Dr. Laura Schlessinger (3:01)

which is not good when I'm going to be giving out the email address.

Tracy Schlessinger (3:06)

But hopefully you remember the song. Yes, yes.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (3:09)

Just sing it into your phone. That's it. Siri. Flight. So when did you start this? Since I've known you two, you've both been nuts about cats. But. And that's something you've always had in common. I mean, you two are really nuts about cat. I remember the three of us would be walking and two miles away, one of you would see a cat, and we had to walk the two miles to say hi to the cat. I remember all of this.

Tracy Schlessinger (3:36)

Yeah, we. You know, I've always had cats growing up, so I've always had a love for them. Derek, you know, he always had the dogs. But I think, you know, the nonprofit started last year after we had been fostering animals for. For about six years. We had cats and kittens that people would bring to us, knowing that we loved them so deeply. But last year is when we officially started the nonprofit because there was just such an overwhelming demand and seeing day in and day out, witnessing how easily stray cats are overlooked and cats are brought into shelters or euthanized, you know, not because they're unlovable, but because the system is overwhelmed. And there is just honestly such a problem in Los Angeles especially, but I think all over the country, but here, you know, we live in Santa Monica, so we wanted to make a real impact. So that's how the nonprofit started is wanting to do something to help these cats that we found out were being euthanized. And honestly, we had no idea. I always thought that LA was no kill, because that's a tagline that we often hear is no kill la. But that is not true at all. There's a couple shelters in LA where cats and dogs were being euthanized daily. And that just made me sick to my stomach because they would get killed for something as simple as a cold. And honestly, it makes me a little sad just talking about it. I'm getting a little broken up because I just love them so much and they don't deserve it.

LinkedIn Hiring Pro Announcer (5:15)

The new LinkedIn hiring pro can't clone you, but it can streamline your hiring workflow. From posting jobs to shortlisting candidates to interviewing, LinkedIn Hiring Pro is the hiring partner you need so you can focus on connecting with the right talent. In fact, small businesses report saving over six hours per week. So hire right the first time with LinkedIn Hiring Pro. Post a free job today at LinkedIn.com Pandora

Home Depot Announcer (5:45)

Spring starts at the Home Depot, and we are bringing the heat to your backyard this season. Fire up the flavor with our wide variety of grills for under $300. Like the next grill 4 burner gas grill that's perfect for hosting your spring cookout. Then set the scene and turn your outdoor space into the go to spot with patio sets for every budget. Bring it this season with grills that deliver flavor and patios that set the vibe from the Home Depot. Start your spring with low prices guaranteed at the Home Depot. Exclusion supplies. See homedepot.com pricematch for details.

LabCorp Announcer (6:15)

Before you set health goals for the year, you need to set a baseline. With LabCorp On Demand's suite of science Back health tests, you'll get a more complete picture of your health. Whether you want insights about hormone health or nutrient levels, testing provides data that can help shape your wellness goals and track your progress over the course of the year. To get 15% off select tests, visit on demand.labcorp.com podcast use code podcast for 15% off go test yourself.

Walmart Pharmacy Announcer (6:46)

Look, if you've got prescriptions, the Walmart app is your place to manage them, transfer your scripts, refill them, and have them delivered straight to you. Migraines, managed allergies, alleviated dermatology, derma delivered Ding dong. Is that your pizza? Nope. Walmart Pharmacy delivery with a refill. Switch to Walmart and manage your prescriptions in the app. The Walmart you thought you knew is now new delivery not available for all prescriptions. Exclusions apply. Oh, could this vintage store be any cuter?

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (7:18)

Right? And the best part?

LinkedIn Hiring Pro Announcer (7:20)

They accept Discover.

Walmart Pharmacy Announcer (7:21)

Except Discover in a little place like this? I don't think so. Jennifer.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (7:25)

Oh yeah, huh? Discover is accepted where I like to shop. Come on, baby, get with the times.

Walmart Pharmacy Announcer (7:31)

Right. So we shouldn't get the parachute pants.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (7:34)

These are making a comeback, I think.

Discover/Geico Announcer (7:38)

Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide, based on the February 2025 Nielsen report.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (7:51)

As an example, the picture you showed me of the cat with one red eyeball. Something out of a Stephen King book. Tell me how you got to that cat. Now that would have been Euthanas. So how did you save it? Tell me.

