March 2019 Newsletter
Hello Yogie Fans!
Well, we are still a bit behind on getting the outside catio built for the new cat house. The weather has been crazy. We get a day, here and there, that isn’t raining, but it isn’t enough to be able to build due to the wet grounds. In fact, the new building is settling more than expected, so it messed up the door closing properly. Gemco did come out to work on the leveling, then it started raining too much to finish. They did get it level enough to make the door a little better, but we must wait for the ground to dry more and they will put some better leveling pads under the building for us. They said it is common to need releveling on larger buildings, but there has been far too much rain over the past couple of months and that is delaying things. Hopefully we can get the outdoor catio done for our cats to enjoy a safe, outdoor, playground.
Finn, the cat with the ruptured eardrum is responding well to steroids, which is a very good thing. But, how to prevent something like this from happening again is the issue that concerns us. There was no trauma that caused this, but apparently, he has waxy ears and chronic infections that he doesn’t present with. The vet said there is no approved ear meds for cats, and we were hoping there was something preventative we could do to help keep his ears clean. We are researching this issue with some vet schools.
Just a couple of nights ago another cat, Mittens, went to jump up on a nightstand and somehow missed. She apparently hit her mouth on the side of the stand and fractured a canine. She was brought into the bedroom where Finn is recuperating to watch her. She was acting like she had something stuck in her mouth and kept pawing at it, but she didn’t act like she was in pain or distress. We did get her to our vet the following morning. The thing we worry about is any infection developing in the pulp of the tooth and causing severe sinus infections. We have seen this happen. We will watch closely to ensure there is nothing serious happening. If there is any worsening, they will remove the tooth.
We had to get another cat, Natasha, seen for a sore she kept licking to the point it caused her to develop staph on the sore. She is one of our oldest cats, at about 16 years old. She is otherwise healthy for her age.
The biggest issue with cats is missing signs of illness. Since they are such experts at hiding illness and injury it presents us with more serious medical needs when they do present. We realize its nature’s way of preservation for the animal, but it sure makes it difficult for us. We want only the best for them.
FLEA CONTROL: Louisiana is horrible for flea problems. Even our veterinarians agree that many of the preventatives are no longer effective and new treatments are coming out. We usually wait a while before trying any of the new releases due to any possible side effects. We treat the property with food grade diatomaceous earth, which is very safe and effective, but messy. With all the rain we have had we are not able to treat the property right now. We treat all year long. Fleas have a cycle of the eggs, larva, and adult, that all need to be killed, and that is over a period of time. Meanwhile, we are trying to get Seresto Flea collars for all our Yogie cats. They vary in price, but we are doing our research for the best price. We have 66 cats we are caring for. Our vet highly recommends the collars or Bravecto 3 month topical for the cats. Both are pricey options, but not as costly as flea related illnesses that can often lead to death. Prevention is key. If you can help us get these items, then please let us know. We want all our animals to be comfortable and parasite free.
SPONSORSHIP: Sponsorship is a very important way to help our animals. 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. If each cat had a regular, monthly, sponsor, it would help ease the burden of care for the animals we provide sanctuary for. Would you please consider sponsoring one of our animals? We really need you.
Please note that more than one person may sponsor a cat 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.
CRITICAL NEEDS: Vet care is always a primary need. Scoopable cat litter, preferable unscented, but we will take any, as well as cat food, are a given. We feed Friskies or Fancy Feast canned pate, or Purina Cat Chow complete. We do have some on an expensive urinary tract formula that we have to get at the vet. If you can help with a monetary donation, please do. We really hope you can help us in this area.
PAYPAL: Did you know you can do automatic monthly donations to Yogie and Friends via PayPal? This is an easy and effective way to help our fundraising for the animals. You can also choose to pay the fees by selecting the Friends and Family option in PayPal ensuring we would receive the entire amount of your donation. Our PayPal is: yogieandfriends@hotmail.com
CHEWY: Do you shop for pet food and supplies at Chewy. Well, we are a pet partner with Chewy.com. Enter the Chewy website from the link on the Yogie and Friends website and we will get a portion of the sales. This is a great way to help our cats and we hope you will select us as your charity. You can use this link with our partner number: www.chewy.com/rp/6019
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.
