Most of the last 10 days or so, I’ve been working on creating a fillable form for our monthly Asilomar reporting to Shelter Animals Count and to Shelter Pet Data Alliance. We had to bite the bullet and buy a software subscription and then learn how to use the damn thing. I made a fool of my self by submitting a support ticket for something that was in the user manual, but you know; who reads the manual!
Any way, the Cats Gallery is set up and running and our gallery of all our cats is 99.9% done as we’re missing one photo. We don’t have a decent photo of Mishka, who is a chocolate black long hair who as a passion for hiding except at night. It’s hard to take a good picture of a black cat at night.
The most recent photo to go into the gallery was that of Luna. Luna was born in our backyard some years ago and is a daughter of Miss Tabz. Luna became an inside cat one very dark night at around 0300. Mrs H couldn’t sleep and was using her iPad to look at the backyard with one of the CCTV cameras. She saw Momma Tabz carrying a kitten and another kitten following (Luna). Unbeknown to Mrs H, both kittens had ocular herpes and their eyes were welded shut with gunk. Little Luna, a bit behind and late to the party, ran after her mom and fell into our swimming pool. Mrs H yelled at me to get up as she headed outdoors to rescue the kitten. Getting the cat out of the pool didn’t take much effort and Mrs H was soon back with one soaked little kitty. Two towels later, the kitty was dry and warm and being fed by Mrs H with a syringe. The moon was out and the kitten was gray so she earned her name of Luna. The next day brought a trip to the vet and the purchase of some meds for the kittens vicious ocular herpes.
The following days changed our relationship with feral momma Tabz. She brought all her remaining kittens (each with ocular herpes) to our back door and left them in our care. Subsequently, with each new litter, she would bring all her kittens to us once they were ready to be weaned. After several years of trying to trap Ms Tabz, we nabbed her and her latest batch of kittens in April.
This week has as also been about expanding our donor reach to include Donor Advised Funds or DAFs. Through a on-line workshop and with help from Givebutter’s support staff, we have a DAF donor form. You should see the button on our new Donations page on the website soon.
Oh, almost forgot! This week started the Community Service Campaign by Ignitify using radio stations ESPN KLAQ & KISS FM, and text messages to ask their customers and the community for donations to the Retreat. Our relationship with Ignitify began earlier this year when our HVAC mini-split bought the farm and we needed it replaced. Ignitify was quick, professional, and they liked what they saw of the Retreat. When they said they wanted to help, we were quick to say “YES!”. Talk about a business chipping in with community service! We’ll be posting more about both these companies on our “Friends” page which is currently under construction.
Please return next week to see what else is going on at Mandarin’s Retreat! 🎉