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A Quarterly Newsletter Published by Forgotten Felines, Inc.www.keysforgottenfelines.org

Fall 2010vol. 2 no. 3

The Happy Cat

For more information about Forgotten Felines, Inc. call 305-743-2520

Next Meeting:Monday, January 31st

Thank You!Message from the Prez

Karen LiskeyOur Featured Volunteer

Bergan Turbo Scratcher Cat Toy Retails for $9.95

Give your kitty’s paws somewhere else to scratch besides your furniture. The Bergan Turbo Scratcher is a safe toy that will provide hours of exercise and entertainment for your pet. It comes with catnip, a ball, and a replaceable scratch pad. Place the ball in the circular track, and watch your cat bat it around and around. Measures 16 inches in diameter.

American Curl cats are a type of cat with unusual ears. The cat’s ears curl back from the face in a smooth arc toward the center of the back of the skull. The American Curl is a medium size cat (7-11 lbs) with no health handicaps associated with the curled ears. These cats are strong and healthy remarkably free of genetic defects that affect many purebred cats, and will not reach maturity until 2-3 years of age. If the American Curl cat’s ears are curled, it will not be apparent until two or three days after the birth, and will take their final form after four months.

Know Your Breeds

CHARACTERISTICS: Longhair: fine, silky, lying flat; minimal undercoat; semilong; tail full and plumed.

Shorthair: soft, silky, lying flat; resilient without a plush dense feel; undercoat minimal; length short. All colors and patterns, includ-ing Himalayan pattern, shad-ed, smoke, chinchilla, and bi-colors.

Extreme curl can occur in adult cats where the tip of the ear touches back of head; straight or se-verely mismatched ears; thick or calcified ears; lack of firm cartilage in base of ear; tail faults.

Toys Your Cats Will Love

American Curl

Featured VolunteerKaren Liskey

FF: How long have you been a Forgotten Felines volunteer?KL: I started volunteering this past summer. I took over the Key Colony Beach feeding stations when Ben Schneierson left.FF: What is your favorite volunteer activity?KL: Being a feeder! I enjoy going every day to feed the cats. They have figured out that I am their new feeding person and are now waiting for me to arrive with dinner. FF: What advice would you give a new volunteer?KL: Enjoy what you have time to do and know that it is appreciated. FF: What would you like the community to know?KL: Forgotten Felines is an asset to the community! The efforts made to control the cat population by spay/neuter is the only way the feral cat numbers will be manageable. FF: How many cats do you have at home?KL: Three, one old lady of 14 and two male kittens adopted a few months ago from Forgotten Felines. They have added a lot of laughter to the house!FF: Thanks for your enthusiasm, Karen!

JasperWritten by Michelle Grace, 2003 Young Adult Literature ISBN: 978-0970897268

Rescued from a shelter where he witnessed the grim fate of other unwanted animals, this young cat has already grown up fast. Then, left behind when his human family moves away, he learns quickly that it’s best to stay wary of life and its uncertainty. Jasper the cat is a pragmatic philosopher. Jasper the book is a stylish, fast-moving adventure, and a story that readers of all ages will remember and want to share.

Books That Make Us Purr

Kitty Quotes

The Prez Says...

As you have probably heard, our comrade in humane

animal welfare in the Middle Keys, Stand Up for Animals

(SUFA), lost its contract to manage the animal shelters

in Marathon and Big Pine Key

this past month. In its place, The

Board of County Commissioners

(BOCC) has granted the Florida

Keys Society for the Prevention

of Cruelty to Animals (FKSPCA)

temporary control of the

Marathon shelter. The County

has also closed the Big Pine Key

shelter altogether.

The new management has

reduced the hours of operation of the Marathon shelter,

and complicated procedures with governmental

beauracracy. Most unsettling to Forgotten Felines is

that the FKSPCA is not a “no-kill” shelter. This means that

animals deemed unadoptable for a slew of reasons, while

still being perfectly healthy, can be euthanized. These

are not welcome changes from SUFA’s very smooth-

running, family-friendly no-kill shelter.

