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Santa Photos FUNdraiser! -- Saturday December 11th, 2010

IBOK Rescue will be holding our 4th Annual Santa Photo With Your Pet fundraiser on Saturday 12/11 from Noon to 4pm at the Pet Food Express Palo Alto to help raise money for our Emergency Medical Fund and Prewean Kitten Project! We have a goal of $500 to get us started for next year's kitten season and can really use your help! If you have a dog or a cat or even a rat or a lizard that you would like to have photographed with Santa, please come to this event and get your photo and join the party! The cost is only $15 for up to 10 high resolution photos on a keepsake CD! And we will have a printer available to print your photos if you want! As a special thank you, PFE will be giving out gifts to all the dogs and cats who come for their photo as well as a 20% coupon good for anything in the store! And if you have previously adopted a kitten or cat from IBOK Rescue or have volunteered for us, there will be an extra special gift for you if you bring your adopted cat or kitten to be photographed! We would LOVE to see some of our alumni at this event! For more info, please contact us at info@ibokrescue.org. Thanks!

Cat Nail Trimming Clinic -- Saturday August 22nd, 2009

IBOK Rescue will be holding a Cat Nail Trimming Clinic Fundraiser at our upcoming adoption events. You can get your cat's front paws trimmed for $5 and all four paws for $10 and the money raised will go to help us in our rescue efforts. Our volunteers are experts at clipping cat nails and will even show you how you can do it at home! Bring your kitties to the Palo Alto Pet Food Express on Saturday 8/22 or the Campbell Pet Food Express on Sunday 8/23 and take advantage of this special service.

IBOK has a Facebook! -- Friday August 14th, 2009

IBOK Rescue has a new FACEBOOK page for all of our wonderful adopters, foster families, volunteers, supporters, and fellow rescue friends to keep in touch. If you are on Facebook, please add us as a friend! Thanks!

Prewean Kitten Project!!! -- Wednesday July 2nd, 2008

IBOK Rescue's Prewean Kitten Project has begun! With your help we have assembled 75 prewean packs and 40 of them were delivered to San Jose Animal Care & Services (SJACS) on July 1st! We also have supplies in storage to put together an additional 50-75 packs when these run out! Thank you SO much! We rolled out the program at SJACS on July 1st and in the first hour were were able to save the lives of five kittens by convincing the woman surrendering them to take them home and foster them with our guidance until they were of an adoptable age/weight! She also agreed to get the feral/stray mom cat fixed and received a "Mommy Spay" coupon! Yay! While spending time in the surrender room can be very stressful and even dangerous for some of us, we would greatly appreciate it if we could get volunteers to spend some time there over the next couple of weeks to make sure the staff is pushing this alternative to surrendering so that we can make this program a success. If you have a few hours to donate for this purpose, please let us know. During the four hours we were there, only one kitten was surrendered and she was a beautiful and healthy 3-month-old who stood a very good chance at being adopted. And amazingly, the three carriers we had in the car to take home surrendered kittens were empty when we left! ;) In addition to helping the staff at the shelter as this program gets going, what we especially need now are experienced kitten caregivers willing to mentor these people once they have signed on to participate in the program. You don't have to be a bottle feeder as many of the participants will be fostering kittens who are able to eat on their own but just need to put on weight. So if you, or someone you know, may be interested in joining our committee and becoming a mentor, please let us know asap! The more mentors we get signed up, the less work for each of us to follow up with the participants! Thanks again for all you do for the animals and for helping us get this revolutionary project off the ground.

Special Black Cat A'Fair! -- Friday February 29th, 2008

IBOK Rescue is holding a special St. Patrick's Day Black Cat adoption event called the Black Cat A'Fair on Saturday, March 15th from 1-5pm at the Palo Alto Pet Food Express! Want Some Luck In Your Life? Adopt a Black Cat or Kitten Today! The only thing unlucky about a black cat is that nobody wants one. :( Please come and see all of our wonderful kitties dressed up in their finest. Lots of goodies and refreshments for all who come for a visit. Lots of wonderful kittens and cats available for adoption! Come out and meet them!

Please Help Us Save Magoo -- Wednesday February 27th, 2008

Magoo came down with pneumonia just before Christmas and was hospitalized for a week. Fortunately he recovered and was able to be released to his foster home with supportive care. Despite weekly rechecks with his vet, Magoo has relapsed and again has pneumonia! :( Magoo had been recovering nicely until 2/10 when he began having labored breathing again. X-Rays on 2/12 indicated possible damage to his bronchia causing a mild form of asthma. He started on a kitty inhaler, but after several days of use, Magoo’s breathing seemed to worsen. So, he was seen again on 2/19 when his vet confirmed that his pneumonia is back. :( It is uncertain if Magoo will require hospitalization (again) or if he will be able to recover in his foster home with supportive care. In the meantime, his vet is also running a myriad of tests to try to get to the bottom of what is causing our little boy to relapse. He underwent a bronchoscopy on 2/25 and we are awaiting the test results For now, he is back on a bronchial dilator and will continue a 14-day course of antibiotics thru 3/5. Adoption applications for Magoo are not being accepted until he is out of the woods and we have confirmed a diagnosis. But, Magoo is a fighter and has hung in there this far, so we owe it to him to keep trying. Stay tuned for updates! We are still in desperate need of donations toward his vet bills which have exceeded $2500 since December. Any amount is humbly appreciated!

