We hope you’ll come out and see our very own “Santa Claws” on Sunday, December 11 at the PetSmart located at 6010 Sawmill Road in Dublin (next to the Target store). Once again, our favorite Santa, Chuck Gaul, will be donning his red suit and fluffing his beard to have his picture taken with all the happy pets in the central Ohio area. You can get in the photo, too, if you’d like!

We will be taking photos between 11 am and 4 pm. The pictures are $9.95 with a PetSmart PetPerks card. You will receive one 4×6 digital photo in a holiday collector frame. Five dollars from every package purchased will go directly to Black and Orange!

If you’ve adopted a cat or kitten from Black and Orange, we’d love to have you bring them out for the photos so we could see them again. One of our very favorite things is seeing all of our former kitties with their new families.

We want to thank Chuck Gaul for doing such an awesome job as our Santa. We feel very blessed to have our Santa Chuck and Mrs. Claus (Carol) in our lives.

Colony Cats is opening their new Kit ‘N Kaboodle Boutique next to their Adoption Center at 2736 Festival Lane in Dublin (off of Sawmill Road by the Joann’s Fabrics store). The Boutique will have a grand opening on Sunday, November 13, from 1-4 pm. There will be raffles, refreshments, and tons of shopping deals just in time for the holiday season.

The Boutique will feature gently used products including bedroom furniture, kitchen items, living room furniture, home decor, and brand new pet accessories. So if you don’t want to stage your own garage sale, but you want your “treasures” to benefit a good cause, donate those unwanted items to the Boutique. They are NOT accepting clothing and shoes, electronics, exercise equipment, appliances, mattresses, water beds, or children’s items.

To see a full list of what they will and will not accept, download their Wish List HERE.

To enlarge the flyer to the left, simply click on it.

The Boutique will be open Fridays, Saturdays, and Sundays from 10 am-5 pm. Colony Cats will need volunteers to man the Boutique, sort and price items, and also pick up larger items. If you can help or have items to donate, please contact them at kitnkaboodleboutique@yahoo.com

Additionally, besides the grand opening of the Boutique, the group is also celebrating the 2nd Anniversary of their Adoption Center. Of course, all proceeds from the Boutique will go to help Colony Cats provide vet care and spay and neuter services for the cats in their Adoption Center, as well as the dogs they also care for in foster homes.

As you are looking for deals this holiday gift giving season, consider shopping at Colony Cat’s Kit ‘N Kaboodle Boutique! You’ll not only get great bargains, but you’ll help animals in need.

On Thursday, November 10, and Friday, November 11, The Columbus Foundation will present a 24 hour opportunity to match donations to Central Ohio non-profits that are part of their PowerPhilanthropy–up to 1 million dollars! From 11 am on November 10 to 11 am on November 11, credit card donations of $20 or more will be matched by The Columbus Foundation.

To participate, just visit Columbusfoundation.org.

Click on the GIVE NOW button.

Select the non-profit of your choice from among 600 organizations that are part of PowerPhilanthropy.

One of the groups I am recommending that people donate to is Columbus Dog Connection. In an email I had today, Kellie DiFrischia, said that any funds they receive during The Big Give, will be used for The Big Fix. Columbus Dog Connection will use all donations to help spay and neuter dogs and cats in rural areas or to fix feral cats and pit bulls in Franklin County. Columbus Dog Connection has a Mobile Spay/Neuter Truck and to ease the burden of fundraising for other rescues, they also write for and share grant money to help save more cats and dogs.

So if you choose Columbus Dog Connection during The Big Give, your money will be donated and help with The Big Fix.

The second group I am suggesting is The Ohio Wildlife Center. Any donations that are made to the Ohio Wildlife Center will be used to help wild animals that have been injured and to support their work in the hospital and in their educational programs. They are a great place and I have taken rescued baby birds, bunnies, and other wildlife in need to them on many occasions.

And the final group I am putting a good word in for is WCBE, 90.5, our local public radio station. I am an NPR junkie and my views of the world come directly from WCBE. I don’t watch the news on television (too depressing), so the only real world news I get is from my public radio.

Pick one of these non-profits or one of the other 600 that are involved in The Big Give tomorrow and Friday and double your donation for many great causes. Believe me, most charities can use the extra help right now!

