Five hundred is a goodly number of cats to fix in the space of two months. When you take into consideration the average number of kittens that can be birthed by a single female (five), the number of litters she can birth by Bastet knows how many papa cats in each litter (again, five), and the age range in which she can give birth (4 months old to however long she lives—female cats don’t go into menopaws), 500 is even more impressive when you think about the number of unwanted cats who won’t be populating the neighborhoods, parks, jetties, junkyards and anyplace a cat can be born, which is anyplace.

Since opening its new brick-and-mortar clinic in February, Fix Long Beach has spayed and neutered at least 500 cats, not just for their human housemates wanting to take advantage of the comparatively lower costs of procedures and vaccinations but for rescuers and TNR (trap/neuter [and spay]/release) efforts as well.

“We had a lot of cat-heavy days here in April,” said Fix Long Beach’s president, Diana Kliche. “We heard from some indie trappers, and I also saw a lot of people on our Facebook page saying that they had this neighborhood cat hanging around and they realized they could bring it to us. We probably had at least 100 people contact us through the community with that same sentiment.”

Kliche said that both individual pet owners and rescue groups can get same-week appointments if the clinic isn’t fully booked. If people are able to trap cats, they are also usually able to accommodate them during the week of capture—the rescuers only need to make sure that the cats haven’t eaten anything or drunk water the night before the procedure.

“Our vets have been so wonderful and are understanding about what it takes to get a cat into a clinic. They can be flexible if they get, say, an extra cat in the trap,” Kliche said.

The clinic will also give discounts to individual trappers. Marla Marinelli is a solo rescuer who cruises the hinterlands and neighborhood alleys, trusty trap in tow, to capture cats and do what’s good for them, even though the cats might initially disagree. Marinelli schlepped about 20 of them to Fix Long Beach since kitten season reared its countless, pointy ears—in fact, hers was the first batch of rescues to go to the clinic.

“I’ve been referring Fix Long beach to everyone,” Marinelli said. “The lone rescuers have to use their own money, and when we find a vet that’s actually low cost, we’re able to use our funds for a lot more medical for the cats and expand their life expectancy.”

https://youtu.be/CAzalpuEoyQ

Kilo and Lima are two bonded brothers that Marla Marinelli rescued. Kennel walls are no barrier to their determination! Check out the tails.

Helen Sanders Cat Paws, Stray Cat Alliance, Long Beach Spay & Neuter Foundation and Zazzy Cats Kitty Rescue are among the nonprofits that have brought cats to Fix Long Beach. These and other rescues and rescuers who bring in large numbers of cats can set up a profile with Fix Long Beach and book an entire block of time, receiving a high-volume discount for the procedures. The rescues will utilize a volume-client portal that is assigned to them when they first book appointments and where they’ll enter names and vitals of trapped cats or kittens found on the street or pulled from the shelter. They can also enter identifying markings in case they bring in cats that are the same color, label which cats will let the staff know in no uncertain terms that they won’t tolerate being handled, and add which ones should get their left ear tipped, which identifies community cats returned to their neighborhoods as having been fixed. The spay/neuter and vaccination certificates will be available on the portal to the rescues when the procedures are completed.

Fix Long Beach is not, of course, kitten-season specific. Anyone making an appointment for their cat or dog can use vouchers from Long Beach Animal Care Services for a further discount. Sherri Stankewitz, another partner in the Fix Long Beach clinic, is planning a family-discount party for July, when many kittens born during the spring will be old enough for a fix, along with their momcats.

“We’re always thinking of creative ideas to promote our clinics,” Stankewitz said. “For me, it’s so nice to see people in the community helping out with cats. Some will come to us asking what to do, and we refer them to cat groups. It’s nice that they have a place to come by.”

Kliche and Stankewitz are working on an angel’s fund to help people who are homeless or in financial difficulty to spay or neuter and otherwise care for their cats and dogs.

“Hopefully now, with us as another resource, it’s a lot easier for the public to get their animals fixed,” Kliche said.

