So, what is FVAWL? It's the Fox Valley Animal Welfare League. They are an animal welfare group in the far western suburbs of Chicago. They aren't a shelter but they partner with them to help get animals out of animal control and kill shelters and into foster homes and no-kill shelters. They've been around since 1946 and this year are opening a low cost Spay/Neuter Clinic. When I was working with A.D.O.P.T. a lot of the cats whose photos I took were ones that came to them through FVAWL. Some of my foster cats also passed through their program, including (via her mom), my own little Arwen.

The clinic director, Rich Glessner, is the former director of A.D.O.P.T. He asked me if I'd be willing to help them out with their website as well as their Facebook and Twitter accounts. ​I was glad to help. ​

I'm very excited about this new direction FVAWL is taking. It's a much needed service and their goal is to try and prevent animals from ever getting into the shelter system. Only through an aggressive spay/neuter program can you effectively prevent the tens of thousands of births of unwanted dogs and cats that happens every day. While having no-kill shelters is great, the tragic fact is, far more animals are born every day than there are people who can take care of them.

FVAWL also wants to provide humane education to the community, teaching people the value of spay/neuter, prevention of animal cruelty as well as how to have a rewarding and loving relationship with their pets.

Rich put together this wonderful video to promote the opening of the new clinic:

The clinic will be offering spay/neuter surgeries at three different price points:

• For shelters and rescues
• For low income families
• For the general public

In addition, they will be holding wellness clinics every third Saturday with low cost vaccines available. And they won't just be treating dogs and cats. They have enlisted the help of a vet who specializes in exotic animals.

They are also going to be opening up a food pantry for pets later this year to help those struggling to afford food for their animals. Soon they plan on restarting their foster program and eventually, they want to open up a shelter.

It's a very ambitious set of goals and I'm very happy to be able to assist in achieving them. I encourage you to check out their website and to start following them on Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest.

So this is Hazel, my "foster failure" that I adopted recently. (A foster failure is a foster animal that the person fostering ends up adopting themselves.) I had named her after one of the characters from the play "Mourning Becomes Electra" because her mother's name is....Electra. Yeah, it's a theme. I don't mind using themes in the naming of cats. I just don't like to be obvious about it (like naming all the kittens in a litter after types of food or cars). However, when I named her, I didn't realize at the the time that she would eventually become a permanent member of the "fur family". Whenever I think of that name, I flash back to the old television sitcom called Hazel. The image of the frumpy housekeeper from the TV show just doesn't mesh with the image of the cute little fur ball that is now a Resident Cat.

The other Resident Cats have a theme to their names, too. They are all of a Celtic origin (Duncan, Galen and Caitlyn). My family roots are Irish, Welsh, Scottish and English so it seemed appropriate. I also prefer giving cats (and dogs) "human" names as they are every bit as much a member of the family as the humans in the household. So, I have compiled a list of names that I've been toying with. They are:

• Aderyn - pronounced: add + er + in; meaning: bird and suggests someone not held back by earthly restrictions or limitations
• Aela - pronounced: ale +a; meaning: ardour or rampart
• Ailsa - pronounced: ale + sa; meaning: From Ailsa Craig, a rocky islet in the Scottish Firth of Clyde)
• Ainslie - pronounced: ayns + lee; meaning: Hermitage in or at the clearing or wood
• Aneira - pronounced: an + ee + rah; meaning: honor or golden
• Arwen - pronounced: ar + wen; meaning: fair, fine
• Maeve - pronounced: mayv; meaning: intoxicating
• Rhiannon - pronounced: ree + an + un; meaning: nymph
• Rowen - pronounced: ro + wan; meaning: little red one
• Rowena - pronounced: ro + ween + ah; meaning: joy and fame
• Sian - pronounced: shan; meaning: God is gracious (Welsh form of Jane)
• Sinead - pronounced: shin + aid; meaning: God is gracious (Irish form of Janet)
• Vivian - pronounced: vih + vee + en;meaning: alive, living (Norman version of the Irish name Bébinn)

I set up a poll (which I have since deleted) so that family and friends could vote on a name. And the winner is....Arwen! Actually, it was tied with Vivian and Ainslie, both of which I also liked but somehow, Arwen just seemed to "fit" better.