Health and Harmony Animal Hospital

Health and Harmony Staff

Alley Cat Rescue in Maryland started Free Feral Cat Spay Day (FFCSD) in 2010. This is their fifth year of asking vets to provide two FREE spays or neuters of feral cats to the public. In 2012, FFCSD went international. Not only did vets in the United States participate, but also those in South Africa and Canada, as well.

Over 700 vet clinics in the United States provided free or reduced cost sterilization services to 5,100 feral cats in 2013. Free Feral Cat Spay Day is meant to build and strengthen relationships between the public and the veterinary community. Sadly, many vets still do not provide low cost options for feral cats, a population that desperately needs all of us working on their behalf.

Last year, the wonderful staff at Health and Harmony Animal Hospital in Grandview participated in Free Feral Cat Spay Day and spayed two feral kitties for us for FREE.

To find out more about Free Feral Cat Spay Day, visit Alley Cat Rescue’s web site HERE.

To find vets in your area who will provide free or discounted services on May 27, go HERE. If you scroll down until you find Ohio (or just click the OH link at the top of the page), you will see that, so far, there are eleven vet clinics that are willing to provide surgeries on Free Feral Cat Spay Day. The clinic closest to us here in Columbus is Grove City Vet Hospital. There are also participating clinics in Pataskala, Heath, Newark, Chillicothe, Warren, Georgetown, Cleveland, and Gallipolis. Check out the site and call the vet offices to find out more.

To LIKE Alley Cat Rescue on Facebook, go HERE.

To read the official press release below, click on it to enlarge it.

FFCSD 2014 Press Release

 

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After several days of crazy shopping sprees, Tuesday, December 3 has been designated as Giving Tuesday. On this day, people are asked to help all those charities who do so much good in their daily lives.

We are participating in Giving Tuesday with a campaign to help raise funds for a colony of cats in Buckeye Lake we’ve been trying to help for the past several months. Dr. Kim West and all of the staff at Health and Harmony Animal Hospital have been working with us on this project. When I was a bit overwhelmed to learn that there were over 40 cats in need of help, Dr. West told me we’d figure out something and help them. She then set up a Good Samaritan Fund through Health and Harmony and did a microchipping fundraiser to get the effort started.

To date, we have spayed and neutered 13 cats using the Good Sam fund–Dr. West has not charged us a penny for the surgeries or vaccines. And these cats really needed our help. We’ve also taken eleven kittens to be adopted. We have four remaining, all siblings–Winkin and Blinkin, TJ and Buff (who are currently at the PetSmart on Sawmill Road looking for their forever home). We’ve also taken three adult cats from this colony for a total of 14 cats that have been pulled to go to new lives.

One of those cats was Scruffy, who came to the Dr. West’s office looking a complete mess (see the before and after photos below). We thought he would lose an eye. His ear was infected, fur matted, and he was FIV positive. But with a lot of love and care, this special boy blossomed and even found a home! A lady who lives just down the street from Health and Harmony saw Scruffy’s profile on Facebook. A kind supporter had written that they hoped Scruffy’s home was “just around the corner.” The lady who adopted him took that as a sign–because she did live just around the corner. So she came in, met Scruffy, and took him home! And now this sweet boy is living the life of a King Cat–which he is!

Scruffybefore1

Scruffy before he came to Health and Harmony.

Scruffy after lots of love and care.

Scruffy after lots of love and care.

We think there are approximately 23 cats left that need our help. We set up a special Giving Tuesday fund to help get these final cats fixed before kitten season arrives in February/March.

You can make a donation to this special Giving Tuesday project and help the remaining cats by going HERE.

We will also be fundraising for these kitties when we do our Santa Photos on Saturday, December 14 from 2-4 pm at Health and Harmony, 1117 West First Avenue in Grandview. Our wonderful Santa (Chuck Gaul) will be available for photos with two-legged and four-legged babies. Bring your own camera or phone and take as many pictures as you want for a $5 donation to our fund to help these kitties. We will also be holding a bake sale and someone will be on hand to wrap gifts for a donation.

Here are photos of some of the other kitties we helped from this colony.

Winkin and Blinkin snuggling in their bed.

Winkin and Blinkin snuggling in their bed.

 

TJ and Buff are ready for their forever home!

TJ and Buff are ready for their forever home!

 

From an abandoned, abused baby who was left at a bus stop with two broken ankles to Super Star–such is the path a rescue dog can take. And this is the journey that Fruit Bat West traversed to begin her acting career this March in the Grandview Heights High School production of Legally Blonde, The Musical!

In case you don’t know Fruit Bat’s sorrowful story, you can read it HERE and see photos of her in her little leg casts.

But just a quick summary. Fruit Bat was found off of West Broad Street several years ago with both back ankles fractured so that she was unable to move. She laid immobilized for hours until a kind good samaritan from Colony Cats took her to Dr. Kim West. Dr. West saved her life and christened her with her quirkily appropriate name–Fruit Bat, because she did look like a Fruit Bat (and Dr. West had been naming rescue cats over several months following the alphabet and had reached “F” in her naming schedule).

The rest of Fruit Bat’s story unfolded like a tear jerker Hollywood movie. Dr. West adopted her. She healed. She went from homeless and helpless in the blink of an eye.

Now loved and spoiled in the West household and the reigning Queen, along with her sister, Tupelo, at her mom’s vet clinic, Health and Harmony Animal Hospital, Fruit Bat had a fairy tale ending–something all rescue pups dream of finding.

Even when she was broken and homeless, however, this sweet chihuahua had star quality. She always seemed to be smiling and happy. She never lost hope.

Fruit Bat’s celebrity personality is apparent to everyone and she will soon be the star attraction in Legally Blonde, The Musical! playing the role of Bruiser, Elle’s beloved canine friend in the law school comedy.

Legally Blonde, The Musical! will be performed on Thursday, March 7 at 8 pm, Friday, March 8 at 8 pm, and Saturday, March 9 at 2 pm and 8 pm. Tickets are $8 or $10, depending on the location in the auditorium.

Pick a day and come see this plucky pup perform!

Fruit Bat is even included in the cast list. Look for her name beside Bruiser’s character on the cast list HERE.

For more information on the show dates and times, go HERE.  Grandview Heights High School is located at 1587 West Third Avenue in Grandview Heights.

Fruit Bat will also be having a red carpet event…to be announced by her proud stage mom.

We would wish Fruit Bat the normal theater congrats on her opening night: “Break a leg.” But in this case, knowing her history, we don’t think that is appropriate. Instead we will tell her to have a “doggone” good time and show everyone the power of rescue and of love.

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