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.

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,

Every donation made until December, 31, will be matched by PetSmart Charities! If ever there was a time for you to help homeless cats of LA, it is now!

Your heartfelt donations to spay/neuter homeless cats in LA go twice as far when you donate now, thanks to PetSmart Charities who will match whatever you donate, dollar for dollar!

PetSmart Charities has challenged FixNation to raise $51k in new donations before the end of this year – December 31, 2011! For every dollar we raise from a new donor, PetSmart will match it!

Please help us meet this challenge by sharing this fundraiser with your friends and families! We’re asking everyone who cares about LA’s cats to support FixNation by making a donation today!

It’s so easy!

Your donation of $10, becomes $20!
Your donation of $25, becomes $50!
Your donation of $100, becomes $200!

Thank you for joining FixNation in helping LA’s homeless cats!

After you’ve made your donation, consider how you can inspire others!

But you can do more than double your donation with Petsmart’s Matching Gift!  You can help raise MORE funds by hosting your own fundraiser on Crowdrise.  Make this your challenge too!  

Start YOUR campaign to help homeless cat!

Do you need a new coffee mug or sweater?  Make gift-giving count this year by giving a gift to homeless cats.  Ask your friends and family to contribute to your campaign.

The best gift of all will be knowing that you helped save lives!

THANKS, EVERYONE, FOR HELPING MAKE COOL CATS FOR FIXNATION AT THE G2 GALLERY FEATURING THE CARL VERHEYEN BAND ON FRIDAY, AUGUST 19, 2011 SUCH A SUCCESSFUL AND MEMORABLE EXPERIENCE!

Community spirit, art, music, cats and charity all came together at the wonderful G2 Gallery Friday night August 19, where everyone joined hands to support FixNation, and “get down” with the Carl Verheyen Band, performing as the “Cool Cats”.

Our hosts, Susan and Dan Gottlieb, the founders and owners of the G2 Gallery, deserve special thanks for offering up their unique venue and all it embodies on a night like this. And, for leaving everyone in awe, we also thank our star attraction, Carl Verheyen and his band mates, Dave Marotta and Walfredo Reyes, Jr., the talented, merry troupe who simply dazzled those in attendance with their special brand of musical offerings.

Carl Verheyen Band on-stage at event: Carl Verheyen (Guitar), Walfredo Reyes, Jr. (Drums) and Dave Marotta (Bass)

We would also like to thank and acknowledge the contributions of all those who purchased tickets, the donors who purchased tickets for complimentary invitation purposes, everyone who contributed to what became a terrific array of auction items, the G2 staff who worked so hard on putting the event together, the FixNation volunteers and staff who did so much to make things easy and efficient at the event, and all of those who came after what, for most, was a busy work day.

The venue’s size limited attendance to 100 and was a sold out event. Downstairs, the room was elegantly laid out to accommodate a buffet table of catered food items, a wine and beverage bar, a display of all the silent auction items, the check-in and ticket distribution table, and a table offering Carl’s CDs and DVDs for sale. Upstairs, in the main Gallery room, a stage was set up before rows of chairs to accommodate all the guests.

Here are a few photos from the event:

Event Special Mention

Many of the guests that came to the event did so thanks to the generosity of two major donors, grateful for the opportunity to help and to accept our public thanks. These are:

The Dax Foundation, and its principal, Dave Weisman, a visionary entrepreneur and philanthropist, specifically wanted to enable supporters of ours to attend and support the valuable mission of FixNation, a cause near and dear to his heart. For more on Dax Foundation and its unique role in helping make our world a better place, please visit www.daxfoundation.org.

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.

FixNation is Deeded the Plot to Toto’s Final Resting Place in Hollywood Forever Cemetery

Toto from The Wizard of Oz is one of the most well-known and beloved canine movie stars of all time. Say the word Toto to almost anyone in the world and they immediately know who you are talking about.

