Tuesday, July 30, 2013

Toesday.....

We haven't done this for a while and mom was on a roll this weekend.

Mo toes - yeah....that is as good as it gets sometimes  :)

Ivy toes - so cute, it is a shame she won't let you touch them

Sierra toes - squeeeee

Junior toes

Monday, July 29, 2013

weekend wrap up....

The cool weather stuck around!!! The windows have been open for several days and we have been enjoying it. And it is supposed to be nice this week too.....  Hope we don't pay for it.  :)

Sebastian and Sierra are having a good time. They now weigh about 2.1# (Sebastian) and 1.6# (Sierra) (mom takes them to Petco and puts them on the scale their - MOL).

And.....Sierra has a new mom. Now if we can only get her to weight. She is thinking about maybe taking both kittens, so we will see how that goes. Mom spent an hour with them at Petco on Sunday morning with both kittens. Then she brought them home, fed them a snack, and they PASSED OUT!!



For those of you who missed our commentathon, don't feel bad - we made mom round up a few bucks.

Licorice got a bath on Saturday with the special soap. The vet wanted it to sit on her for 10 minutes, but mom just couldn't make Licorice sit still that long. So she scrubbed it in good, let it sit for a couple of minutes and then rinsed. Mom also tried this weekend to get Licorice out of the bathroom. Mom sat there with the door open. Mo and Sierra and Tim came in. Licorice freaked out a little, walked a little way into the hallway and growled at Tommy when he growled at her. She came back into the bathroom and went into the corner, so mom left it at that for the day. But it could have gone MUCH worse..... She tried again on Sunday. Licorice came out to find 4 other adults in her safe place and after sniffing the tip of Tim's tail, backed up again. But still, progress....

Friday, July 26, 2013

Random Fridays.....

Some comments from Tuesday on the Litter One system:
"will it stand up to a super scratcher" - we have to say maybe not. The floor of the box is smooth though, so it may take some abuse. Licorice's nails are still pretty short so she can't do much damage.
"my cat likes to chew cardboard" - yeah, we hadn't thought about that. This box may be way too much temptation for a cardboard chewer.
"does the cardboard stand up to pee" - so far so good. Not sure the back would last nearly as long if you have a spayer, but it might. But there are some spots on the floor where the litter didn't cover as much as it should.

So here is Licorice's update: don't know how it is going to last 4-6 weeks....maybe 2 with the amount of litter left. The cardboard scoop they included doesn't work so well - bent in half pretty quick. And the cardboard does absorb some pee though there isn't any smell.

Mom really wanted to like this product, but it may need some work.
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Mom was off Tuesday for one of those "gotta get a million things done on a weekday-day". The beer kittens got their rabies shots.....Stella was grumpy, Busch hissed at the vet and Miller got so worked up he panted and drooled on mom. sheesh....  And we really don't understand where their families are - these kitts are so friendly and outgoing and are even dog-friendly.

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Our Sierra girl has a new mom. Now if we could only get her up to weight..... anyhow, if you have curious cats around or are at work, you may not want to turn up the sound on this:
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Thanks for all the comments yesterday. We got a grand total of 39 comments so mom will be sending $25.00 to OBR!! *she rounded up, not that she can't do math 
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Quick Licorice update (sorry no new pics). Mom took her to the vet on Tuesday to get her spots checked out. The vet thinks she is over-licking due to the itches. So Licorice is getting antibiotics and a steriod to help with the itchy and the inflamation. And.....mom has to give her a bath. Oh joy..... 

If you hear screams this afternoon, don't panic.  Mom just feels bad cause it is hard enough pilling Licorice (not is the giving it to her sense, more in the pitiful expression sense) and feels like she is going to betray what trust they have built up. Hopefully Licorice will be less itchy and forgive mom quickly. Oh - and get this: in 2 weeks she gain 1.5 pounds!!! YEAH!!!
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We hate to end on a sad note, but this was posted on the website for the rescue where we foster:
"Our Hearts are Saddened...

We are saddened to learn of the death of one of our wonderful volunteers, Lanlin Zhang Lee.

Lanlin was the proud mother of Maisy, a cat adopted from Colony Cats (& dogs). She was a regular worker at the Kit & Kaboodle Boutique, always with a warm smile and ready hug.