We received over 120 photos for our first ever rescue calendar for 2012. And these were not run-of-the-mill photos. They were all gorgeous. We had a really hard time choosing our winners. We finally had to make it a rule that we would only pick one photo from a family, because some people sent in multiple beautiful pictures.

One example of this occurred with the Hamiltons. Dick and Linda sent in four photos and they were all stunning. It looked as if the cats had been posed–I do not know how they got the cats to sit so still for the camera. I am including two of their photos that did NOT win here. Just look how great they were. Their winner will be featured as the November kitty, so you can check that out when you buy your copy.

Another person with multiple great photos was Mary Dietz. Most of the photos that Mary sent were of strays who had been dumped on her. She mentioned that in one year, they had 22 cats dumped and we helped them get 12-13 of those fixed. The remainder either found other homes or ran off after the spaying and neutering efforts were under way. They now have a stable and fixed colony of 14 cats that they care for–proof that trap-neuter-return (TNR) and spaying and neutering are the solutions to feline overpopulation.

I am going to post a few of Mary’s “Loser” photos at the bottom of this. Her winner will be featured as “September” in the calendar with a picture of a sweet kitty named “Tres” who she says doesn’t have a mean bone in his body. Tres is currently an outside kitty, but Mary would love to find him an inside home if anyone sees him in the calendar and is interested.

I thought that over the next few weeks, as we are working on the calendar with our Printer, Wilson Printing and Graphics in London, that I would post some of the photos we received here and on Facebook.

Thank you to everyone who submitted their babies. It was so nice to see some of our former fosters and know they had found lovely homes!

Now, I’ve heard of feral cats getting a tattoo on their bellies or in their ears to show that they have been fixed, but now you can get a tattoo to support those same kitties. Envy Skin Gallery, located at 528 Bethel Road in Columbus, will be hosting a “Paws for the Cause” Tattoo Benefit for Colony Cats on Saturday, November 5 from 10 am to 2 pm.

For $40, you can get a paw tattoo of your choice (up to approximately one square inch) and 100% of the proceeds will go to Colony Cats to help them provide medical care and low cost spay and neuter services for homeless and abused cats and dogs in the Central Ohio area. If you’ve always wanted a tattoo, but were a bit afraid to get one, now is your chance to get tattooed for the animals.

Sadly, my husband, Joe, has a thing about tattoos (and to be honest, I am a bit of a germaphobe and a “woose,” so I would never get a tattoo on my own, either). But from the time I first met Joe (practically on the first date, I think), he told me that if you had a tattoo, the police could find you more easily–as if either of us would be doing anything that would require the law to be searching for us. I can just imagine the all points bulletin over the police radio: “Assailant has a small cat paw print tattoo on her left arm. Be warned, she may be carrying potentially dangerous feral cats in her vehicle.”

Although I will never have a tattoo, I think this tattoo benefit is a really neat idea and one that I have never, ever heard of before to raise money for the animals.

The other thing that Colony Cats is doing to help homeless animals is opening a “Kit N Kaboodle Boutique” where people can bring new and gently used items for the group to sell. All the funds made from the boutique will, of course, go for services for the animals. As anyone knows who has cleaned out an attic or basement, it is sometimes hard to find a place to take all the items you no longer want. And, as we all know, organizing a garage sale can be a nightmare if you don’t have an expert like Carol on board. So check out the boutique wish list and guidelines HERE. Then donate the next time you have unwanted junk…err, treasures in your closets.

The boutique, which is set to be open Fridays through Sundays from 10-5 pm in an area next to the Cat Adoption Center at 2740 Festival Center Lane off of Sawmill Road, will also need volunteers to help man the shop, tag items, and pick up donated furniture. If you would like to help, email kitnkaboodleboutique@yahoo.com. Please put “Volunteer” in the subject line.

You can click on the Tattoo Benefit flyer above to enlarge it and print it out.

Eldchrist Winery, located at 8189 State Route 736 in Plain City, has kindly agreed to host the second Fall CAT-illion to benefit Black and Orange on Saturday, November 12, from 6-10 pm (the OSU football game is AWAY that day, so no reason to hold back). Tickets for the CAT-illion are now available.

Tickets are $40 per person or $75 for a couple. Included in the ticket price are unlimited wine by the glass, soft drinks, coffee, and tea, as well as hors d’oeuvres and entertainment by classical guitarist Tip House.

