to support them. That includes: cat/kitten food, cat litter, veterinary care, flea meds, utilities (water, electric), and rent. We don’t have a huge overhead, but we do need your continued support and appreciate it. Your donations are tax-deductible to the fullest extent of the law. There are several ways you can help:

Donate Cash:

Donations of cash are what we need most. You can donate online via PayPal. You do not need a PayPal account to use a credit card to make a one-time donation via PayPal.

Louisiana and Texas Kroger Shoppers: If you have not already done so, it’s time to relink your Kroger Community Rewards to your Kroger Plus Card. Every time you shop at a Texas or Louisiana Kroger and use your Plus Card, Kroger will donate a portion of the sale to Yogie and Friends to help the FIV and other special needs cats we have at the sanctuary. Every little bit helps! Here is the link to enroll or sign in (if you are already enrolled). Choose us as your charity of choice. NPO #80724, Yogie and Friends Exotic Cat Sanctuary (we will be fixing the name later, but it’s still all good). https://www.kroger.com/communityrewards

 

Recycle Ink Cartridges: New labels have arrived and are available for you to ship cartridges out for recycling. Please consider helping us with our recycling program.  Don’t throw those old ink jet/laser jet cartridges in the trash. Give them to us or let us mail you the labels so you can send them out directly and save us a step. We recycle them and get cash for the cats. You can box up the cartridges; put a prepaid label on it that we will provide you, and then drop it off at any UPS shipping facility or they can pick it up at your business. If you need labels, then just contact us and we will get some to you.

Volunteers: We need dedicated volunteers. Volunteering at Yogie and Friends does have its rewards. You get to cuddle with some great cats. You get to meet great people with a similar love for cats and for what we are doing. And we will feed you! Lol! But really, it’s a good feeling and the work is not that difficult. Yes, we will have some very labor intensive jobs as we repurpose the property to safely accommodate domestic cats and yes, there is lawn work, but that’s not all that is needed. We need volunteers who will scoop litter boxes, sweep and mop floors, clean counter tops and work spaces, poop scoop the outdoor cat play areas, and other basic cleaning needs. We also have cats need to be loved and socialized. We hope you will consider helping us make our mission a successful one. Please volunteer with us and help us make life a little nicer for these special cats. You can contact us via email at yogieandfriends@hotmail.com and our volunteer coordinator will call you as soon as possible.

New Buildings: We really need a couple of new buildings to be more self-supportive on site. In other words if we can do all of our non-emergency vet visits on site it would be less stressful to our animals needing vet care. We already purchased hold kennels and an exam table from a veterinarian who retired and closed her practice. Now we would like to set up a small clinic on the premises. Also, we are looking to purchase at least one, if not two, larger buildings to give our current residents more room and plan for the future needs of the sanctuary. Right now the buildings we are looking at purchasing from Gemco will cost approximately $8000 total. Then there will be installing electric, water, insulation, drywall, and the typical things to make it what it needs to be. It’s really not as difficult to do and that’s the beauty of the Gemco buildings. We considered getting them already finished, but that doubles the cost when we have the skills to do so ourselves. Our military discounts help with the materials at places such as Lowe’s or Home Depot. We are very good stewards of our donations.

Facebook: We have a new Facebook page now. It is called, Yogie and Friends Special Needs Cats. It is a strictly controlled page so that nobody is every bullied or threatened on our page by others. It’s a safe page to share educational information and news about our wonderful cats. Please like on the page and share with your friends.

WISH LIST: We are in desperate need of cat litter and canned cat food. We are currently using Purina Complete and Purina Indoor Formula for dry food, and Friskies canned (all types). As far as cat litter we use Tidy Cat Scoopable without any scents in it such as Glade. Cats don’t like scented cat litter. We use no harsh chemical products for cleaning. For pest control we use food grade diatomaceous earth that we spread on the grounds. This is available at most feed stores. Also, washable blankets and throws are greatly appreciated. Please email us if you have any questions about helping with supplies.

SPONSOR A SPECIAL NEEDS CAT:  We are looking for sponsors for our cats. We hope that is you. FIV (Feline Immunodeficiency Virus) is a feline only, slow-acting virus. It is so slow to progress that most FIV+ cats die of old age.  Once thought to be deadly and highly contagious, it has since been found to be neither. Just as HIV was once believed to be a death sentence for those afflicted, so it is still with FIV. Only in the case of cats, the mere diagnosis produces that death sentence. Fortunately there are many veterinarians who don’t believe that this is the case and this is why we got four FIV cats. We got them from veterinarians who did not want to kill them. We do NOT want these cats to die just because of this diagnosis either. They deserve the chance to live. And live they will with us. Now that we have our first FIV positive cats living comfortably in their new home at Yogie and Friends, they will need your support. By sponsoring one of the FIV cats you will be providing food, medical care, and their basic care and support. 100% of the sponsorship goes to the care of these animals. None of the Yogie volunteer staff receives ANY compensation for the work we do.

Sponsors Needed:

Please note that some cats may be sponsored by more than one person, but rest assured that all sponsor funds are used for the ongoing care of our cats.

You can sponsor a cat for just $15 a month, $45 a quarter, or $180 a year.

Cats in need of Sponsoring:

FIV/Feline Leukemia Positive Cats:

Petey
Gatsby
Paisley
Sunny
VooDoo
Frazier
Bubba
King
Dotsey
Bruno
Alex
Splotchie
Little Billy

Non-Positive Cats:

Hope
Kristoff
Anna
Sarah
Blackie
Luna
Lucy
Squeak
Bandit
Natasha
Miss Kitty
Max
Elsa
Barney
Duncan
Muff
Penelope
Duckie
Smudge
Smokey
Snowball
Boo
Blackie 2

 

You can mail your donations to us at:

Yogie and Friends
128 Fob Lane
Frierson, LA 71027

 

If you wish to make a donation on a regular basis and do not wish to use PayPal, your bank can set up automatic payments for you.

AMAZON WISH LIST: If you shop via Amazon.com you select Yogie and Friends as your charity of choice. They will donate a percentage of the sales to us. It’s a very easy way to help.

https://smile.amazon.com/

We also have an Amazon wish list to help with the feeding and caring of our feral cat colonies as well as the adoptable cats and kittens we are fostering. Please help if you can.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/?ie=UTF8&cid=A2LGJPU9KN7C2N

We still need your financial help with the nine big cats we are boarding and any and all donations are appreciated as we continue to care for them. They are safe and well.

Money we raise during any of our fundraisers goes to the boarding of our big cats and for TNR. We have always been, and will continue to be, a 100% volunteer driven organization.

 

Upcoming Events:

 

17 Dec 2016             11am – 4 pm Holiday Bake Sale and Fundraiser

                                                                 Petco, 6596 Youree Drive, Shreveport

23/23 Apr 2017        10am – 6 pm SBC Louisiana Comic Con

                                                                    Hirsch Coliseum, Shreveport, LA

 

PLEASE spay and neuter your pets. Adopt! Don’t Shop! Also, please continue heartworm prevention all year round and not just in the summer months. Heartworm disease can be transmitted all year.

Jenny and the Yogie and Friends Gang!


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