Tracy Schlessinger (8:04)

Yes. Yeah. So that, that is our baby Jinx. He ended up being a foster fail. So that's the headline of the story is he was brought to us because the shelter was going to euthanize him. So actually one of the partners that worked with was able to pull him and we said we will absolutely foster this calf. And we had another kitten that came along with him that was also very sick, but because he had a severe upper respiratory infection, his is easily treatable though, so it just took some antibiotics. Some love Some care. And we had him, we took care of him. But, you know, Jinx is a black cat. And so that's another something else that happens is black cats often are the most neglected or brought into the shelters because people don't have this sentiment that black cats are bad luck or they don't.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (8:59)

Kidding me. Outside of Halloween, I can't believe it.

Tracy Schlessinger (9:04)

Well, on Halloween, actually, like, people like, okay, one thing that happens on Halloween is we don't adopt black cats out because there's actually really sick people out there that perform rituals with black cats. And yes, it's. It's sick. There's a lot of.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (9:19)

In the United States of America. Oh, yeah, well, we.

Tracy Schlessinger (9:22)

Yeah, yes.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (9:22)

Never mind that comment.

Tracy Schlessinger (9:24)

I'm serious.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (9:24)

Okay. Now.

Tracy Schlessinger (9:26)

Yes.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (9:26)

How does this foundation work? Because I ended up fostering a dog because you sent me a cute picture of a puppy and I said, I'll watch him until somebody wants him. Okay. Now, I'd shoot anybody who tried to take them away. But moving right along from that, I got the food and I got a leash and I got pads. I mean, I got a cage. So the foundation provides all of this when you rescue a cat?

Tracy Schlessinger (10:00)

Yes. Well, ours does. Yeah. Flu society does. So what we do, if you decide to foster a cat or adopt a cat, we provide you with, with everything that you need. So the supplies, which includes, you know, food, litter, litter box, a cute cat bed, you know, in the case of dogs, everything as well. Pads, you know, because he's a puppy and needs to be potty trained. But we want to take all the stress out of fostering. I think there's a lot of people don't know what it means to foster an animal. They think that it's going to be overwhelming or too costly. So we provide all of that as part of the nonprofit.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (10:40)

And the vet bill. And the vet bill.

Tracy Schlessinger (10:42)

And the vet bills. Yeah. Which are the most.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (10:45)

I mean, Bear came with his original shots. I was really blown out. That was. I thought that was particularly amazing. So I'd like people to call in and talk to you, Tracy. So people who have thought about fostering, but I don't know, I don't know, is it exactly expensive? What happens if.

Tracy Schlessinger (11:05)

Blah, blah, blah, blah.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (11:06)

So give us a call here at 1-800- talk to Tracy, 1-800. You can ask her what it's like to have me as a mother in law, but that's not relevant to the subject. 1-800-375-2872. Oh, I thought that story you told me was very funny. You Were at a meeting or something and a fellow said, oh, that's. I know the name Schlesinger. That's Dr. Laura. And you said, that's my mother in law. And he just got.

Tracy Schlessinger (11:38)

He thought I was kidding.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (11:39)

Yeah.

Tracy Schlessinger (11:42)

Yep. Yeah. He was like, well, whenever I see your last name, I think of Dr. Laura. I was like, yeah, that's my mother in law. He's like, oh. He just kind of looked at me for a minute and oh, my God, you're serious. I'm like, yeah, totally. It's true.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (11:59)

All right, folks, give us a call. Hurry up. I want her to give you any help you need in getting in the mode of either donating, because as I told you, they do all the vet bills and all the stuff you need to take care of a cat, and you're only fostering. I mean, I've never heard. I've never heard of another fostering foundation. Do that. Provide everything you need. How did you guys come to do that?

Tracy Schlessinger (12:27)

Yeah, you know, a lot of the agencies don't do that. There are some that do, but I really wanted to take any stress out of people wanting to open up their home to an animal. And I think the biggest issue for people is the supplies and, you know, just the medical expenses. But, you know, one thing that I do want to caveat is if people decide that they do want to eventually adopt, like, animals can be expensive to care for. So that's, I think, another consideration. But if you're just fostering and you're opening up your home and giving love, we provide everything. So I want to take the stress and the pressure off of people thinking that they have to figure that out on their own. And what we really want to do is provide that support, which we certainly do.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (13:17)

How many. What percentage, if you have this number of people who foster, fail at fostering because they end up adopting like me,

Tracy Schlessinger (13:28)

you know, I would say about 50%.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (13:31)

Oh, well, that's nice. And how. How is the work done to find a final, you know, a forever home? How is that done?

