Rikki's Refuge: 11/01/2011

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Good Morning Good News !!!! November 30, 2011

I’m Vincent D. Cat and here to make you happy! You are HEROES! You work hard every day and you deserve to smile every day! Those of you working to save us animals hear so very many very sad things. And there’s lots of very glad things too and that’s what we talk about here! All pawsitive all the time! I want my friends to be happy and smile and know there’s a lot of good - including YOU - in this world!! Be kind and pass it on! Please send me your Good New and Fun Stuff to share, personal or global. Let’s keep it fun and interactive!! After all, if we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane! Vincent@RikkisRefuge.org

Good Morning !!!! My goodness what a lovely November we’ve been having!!!! It’s felt like spring !!!! Got a little more seasonal last night yet with a still lovely forecast in sight!

I hope you’re enjoying this time as much as us critters are. Thank you, nice hoomans, for making Rikki’s Refuge for us!!! Without you ... well we don’t think about that!! With you, we have love and friends and family and a place to call our own!!! Thank you for feeding us and buying us the meds we need and coming to visit us.

I had so many wonderful visiting friends last week!!!! Purrrzzzzz I love sitting in your lap and purring. That’s my favorite thing to do. Well except for maybe eating Fancy Feast.

It sure can take me all day writing these notes to you, sometimes my paws go so slow on the keys, I mean these are really big keys for a little kitty!!!! And sometimes the hoomans keep shouting at me, Vincent, get over here and clean this up, one of YOUR friends gacked .........

Oh and guess what ???

Fancy Feast is having a contest. This is really important. Here, are the details http://rikkisrefuge.blogspot.com/2011/11/fancy-feast-contest-dec-6.html . The IMPORTANT part to remember is to be ready to VOTE on Dec 6^th - we only have 24 hours to get the most votes. I didn’t even know about this contest and my friends voted for me in the first rounds!!! YOU made Rikki’s Refuge one of the top four!!! Now the challenge is down to number 1 -- can we do it?? With YOUR help, YES we can !!!!

The voting is only on facebook - and it’s worth setting up a facebook page just for this event if you don’t already have one. It’s quick, and it’s free. And if you need help I can help get you set up. You can even use a separate email address - lots of ways to create one for free - like hotmail.com !!!!

You and all your kitties and your doggies and your goats and your cows - they should ALL have facebook pages!!! Yup, um hum, all the critters should have their own !!! Just like me and Duke and Petunia and India do !!!!

Spread the word - get all your friends mobilized!! Let’s win!!! This could mean as much as $20,000 !!!!!

YOU have voted me back into 7^th place

in the Animal Rescue Site’s Shelter Challenge

THANK YOU !!!!

You’re the BEST !!!

Very Important - Today and Every Day

thru Dec 18 VOTE !!!!

help me win $1,000

Please click http://tinyurl.com/VoteRikkis and enter Rikkis Refuge in VA in the USA

It’s FREE to vote !!!!

You click - we critters eat!!!!

Mariza, thank you for the hooman nums!!

The hoomans report back that they had a wonderful time and a spectacular Thanksgiving Dinner at Mariza’s. As always Mariza had dozens of delicious vegetarian dishes !!! Lots and lots to make every body happy!!!

Look at all those Pumpkins!!!

This is gonna feed most everybody here well into the winter !!!! YEAH and HURRAY to all the pumpkin pickers this year !!!!! You all are awesome. That was really hard work they did. Picking up pumpkins, loading them into their vehicle, driving to Rikki’s, unloading them pumpkins. And they’re heavy!!! I stayed out of the way so I wouldn’t get smushed by any pumpkins falling out of vehicles!!!

UH OH Mike’s Truck Got Broke

Mike drives all the way to Pennsylvania with a rented trailer on his truck or with a great big truck he’s rented to pick up food that Purina’s donated to us. He was headed out this afternoon to pick up the trailer so he could go on a long road trip tomorrow for food. And his truck broke down. Can YOU rent a trailer and make the trip? If you can please let Mike know - it can be done any day except Saturday. So YES that means it CAN be done on SUNDAY.

If you can help tell Mike: wood_ma@hughes.net

This is the last delivery Mike made .........

It’s due to wonderful volunteers like Mike who spend a lot of time, and their own money renting trucks and things like that, that make it all possible for us to survive on $1 per day per animal at Rikki’s Refuge !!!!! Yeahhh Volunteers!!!!!

