Diabetic Cats in Need

DCIN is pleased to announce its fourth annual Extra-Sweet Kitties Calendar Contest!  Head on over to our site on GoGo to enter.  If you didn’t enter a kitty into last year’s contest, you’ll need to create an account to enter this year.  If you registered in previous years, your account should still work.

The contest runs from October 16th through November 17th at 11:59:59 PM Eastern.  Each entry costs $5, and each vote is $1.  You can also reserve a calendar day for $10 each – first-come, first-served, and please keep your caption request as short as possible (remember that it has to fit legibly on a date square; if it’s too long, we’ll need to ask you to shorten it).  Reserving a day is separate from the contest; if you want to see your kitty both on one of the main calendar pages AND on a special date, you need to enter the contest and reserve a date separately. All the contests rules are on the contest site under “Rules”.

And of course – there are prizes! The Top Cat gets his/her photo on the cover of the DCIN 2018 Calendar, a comfy and attractive handmade cat mat, a free copy of the calendar, and a cat food mat and keyring set.  The five Runners-Up get a prominent spot in the DCIN 2018 Calendar, a free copy of the calendar, and a cat food mat and keyring set.

This year, we’re also offering the option to pre-order a calendar through GoGo for $27 including shipping to all locations. You can find this option under the “Participate” button in the top menu bar.  We’ll offer a calendar-ordering option through DCIN later on, as well.  More details on that later in November!

We’re hoping this year’s contest is just as fun as it has been the last three years.  Happy voting!

~Amy

Many DCIN Friends LOVE socks – the crazier the better.  What could be better than SolMate’s Mismatched Socks to pad around in?

So we bring you our sixth annual mismatched socks fundraiser for DCIN. Through October 8, 2017, DCIN is taking orders for these socks – and more!  That’s right – just like last year, you can order ANYTHING the Sock Lady offers!

You can choose from adult crew socks, adult ankle socks, adult knee socks, kids’ socks (one pair and a spare), and baby socks (two pair and a spare).  And now you can also choose from adult hats, baby aviator hats, fingerless mittens, scarves, and fleece-lined mittens.  You can check this brochure for the styles, patterns, and sizes available. The items are made from 62% Cotton, 22% Polyester, 15% Nylon, and 1% Lycra.  They are machine washable and dryable.

DCIN will bulk order the socks and mail them to you in the US by early November. (We’ll have a later delivery date for Canada and other international locations, but we’ll ship those as soon as possible.)  All shipping will be done by 1st class US Postal Service if possible. (DO NOT order directly from SolMate; with shipping, it may cost you more – and DCIN won’t get a portion of the sale.)

To order, please PayPal the appropriate amount (see list below) to socks@dcin.info by choosing the “pay or send money” option, then selecting “send money to friends or family”.  Next, type in the total amount (including shipping if you’re outside the US – see below) for your order.  If you fund your payment with a credit card, please also pay the credit card fee on the final PayPal screen. (If you don’t, DCIN will have to make that payment, which takes away from what we earn from this fundraiser.)  In the Write a note (optional) section please indicate:

• Number of items being ordered
• Style (ankle, kids, scarf, etc.), pattern, and size of each pair/set of socks (other items are one-size)
• Your mailing address
• Your email address (as PayPal no longer provides this)

If you don’t use PayPal, you can mail a check along with the order information listed above to

Diabetic Cats in Need
P.O. Box 21
Minot, ME  04258-0021

If you care to take orders from your workmates/friends, there is a bulk order form as the last page of the brochure. You will have to submit this payment with your order by October 8. If you have questions about this, please email socks@dcin.info.

Pricing information:

ITEM	PRICE
Adult crew socks	$22
Adult ankle socks	$20
Adult knee socks	$25
Child & baby socks	$22
Adult hats	$25
Baby aviator hats	$30
Scarves	$30
Fleece-lined mittens Fingerless mittens	$30 $25

Please add an additional $5 per order for Canadian mailings and an extra $10 per order for mailings to other international locations.  Please make all payments in US $!

Now the only question is…which patterns and how many pairs are you going to order?!  ~Amy

This is a guest blog post by Rena, Cat Rescuer Extraordinaire!  I don’t even know how many cats Rena has helped DCIN save – and this is one of them.  When we post about kitties in the DC area who are at risk of euthanasia in shelters, Rena jumps in to help DCIN Team Members to try to put together a rescue so we can get those kitties to safety.  When you’re posting comments asking why no one is helping those cats – please keep in mind that we’re doing our mighty best behind the scenes to save them all.  We’re working our full-time jobs while simultaneously working our contacts and resources to make a pull happen.  Rena has been a key person in helping us get those many, many puzzle pieces in a rescue pull together for numerous cats.  Thankfully, this kitty is one who was never in danger of being surrendered, but he and his dad sure needed DCIN’s and Rena’s help!  ~Amy

Let me tell you what I did today. Pictured below is Vasika, or Vasa for short. Vasa is absolutely beloved by his human, an elderly gentleman on a fixed income who lives near me. Vasa came to live with his person just about 10 years ago, showing up within weeks of the gentleman’s wife passing away. He is convinced that Vasa was sent to him by his late wife, and he treasures this cat.

You might be able to tell from the picture that Vasa is a rather fat cat. I thought I’d gotten a full body photo, but I didn’t. if I had, you’d see that he is easily 30 lbs of cat! So it’s not surprising that at his last vet visit a little over a week ago, he was diagnosed with diabetes. With his person on a fixed income, there was no way for them to afford treatment. The gentleman’s daughter started looking on the internet to see if there was any way to get some help. It was then that she discovered Diabetic Cats in Need.

Jenna Watts, DCIN’s Executive Director, reached out to me and asked if I was located anywhere close to the gentleman and Vasa. Turns out I live about three miles from them. So today, thanks to donations that support DCIN, I was able to bring diabetic appropriate food, a glucometer, test strips and lancets, a new vial of Lantus insulin, and some diabetic appropriate cat treats. We went through a little more than an hour of training on how to test, and his diet will be being switched to low carb wet only food to try to naturally and safely get some of that weight off of him.

The training session went well. The gentleman adores this cat. Ironically, he also feeds a bunch of cats in his backyard who are all feral and none are fixed. I reached out to another local group I work with to begin TNR on those cats.

This is one of the critical mission areas DCIN serves. Without their assistance, this gentleman would not be able to begin treating his beloved cat. When I say that every penny of every donation directly benefits a cat, I mean it, and this is the proof.If you haven’t already and you have some money to spare, you can make a tax-deductible donation here. Every single penny counts. If you can’t donate, then please share so that more diabetic cats can be helped. ~Rena