As a film, The Wizard of Oz was epic when it was released back in 1939. It was witness to the launch of Technicolor, it won several Academy Awards, and to this day it’s one of the biggest films in pop culture history. At least once a year, the movie airs and both young and old sit rapt in front of the TV. If you grew up with the Wizard of Oz, you remember being fascinated by talking lions and tin men, getting scared silly by flying monkeys and wicked witches, and falling in love with the adorable little Toto. And some of us drooling over Dorothy’s red glitter shoes, but that’s for another web post.

What most people don’t realize is that since Toto’s death in the late 1950′s, Toto has gone completely unrecognized by the Hollywood community. There is no star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, no memorial statues…absolutely nothing to honor this little dog’s big acting career.

But that is soon about to change!

CLOSE-UP: Toto

Toto was one of the many animals trained by Carl Spitz back in the golden years of Hollywood. Carl Spitz was a German immigrant who became a famous animal trainer for the studios, opening up his Hollywood Dog Training School back in 1927. Spitz pioneered the training technique of using hand signals to get animals to perform. Toto was actually played by a female Cairn terrier named Terry, who had been abandoned at Spitz’s kennel four years before The Wizard of Oz was made (yes, Toto was a rescue!). Spitz officially changed the dog’s name to Toto after the movie became so popular. Toto went on to co-star in many films with some of the era’s biggest actors.

When Toto died towards the end of WWII, Carl Spitz buried the little dog behind his house and kennels. Then in 1958, the Ventura Freeway was expanded across the San Fernando Valley. CalTrans bought up the Spitz property for construction purposes and the entire area was destroyed. Toto’s final resting place had been plowed over in the name of progress.

Fast Forward to 2010

J.P. Myers, an L.A. local, was talking to a co-worker about an episode of the Huell Howser show, where Howser interviewed author and grave hunter Steve Goldstein about the lives and grave sites of famous animals. Through that conversation, Myers realized that Toto had lived and died just blocks down the street from where he had gone to elementary school on Riverside Drive, and this really hit home. Myers had just successfully launched a Facebook fan page and campaign to get Jack Norworth, who penned “Take Me Out to the Ballgame,” a more appropriate grave marker than the nondescript gravesite where he had been buried. It dawned on him that the same action was needed for Toto, so Myers picked up a copy of Steve Goldstein’s book, LA’s Graveside Companion: Where the V.I.P.s R.I.P., to dig up more information. He contacted Goldstein directly, and Goldstein agreed to partner up on the project.

Hollywood Forever to the Rescue

Goldstein and Myers reached out to a number of local cemeteries around Los Angeles, only to get turned down by every single one. Finally, they contacted Tyler Cassity, owner of Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Hollywood Forever is the final resting place for hundreds of big-name celebrities such as Rudolph Valentino, Douglas Fairbanks, Hattie McDaniel and Johnny Ramone, to name a few. Cassity, an animal lover, immediately recognized the impact that Toto had on American culture and graciously offered to donate the VIP plot and the memorial marker for Toto. It was agreed that the plot should be deeded to an animal group so that Toto’s gravesite would always be protected and well cared for. Cassity suggested FixNation, and Myers and Goldstein quickly agreed. FixNation has been fixing the feral cats at Hollywood Forever for some time now, in coordination with the cemetery and its caretakers.

A dedication ceremony will be held on Saturday, June 18th at 11:00 a.m. at Hollywood Forever Cemetery to unveil the new grave site and marker. The ceremony will be open to the public, so please come out and join! All parties will come together to celebrate and give tribute to this little dog’s big achievements. Thanks to the heart and vision of Myers, Goldstein, Cassity and Hollywood Forever, little Toto will be honored with the recognition this little legend so worthily deserves.

For Toto, finally, there’s no place like home.
 

Toto’s dedication ceremony will be held on Saturday, June 18th from 11:00 a.m. – 1:00 p.m. at Hollywood Forever Cemetery. Admission is free to the public and there is free parking on site inside the cemetery. Kids and pets are both welcome. Hollywood Forever Cemetery is located at 6000 Santa Monica Blvd., L.A., 90038.
 
Join the Toto Memorial Marker Facebook page

Read LA Weekly coverage