Adopt a Dog Month at Lollypop Farm

October is adopt a dog month at Lollypop Farm. The goal is to find homes for 175 dogs! Each week different dogs will be selected as "Top Dogs". The Top Dogs will have a reduced adoption fee of $75. Anyone that adopts a dog in October will be entered in giveaways for dog beds, treats from a barkers dozen, and a photo session from images unveiled.

As always, each dog or puppy adoption includes:
• Spaying and neutering
• Vaccinations and deworming
• Heartworm test
• A certificate for a free health exam
• A 30-day gift of pet health insurance
• Microchipping
• Flea-control treatment
• Free behavior advice
• Discounted behavior and training classes

Why Adopt?

• Give an animal a second chance
• Saving an animal from being put to sleep and making room for another animal in the shelter
• You are not supporting puppymills or backyard breeders
• Save money $- Adopting is less expensive than purchasing an animal and providing the necessary vetting

More reasons why people have adopted from Lollypop Farm here.

Feline Frenzy Free Cats at Lollypop Farm

On July 7th Lollypop Farm the Humane Society of Greater Rochester hosted a free cat adoption day that broke records. Tomorrow August 11th they are doing it again. Due to an extreeme need for cats to get adopted they are having another free day. Currently there are 500 cats at the shelter. Cats will be free at all 4 of their locations.

Free adoption includes:

Spaying and neutering

Feline leukemia testing

Vaccinations and deworming

A certificate for a free health exam

A 30-day gift of pet health insurance

Microchipping 

Advantage flea-control treatment

Free behavior advicehttp://lollypop.org/orgmain.asp?storyType=3&storyid=819

Meow Monday

I like to give kisses and sit in your lap!

Napin with my buddy on our bed someone donated

Love my cat tower

Enjoying my kitty Kuranda bed

My favorite kitties again at Lollypop. I always spend a lot of time with them on Sunday afternoons. I imagine that they miss living in a home with a human of their own. They are all soo affectionate, I don't want them to loose that sweetness.

I'm happy to say that Lollypop Farm has amazing supporters that donate cat towers, scratching posts, beds, toys, and treats for all of the cats. All of these things make a huge difference in their happiness while they are at the shelter. You can view the full wish list here.

Riga Kitties - My Favs

These kitties are at Lollypop Farm. They are not available for adoption yet but they are some of my favorite cats at the shelter. They were taken from a hording situation in Riga NY and until the legal case is closed they are unavailable.

Shes blind

I love treats!



My baby boy! He is just the sweetest thing



Fixin' Ferals at Lollypop Farm

Kitten in the clinic

Today Lollypop Farm held one of their feral cat fixathons. Local groups that care for feral colonies trapped and brought in cats to be spayed and neutered. Some of the groups around Rochester that take care of feral cats are Habitat for Cats and The Colony Caregivers. Both groups brought in cats. Total about 40 feral cats were fixed today. That's a lot of kittens prevented! I volunteered this morning to help out in the clinic waking up the cats while they are coming out of anaesthesia.

Waking up after surgery

Priceless Purrs Adopt-a-thon at Lollypop Farm

Kitten season is upon us in full force this year. In the summer the number of cats admitted to Lollypop Farm doubles. Unfortunately there are not enough homes for all of the cats out there. Lollypop Farm is doing their part by caring for over 400 cats right now! That's a huge number of cats and just cats. They are also caring for horses, donkeys, cows, pigs, sheep, goats, chickens, dogs, birds, and bunnies.

On Thursday July 7th Lollypop Farm is waiving all adoption fees on cats and kittens for the day to encourage people to come adopt a new friend. Every animal that is adopted helps two animals in need. The first animal gets a home and the second gets a spot at the shelter and a shot at a loving home. This priceless deal includes spaying or neutering, feline leukemia testing, vaccinations and parasite treatment, microchipping, flea control treatment, a certificate for a free health exam, and a 30-day gift of pet health insurance. The spaying or neutering alone is a tremendous value.

I hope by the time I go in Sunday there are a lot less cats waiting for homes. For more information on this event check out Lollypop's event calendar: http://lollypop.org/orgmain.asp?storyType=3&storyid=817

Feral Cat Fixathon

Female kitty just spayed

Saturday I spent the morning volunteering at Lollypop Farm for the feral cat fixathon. The fixathons happen a few times a year where small rescue groups and individuals can bring in feral cats to be spayed and neutered for a small fee. These people trap, neuter, and release (TNR) the cats back to their colony. This was my first time volunteering at one of the fixathons and it was a very fun day. The fantastic vets and vet techs were able to fix 43 cats Saturday morning!

