HELPING ANIMALS AT OUR SANCTUARY AND AROUND THE WORLD!
RIKKI’S REFUGE IS A MULTI-SPECIES LIFE-CARE NO-KILL SANCTUARY
FOR THE MEDICALLY AND SOCIALLY CHALLENGED
SUPPORTED BY DONATIONS FROM KIND AND GENEROUS PEOPLE LIKE YOU !
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
Voted Yet
Today?
Remember to vote every day!!! The mostest votes will win us $1,000 and we can put that towards
KiKi’s surgery bills!!
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!!!
KiKi
is doing well this morning.
She thinks she had a total recovery at 4:30 am and want to go OUT and
run thru the fields. Of course after
all this surgery, mom and Lena won’t let her out. She can only go out on leash and she’s not allowed to run or
jump. Just walk slow. And she’s going stir crazy. She’s turning circles, clawing at the door,
even chewed off the door knob! The cone
of shame didn’t stop that!!!
She’s not eating dog food now. All she wants to eat is chicken slices, chicken luncheon slices,
frozen (after Lena cooks them) chicken strips and chicken nuggets, and those
chicken dog treats that is like dried up chicken.
So it you’re coming to visit her - please bring
lots!!!! And she can go on nice slow
walks if you can control her and keep her on leash and not running and jumping.
Gosh she’s in there barking and howling something awful to
get out!!! And Beauty is barking and
howling trying to break in to help her escape. this is gonna be a long 10 days to recovery!!!
Please pray hard that her pathology report comes back,
benign, all good, no bad cells, all bad stuff gone - and that she has many many
more years to run the fields and play!!!!
Antiiiiiciiiiiiiipaaaaaation
Mike got up real early this morning and rented a great big
truck and is headed over the mountains and thru the woods and over the rivers
to go far far away to Purina’s packaging plant and he’s gonna pick up 6,776
pounds of nums for us !!!!
And I think we should pray it's all Fancy Feast... and it
could be !!!
Well ok, at least canned food, lots and lots of caned food.
If it's all dry food, it will last us 47 days!!!
Thank you Purina and Thank you MIKE !!!!!
And please pray with me that Mike has a safe and easy trip
over the river and mountains as he drives that great big truck.
Come on out mid afternoon and help us unload !!!!
Thank you for the sun shiny day that will make it all
easier!!!
I love
your letters !
Vinny,
Your story (yesterday) reminded me of the time my CAT locked
me out of my car on the PA Turnpike in a snowstorm. The guy who stopped to help
was scared of my Dobie, also in the car, so I sat on the hood and waited
for a state trooper who unlocked the
door! --- Judi
I’m so glad I got my KiKi to kiss!!!
Love,
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
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
Yesterday
was a scary, anticipating, exhilarating, crazy kind of day.
First off - did you know it was the opening day to start
voting in the New Shelter Challenge Contest?
YES you can vote every day now and help us win $1,000 to
help pay for our doc bills!
Vote from every computer you have and tell all your friends
to vote!!! It’s really important. If we can win the mostest votes in a week,
then we can all start voting for someone else and help them too. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if every week we
helped a rescue win $1,000? We can do
that too!!!! Each of us is only allowed
one $1,000 each voting period. But we
can all work together to win for lots of animals !!!
Friday my bestest sister dawgie-pal KiKi was diagnosed with
a terrible, terrible tumor. Huge, and
bad, and all over. Her condition made
her ineligible for surgery, she just could not have made it thru. We worried all weekend that her time was
very limited with us. Oh we were
scared. And all our good friends were
praying and sending good thoughts.
Monday we went to see Doc again and things were looking
better. At least lab wise. And it looked like KiKi could have the
surgery. It was still scary. Very scary. KiKi was going to need blood, lots of blood.
I volunteered to give her blood, and so did all the hoomans
at Rikki’s - but our Doc said, “I gotta have dawgie blood, please.”
