The Ginny Fund

Ginny with one of her many admirers.


Some of you may remember Ginny, the dog who rescued cats. We've blogged about her in the past. She died right after our Jenny cat in August 2005. Ginny's memorial service was held that November -- at a cat show! Yes, you read that correctly, at a cat show.

We only have a few minutes to post this, so please click on this link to our old post "Ginny's Memorial Service" (in a new tab or a new window so you don't forget to come back to finish this story).

Well, the Ginny Fund which Philip Gonzales started while Ginny was alive to feed and vet cats lives on. Each cat is spayed/neutered, vaccinated, provided with any needed veterinary care and fed daily. Good homes are found for some of the tamer cats and those with special needs who would not fare well outdoors are cared for in the groups' own homes. The Ginny Fund is committed to the 200+ cats living in 21 feral colonies lives on. Philip and other volunteers still go out in all weather to make sure all the cats are fed. It is a registered non-profit.

In addition to the feral cats, the Long Beach Animal Shelter closed two years ago, but cats and dogs are still cruelly abandoned in boxes at the shelter doorstep. The Ginny Fund rescues these unwanted animals and provides the same services and care that the colony cats are given.

The Ginny Fund is supported entirely by donations! It is a registered non-profit. Donations are tax deductible. It has no paid staff or directors, so more than 85% of each dollar donated is used for food and veterinary services. The other 15% goes toward mailings and necessary business expenses.

Donations have dropped because of the economy, but the needs of the animals continue. The Ginny Fund is not a shelter, but we would like to submit it's name as an organization for Romeo to consider for May's fundraising.

The Ginny Fund can be found here (link is no longer any good), at the Ginny Fan Club site.

Oh, and please stop by Romeo the cat's blog before 9 PM tonight, April 30, and leave a comment nominating the Ginny Fund to help increase the chance of this group winning the drawing.

We're sorry this is so last minute. We intended to do it earlier. But we get busy and forget. Oh, heck, we just plain forget!

Flea Product Safety and Award

Oreo, who was not named for a cookie, has left for "the coolest place a kitty could be." Stop by and read his human mom's tribute to her sweet boy and if you can, leave her a message.



And now for the main subject for today.

Oh, great, it isn't bad enough humans (albeit inadvertently) try to kill us with toxic chemicals in sprays, topicals, collars or shampoos, now there are counterfeit and incorrectly labeled pesticide products on the market. We're so glad The Frugal Feline posted about this subject. This is very important information to protect the health of your dogs and cats.

Please read the information from the US Environmental Protection Agency on Counterfeit Pesticide Products for Dogs and Cats. Check your products to be sure you didn't mistakenly purchase one of the counterfeits.

And the Natural Resources Defense Council has posted information on flea control products and collars that is a must read for all humans who use flea products on their furries. There is a pocket guide to pesticides in products you can download, print and take with you to the store. Please check this information and bookmark the page. It won't matter how well you humans feed us or how often you brush us or exercise us, if you poison us with highly toxic chemicals.

Saturday we posted about Charlie "crossing the river." Golden Honey also passed away on Saturday, but we didn't learn about it until Sunday.

We hope Daisy the Curly Cat is doing better. She caught a bad cold. We didn't know you could catch a cold in FL. Guess we might as well stay in GA.

Today, the CB is worried about Daddy Charley (a human). Miss Peach's lapdaddy is home but Miss Peach's stitches are still infected and she'll have to go back to the vet.

This is all we can remember of our weekend. If we left out anything important, please forgive us. We are hoping this week will be happier. So, to help, we offer a happier note.


We received this award from Honey the Great Dane. So we have to tell everyone why we love blogging.

That's easy. We love the animal bloggers. When one is going through a trial, others gather around to support them. Whether it is a sick pet or a sick human. We have met bloggers from so many different countries and we so enjoy their different personalities and imaginative posts -- cats, dogs, hamsters, rabbits.... We've even met a Capybara -- Caplin Rous. We'd never heard of a capybara before this.

Charlie and Miss Peach

Oh, dear, this is not the way to begin our computer time today. Even though we knew this was coming, as soon as we saw the emails, all with "Charlie" as the subject, we knew her time had arrived. Yes, our friend Charlie has passed. As her human wrote, she has crossed the lake.

Whatever you believe about animals in the afterlife, we doubt you can read through either of her human's last two posts without tears, as she prepared herself for Charlie's passing. She's been doing this for some time. But no matter how hard you try to be prepared, the reality is painful. We hope you will stop by Charlie's Dog Blog to read "Crossing the Lake" and Thursday's "Post by Human." They are beautifully written by someone who loved Charlie very much. And while you're there, say hello. Anyone who has lost a furry companion knows how much a word of compassion is valued.

Charlie lived a long, happy life and will be missed by her many blogging animal friends and their humans.

And if this isn't enough bad news for one day, Miss Peach's lapdaddy is in the hospital after suffering a heart attack. Miss Peach is recovering from infected stitches after recent surgery. We hope, whether you know Miss Peach and her humans or not, you will stop by Miss Peach's Meowz and leave them a message of encouragement.

At least Charlie Cat continues to improve, although Big Charley (human) has the flu. We hope both Charlie and Charley get better quickly.

And after all that sad news, we need to go meditate and recover. You see, our day actually began with Jan trying to kill us. Well, some of us. She says it was an accident, that she just picked up the wrong spray bottle and gave us woofies a light spray of ---- believe it or not, Spic N Span mixed with water. But we haven't seen her move so quickly in a loooooooooooooooooooooooong time! We were outside getting baths in no time flat! Now we all smell good and that is really depressing! Yep, definitely not a happy day.

Furminator Furball Winner

Today is National Hairball Awareness Day.


And the winner of the Who's Your Favorite Furball contest is Madison.


Madison and her staff Cindy will receive a FURminator DeShedding Tool, courtesy of FURminator, Inc. to keep her coat beautiful and hairballs to a minimum.

You can read her winning entry on Romeo the Cat's blog.

Thank you, Romeo, for doing so much to help raise money and awareness for animal needs.