BRAUN FARM PURCHASE FINALIZED DECEMBER 6TH
We're finally the proud owners of the old Braun Farm on Textile Road in Lodi Township.  Although purchased in August, the closing was delayed while the seller installed a septic system meeting Washtenaw County's new requirements.  This has pushed back our renovation schedule.  We're now targeting our opening for early summer.  We'll be renovating the farmhouse to shelter a colony of geriatric cats for our Older Cats for Older People program, and the barn to shelter a colony of displaced feral cats from our Feral Colony Assistance program.  Both colonies will be "cage-free".  We'll be adding a caretaker's apartment into the farmhouse as well as workshop and meeting rooms for friends of cats throughout Washtenaw County.

EARLY SPAY/NEUTER PROGRAM IMPLEMENTED
With the cooperation of some local vets, we've started early spay/neutering of our adoptable kittens prior to placing them in new homes.  Early spay/neuter is an established and recommended practice throughout much of the country.  It is considered safer for the kittens and ensures that no kittens are released for adoption without being spayed or neutered.  Our early experience (approximately 30 kittens), seems in line with that of others -- quicker recovery and no ill aftereffects.  These kittens were rescued from feral colonies, cared for and socialized by volunteers and adopted out through local vet offices.  We hope to do more of this in the coming year.

VISIT OUR WEB SITE
We've added a great deal of information to our website, TLConline.org -- what to do when you find a stray cat, the benefits of TNR (Trap/Neuter/Return) to property owners, how to manage a feral colony, tips for finding a lost cat, etc., as well as information on our and others' programs.  Click on the Our Adoptables link to see some of the older cats we're currently sheltering.

FERAL COLONY  ASSISTANCE PROGRAM LAUNCHED
Despite our late start -- finding volunteer trappers, colony managers, vets who would work with us -- we still financed the spay/neuter of over 150 stray cats this year.  These cats came from approximately 50 different colonies and the surgeries were performed at over 20 different veterinary clinics throughout Washtenaw County.  Most of the spay/neuters were done this past quarter.  We're currently averaging about 10 surgeries a week.

If you know of property owners caring for stray or feral cats, let them know about us.  They may qualify for our assistance.  Besides funding the spay/neuter surgeries, we also cover the costs of Rabies and FVRCP vaccinations, treatment for the common parasites and ear tipping (to clearly identify the cats as spay/neutered, vaccinated and members of a managed feral colony).  The objective of

About TLC TLC/for The Love of Cats is a program of the Zimmer Foundation, a 501(c)3 nonprofit corporation founded in 1980.  Our mission is to provide humane alternatives to euthanasia for the community management of companion and feral cats in Washtenaw County.  Financial or service contributions to our spay/neuter programs will help extend the number of spay/neuters we can accomplish.  For more information visit our web site at TLConline.org.