News

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[Photos  and Archives available from dropdown menu.]

 April  17, 2019

All trapping projects are unique. Today volunteers  worked with a client in a rural location. The client feeds his cats in a  dog crate. He believed he could feed at the usual time, the cats would  come to eat in the crate, then he would be able to close the door, and  we'd have all cats. We were a little skeptical but the client's plan  worked perfectly! He shook the dry food, five cats came running, and  they all went into the crate at once to eat. He closed the door; we  covered the crate with a large sheet to calm the cats and drove away. We  finished in about 15 minutes with no traps and no wet food involved!

Ideally, we would have liked to move the cats  into humane traps before transport but the cats are feral and cannot be  handled safely. We were in an open area and didn't want to risk the cats  escaping. We transported all cats (a tortoiseshell and black cat are in  the five-cat pile-up) to the Fredericktown Veterinary Clinic along with  five traps for their return tomorrow. Four cats will have surgery, a  one year rabies vaccination, and a left ear tip. As can be seen, the  orange and white cat has a left ear tip. He will get a one-year rabies  vaccination.

Good news for SNACK. We received a $1500  grant from the Ohio Pet Fund to help fund our trap/neuter/return  programs for 2019. The Ohio Pet Fund is supported through the purchase  of Ohio Pet License Plates (the dog plate, the cat plate, and dog/cat  plate). Money is  granted to qualifying agencies like humane  societies, other nonprofit dog and cat rescues, and some governmental  organizations to help pay for dog and cat sterilization. For more  information, see their website, www.petsohio.com or go to your local BMV office.

April 7, 2019

We have a winner for the beautiful spring quilt--Debra M of Newark. Thank you, everyone, for a successful drawing!

April 3, 2019

SNACK trappers had an awesome start to the 2019  trapping season. We trapped in a rural area at a barn. As we hear so  often, the colony caregiver had a stray who had kittens last year. Other  cats joined the colony as well. Now there are 8 adults and one cat had  three kittens a week ago.

Today we trapped five adult cats. Three were  females. They were transported to the Fredericktown Veterinary Clinic  for surgery, ear-tipping, and a one-year rabies vaccination. One cat  also had an upper respiratory infection and had a antibiotic injection.  The cats will be returned tomorrow morning and released. We'll plan a  return to trap in a couple weeks.

March 26, 2019 

We had an awesome day today with the Rascal Unit in Bellville (Richland County). There were 49 cats--29 spays and 19 neuters. One male cat was previously neutered. Clients came from Richland County, Ashland County, Knox, Morrow, and Coshocton Counties.

It takes a lot of effort by many people to hold a Rascal Day. Our thanks to Jefferson Township Trustee, Mark Gatton, and Bellville Mayor Brenkus for their hospitality. Dr. Decker and the Rascal staff did fantastic work. Our donors and fundraisers play a huge part in our ability to have a Rascal Day. Lastly, our volunteers today--Toni, Brandy, Robb, Debi, Gwen, and Rita played a big role in making the day run smoothly. Our thanks to everyone and to the clients who got their cats in for surgery.

Our next regularly scheduled fix-it day is on April 9 at the Fredericktown Veterinary Clinic. All females slots are full. A few males are still being scheduled. See the fix-it day tab for more details.

March 12, 2019  Today we held our Daylight Savings Time Fix-it day at the Fredericktown Veterinary Clinic. We had 17 male cats and 12 female cats for spay or neuter surgery and a one-year rabies vaccination. Many of the cats were kittens from late summer and early fall. Visit our pictures section to see a very handsome Maine Coon cat who looks less than happy at his situation.

People often question why male cats should be neutered when they  aren't going to have kittens themselves. There are several health benefits. An unneutered male cat is more likely to stray over a wide area looking for a female cat. They may become a traffic casualty. Male cats mark their territory with a very pungent urine spray. If they are inside, they can mark furniture, draperies and walls. Unneutered males are more likely to fight and spread disease such as FIV and FeLV to other cats. They are also likely to suffer from fight injuries. In short, neutering a male cat curbs unwanted behavioral patterns associated with sexual maturity and improves the overall health of the cat.

Thank you to our volunteers today-Toni, Brandy, Debi, Robin, Carol, and Rita. Thanks also to the doctors and staff at the Fredericktown Veterinary Clinic for hosting us today.
 
