Tuesday, April 18, 2017

GMGN 4/18/17



GOOD MORNING GOOD NEWS ---- April 18, 2017

Good Morning !!!  I hopz you had a very nice Easter and a lovely weekend.  We sure had fabulous weather here and all the happy animals really enjoyed it !!!  Nice and warm and sunny but not too hot ...  lovely light breeze ... oh it was nice !!!!

You do know that April is Cats vs Dogs month, right? 

Our campaign is starting slow .... but I have two big secret announcements coming up ....  so keep reading ... and for now ... let me tell YOU why Cats vs Dogs is so important ... #1 of course, is so I keep Ruling Rikki's ...

#2 is so I can keep taking care of all our animal friends and helping more everyday. It's a big job you know ... 1300 animals of over 20 species .... and I NEED YOU to help me feed them all and get them medicine and keep the heat and the lights on ... sometimes we want to read at night ya know ....

But really ... this time of year I NEED YOU ....

At Christmas everyone is super generous and we have more money than we absolutely must have every day to take care lof everyone properly. But I'm not stopopid ... no way ... not me .. I'm a cat ... and stoopid and cat just don't go together ... so I save as much of that extra money as I can to use in the next few months while YOU all are paying off your Christmas bills and can't be so generous ..... and then in the next few lean months I can use that money so none of our animals ever ever have to do with out .....

But about this time of year, the green stuff under my mattress has all been traded off for nums and docs and medicine and stuff .... all the stuff love just can't buy ..... and so that's where I must come to you .... and that's why we have Cats vs Dogs in April .... so you can put your money where your mouth is and support your favorite species.

And if I win ... which you know I should ... I help all the animals ... I work for them all ... in the end .. no matter who you like ... if youVOTE CATS, THAT'S Opie THE CAT ..... you can know that I'll work my little orange tail off taking care of EVERYBODY no matter what their native language is ... meow, woof, oink, squawk, or moooo .....

So please ... be generous .... please help me help others ... every dollar you donate is turned in to LOVE and all those things love just can't buy ... but the animals need YOU to survive.

PS - just a little click here get YOU on your way to VOTING FOR ME !!!! http://rikkisrefuge.org/donate?purpose=Vote%20for%20Opie

I'm tired Opie, this providing for EVERYBODY is long hard work, I wanna go play with Wanda ....
Can't they justVOTE DOGS cuz I'm cute ?
No, Obie, NO, it doesn't matter what it takes, if you want to be in charge, then YOU have to do what ever it takes so all our residents are fed and well cared for ....  THAT is what it means to be a leader !!

VOTE CATS  Keep Rikki's Rolling Forward !!!!

Before I tell you my new secrets which won't be secrets any longer when I do, I want to introduce you to Aunt Gracie and CJ.   
Gracie and CJ were both bottle babies.  As they grew and started spending time outside, their owner, who loved them very much, came to find out it wasn't a safe place for them to live.  No safe pastures to roam and munch on good things.  And they couldn't live happily ever after locked up in a small safe pen.  And so she searched around for a place they'd be happy.  After visiting and seeing all the happy goats at Rikki's, she asked if they could join the Rikki's Family.

They are out of quarantine now and roaming around and having a blast playing with Milo, Rikki's official unicorn.  Well ...  maybe Milo is a one horned goat ....  but he's sure got a magical life now a Rikki's Refuge !!!

Sign up for a TOUR  by emailing us at Tours@RikkisRefuge.org and come meet Gracie and CJ !!!!! 

Because of YOU they are all safe and happy for ever after !!!


Look at this poor sad starving horse.
Not what you'd expect at Rikki's - is it? 
Well it's not.  This is where he was when we got the call he needed help.  Oh the poor thing.  He looked oh so very old, and oh so very starved, and gosh ....  was he just hungry or did he have some horrid disease and was dying? 

Our vet checked him out, ran blood work to check for some bad diseases, worked on his teeth and his hooves, told us he'll need some extra special easy to chew food since he's missing a few teeth, keep him warm with a blanket in the winter, worm him and worm him and worm him again, and give him lots of love, and keep working on those feet, and add a lot of love and lots of prayer, and maybe he could overcome the neglect he'd been thru. 

Everybody at Rikki's followed directions
I'd say everybody did a pretty good job !!!!   They made 30 year old Madison feel loved and cared for and wanting to live and enjoy his retirement. 

