DEAR SUN SPOTS: I have a crippled kitty that may need a foster mommy for a few weeks. I am told that I need heart surgery and have no one able to tend this kitty, who is leash broke, doesn’t eat well (very fussy) and needs TLC.

I called the Humane Society shelter, and they can’t help unless I surrender the kitty, which I don’t want to do. I can’t afford board bills.

Is there someone out there who would call me and I could tell them more about him? I would prefer the Auburn-Poland area.

This kitty is a lover. He has probably used seven of his nine lives. He had a broken pelvis and drags a leg.

He was going to be destroyed, and I saved his life. — No Name, No Town, 212-5445

ANSWER: Sun Spots hopes someone offers to help you out and wishes you well in your upcoming surgery.

DEAR SUN SPOTS: For Faithful Reader (March 14) who was looking for help in feeding pets, the Greater Androscoggin Humane Society is here to help. The shelter usually has pet food in the entryway that people can choose from. If there isn’t any in the entryway, they just need to ask at the front desk to speak to the manager on duty. We do not want people to have to give up their pets because they cannot afford to feed them.

The shelter also has assistance for people who need help in having their cats/kittens neutered or anyone who has a pit bull or a pit bull mix. Until the end of April we have sponsors who will be paying the $10 co-pay, so all these programs are FREE to people who live in our service area.

For more information you can visit the shelter’s website, SavingPetsInMaine.org, and click on the “Financial Assistance” link. — Steven Dostie, executive director, Greater Androscoggin Humane Society, Lewiston, steven@gahumane.org

ANSWER: The GAHS is to be congratulated on the excellent job it has been doing in reducing the homeless pet population and in caring for so many cats, dogs and other pets.

DEAR SUN SPOTS: A news item on March 18, Page B5, told of an exercise program that used a “hand-cooling device’ that resulted in greater weight and inches lost than doing the same exercises without them. I can’t find anyone who has even heard of hand-cooling devices. Can you find out what these devices are? Thank you. — Curious via email

ANSWER: Curious is referring to a story headlined “Cool hands make for better workouts for obese women.” It talks about research that indicates holding a hand-cooling device in each hand increased weight loss among certain groups of women.

Sun Spots did find one commercially available gizmo, the Trigger Point BEX Runner Cooling Device-Small, which is a small gel pack you put in your freezer before using. It straps around your hand and is $24.99 at Amazon.com.

But Sun Spots does not think you need to go out and buy something special. Just visit your freezer. Try some of those freezer packs for coolers, ice cubes, bags of frozen vegetables or any easy-to-grasp item. Many people have something in their freezer that they can no longer identify. Now it will have a useful purpose!

DEAR SUN SPOTS: I was wondering if I could get the address for Ellen DeGeneres’ show, please. Thank you. — No Name, No Town

ANSWER: You can write to the Ellen DeGeneres Show, Telepictures Productions, 3000 West Alameda Ave., Suite 2700, Burbank, CA 91523.

CORRECTION: Sun Spots has been informed that she misread a word in A.M.B.’s March 28 letter about a search for an unknown Bachelder who wrote letters to his wife, Olive. The auction was in Benton, not Boston. Sun Spots does her best to decipher handwritten letters, but obviously does not always succeed!

This column is for you, our readers. It is for your questions and comments. There are only two rules: You must write to the column and sign your name (we won’t use it if you ask us not to). Please include your phone number. Letters will not be returned or answered by mail, and telephone calls will not be accepted. Your letters will appear as quickly as space allows. Address them to Sun Spots, P.O. Box 4400, Lewiston, ME 04243-4400. Inquiries can also be emailed to sunspots@sunjournal.com.

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