And so we rushed back to the refuge in the Trooper. I’d driven the Trooper over instead of mom’s
truck so KiKi had a big place to lie down in the back. In the pick up truck, big dawgies have to be
in crates in the back cuz only small carriers will fit in the cab and mom says
it’d be way dangerous for a doggy to jump on my lap while I was trying to
drive. Then we could all get killed in
an accident and that would be really bad.
But uh oh .... part way back to the refuge, right in the
middle of a busy intersection in Culpeper, I couldn’t get the trooper to shift
into gear. It’s really had to keep
track of all those peddles and shift things and the steering wheel and all that
stuff all at the same time. And to see
out the window to know where you’re going and make sure nobody is in the
way. Wow that’s hard! Especially the peddle part, I mean with just
one leg and all you know.
And it just wouldn’t shift down as I made this turn ...
oh my gosh I was scared .... I’m
in neutral and I’m rounding the corner and then it won’t go in no gear and the
cars behind me is getting closer and closer and I’m meroooowing my head off
..... help ... don’t hit me .... what
do I do?? MOMMEY, help, what do I
do? Mom said be calm, and she grabbed
the wheel and got us to the shoulder of the road. Pweeeee I was so scared I had to get out and pee right there in
the dirt. Mom said good thing I made it
out, she’d a been really annoyed at having to drive the trooper that I broke
(it’s all MY fault now) while sitting on a wet seat. Oh poo on you, hooman!
So mom played around and played around and boy did she have
trouble getting it into gear too. Like
the clutch peddle goes down but like it isn’t doing anything. She never could get it into first, but she
managed with two paws to force it into 2nd and get us going. She and me was praying real hard that it’d
shift into 3rd, and it did.
Yeahh!!!!! She could go up the
gears to 5th ok, but coming down was way hard. And getting into 2nd (she finally
forgot about ever trying 1st again) and into reverse was real real
hard, real two hand jamming hard.
We made it back to the refuge.
We talked to the dawgies about who was gonna be a blood
donor for KiKi. Duke stepped up and
said I’m the Spokes Dawggie, I’ll do it.
But mom said oh no Duke, you’re thin and you have medical issues that
I’m worried would get worse if you went thru the stress of giving blood, you’re
a good kind considerate doggie, but I don’t think this is the job for you.
Beauty volunteered but said she wasn’t sure she could do it
without biting the nice doctor.
We sure didn’t want the nice doctors hands bit all off cuz
she needed them to do the operation.
Mom and Lena decided Summer is the biggest, strongest,
youngest and had no medical problems, so she should be the one who should go to
the hospital and save KiKi.
Summer can’t ride in the back of the Trooper suv on a
blanket like KiKi can. Cuz Summer would
jump over the seat and right into mom’s lap and make her wreck and that might
kill us all. I didn’t want to get
killed so we figured we better get the dreaded crate out.
It was raining and cold and mom didn’t feel right asking
Summer to ride in the back of the pick up, so the crate went in the
Trooper. Even though the clutch was
such a problem, mom just had no other way to do it. This was an emergency and it had to be done right now. No time to call people for HELP.
Summer howled that beautiful blue tick howl all the way,
directing mom on how to go, and especially barking loud enough to drown out the
sounds of the bad things mom was uttering while she tried to shift the
trooper. She just kept praying to not
hit lights and corners and things that made her need 2nd. She said her arm was about to fall off when
she got there.
We was too scared to drive all the way to the refuge and
then all the way back to the doc in Culpeper to pick up dawgies after surgery,
so we went to the library in Culpeper and worked there on the puter till time
to go back to doc.
Doc Vargas got to work and it as such a big job Doc Kellum
helped too. After a while the doc
called mom and said, this is bad, this is so bad, it’s all over, it’s worse
than I thought, and it’s going to take longer than I thought, and it’s really
hard surgery for KiKi. I’m doing all I
can, and I’ll work as long as I have to.
I’m just afraid ..... Please get
everybody praying. And thank you for
praying and praying and sending good thoughts and good energy and reiki and all
the good things you wonderful friend do.
Mom and me sat on pins and needles waiting for that
call. Oh no, dreading the call. Two hours later when the phone rang and it
said Culpeper Animal Hospital, mom was already in tears when she answered, she
was so scared of the news. And the nice
lady said, Doc just wanted me to call and tell you KiKi is out of surgery and
you can come see her!!! Oh joy, joy,
joy !!!!
