Winn Feline Foundation News

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Winnie
Meow...

"Winnie come look at this! It's about you and your friends!"

Typically, I can't be bothered when my human gets excited and says something about what she sees on the lighted screen below my favorite resting place. But when it's about me, I at least feign interest and either open my eyes or raise my head. I might even twitch or swish my tail.

"It's a new weekly feature from your namesake, the Winn Feline Foundation, about how Winn funded research benefits every cat every day."

Are you sure I was named after them? Winnie Feline Foundation sounds better to me, as does Winnie Wins Wednesday. People have little sense of true cat style.
 
Memo to cat owners:

Sign up for Winn's new weekly feature, Winn Wins Wednesdays, and learn more about how Winn donors made it possible to fund cutting edge feline medical advances.  
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Quote of the Month

Perhaps it is because cats do not live by human patterns, do not fit themselves into prescribed behavior, that they are so united to creative people.

-Andre Norton
American Writer
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Every Cat, Every Day Benefits from Winn -Funded Research ~ July, 2017
Wow! News from the 2017 Symposium

The headliner, Dr. Niels Pedersen, did not disappoint the over 110 person audience at the 2017 Winn Symposium in Chicago. #Ending FIP is the goal and we are moving closer to making this happen.
Dr. Niels Pedersen

Dr. Pedersen has been researching FIP since 1964 and Winn Feline Foundation has been supporting his work for almost as long. For the first time, he was able to give us a glimmer of hope that there may one day be a successful treatment for this disease, in the form of novel new drugs showing efficacy in early studies. A summary of the presentation is located here and an audio podcast is available thru Winn's podcast webpage. Transcripts of the talk will be available in the future thru support by VIN (Veterinary Information Network).

Dr. Pedersen and the Symposium audience
In addition, Chicago based radio personality and Winn board member Steve Dale served as the MC for this year's Symposium, which had a record number of attendees. The program began with an expression of appreciation for Dr. Glenn Olah, Winn's outgoing President, and the introduction of Winn's new President, Dr. Shila Nordone. Susan Gingrich, founder of Winn's Bria Fund for FIP Research, introduced some of the families currently enrolled in Dr. Pedersen's FIP research projects. Included were Peter Cohen and Hiroyuki Furumoto (Smokey's family), Walt Morris and Scott Mathis (Flora's family), and Deb and Jamie Roberts (Luna's family). Luna herself even made a brief appearance before the program started, which delighted her fans.
Cures4Cats ~ 
50 Years of  Supporting Feline Research


Celebrating 50 years of accomplishments and launching our Cures4Cats Campaign.

Winn Feline Foundation's upcoming 50th Anniversary was announced at the CFA Annual by Past President Dr. Glenn Olah while Executive Director, Dr. Vicki Thayer, described Winn's Cures4CatsDay campaign launch. 

October 21st will be initial the Cures4CatsDay, held at the American Association of Feline Practitioners annual conference in Denver. Merck Animal Health is sponsoring a presentation by Dr. Margie Scherk highlighting 50 years of advancements in feline medicine.

Winn has also initiated a weekly Winn Wins Wednesday e-bytes series that recognizes how "Every cat, every day benefits from Winn-funded research". Please encourage your friends and fellow cat lovers to sign up for our weekly Wins at info@winnfelinefoundation.org.

Visit our Cures4Cats webpage and s tay tuned for exciting celebratory events throughout the year. 

Amyloidosis Studies Update

Familial amyloidosis has been a longtime concern in Siamese, Oriental Shorthair and related breeds, leading to death due to liver failure and possible acute hemorrhage due to trauma to a fragile liver

In addition, there is another form of amyloidosis affecting Abyssinian and Somali cats, causing early death, usually from kidney failure in the 5-6 years of age range. Differences in the expressivity of the disease (age of onset, number and type of affected organs) have been recorded, suggesting the genetic background of the cat may affect the clinical presentation. 

Winn has supported two research projects (MTW15-017, W16-028) on amyloidosis in the different breed groups through the University of Missouri and the University of Milan. Dr. Leslie Lyons and Dr. Maria Longeri are sharing samples and information from affected cases. 

T hree gene variants have been identified with a correlation to this disease as noted in the final progress report from the Abyssinian/Somali study. Analysis of the relationship between these genetic variants and different presentations of the disease is ongoing. 

The researchers need additional samples to analyze. Information on how breeders and veterinary professionals can help these research studies regarding what samples to send and where to ship is found here.


IBD in cats and the litter box

Accidents happen, and cats with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) don't always reliably urinate and/or defecate in the litter box.

Proactive medical treatment of IBD is critical to ensuring that affected cats eliminate where we want them to, but we also need to ensure a perfect bathroom environment for the cat.  

What does that mean? 


Cat with research papers
More ways to help if your cat has IBD

Winn knows of a dedicated group of cat lovers concerned about IBD (inflammatory bowel disease) that is working to support research on this disorder. 

Visit the IBDKitties.net store to help their efforts and therefore Winn's mission too. 

The website and Facebook page offers considerable information on this serious health problem in cats.



Important Planned Giving Tip for July

Many Americans take the standard deduction while others itemize their deductions.  If you aren't sure which is better for you don't wait until after the end of your tax year.  If it is a close call there are steps you can take now to help push you over the line.  

Since you take tax deductions in the year paid, you might want to make your charitable contributions for next year sooner, before this year ends.  That would double up your charitable deduction total into one year.  If you donate stock which has appreciated over the years you can get a double tax benefit.  You can get an itemized deduction based on the current fair market value of the stock while avoiding the capital gains taxes that would have been due on sale.  

Certain other deductions can be shifted into this year as well or some income deferred into the next.  For some taxpayers it may be advantageous to itemize deductions in one year and take the standard deduction in others.  By planning ahead you may have a lower combined tax burden over two years. 

For any questions, please contact info@winnfelinefoundation.org

Honored Donors for June 2017

A special Thank You 
to all of Winn's generous donors 


Holly Aglialoro Carole Behrmann Lydia Bohm
Patrick Bowers Joann Brubacher Cat Hospital of Tucson
Cat Sense Feline Hospital and Boarding, Inc. Stephen Corrsin Maryanne Cortese
DCMH-CICU Nurses De Meal Zawacki Mingione & Co., LLC Nancy Dessen
Benjamin Elbirt Gene/Liz Gentino Dr. Edward Gilsleider
Lena Gubarev A. James Larry Johnson
Thomas McHugh Norwin Veterinary Hospital Dr. John O'Neill
Robert/Dr. Vicki Thayer Casey/Nancy Pearson Rosalinda Magalona
Dr. Arnold Plotnick Hobson Pratt Karen Robertson
Dr. Sheldon Rubin Robina Santaniello MaryAnne Schafer
Lorraine Shelton Dr. Wendy Simpson Dr. Raj Singh
Carol Stevenson Dr. Daniel Watson Julie Strother
Dr. Larissa Taylor Betty White Dr. Virginia Wight
Ranger Yen Dr. Ann Brownlee KC Cat Clinic
Dr. Renee Rucinsky


Thank You!

On the Calendar 
Thank you for your continued support.

Winn Feline Foundation Board of Directors

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Phone: 201.275.0624, ext 701

637 Wyckoff Ave., Suite 336
Wyckoff, NJ 07481