Madison is so social and just loves visitors !!!!   He's waiting to see YOU on the next TOUR.  He even helped with Easter Egg hunting with the kids and they all had fun together !!!

He'll always require a special diet that includes senior feed, soaked alfalfa pellets, shredded beet pulp, and MannaPro Cool Calories, to the tune of approximately $300 a month. But you know something?  We think HE'S WORTH IT !!!! 

Don't YOU?  Doesn't it make YOU proud to know YOU make happy lives possible?

So here's my first secret ....   but you have to PROMISE not to tell my friend Lia Federico .... ok ???  
She's got a birthday coming up ....  yes she does.  I mean she knows that, that's not the secret. 

Lia is a really good Rikkite.  She loves Rikki's ... she's one of my hooman volunteers who helps me with on-line stuff ....  did you know that YOU can too ??  Yup ... just ask me how !!!    Lia comes to visit when she can .... but she lives far far away in Connecticut so she can only come sometimes.   When she comes, she works with me here at the refuge too. 

You like to EAT HEALTHY ? 
Well follow me right here https://www.facebook.com/OpiesEdibles/ at Opie's Edibles .... and me n Lia will help you !!!!   Lia helps me discover what healthy hoomans eat and we share it wif you !!!

Last year when Lia came to visit, she stayed at the Life Center and she fell in love with Aimee.  And Aimee fell in love with her. 
And when the time came that Lia had to go home, Aimee climbed in the car right behind her and went with her !!!!   Aimee says she's very very happy in her new home !!!!

And, as we all do, Lia is getting older again this year and is celebrating another year on beautiful planet earth with a birthday !!!!!  Isn't that cool !!!!   I lov birthdays !!!!!    And I only getz one every year .......

Lia will be 55 in a few days on the 22nd !!!!!   

And this is where Aimee and I need YOU to help surprise her !!!   We been catlaborating !!!

Cus I'm such a smart Official Spokes Kitty and you shouldVOTE CATS NOW before you read further  http://rikkisrefuge.org/donate?purpose=Vote%20for%20Opie 
Thank you ... preciate that ....

I've worked out a special deal you won't believe .....   I convinced a nice store owner to give me 550 pounds of canned cat food on a really special deal .....   you see .... that's 55 cases of their cat food !!!  So it's all MAGIC NUMBERS !!!!   Is that cool or what ??? 

And EACH CASE will be ONLY $8 ....  yes ....   $8 for 12 extra huge cans that will feed me or 15 of my buddies a meal !!!!   WOW ....   I don't think you can do better than that !!!!...  

And HERE'S THE SECRET part .....   I need YOU to say HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Lia ... but real quiet like ...  NOW ... before the 22nd ....  by clicking www.RikkisRefuge.org/FeedMe and donating ONLY $8 ....  then me n Aimee will sneak out and get the nums and on Lia's Birthday we'll show her the gift YOU gave to Rikki's in honor of her birthday !!!!

Me and Aimee know Lia well nuf to know making kitties happy is the bestest birthday wish she could ever have !!!!   So please ....  send a GIFT of ONLY $8 for a case of kitty nums in honor of Lia !!!

Thank you !!!!!

And now I want you to meet Cleopatra, who's life YOU JUST SAVED.
This poor gal was wondering the streets of Egypt just hoping to find a meal.  She must have gotten in the way of the wrong person.  She was found laying on the ground with lots of blood around and a terrible head wound.  She was picked up and taken to a vet by a lady who does her best to help save kitties there.  The vet said it looked like a hammer blow to her head and she was in bad bad shape and probably would not survive.  They tried .... and she's recovering. 

Once she was well enough to get a little stronger and eat on her own, the nice lady who saved Mouky, asked if Cleopatra could come to Rikki's for her recuperation.  Mouky said YES,
if YOU would help.  And you did.  Cleopatra is on her way to Rikki's now !!!!

Mouky thinks Rikki's is the land of miracles.  He could not walk when he came.  He'd been in a car accident and his legs, (actually pelvis but he doesn't know the big words in English yet), had not healed right, he scooted around a bit and had bad sores on his hips from the scooting. 

At first he didn't like Rikki's cus da hoomans made him do physical therapy sr and over, several times a day.  But soon he could stand up !!!  Then he wanted more and more physical therapy !!!!   As soon as he could take a few steps on his own, he worked on his exercises all day and half the night !!!!  