Tracy Schlessinger (13:41)

So we have adoption events that really, we get the most animals adopted at adoption events. So I've actually, I've. I'm really lucky to be working where I work at, at Activision Blizzard because they are all animal lovers. So I've been able to have a couple adoption events on campus where people can meet the cats live, and then I have everything with me at the events. The carrier, the litter boxes, everything. So if they decide to adopt a cat, that all goes home with them right when they get to leave for work. So that's one way that we have been able. Yes. Yeah, we've actually. There's a lot of people that I work with, my co workers that have adopted cats from us, which is great because then I get to keep tabs on them. But otherwise, you know, we rely heavily on word of mouth or social media. We have, you know, an adoption process, an interview that you have to go through to make sure that your home is set up and you're ready to take on the commitment of an animal. Because cats live, you know, for up to 20 years. So it's a long time to be able to have something and to care for it and to give it love. So we want to make sure that people are set up for that.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (14:54)

Well, quite frankly, cats are really easy as opposed to a dog. I mean, dogs don't do litter boxes.

Tracy Schlessinger (15:03)

Absolutely. Well, yeah. That's how we ended up with. We have five at our house right now.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (15:09)

I know.

Tracy Schlessinger (15:09)

I saw it's a lot.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (15:11)

Every corner, there was another cat cuddled up. Well, Mochi still remembers me. Mochi still remembers you?

Tracy Schlessinger (15:20)

He loves you.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (15:22)

He wanted to chew on the back of my neck. He's so cute. And he got pretty sick. And you nursed him back to health. Yeah, Always taking care of me. I like it. All right. Now, on the uglier side, have you ever had to remove cats after you had somebody foster or adopt them? And how do you know what's going on with the cats? And what kinds of things do you have to do to rescue the cats?

Tracy Schlessinger (15:47)

Oh, gosh. Yeah. So recently, just in the past couple of weeks, we actually had a foster. And this was, you know, we didn't know exactly what was going on. So we have since put a lot of different protocols in place to make sure that this isn't happening going forward. But we had somebody that was, you know, kind of hoarding cats. So she had five foster cats in addition to her own animals at her house, and she was keeping them in a room. The room didn't have any sort of softness for the cats to lay on. It was dirty. It was gross.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (16:24)

So how are you informed of that? How did you know what was. How do you find out?

Tracy Schlessinger (16:32)

So I had somebody go over there to check on the cats, and they are the ones that informed me that, you know, this situation is not good. So immediately, you know, we jumped into action to get the cats out of there. They were able to take video, so I was able to see live that this is not a situation that these cats should be in, you know, and instances like that, it gets really tough because, like, animal control or the police, they're not going to do anything with that. They're. They're busy with a million other things. So Derek and I had to kind of handle it on our own and go over there personally to get all of the animals out of this place. And unfortunately, they were all, like, really unsocialized and feral, and it was just a really bad situation. But they're with us now. They're healing, and I think they're going to be great working cats at a winery in Santa Barbara, which is totally fine. Another outcome of saving cats. That can happen.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (17:33)

So they run around the huge winery and take care of small rodents. Is that the issue?

Tracy Schlessinger (17:39)

Exactly. Yes. Yep. They are able to catch mice and rodents and be free on the winery. And at night, then they come back into the house where they are offered a safe place to be at night, because, of course, we don't want them to get eaten by coyotes or anything else. But no, it's a really great option for cats that do not like people.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (18:13)

I'm trying to work on fostering an adoption. Don't throw that in again. That's so funny. Yeah. But even cats who don't like people seem to like the two of you. How does that work out?

Tracy Schlessinger (18:33)

You know, a lot of patience. Honestly, I think a lot of cats have been in bad situations, and they just need some time to decompress and learn to trust humans. So we've had cats, you know, we've had one foster that's been with us for six months, and it took her a good two to three months to come out of her shell and realize that when I approached her, I wasn't going to. You know, I don't know what happened to her before, but she would flinch and she would run away. But now, you know, after six months, she will come up to me and get love and rub up against me, and she sleeps on me. But it's taken a really long time. So I think we, you know, we know that. And we treat each cat with love and patience and lots of treats. And that's, you know, all of that works, but each cut is different.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (19:25)

So tell me in terms of making donations, because you guys take care of all the expenses. So to help a person foster, where do people contact you? How do we do this?

