Friday, July 29, 2011

Just finished this book....

As most of you remember, mom has visited Best Friends, this last time in February.

(Bob at Benton's House)

When grandma and grandpa went away for a weekend in May, grandpa bought mom the book about the founding of Best Friends....

A couple of interesting things.....grandpa said he had read a little of the book before he gave it to mom. She shrugged - no big deal (except he folds over the pages to mark his place - makes her nuts). Then the other day she was at their house and he said he would like the book back when she was done reading it. Wow - ok.

So she hurried up and read it. It is a relatively easy read and an interesting look into the nature fo their friendships and devotion to the cause of animals and No More Homeless Pets. Some fun stuff, a little sad stuff, but interesting....mom finished it last night. What mom found fun was putting together the background with what she knew - that person's name was on that building, that octagon was named after that dog, etc.

But - here is the other part. When mom was there in February, she got to have lunch with Faith Maloney, one of the founders. See, they had gone to puppy class in the morning and met this group of 4 sisters. When they got to lunch, there wasn't much space and the sisters were at a bigger table. They asked to join them and everyone got to chatting. One of the sisters had just taken a seminar at Best Friends about starting your own sanctuary. It is taught by Faith and another person. As we were talking, Faith came in and this lady flagged her down and invited her to join them for lunch. Mom admits she was a little star struck. :)  But Faith was so down to earth - and had this amazing ability to listen like you were the only person in the world.

Then mom read the book and learned so much more about Best Friends and Faith. Made her all warm and fuzzy (though that may have been cause Mo was curled up with her in the chair). If you are looking for an interesting read, mom seriously suggests it!!

Hope everyone has a peaceful, nice and safe weekend. We still have the hots here. sigh.....

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Microchips....

Everycat at our house except Maestro has one (he is 16 and has NO interest in going anywhere).

Mom saw this article on the Today Show website about mandatory microchipping of all animals adopted and reclaimed from shelters in California.

What do you think??

We think it is a great idea.

However....it is up to the owners to keep the info up to date.

Ivy's chip has a one-time registration fee and mom can get online to update the info whenever she needs to - plus she has loaded a picture and other contact info including our vet.

But, her chip is different from everyone else's chip. For the guys, mom can load a picture and other contact info, but there is an annual charge to keep it updated. Which seems like a crime to us. Especially since she has to go it for 5 of us. Aren't more people LESS likely to keep it updated if they have to pay every year? Just send an email reminder to update info once per year and let it go. So, mom has been bad. The info on 4 of us is in their database but she hasn't paid the "renewal" fee yet. And...she hasn't registered Junior's chip. BAD MOM!!! Especially since Junior and Spud refuse to wear their collars with their microchip tags on them.  (yeah, I will get on it - promise!)

we aren't holding our breaths...but can you see our collars??

Wednesday, July 27, 2011

Wordless Wednesday....

featuring Ebony the foster moo kitteh....

                                    


Tuesday, July 26, 2011

Christmas in July....

First a PSA (pawblic support announcement): the White Dog Army is walking to support 2milliondogs.org as they walk to raise money to fight cancer. Can you help just a little?? There is a widget on their page. We know they are woofies, but come on CB - they are GREAT woofies!!! And who among us hasn't lost a woofie or known someone who has to this dread disease....

Now, on to Christmas in July. We got paired with The Island Cats and we were pretty excited when the man in the blue shorts left the box outside (OK - we didn't see it arrive, but we saw mom bring it upstairs). She HID THE BOX for a day to keep us out of it until she could get the flashy box out. sigh.....


hurry up already!!!

But the presents were awesome and we are so thankful to have great friends. We got a big Kong kicker and a HUGE new tunnel (with leopard spots) and treats and toys. They even sent us toys for the kittens (Ebony has taken over this red donut and guards it fiercely). 



Mom got a magnet for our fridge that makes us an official member of the Island Cat Club. And they even sent us a new kitty - mom is calling him George:

Everyone had a blast - Junior and Mo sure love the tunnel:


We had a blast checking everything out. Tim loves the new kicker most of all. THANKS to Wally, Ernie, Zoe and their people for our great presents.

Monday, July 25, 2011

Weekend update....

Let's see - we did....NOTHING!!! MOL

OK -the kid came over a couple of times, but she loves the kittens and mainly played with them. Mom also took her to the shelter to play with the girls. AND..... Lucy got adopted on Sunday. Mom got to talk to a very nice couple - they have 2 other cats at home (16 & 4) and were understanding about Lucy being a little shy. Mom "slipped" them her email address so we hope to get updates.

