need some ideas

Some of us don't get along quite as well as mom would like....  Junior bascially causes a lot of havoc around here. In fact, last Friday he went after Ivy and managed to remove some furs. Which of course results in some serious Ivy screaming. Keep in mind that Junior is semi-feral...so there is no way drugs or collars or anything else is going to work on him since that would require actually CATCHING him. :)   But there has to be some sort of solution to get some peace for Ivy and Spud (Junior's other favorite target - he generally leaves the older three alone).

She got to thinking that maybe it is long past due time to do some catifying around here. She won some shelves from Contempo Cat and Hauspanther and those will be coming soon. And here is the thought:

The wall you see in the top pic is at the top of our stairs (pay no mind to the Ivy tail). Our front door is at the bottom - you walk up 8 steps, turn around at the window and the up 8 steps to the living area of the house. Mom had grandpa put in the half wall at the top of the stairs to replace the fugly iron railing that was in the house when she bought it.

Here's her thought - install a pretty wide (12 inch at least) shelf along the top of the window that stretches from the half wall all the way across. It would still be about 7 feet up in the air, so it could in fact be a little wider even since there wouldn't be any real concerns about getting under it to get upstairs.

Or maybe put the smaller shelves up here.....

But then what about escape? Mom knows Spud would love to be out there - when the entry was being painted there was a huge scaffold put up and Spud would sleep in the far corner. The nice part is that Junior would NO WAY go out there - so Spud would be safe from the orange menace. But there should still be more than one way to get down. She is thinking cut a back corner out of the far side of the shelf (think over by the wall hanging) and then install our new shelves along the wall as a way down. But she isn't sure it would work....or look right. And while Ivy hangs out on the half wall, mom isn't sure she would go out that far, so it doesn't so much help Ivy. 

Plus mom worries about some cat hanging out that far up and maybe falling off - or some unsuspecting foster kitten. So put a "side" up on the long shelf?  But would anyone then go out there??? Mom is hoping for some help before she puts a lot of work and/or money into this (since she would have to hire someone to put the shelves up).

Any ideas?  Suggestions??? Anyone want an orange menace?? (just kidding)

video wednesday

Coral was in the tunnel and Quartz snuck up on her.

Slowest cat fight ever:

Opt to Adopt - Calvin T

Calvin is about 4 months old....neutered, negative FeLV/FIV test, up to date on shots.

He has a mild URI which is why he is here with us, but can stay in foster until healthy but would be ok to go home with a family that can keep him separate from household cats and medicate him until he is healthy.

The rescue was contacted and was helping a woman with cats that were multiplying. She was willing to care for the colony but needed help to control the population. So the rescue stepped up to help with TNR and the woman agreed to care for the group once everyone was returned to her. Calvin was part of that....so he was neutered and eartipped though the woman did say that she was working to get some of the cats to be indoor/outdoor. But better to have the ear tip. However, Calvin caught an upper respiratory infection and stayed at the rescue to get better. And then he ended up here.

He is super sweet and people and cat friendly. Mom calls him Calvin T as in Calvin The Black (a good pirate name).

 Calvin and Quartz

 Calvin and Ash

Calvin and Junior

the newbies - orangies

We interrupt this post for:

BREAKING NEWS

We have a winner in Coral's weight contest. Mom weighed her last night and....

drumroll please.....

Coral weighs 2 pounds 4 ounces

Our winners are Kintaro and TT. Please email us at randomfelines at hotmail dot com

And mom made another decision: we are going to make a donation to Feline Rescue in the name of Glorgirly, Katie and Waffles since they were closest to when Coral hit 2 pounds.

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What is in a name??  Well, around here it is a way to know who everyone is and keep them straight. And as we have said before, we love a good theme, no people names (except for that one group, but they were named after famous actors), and mom doesn't have to have a name related to the group.

Sometimes the names come quick and sometimes it take a little longer. And sometimes you stumble across the name. In this case, the mom cat kept trying to get out the bathroom door. At one point mom said "I don't think so sunshine" and it stuck.

Meet Sunshine

She is probably about 9 months old. She came into the local humane society and gave birth to her kittens there. The family didn't have much a chance and so someone pulled them and we are going to keep them safe.

  

Sunshine had two kittens. One male, one female. The boy is a brighter orange than his sister (though it is tough to tell in these picture). He is also twice her size. MOL  Going with the Sunshine thing, mom named the boy Clementine and the female Tangerine. (aka Clem and Tangie)

They are about 12 days old give or take. Eyes open and a little mobile. Sunshine is being a good mom though she is more interested in mom when she comes in than in the kittens. We suspect once those kittens get old enough to eat on their own, Sunshine will lose interest pretty quickly. She has made it out the bathroom door once and was fine with everyone here - no freaking out or anything.

