Hi Weirdos! Before I dive in, I’d like to invite you to provide some feedback via the comments link, above. We would love to know what you enjoy and/or appreciate most about the Weirdos, whether it be related to the Facebook page, website, events, etc… If you have ideas to share as well, please feel free!
This Thanksgiving, I want to tell you all how very thankful we are for each and every one of you. Your stories, advice, support and advocacy for cats in need inspires the Leadership Team and keeps us going on the tough days. Thank you so much for all that you do to make this group as amazing as it is! We are wishing each of you a Thanksgiving filled with the warmth of all that you love most. One of things we are especially grateful for is your support of our first annual Weirdo Cat Lovers of Cleveland calendar. The calendar was an idea that had been discussed for some time and this year we decided to make it a reality. The leadership came together to choose some of the better-known cats on the Weirdo page and decided to give it a go. Each pet parent wrote up a short blurb about their featured pet, and we even tossed in a surprise doggo for an April Fools! I gathered all of the photos, blurbs and pet details and compiled the calendar for sale. I have to tell you, we weren’t sure how it would go, but I was convinced we could sell at least 250. Here we are, months later and thanks to your support, we have sold a whopping 328 calendars to date, yielding more than $4,000 to help local cats in need! If that’s not a reason to be grateful this Thanksgiving, I don’t know what is. This year, thanks to your support via direct donations, event attendance, calendar and shirt purchases, we have been able to provide financial coverage for 68 cats who needed veterinary care (including those who needed multiple visits). We have also been able to provide trap, neuter, return (TNR) for 29 cats and find placement at local shelters for 19 friendly (non-feral) cats/kittens! That’s 116 cats who are better off thanks to Weirdo support. We are working hard to add their stories to our website, so please feel free to read up on them in our "Success Stories" tab. AND, now that we have obtained our non-profit status, we will be able to do SO MUCH more! We simply cannot thank you enough for making this possible. Are you interested in all of the ways that a Weirdo can help? Read on, below!
Happy Thanksgiving! - Amber Tischler
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In September 2019, our TNR Director was asked to help trap a family of cats and get them spayed/neutered. Mama cat, Moo, had 4 grown kittens and had recently given birth to 6 more kittens. Mama Moo was a feral cat, but she trusted her caregiver and kittens were all friendly. The 4 older kittens were all taken in and were fixed and given vaccinations. One of them was even adopted out. As soon as the younger kittens were weaned, they were surrendered to a shelter and adopted out. Moo was trapped and spayed and is living with her 3 older kittens. They have heated houses, a safe location on their caregivers porch and are all happy and loved. Moo had 10 kittens within a year! Thanks to our TNR Team, Moo won’t have any more babies and her kittens are all fixed and cared for. That is the goal of our TNR Division, to stop the cycle of feral and stray cats having kittens and adding to the overpopulation of cats.
Hello, Weirdos! Today was a great day! We organized an official WCLOCLE meet-up at affoGATO. Not familiar? affoGATO is a cat café in Cleveland (Tremont, to be specific). It is Cleveland's first cat café. Cat cafes have been around for quite some time in places like Japan, but have just more recently become popular in the United States. According to Google, there are 72 cat cafes in the US, and 44 of those cafes opened up in just the past year! Cat cafes aim to provide a safe and welcoming environment for adoptable cats and to give cat lovers a place to come to relax and enjoy the company of felines.
Let me tell you more about affoGATO, an official Weirdo Cat Lovers of Cleveland approved business! affoGATO opened on January 2nd, 2019. In less than a year, they have had 244 adoptions!! Their goal for the first year was 100, which they blew out of the water! All of the adoptable cats at affoGATO come from their partner shelter, the Cleveland APL. Since the café environment acts more like a person's home, it is a lot easier for shelter cats' true personalities to shine. It also gives the potential adopter an apt amount of time to observe the cat and see if their personalities are a good match for one another! affoGATO offers 1 one-hour session inside the cat lounge for $10. This cover charge is to help affoGATO keep up with the special costs of the cat lounge. affoGATO also offers a full service café! They have delicious coffee and espresso drinks and some sweet treats! And the décor- oh my it is a cat and cat lover's heaven! There are many shelves, cat walks, nooks, and soft and fuzzy crannies for the cats to enjoy. All of the artwork, books, and games inside the cat lounge is cat-themed. affoGATO is surely a place for a cat lover to visit at least once. If you want to learn more about affoGATO please visit their website! They do a great job of explaining the benefits of a cat café for the cats, the visitors, and the local community. https://www.affogatocatcafe.com/ If you missed out on this WCLOCLE meet-up, fear not, we will be scheduling more in 2020! Be sure to visit the WCLOCLE Facebook page to check for event posts and you can also check our website under "EVENTS." **Top group photo courtesy of page Mod Dawn Thomas- seen with WCLOCLE members Lisa Sample, Christine Munroe, Whitney Richards, and Barb Mondok** **Bottom group photo courtesy of member Jen Braz- seen with members (top L to R) Russ Richards, Ramona Poole, Carrie Kellner, Robert Darkmatter, Cassandra Ungvarsky, Amber Tischler, Jen Braz, Kitty Tischler, Nicole holding resident cat Smeagol, (bottom L to R) Constance Mcgough, and Mary Flowers Arbogast.** I am writing this to let you all know just how this group came about for me and how much it has meant to me and to share my experiences. I was turned on to this group through my sister Tari. She knew just how hard I was trying with my cats and Told me I should join the group to learn more and identify with others doing the same things. I applied to join and was accepted. I so enjoyed the learning process and hearing the experiences of many other members.
Then, one crazy night something terrible happened to my outsiders and one of my ferals was killed by two pitbull dogs. That was the night I met Lesley Pontin. This beautiful woman stayed with me that night and talked with me and so helped me keep my sanity through the whole thing. She poured out so much love and calmed me down. Never have I met such a compassionate woman. To this day she has become a special friend to me. I am so grateful for her in so many ways. I could go on about her, but It would get too mushy. Yes, This is the family I have come to know in each and every person here. Be it Admins, Mods, or other group members, I feel so blessed to be a part of this great team. Along with being mentally helped and compassionately helped, this group supported me during a financial crisis I was having with my kitties and my sweet little Dat. I received food, toys, and many other things for my babies during this time. All given with great love and care from all my Weirdo friends. They have also helped me TNR my outside cats and take an injured stray to the vet. I will forever be grateful to all. Still one of the things I love most is the feeling of family throughout the group. Complete strangers, with an abundance of caring and love for each other. If you are in this group then for sure you will feel blessed. Sincerely with love, Joan and Ray Marvin and clowder. - Joan Marvin |