The power went off for a little bit on Friday night due to the storms from the heat. We are very thankful it came back on after 2 hours - we were afraid it was going to be very hot to sleep and that mom would leave the kittens out as well. YIKES!!

The kittens are doing well but we aren't sure when they will go back due to space on the floor. In the meantime, they are certainly relaxed. (mom says they are very lovey kittens as well)
Ebony

Willow

Xander

Saturday, July 23, 2011

Leo & Chiclet (a revisit)

We reported earlier in the week about Leo and Chiclet.

Chiclet is doing great. Mom spoke to her new family Thursday night and she has moved in and made herself right at home. And they said that during the last storm she stayed right on their laps, so hopefully she was feeling pretty safe. She sounds very loved!!


However, Leo is back in his foster home. Mom did her leg of the drive on Thursday. Within about 48 hours of getting to his new "home" he was scheduled to go back to foster. Mom doesn't know the full story, so we aren't going to speculate, but the foster mom (mom met up with her for the last leg of Leo's trip) wasn't really happy. Yeah, better to send him back, but seriously - 48 hours?? Especially after he spent an entire day on the road??? makes mom more than a little nuts.....

Oh - and how hot is it here? Mom delivery Leo about 45 minutes from home at about 10pm. When she got there, she pulled up, stopped the car and stepped out....and her glassed IMMEDIATELY fogged up!!! That is hot....we are sleeping on the floor vents in sympathy. :)

Friday, July 22, 2011

Friday night adventure....

OK - back to the story.

I got back from my day out with my mom and niece (we went to Velvet Ice Cream) about 1:30pm.
mmm - ice cream

I emailed Crystal to tell her I was taking a brief nap. We had just about everything nailed down but the health certificates and I told her I had called the vet that helped with Swizzle and they would get me in Saturday am if we needed it. I laid down and tried to get my brain to wind down. About the time it happened, the neighbor let her weenie dogs out onto their patio - under my bedroom window. They are barkers.... so much for a nap. I sent one final email: call me when you get a chance, I am leaving now.

I stopped for snacks and was on the road:

yes, it IS hot here...

I was stocked and ready. Soda - check. Snacks - check (chips, chocolate, nuts - all the necessary food groups). Map - check. Crystal's phone number - oops - hope that doesn't end up being a problem.

I had a couple of books on CD and my regular music stash. The first book was almost done and when it ended I switched to music for a while. Daughtry is one of my favs - good to drive too. I also put in Feels Like Today by Rascal Flatts. When I hit the title track Feels Like Today I had to wipe away tears (you have to go read the lyrics - powerful stuff):
I woke up this morning
With this feeling inside me, that I can’t explain
Like a weight that I’ve carried, been carried away, away
But I know something is coming
I don’t know what it is
But I know it’s amazing, can save me my time is coming
I’ll find my way out
Of this longest drought

The trip was pretty smooth. There was some traffic in Cincinnati - of course it would have been better had I not gotten there right around rush hour (good planning mom). And the bridge - I am not talking about that. I HATE bridges.... at least there was only one on this trip.

Crystall called when she got a break from kennel work. It was great to hear her voice. We chatted for a while and she said she would call when they left so I had her cell number (since writing while I drive isn't a good thing). We went over times and she reminded me I was in a different time zone to just REALLY confuse me.

Remember that comment about the map???  Well, turns out that 71S and 75S split somewhere south of Cincinnati. I missed it. No idea how.... I kept going south and ran into 64W like I was supposed to. Only as I drove I kept seeing signs saying so many miles to Louisville. Wait - wasn't that where I was supposed to get ON 64W??? Crap.....  I finally stopped for gas and took a better look. Yep - I took the long route. Think of a triangle - instead of taking the the angle, I went straight down and straight over. I called Crystal and left a message "Don't leave yet - I am a directional dork and took the long way around".

I love the midwest - some people find it too flat and boring. But there are hills and landscapes. And besides - check this out:

We met in Mt. Vernon around 10pm. It was like meeting a long lost friend....We talked. The kittens got transferred to my car. We went over more information. I didn't want to leave, but we had to head back.

The trip home wasn't as bad as I was afraid it was going to be. I made it until about 1:30am and stopped for a nap. About a dozen cars lined up at a rest area. I parked between two trucks to hide and took a power nap. Then back on the road.

Jasper and Soapy got chatty about 3am. We talked for a while and they went back to sleep.

