We have cancelled extended hours on Thursday (until 6pm), due to lack of demand.  We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause.

Also note that FixNation will be closed on Monday, February 20th in observance of President’s Day.  We will return on Tuesday, February 21st with normal clinic hours.

We are happy to announce that we will begin offering low-cost vaccine and testing clinics again in February, this time joining forces with 1st Care Veterinary Services.  Check the new calendar for details on this and other exciting upcoming events.

Doug had done his research and found FixNation, where he learned about our life-based program for stray and homeless cats, which provides free spay/neuter, vaccinations, flea treatment, and eartipping.  Doug attended one of FixNation’s free Humane Trap Training Sessions in April 2011, where he received all the tricks of the trade for humanely and safely trapping the cats.  Once properly trained, Doug was supplied with 10 humane cat traps as part of FixNation’s Free Trap Loan Program.  Working with FixNation gave him everything he needed to start the process of systematically trapping the cats at each colony location at the racetrack.

Doug knew where the main colonies of cats were, just by being at the racetrack and observing the cats.  But as he started his TNR mission, he started being contacted by other concerned racetrack employees, asking if he could also help them with the cats they were seeing at their particular areas.  Doug wasn’t the only person who had noticed the cats.

Jockey Eswan Flores came to know the racetrack cats while riding quarter horses at the Los Alamitos Race Course.   “My friends began to notice a lot of kittens in the stables,” Eswan stated.   “And the more we looked, the more cat families we discovered.”

Although it seemed a daunting task at first, Doug trapped 32 feral cats from the racetrack himself — and many more were brought to FixNation by Deborah Trout, and others who stepped in to help Doug trap and transport the cats to FixNation.

Doug is simply a motivated gentleman who not only identified the feral overpopulation challenge at the racetrack, but choose to find a humane solution, a life-based solution, rather than the only other alternative, which is trap and kill.

Doug’s compassion for the cats of Los Alamitos was embraced by the other racetrack employees, who also care for the cats.  Doug’s efforts have made it possible for the cats to continue to coexist with the racetrack horses, companions in the stables to their larger sized friends.

FixNation is thrilled to be a part of this premiere episode where we spay the former feral, Larry.  Yes, we spayed Larry, who is a girl!

Check out this clip below, to get a taste of this kitty’s troubles, but watch the show to get the full story.

The chill of Los Angeles winter nights was setting in. The night before, a Momma cat and her two kittens jumped down from a wall separating the site from an apartment complex. Hungry, all three cats walked into the humane traps that Kristine, the trapper, had baited with food.  Kristine left with the three cats she caught, planning to come back the next night to try again; her experience taught her there had to be more cats living at the site.

This evening Kristine had returned, set, and baited a drop trap. She sat in her van to wait from a distance. Then, carefully and deliberately, moving their way gracefully around and through debris left by workers, cats of all colors emerged, this time from under the apartment fence, drawn by the aroma of an unexpected meal coming from the propped up trap, an object they had never seen before.  The odd gait of a black cat caught Kristine’s attention. His forward movement was unsteady.  As the cat awkwardly maneuvered toward the trap, he shifted his weight away from his left side, favoring his right front leg. Once at the trap, he sat, wearily taking advantage of the available light to assess the object in front of him and the food inside it.  With some effort, he pushed himself up and entered the trap.

Inside the trap, the other cats left as soon as the black cat went to the food.  Kristine quietly approached the trap and saw that there was no hair on the cat’s left leg. The leg appeared to be seriously injured. She decided to focus her efforts that night on trapping this little black cat. She watched him. He took a few bites from the food bowl and turned away. As he left the trap, the other cats returned, but rejected him again when he tried to join them. He was alone.  As trappers know, it’s not unusual for another cat to get in the way of one’s master plan. And tonight was no exception.

A calico cat wended its way around the trap, a trusting cat, a cat that had no idea about drop traps. It stopped before entering the trap all the way; neither in nor out of the trap.  Insuring that Kristine couldn’t pull the release rope, this new kitty sat there, at the abyss, looking around, probably thinking. Then it got up, went over to the food, scooped up a bite and exited the trap to chew in peace, elsewhere. The injured cat stayed put. There was a moment of quiet.  It was now or never. Kristine yanked the rope. With a resounding crack, the plastic prop flew up sharply against the rebar weights of the trap, then high into the air, with  the rope snaking after it. The trap dropped to the ground fast and heavy.  All the cats tore into the darkness, leaving the injured black cat behind, inside a place it had never seen before.

After Kristine transferred the black cat to a smaller trap, she lifted the cover to take in the extent of his injury. He had no fur up to his shoulder. His claws were blackened and disfigured as if there were no circulation reaching his paw. She saw one spot on his leg where there was a hole; it was bleeding. As Kristine lowered the trap cover, the little black cat lay down calmly, protecting his injured leg with his body.