You have no idea how relieved we were!!!!! And off to the hospital we went, forcing
the trooper into gear.
The plan had been to visit with KiKi but keep her
hospitalized over night, and to bring Summer home. As KiKi was coming out of anesthesia she was really fighting it
and she always freaks out about being in a cage. So Doc decided it was better for KiKi to go home, where she could
sleep in a small blocked off part of a room she was used to and where she was
used to so she wouldn’t thrash and be upset.
There wasn’t room to put Summer’s crate in the trooper and
to get KiKi in. And there was no way
Summer - that crazy girl - would be calm enough to ride with KiKi. No only would Summer jump on mom while she
was driving and get us all killed, she’d jump up and down on KiKi too and that
would be really bad for her dozens of staples and her very sore belly. So poor Summer got left behind. She’d have to come home in the morning, cuz
it was too late to make a second trip to the refuge and back to the hospital.
Lena and Wayne stayed to help get KiKi out of the trooper --
and it was a long wait as mom kept working real hard to jam the gearshift into
second and it got worse and worse .......
We kept praying, get us home with KiKi and then we’ll tow it off to get
fixed if we have to. Just please,
please get us home. And finally we were
there !!!!!
Lena and Wayne fixed up a real nice soft bed for KiKi and
got her all settled in. Lena stayed
even longer to help getting her ready for the night and making sure all would
be well.
About 9 pm Lena loaded up her homework - the eight doggies
that go home with her every night - and headed out. Mom crawled, dog tired, over to the office to get to work. And found that Shadow had puked all over the
place, not once, not twice, but over and over and over. And Taco, leaky butt, had spent the day in
the office on mom’s chair. Mom was
standing there looking about in despair and the phone rang. It was Lena saying, “Uh Oh Snoop locked the
doors on me when I got out to open the gate - I’ve called AAA - they’ll be
along shortly to get me back in the car.”
The toasty warm car, cuz Lena warms it up before loading up the
dogs. Poor Lena was standing out in the
cold, 48 degrees Fahrenheit. COLD and
without her jacket cuz she just jumped out to open the gate. When Snoop just jumped up and hit the button
and SNAP all the doors were locked !
See, it’s always the dawg who does it!
So Mom figured she’d grab her truck keys and go the half
mile up to the gate and let Lena wait in her truck with the heat on ...... but
where were mom’s keys ??????
She looked and looked and looked and looked. She even looked in the window of the truck
to see if she’d accidentally left them there when she moved stuff out of the
trooper back to the truck. No
keys. Not inside. Not in the office. Not in the RV. Not in her
coat pocket. No where. She looked again. And again. Poor Lena was
standing out there in the cold, and she was tired after a long, long day at
work, long like 16 hours already. Poor
Lena.
Mom thought about taking the trooper but figured it’d get
stick right in the driveway and she’d never be able to move it and then nobody
could every come to work or volunteer again.
So she kept searching for her keys.
Feeling like a crazy old lady.
Not even a crazy cat lady this time!
Then she remembered the spare key and got it out. Well she was pretty sure that was it. And she smiled and went to the truck. No luck, it wouldn’t open the door. Oh poo, poo and double poo. She searched around some more. None of the other keys she could find worked
either. She was sure that first set of
keys worked, and then remembering the truck keys haven’t been working good, but
the beeper thing on the real key chain was, she decided to try those spare keys
again. No luck. But the little one did work on the back of
the truck. So Hmmmm these were the
right keys. And now mom could sit in
the cold bed of the truck, but that wasn’t going to help thaw Lena any.
So mom got the wd40 and zapped the keyhole and then with a
bunch of fenaggeling got the doors open!!!
She drove up to the gate and while moving stuff off the seat for Lena to
jump in and warm up, found her set of keys!!!
Ding a ling - she had locked her own keys in her own truck. This is why hoomans just shouldn’t be given
much responsibility.