The last 20 minutes of the trip were the WORST. I was so tired and yet so close to home. I managed to get home about 6am, set the boys up in the bathroom and fall into bed - remembering to set the alarm for 8:30am so I could be back on the road to get Leo.

Jasper in his new harness and his mini-me

I stopped to get a travel carrier - got the small Sherpa bag. I didn't get it out of the box until I got home. And it was REALLY small. So on the way to the airport to meet Cathy and her husband, we stopped at our 2nd Petsmart of the day and bought the medium sized one. Much better.....

(before the sherpa bag)

I got a text later from Cathy that they had made it through security - relatively unscathed.....Jasper (the bigger kitten) was a little freaked out but we had anticipated that. I had a collar on Soapy and a harness on Jasper with leashes just in case. And I had trimmed their nails that morning.

And the boys were off to California.....

Me? I transported Leo, met Chiclet's new parents to finalize her adoption, went to the adoption event at CHA where Josephine was adopted (among many others) and fell back into bed at 8:30pm. For those of you doing the math, that is over 36 hours with about 2 hours of sleep. To make up for it, I slept until 9am on Sunday....  :)  And for once the fuzzy crew let me get away with it (helped along by a snack at 5am).

Would I do it again? Absolutely! OK - not tomorrow, but I would do it again. People will think I am nuts, but I knew I had to do this. I have said here before that for me it is about helping THAT animal in THAT moment. And right now I could help get these guys to their home. And I could help another rescuer who needed a helping hand and some renewed faith.

Oh - and the scheme I mentioned a week ago? If this hadn't worked out, I was going to ask for help and fly myself out to CA with these kittens.....told you - I HAD to make this work.  :)

Thursday, July 21, 2011

lost their minds....

Yep - it is official - the kittens are NUTS!!!!

Mom let them out last night. There was a LOT of hissing. All three kids are very active and loved the extra space. However, that meant they spent a lot of time running into everyone. And Tommy, Spud & Mo weren't too happy about it. Junior seemed undecided - mom thinks. See, Junior has one sound effect for everything. Worried? whine. Hungry? whine. Excited? whine. Angry? whine. The kittens spent some serious time running up and down the stairs and Junior was laying at the time whining. Mom isn't sure if that means he doesn't like the kittens or he wanted to play and wasn't sure how to start.

Everyone is out this morning and mom left for work.....paws crossed we all survive the day.


Mom tried to get more pictures of the other kittens too, but they were in motion the entire evening. Mom wants to get a picture of Ebony from the back - it looks like he is wearing white pants with black knee patches. MOL

Wednesday, July 20, 2011

Wordless Wednesday (ok - not really)....

We have new kittens - at least for a week. :)  With the adoptions over the weekend, they are putting some of the sick kittens into foster to let them get better. There seems to be eye gunk going around.

So - here are the new kids.


Ebony - male about 4.5 months old
(he isn't related to the other two - his sister Jewel is still at the shelter)

Willow - 3 month old female (Xander's sister)

Xander - 3 month old male
(Willow's brother)

It has been a while since we have had kittens this big and they were WILD last night - banging around the bathroom. Mom treated their eyes this morning and then just tonight and tomorrow morning. Since they are basically over it and just need time to recoup, mom is going to try letting them out tonight when she gets home from work - that way they have more space to run around during the day....

We will keep you posted on how it goes....it has been a while since we have had kittens running loose all the time so we are going to have to adjust. :)

Tuesday, July 19, 2011

The girls....

Saturday night was a big adopt-a-thon at CHA. There were LOTS of adoptions.

Amazingly, Grace & Audrey are still there. I am amazed....they are fuzzy, cute and know how to work it. Weird....

Anyhow, Lucy was adopted and then brought back on Sunday. Apparently the adult resident cat didn't like her and was attacking the kids in retaliation. Of course, our first question is: how did you introduce Lucy? Our guess - they took her home and let her out of the carrier and hoped for the best. sigh....  Fine - then just give us back the kitten. She is back with her sisters and getting more friendly and outgoing by the day.

The big news is that Josephine got adopted. Mom was tired so she didn't stick around, but thinks she met the guy - early 50's single and devoted. We know he talked to our friend DeLynn and she was happy about the match. Kelly was a little concerned that Josephine needs a friend, but we think that being the only cat may force her to be more friendly and ask for attention. Paws crossed.....




Monday, July 18, 2011

Leo & Chiclet

We has wrestled control of the blog back from mom. For those of you looking for the second part of the story, stay tuned....Miss Crystal asked us to give her a chance to catch up with us and we will continue the story on Friday so you can read both sides at the same time.