Please remember her husband, Eugene, in your thoughts and prayers. Lanlin's life ended too soon and she will be greatly missed"
Photos of Lanlin Zhang LeeWe understand that she was competing in a triathalon in New York when there was a bike crash. One other rider was killed as well. Mom met her once and while she seemed a little reserved she was very nice.


Thursday, July 25, 2013

Celebration.....


Hear ye Hear ye!!!!

OMC....we made it to:
1000 posts!!!

Who would have thought???  Now, we are right around the corner from our 4th Blogoversary too. Mom tried to see if she could get the two things to fall together, but we would have had to stop blogging for about 10 days....and while she sometimes doesn't pick up our messages as to what to blog, we don't think we would be able to go that long.

Triscuit is amazed!!

We will be having a big party next week, but we knew we had to do something to celebrate. We know we never would have made it this far if it weren't for all of you. So, we are going to give back. We will give 50 cents per comment to one of our favorite rescues. Most of you know we drive a lot of transports for Ontario Bloodhound Rescue. They are having some hard times and we want to show them our support. We will count comments through midnight (eastern) tonight. One comment per family will count.

THANK YOU for joining us on this journey. Mom is going to compile some interesting facts for you for the blogoversary.  But for now......THANK YOU for being our friends, for joining us in the ups and the downs, and for sharing your lives with us as well.



Tuesday, July 23, 2013

A new product we want you to see....

Back in April mom went to the Pet Expo here in town and met a lady with a new idea for a litter box. She was calling it Litter One and mom thought it was a great idea....order it online and the whole thing comes in the mail. And....it is biodegradable so when you are "done" it gets closed up thrown out.

Then at Blog Paws mom met a nice lady named Amanda who works for the company doing the advertising for Litter One. She offered mom a free sample for a review and we said sure..... 

As you can see, the box was a big hit. Now....in defense of the company, we got this pretty quickly in the mail after Blog Paws. However, with sick kittens (who were going to be the test subjects, but honestly that was a mess no one wanted), it just didn't get set up. So with Licorice now in the bathroom, mom decided to make her the test subject.
This box was in the other box. :) 
Mom opened it up (see below) to find the scoop and bags.
But how does it get set up?

Hey mom - read the directions on the back....sheesh

So here it is in the bathroom. Licorice seems to be ok with it. Mom did cut down the side on the right so that Licorice can use it in this space (the opening to get in and out is on the front) but otherwise it is a good size. It did smell kind of "piney" when mom first opened everything up, but that faded pretty quickly. And once mom read the directions, it was easy to set up too. Just fold, bend, tuck and that was it.  :)

Now, we will say this....when mom first heard about it at the Expo, she was pretty excited thinking this would work for transports. It won't....no way will it fit in a travel crate.

However, if you are traveling in a car with cats or maybe in an RV for the summer....this would be ideal. And honestly, for the price, if you have 1 or 2 cats, this would be great. Mom is pretty sure the economics would win at some point with all of us since we have 7 cats here. MOL

Now, if you are interested, the company did give us an afiliate link for you to use with our code of JK12671. We don't get anything but you can get $5 off your purchase.

All in all, we like the idea. Mom says it would have been ideal for traveling to Blog Paws with Triscuit too - just carry the box upstairs and close it up after the conference. It says it should last 4-6 weeks...since Licorice is the only one using hers, we will let you know about that part. Mom says that if they could make one about 1/2 this size, it would absolutely be great for transports.

*we didn't get compensated for our review other than the free litter box to try. all opinions are our own (ok - the opinions in this case actually belong to mom, but whatever)

Monday, July 22, 2013

Weekend update.....

The adoption event on Saturday was successful - but we don't think as much as last year. It was hot and rained part of the day and we suspect that influenced everything. However there were 4 adult cats, 17 kittens and 10 dogs adopted. And the three space kittens that were there all went home!!!

The kid arrived on Saturday. You may remember from last summer that mom's niece spent all summer last year with grandma and grandpa. This year she is only here for two weeks. She came over on Sunday to see the kittens.


 No other adoptions - but we are keeping our paws crossed.