To make an appointment for your dog or cat at Fix Long Beach, access the appointment page on the website, or you can email them at [email protected]

Virtually Pets

Marla Marinelli has been a lone TNR rescuer for a long, long time, and she’s managed to give a lot of kitties promising lives and forever homes. Marinelli locates fosters for the cats she finds and gets them vaccinated, microchipped, and spayed or neutered. Everyone works together to socialize the cats. When Marinelli adopts a cat out, she asks for donations to cover costs, since all expenses for food and veterinary care come out of her pocket. All adoptive homes are scoped out, and she and her team partner, Ladan Davia, make follow-up visits.

Without an organized rescue, Marinelli and Davia have to make the extra effort to network the cats through their Instagram page, social media, columns like this one and word of meowth. If you want to adopt any of these adorables or the ones on the Instagram page, email [email protected] or [email protected].

Big, light-orange cat lies on brown blanket in kennel, staring at camera with one eye open.
Bodie is a 2-year-old fully vetted tripod found living under a tree scared to death near the 91 Freeway. His owner had disappeared, and the rescuers were told he’d been dumped and got his leg caught in the wire fence. It took Marinelli two months to trap the big guy. Turns out that he’s very sweet and loves to make biscuits with his remaining legs. He loves other cats as well, and seems to prefer human men to women.

 

a kitten with a black mask, white cheeks and white body sits next to a pure-white kitten ona shelf.
You met Kilo, the tuxie, and Lima, the snowball, a little earlier. They’re 4-month-old bonded brothers. They were rescued along with their mom in North Long Beach. These boys are little adorable Maine coon mixes who love to play all day long with each other. For some reason, they were both born with stubby tails, but that makes them all the more adorable. They must be adopted as a pair.

 

slender black cat sits tall and looks upward. He sits on a white blanket in a large basket.
Mr. Pepper (he’s working on his doctorate) is approximately 1 year old. He came to Marinelli as an unaltered male. He’d been living in a dark garage his entire life, and his owners decided that he had to go. (“We find often that last year’s models tend to get tossed out once they start to become adults,” Marinelli said.) He loves to talk to you with a sweet little meow and rolls around for attention. He enjoys wand toys very much. He’s a little unsure about where he is now, and sudden movements startle him, but he’s very curious about his surroundings. He’s fully vetted and healthy and is looking for the forever home where he can feel safe and secure forever.

 

tabby-patch cat with pink nose, white mask and white neck and chest lies on a blue blanket.
River is so named because he was found scavenging around the LA riverbed in Long Beach. He’s an 8-month-old tabby patch. His unique markings end in his fluffy tail, which the rescuers think tags him as part Maine coon. River loves to cuddle, and he purrs up a storm. He’s a sweet little guy and so far loves everyone he sees. He thrives on attention and will reach out to touch you if you’re within his range.

 

Just fur fun and fur-ther education

Kitten-season rescue advocates makes local news!

KTLA-5 spotlights Helen Sanders CatPAWS and Long Beach Animal Care Services for their partnership in distributing free DIY Kitten Care Kits to people who find kittens and want to help them make it through initial tough times. This segment features shelter director Staycee Dains and CatPAWS cofounder Deborah Felin-Magaldi and a couple of scene stealers!

Help wanted, help given

Feline Good Social Club needs willing subjects for its bewhiskered nobility

Feline Good Social Club has opened and is running and knocking things off shelves. The cat curators would love some volunteers for their furry residents. Want to be part of a kowtowing staff to cats because everyone knows that cats expect it? Email [email protected].

Fix Long Beach low-cost pet-services clinics: Wednesday–Saturday, 8 a.m.–5 p.m., 1749 Magnolia Ave., Long Beach, services available by appointment at www.fixlongbeachpets.com.

Fix Long Beach has reopened and is taking appointments for low-cost spay/neuter, dental, vaccines and other vet needs for cats and dogs. Visit their webpage or Facebook page for details.