Early the next morning, as powerful winds swooped and whirled throughout the Los Angeles basin, Kristine transported the trapped, injured cat to FixNation, where one of the vets on duty, Dr. Snook, examined his paw and leg. The cat no longer had skin on his leg. Dr. Snook saw that the injury had torn the nerves at the upper joint of his left leg, causing the limb to lose function and sensation. Without function and sensation, the black cat began self-mutilating to remove his dead leg.

The choices were either to amputate the leg or humanely euthanize the injured cat.  Dr. Snook prepared for surgery.

The surgery to remove the black cat’s injured leg lasted thirty minutes. Some of his nerves had stretched out and had become infected. In addition to nerve damage, he suffered from anemia brought on by a severe flea infestation. Finally, the operation over, Jeana, the Head Vet Tech at FixNation, placed the black cat in a kennel, where she could observe him, and he could recover safely.

When Kristine learned from Dr. Snook that the injured cat would survive, she looked for a name to give him that suited his brave journey, not only through the hostel world homeless cats navigate, but also the experience of removing his own limb, which could no longer support him.  Finally, she settled on ‘Yuki’, which means courage in Japanese.

Inside the kennel, Yuki slowly emerged from the anesthesia. When cats regain consciousness after surgery, they struggle unsuccessfully to right themselves, but their balance is off. They often hallucinate.  And it was the same for Yuki. But in his case, his attempts to stand were complicated by the absence of his left front leg. However, because of the state of his leg, prior to surgery, Yuki already knew how to function with three good legs.  His prognosis was good; provided he didn’t return to the industrial site.

Animals who lose limbs don’t view themselves as amputees. They don’t experience stigma. They feel better when the bad limb is removed. But if Yuki went back to the industrial site, his survival would be compromised because larger animals would perceive his three limbs as weakness, and he could become the target of their predation. If Yuki were to thrive, he would have to be placed in a foster home until he fully recovered, then he could be relocated to a sanctuary. That was the plan. Best Friends Animal Society placed Yuki on the sanctuary waiting list.

In the meantime, there was no foster home available for Yuki. Kristine brought Yuki back to the holding location where the TNR cats stay the nights before and after spay and neuter surgery.  She set up an enclosure for him so he could start moving around, but he wouldn’t get up. Kristine sensed Yuki was becoming depressed. She attempted to sooth him, but whenever she carefully drew near, Yuki pulled back, issuing a deep guttural roll, warning her to stay away.

Continuing to care for him, Kristine transferred Yuki to an expanded pen where he could see more of his new environment. She allowed him free access to roam the holding rooms.  Yuki learned to trust Kristine.  No longer backing away when she reached down to touch him, Yuki eventually let Kristine pick him up, without protest, and hold him.

If Yuki was semi-feral, he is tame, now. He affectionately leans into Kristine’s hand for plenty of head and ear scratches. These days, when Yuki rests in her arms, Kristine detects, as if coming from a distant place deep within his body, the reverberation of contentment.

Although he is in good care with Kristine, Yuki needs a foster home where he can receive attention around the clock. As of now, there is not space for him in a sanctuary. Yuki is still waiting for a home.

- written by Síla ÓGrádaigh

Dear FixNation Friend,

Homeless cats need your help! You may be wondering why your support is so urgently needed at this time. It’s simple: You can help end the suffering.

Right now, there are more than a million homeless cats and kittens living in Los Angeles, and 40,000 cats are killed in our city and county shelters each year.

FixNation is a nonprofit organization that fixes homeless cats as part of a Trap-Neuter-Return program or “TNR” for short. TNR means cats are fixed so they cannot breed and are then returned to live out their lives on the streets. It’s not ideal, but it’s the best we can do. If we do nothing, their numbers will grow and the killing will continue.

Our mission is to end this cycle of suffering by providing free spay/neuter surgery and basic medical care for L.A.’s stray and feral cats. Our clinic is the first of its kind in the nation, operating full-time and providing free services for homeless cats. We fix more than 17,000 cats each year. It costs $1.5M annually to deliver these services to cats in need.

You’ve shown how much you care about homeless cats. You don’t like any more than we do that innocent cats die every day in L.A. shelters. So we’re reaching out to you. Your gift will help reduce the number of homeless cats in Los Angeles, and in turn save cats’ lives.

Please make a generous gift to FixNation today. Your donation, no matter the size, will help us maintain our full-time veterinary clinic to help homeless cats. Please donate today.

Thank you, we appreciate all you do for the animals.

Sincerely,

Open Letter

To all of the donors, clients, employees, volunteers, sponsors, friends and supporters of FixNation:

Each year, Los Angeles Magazine searches out to find a limited number of special companies and organizations that deserve to be honored and recognized as the “Best of LA” in categories representing the wide variety of goods and services that make up the rich texture of Los Angeles as a community. This year, we are proud to say that FixNation – your FixNation – has been named the Best in our category – stray cat (spay-neuter) clinic.