We also have an Amazon wish list to help feed our cats and kittens. We need you!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/?ie=UTF8&cid=A2LGJPU9KN7C2N
Cats in need of Sponsoring:
FIV/Feline Leukemia Positive Cats:
Alex
Gatsby
Sunny
VooDoo
Frazier
Bubba
Oreo
Dotsey
Sarah
Ursula
Olaf
Brexit
Sasha
Yeti
Non-Positive Cats:
Hope
Elsa
Max
Barney
Anna
Duncan
Grace
Muff
Blackie
Penelope
Blacky
Duckie
Lucy
Smudge
Squeak
Smokey
Bandit
Snowball
Natasha
Boo
Miss Kitty
Paisley
Sam
Isabella
Grayson (Pending Snap Test/Neutering)
You can also mail your donations to us at:
Yogie and Friends
128 Fob Lane
Frierson, LA 71027
Louisiana and Texas Kroger Shoppers: If you link 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
Donations of cash can be done in several ways, online via PayPal. You do not need a PayPal account to use a credit card to make a one-time donation via PayPal. Or you can mail a check or money order to: Yogie and Friends, 128 Fob Lane, Frierson, LA 71027
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.
Facebook: Please like and follow us on Facebook at Yogie and Friends FIV+ Cat Sanctuary. 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.
Upcoming Events:
13 April 2019 11am – 3 pm Spring Bake Sale and Fundraiser
Petco, 6596 Youree Drive, Shreveport
7 May 2019 All Day Give for Good Day On-Line Giving Day
11 May 2019 10am – 6pm Olive Oil & Vinegar Tasting (On-Line/In-Store) Bella Nonna’s Olive Oil & Vinegar – Tasting Bar
1409 E. 70th St., Suite 107 Shreveport, LA
PLEASE spay and neuter your pets. Adopt! Don’t Shop!
Jenny and the Yogie and Friends Gang!
Posted in Monthly Newsletter, The News
February 2019 Newsletter
Hello Yogie Fans!
We hope this newsletter finds all our friends, and their fur friends, safe, happy, and, healthy.
We have had some medical challenges with a couple of cats this past month. And sadly, the thing with cats is, they are EXPERTS at hiding illnesses until they are in a critical state. It’s one reason why we are adamant about observing our cats’ habits and behaviors. Even with that, it is sometimes difficult to catch a problem before it needs bigger intervention. I had to rush Brexit to the ER vet since he was exhibiting signs of a UTI and obstruction, which CAN kill a cat. We got him to our regular veterinarian, Dr. Core, the next day, and Brexit did in fact, have a bad UTI with crystals. He is a young male, which surprised us, but it happens in all ages. He spent a week in the hospital and is now on a special, somewhat expensive, prescription diet now. He is doing very well.
Finn
Another of our rescues, Finn, was losing balance to the point we thought he had a stroke. When our vet scoped his inner ears under anesthesia, he found that Finn has a ruptured ear drum. This will heal, but it has been a very expensive journey with CT and hospitalization. He will have a follow-up on the 25th.
Between the ER, Cat Scan, hospitalizations, and medications, we had over $3000 in vet bills. That was a hit we could have done without.
NEW CATS: There was a lady in my neighborhood that moved and abandoned her beautiful cat, and another cat she was feeding. When I finally got the cats to adjust and trust me, I got one of them tested so far, and he has tested positive for FIV. I haven’t gotten the other cat yet, who is still intact and will be neutered. I found a female kitten, that I was able to get to trust me and she was spayed this past Thursday. She is about 5 months old, but unfortunately, she tested positive for Feline Leukemia. We do not mix those cats with our other population. Since she is young, we will retest and hopefully that comes back negative. It does happen. We just wish they were all negative, so people don’t wrongly euthanize them. There is no reason to do so. They can live long, otherwise healthy, lives.
Oreo is a beautiful long-haired Tuxedo. He’s sweet but does play rough at times and gets a little bitey when he gets excited from all the love. He is FIV+ and the vet estimates he is about 4 or 5 years old.
Grayson is a beautiful gray and white cat that is still intact. He is scheduled for neutering soon and hope he tests negative.
Sasha is the female, tabby, kitten that tested positive for leukemia, but we are hopeful she will retest negative in a few months. She is spayed now and is a very sweet girl. She is only about five or six months.