Tracy Schlessinger (19:39)

Yeah, so we have. We have a website, which is fleussociety.com. so there you're gonna have.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (19:48)

Spell that, sweetheart. You're gonna have to spell that.

Tracy Schlessinger (19:52)

Well, I'll sing it. F L o e f society.com f

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (19:58)

l o E F I did promise I'd sing it with you and the same thing for the email. It is in the email.

Tracy Schlessinger (20:08)

Yeah, yeah.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (20:10)

@fluffsociety.com F L O E F D F L O E F I got it. O E F L O E F. All right. As a matter of fact, I'm wearing the flip foundation T shirt right now and you told me.

Tracy Schlessinger (20:23)

Yes.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (20:25)

You're the super artist. I thought you had done this, but. All right, all right.

Tracy Schlessinger (20:30)

Derek is very creative. Yeah, he came up.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (20:33)

Oh, yeah, he is.

Tracy Schlessinger (20:34)

He came up. Oh, he is. Yes, he is very creative. He loves drawing. So he came up with the logo. But yes. Yeah, we have. You know, feel free to email us or go on to our Instagram or website. There's lots of different ways that, that people can reach out to connect with us. Either to inquire about fostering or adopting or to do a donation. We love chatting with people and I think, you know, my co workers are probably sick of hearing me talk about the crisis in la, but I think the more people that are informed, the better.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (21:08)

Yes. And I want to thank you so much, Tracy, for coming on and talking about this. And I hope this conversation and Floefsociety.com resonates with enough people to get involved. They don't even have to like cats. They just have to have a good heart. By the way, for people who are wondering what the art is, it shows an adorable cat reaching up a paw towards a heart. I think that was so cute. All right, I'm wearing it. All right. It's 90 degrees here, so I'm also sweating in it. Anyway, Tracy, love you. Thanks so much for coming on.

Tracy Schlessinger (21:46)

Love you. Love you too. All right, thanks. Bye.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (21:50)

Bye, sweetie. All right. That's my daughter in law. Very sweet. I was down there visiting because as you know, my best friend of 30 years passed. I'm going to the funeral tomorrow. And I was down there visiting the family and my family. And when I got back, I had to get back into a car because nobody seems to like me driving at night. I don't know what the problem is other than I'm always terrified. That's probably the problem because people drive crazy and I don't know what to do half the time when it's dark. So I was in a. I was being driven and she made sure I was warm enough. It was so sweet. Yeah. Okay. If you're interested in talking to Tracy or Derek about this, you need to go on to infoffleflowsociety.com and if you're interested in donating, I hope you do. And if you're interested in fostering, I hope you do. And accidentally somebody sent him a picture picture of a few puppies that were rescued from behind Walmart in San Bernardino that were in a kill shelter and I ended up with bear. I went on the air with it and the other two siblings ended up in homes too. So I hope that bringing these things to your attention spark you to have a buddy and I must say, dog lover that I am, there are times I think cats are so much easier. Most of the time they want you to bug off. 1-800-375-2872 if you like this podcast, be sure to rate it on Apple Podcasts or your favorite place to listen to my podcast. Of course, I'd love if you gave me five stars. And be sure to share this podcast with a friend on Facebook or your preferred social media media platform.

Discover/Geico Announcer (23:48)

We've all been there. You hold on to a coupon, hoping to cash it in at the store, but then you forget about it and suddenly you've got a mountain of useless expired coupons.

LabCorp Announcer (23:57)

Do you think this one's still good?

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (23:58)

Free milk?

Discover/Geico Announcer (23:59)

Oh mate, that expired in 1993.

Dr. Laura Schlessinger (24:02)

Dang it.

Discover/Geico Announcer (24:03)

Fortunately, there are better ways to save money, like by switching to Geico. You could save about 900 on car insurance without ever touching a coupon.

LabCorp Announcer (24:11)

Ooh, how about this one? Half off floppy disks.

Discover/Geico Announcer (24:14)

Now you should try a bit of spring cleaning.

LabCorp Announcer (24:16)

It feels good to save big. It feels good to Geico.