Unloading is an “all hands on deck” job

Ting Ting is pretty new and was relieved

to find out us kitties don’t have to do the unloading --- just the eating!!!

Are YOU one of my Generous friends?

I told the PR director at Fancy Feast (who says she loves my emails) that my friends send me monthly subscriptions of Fancy Feast from Amazon!!! She said, that’s wonderful, but WHY? I’d love to understand why your fans do that for you! SO in my ever persistent effort to get on the label of Fancy Feast would you write me a quick note about WHY you like to send me Fancy Feast. Or how I’ve inspired YOU to buy Fancy Feast for your kitties. Anything nice you can say about Fancy Feast and ME. Hint hint hint, why I should be on the label, I want fancy Feast to know it’ll be a win win situation if they support me and Rikki’s Refuge. Send me your note: Vincent@RikkisRefuge.org

I Love YOU,

Vincent

PS You tell me what you want! Email me at Vincent@RikkisRefuge.org with instructions to change your subscription: additions, deletions or modifications! Subscriptions: Vincent’s VIPs - up to the second alerts about issues at Rikki’s Refuge for those who care and want to be intimately involved. Scheduled as needed. Good Morning Good News - a little something to get you going in the mornings, for those of you who want to keep smiling with us! Scheduled daily. Hairballs - so you know what’s coming up at Rikki’s! Scheduled weekly.

Rikki's Refuge, supported solely by private donations, houses over 1200 animals of 22 species. On line at http://bit.ly/Give-a-gift-to-Rikkis Checks, money orders, cash, items at Rikki's Refuge, PO Box 1357, Orange VA 22960

Rikki's Refuge is owned and operated by Life Unlimited of Virginia, Inc., an IRS 501(c)(3) not-for-profit Virginia Corporation, tax-id 54-1911042. Combined Federal Campaigns #77674, Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign #3163, PetsMart Charities #1377. A financial statement is available upon written request from the State Office of Consumer Affairs.

Learn more www.RikkisRefuge.org and help spread the good word, tell everyone you know about Rikki’s Refuge

For Katarina

Fancy Feast Contest, Dec 6

Hi Rikki’s Refuge –

Congratulations and thanks again for participating in the Fancy Feast cat charity organization poll. As a quick reminder, your organization was nominated by the Fancy Feast Facebook community to take part in a community vote on Fancy Feast’s Facebook page. We were touched by the comments the community made about your organization. You do fantastic work, and we want to help you earn donations to continue helping cats in your community.

Fancy Feast will tell the Fancy Feast Facebook community this Friday, Dec. 2 that the vote day is Tuesday, Dec. 6. Consumers will have 24 hours to vote on Dec. 6.

The organization that receives the highest number of votes from the Fancy Feast Facebook community will receive four wedding gowns featured in the Fancy Feast Storybook Wedding TV commercial and sweepstakes that took place this summer. Each is valued for retail at approximately $5,000. If your organization receives the highest number of votes, your organization will receive the gowns. The votes are tallied through the poll on Facebook. A person can only vote once in a Facebook poll.

What will you do with four exquisite designer wedding gowns? That’s up to you. You can auction them off to brides-to-be to raise money for your organization. Or work with an organization that would want to auction them off in return for a donation. Or whatever wonderful idea you may create. It’s up to you to make the most out of this opportunity.

Here are a few tips:

- Notify your supporters and include the link to the Fancy Feast Facebook page: www.facebook.com/fancyfeast

- Ask them to vote for your organization on Tuesday, Dec. 6. People will have 24 hours to vote.

- Ask them to ask their friends and family to vote too.

- Post reminders each day from Friday through Tuesday.

- Have signs or handouts for visitors and friendly businesses in your community who may want to help your organization earn votes.

- Post messages about your organization on the Fancy Feast Facebook page to get the word out about the great work you do.

- Put a link to the voting page on your organization’s website to show your fans and friends where to go to vote.

- Have fun with it – this is a friendly competition. Please be respectful!

We’ll notify you by the end of the week – by Dec. 9 at the latest – after the votes have been counted and the winner has been determined. From there, we’ll be in touch to work on details with the winning organization.

Most important, thank you for all the wonderful work you do to help cats in your community and for having such vocal supporters in the online community who want to share what you do with others who are committed to celebrating amazing acts of devotion. We sincerely appreciate your efforts and wish you all the best.

