Cindy is Big and Beautiful!

Meet our Cat of the Month, Cindy. Black cats are always the most difficult color to adopt. When you see Cindy, with her gorgeous glossy coat and striking yellow eyes, it is impossible to imagine why. Cindy is big and beautiful, sweet and loving. She was passed over as a kitten and has now lived several years without a home of her own. Cindy and her brother Charlie (also black) were rescued during the peak of kitten season and while the other kittens went to new homes, the two black siblings just didn't catch anyone's eye. If you would like to adopt Cindy and give her a true home of her own you will not be disappointed - she can match any cat for sweetness and gentle nature and would truly blossom with the love of a family.

call 706-781-3992 or email castaway_critters @ hotmail.com.

Bliss is a Happy Dog

Meet our Dog of the Month, Bliss. Bliss is a young adult female part boxer and is looking for a forever home. Her human was heartbroken to surrender her to Castaway, but he has gone into a nursing home. She is in a foster home now and is good with dogs, good with cats (loves them!), and good with kids. She is completely housebroken, well mannered and is a housedog. Bliss loves to go with you in the car and sits quietly. She needs some toys and someone to play with and she is a happy dog. Looking for a sweet natured girl who wants to be part of your family?

Call 706-781-3992 or email castaway_critters @ hotmail.com.

Puppy Love: A Valentine's Day Bake Sale

Puppy Love is the title of the bake sale that Citizens South Bank employees will hold, on Valentine’s Day, to benefit Castaway Critters and the Humane Society Mountain Shelter. All proceeds from our bake sale will be divided equally between both worthy organizations. Puppy Love will be held at the Hiawassee office from 9:00 AM until everything is gone.

Should your treat choice be a cake, candies or cookies, you will not be disappointed. All of the items will be decorated and packaged with the Valentine’s Day theme in mind so that they may be given as gifts too. Treat yourself, your staff or anyone special in your life.

Indoor Yard Sale to THIS WEEKEND!

Indoor Yard Sale - THIS WEEKEND!

Castaway Critters has a booth at an indoor yard sale being held at the Civic Center in Blairsville, GA on Saturday, February 11th (next to Steve's Steak House.) Early bird public individuals attending the yard sale between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m. will be charged a fee of $1.00. After 9 a.m., it's free to the public and ends at 3 p.m.

The Tale of a Tired, Old Transport Van

Every month Castaway Critters puts its large cargo van on the road to New Jersey with 20 -30 dogs and cats aboard and two volunteer drivers. It's a 12-hour drive each way, stressful and tiring for both the humans and the animals. But it saves lives - LOTS of them! Many of the animals on the van would have been euthanized; others were rescued from horrific conditions. There just aren't enough homes in our area for all the dogs and cats that come into our sheltering arms. We are fortunate to have a relationship with Eleventh Hour Rescue in Rockaway, NJ and they are able to find wonderful loving homes for these otherwise doomed critters.

However, on the last transport our tired old van didn't make it - breaking down in Virginia and stranding our drivers and the load of dogs and kittens. A rental van was located and they were able to transfer the crates and cages and continue on to Eleventh Hour where all the animals were safely received. But what about next time? We need your help; we need a new (to us) van that we can depend on so we can continue to give these many dogs and puppies, cats and kittens, a LIFE sentence. If you have any suggestions on where we can get our paws on a reliable, large van, please let us know!

By the way, we want to send out a BIG THANK YOU to everyone who contributed to the cost of repairing our tired, old van by participating in our Kindle Fire raffle as well as to those who sent checks. We were fortunate to receive enough funds to cover paying for the repairs and the expense of the rental van!

Puppy and Kitten Safety Tips!

With spring right around the corner, some of our readers (or their friends/family) will be bringing home a new puppy or kitten. While this is an exciting time, full of frisking and hilarious antics, it is also a dangerous time for the new baby. Please take inventory of your home and yard to be sure it is a safe environment for the new, innocent ones.

Many hazards exist inside your home for both puppies and kittens. Keeping the bathroom safe by moving cleansers and other toxic containers up out of reach, and closing the toilet lid, are easy measures. Little ones love to nap in piles of laundry and can easily be put in the washer along with clothes or bedding. Keep the washer/dryer doors closed.

Electrical cords, phone cords, computer wires – all pose threats to the new addition and should be wrapped or hidden to prevent electrocution.

Curtain and blind cords can entangle a neck or leg, and houseplants and cut flowers of many varieties are extremely poisonous to both cats and dogs. Plastic bags, some human foods, and medicines can also be deadly.

Fireplaces and wood stoves should not be left burning unattended and windows and screens should be secure. Small objects common to all homes can be swallowed by the curious little one so check for jewelry, rubber bands, paper clips and coins, and toys with small parts. These can cause serious blockages.

For puppies, be sure the outside areas are safe and secure, without gaps a puppy can squeeze through. Check for any hazards in the play area, such a loose wire. Finally, be careful going in and out doors, the puppy or kitten could be caught in the door, and when doors are left open with screen doors, sudden breezes can blow them shut on a tiny body. Use door stops.