Now, that being said, there was LOTS of other things going on this weekend. Mom had already signed up to help with a dog transport on Saturday. Leo was pulled from a high-kill shelter in Georgia a few months ago and has been living in foster care. Saturday he made it to his forever home.


Friday night while mom was on the road she got a text from the Petsmart lady - there was an application on Chiclet. They went over the details and it sounded good. Mom called the couple while she was on the road to pick up Leo. They met early afternoon on Saturday and Chiclet when home with them. They have no other animals and were very excited to have her join their family.

Mom had gotten some video of her walking around to show that she really is longer than she is tall - makes mom smile.

CONGRATS to Leo and Chiclet on getting their forever homes!!!!

Sunday, July 17, 2011

Hold on to your seats......

It has been a wild weekend.  We are going to let mom take it since we weren't around for most of it:

OK - so most of you know Crystal from Daily Dose of Dogs. And if you have been following along, you know that of the Fantastic Fifteen, there were two pairs that had potential new families - one in Georgia and one in California. I was slightly obsessed. Even now I can't tell you why....I just knew in my heart that I somehow had to help her get these kittens home. I don't know if it is because of the whole thing with Swizzle and the kittens. I can't get it into words. But the need to do something had me in knots.

So I sent an email out to friends: if anyone if flying to San Diego, let me know.

Kelly said she was flying to Las Vegas. We went over the details and I even enlisted the Katnip Lounge to try to help. But, ends up Kelly was flying alone on Continental and they have a 1 cat per carrier per person rule. Drat....

Then came Wednesday...and I got anther email from my friend Cathy. She was flying to LA. On Saturday - yes....just over 48 hours away. Could I still do it??? She was flying Southwest and the kittens could travel together. I told her to call the airline and I would take it from there.

There was some serious back and forth between Crysal and myself. Worry about could we really do this? Was it possible? Was I nuts? (ends up the answer to all of those are YES)

I spent Friday morning with my mom and niece doing some sightseeing. We made it back home around 2pm and I checked my email. It was a go. See, in order for this to work, I was going to drive 6.5 hours to get them.....meet Crystal...and drive home to get them on a plane by noon on Saturday.

Friday at 3pm, I was stocked with Mt Dew and snacks and my phone. Crate in the back of the Beetle. Map on the seat of my car (more on that later).  Jasper and Soapy were going to their forever home so help me.....

Come back tomorrow for more of the story - right now mom needs to do laundry and PLEASE take a shower. MOL

Friday, July 15, 2011

Finally Friday.....

Another weekend.....maybe mom will crack the windows. She did the other night - it got cooler. Of course she then spent 30 minutes sneezing like mad. Can't win.....

If you live around Central Ohio, come visit Picnic With The Pups at CHA on Saturday evening. Food, beer, games and special adoption prices.

Mom is out today with grandma and the kid. 

Kitten updated: A very nice woman came in Tuesday and had been looking at Jimmy. She came back last night with her son (maybe 12?) and husband. They ended up taking Jimmy and another kitten named Linden. We talked about him being shy but I assured her that he will come around. The girls are back at CHA waiting for space - which should be available today. I met with those interested and I think one filled out an application on Grace, but the girl who had been looking at Audrey said she just can't afford it right now. Another in the group is in love with Bach who was fostered by my friend DeLynn.

Thursday, July 14, 2011

Thankful Thursday.....

Mom is having one of those days - like there is something she should be doing, but not sure what or how.

So we want to say THANK YOU to all of our friends on the CB.... We are very thankful for all you do to help animals in need and how we all stand together to support each other. Mom is scheming something.....so we may be asking for your help shortly.....depends on what comes up in the next few days.

Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Zoe got adopted!!!

Mom didn't go into the shelter last night. She made plans to try to let the girls at the house out to play (plus it was raining pretty hard). She found out this morning that Zoe was adopted last night!! The CHA Facebook page said this morning that she was adopted. And....she was adopted with Peter who would have been at CHA for a year on 7/23. Peter is a 2 yr old male orange/white tabby (kind of looks like Junior) who is very kitten-like. Mom and her friend DeLynn say they think Peter must have been a single kitten since he is a little socially dorky. MOL  Sounds like the woman came in looking specifically at Zoe and felt bad that Peter had been there so long. So she took them both in a room together and spent some time and took them both.