Our next low-cost spay/neuter day is in two weeks on Tuesday, March 26 in Bellville, Ohio where SNACK will be hosting the Rascal mobile unit.  We have filled the slots for female cats but do have spaces for male  cats. If you are interested in having your male cat neutered, please click the Rascal tab above.

February 12, 2019   We had an awesome Presidential Fix-it day today with 32 cats in for spay or neuter surgery! Most of the cats were older kittens, slightly less than a year old, but mature enough to start having kittens on their own.  We are grateful the clients are taking this important step to reduce feline overpopulation and improve their cats' health. 

Our thanks today to the volunteers who braved the rain and high water on the roads--Laurie, Brandy, Toni, Gwen, Kim, and Rita. As always, we thank the doctors and professional team at the Fredericktown Veterinary Clinic and our donors who help to support these clinics. 

Our next fix-it day at the Fredericktown Veterinary Clinic is on  Tuesday, March 12. This clinic is nearly fully scheduled. We urge those who live in the Richland County area or northern Knox and Morrow Counties to register for our Rascal Day in Bellville on Tuesday, March  26. Please click the Rascal tab above for more information. 

January 22, 2019   We held a small fix-it day today at the Fredericktown Veterinary  Clinic. We're trying to get in a few cats for surgery who were unable to get in December or the earlier January fix-it day. We had 20 cats: ten females and ten males. Thank you, volunteers Toni, Brandy, Debi, Gwen, Kim, and Rita, for braving the cold temperatures and icy back roads today. Also thanks to the clients for getting their cats spayed or neutered. Kitten season is around the  corner!

With the start of 2019, SNACK is once again planning on monthly fix-it days at the Fredericktown Veterinary Clinic throughout this year.  We also plan to work with the Rascal Mobile unit to host three spay/neuter days during 2019. Our goal is to support the spay/neuter of 640 cats. These plans would be impossible without the help of our donors and fundraisers, our volunteers, and the dedicated veterinary professionals with whom we work. Thank you all!

January 14, 2019   Thank you, Buckeye Brigade 4-H Club! The group collected 150 pounds of aluminum cans, recycled them, and then donated $60 to SNACK! We'll use this money for our program costs such as veterinary medicine and  surgery costs.

SNACK continues to collect aluminum beverage cans and clean, aluminum pet food cans. If you would like a pick-up, please call us at 614-371-8996 or email us at info@snackohio.org. Thank you!

January 8, 2019   We are off to an awesome start to 2019! Today was our New Year's fix-it day at the Fredericktown Veterinary Clinic and we had 30 cats (21 females and 9 males) for spay or neuter surgery. Many clients with female cats said their kitties have been in heat already!

If you have never had an intact female cat, how do you know if your cat is in heat? There are several signs. An inside cat may want to escape and go outside. She may be excessively affectionate to you. She may vocalize and howl. She may exhibit excessive licking of her genital area and display several "different" postures--such as commando crawling (crawling on her front legs and her rear in the air), an estrus position (her rear in the air) or deflection reflex with her tail to one side. A female cat may also spray urine to attract male cats. And you may see male cats roaming near your home and they may spray urine as well.

Our thanks today to volunteers, Gwen, Kim, Robb, Sharon, Debi, Carol, Toni and Rita. We thank the professional staff and doctors at the Fredericktown Veterinary Clinic. We are especially grateful to our fundraisers and donors who support our efforts. While the client co-payment covers part of the surgery costs/rabies vaccination, our fundraisers and donors support the remainder of costs.

Our next open fix-it day is Tuesday, February 12. Pre-registration and pre-payment are required. Space is limited. Beat the heat and get your cat spayed (or neutered).

December 11, 2018    We had our Holiday Fix-it Day today at the Fredericktown Veterinary Clinic. It was our last fix-it day for the year. We had 22 cats in for surgery. Several were mom cats, several were older kittens born during  the summer, and a few were young adults. 

We are wrapping up the final numbers for 2018. We supported 604 spay/neuter surgeries during the year! Our goal was 610 so we are very pleased we nearly achieved this goal. 

We also want to say once again how grateful we are for the hard work of  the volunteers staffing these events. The volunteers have remained cheerful and upbeat even when dealing with challenging situations. We are also grateful to the doctors and staff of the Fredericktown Veterinary Clinic for their hard work on these days. Our fund-raisers and donors are also an essential element of our programs and we appreciate their generosity. 

Our 2019 fix-it days will begin on Tuesday, January 8. That day is full and we are now scheduling for Tuesday, February 12. Space is filled on a first-come, first-served basis and preregistration and pre-payment are required.