Please confirm for me that your URL is www.rikkisrefuge.org; and please include your preferred contact information – name, email and phone.

Many thanks for your participation – please let me know if you have any questions.

Julie

Julie Voss Catron

Fancy Feast

Marketing Public Relations

Nestle Purina PetCare Company

314-982-3064 office

314-614-2553 mobile

Thursday, November 10, 2011

Good Morning Good News !!!! November 10, 2011

HEY!!! That's me !!!!

THE shirt you've been waiting for!!!

Click on the picture to see the auction listing!!! This is a BUY IT NOW item!!!

Cherry Red medium, large, x-large, 2x

Gray medium, large, x-large, 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x

Tan medium, large, x-large, 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x

Military Green medium, large, x-large, 2x

Golden Yellow medium, large, x-large, 2x, 3x

Heather Red medium, large, x-large, 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x

Violet medium, large, x-large, 2x

Colonial Blue 2x, 4x, 5x

Denim Blue 2x, 3x

Heather Blue medium, large, x-large

Navy medium, large, x-large, 2x, 3x, 4x, 5x

Lime Green large, x-large, 2x

Jade medium, large, x-large, 2x

$20 each shirt, $22 for 2x-5x

$3 shipping in the USA, $11.50 to the UK and Australia. Ask about your location.

Limited color/size selection, please verify your favorite is in stock before paying.
Vincent@RikkisRefuge.org

No matter where you’re headed .....

STOP and take the time to VOTE !!!!!

Remember to vote every day!!! The mostest votes will win us $1,000 !!!

Rikki’s Refuge has fallen to 8^th place in the nation!!!!

Help me get Team Vincent back up to 7^th !!!!

Please click http://tinyurl.com/VoteRikkis and enter Rikkis Refuge in VA in the USA

Thank you, your simple clicks every day really truly brings money into Rikki’s, and the money that comes to Rikki’s is spent caring for the animals!!!

YES!!!! That photo pawtographed with personal inscription to YOU is available on the auction, just click here:

Auction Previews

CLICK HERE http://www.rikkisauction.blogspot.com/ to see items and start bidding!

The auction is running now - It ends 7 pm Nov 21 !!! In time to ship your items out for Christmas.

Over 250 items!!!!

Here’s today’s selection!!!

All items were donated to Rikki’s Refuge and
all proceeds of the auction will be used to pay down Rikki’s Refuge’s debt!!!!
So BID with joy !!!!

It’s been a busy and productive week at Rikki’s !!!

Look who came to Breakfast on Tuesday!

Breakfast was served a little later than our scheduled piggy breakfast for Preston and Patrick!!! PUMPKINS !!!!! YUM !!!!

Preston and Patrick are very grateful to Sarah.

Welcome to Rikki’s Refuge Preston and Patrick!!!!! Believe me, they are very happy to have the chance to move to Rikki's!!!!

And they get to root up their new yard in Piggy Pagoda!!! This is the first time their feet have touched anything but cement. They were raised for ..... Oh gosh I can't say it, I can't even think it ...... At a working farm for tourists ... and now with summer over they were headed to an awful place ..... Sarah, a 17 year old, had worked at the farm this summer and raised them ..... She was born a vegan and had no idea ...... She saved all her money from the whole summer and bought them to save their lives!

Here's Sarah with them. I think she'll be spending a lot of time at Rikki's now!

Timmy rushed right in to meet his new friends! Preston and Patrick didn't know cats were friends!!! Wanna take bests on how long before every last stick of grass is rooted up!!!!

On Wednesday I had to see the doc.

I’ve had three bladder infections back to back and mom and my doc were worried it might be something bad. And so I got an ultrasound.

Oh the humiliation of it all .... Ok, so maybe the ultrasound wasn’t that bad, cold and tickly but gosh the invasion of privacy, the total embarrassment. I’m a fur bearing warm blooded animal, so like they need a probe to tell I’m warm? Come on!

Then I get flopped on my back and my belly tickled. Not to mentioned shaved, SHAVED! Cats are supposed to be covered in fur, that’s how we’re made, what is this trying to take it all apart stuff???

And then, “Oh Vincent pee in this little box, up on top of a table, with everybody watching to see how good Vincent is to pee on command!” Mommey puts me in a BIG litter box a home, lets me scratch in the litter and pats my back and says, “Come on little man, go wee wee, we’re going out in the truck and you want to wee wee first.” But with the whole planet watching me? Come on - you try it, can you pee when you’re being watched?