About 10 o’clock the AAA man rolled up, with a headlight out
(guess he needs to call AAA for help) and he approached the car. He was scared of Snoop a growling and a
snarling thru the glass. Lena convinced
him there was nothing Snoop could do thru the glass so he went to work. He used a blood pressure cuff to jam in the
crack on the door and pump it up to open it a little. I looked at him and said, “Silly hooman, you’ll never fit in thru
that crack! Even I couldn’t fit in
there!”
And then he took out a mini rabies pole and reached in the
little crack and POP the door opened just like that !!!
And then finally - Lena got to go home. For a few hours anyway. She came back at 4:30 this morning so mom
could get some sleep.
And Summer got to come home first thing this morning. She was singing all the way !!!! I heard that some people like to put
woofers in their car so they sound real loud when they stop at traffic lights
!!!! Well that’s just the way we
sounded all the way home with Summer in the truck !!!
KiKi is eating a little now and sitting up some. She’s on a lot of pain meds so she’s
sleeping a lot too.
Beauty is real worried about her friend and wants KiKi to
get well real quick so she can come back out to play at night.
Mike
Speaking
Oh, Hi there!! Thank
you, Vincent, for letting me have a word.
Seeing as how YOU always try to HOG everything!
Hi folks!! Thanks so
much for the help you’ve given me so far to pay off my docs for my broken
leg. 17 of you have contributed almost
half of what I owe. Any chance there’s
another 17 of you out there who’d like to get me out of this crate?
See the crate I’m in?
It’s a DOG crate! Not a GOAT
crate, a DOG crate. I think this is
terribly unjust. I’m only allowed a few
minutes out on my feet till this cast is off.
My next appointment is October 18th, and if I’m lucky then,
I’ll get this cast off.
But I can’t even go to my appointment till I’ve paid off
what I own now. Please help me.
I promise, as soon as I’ve paid my bill I’ll start to help
my sisfur KiKi pay hers ..... even if she does bark at me.
Thank you, Mike
Fred’s
Getting Ready
for the
Haunted Forest!
Would you like to help us scare everybody???? We’re looking for volunteers!!!
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
.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
I’m dedicating today
to my goat friend Mike. He needs help.
Please help me till I can get back to work!
Mike was injured during the week of the earthquakes.
Perhaps, as the ground shook underneath him, terrified of the motion and the
roaring sound, he leapt without looking.
His right hind leg was broken. Very severely broken at the hock. After examination and x-rays, he was sent to
a specialist with the hopes of saving his leg.
Could they? Or would they have
to amputate? It took three tries to set
the broken leg and have it hold.
Poor Mike is on restricted movement, spending short bouts in
a small fenced area, much of his time in a dog crate. After three weeks the cast came off, more x-rays were done. The leg was healing!!! It looked like Mike would not loose his
leg.
Mike wanted to jump for joy, but the specialist said, “Not
yet!” Another cast went on, three more
long weeks of restricted movement. On
October 18th Mike will go back in to have the cast taken off, x-rays
done and then he’ll find out if he has to stay in a cast longer, or if he’ll
get to run and play!
Mike has really racked up the bills. Don’t you agree that saving his leg was
worth it?
Mike’s gotta pay off the current vet bills before he can go
back for his check up on October 18th. He cannot get a job
before he’s well.
Can you please help Mike Heal?
If you prefer to help by check
Rikki's Refuge
for Mike's Leg
PO Box 1357
Orange VA 22960
Thank you for making it possible for us to help the animals!
Come this Saturday October 1st - help prepare the trail in
the woods!!!! 9 am till 3 pm
Thank you
Barbara
We ran out of cat food after breakfast this morning. OUT.
Like in no more. No more canned
cat food. Oh No.
My friend Barbara is loading up her car, and she really
knows how to load up, in Waynesboro and driving over the river and thru the
woods - but the good cat food store don’t open till 9 am and she has to be at
work by noon - so mom’s gotta take MY truck and meet her half way. Thank you so much Barbara!!
Our beloved Candy usually puts on her pumpkin hat and takes
over! Unfortunately she’s wearing a
hospital gown this year and won’t be able to be the Pumpkin Coordinator. Please keep up your prayers for her
continued healing.