Members of Forgotten Felines have been vocal in their

disappointment with the recent decisions made by the

BOCC regarding the management of the Middle Keys

animal shelters.

Volunteers have attended Commission meetings and

written letters to the editors of local newspapers to voice

the opinion that SUFA managed the shelters well and

that it was well-respected by the

community.

We are not alone in this effort.

The outpouring of support for both

SUFA and the humane treatment

of animals in the Middle Keys has

been outstanding! It is amazing to

see that Keys residents DO care how

our animals are treated, even the

homeless ones. And for this, I say,

THANK YOU! Thank you for caring

about the animals. Thank you for your public show of

support for SUFA during this terrible time. And thank

you for continuing to support Forgotten Felines.

The fight to regain a no-kill management of the

Mararathon animal shelter is not over. Bids will be placed

by various groups to win the next contract and we will

be supporting the group that best protects homeless

animals in the Middle Keys. We’ll need your continued

support, so we thank you in advance for sticking with

us! If you have any questions about this issue, send

us an email at: newsletter@keysforgottenfelines.org.

Thank you!

by Nancy Warner, PresidentThank You!

Cats do care. For example they know instinctively what time we have to be at work in the morning and they wake us up

twenty minutes before the alarm goes off. ~Michael Nelson

No More Homeless Pets

No More Homeless Pets is a nationwide movement to bring about a time when homeless, unwanted animals are no longer being destroyed in shelters, and when every healthy dog or cat can be guaranteed a good life in a caring home. Here are ways you can help:

1) Join an animal rescue organization like Forgotten Felines.

As a volunteer, you can contribute your skills, your time, and your love to animals in need.

2) Spay or neuter all of your pets and any outdoor cats you are feeding.

When we spay and neuter our pets, we bring a halt to the endless cycle of animals being born who end up as homeless pets at shelters. And pets who have been fixed suffer from fewer health and behavior problems, so encourage and help your friends and family members to fix their pets too.

3) Adopt a pet from a shelter or rescue group instead of buying from a pet store.

Most pet stores are outlets for puppies and kittens produced by the notorious breeding factories known as mills, where female dogs and cats are kept in small cages their entire lives and forced to produce endless litters of babies who are sold to pet stores. If you’re looking for a particular breed, there are numerous breed rescue groups that will help you find the dog or cat of your choice.

Join the Nationwide Movement http://www.bestfriends.org/nomorehomelesspets/

Alley Cat NewsNational Feral Cat Day October 16th!

www.alleycat.org National Feral Cat Day (NFCD) is your opportunity to help protect and improve the lives of cats around the county! In 1990, most Americans didn’t know the best way to care for homeless cats. Thanks to Alley Cat Allies, today, improving their lives through Trap-Neuter-Return programs is widespread—and the movement continues to build. Hundreds of local groups work on behalf of homeless cats, while millions of Americans have reached into their hearts and their wallets to care for and feed them. Thank you!

Become a Forgotten Felines Volunteer

1) FEEDERS: Monitor, feed and water a neighborhood colony of cats each day.2) RESPONDERS: Respond to calls by rescuing injured or neglected cats.3) FOSTER PARENTS: Foster baby kittens who have been separated from their mothers while they await adoption.4) KITTY NURSES: Rehabilitate sick or injured cats.5) TRAPPERS: Rescue homeless cats so they can be spayed/neutered and immunized.6) DRIVERS: Drive contained cats to and from veterinary clinics on spay/neuter days.7) BENEFACTORS: Donate tax deductible funds to pay for food and veterinary care for the homeless and abandoned cats.

Forgotten Felines is comprised of cat lovers who volunteer in the following ways:

If you would like to volunteer in any of these ways, please give us a call at (305)743-2520. No experience needed, training will be provided.

Our Next Meeting Monday, January 31 at 6:oopm Martin Luther Chapel325 122nd Street Gulf, Marathon(MM 53 behind NAPA Auto Parts)

Join us for our first Forgotten Felines meeting of 2011! We will be ringing in the new year with exciting plans, important news, free food and even some fun. Bring a friend - all cat lovers welcome!