Winter is a cold and potentially dangerous time of year for feral and homeless cats, whether or not a polar vortex is pushing arctic air into your neighborhood. Here’s some ways to help. Alley Cat Allies is a national advocacy organization dedicated to the protection and humane treatment of feral cats (www.alleycat.org). You may have seen their “I’m an alley cat ally” ads featuring Hollywood personalities including Portia De Rossi. Alley Cat Allies has posted a good article on how to help feral cats during the winter at www.alleycat.org/WinterWeather. Another way to help is to contact one of y ..read more

The Cat Rescuers is a new documentary film about the volunteer heroes in New York City who are trying to make a dent in the 500,000+ population of New York’s street cats, because as we know, the humane societies nationwide cannot do it all themselves. See the 2 minute trailer! http://catrescuersfilm.com/ Meet some of the city’s rescuers: http://catrescuersfilm.com/the-rescuers/ Schedule of upcoming screenings: http://catrescuersfilm.com/screenings/ Learn how you can host a screening in your community: http://catrescuersfilm.com/host-a-screening/ The film isn’t available on DVD yet, but it ..read more

Weather.com is predicting the “Coldest Arctic Outbreak in at Least Two Decades” will hit the Midwest this week, so we wanted to send out this special edition of the Cat Faeries Newsletter because saving the lives of feral/community cats is critical. We did not include our usual photos of customer’s cats (which this month are calicos and torties) as we wanted to get this important message out right away. We’ll send another newsletter later this week with our usual “cute video” and the cat of the month… plus a sale! We asked A Friend of Cat Faeries who is a good researcher and a great friend to ..read more

We’ve gotten emails from many of our readers and customers asking us where to donate money for the victims (furry and otherwise) of the Sonoma/Napa wild fires. Since this is our ‘hood and we know most of these organizations personally you can feel assured that your money will go where you intend it to go. This cannot be said of the American Red Cross – sadly, stories of squandering money have been circulating for many years. For cats and dogs, and other small animals: Sonoma Humane Society 5345 Highway 12 Santa Rosa, CA 95407 You can watch videos and see photos on their Facebook page. Many ani ..read more

As you know we are in San Francisco, just a wine bottle’s throw away from the fires. As our skies are full of smoky air we are following this horror closely. In particular we are tracking how it’s effecting animals – and donating. If you’d like to follow the Sonoma Humane Society’s effects to rescue and reunite. Here’s their Facebook page. https://www.facebook.com/SonomaHumane/ Sonoma and Napa counties are very dear to us in so many ways. We have many friends and business partners there, and friends of friends, so many memories, and so much more. The scenery and the people are like no place el ..read more

Our resident feline expert – Issac Newton – writes on how to help cats and other animals affected by Hurricane Harvey, as well as preparing your own household for emergencies. Newton’s Purrspective – Hurricane Harvey and Beyond You have probably heard of the courageous people risking their own lives to save abandoned animals following the devastation of Hurricane Harvey in Texas. http://www.lovemeow.com/cats-rescued-houston-residents-stay-behind-to-help-save-stranded-animals-from-flood-waters-2478964880.html?from=homer You may also be wondering what you can do to help. But aren’t sure who to t ..read more

Trisha has written for us before. She’s charming young lady who’s always got something to say. This time it’s about her experience as a volunteer at a no-kill cat shelter with some tips on how a volunteer can ease the load for employees so they can get more done. As a former volunteer I’ll add a bit about how being a cat shelter volunteer has hidden perks for people. During my orientation at the San Francisco SPCA they said that many volunteers reported that their time there was better than therapy. I took that to mean: “Walk in depressed, walk out happy and at peace.” One high school aged gir ..read more

One of our favorite customers, Kelleen (Kelly) has a feline-family of 4 “tripod” cats a clever name for cats who have only 3 legs. She was delighted to share their story and photos with our customers and readers. Here’s her story about her tripod cats! Read more:   From Kelly: Elixir     Tripod cats have a special place in my heart, and a big place in our family. Between myself and my daughter, we now have four three-legged cats – as well as one four-legger! In our minds and theirs, our tripods are just cats – active, curious, playful, and loving. Missing body parts or no, thes ..read more

While we cannot claim our cats for a tax deduction the Tax Men will allow expenditures for fostering cats. This will be great news for many of you for this year, and something to consider for next year. Newton’s Purrspective – Tax Time Yes, my friends – once again it is that time of year. Spring is in the air, but now people are stressed out over tax time. If only they could relax with some Cat Faeries toys and chill out in a Cat Faeries bed. Perhaps there is a human equivalent for “Calm and Serene Flower Essence”? I know many wonder (only half in jest) if they can use Fluffy as a deduction. A ..read more

Over 100 years ago many American cities and rural communities kept cats for rodent control. The cats had some sort of housing and usually a human caretaker who would let them out at night to prowl for their prey. This was a practice that went out of favor when the chemical companies upped their greedy game, saw major profits in poison, and began to push their agenda for toxic chemicals to control rodents, and sadly people fell for this ruse and seemingly easy way out, and stopped using cats. Must we tell you that poison kills more than rodents? It can wipe out an entire family of owls if they ..read more