Today, Mouky runs and plays and he's even able to climb trees and jump high !!!!!   Now he says Rikki's is the land of Miracles and he hopes, that YOU will VOTE CATS so Opie can continue to Rule Rikki's and with YOUR help give other animals the chance to have their own Miracle !!!!

Cus at Rikki's .... we like Miracles !!!

And now, I'd like to introduce Rocks.
Rocks is an old man.  He'd lived with hoomans who said they loved him.  And he loved them very much.  He'd lost his mama in a tragic accident when he was just an itty bitty baby and these hoomans had taken him in and bottle fed him.  He thought they were his hoomans AND his mommy.  He'd never know a life without them, they were always there for him.  They promised to be there forever. 

But something happened ....  somebody had a sudden allergy and Rocks was blamed and with out warning was left at a high kill shelter .....   15 years old, bewildered, scared, lonely, betrayed. 

15 years old .....   Do you have any idea how hard it is to find a home for someone as old as just FIVE ?  People want to adopt cute puppies and kittens.  They don't want "old" ones.  They want to "make" the personality of a baby be what they think they want ....  and you know something?  That don't work.  That don't even work on hoomans.  We're all born who we're gonna be.  So you might be swayed one way or the other by your upbringing .....  but you don't get a baby and turn it into exactly what YOU want ....  no you don't. 

And when you adopt older animals, you can meet them and already know who they are. 

You can meet Rocks at our Vincent D. Memorial Live Center and get some super snuggles, from this real lovebug, who just loves to be cuddled in your arms, but is still pretty scared and bewildered about where the people he loves so much are.  We're praying that with lots of love and attention Rocks become a happy secure fun loving resident very soon !!!


AND HERE'S MY SECOND SECRET !!!!  

You remember my daddy Vincent, don't you?  Just click http://rikkisrefuge.blogspot.com/2012/05/vincent-d-cat.html to read all about
Vincent D. Cat
From Alley Cat to World Renown Spokes Cat
April 30, 1998 - April 30, 2012
Well my daddy, Vincent, is Rikki's guardian angle and he speaks to me and guides me in how to be a good kitty and do a good job running Rikki's for him.  And he went round and put a little bug in some folks ears ..... AND they agreed to help me run a DOUBLE YOUR DONATION in honor of his Birthday on April 30th ......

AND he told me not to tell MOM ....  but she probably already knows ....
It's her 60th Birthday too !!!!  

Yup she and Vincent be borned on the same day ......  not the same year ... but both on April 30th !!!!

And she now qualifies to be officially really ancient !!!!!  

60 !!!  That's like a HUGE number !!!!   If I gaved her 10 cats for every year she's been on planet earth, well ... that'd be all our cats !!!!!    

But mom says ENOUGH KITTIES .....  so instead of kitties, we're gonna give her SIXTY MEALS for EVERYBODY !!!!!! 

60 MEALS for Cats and Dogs and Goats and Horses and Cows and Chickens ....  EVERYBODY !!!!!! 

Mom is at her happiest when she sees happy animals .....  and nums for everybody makes them happy AND makes us happy !!!!!!   

WITH YOUR HELP - WE CAN MAKE MOM HAPPY FOR 60 DAYS !!!!!

Won't YOU help me ???? 

BUT there's MORE !!!!!

YOU VOTE CATS and mention it's for her Birthday AND

TWO WONDERFUL THINGS HAPPEN .....  

I get your vote so I can rule Rikki's for another year .....  cuz mom really trusts me ....  she really does ....

AND I have special donors who will DOUBLE YOUR DONATION .....  up to $7,500 ....  YES !!!!!! 

But you must DONATE FOR KERRY AND VINCENT'S BIRTHDAY DURING APRIL .....  cus come May 1st ....  and no more voting and no more DOUBLING !!!!!

So give mom one meal for her BIRTHDAY and she gets to watch the animals have TWO MEALS !!!!!!

Yes, that's right !!!!!   If you give 10 meals .... she gets to watch them eat 20 meals !!!!

How cool is that !!!!!  

And you can tell me WHO your meal is for !!!!  Cats, Dogs, Pigs ......   you name it and I'll make sure that's where YOU donation goes .... that's cus I'm a good Spokes Kitty and Ruler of Rikki's Refuge !!!! 