Buttons Needs Your Help! -- Friday February 1st, 2008

Mittens and Buttons are beautiful Siamese mix kittens and had no trouble finding a home. They were adopted when they were 10 weeks old to a nice family with two young children. Unfortunately, shortly after their adoption Buttons developed severe diarrhea again and his sister Mittens would also have diarrhea off and on. Their new adoptive family took them to the vet and had lots of tests done and tried several forms of treatment and a change in their diet, but they were unable to resolve the problem and the diarrhea continued. After three months and lots of money spent at the vet's office, the family reluctantly returned Mittens and Buttons to IBOK Rescue as they were unable to handle the problem any longer and were concerned about transmission of illness to their infant son. IBOK Rescue stands behind their return policy and gladly accepted these kitties back into their care. After having them seen at IBOK's vet, and incurring hundreds of dollars in costs for tests, it appears that Buttons may have a very rare condition for cats called Addison's Disease. Several more tests are required to confirm this diagnosis and hopefully we can get to the bottom of what is making him sick and get him well. IBOK Rescue is a very small organization with very limited funds and although we want to provide the best treatment possible to our kittens, we are again financially in the red and we need your help. Please make a donation today so that we can get Buttons the tests he needs to determine the cause of his illness and get him well so that he and his sister can be adopted to a forever home. Any amount is appreciated! We thank you from the bottom of our hearts (and the bottom of our empty wallets!) The Volunteers at Itty Bitty Orphan Kitty Rescue

Kitten Season Coming Soon -- Monday January 28th, 2008

Kitten season is almost here! Very soon the shelters will be filling up with orphaned kittens and Moms with their litters. What do we do? Well, first of all we rescue and bottle feed as many of the orphaned kittens that we possibly can. Shelters normally do not have the personnel to bottle feed and care for the unwanted kittens. So unless they are rescued from the shelter, they are euthanized. Where do these kittens come from? Some are from feral cats that are not sterilized and they give birth in people’s backyards, under their decks and patios or just find a secluded bush or ground cover that gives them some privacy and have their litters. People find them, the moms get scared and run away and hundreds of kittens are left behind. People gather them up in cardboard boxes and off to the shelter they go. Some of these kittens are actually from domestic cats that no one bothered to have spayed and guess what? There is a litter in the garage or under the bed. They can’t possibly care for all these animals so off they go to the animal shelter. Moms and litters end up at shelters all the time during the season which can last as long as March through November here in California. Lots of friendly moms with their babies. We rescue as many of these from the shelter as we possibly can too. Foster homes work very hard during “peak” kitten season months. The heartbreaking part is we cannot help them all. The “snowballing” effect hits and they are coming faster than what rescuers can keep up with. What happens? Many of these animals are put to sleep. How can this be prevented? The ultimate answer is spaying and neutering. Every kitten and cat that comes through Itty Bitty Orphan Kitty Rescue will be sterilized before going to it’s new home. Each year we hope we see less orphaned kittens and less Moms and litters. Maybe this will be the year. We’ll update you as kitten season progresses.

Emergency Medical Fund -- Saturday December 8th, 2007

RESCUED KITTENS NEED YOUR SUPPORT!

Donate to Itty Bitty Orphan Kitty Rescue
Emergency Medical Fund for Preweaned Kittens!

Help provide urgent medical care to kittens and cats by supporting IBOK Rescue’s Emergency Medical Fund!

The survival rate of preweaned kittens separated from their mothers is very low--the younger the kitten is removed from its mother, the lower the chance of survival. IBOK Rescue gets many pleas for help from the public to assist with caring for preweaned kittens. We always recommend the finder keep the kittens with its mother, whenever possible, until the kittens are at least 8 weeks old, but sometimes people will stumble on a lone baby kitten or a litter of kittens whose mother has died, is feral, or rejects the litter. These kittens will not survive without human intervention.

Every shelter in Santa Clara County will euthanize preweaned kittens almost immediately upon arrival. The reason is that shelters are not equipped to provide round-the-clock care for tiny babies--the survival rate is very low. However, sometimes municipal shelters will contact rescue groups and ask them to take the preweaned kittens and hand raise them.

