Hello Gordo TNR Support

06/17/2024

It’s bright and early, and we are transporting 6 cats to their TNR appointments in Madison. That’s 6 community cats that will no longer be contributing to overpopulation. 6 cats that will no longer birth endless litters of kittens. 6 cats that can just enjoy their existence now.

We’d also like to take this time to apologize for our absence in social media and not responding to messages in a timely manner. To put it bluntly, last summer broke us. Our whole goal with TNR is to prevent future suffering, but last year it turned more into ensuring that suffering was ended. We had far too many cases where we went to trap and ended up scooping up half-dead cats from under decks and inside of dilapidated garages. Cats that were so far gone that the kindest and most apparent action needed was to go straight to the ER vet and allow them to finally be at peace.

Concurrent with all those tearful ER visits, our main trappers were fostering a very difficult batch of kittens through one of our favorite rescue organizations, and each day was a struggle. Four of the 6 kittens lived, but the 2 that passed just added to the loss.

Also over the summer, our trappers lost their beloved cat Skiba to an embolism. Skiba was an FIP survivor, but while she cheated death once, her death was sudden and unexpected. Shortly after, her very bonded sister Sapphire followed Skiba into the darkness.

When you hear people say that rescue is hard, that’s an understatement. With each request for help, all the memories of loss would come flooding back and each sad moment relived. All the guilt that we spent so much time trapping instead of being more present with our own fur babies in their final days... It became unbearable to even think about going back out. And the silent battle to remain functional human beings in spite of the sadness began.

As time goes on, we realize that talking more openly about the losses and sorrow attached to rescue and TNR is key. We thank everyone for their desire to help these community cats, and even more for the grace you’ve extended to us as we ensure that we don’t drown in the chaos of it all. Yes, we’ve slowed greatly, but we are regrouping and will be more present soon. Please be patient with us as our tiny organization does our part to address this massive sea of need. Thank you again for loving these cats as much as you do 🐾 ❤️

01/22/2024

07/03/2023

After an incredibly long stretch of not posting anything, we are finally catching our breaths and will be back to trapping efforts soon. For those of you that may not know, we caught two extremely pregnant cats back in May. These cats were scheduled for spay on 5/22, but one gave birth the night prior and the other gave birth at the clinic 😳

Yes, we do advocate for spay/aborts. While sad, there’s just not enough resources to allow every pregnant cat to give birth. We firmly believe in caring for the cats that are already here, and until they all have colony caretakers, foster homes and forever homes, we stand by our decisions. These two cats giving birth are an example of what happens when kittens are born into a community with limited resources.

Momma Bobbie is completely feral, and sadly, she hasn’t been the best mom to her litter. She’s been very stressed indoors and we’ve lost two of her kittens early on. Two of her kittens are finally stable, but one is still having trouble.

Momma Oreo is a fabulous momma, and we are wondering how she ended up outdoors. One of her kittens passed at birth, but her remaining 4 kittens are thriving.

A Little R & R Animal Sanctuary Inc has been gracious enough to invite these kittens into their foster system, but they are low on foster homes. These kittens have to go somewhere, so our lead trapper Laura is fostering the kittens for R&R currently. (Foster homes are always needed; please reach out to R&R if you can open your home and hearts to babies this these.)

With Laura giving round the clock care to Bobbie’s kittens, there hasn’t been the time to devote to trapping or coordinating transports. Having a very small pool of volunteers, TNR services came to a halt. Sad, but necessary to give these kittens the attention they needed to keep them alive and well. (We will be posting soon with details on a volunteer open house so you can learn more ways to help us and ensure we can still provide services even if Laura is inCATpacitated.)

Thank you for your love and patience during this radio silence. We will be going through all our messages this week and getting back to everyone.

Pictured: Brennan Huff, Ron Burgandy, and little Mugatu

05/26/2023

Ricky and Talladega were two of the three cats trapped at a new colony. These feral felines were fixed, vaccinated, and ear-tipped on Monday. They were overjoyed to be returned to their colony after a recovery period. Their friend Bobbie booked an extended stay at the clinic after going into labor there, however. She and her 5 kittens have set up camp there and are claiming squatters’ rights in a comfy kennel. Momma is feral as can be, but she’s doing a great job caring for her babies given the situation 💕

05/24/2023

It was such a busy day yesterday we forgot to post! But 5 cats went to Madison yesterday for TNR appointments. Huge “thank you” to Theresa and Misty for transporting!

Four of the five were spayed/neutered, vaccinated, and ear-tipped. They’ll be going back to their colonies tomorrow. The fifth ended up having kittens at the clinic, so she is in boarding there while we figure out next steps/rescue placement for the family. Once the kittens are weaned, momma will be spayed and returned to her colony ❤️

Pictured: two of the feral darlings that were vetted yesterday

05/22/2023

Yesterday, we had the honor of having our first big fundraiser in conjunction with The Canine Crunchery, Inc.’s 5-year anniversary at their current location. We received amazing baskets and donation items from local businesses and passionate community members, and those items (and a generous anonymous cash donation ❤️) helped us raise enough money to get 11 cats TNR’d! We were also able to show off some kittens that we’d trapped and are available through A Little R & R Animal Sanctuary Inc. And best of all, we were able to introduce Hello Gordo to the Rockford area.

Thank you to our volunteers, donors, A Little R&R, Canine Crunchery, and everyone who came out yesterday. Your support reaffirms our mission.

TNR is so important to prevent suffering. Did you know that 75% of kittens born outdoors die before reaching one year old? It’s a cruel world out there, and we are trying to save cats from that as much as we can. As if we needed any reminder on how important TNR is, we discovered that one of the cats slated for spay today had given birth while we were at our event. We discovered 4 tiny, mewling babies and one deceased kitten crumpled up not far from momma when we got home. Now that the kittens are here, we will fight for this little family and make sure they are safe in the rescue system. But with rescue groups already overflowing with cats and kittens, we hope that our trapping efforts can prevent more of these situations. Thanks to your donations and support, we have hope that this is possible.

Thank you for the bottom of our hearts,
Hello Gordo Board of Directors

Pictured: semi-feral Oreo showing off her kittens. Pretty sure she’s wondering what just came out of her body.

05/22/2023

I’m absolutely speechless after all of the love and support we received for TNR today. “Thank you” doesn’t even begin to cover it all. Me and Elphaba are going to bed early and we’ll think of a better, more official post to encompass today’s event in the morning.

05/21/2023

This little kitten was livetrapped by us not too long ago, and is now being fostered by A Little R&R Animal Sanctuary. He is celebrating graduating from feral life at The Canine Crunchery 5 year Location Anniversary and Hello Gordo TNR Kitty Rescue Event. He’s here until 3pm today. Stop by and say hi!

05/20/2023

One more day 🐾

Tomorrow is the big day at The Canine Crunchery. Are you coming to help us celebrate 5 years at the Daimler location? We are also collaborating with Hello Gordo TNR Support !

The event will be from 10:00 to 3:00 and guess what? We will have nail trims by Traveling Paws Mobile Grooming