My volunteer job was to help take care of the cats as they are coming out of anesthesia. The females have tubes in their mouths that must be removed once they start coming around. The males don't have the tubes because their surgery is must faster so they are put under less anesthesia. While one of the cats was under I was able to shave off his mats. Being a feral cat he doesn't have anyone to brush his long hair and it was extremely matted. I hope he was more comfortable when he woke up.

Shaved long hair cat

Feral cats are wild and are not candidates for adoption. People trap them and get them fixed as an effort to control over population. Cats reproduce very quickly. When a feral cat is fixed the point of its ear is cut off. This signals to others that this cat is already fixed and their is no need to go through the trouble of trapping and vetting this particular cat.

Peanut Graduates Really Reliable Recall Class

Last night Peanut graduated from Really Reliable Recall class at Lollypop Farm! This class was a great opportunity for us to practice and strengthen her recall. This is something I will always need to keep working on with her but the class gave us some great ideas. Last night Peanuts challenge was to come to me when called across a room filled with yummy treats and fun toys. To my surprise she came each time with out stopping for a snack! She even came to me right away while someone was shaking a food bowl full of treats. Now maybe if there was a squirrel in the room as a distraction it would have been a different story.

Really Reliable Recall

Peanut started Really Reliable Recall class Tuesday at Lollypop Farm. I wanted to enroll her in this class for her own safety. Peanut loves to run and shes very fast. She has slipped away from me a few times outside and every time she does I am so afraid she is going to get hit by a car. Our first class went well, we practiced outside which is great since it offers lots of distractions for her. We practiced coming in a fenced in area and on a 40 ft. lead. I made sure I had some great treats with me but still sometimes she would rather see what everyone else is doing than come to me. The instructor told us that the key to getting them to come when called is you have to be more fun than what ever they are currently doing. They called this "Having a Party" So I have to be more fun than a squirrel!? That's going to be a challenge. Our homework for the first class is to write down all of the toys and activities our dogs like so that they can be used as distractions in upcoming classes.

Peanut sniffing a donkey after class!

Lollypop Farm Greece Location

In case anyone hasn't heard the Lollypop Farm adoption center in Greece Ridge Mall will be temporarily closed until January 31st. They are moving their adoption location to a larger area near Rochester Athletic Club. There are cats, small animals, and birds available for adoption at this location. The hours are Monday and Tuesday 5pm - 9pm, Wednesday and Thursday 4pm - 9pm, Friday and Saturday 10am - 9pm, and Sunday 11am - 6pm.

Please consider adopting when searching for a new pet. Lollypop Farm has tons of wonderful pets available for adoption and the selection is always changing. If you do not find your perfect pet the first time be patient and see if other local rescues might have what your looking for. Rochester has several independent small rescue groups.

Walking at Lollypop Farm

Yesterday Peanut and Bailey went for a nice long walk around Lollypop Farm. I love to take the dogs there because the farm walk gives them lots of exciting sites and smells. There is also a great dog walking trail across the street. Since we had such warm weather yesterday I thought I would take advantage of that to give the dogs some extra exercise. Peanut need a nice long walk outside to get rid of all of her energy. By the time we headed home the dogs were muddy but happy and thats all that matters.

This is the duck pond at Lollypop, Peanut just LOVES birds. She had so much fun looking at all of the birds.

Blankets for Shelter Dogs & Cats

Do you have any old blankets or towls at home that you don't want or need? Bring them to an animal shelter! I volunteer at Lollypop Farm and I love making sure all of the kittys have a comfortable blanket to snuggle on. Rochester Animal Services could also use donations of blankets. Shelters always need blankets because they don't last forever. They need to be thrown away from time to time after an animal gets sick on them.

If you having knitting skills you could knit blankets for the shelter. In the catroom at Lollypop Farm we have a few loyal donors that bring in knitted small blankets for the cats. This small gift makes the cats stay in the shelter much more enjoyable.

During the summer I like to shop for blankets and bath towls at garage sales. They are useually super cheap and they make such a difference to the animals.