B and Mittens are the kitties that are featured on the label of Kitten’s Kiss Wine. These two went through a Black and Orange clinic to get neutered and vaccinated. Thus, to thank Black and Orange, the Winery has graciously offered to conduct this classy fundraiser once again.

Besides everything that Eldchrist Winery has planned, we also plan to have Christmas gift items and baskets for sale during the event. Additionally, a good friend of ours, Libby Sparks, will do tarot card readings for a donation. She is planning to spend about 15 minutes per person and felt a $15 donation would be suitable for her time.

A former adopter and good friend to B and O, Olivia Brininger, will be selling Lia Sophia jewelry with a portion of the proceeds benefiting Black and Orange.

We plan to have a lot of fun, so if you want to come, get your tickets now. The Winery can only hold 50 people per fire code, so Eldchrist will be selling around 50 tickets for the evening. If you would like tickets, you can purchase them by credit card by calling the Winery at (614) 874-6240. You can also stop in while they are open on Fridays from 6 pm to 9 pm and Saturdays from 2 pm to 8 pm.

Additionally, we have tickets for sale through Black and Orange. You can come by Plain City Druggist, 480 South Jefferson Avenue (across from Der Dutchman) in Plain City to buy your tickets from Robin or Joe. Plain City Druggist is open Monday to Friday 9 am-6 pm (closed for lunch from 1:15-2:15) and Saturdays 9 am to noon. You can also email us at bandocats@gmail.com for more information. Eldchrist Winery will also have some tickets available to purchase at the door the night of the event.

While we have the perfect name for Halloween (Black and Orange Cat Foundation–sadly, we could never fit in for Christmas–Red and Green Cat Foundation?) and we love the holiday, we always worry about the black kitties we so adore at this time of the year. There are a lot of creepy people who decide it might be fun to harm black cats around Halloween.

The best thing to do as Halloween approaches is to keep your black cats and, in fact, any of your cats or pets, inside where they will be safe from pranksters and mean people. Even if there aren’t gangs of delinquents patrolling your neighborhood looking to tie firecrackers to a cat’s tail or have a “sacrifice” in a local cemetery, just the crowd of trick-or-treaters traipsing to your door can be a scary occurrence for pets accustomed to peace and quiet.

Open doors are also a threat at this time of year as you pass out candy—that thin opening provides a means of escape for a frightened pooch or kitty. Keep animals well away from open doors if they are a bit shy or scared (or even overly exuberant about meeting new people). And just to make sure no one gets lost if there is a door darter, have identification on your pets if they are not microchipped.

And, while we have been guilty of this crime, don’t dress your pets in costumes to torture them unless they are okay with it and are not going to freak out.

We really think Winston secretly wants to be a pirate, so it is OKAY that we made him pretend to be Johnny Depp for a photo op. And Oswald loves to wear hats!

For more safety tips, visit the ASPCA site HERE or the AVMA (American Veterinary Medical Association) site HERE.

For safety tips specific to dogs, please go HERE.

Each year, Alley Cat Allies celebrates National Feral Cat Day in mid-October. This year the event will be held on Sunday, October 16. Get out there and help the kitties!

Alley Cat Allies is asking everyone to not only plan an event for National Feral Cat Day, but to also use the power of social media to get the word out about feral cats. They’d like for folks to connect with them on Twitter and Facebook. You can visit their Facebook page and Like them HERE. To find events in your area, go HERE.

Additionally, here are ways you can help if you are a social media guru (or even if you’re only kind of adequate at this stuff, like me!):

• Follow Alley Cat Allies @alleycatallies and tweet your National Feral Cat Day activities using the hashtag #NFCD2011. On National Feral Cat Day, Alley Cat Allies will be live tweeting from their very first open house at their headquarters, so follow them to see what they’re up to and tell them how you’re helping cats! Make sure to follow #NFCD2011 yourself (just type it into the search bar) to find out how the Twitter community is celebrating across the nation. Find something neat under #NFCD2011? Share it with your friends with a retweet!
• Let everyone in your social circle know you’ll be helping cats on October 16 by posting your National Feral Cat Day plans on Facebook now. Then, follow up on the big day with updates and photos! Be sure to tag Alley Cat Allies in your posts and photos, and share your National Feral Cat Day experiences with all 20,000 of Alley Cat Allies’ fans by posting directly to their wall. Plus, keep an eye on their Facebook page for photos of their open house and special National Feral Cat Day-themed LOLcats!