And, mom did let the girls out to play last night. She had tried before but this time she shut the door to our bedroom and that left the girls the end of the hall and the option of coming into the living room. Audrey and Grace braved up and came all the way into the living room. Lucy & Josephine never made it past the end of the hall, but it was nice to see them come out. Oh, and Tim is the handsome mancat at the beginning of the video. :)

Monday, July 11, 2011

Weekend update....

Another Saturday, another transport. Murphy is a 10 yr old Wheaten Terrier who was headed to rescue with Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier Club of America Rescue. He was a sweet boy - just in need of a couple of good meals and a bath!!

We spent Saturday snoozing the day away since mom was gone for most of it - transport, check on the kittens (who are doing well) and then spent the evening with the kid.

Sunday was a lazy day with mom home.  The REALLY HOTS are here so we are just going to go back to sleep.....

Friday, July 8, 2011

Facts on Friday....

(not bad for the cell camera - though the other pic of the other girls didn't come out)
All the girls came home OK last night. Everyone was pretty freaked out and hung over. :)  Mom put out some gooshy food and gave them some love. They recovered pretty quick cause they were playing with the jingly ball toys when we all went to bed last night.

And: Lucy actually came up to mom this morning and ASKED for love and attention. WOW!!! Mom gave her some and loves that she relaxed and purred. Mom put her down and Lucy yowled for more. :)

And before mom gets to her facts, she has to share this video from Pitter Pats of Babycats

So mom got to thinking about our fosters last night and thought she would share some stats with all of you:
    First foster group August 2006
    Total fosters: 94
         breakdown: 6 momma cats, 88 kittens
    Kitten numbers: 36 males, 52 females (and people wonder why there is a overpopulation problem - spay & neuter people!!!)

Names: groups of flowers twice (Ivy, Sage, Willow, etc), characters from books are popular (Talon, Bonzai, Scarlett), chinese food (Mooshu, Tofu, Hoisin), musical terms (Minuet & her brothers), nuts (Walnut & his sisters), spices (Chili, Curry, Nutmeg & Ginger), chickens (Malay, Sumtra, etc), alcohol drinks, states, mythical characters (Athena & Artemis, Merlin & Morgana), famous people (this group), cartoon characters (Taz, Bugs, Minnie/Mouse/Daisy), drinks (OJ & Cider)

We are comtemplating inventors for the next group - but it depends on what we get. :)

We hope you all have a relaxing weekend.

Thursday, July 7, 2011

Thursday Theatre....

Mom dropped off the rest of the girls for their ladygardenectomies today. Paws crossed it all goes well and everyone is big enough. :)  Jimmy and Zoe were in a room with several other kittens running around and playing so mom didn't disturb them.

Mom played with the girls last night and got some video. Josephine is coming out more and more once mom is in there for a while and she get comfortable. Lucy not quite as much, but she is civilized. She was caught with Audrey so she has been inside for over a month, but she was also the most ticked off about being caught.



Wednesday, July 6, 2011

Wordless Wednesday....

funny pictures - Da da da da

         (no, this is not Mozart - he would kill mom before he let her dress him up like this)

OK - so mom and the rest of those family humans are VW people and this CRACKED mom up. For those of you who don't get the reference, check out Darth Vader on You Tube.

Tuesday, July 5, 2011

Crazy weekend....

So you can read about Zoe's adventure Friday night below to start off our weekend (Mom thinks that is Audrey in the background of the picture).

Saturday mom drove some puppies as part of a transport. Totally cute. They are all going to rescue - the little black and white is blind and going to Blind Dog Rescue.
She also was at Petsmart with Chiclet and left her there to hopefully speed up her adoption. Chiclet wasn't too happy - we had a big thunder storm that morning (remember we discovered she is afraid of thunder) and then a dog got in her face and then....you get the picture. When mom got her set up, Chiclet hissed at mom for the first time ever. Mom is feeling kind of guilty but knows this is going to help Chiclet get adopted faster - and she deserves a home of her own.

Sunday the blond child came over.  She is exhausting to watch.....she played with the kittens and then some with us.

kid & Grace

Monday was pretty slow. Mom picked up Josephine and Lucy from Miss Kelly's house. They and Grace & Audrey are scheduled to be spayed on Thursday. Of course, then there was that booming from the neighborhood Monday night (Tim was under the covers).

Josephine was re-vaccinated this morning. Zoe went along to be checked out. Mom hadn't noticed but apparently someone was doing surgery overnight and removed her staple. :)  However, she is healing up nicely and they decided to keep her and put her back in with Jimmy.
With all of that, we are exhausted and are taking the day to catch up on our sleep.