Before we do anything else here, we want to say THANK YOU!
We were once again able to do amazing things this year thanks to your support, and our wonderful volunteers and fosters! There haven’t been many things to count on in the last few years, but we are reassured knowing we can be sure of the support of this amazing community (and that there will always be local cats in need).
As we close out 2022, we are celebrating a major milestone: The Scratching Post five year anniversary! The cafe opened its doors to the public for the first time in December of 2017, and since then we’ve seen nearly 600 cats come and go. We’ve met amazing people and have seen friendships grow between our volunteers. We’ve hosted Boy Scouts and Girl Scouts. Bucknell student researchers, the Susquehanna Animal Club, and many other groups. With your help we’re sure the next five years will be just as amazing as these five have been.
We have funded approximately 200 spay/neuter procedures for stray or feral community cats this year, adding to the more than 1,100 we’ve paid for since our inception in 2017. This work has prevented thousands of unwanted litters in our area. On the rescue side, we’ve seen more than 160 cats and kittens come through our fosters’ doors, bringing our total rescued cats to nearly 1,300. This year, we’ve had kittens as young as a few days old, and a wonderful selection of adults cats as well. While we can’t tell you about all of them here, we’d be remiss to not share a selection of the stories you’ve made possible this year:
In April, we were called to help with a severely over-crowded situation in Northumberland county. Three of our board members visited the property accompanied by amazing veterinary staff, and on that first day we left with six adults cats and their twenty kittens. Basic exams and SNAP tests for the momma cats happened on site, while the other cats were catalogued. Our amazing vets took three cats that day to be spayed, and, unfortunately, one other adult cat had to be euthanized due to severe oral cancer. Soon after that initial visit, two more momma cats and their four kittens followed, as well as some additional adults. All of the remaining cats have been spayed or neutered since April, so that the rampant breeding is no longer happening. We hope to be able to remove additional adults as space and other resources allow.
One of the initial adults pulled from that crowded situation was Cindy. While it was initially thought some of the kittens were hers, she had no interest in caring for them, and did not appear to be producing milk. She was spayed a few days later, and went to a foster to recover. Cindy was initially a shell of a cat. She huddled in her cave bed and showed little interest in interacting. Thankfully, with plenty of time and patience (and a lot of go-gurt treats on our fingers) Cindy came around to be an amazing cat.
Also in April, we were invited to participate in a TNR clinic at a local vet office. We lined up fifteen cats to be spayed or neutered, including one from Mifflinburg known to his caretaker as Munchie. When she delivered Munchie to us it was immediately apparent that there was something off about him. His eyes didn’t look normal. It turned out Munchie is blind! It’s miraculous that he had survived outside as long as he had, but now he is living safely and happily with a family north of Williamsport.
Thankfully animals being left outside of businesses is a fairly rare occurrence, but that’s where poor Leo found himself earlier this year. He was found outside an area establishment in a carrier with a bag of food. While we have been operating at the upper end of our capacity all year, we shuffled some cats around to make room. We were able to uncover some information about his past, including that his original, loving, owner had passed away about a year earlier from cancer likely linked to his time serving our country. Leo had since put on a substantial amount of weight and had some health issues. Unsurprisingly, Leo was absolutely terrified and initially not eating much. Thankfully with some time he began to relax and show his sweet, playful side. One of our fosters shared his story with a colleague, who came to meet him and decided to welcome him into their home.
Ideally kittens come to us when they’re 6-8 weeks old, when they are generally easily socialized. This particular group was more like 4-5 months old when a caring Lewisburg resident trapped them and took them in as fosters. We’ve worked closely with her over the last month working to gain their trust and convince them that they want to live the good, cushy, indoor life. It has been a significant time investment, but they had made miraculous progress. They will be spayed/neutered on November 29th and will hopefully be ready to join the crew at The Scratching Post shortly after that.
When we were contacted on a weekend about a family that had experienced a fire who had taken in a stray cat and her kittens that now needed to be relocated, obviously we wanted to help. But how? With over 60 cats in our care finding space seemed impossible. It took a few days, and some feline shuffling, but we made room. They are sweet cats who will be spayed/neutered soon, and should be heading to The Scratching Post not long after. We can only hope their previous foster family is back in their home just as quickly as Mia, Rose, Domino and Rose find their forever ones.
This is a mere spattering of the cats your support has touched this year, and we hope you’ll consider including us in your year-end giving plans. If a donation is not a possibility for you right now, we appreciate your continued support on social media. There are many other ways you can get involved, including conducting TNR in your neighborhood (we pay for it!), or volunteering at The Scratching Post.