The cover and inside piece on this accolade, the latter featuring a photo of “Super Cat”, are on the pages which follow¹. Karn and I were invited to and attended the recognition party LA Magazine hosted last night at the Hollywood Roosevelt Hotel, where we met many other honorees and the publication’s key executives involved in this years BOLA. It was our honor to do so, not for the personal recognition it provided, but rather the opportunity it provides to shine the light on our mission – one that all of you share, and do so much to bring us closer every day to the end of feline homelessness and the dawn of humane enlightenment in our society.

Truly, you are the ones who deserve this award and recognition, so it is my genuine pleasure to share it with you in this spirit…

Sincerely,

Mark Dodge

President

¹ Article erred in citing our start year as 1999, which is when we launched Best Friends Catnippers. FixNation actually started in 2007.

By leaving a gift for FixNation in your estate plan, you have the opportunity to ensure health and safety for generations of cats, and prevent millions of homeless cats from being born. Because of you, together we will someday realize, even if not within your lifetime, the day when there are no more homeless cats.

We are so grateful by those who have already made this commitment, so honored to be treated like family. As you know, the only way to motivate members of the community to engage in Trap-Neuter-Return on a meaningful scale is by offering our services for free. Because of your generosity, we will be able to continue to give these gifts to the public for years to come, and miracles of change will continue to happen. If you’ve already remembered FixNation in your estate plan, please contact us. We would love to thank you personally for your thoughtful support.

For those of you interested in considering a bequest directed to FixNation in your personal will or trust, we encourage you to consult with counsel and/or a financial planner expert in this area. If you would like more information to help you with this, or have already made a bequest to FixNation, please contact Mark Dodge at mark@fixnation.org.

Best Friends Catnippers dates for 2011 (all Sundays):

• January 9
• March 13
• May 15
• July 10
• September 11
• November 13

All clinics will be held at FixNation, 7680 Clybourn Ave., L.A., 91352.

An initial application and reservations are required in advance. Please do not bring cats to the clinic without a confirmed reservation. To complete an initial Feral Cat Application, go to the “Getting Started” box on the homepage of this website, or a copy of the application is also in the lower right “Forms and Resources” section. Please specify in the application that you are interested in Catnippers reservations.

If you are one of our regular caregivers and have been to either FixNation or Catnippers before with feral cats, please email Liz Cava for reservations at liz@fixnation.org.

Our Catnippers clinics are specifically dedicated to feral cats and kittens. All cats coming to the Best Friends Catnippers clinics are required to be homeless, feral or stray and will be eartipped. Tame cats and kittens should be scheduled through FixNation during normal business hours.

Our Catnippers clinics are staffed entirely by volunteers, including volunteer licensed vets and vet techs. We are always on the lookout for new volunteers to join our team. If you are interested in volunteering for an upcoming Catnippers clinic, please email Carol Long, our Catnippers Volunteer Coordinator, at carolL@catnippers.org.

Here is an FAQ on what this means on a practical level:

1. Is TNR now illegal?

Answer: No. TNR is legal for private citizens and rescue organizations to carry out. The only difference is that the city is currently prohibited from supporting our TNR efforts.

2. Can I still get city vouchers to offset the cost of spaying or neutering feral cats?

Answer: Currently, a private resident can get up to three vouchers for spaying or neutering cats that live on their own property. These vouchers must be obtained directly from a city shelter.

3. If I have a question or problem related to feral cats in Los Angeles or if I need to borrow a feral cat trap, whom should I contact?

Answer: Contact FixNation, Stray Cat Alliance, Kitten Rescue, Actors & Others for Animals, Best Friends Catnippers, or one of the many local cat rescue organizations that you may already be familiar with.

4.  How did this lawsuit happen?

Answer: A group of conservancy organizations that are concerned about declining song-bird populations and  the potential impact of feral cats on the environment sued the city for non-compliance with CEQA, and the court found in their favor.

5.  What is being done to correct the situation?

Answer: A coalition of animal organizations has formed to work with the city of Los Angeles to re-establish TNR as an important strategy in any effective and humane program aimed at managing and controlling feral cat populations while complying with CEQA. The coalition includes:  Actors & Others for Animals, Best Friends Animal Society, Feral Cat Caretakers’ Coalition, FixNation, Found Animals Foundation, Kitten Rescue, and Stray Cat Alliance.

6.  Will Judge McKnew’s ruling be appealed by the City of LA?

Answer: No. The City Attorney has concluded that because the law precludes any new evidence or arguments being introduced on appeal, that re-trying the same case on the existing court record would likely have the same result with the added consequence of establishing the ruling state-wide, while now it only affects the city of Los Angeles. The coalition has hired an attorney who specializes in CEQA, and they agree with the City Attorney’s decision not to appeal.  Rather, the coalition will work with the city to develop a TNR policy while observing CEQA requirements.

7.  What can I do to help?

Answer: Please forward this FAQ to concerned family and friends, and if you can, please donate to your favorite feral cat program and sign the coalition’s declaration of support for TNR in Los Angeles. (Click here to view and sign the Coalition Declaration)