I need a Pumpkin Head Person
We got our first inquiry about picking up yesterday
I need some one to be in charge of the coordination -
coordinating site pick ups with the volunteers who can pick
up.
The Pumpkin Coordinator will talk with all the locations,
coordinate pick up times, broadcast this information to the drivers. The drivers will pick up and deliver to
Rikki’s.
The pumpkins save us thousands of dollars in feed every
fall.
WE DESPERATELY NEED YOUR HELP.
Hunting
Season Opens Tomorrow Too
and we need your help to keep the poachers away. We need help improving the perimeter
trail. ATVs and small off road vehicles
welcome. You can do it on foot too!! Please come out and help Joe patrol and work
on the path. Saturday and Sunday.
Yard Sale
At the intersection of 20 and Zion, by the Exxon known as
BJs 8 am - 3 pm Please stop in to help
Kim if you can. Bring items to sell on
behalf of Rikki’s. Thanks for your
support. Kim is working hard to make
money to buy food for the animals.
I hope you can come out to visit this weekend.
Saturday noon - 2 pm Donation Drop off at Rikki’s
yard sale at BJs Exxon rt 20 and Zion Rd 9 am - 3 pm
prepare the Haunted Forest Trail 9 am - 3 pm at Rikki’s
improving the perimeter trail 9 am - 3 pm
Sunday noon - tour
improving the perimeter trail 9 am - 3 pm
Love,
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
Mike was injured during the week of the earthquakes.
Perhaps, as the ground shook underneath him, terrified of the motion and the
roaring sound, he leapt without looking.
His right hind leg was broken. Very severely broken at the hock. After examination and x-rays, he was sent to
a specialist with the hopes of saving his leg.
Could they? Or would they have
to amputate? It took three tries to set
the broken leg and have it hold.
Poor Mike is on restricted movement, spending short bouts in
a small fenced area, much of his time in a dog crate. After three weeks the cast came off, more x-rays were done. The leg was healing!!! It looked like Mike would not loose his
leg.
Mike wanted to jump for joy, but the specialist said, “Not
yet!” Another cast went on, three more
long weeks of restricted movement. On
October 18th Mike will go back in to have the cast taken off, x-rays
done and then he’ll find out if he has to stay in a cast longer, or if he’ll
get to run and play!
Mike has really racked up the bills. Don’t you agree that saving his leg was
worth it?
Mike’s gotta pay off the current vet bills before he can go
back for his check up on October 18th. He cannot get a job
before he’s well.
Can you please help Mike Heal?
If you prefer to help by check
Rikki's Refuge
for Mike's Leg
PO Box 1357
Orange VA 22960
Thank you for making it possible for us to help the animals!
All proceeds from Rikki’s Haunted Forest will benefit
the animals at Rikki’s Refuge. If you dare enter the forest you will be walking
through woods on uneven paths with little lighting and possibly through water.
Please wear appropriate clothing and footwear.
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED PLEASE
CONTACT KATARINA AT KATARINAGALVIN@YAHOO.COM
RIKKI’S REFUGE IS A 367 ACRE , NO-KILL, MULTI SPECIES
PEACEFUL SANCTUARY SUPPORTED SOLELY BY DONATIONS OF KIND AND LOVING
INDIVIDUALS. The refuge is home to over 1200 animals of over 23 different
species, including but not limited to cats, dogs, sheep, goats, rabbits, pigs,
emus, chickens, ducks, geese, peacocks, horses, and more. Rikki’s Refuge
provides a safe haven for sick, handicapped, abused, abandoned, and homeless
animals.
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
Wow! Have I missed you!!!!
Fall is such a busy time of year, I haven’t had a chance to
drop in and say HI.
How are YOU? I sure
hope all is well in your world.
I promise I haven’t forgotten you and I haven’t dropped you
from my friends list, it’s just been super busy. So sorry I haven’t answered each of you individually - I’m
working on it - honest - with thousands of emails a day it gets behind so very
quickly!!