GIVE FOR GOOD GIVING DAY: May 7th is the annual, Give for Good giving day. Yogie and Friends is once again approved to participate in this annual, on-line, giving, event. It starts just after midnight on May 7th and runs all day. It’s an opportunity for non-profits all over the country to raise much needed funds for their organization
WATCH RAFFLE: We are raffling off his and her watches. Tickets are a donation of $2.00 each and you can purchase them via PayPal at yogieandfriends@hotmail.com Please make sure you select the Friends and Family option so that you are the one who pays the PayPal fees. This ensures we get the entire $2.00. Also, DO NOT say raffle, but put WATCHES in the comments. You can also send a check or money order to: Yogie and Friends, 128 Fob Lane, Frierson, LA 71027. Make sure you provide a legible name and good contact phone number. The drawing will be held at 3 p.m. at the spring bake sale In April. Winner need not be present. We can mail the watches to winners outside of the area, but in the United States only.
SPONSORSHIP: Sponsorship is a very important way to help our animals. 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. If each cat had a regular, monthly, sponsor, it would help ease the burden of care for the animals we provide sanctuary for. Would you please consider sponsoring one of our animals? We really need you.
Please note that more than one person may sponsor a cat 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.
CRITICAL NEEDS: Vet care is always a primary need. Scoopable cat litter, preferable unscented, but we will take any, as well as cat food, are a given. We feed Friskies or Fancy Feast canned pate, or Purina Cat Chow complete. We do have some on an expensive urinary tract formula that we have to get at the vet. If you can help with a monetary donation, please do. We really hope you can help us in this area.
PAYPAL: Did you know you can do automatic monthly donations to Yogie and Friends via PayPal? This is an easy and effective way to help our fundraising for the animals. You can also choose to pay the fees by selecting the Friends and Family option in PayPal ensuring we would receive the entire amount of your donation. Our PayPal is: yogieandfriends@hotmail.com
CHEWY: Do you shop for pet food and supplies at Chewy. Well, we are a pet partner with Chewy.com. Enter the Chewy website from the link on the Yogie and Friends website and we will get a portion of the sales. This is a great way to help our cats and we hope you will select us as your charity. You can use this link with our partner number: www.chewy.com/rp/6019
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.
We also have an Amazon wish list to help feed our cats and kittens. We need you!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/?ie=UTF8&cid=A2LGJPU9KN7C2N
Cats in need of Sponsoring:
FIV/Feline Leukemia Positive Cats:
Alex
Gatsby
Sunny
VooDoo
Frazier
Bubba
Oreo
Dotsey
Sarah
Ursula
Olaf
Brexit
Sasha
Non-Positive Cats:
Hope
Elsa
Max
Barney
Anna
Duncan
Grace
Muff
Blackie
Penelope
Blacky
Duckie
Lucy
Smudge
Squeak
Smokey
Bandit
Snowball
Natasha
Boo
Miss Kitty
Paisley
Sam
Grayson (Pending Snap Test/Neutering)
You can also mail your donations to us at:
Yogie and Friends
128 Fob Lane
Frierson, LA 71027
Louisiana and Texas Kroger Shoppers: If you link 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
Donations of cash can be done in several ways, online via PayPal. You do not need a PayPal account to use a credit card to make a one-time donation via PayPal. Or you can mail a check or money order to: Yogie and Friends, 128 Fob Lane, Frierson, LA 71027
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.
Facebook: Please like and follow us on Facebook at Yogie and Friends FIV+ Cat Sanctuary. 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.
Upcoming Events:
6 April 2019 11am – 3 pm Spring Bake Sale and Fundraiser
Petco, 6596 Youree Drive, Shreveport
7 May 2019 All Day Give for Good Day On-Line Giving Day
TBD June 2018 Olive Oil & Vinegar Tasting (On-Line/In-Store) Bella Nonna’s Olive Oil & Vinegar – Tasting Bar
1409 E. 70th St., Suite 107
Shreveport, LA
PLEASE spay and neuter your pets. Adopt! Don’t Shop!
Jenny and the Yogie and Friends Gang!
Posted in Monthly Newsletter, The News
January 2019 Newsletter
Happy New Year to our Yogie and Friends Fans!
Another year has come and gone, and we always wonder where has the time gone? Some of our plans for 2018 came to fruition, and some are still a work in progress. That’s okay though. It comes with the territory of the type of work we do. We must prioritize what we can, and will do, but the priority is ALWAYS the health and well-being of our animals. If that puts us behind on some work completion, that is fine with us. As long as our animals are healthy, safe, and, happy, then that is good. The other things will work their way out.
Thank you to ALL our volunteer staff. Everyone at Yogie and Friends is a volunteer. None of us receives any compensation for the work we do at the sanctuary because we want 100% of the proceeds to go to taking care of the animals. So, thanks to our volunteers. Here are the Yogie and Friends people:
Tim Mills – Founder and Board Member
Jenny Senier – Director
Vicki Volk – Vice President and Board Member
Damon and Paige Bass – Webmasters
Jaret Snow – Board Member
Alan Golden – Board Member
Andrea Labor – Volunteer Staff
We have had some challenges and sad losses throughout 2018, but it is not unexpected due to the nature of our rescue. We are heartbroken with every loss.
