Found dog in HP needs foster/adoption

A local vet took in this beautiful young female pittie who was roaming the streets after being hit by a car.This girl is so very sweet and gentle that he's giving her a couple of weeks to find a home. Are you interested in adopting or fostering her?

She's one year of less, may be about sixty pounds when filled out, and is waiting for someone to give her a name.

Temperament: this dog has an easy going, loping style. She has soft body language around people and wagged her whole body when we took her out of her kennel. She is very gentle with her mouth when playing. She would rather be beside her handler than chase a ball. She is very engaging with people. Not frantic or hyper even in a kennel context. (Volunteer who wrote this is not a certified temp tester. These are just impressions after spending half an hour with her.)

Other animals: The vet techs report that this dog plays well with other dogs in the exercise yard. She wagged her tail while walking past barking dogs when volunteers were visiting. She has not been assessed with cats but can be.

Adoption update

Domino found a furrever home! Congratulations Domino and his new dad (and former catsitter) Steve, and merci to fosterparents Claire and Olivier for all your loving care. Their other fostercat Polly also found a home recently!

Domino has been with us quite a while, coming in with a bleeding wound Refresh yourself on Domino's story.

33

Thirty-three cats were dropped off at the Animal Welfare League on 62nd and Wabash over the weekend. Two of our volunteers went there yesterday and took photographs of some of those beautiful cats. AWL at 62nd is an intake-only facility. The animals there only have two ways out: to be "pulled" by a rescue organization (who will offer them for adoption through their own program) or to be euthanized. This is the reality of the pet-overpopulation crisis ... that we rescue one, and thirty-three are dropped off at the facility. Still, we rescued one.

Facebook album of cats at Animal Welfare League yesterday.

Ingram and Babette are adorable three month old kittens who love to play and snuggle! Ingram is an orange and white kitten who purrs upon contact. His sister Babette is very fearless and feisty. These two love to wrestle and play with each other. They promise countless hours of entertainment and snuggles for their adopter. Kid-tested, snuggly wuggly kittens.

Thanks Fran S. for the litterboxes!

Sundae

Sundae found a new home this week! (and his granddad is a vet)

Thanks to Meng N., Kim M., and James M. for their continuing donations.

Israel cats

Last summer, we brought you some pics of ear-tipped cats lounging in Istanbul. This summer one of our volunteers took some photos of cats both ear-tipped and not in Israel. The above kitty has made her home in a park by the Tel Aviv train station and is tipped (not visible in picture).

Non-tipped but beautiful kitty.

Desert kitty whose best friend is a camel. Seriously.

Sea cat.

Sweet unwanted kitty who was lucky enough to be dumped with our volunteer's relatives as a kitten--she is now fixed and can loll around car rooftops to her heart's delight.

Treehouse run

Every couple weeks we do a "Treehouse run," where multiple cats are driven to and from the Treehouse clinic for their TNA or TNR package. All our cats get the full menu of care, including microchip, ear cleaning, and vaccinations; TNA cats don't get the eartip. Above is a photo of a typical carload: one kitten, three TNA adults, and one TNR cat in a trap (covered for his comfort).

These trips require a lot of coordination, so thanks to Laura S. for coordinating this and the medical care for our foster cats, and to those of you who spend your time driving: Anna G., Mary Jean K., Brianna A., Andrea F., Kim M., Mireille D., Laura T., Che N., Ainat M., and Laura S. (again). Without these people volunteering to drive up to EIGHT cats at a time to and from the clinic, we would not be able to TNR or adopt out cats at all. A proactive thank you to Meg M. who is driving three cats this Friday in the heat ... so that Ophelia, Jane, and Susanna never go into heat!

If you would like to help out with this important task, even if it's just once in a while, it would be so fantastic to have another driver in the rotation. Email hydeparkcats@gmail.com to learn more.

Extra water for all animals today!

Lilah and Solje in Hyde Park put out this dog-watering station. Remember extra water for all animals today!

HEATWAVE!

Chicago, like many places in the US, is experiencing a heatwave this week. If you feed outdoor cats, remember to give them extra water (perhaps lots of ice cubes!). I put out a bowl of water in my backyard for wildlife and the one feral cat who roams past sometimes. Photograph shows what Anna S. did in her neighborhood. Inspiring! I hope to see lots of bowls just like this on my way home today.

Do you have tips for keeping pets and local wildlife (birds, etc.) cool in the heat? Leave a comment.

Do you have a great picture of your cat (indoor or outdoor) beating the heat? Send it to hydeparkcats@gmail.com! All week will be Hot Cat Week!

Sundae

Sundae is an adorable gray and white tabby boy (less than one year) who was rescued from the streets of Woodlawn by a caring resident (thanks Kimaya!) and some of our caring volunteers. We think he may have been hit by a car--he had a lot of damage to his pawpads and his nose. He is fixed up now, virus tested (neg/neg), and in Helen B.'s loving fosterhome. He has a foster catbrother who he is interested in, so he would be great as a second cat. Helen says he's simply incredible: "He's amazing with people, he jumps on all of our guests' laps and begs for attention. He's wonderful!"

Reese's Pieces

From our Facebook Wall, June 26:

"My partner and I found a very cute, very tiny calico kitten mewing loudly at the corner of 47th and Cornell tonight. (It seems to live in the woods on the SW corner of the intersection, by the Metra tracks.) It is hungry but extremely skittish; we could only get it to eat when we brought it food and then backed up. It is so afraid that we aren’t able to catch it. Any suggestions about what to do or who could help?" -- Faith H.