Feed an appropriate puppy or kitten food and remember, many human foods are toxic or dangerous to animals. Cooked bones, too much fat, grapes, and chocolate are just a few of these. Lastly, once you know your home is safe for the new family member, just enjoy them and love them. They won’t be babies very long!

An Inspiration to Us All

Carl and Susan Maxwell are heroes. These six adorable kittens were left in a diaper box on their church steps one evening (when the temperature dropped to 30 degrees). The kittens had just opened their eyes and were about one week old. Carl and Susan had never raised any baby animal but couldn't leave them there. They called Castaway and with a little coaching from an experienced volunteer, plus a lot of laundry, goat milk and formula, mess and more mess, they successfully raised all six of the little charmers! At 9 weeks of age the babies went on our transport van to Eleventh Hour in New Jersey, where homes were waiting for some or all of them. Bottle raising kittens is intensely demanding, even just one kitten! Little newborns need frequent feedings, need to be 'pottied', kept warm, and constantly cleaned. Very few people would have taken on the task but Carl and Susan jumped right in and did it well. It was a tearful and heartbreaking goodbye to their babies but they know these six will be cherished by their new families. Thank you both, Carl and Susan, for your exceptional willingness to provide for these helpless little ones. You are an inspiration to us all.

A Birthday Celebration for Litter Mates!

It all started over three yeas ago with getting an email about a mom and pups in Greenville, SC at animal control. Could we save them? Yes, we

would rescue. In the meantime, another rescue stepped up, pulled them and transported them to NJ to a rescue up there. However, the mom looked so badly --she had hair loss and was very thin -- that they refused her! So, the whole family came back to Greensboro, NC and we were contacted again. Could we take them now? One of our volunteers drove 2-1/2 hours to Greensboro and picked them up.

They were brought back to our shelter where our volunteers really went to work and started supplementing feeding the pups goat's milk twice a day to help mom out. Mom got a special diet, also, to get some weight on her. Our volunteers made schedules out as to who was coming in to feed these pups. Once the pups were of weaning age, foster parents took them home and went on a campaign to find all of them wonderful homes. Some were placed locally; some have ended up in FL and another in Alpharetta, GA.

A family that adopted one of the pups found out that mom was still at our shelter, and came back and adopted mom, too! So, they have all done well for themselves.

The owner of one of the pups had a birthday party for the entire litter on January 29th. All the dogs got along with each other – toys and treats given them, and a buffet for the “people” along with a birthday cake. It was great!

A Reminder to Spay and Neuter!

Opal is a lovely cat, rescued by a caring woman from the cold of winter and found to be pregnant. Opal, and especially her newborn babies, had a dismal future before them until Castaway took her into a foster home.

This story is repeated over and over, seeming to solve the problem for the initial rescuer but putting weeks or months of stress and expense on the foster homes that agree to take these 'throw aways'. Opal's condition was so easily preventable - just a simple surgery prior to her first heat. Now she is confined to a bathroom in the foster home because the normal housing for kittens and moms is on a screened deck. Puppies are being raised in kitchens, with baby gates to deal with, mess and more mess!

All it took to get these fortunate ones into a safe environment was a phone call or email. But it takes weeks to raise the puppies and kittens, much expense to the shelter to provide for them with proper food, vaccinations, wormings and altering, and then the real work begins of finding these innocent mothers and babies a loving and safe forever home.

While much appreciation is extended to those willing to foster, giving these babies and their mothers a chance, we are dismayed by how preventable it is! If you have knowledge of unaltered animals in your neighborhood, or among your friends and family, please make it a simple goal for this new year to convince them to SPAY AND NEUTER.

Think about this...

During any given year, over 6 MILLION dogs and cats enter shelters and become homeless. Over 50% of them are euthanized due to overcrowding or health issues related to abuse and neglect. The sad animals you see in the TV commercials are real. Those of us in rescue see the abused and abandoned animals first hand. Purchasing from a pet store or flea market takes homes away from shelter animals and perpetuates the use of animals for profit. Puppy mill dogs are never allowed to walk outside their small cages, never allowed to play and are fed just enough to allow them to continue breeding. They are matted, filthy, lonely, hungry, scared, depressed and usually sick. Their living conditions are deplorable and when they can no longer breed, they are killed.

So, if you plan on purchasing that happy little puppy from a pet store or flea market, keep in mind that you will be leaving its parents behind to suffer while putting money into the pocket of their abuser. If you want a purebred dog, go a breed rescue and adopt!

Miracle's Update

Miracle, the cat that was hit by a car, went to his foster home to recover from surgery. It was determined that he is blind in the remaining eye (the other had to be removed). His jaw was wired shut until Christmas because it had been broken in the front and he ended up losing one of his lower canine teeth. Miracle gets along well with the four other cats in the home, he eats well and his body functions work properly. He's learned to jump on and off furniture but he doesn't like stairs. He follows his foster parents around the house and craves attention and loves to nuzzle. He has great senses and rarely runs into anything very hard. However, the best news is that Miracle's foster family decided to adopt him and give him a permanent home with them! A very happy ending indeed.