Friends and fans of Caboodle,
 

Some of you have been with us for a very long time; many of you have visited the ranch, some have dropped cats off at the ranch and many have donated hours upon hours of time there. We have regular volunteers working at Caboodle Ranch every week. We have had visits from Animal control and the humane society and they are always pleased with the conditions they find. This is the first time we've experienced anything of this sort, and it's coming from someone who initially stated after arriving that she loved Caboodle Ranch. We're very shocked and saddened by this entire situation. 

 Caboodle cats aren't invincible! 

We receive cats of all kinds. Some are sick when they arrive, and everything is done to try to save them. Unfortunately, they don't always make it. It's heartbreaking, but cats do die. This is why we have a cemetery on the property.

Caboodle Ranch is located in the woods, so a cat might fall to a snakebite. Prior to the fence, we had problems with coyote. Craig lost a couple of his favorites to coyote attacks.

It has taken a while to put fencing around the entire length of 5 acres, but it was finally finished this weekend.

Please remember that almost all of these cats are feral, and were living 'in the wild' before ever arriving at Caboodle Ranch. It's unrealistic to think this is not a safer place for them to be. We do everything we possibly can for them. We give them shelter, food and lots of love.

There has never been another place like this, so we're continually learning and responding to situations as they occur. 

Cats get sick, just like people! 

We have our share of cats with colds, but this is normal when they're living outside. And like a child in daycare, when one catches a cold, it isn't long before another does. But they are all treated for this. The cats with more serious illnesses, such as Leukemia, are kept seperate from the others in their own large outdoor pens.

But this is one of the reasons we always ask that people not leave cats at the ranch without our knowledge. Yet so many of them are left anyway.

Litter Box pictures:

We have 600 cats at the ranch. If you have one, you know what they can do to litter. Especially overnight. These litter boxes are changed 4 times a day. If the volunteers aren't there early to help clean up, it is possible you will see a mess. Litter will be on the floor.

Fence picture:

Fence was completed this weekend.

Dead cat photo:

Again, we live in the woods. Unfortunately, cats will die from things such as snakebites.

Photo of old skinny cat:

He was an old skinny cat! And he was being treated by both Craig and Caboodle's vet.

Dirty floor photo:

Again, we have 600 cats. The floors are cleaned every single day. By the next morning, it always looks like it was never done.  

Cat skull photo:

This is a sensitive matter because this was one of Craig's original cats "Tommy 2" and he does not want to touch the remains. He explained to Nanette years ago when he first showed it to her that it was "sacred ground" to him.

Nanette, who most of you know, responded earlier out of love and defense for this place that she has been a volunteer with for over four years. It's hard not to be upset when reading some of the comments written. That being said, please forgive the name calling. She does realize it was unprofessional, but tempers were flaring all around.
She also deleted the rude comments she was seeing, and in doing so, somehow deleted everybody's comments... including our defenders and well wishers.

 Some of you may have just stumbled upon us yesterday, but Caboodle Ranch has been around for a long time now. It's been a wonderful positive experience- for cats and people alike. Our doors have always been open to visitors and volunteers, and those who doubt what an awesome and safe place this is, are more than welcome to come for a visit.

I'm truly sorry for the delay in writing. I was typing as fast as I'm able and trying to cover as many things as possible. If I've forgotten anything, I will be adding it here, so please check back if you have other questions and/or concerns.

Sincerely,

Cyndi

Updated:

In regards to the question about the sick bay, or infirmary; This is an old office trailer. It is a place that has a tendency to get dirtier than any other. Sick cats make the worst kind of messes... with diarrhea, vomiting, and even sneezing. There are a few sick cats in the infirmary that aren't in cages and create the usual messes of litter and shredding of papertowels and dumping of food. And because there's no grass at Caboodle Ranch, dirt is also tracked in continuously. This is the 'building' where Craig spends most of his time. He is always in there feeding and giving IVs.

I don't know when the photo was taken, but if I had to guess, most all the photos were taken in the morning before our volunteers arrived. The infirmary, like everywhere else is continually cleaned yet gets dirty so fast. We recently started a fundraiser for a new, bigger, better and brighter infirmary. We hope to get this soon.

 To help ease your mind a little more, I'd like to add that we are always visited by our local vet. And as recent as September 17th, animal control visited the ranch and found no enforceable violations.

There's always room for improvement and we're continually learning. But if our vets and animal control is satisfied, we know we're on the right path.

 Thank you guys again for being so supportive.