Who we loved and lost during 2018:
African Serval, Speedy, 12 January
African Lioness, Yogie. 2000 – 18 February 2018
Petey – Black and White DLH, 27 February 2018
Casper, Solid White DSH – 23 March 2018
American Bobcat, Taz – 15 April 2018
Bruno, Seal Point Siamese – 22 October 2018
We loved and miss them.
We want to thank our volunteers and supporters who came out and helped us with our gift wrapping, and the Christmas Bake Sale. We meet so many great people at our events and it’s also a chance to catch up with old friends. We had a good bake sale and it helped us pay off a veterinarian bill, which is great. We try and always pay as we go, but sometimes it’s not always possible. We are happily back to a clean slate of no debt and are working on building our funds to remain that way.
We are looking forward to a new year with new, and more exciting, positive changes, for our facility. We are working on clearing the old property of the big cat habitats. Our new cat building is basically completed, except for the outside catio, which won’t prevent us from using it for the cats. We are working on grants to complete a big, outdoor, catio as soon as possible.
We are at capacity at this time, but we hope, in the not too distant future, that we can expand to accept more cats in need. We don’t want to take on more than we can handle, both handler wise, and financially. Since our cats remain with us forever, we must be careful not to overextend ourselves. That would not be fair to the cats already in our sanctuary. This is also where sponsorship comes in. We need you to help us continue to provide for the residents at Yogie and Friends and we hope you will consider doing so.
SPONSORSHIP: Sponsorship is a very important way to help our animals. 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. If each cat had a regular, monthly, sponsor, it would help ease the burden of care for the animals we provide sanctuary for. Would you please consider sponsoring one of our animals? We really need you.
Please note that more than one person may sponsor a cat, 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.
CRITICAL NEEDS: Vet care is always a primary need. Scoopable cat litter, preferable unscented, but we will take any, as well as cat food, are a given. We feed Friskies or Fancy Feast canned pate, or Purina Cat Chow complete. We do have some on an expensive urinary tract formula that we have to get at the vet. If you can help with a monetary donation, please do. We really hope you can help us in this area.
PAYPAL: Did you know you can do automatic monthly donations to Yogie and Friends via PayPal? This is an easy and effective way to help our fundraising for the animals. You can also choose to pay the fees by selecting the Friends and Family option in PayPal ensuring we would receive the entire amount of your donation. Our PayPal is: yogieandfriends@hotmail.com
CHEWY: Do you shop for pet food and supplies at Chewy. Well, we are a pet partner with Chewy.com. Enter the Chewy website from the link on the Yogie and Friends website and we will get a portion of the sales. This is a great way to help our cats and we hope you will select us as your charity. You can use this link with our partner number: www.chewy.com/rp/6019
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.
We also have an Amazon wish list to help feed our cats and kittens. We need you!
http://www.amazon.com/gp/registry/wishlist/?ie=UTF8&cid=A2LGJPU9KN7C2N
Cats in need of Sponsoring:
FIV/Feline Leukemia Positive Cats:
Alex
Gatsby
Sunny
VooDoo
Frazier
Bubba
Nimitz
Dotsey
Sarah
Ursula
Olaf
Brexit
Non-Positive Cats:
Hope
Elsa
Max
Barney
Anna
Duncan
Grace
Muff
Blackie
Penelope
Blacky
Duckie
Lucy
Smudge
Squeak
Smokey
Bandit
Snowball
Natasha
Boo
Miss Kitty
Paisley
Sam
You can also mail your donations to us at:
Yogie and Friends
128 Fob Lane
Frierson, LA 71027
Louisiana and Texas Kroger Shoppers: If you link 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
Donations of cash can be done in several ways, online via PayPal. You do not need a PayPal account to use a credit card to make a one-time donation via PayPal. Or you can mail a check or money order to: Yogie and Friends, 128 Fob Lane, Frierson, LA 71027
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.
Facebook: Please like and follow us on Facebook at Yogie and Friends FIV+ Cat Sanctuary. 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.
Upcoming Events:
None scheduled at this time
PLEASE spay and neuter your pets. Adopt! Don’t Shop!
Jenny and the Yogie and Friends Gang!
Posted in Monthly Newsletter, The News