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Past Happenings
2026 Summer
YOU DON’T HAVE TO LOOK FAR DURING SUMMER 2026
TO HELP SAVE CAT LIVES.
Sterile Feral is providing our usual 2 neuter/spay
surgery nights in Bloomington plus our Chenoa
Veterinarian for the area northeast of town. More
residents than ever are doing Trap-Neuter-Return
on sizable cat colonies in Bloomington/Normal and
surrounding towns keeping Sterile Feral busy with
appointments. As medical care prices continue to
increase, the need for Sterile Feral assistance is
critical in providing life-saving veterinary care
that would not happen any other way. These are
a few of the cats saved so far in 2026.
2025 Fall
2025 SUCCESS FOR THE CATS
Early in 2025, Sterile Feral expanded neuter/spay
surgeries to 2 nights per week in Bloomington with
the ability to sterilize 40 cats per week, 160 cats
per month and 1920 per year in Bloomington alone.
Sterile Feral still has our participating veterinarian
in Chenoa for day appointments, which adds
many to our yearly total. These services are for
all cats—tame house or barn, feral city or feral
barn cats.
2025 Summer
Sizzling Summer News!
Sterile Feral is exceptionally busy this year with neuter/spay and veterinary care. We have expanded to 2 surgery nights per week in Bloomington plus our usual Chenoa Veterinary Clinic day hours for the northeast area. There is little to no waiting for neuter/spay surgery appointments so call 309.663.4406 or email sterileferalfoundation@gmail.com for details and scheduling. In addition, cat medical emergencies can get into our Bloomington vet immediately. These are a few cats your donation money has helped save in 2025 so far:
2024 Fall
The Suffering Can End
As we approach the end of our memorable 25th year, Sterile Feral Foundation is grateful for the wonderful support that has enabled us to help so many thousands of cats over the years. This is an enduring legacy for central Illinois and beyond, in that people sometimes drive long distances for our caring, professional and fair services needed for their cats. Residents have faced difficult financial circumstances in many areas of life and veterinary care and cat food are among these escalating with high prices. Sterile Feral is here to provide low-cost neuter/spay and medical care for all cats who need it—tame housecats, barn cats and feral cats. Over the years, we have evolved into a more inclusive group for all cats because the need is great and the goal is worthy. All unneutered and unspayed cats contribute to overpopulation crisis and to the overburdened shelter systems that grow fuller and more overwhelmed every year. All unspayed and unneutered cats are at greater risk for serious and fatal diseases like cancer and life-threatening injuries if allowed to roam outside. These same cats are at greater risk for abuse and abandonment when their caretakers and neighbors become angry and frustrated at behavior the cats cannot control, such as heat cycles, mating, endless kittens, spraying and fighting. No cat needs to suffer from any of this.
2024 Summer
More and More Cats Need Help Every Year
In addition to the approximate 1,200 neuter/spay surgeries Sterile Feral performs each year, these are just 3 of the many cats we have helped with medical care in 2024.
Without Sterile Feral assistance, these cats would have gone without life-saving care and the ability to stay in their own homes with people who love them. These were all expensive surgeries. To support this critical care along with neuter/spay, please send your summer donations today. Thank you!
2023 Fall
Greetings from the Board
Happy and safe feral cat colonies do exist. Much of this depends on their location and level of care. Many colony cats live well into their teens if all are sterilized so stability exists and neighbors are not complaining, and all cats have ample food, unfrozen water and quality shelters available. Happy colony cats look like the accompanying photos.
2023 Summer
Artie, Johnny, and Tom
Artie is a little guy with a big cast on his leg. He was part of a managed feral colony which means the cats have a caretaker who provides food, water, shelter and neuter/spay. Artie got a leg caught in an iron patio chair and needed to be extricated from this trap. His caretaker got him out of there, took him inside and realized he could not move a back leg. She called Sterile Feral for veterinary assistance and the exam revealed the entire leg was not damaged, just the lower foot area was fractured. Read more about Artie below, also Johnny and Tom.
2022 Fall/Winter
SAVING ONE CAT WILL NOT CHANGE THE WORLD...
But for that one cat, the world will change forever. This remark is often printed on plaques and mementos for cat lovers. For Sterile Feral, it is a life-changing mission and a reality. It is embodied in the approximate 1200 neuter/spay surgeries and the many veterinary assists that we provide in a year: including the kittens with upper respiratory illnesses, the countless bite wounds and abscesses, and the serious illnesses and injuries you will read about
in this issue--Meowzer, Moana and Joon. Read more in the link below!
2021 Fall/Winter
The Illinois veterinary industry has been in upheaval this year. Many veterinary clinics are short-staffed at the same time as large numbers of their own clients need their services, and as non-profit organizations such as Sterile Feral desperately need services to survive and do our jobs. In central Illinois, there are only a very few groups left providing low-cost neuter/spay for cats.
2019 Fall/Winter
Everyone who attended Sterile Feral's October 6 Fall dinner had a delicious meal and a good time celebrating our 20th anniversary in existence. But while we've been celebrating this occasion all year, Sterile Feral has been working hard, dealing
with one of the busiest and most expensive years ever.
2019 Spring/Summer
Sterile Feral board members, volunteers, and supporters have good reason to celebrate this year. In December 2019, Sterile Feral will be 20 years old! Not only did we manage to survive these years (and there were some lean ones), but Sterile Feral has grown in services and support to a level we can all be proud of.
2018 fall/winter
Greetings to all from Sterile Feral and Mason, our spokescat. Mason looked so happy while he enjoyed playing in the leaves during our short Fall season this year. During this holiday season, he and his person are especially grateful that Sterile Feral was here to help him have a happy, healthy life. For those who don't remember, Mason had twine embedded in his neck for almost a year, from kittenhood to young adulthood and which had to be surgically removed after his Sterile Feral person was able to catch him.
2018 Spring/summer
On March 9, 2018, Sterile Feral Foundation was honored to receive the Wishbone Canine Rescue Community Heroes award at their annual Wine and Wishes dinner and fund-raising event. Lynne Cisco accepted the award on behalf of Sterile Feral which was presented by Larry Apfelbaum of Wishbone and who is also a Sterile Feral supporter. A beautiful black and gray marbled plaque with gold lettering and cat figure states, "This award is given in recognition of unwavering commitment to the well being of feral and stray cats in central Illinois".
2017 fall/winter
2017 has been a busy year for Sterile Feral and neuter/spay, as each year has come to be. On October 16, National Feral Cat Day, a large group of cats was sent to our monthly APL day for neuter/spay. Several small colonies of 2 - 4 cats were also included, but one very large group of about 25 cats was trapped and sent from one location in a small town. There were so many cats that trapping continued after the initial cats were transported to APL and more were then taken to our local veterinarians and HSCI for neuter/spay before this effort was completed.
2017 Spring/summer
Sterile Feral Foundation provided neuter/spay for one of our largest groups ever during the winter of 2017. It is gratifying to hear from their person that the cats are now safe and happy at home in their colony; healthier and more content after neuter/spay. Sterile Feral is now at about 9000 sterilization surgeries for cats since 2006 and we are always happy to help with groups or individual cats that need assistance with neuter/spay.
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