February at Smiley's Rescues! By Sid and Adriane

Even though it was the shortest month, February 2023 was one of the busiest at the rescue so far! Lots of intakes, some adoptions, a community event, and some kitties not feeling so well! And that's not to mention the newborn kitties who are getting bigger by the day! I truly will never know how Sid keeps up with it all!

On the administrative side of things, the board has been meeting and we are working to develop more partnerships with other rescues/non-profits and area businesses that are interested in our mission.

It truly restores my faith in humanity to meet so many community members who feel a connection to Sid and Smiley's Rescues and support our mission. And maybe more-so even to meet so many people who work really hard on their own to rescue as many animals as they are able! I didn't know how many people out there just HELP animals whenever they can!

Thank you to all of our donors and supporters and to everyone who helps animals however they can.

- Adriane

Intakes

Sally and Gracey are two adult kitties whose owner passed away recently. Sally has already been adopted by Aal Yours Consignments in Fargo! Gracey is ok with that, they really were just roommates and not bonded. But Gracey IS ready to find her forever home!

A community member was caring for a group of cats until Smiley's had the room to take them in. There were 3 adult males: Dexter, Sugar, Chester; and 7 kittens: Miles, Nala, Chet, Daisy, Charlotte, Rowan, Clara. A few from this group have already been adopted!

Cory, Topanga, Shawn, Kylo, Rey, and Renegade were a group of 3-4 month old kittens taken in on an emergency basis. A bunch of these sweeties have already been adopted too!

Jason was returned to Smiley's Rescues because his owner suddenly passed away. (Jason was one of the Halloween bunch at Smiley's.) Jason was just fine to be back in the rescue, but he didn't stay long! He got adopted into the same home as another Smiley's kitty (Pete). Jason and Pete became best friends right away! :)

Todd and Copper were strays that were caught and cared for by a community member until Smiley's had room for them. There is a third cat from this litter that will come to Smiley's if it can be caught.

Valentina and her son Romeo were rescued by another community member from an emergency situation.

Colin was found as a stray in Fertile, MN; he sure appreciates being in from the cold!! He is the sweetest guy!

Medical Issues: At Smiley's we get animals the best medical care possible and appropriate. Thank you to the donors who have helped make this possible in the past month.

• Charlotte isn't feeling great, we are keeping a close eye on her and she has seen the vet very recently and has a check up in a few days.

• Todd and Copper came in with Upper Respiratory Infections (URIs), as outside cats often do, and were treated with antibiotics.

• Morgan has healed up so well that she was able to be spayed this month!! This is GREAT news!!! But she also had to be treated for an URI, it is likely that the URI was related to the time she spend outside after being injured and before coming to Smiley's.

• Colin has had an UTI since he came in and will be checked again this week.

It is so important we get the cats healthy as soon as possible so they are adoptable. Smiley's has strict policies and procedures in place to ensure the animals' health: these include thorough screening and universally treating animals for common contagious diseases as soon as they arrive in our care. We strongly believe (and evidence shows!) that this keeps all the animals in the rescue healthier - but it also adds to the cost of caring for the animals in the short term. In March you will see us continuing to raise money towards routine medical care for all the animals. This investment pays off really quickly though - healthy animals mean more get adopted AND we have fewer vet bills! But of course we need the funds to do all of that preventive care in the first place.

Who Found Forever Homes?

 Cory, Topanga, and Shawn all got adopted TOGETHER at our even at the Community Center in Winger, MN on February 12th! We are so thankful they will always have each other to snuggle and play with!

Also adopted in February were: Jason, Sally, Tres, Nala, Kylo, Rey, Sugar, Miles, and Chet.

Who's Still Waiting?

It was such a successful month at the rescue! But honestly we never really stop to look backwards at that - we are constantly working to get the cats in our care adopted because we know how many more are on the wait list - obviously some in desperate situations.

So, in order to to take in those cats that need to be at Smiley's AND because these guys have been here since the beginning of December we need to find homes for:

Izzy and McGuire - they could go as a pair, but don't need to because they are still young.

Wednesday and Pear - could also go as a pair, but are young so don't have to.

Kelso - have you SEEN this guy's belly? He is going to make someone a very happy cat mom or dad!!

Please click here to see everyone who is available!

Robyn Sparkles and Her Grumpy Little Kittens

Ok, so the kittens aren't actually grumpy at all...they just aren't particularly photogenic at this point! Robyn though IS a bit grumpy about being a mom - which is understandable, she is far to young to have kittens. It is truly amazing that she was able to give birth to 4 viable kittens and that those 4 have survived to this point.

Without Smiley's Rescues, all of those kittens would have died before birth due to inadequate nutrition for Robyn, or they would have died right after birth because Robyn wasn't old enough to really know how to care for her kittens right away - she learned from Sid.

But even with all that, Robyn is doing the very best she can and is taking good care of 3 of the 4 kittens (Teddy, Lily, and Marshal). The fourth kitten, Barney, is very small. Barney loves to be with his litter mates, but he needs Sid to feed him, clean him, and toilet him because Robyn won't. It is natural behavior for a mother animal to divert resources to the healthier offspring; but it could also be partially due to Robyn's young age that one of her kittens is getting ignored. Either way Sid is looking after Barney closely and will keep you updated on Facebook!  

Spays/Neuters

All animals at Smiley's get spayed or neutered if they are not already. This month we also transported 2 additional male cats from the community to be neutered.

Thank you (so much!!!!!) to our partners for offering low-cost options for spay/neuter:

Minn-kota PAAWS in Fargo, ND

Get Your Fix in Detroit Lakes, MN

Thank you to everyone who came out to meet the cats, make tie blankets, and support the rescue at the Winger Community Center earlier this month! We appreciate your support so much!

Thank you especially to:
Pioneer Memorial Care Center in Erskine for their donation of fleece!

Morning Glory Flower and Coffee Shop in Fertile, MN for their donation of coffee!

Coming Soon: Dogs!

We started working on the dog building! Thank you to all of you who donated towards this the past 3 months and to the Fertile Building Center for helping to make this possible!

The weather has slowed us down a little, but we still have a goal of May 1st to be able to take in dogs.

Smiley's Rescues is 100% Volunteer-run and Not-for-Profit.

Please see the document at the bottom of this page for more information about our 2022 financials.