And so what did all this tell them? NOTHING! Yeah, nothing’s wrong with the Vin-Man!! No problems in the bladder, no stones, no crystals. A little bacteria is showing up, but that’s like a bad bug, that’s not me! So it’s two weeks with no antibiotics and then pee for them again so they can culture it!!!

Mom says it’s good that it’s nothing serious and it’s good we’ve eliminated that. Well I say YOU go pee in public and leave ME home to eat Fancy Feast!!

Dang ..... see my fur there !!!!

I should have brought it home and put it in the auction!

Henry Went to the Doc too !

Henry just came to Rikki’s Tuesday afternoon. He'd been a "neighborhood stray" in a gated community, Lake of the Woods!!! Several folks have been feeding him and most of the residents liked him. It only took one icky stuffy mean hooman to call the authorities - NO CHICKENS ALLOWED.

So before he could be caught and killed, one of the folks who fed him tricked him into a carrier. If you look close you'll see his beck was cut short on the top - they do that in factory production, and then they can't peck each other, but it makes it hard to eat too.

One toe looked broken and the foot infected so we needed doc to check him out. It’s an old break and the bone is sticking out. He had a little bit of the sniffles too. He’s got to be on pain meds and antibiotics for a week and then he’ll have to have the toe amputated. He’ll be ok, we’ve had other chickens that lost a toe before and they do fine.

Last Night we Saved the Twins

Mom had left me in charge last night here while she went off to chase a couple feral kittens around. When she finally got back here and went to put them in a cage .....

Opps the girl jumped out over her head. She chased all around and under the tub and on top of the lights hanging off the ceiling and under the cages, and up and around and finally mom netted her.

The boy was all huddled back in the corner of the cage ..... looking like he'd stay still. And when mom opened the door just enough to put the girl in - he lunged and out he went. Around and around and over and under ....

Now I gotta get soap to wash mommey's mouth she called the filthy animals and all kinds of other bad things ..... She bleeding on one knee, both hands and the top of her head. She's always making some kind of mess.

She finally netted him in mid air as he flew across the room. She thought about putting him in a different cage, but the girl was looking so scared and so alone .....

My mom is a really dumb hooman, really dumb, but I do keep her cuz her thumbs work good on opening cans and she can clean my poo box .... hmmm I wonder if her half chewed off thumb is going to work ????? I may have to trade her in ....

So as she's being really really careful not to let the girl out while the boy's going in ......

I don't even need to tell you, do I???? Well another round of up and over and down and the girl kept throwing herself at the windows trying to smash her way out ..... but the big bad hooman swooped in and netted the poor little itty bitty kitty.

And thinking once again of putting them in separate cages ..... but not being able to bear the thought of each of them alone and scared and wondering what happened to the other ...... mom was lucky and got them in together!!!!!

Today Lena gave them their first shots and wormings and blood tested them. And they were nice and friendly, pretty much friendly, a little scared, but they purred. They’re 4 or 5 months old. They're afraid. But not too terribly feral.

Would you give these two a nice home? They absolutely must stay together.

Poor little innocent Snickers .....

So..... I went to check my email today and ....... it no work.

No internet connection.

So I try to reconnect and it say no modem? WHAT?

My modem is hanging right up there ....... air card hanging off ceiling cuz that's the only way to get service here ..... and the end of the usb cable is ..... empty ... nothing .... no aircard modem .... HUH ????

I call mommey to fix my problem and she look on floor, did it fall off ... where is it?

She search and search and start moving furniture and dumps the trash to look ..... could it have fallen off ???? How far could it go .... she dig thru litter box .....

Then she see Snickers up in loft, sitting there watching mommey go crazy .... Snickers has the evil eye ..... Snickers is snickering ...... Mommey says, you couldn't? Could you?

Mommey goes up to loft and guess what Snicker's is sitting on!!! Bad Cat!!!

I hope you’re coming

Saturday, Nov 12^th Nature Appreciation Day (click for more info) http://rikkisrefuge.blogspot.com/2011/11/nature-appreciation-day-nov-12-2011.html

Sunday, Nov 12^th, Thanksgiving Dinner (click for more info) http://rikkisrefuge.blogspot.com/2011/11/celebrate-thanksgiving-where-no-animals.html

I Love YOU,

Vincent

Learn more www.RikkisRefuge.org and help spread the good word, tell everyone you know about Rikki’s Refuge