Faith and her partner, Reese, borrowed one of our HPC traps and did manage to catch this girl. She arrived the same day for a short stay chez Ruth, who wrote that "She's around 6 weeks - very sweet and healthy looking. Not scared of humans at all ... she seemed glad to be inside and cared for -- I hate to think of that little poppet fending outside on her own."

It became clear, however, that not all was right with this orange and black (like reeses pieces!) beauty. As it turned out, she had a fractured pelvis. Now, that had completely healed, but that injury had led to perineal hernias on both sides. Reese's was in considerable discomfort. After the vets (plural) conferred on her case, we learned there was no long-term solution for her. She was humanely euthanized this morning in the loving arms of her fostermoms, Laura and Eudora.

We at HPCs, and especially fostermoms, were very grateful and happy to give sweet-as-candy Reese several weeks of love and affection. She was a fun and loving girl. If she hadn't been found and looked after, she would have ended up suffering greatly before dying outside, alone, hungry. Reese's Pieces, we're glad you were here with us, and hope you have found our other Hyde Park Cats who went to The Rainbow Bridge.

hot hot hot hot

So ... tired ... hot ... need ... adoptive homes with fans ... or a/c ... or ... foreverparent with ... handheld fan and ... luv ...

Chandler Bell

Chandlerbell is an approximately four-month old kitten who was turned over to us by his owner, who said he couldn't take care of him (and Chandler was quite underweight). Just like Tinkerbell in Peter Pan, she's very feisty and small and oh so adorable!!! She is being fostered with two other cats and is very playful. We think she would do great with a dog friend.

round up

Tomorrow(Saturday) 12-3: Adoption event at Parkers, a natural dog and cat market, 1342 East 55th Street. Meet some of our adoptable kitties. Album of some of our adoptable kittehs!

lost cat

Thanks to Sue K. for the monetary donation and the litter supplies.

Beasts and Beauty, a new blog by one of our volunteers, who also does a lot of work with Chicagoland Bully Breed Rescue. You'll hear about animal rescue in Chicago from someone who's starting to think that we're all just beasts--for better and for worse.

available for adoption!

Available for Adoption.

Please check the link above to find out more about our available cats!

Sweet William

Sweet William, a friendly TNR from Tanya's Tribe. William had somehow gotten into her basement--he must have figured out that's where homeless cats got fed--and was hiding out there! This photo was taken post-surgery in his overnight fosterspace. He is a sweet young orange male cat. We have returned him and Tanya will take good care of him.

People often query (sometimes very rudely) why or how we could possibly return a friendly cat to the street. The answer is there are simply not enough indoor homes for all of them. Cats who have received their veterinary care courtesy of us and who have caretakers must (generally) be returned; our very limited fosterspaces are (usually) for needy/homeless cats who do NOT have the fortune to be part of a caretaken colony. The other option is to bring cats to a kill shelter, and we believe that feral or even friendly COLONY cats (not solo friendly cats) are better served by the TNR movement.

Thanks to recent donors Faith H., Mike H., Leslie S., and Katherine K., who donated "in memory of Josie and in honor of Mr. Ori."

Dottie

Dottie is a very loving and affectionate black and white sweetie PIE. She was found living under a porch and the family took her in. She's been spayed, virus tested (neg/neg), vaccinated, dewormed, and microchipped, so she's ready to go home anyday! She's about two years old. She's just very affectionate and friendly and a great lap cat. She would do fine as an only cat and would just love to have a home to roam. Wookit her widdle pink nose, iz so cute. Her finders will send her home with a brand-new covered litterbox and cat bed.

Happy 4th

Join us on Monday July 4th for the Hyde Park 4th on 53rd Parade!

In this annual event, a parade of citizens and community groups "marches" a short route through HP and ends up in Nichols Park, bringing out folks from all corners of our neighborhood--and beyond. This is a great opportunity for us to get our name out there, and, we hope, bring in new volunteers, new foster families, new adopters!
If you march with us, you get one of our nifty new buttons to wear--free (design is the image above)! (We're going to be selling them later for $1). To march, you just have to have a good attitude and help us pass out our cards or bookmarks to people on the street. Show up in the parking lot behind the Hyde Park Bank Building (53rd off Lake Park) at 9 am (or find us while marching. Bring a water bottle.

Mr Scooter Candy Man

Mr Man was abandoned in a carrier outside of the vet's office last week. A person who lives above the vet happened to see him--it was nighttime and about to rain--and so she brought him in. There was a note in the carrier. It said "My name is Scooter. Please help me find a good home."

Readers, this kind person took Scooter in and is now his fostermom. Fostermom Candice, and the vet staff, don't feel that 'Scooter' is a good name for this cat. The vet staff were calling him "Candy Man" because he's just that sweet. Candice is calling him Mr Man. Can you help us find him a good home?

Candice says "There's something almost distinguished about Mr. Man. His personality is super chill. He likes being held ... fter a minute or so, he'll purr and maybe nuzzle your chin. He acclimates quickly to new situation and seems most comfortable just sitting on the window sill watching birds. He'll approach you when you ask him to, unless of course he's busy with something else on his mind."