IBOK Rescue is one group to which shelters turn to take in preweaned kittens whenever space permits. But, this is very costly and can be emotionally, physically and financially draining on our volunteers and our budget! In spite of this, in 2007 our small rescue group successfully hand raised more than 100 preweaned kittens!

Unfortunately, many of our kittens this year required expensive medical treatments. Some required major surgeries!

We are seeking donations to help cover our anticipated medical costs for 2008. IBOK Rescue spent more than $8,000 in 2007 for emergency veterinary care for our kittens. Some of the stories and photos of the kittens who incurred these medical costs can be seen at www.ibokrescue.org in the "Happy Tails" or “Rainbow Bridge” sections.

GOAL of the Emergency Medical Fund: $2,500.00
Donated as of 12/8/2007: $300.00
Amount still needed: $2,200.00

Donations accepted electronically at www.ibokrescue.org/info/donate.

Or, contact info@ibokrescue.org to request a physical mailing address. The kitties thank you!


Help Us Save Blizzard!!! -- Monday October 8th, 2007

Please help us to save little Blizzard! He was found with two littermates in a trailer park a couple of weeks ago and is the friendliest, most loving and grateful little guy you could ever imagine, not to mention absolutely adorable! But little Blizzard developed pneumonia and has been hospitalized for two days at Adobe Animal Hospital and is not doing well. :( This morning during some tests he went into cardiac arrest, but hte vet was able to pull him through. We want to do everything we can to save this wonderful little kitten but we need your help! Please make a donation today to help with Blizzard's medical costs! Every dollar helps! Thank you!

Adopt a Black Kitty! -- Thursday September 6th, 2007

Who says Black Cats bring bad luck?

These playful, lovable, cuddly, sleek and fuzzy black & smoke babies wish for loving forever homes just like their tabby and tortie friends! So, why do they end up in rescue and shelters longer than other kittens and cats?

Won’t you turn their luck around and consider welcoming a homeless black kitty into your family?

"Black cat, cross my path - good fortune bring to home and hearth. When I am away from home, bring me luck wherever I roam." ~ Old English Charm

Please consider adopting a black kitty, or two! Visit our home page or click "Adoption Fairs / Events" for a listing of our upcoming adoption fairs!

Foster Homes Still Needed -- Tuesday June 19th, 2007

Well, Kitten Season is in full swing and and Foster Homes are still desperately needed!

Itty Bitty Orphan Kitty Rescue is seeking experienced volunteers willing to open their hearts and their homes to weaned and preweaned kittens to help us to give these little lives a chance. You must live in Santa Clara County to foster for us.

Bottle-feeding or previous fostering experience is preferred but we are happy to train you. We provide all of the necessary supplies. If foster parents can provide transport to adoption fairs when kittens reach adoptable age, that is most helpful. For more information, please contact us or complete a Foster Care Application found under the volunteer section of this website. Thank you!

Why Two Kittens? -- Sunday June 3rd, 2007

Why Kittens Should Be Adopted In Pairs

Mother Nature knew what she was doing when she created kittens in litters!

· Kittens need interaction with other kittens for healthy social development. A kitten learns a lot in the first several months of life from its mother and littermates. Separating a kitten from its mother is often a necessity for adoption purposes, but taking it away from its littermates and isolating it can delay the kitten’s development emotionally, socially, and sometimes physically. Kittens who are able to remain with one of their littermates or a similarly-aged companion tend to be healthier and happier, and in the long run, better socialized pets than those who are isolated from others of their kind at an early age.

· Even loving, caring, humans are not adequate substitutes for kitten companionship. Even if a person is fortunate enough to be home quite a bit, the amount of attention a lone kitten will demand is likely to occupy more time than the person has available. A pair of kittens will definitely still want to interact with people, but can keep each other occupied. Most cats, regardless of their age, are highly sociable and are truly happier living with other cat companions. This in turn makes them better pets.

· Kittens are curious and crave constant stimulation. Out of boredom, a single kitten will often entertain itself by chewing plants, climbing drapes and furniture, unrolling toilet paper, exploring electrical cords and sockets, etc. Kittens who live with other kittens may sometimes do these things as well, but if they have another kitten to tumble around and play with it is less likely they’ll need to entertain themselves with behaviors like these, which can be destructive and dangerous.

· Kittens bite and wrestle with one another--this behavior is normal. You can't prevent a kitten from doing what comes naturally, any more than you can force a two-year-old toddler to sit still. Though it's not acceptable for a kitten to bite and wrestle with its human companions, in the absence of having a littermate or companion its own age to play with, this is precisely what a single kitten will want to do. Even if you are willing to allow (and can tolerate) this behavior from your kitten, by the time the kitten matures, you will end up with an adult cat who has developed very bad habits (i.e., biting and scratching as “play”).

