General Discussions

**ForrestCroce** · 01-11-2008, 12:26 PM

I found a lost cat hiking through a neighborhood park. It seemed frightened and confused, so I coaxed it away from the road, and it started following me. So I took it in, then to the vet the next day; they read the micro chip, and the cat has been abandoned.

He's back at the vet clinic, and I'm already $500 more in debt than when I woke up this morning. That's just for what we'd call diagnostics in IT; mostly centered around his eye, but a few other things, too. Once they figure out how to treat him, if they can, I'm worried what I owe is going to skyrocket.

I just put every penny I have saved into a car. Even if the bill doesn't grow much, I'll probably have to sell my favorite lens to pay the vet off. We have some expert ecommerce people in here ... I need advice figuring out how I can raise some money quickly. Naturally I'm going to send out an email blast at work. I'm going to write a blog entry with the kitty's picture and *******ize my site for the rescue fund.

Sorry to whine about money. This fell in my lap, and I frankly don't know what to do. The only thing I know is someone weaker than me needs my help.

The micro chip says his name is Michael:

**ECSuite_Russell** · 01-11-2008, 12:42 PM

Wow.. if not for the bad eye He'd look exactly like the tomcat that patrols my apartment complex.

If you're looking to accept donations online I think you'd probably want to start with a paypal account?

**ADAM Web Design** · 01-11-2008, 12:55 PM

I'm with Russell on this one. Start with a PayPal account to take donations. Once you're done with the blog post, let us know and I'm sure at least some of us will pitch in. I know I'll give you a hand. No animal needs to suffer like that.

Get the PayPal account set up, throw up a blog post, and leave the rest to us.

**LadynRed** · 01-11-2008, 01:03 PM

AWWw... poor kitty and he's so pretty ! I really hate it when people abandon their pets, SOMEONE went to the trouble and expense of chipping this cat, so why just dump the poor thing ?? Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr...

I know how costly it can be to take in a cat that needs medical attention.. been there.. done that... I'll definitely chip in what I can.

How old is he ?
Do they have any idea what's going on with his eye .. or is it something deeper ?

You might also try putting his photo on PetFinders.. maybe, just maybe, the owners didn't dump him and might want him back.

**Learning Newbie** · 01-11-2008, 03:44 PM

So what do they call a humanitarian that helps animals instead of people?

You did a good thing, bro. Like others are saying, Step 1 is that PayPal account. We'll help with Step 2.

**serandfae** · 01-11-2008, 04:00 PM

He may have been through a shelter already; most shelters have started putting chips in animals when they are adopted out. He has a cataract in one eye, but the other looks completely healthy. That's very unusual, could have been caused by abuse, a cat fight, chemical exposure, the list goes on, but the causes were likely not natural. Good thing he found you.

**jamestl2** · 01-11-2008, 04:36 PM

Forrest, do you absolutely need the car right away? (I mean is it possible to withdraw some of the money you invested into it?)

Also, an idea for money........... You could always sell some of the photos you take, although to who, I don't know.

Good luck, and hope the cat feels well

**tripy** · 01-11-2008, 06:23 PM

Count me on too Forrest.
Set up the donation, and I'll help.

**vangogh** · 01-11-2008, 07:23 PM

Forrest get the paypal account set up so you can take donations. There are also some plugins you can add to WP to help with donations. Buy me a beer is one, though many have changed it to buy me a cup of coffee. I think it connects to PayPal and then you can add it to your sidebar.

I'm pretty sure there are some other options out there too.

Write a post and let us know when it and the donation mechanism is set up. I'm sure we can help you raise some money for Michael.

Also let those of us with blogs know when your post is up so we can also blog about it and send some people your way.

**ForrestCroce** · 01-11-2008, 07:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jamestl2

Forrest, do you absolutely need the car right away? (I mean is it possible to withdraw some of the money you invested into it?)

Unfortunately, I took possession of the car about a month or two ago. I could probably find a job without a commute and then not need the car fairly quick, but it's far beyond the three days I had to change my mind.

Quote:

Originally Posted by vangogh

Forrest get the paypal account set up so you can take donations.

That seems to be the consensus. Do I really need one? I don't want a penny for myself ... I'm not sure if it would be possible for me to funnel the money directly to the vet ... if that's possible, it seems more transparent? But it also seems like most people prefer Pay Pal?

Am I better off posting an entry on my blog, starting a new one devoted to kitty rescue, maybe both...?