Oh - and check it out - we won an award for having a blog and having five or more cats from The Cat on My Head blog.  THANKS!!!

blogoversary.award

Saturday, July 20, 2013

It's a party.....

The shelter where mom volunteers is having a BIG party today from 12-8pm. Food, lots of rescues and reduced adoptions fees (but the standards stay the same, so no worries). Last year they adopted out lots of adult cats and lots of kittens. Three of the space kittens are back and ready to go. We suspect it won't take long. We asked for an update on the other two - Nasa/Hubble wasn't big enough and they left Orbit to keep him company.

Galaxy
(she was Corona here - no idea why they renamed her)

Nasa 
(though mom is fairly certain this is actually Hubble)

Sputnik

We are hoping for a very successful adoption day. We know the kittens will go and we hope the adults don't get over looked.

The kittens were really having a good time being able to run around.

Friday, July 19, 2013

Random Fridays.....

Sorcha and Screech are now at Petco. They went Wednesday after being spayed/neutered. Normally they would come home, but there is space at the store. And honestly, they will get less activity and get into less trouble up there. Plus the public can see them..... Mom did have to laugh when she picked them up - the tech asked if there was just the one carrier. Mom nodded and the tech said to keep on eye on them since they had decided they didn't like each other. Sorcha was a little growly, but she was probably just ouchy as she was fine once they got to the store. Screech was just stoned....
Screech making friends
(with Maestro, Junior, Mozart and Ivy)


 So now it is Licorice in the bathroom and the two smaller kittens in the playpen in the living room. We knew the littler ones were siblings and Sorcha and Screech were older single kittens. For those who don't remember, Screech came with his name and mom picked Irish names that start with S for the girls.

Well, the darker tabby has a mild case of the snot and mom has been giving meds, wiping noses and picking boogers (geez - don't you want to run right out and volunteer to foster now?). So, Wednesday night, mom made an amazing discovery.

The darker tabby.....previously known as Siobhan.....is actually a boy!! 
(mom is so fired)
Sierra and her BROTHER - Sebastian
(mom dropped the Irish thing - just stick to the S)

Mom kinds worries about him - he is little and snotty. And yet yesterday morning once he got out of the playpen, he was bouncing around in circles chasing his own tail. Just gotta find a food he REALLY likes to put some weight on him (OK - and his sister).

Mom was trying to get a better picture of Licorice. This is her favorite position - those back legs just don't curl up. Mom mentioned her bald spots yesterday. Mom took this picture on Wednesday night.... and discovered there are more spots than she realized. We thank you for the comments from yesterday. Mom is going to try to get some coconut oil and try that first. Certainly can't hurt her any.....  Licorice is due for the second run of Frontline on Monday for her lice problem. Mom hasn't seen any, but in this case WAY better safe than sorry. :)  We also have some pet wipes. Mom is going to try those over the weekend and we will see what happens.

Thursday, July 18, 2013

Thankful Thursday....



We got these dishes from the auction for Marigold and Laura. Mom decided to give two of them to Licorice to help her feel special. (please ignore the baseboards and the register....mom didn't realize it looked that bad until she saw the pictures)

She is doing well - spends most of her time laying down but she starts to purr when mom comes in to see her. Siobhan and Sierra both have snuck in a couple of times and Licorice doesn't seem to care. However, Sorcha came in the other day and hissed at Licorice who hissed back at her. Mom was in no hurry to start the introductions to us, but this episode helped mom decide to give it even more time than she had originally planned.

We had some concerns about how she was eating - but mom watched her the other day pretty close. Seems she takes a HUGE mouthful of food....and then has to nom some until a few fall out and she can actually chew what she has left. Silly girl (though considering how starved she was, we can't really blame her). There may be some other issues, but we are holding off on some things until we get her a little healthier.

Mom does have a couple of concerns. Licorice seems to be itchy - to the point of chewing fur off down to her skin in a couple of places. She is also turning out to be skittish of certain things. We may never truly know her background, but mom seriously believes Licorice was abused at some point. She has to be approached very slowly - and the other day mom sprayed some cleaner on a spot on the floor and Licorice freaked out and ran into a corner. So, mom suspects a bath might help with the itchy but she really doesn't want to do anything to betray the trust that she has built so far with her. So it may be back to the vet sooner than later. 