Here on Planet Earth, Northern Hemisphere it’s turned into
autumn! I used to get up with the
chickens - now I have to get the chickens up!
It's spring in the southern hemisphere and you're getting more chicken
time there!! Which half are you in?
Anybody right in the middle on the equator?
My friend
Heba Cat Rady shares a quote
with us this morning: Basically we are all the same human
beings with the same potential to be a good human being or a bad human being
... The important thing is to realize the positive side and try to increase
that; realize the negative side and try to reduce. That's the way....." ~
Dalai Lama ~
Catnip
Candy
my wonderful friend, one of the most kind and loving people
you’ll ever meet. Cat lover
extraordinaire. Compassionate lover of
all animals and people. Always there to
lend a hand and help a paw. Always
smiling. Candy brings out the sunshine
just by her lovely happy voice on the phone.
My dear Candy has been extremely ill since before the cat
show. She’s been in the hospital, very,
very sick. Thanks to all of you praying
along with me, she’s starting to feel a little bit better and improving
daily. Please keep up the prayers for a
full and swift recovery.
The
National Capital Cat Show
was a wonderful success!!!!
I got to kiss about 43,863 fans!!!!
Thank you all for coming out!!!
And thank you all who came and volunteered, especially Melissa and Fred
who helped set up Friday night and worked all day Saturday and Sunday and Ron
who worked all day Saturday and Sunday.
If you got a picture of you and me - I’ll get them out soon!!!! I haven’t forgotten you !!!!
Teen CARE
Party
Thanking all the teens who volunteered (only a few could
make the party) all summer long to make Rikki’s Refuge a better place!!!!!
Charlottesville
Vegetarian Festival
Was lots of fun. Big
thank you to Laurie, Gussie and Ron for setting up and working our booth all
day. And purrzzz to all of you who came
by to love me !!!!!
Fall Furr
Festival
Date: October 15
Time: 1 PM - 5 PM
Admission: $3 in advance $5 at the door
Tours of
the refuge, games, face painting, tattoos, massages, hayrides, and much more
I’m gonna be quick and brief and I’ll give you details
soon. If I linger here typing too long
somebody’s gonna come and holler for me to go clean litterboxes!!!
Remember Chiquita?
The crazy rescue that had to beat Hurricane Irene. All is well and Chiquita is in her new home,
thanks to Martha, Jenna, Martha (another wonderful Martha), an airplane trip
and Tere. Here’s Chiquita in her new
home.
I’d say
she looks happy, what do you think?
Remember
Black Cat Appreciation day???
Five cats came to Rikki's - saved by those of you who care.
The older black kitten was adopted out asap. The two younger kittens, including
the little black gal who's picture drove this rescue, were a bit on the wild
side. Guess what? They've now been adopted together to a wonderful forever
home!!!!!
Mickey
Mickey is
all ready to go to a new forever home.
He’s
negative for leukemia, fiv, all fixed up and ready!
A real
loving 18 month old gray and white.
If he’ll
fit in at your home please let us know.
Big Boy
Big Boy is
all ready for a new forever home that’s not scared
Kiwi had lived at Rikki’s for several years before being
selected as Patty & Andy’s new special family member. Gibson came to Rikki’s so horribly injured
that it took 18 months and many, many surgeries to heal him and have him ready
for a new home. Now they share a happy
home together. With alumni doggy Starr
from Rikki’s and some other friends too!
It’s that
time of the month again !
Board Meeting, Saturday October 1, 4 pm. All you members submit your information for
the outline NOW!! Send it to mom at Kerry@RikkisRefuge.org Mary is our of town and mom is really
missing her !!!!
Answering
that age old question
CAN a cat
clean it’s own litterbox?
CLASSIFIEDS
AND HELP WANTED
Need a very experienced, very reliable, very compassionate
pet sitter? Between Gordonsville and Charlottesville Virginia, contact christiannrogersd@gmail.com Christiann and Sarah Rogers
Lovely piano instructor in the Gordonsville -
christiannrogersd@gmail.com Christiann
and Sarah Rogers --- friend of mine and wonderful person - great lessons,
reasonably priced.