**vangogh** · 01-11-2008, 07:58 PM

The PayPal set up is going to make it easier for you to collect money. People won't send you checks, but they will transfer some money through PayPal or put it on their card. It's really going to make it easier for people to donate.

I think a post explaining what happened like you did here along with the pictures of Michael will let people know what this is all about. I wouldn't worry about people thinking you're trying to collect money for yourself. You should be able to customize the plugin so that it mentions why you're collecting the money.

I'd just post to your blog. Starting a new blog means promoting another blog. If you needed to raise a few thousand it might make more sense, but to raise a few hundred it will probably be easier to just post on your blog.

Let me know when you have a way to collect donations. I'll write a post on my blog and I imagine a few others here might do the same. If enough of us point people to you we should be able to pay the vet pretty soon.

I know there's another plugin I think that lets you set up what you're collecting funds for and runs a counter to show what your goal is and what the running total is. I can't remember what it's called though.

**serandfae** · 01-11-2008, 08:12 PM

Look at it this way, Forrest: The help you get for this cat may be the start of something for you. What if you then turned that account over to a local no-kill shelter, and did some work on their site to publicize it? I firmly believe that the good we do goes around much farther than we realize.

**fastreplies** · 07:38 PM

Forrest, PM me ASAP your PayPal account email address and will ask my management
to donate something and if they don't then, I will personally donate to your fund $10.00

fastreplies

**jamestl2** · 01-11-2008, 08:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vangogh

I know there's another plugin I think that lets you set up what you're collecting funds for and runs a counter to show what your goal is and what the running total is. I can't remember what it's called though.

Either one of these plugins should help:
http://arepaypal.ehibou.com/
http://www.ejump.co.uk/wordpress/eas...for-wordpress/

**LadynRed** · 01-11-2008, 08:47 PM

Quote:

What if you then turned that account over to a local no-kill shelter, and did some work on their site to publicize it?

GREAT IDEA Tim !

Forrest, when you get this set up on your blog as Steve suggests, I'll post a message in my other forum with a link to your blog and Michael's story, we have a lot of animal lovers over there

.

**KML9870** · 01-11-2008, 11:10 PM

Count me in...when you have the paypal account set up I'll donate & spread the word! No animal deserves to suffer and plus...he's named after my kid - I have to help

**CSS4Life** · 01-12-2008, 11:14 AM

I'll do what I can - whether a donation or a blog post linking to yours

Quite unfortunate that it happened right at this time (with the recent car purchase and all) but life's life.

I think everyone will pitch in to help with this. As someone else suggested, if the worst comes to the worst, you could always sell a couple of your photos (just one or 2) on a Stock Photo site to raise the rest, although I know you're not keen on this sort of thing (individualism and everything).

Dan

**Cheshire_cat** · 01-12-2008, 01:27 PM

I’m always willing to help out another cat.

I’ll do what I can, it might not be much but I’ll be glad to help. Just let me know when you get everything set up.

**DaveMo~** · 01-12-2008, 05:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ForrestCroce

That seems to be the consensus. Do I really need one? I don't want a penny for myself ... I'm not sure if it would be possible for me to funnel the money directly to the vet ... if that's possible, it seems more transparent? But it also seems like most people prefer Pay Pal?

Am I better off posting an entry on my blog, starting a new one devoted to kitty rescue, maybe both...?

Yes, get that PayPal account. Just thinking back, but if everyone that said they would help would pitch in $10, then you'd probably have a hundred bucks already. BTW, I'm in on that, too.

Starting a new site? ...read next quote...

Quote:

Originally Posted by serandfae

Look at it this way, Forrest: The help you get for this cat may be the start of something for you. What if you then turned that account over to a local no-kill shelter, and did some work on their site to publicize it? I firmly believe that the good we do goes around much farther than we realize.

I agree that that's a great idea. If local shelters could just work together across the U.S., then there's potentially a lot more that could be done for animals that people would love to invite into their extended families. When I read your initial post, I thought that a new site might be just the thing.

I'm wondering who does the monitoring for the chip? They should be able to tell who the owner is, or at least notify the owner of the location of the cat. Of the animals that I know with chips, the intent is so the owner can be found when the animal is found.

Dave

**serandfae** · 01-12-2008, 06:16 PM

The chips are passive, so they aren't "monitored" per se. That is, they can be scanned but not tracked. Vets, shelters and animal control have the readers that scan them. If I understand what Forrest said correctly, the owner identified on Michael's chip disavowed knowledge of him.