DIY Kitten Care Kits available free at Long Beach Animal Care Services

Kitten season has begun, and soon, shelters and rescues will be scrambling to save their lives, get them fixed, get them adopted. It isn’t unusual to find nests of young, seemingly abandoned kittens during kitten season. It is a natural reaction to want to help, to save them. If you are interested in obtaining a Kitten Care Kit made possible by Helen Sanders CatPAWS, please email [email protected].

Spay/neuter vouchers available at shelter

Long Beach Animal Care Services has spay/neuter vouchers available. They’ll take a healthy nip out of the cost of a procedure. Residents of any of the five cities served by the shelter can telephone the general number at 562-570–7387 to request a voucher.

 Spay/neuter appointments available at SNP/LA

The Spay/Neuter Project of Los Angeles (SNP/LA) is back in business for free and low-cost spay/neuter services, and they’re extending the hours of their vaccination clinics. The San Pedro clinic, located at 957 N. Gaffey St., will give shots every third Thursday between 9 a.m. and 8 p.m. Call 310-574–5555 to see if you qualify for services.

If you can see the bottom of the kibble bag

Pets of the Homeless’s home page gives a self-description as the only organization focusing only on providing food and care for pets belonging to homeless people. Businesses and other organizations across the country receive in-kind donations of food and other needs that the dogs and cats’ human families can pick up at outreach locations. The following businesses will accept your donations:

Trendi Pawz, 3726 E. Seventh St., Long Beach.

Belmont Heights Animal Hospital, 255 Redondo Ave., Long Beach.

Paw Shoppe Pet Center, Inc., 6416 E. Spring St., Long Beach.

Food and supplies are available at Beacon for Him Ministries, 1535 Gundry Ave. Long Beach, Mondays from 9 a.m. to noon and Saturdays from noon to 3 p.m.; and at Christian Outreach in Action, 515 E. Third St., Long Beach, Thursday from 9 to 11 a.m. Donations will be gratefully accepted at these locations as well.

Adopt, adopt, adopt

White cat with tabby-patch ears and back stares upward, sitting in bowling-pin position in a glassed-in kennel with store products in background
Chompers, whom the rescuers renamed Shompei for ease of pronunciation, is chilling at the Cat Adoption Center at the Long Beach Pet Food Express. Shompei is 10 years old and has no teeth but her fangs because of a horrible case of stomatitis that went untreated for heaven knows how long. Nonetheless, she’s playful as a kitten and loves to cuddle. She needs to be in a home with no other animals and no small children, but she thrives on having her chops rubbed. Can you give her the life she deserves?

 

Pet Food Express Cat Adoption Center: weekdays and Saturday 10 a.m.–8 p.m., and Sunday 10 a.m.–7 p.m., Pet Food Express, 4220 Long Beach Blvd., Long Beach, adoption fees apply.

This adoption center is a much-needed satellite operation of Long Beach Animal Care Services. Julie and her team pull adoptable cats—”adoptable,” to these guys, means any cat in a shelter kennel! The team socializes the kitties until they’re adopted, which takes less time than you could imagine!

 Helen Sanders CatPAWS adoption center: viewable daily during store hours, PetSmart, 12341 Seal Beach Blvd., Seal Beach, adoption fees apply.

Window-shopping’s a neat pastime and likely has become more common during the pandemic. Helen Sanders CatPAWS has applied window-shopping to cat adoption; you can peer at several of the fine felines through the windows of the PetSmart adoption center in Seal Beach. Sadly, no ear scratching or chin rubs at this time, but volunteers can answer questions and provide you with adoption information! Be sure to wear a mask. You can find adoption applications and all the kitties here.

Links to loveables

The following pet-related businesses regularly feature cat, dog and rabbit adoptions, but as of now, adoptions are mainly by appointment. Click on the links for each rescue in case of updates or changes. These organizations operate through donations and grants, and anything you can give would be welcome. Please suggest any Long Beach-area rescues to add to the list.