· Kittens are very active at night. A single kitten is likely to keep people awake at night with constant jumping, pouncing and other “hunting” behavior. With a companion to play with at night, this behavior is minimized because they will have each other to chase and play games with until they too fall asleep.

· A single kitten is not a good companion for an older cat. Kittens have boundless energy. They want to play and run constantly which typically overwhelms and irritates an older cat. Likewise, a kitten is apt to be frustrated that its companion doesn’t have its same level of energy. At the very least, this can lead to two very unhappy cats. At worst, behavior problems such as litterbox avoidance or destructive scratching can occur as one or both cats act out their frustrations on their surroundings. It’s unlikely that the two will have a close, bonded relationship, even after the kitten matures, since their experiences with one another from the beginning of the relationship are likely to be negative. An older kitty is better matched with a cat closer to its own age and temperament.

*IBOK Rescue requires that young kittens be adopted in pairs unless you have an existing kitten or young cat at home. This policy is NOT based on a desire to increase our number of adoptions. Rather this ensures that the kittens we rescue, nurture, and love are adopted into homes that offer the best possible environment for their social development. We understand that some people will still want to adopt a single kitten. Most rescue groups have similar policies regarding kittens. Thus, we suggest you adopt from a local animal shelter where kittens may not otherwise find any home.

No Room At The Inn! -- Saturday May 12th, 2007

Kitten Season has hit us fast and hard this year and we currently have more than 40 preweaned kittens in foster care with dozens of calls each day asking us to take more!

Unfortunately, we do not have any more room to take in these kittens! Foster homes are desperately needed so that we can save more lives.

If you find kittens, please click the link at the left "Help! I Found A Kitten" and read what to do. If you have questions, please feel free to contact us and we will offer you whatever guidance we can, but we cannot take your kittens in ourselves.

And please don't take your found kittens to the shelter! Preweaned kittens weighing less than two pounds are euthanized at the shelter as they do not have the resources to care for them until they become adoptable.

It is not that hard to bottlefeed and care for a preweaned kitten until it is old enough to be adopted--we can help you! If everyone did their part, we could save them all, but it is too hard for the few of us who are doing it to do it by ourselves.

If you want to help, but can't foster or adopt, please consider making a donation. Each prewean kitten costs us approximately $300-$400 just to feed and provide veterinary care for them until they get adopted. Our adoption fee of $95 doesn't even begin to cover our costs and all expenses are paid out of our own pockets. I personally spend more than $1,500 a month on kitten food, supplies, and vet care for the kittens in our care and we can really use some help!

Thanks for reading!

Laurie Melo Volunteer

Foster Homes Needed! -- Sunday April 15th, 2007

Kitten Season is Here and Foster Homes are Desperately Needed!

Itty Bitty Orphan Kitty Rescue is seeking experienced volunteers willing to open their hearts and their homes to preweaned kittens to help us to give these little lives a chance. You must live in Santa Clara County to foster for us.

Bottle-feeding experience is preferred but we are happy to train you. We provide all of the necessary supplies. Foster homes are required to provide transport to adoption fairs when kittens reach adoptable age. For more information, please contact us or complete a Foster Care Application found under the volunteer section of this website. Thank you!

Kitten Season! -- Sunday April 1st, 2007

Kitten season is here! The shelters are filling up with orphaned kittens and Moms with their litters. What do we do? Well, first of all we rescue and bottle feed as many of the orphaned kittens that we possibly can. Shelter’s normally do not have the personnel to bottle feed and care for the unwanted kittens. So unless they are rescued from the shelter, they are euthanized. Where do these kittens come from? Some are from feral cats that are not sterilized and they give birth in people’s backyards, under their decks and patios or just find a secluded bush or ground cover that gives them some privacy and have their litters. People find them, the moms get scared and run away and hundreds of kittens are left behind. People gather them up in cardboard boxes and off to the shelter they go. Some of these kittens are actually from domestic cats that no one bothered to have spayed and guess what? There is a litter in the garage or under the bed. They can’t possibly care for all these animals so off they go to the animal shelter. Moms and litters end up at shelters all the time during the season which can last as long as March through November here in California. Lots of friendly moms with their babies. We rescue as many of these from the shelter as we possibly can too. Foster homes work very hard during “peak” kitten season months. The heartbreaking part is we cannot help them all. The “snowballing” effect hits and they are coming faster than what rescuers can keep up with. What happens? Many of these animals are put to sleep. How can this be prevented? The ultimate answer is spaying and neutering. Every kitten and cat that comes through Itty Bitty Orphan Kitty Rescue will be sterilized before going to it’s new home. Each year we hope we see less orphaned kittens and less Moms and litters. Maybe this will be the year. We’ll update you as kitten season progresses.