Remember to send me your coke rewards numbers too !!!! We
get good things and even lots of things we can auction for $$$ to buy Fancy
Feast !!!! You can just send the
numbers in an email - real simple. No
postage required.
Remember to save Purina weight circles from cat and dog food
and mail to Rikki's Refuge !!!! We get lots of free nums for them!!! Thank you
!!!!
YOU wonderful voters gave Rikki’s the mostest votes in week
7 of the Shelter Challenge and that won $1,000 for us. Since you can only win one prize each go
round, you all then started voting for our friends at Frog Pond Farm Draft
Horse Rescue in OH. They thank you
tremendously for helping them to win $1,000 too. It’s really nice when we can all help each other out!
Mike the goat who broke his leg the week of the earthquakes
is doing great. He went in last week
for his check up. They removed the
cast, x-rayed and put on a new cast.
Next appt is four weeks and if he’s lucky the cast will be off. It was a very serious break and he had to go
to a specialist. He’s got at least two
more visits with the doc. And he’s not
allowed to get a job pulling carts till he’s all healed up. In the mean time if you could help with his
mounting vet bills we’d so much appreciate it.
www.rikkisrefuge.org/donate.php
Do you have CFC or CVC at work? If you do, please consider
giving to Rikki's Refuge. We'll show up in your catalog as Life Unlimited of
Virginia, Inc and our CFC number is 77674, and our CVC number is 3163 - it's a
big help to know we have a check coming in every month!!! Thank you and please
share with all your friends.
Thank you Kathy for helping on the CFC. Thanks to all of you who provided
testimonies, stories and pictures. Most
of the work is done. A little more will
be required after the end of the year, but the main package is finished
!!!! This is the one mom is usually
fretting about and going crazy with the deadline in January!!
This Friday, Sept. 30, Wayne Pacelle, HSUS president &
CEO, will be speaking in Charlottesville and signing copies of his best-selling
book, The Bond: Our Kinship with Animals, Our Call to Defend Them. Wayne is an
eloquent, charismatic, and inspiring speaker - one of the great minds of the
animal protection movement. The talk will begin at 6pm at the UVA bookstore on
400 Emmet St South. For more info,
visit www.humanesociety.org/thebond
Hunting season is upon us.
We are still working on the perimeter trail at the refuge. Please come out to help us clear paths and
post signs and build fences. Most any
time works, just let us know so Joe’s on hand to show you where to work. Got an atv or small off road vehicle? You can use that!
Mom was able to pay some of the bills today and that leaves
the bank account pretty much empty.
We’re behind on a number of items.
And it’s time to start stocking up for winter. Food consumption is already up.
Can you possibly spare a few bucks for food, medications, vet visits and
hopefully to fill that propane tank before we need the heat real bad? We need every bit of help you can possibly
spare. Thank you so much for skipping
that cup of coffee today, and giving to the animals www.rikkisrefuge.org/donate.php
Thankfully we’re ok with dry cat and dog food. Thank you Purina.
Every other shelf in the pantry is about bare. We’re in dire need of canned cat food,
canned dog food, produce, especially oranges for the guinea pigs.
When we can scrape up the cash to buy daily laundry
detergent, dish detergent, hand soap, bleach, paper towels and trash bags, we
do, we have no cash to stock up. Some
days we've had to go without. These
items are so simple, yet so important to the welfare of the animals.
If you’re visiting this weekend - please grab something to
bring with you.
Pumpkin Season is here !!!
Our beloved Catnip Pumpkin Candy is in the hospital and unable to
coordinate picking up pumpkins right now.
We’re praying that she’ll be back in time for the big runs after
Halloween. In the mean time, if you
know a pumpkin stand that will donate to us, or you can help load pumpkins,
drive pumpkins (in your truck or van or suv or car), or unload pumpkins at the
farm - please let Pumpkin Fred know fred@z9a.com
Hope to see you this weekend!! Saturday Donation Drop Off noon - 2 pm. Sunday Tour at noon.
I’ll try to keep better caught up so I can stay in touch
more!!!
Love,
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