Wednesday, July 17, 2013

Wordless Wednesday.....

Our pictures of us will return next week....this week we thought we would share some videos.....

Turn up your volume......that girl has a serious purr.

Screech and Sorcha having a good time

Tuesday, July 16, 2013

weekend update.....

No transports this weekend. There was some cool air on Friday and Saturday so mom turned off the cool air machine and opened the windows!!!

Sunday was the monthly adoption event at Petco. Stella, Busch and Miller are still up there. After mom got set up, she notice Miller and Busch sitting next to each other - and Miller is a LOT bigger than Busch. The manager up there is a dog person with NO cat skills. He mentioned about separating the kittens. Mom asked why and he said that two of the kittens seemed to be hurting the other one. Mom snickered.....the boys are picking on Stella and she is a screamer - but they aren't hurting her. So no, they won't be separated.
Stella looking out at the world

Mom took the S kittens up there with her. Sorcha and Screech will go for their spay/neuter surgery on Wednesday so mom figured if someone fell in love with them, it wouldn't be a long wait to send them home. Siobhan and Sierra were in baby jail - the other two were in the Petco cages (cause mom figured they would be able to get over baby jail).


Busch is super cool and super sweet - where is his family????
Miller (back) and Busch (front - check out those ears)

July is usually a slow adoption month, but we wish there were families stepping up for the beer kittens before they get much bigger. They are dog friendly and just a nice group of kittens.

Monday, July 15, 2013

Blog the Change....


Blog the Change

You know us a cat blog. Of course, mom does dog transport, but she is also a big supporter of ADOPTION for all animals....and making sure we do all we can to support change to keep animals from needlessly dying in shelters.

One of the breeds of dogs that don't get out of shelters is the most are the pit bull type dogs. Mom has worked with this dogs before and has yet to meet a mean one. They are generally super sweet and people oriented. It is the things that people do to them that gives them the bad reputation. Used as fighting dogs and despised by the media, these dogs (some of which if genetically tested probably aren't even pit bulls) take a beating.

But we want to talk about some successes. Most of you will remember back to April 2007 when a certain football player (who will NOT be named on this blog) was busted for dog fighting. The judge made an amazing decision....these dogs would be judged as individuals and not automatically euthanized for being fighting dogs. Rescues across the US stepped up, and Best Friends Animal Society took 22 of the dogs. Two of these dogs were deemed unadoptable - one for her behavior. Lucas because of his fight history - he was a grand champion. He lived a well loved life and recently passed away. You can read the blog of Gregory Castle as he tells us all about Lucas.
Picture from Best Friends Animal Society

All of the dogs that were able to be adopted have to pass the Canine Good Citizenship test. And some of those dogs are stepping up to be the face of this breed.  Cherry was super shy and yet now lives in a home with a cat, another dog and a child. You can follow him on facebook at Vicktory 4 Cherry.

Another of the dogs was Handsome Dan. Not only was he adopted, but his family started their own rescue to help save these dogs. Handsome Dan's Rescue even recently took in a momma dog and her puppies.

These are the people and dogs that are helping make a change for this breed. And we couldn't be prouder to support them.

Friday, July 12, 2013

Random Fridays.....

For those of you who don't follow Whiskers in the Window, they lost their 12 year old resident house panther Norman to the Rainbow Bridge yesterday and could use some love.
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Those S kittens are nutty!!!  Mom has thus far kept them in the play pen during the day but she thinks that may end soon. She did discover that Screech (seen in the first picture) is a little hand shy. We discovered that a co-worker of another volunteer found him, so he didn't get socialized until he came to the rescue. So, mom is gonna "force" the lovin' on him. Yeah - good luck with that mom.  MOL  The other kittens are pretty lovey. Sorcha has places to go but the smaller two like to shadow mom around the house and Sierra likes to snooze on mom in the evening.
Screech - waiting for the next kitten to wander by
Screech and Siobhan

Sierra
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We also got an award from Star at the Celestial Kitties. It is the "My Favorite Things Award".


We have to list 6 of our favorite things and then pass it on.

