Thursday, March 18, 2010

vet visit....

I am lucky in that my vet comes to the house. She gets three of the cats in the fall and three in the spring. Mozart, Spud and Maestro were up last night.

Spud had to be caught (after running around the sofa and landing on Ivy several times). We tried to hold him but he ended up in the bathroom with the tech and the vet. Seems he settled down in there for them. He was vaccinated, microchipped and weighs 11 pounds, 10 ounces. I was amazed. That means he weighs more than Mozart and more than Ivy. She did put a mark on his chart - at least if he weighs a lot less next time we know this might have been wrong.

Mozart was being his charming self until he had to be caught. Then the squirming and complaining began. He was vaccinated too, declared healthy and weighs 9.15 pounds.

Maestro was up next. He has lost 2 pounds in the last year - not that he is skinny by any means, but being 15 yrs old, this isn't necessarily a good thing. So, rather than vaccinate him, she drew blood and we will see what is up with him - hopefully nothing more than being a little older.

Tuesday, March 16, 2010

Spud found his tail....

OK, I know what you are thinking. He is over a year old - should he know it is there by now? After watching him last night, I would have to say the answer is NO!

I see him running around and stop to watch. Yep - around and around in circles chasing the big fuzzy tail. He finally caught it at one point and pinned it down with one paw while he saw down to breathe. It was VERY cute.

I have seen my fosters do this before. And Bugs from the last group was fascinated with tails - probably cause his was so short he couldn't find it. But he has a lot of fun chasing everyone ELSE'S tails. :)

Sunday, March 14, 2010

darned basketball.....

So my parents and I went to Indy on Friday morning to celebrate the beginning of March madness. Unfortunately for us, OSU won, and MSU lost. I never thought I would be yelling for Michigan to win, but I have to admit, the fieldhouse was OSU vs everyone else. And it was a wild game.

The reffing in the Purdue game was TERRIBLE!! I can only hope that both teams and schools complain. Bad enough the game stops every couple of minutes for commercials, but there were technicals galore and just some bad calls all around.

The MSU game was fun to watch - who knew we would end up in overtime?? Minnesota put up quite a fight and wasn't missing anything. Whereas MSU couldn't get a darned thing to sink.

We were going to stay for Saturday and Sunday but were able to sell our tickets so came home. We listened to the double overtime minutes of the Illinois/OSU game and Dad nearly drove us off the road a couple of times as we cheered for Illinois. Then got to watch the Purdue/Minnesota game at home. There is something a little less painful about losing when the team that beats you then goes to the next game and kicks the other team around too.

So - before the final game on Sunday - GO GOPHERS!!!

Thursday, March 11, 2010

disheartening....

As time goes on, I discover that more and more volunteers are getting discouraged. There was a meeting scheduled to discuss with backroom walkers how decisions are made for dogs to get to the floor. I didn't attend and couldn't care less. Yeah, there are discussions and a behavior test, but it still isn't fair. And compare that to cats and it is even worse. I refuse to spend an hour listening to management justify their decisions.

We had a volunteer leadership meeting last night. I don't know why we bother....management is making it more and more clear that our services don't seem needed. Why have leaders if our opinions no longer matter? And the shelter is so management heavy. I told someone last night - I am willing to bet that no one in management could name more than one animal on the floor - and give specifics about that animal. Or list the five cats that have been there the longest. All we hear about is revenue and money. I know the shelter needs money to operate, but aren't we an "animal" shelter first???

Wednesday, March 10, 2010

Douglas


This is Douglas the kitty in his foster home with Ava the dog and Steve the dad. Douglas was rescued by CAHS CID officers. A lady had cats locked in dog crates in her backyard covered by tarps.
Anyhow, Douglas is about 5 years old and a true velcro boy. He was slated to move to a barn, but seemed too much like a house cat. So I convinced Nancy (married to Steve) to take him as a foster while we find him a permanent home (looks like he is home to me, but we will see).
Douglas and Ava have become friends in less than a few days. Nancy told me the other day that they were sharing an open window as she was leaving to volunteer. In this shot, Ava has crawled up in the chair with Steve, which is something she has done since she was a puppy. Douglas climbed up there too and Steve called Nancy to get a picture.