SO DO IT NOW and say

HAPPY 60th BIRTHDAY to KERRY !!!!
and remember .. it's ALL DOUBLED !!!!!


This is Buddy.  Little Buddy was born blind .....  for some reason ... they felt sorry for him and didn't want to send him to slaughter with his mom and dad and all his aunts and uncles and cousins and older brothers and sisters ...... 

Lucky for Buddy !!!   Now he can live happily ever after knowing no one will ever come up with a truck and load him up and kill him and eat him.  How horrid to live knowing one day that's what the people taking care of you are going to do to you.  I do wonder how long it takes you to really love and trust your new hoomans and to feel really secure and know they aren't going to fatten you up and eat you. 

I'm glad I know that .... or I might think that's why the work so hard opening cans of Fancy Feast for me and fattening me up.  Ugghhhhh 

Poor Little Buddy was pretty scared when he came ....  he'd shy and turn his head away from us .....  can you see the scared in his eyes in his "before" picture up there .... even if he can't see the love in the eyes taking that picture. 

But now Buddy is starting to trust us ....  I hope he knows we'll never bring a truck round to cart him off to kill him.  Buddy will be a very loved member of Rikki's Refuge for his whole life. 
Come out and visit Buddy and sit quietly and tempt him to take some apple bits our of your hands.  A quick email to Tours@RikkisRefuge.org will get you tickets to a TOUR just about any Sunday or holiday !!!  It's lots of fun meeting all us critters who YOU saved !!!!!  

Come and see the good work and wonderful lives you have made possible !!!

Hey OBIE ...  time to come here and tell the folks WHY they should VOTE DOGS?  Come on ... tell them what you will do if you become the Ruler of the Refuge.  OBIE, here boy, OBIE, come here now.   Last chance OBIE .....  or I'm gonna tell what you're gonna do. 

Geesh that silly dawg.  Here he's got the chance to promote his campaign and talk to you wonderful folks, and he's just off running and playing with Wanda.   He really doesn't get what "work like a dog" means .....  he should try working like a cat for just 15 minutes and see how much I do to take care of all the animals and keep everybody comfortable and happy.

And I travel to meet the public and bring hoomans with me to give talks, and we teach humane education, and geee ....  I just do so much work !!!!

SPEAK UP FOR WHAT YOU BELIEVE IN

VOTE CATS cus CATS SHOULD RULE .....  while Dawgs hang out and drool ...... 




THANK YOU FOR LOVING ALL OF US AND
    TAKING THE TIME TO SAVE A LIFE TODAY
          CUZ ALL US SPECIES MATTER 
               DON'T YOU THINK !
         www.RikkisRefuge.org/Donate

Love,
  Opie

VOTE CATS cus I've been on the roll for FIVE years and me n MOM, we're not getting older, we're getting BETTER !!!!  

and I know YOU are gonna help me make her 60th even BETTER with a fabulous BIRTHDAY !!!!!


Don’t forget to SAVE A LIFE TODAY !
Rikki’s Refuge
PO Box 1357
Orange VA 22960

And please come see me soon !!

In the mean time, Keep up with us on Facebook and you'll get the minute to minute details about what's going on at Rikki's Refuge .... you'll be the first to see the new residents .... and the first to know about up coming events !!!

Rikki's Refuge

Opie and Vincent's Page

Duke's Page

Re-Tail Thrift Store in Fredericksburg

The Duke Thomas Peabody Antique and Collectables Shoppe in Culpeper

Opie's and Mom's Purrsonal Profile

Opie's Edibles for Fun Animal Friendly Recipes and Cooking Tips: https://www.facebook.com/OpiesEdibles

Vincent D. Cat's Gathering Place, a place to hang out, chat, and have fun

Kitty Litter-Ature

Rikki's Crazy Cat Person Club

For the Love of Black Cats

Our Website
which needs help getting up to date .... if you "do" WordPress and would like to help, let us know Volunteers@RikkisRefuge.org

Rikki's Refuge is owned and operated by Life Unlimited of Virginia, Inc., an IRS 501(c)(3) not-for-profit Virginia Corporation. Federal Tax-ID 54-1911042. Your donations provide direct support. A financial statement is available upon written request from the Virginia State Office of Consumer Affairs.