1. Maestro: my favorite thing is peace and quiet so I can get in my naps.

2. Tim and Tom: our favorite thing is snuggling next to mom at night

3. Mozart: mom.....love my mom

4. Ivy: the cat tree to get away from the barbarians in this house. [sniff]

5. Spud: dinner time

6. Junior: my favorite things are those foster kittens. They aren't scary and are fun to play with.
We are sure who has it or not, so feel free to take it and pass it on.....

Thursday, July 11, 2013

Thankful Thursday.....

We are gonna let mom take this since we weren't really involved. MOL

I live about a 20 minute drive from work. Normally our office manager is the first one into the office, but for whatever reason she was running late on Monday. I got to work, parked and walked up to the front door. Next to the pillar in the mulch was a pile of black fuzz. Animal shaped and not moving despite the noise I was making. I was sure whatever it was had passed. However, I stepped closer and said "hey baby" and a black and white head popped up and gold eyes stared at me for a second. Then the skinniest cat I have ever seen (and I used to work with hoarding and abuse cases with our humane society) stood up and walked over under a bush. HOLY CARP!!!

I opened the front door, turned off the alarm and ran back to my car for the cat carrier I keep in the hatchback (and people laugh at me for that). I walked to the bush and the cat didn't move so I reach in, pulled her out and put her in the carrier. OK - now what???

Thankfully the vet that works with our rescue likes me. :)  I called and asked "are you booked this morning?" They squeezed us in between appointments and I took off...thankfully I work in a small office and they all know the rescue work I do on the side (plus the one partner has a dog and so does the office manager).

"Name?" "I haven't thought about it." "Gender?" "Didn't check." "Background?" "No idea - just found her."

Rob (their vet tech that I adore!!) took me back. Low temp but purring like MAD!! Rob gave her a treat which she barely stopped to chew. Weighed her - she weighed 4 pounds!!!  OMG.....  The vet comes in and checks her over - can't check her heart, she won't stop purring. No id, no microchip, not spayed.  So we discovered she has lice (ewww) which after some research I discover comes mainly from neglect/unsanitary situations (and can be treated with Frontline - yeah!) [and is species specific - which means I can't get it....though I did spend Monday with the "itches"]. She has a limp and her back left leg is "jacked up" as Dr T put it. The vet says it feels like something we should x-ray but is further down the list of things to worry about. We gave her fluids and a name - Licorice.

Oh - and the really important thing: her FIV/FeLV test was....NEGATIVE!!!!

Now, keep in mind that at that time I had: my crew. The space kittens in the bathroom. The s kittens in the playpen in the living room.  And the lice that Licorice has can be passed cat to cat or through common blankets. Great....  so, I set her up in a crate in the garage until I got home from work. I hated the idea of her there overnight and came up with the idea of putting her and the traveling crate in the bathtub. She stayed in the crate so no exposure to the space kittens but she was upstairs in the a/c.

The space kittens went back to the shelter on Tuesday morning. The 3 bigger ones will be spayed/neutered on Thursday and go to the adoption floor. The smaller two will go back into foster care. And, since I was going to stop fostering for this group anyhow, Licorice gave me the ability to say I can't take anything for the time being.

So, short term: she is eating, though she does seem to struggle to bite down (hard to explain) and doesn't seem overly attracted to the canned food (I tried the kitten version of fancy feast). She has been treated for the lice which should kick in by the end of the week. She has been dewormed and will be vaccinated tonight. From there it is just slowly put weight on her. Then x-ray the leg (more for informational purposes - I suspect it is an old injury) and get her spayed. The vet wasn't able to pin down age other than to say "she isn't a kitten and isn't 20" - awesome. LOL   She will make someone a wonderful companion. She is happy to see me when I walk into to spend time with her....makes biscuit, purrs and will (slowly) get up and come over for scritches.

Some of the comments on facebook said she was lucky I found her....there was no luck involved on my part - she was sitting right there.....I can't ignore that (though now I have to wonder.....last summer they found out where I live [the alcohol kittens] and now they know where I work).

 Wish us luck. I have a feeling she is a long term project....but once she is healthy I suspect it won't be too hard to find someone who wants this super sweet girl in their life.