Random Fridays

Yes, that is a full size kicker from the Celestial Kitties. And yes, that is Coral beating on it.....
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Have you heard about the Catastic Event being held all this week over at the Maaaaa of Pricilla???  And the publicists blog too??  You HAVE to go check it out....there were guest blogs and giveaways and everything hosted by the farm cats!!
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Ash will go up to the adoption center this weekend. We hope his new family finds him and he can go home very soon. Good luck sweet boy...and we hope they have a kitty just like Uncle Tim that will love on you.

moving around

On the 11th, mom came home with three little old lady-cats that she was watching for a friend. They are in "retirement" with the rescue (and have medical issues) and are living with our friend Miss Karen (she watched Jade and the littles when mom was in Utah). And while she was on vacation and her cold air blower was being fixed, the girls were staying with us. Which meant there had to be some rearraging of the kittens. The girls got the bathroom and everyone moved from there.....

Oh, and come to find out it is Winston the ORANGE and Miss Mona can't remember the black kitten's name so we are calling him Calvin. Now, Winston is very very shy and Calvin was very very snotty. Since they were bigger, they went in the playpen since the top zips shut (mom has visions of not being able to find Winston).

Which meant that the little girls - Jet and Quartz were moved to baby jail. Coral and Ash have been out 24/7 for a while now.

Only here's the problem - Jet figured out how to get out of baby jail. And she is freaking out being loose in the house. So.....

Calvin was released from the playpen (and is doing much better...though still snotty). He is very friendly and very playful. When he was neutered he was eartipped as the lady who brought him in has a colony that the rescue is helping TNR. The original plan was to send him back and he was going to be indoor/outdoor. We think the plan now is that he will go back to the adoption center to find a new home.

Winston and Jet are in the playpen 24/7. Quartz (who is so friendly it is kind of pitiful) is out during the day but in the playpen at night since she is still pretty little. The old ladycats went home Monday night so mom needs to clean that up and then decide what is next......

Did you get all that???  MOL

And stay tuned....the bathroom is inhabited again.

not so wordless Wednesday

 what is going on down there?

 Coral and the stringie

 making sure the toys know she is the boss

but apparently she isn't all that interesting

Opt to adopt - Ash

Well, with Captain Dingbat (Ash) getting his stitches out last week, it is about time for him to go up to the adoption center since no one showed any interest this weekend at the adoption event. He is on Petfinder, but being seen in person makes the adoption process happen much faster. Mom is probably going to get him up there this week.

Ash is now 15 weeks old and just sweet as can be. He LOVES to play and loves his sister Coral, the other kittens and the adult cats here as well. He would be great with another cat, a slightly older kitten or even by himself (though we love seeing kittens getting adopted in pairs and there are LOTS at our adoption center that need homes that are about his age).

Ash on Sunday

so tiny.....and eyes still closed

 

shocked I tell you, just shocked

weekend update

Keep watching Coral's weight page - remember that we want her to get to 2 pound 4 ounces (at least) to be spayed and that is the weight that will win. HOWEVER - she cracked the 2 pound make on Saturday when mom weighed her at the Petco store.  snicker.....

Saturday morning was a transport:

Willie is a 10 month old male bloodhound. He was bought from a pet store at 2 months old and then his family didn't want him. A nice lady took him in but with three other big dogs knew she couldn't keep him. She didn't do rescue and not knowing any better, placed an ad on Craigslist...and ran into a couple of scary people. Someone pointed her to Ontario Bloodhound. She continued to foster him and the rescue put him online and did the adoption work. And Saturday he started his journey to his new home. He arrived there on Sunday.....

The kittens went to an adoption event on Saturday as well:

No takers, but our petsitter Miss Rita and her sister happened to stop by not even knowing that mom was there....  :)  Oh, and mom put Coral on their scale: official weight 2.04 pounds. 

Sunday mom ran the sucky beast and did some laundry and the rest of us took it easy. Mom told us to enjoy the open windows cause Sunday is probably the last day we will get open windows for a while. Back to the hots......

Random Fridays

Someone asked the other day if Mae's purring is as loud as her talking voice. The answer is no - she actually has a rather petite purr. :)
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We hope you are keeping on eye on Coral's Weight Contest page. Mom is keeping it updated. We got a very official weight at the v-e-t on Monday night. Keep in mind that we use a kitchen scale. And Coral runs around A LOT. And she doesn't get weighed at the same time every day....so there is some fluctuation. But... the v-e-t who has seen a her a couple of times now and declared her "tiny" saw her Monday (Ash was getting his stitches out - much easier than putting them in) and was all..."she is so big".

Right, sure, whatever....  MOL

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Mica and Amber have BOTH been adopted. Mica went home with the flaky lady mom met last weekend. Mom says she thinks he is in good hands but that the lady is just one of those that runs on her own timetable and doesn't have much regard for the concerns of others time.  Amber went home with another kitten from the adoption center. The family has 2 older cats and a dog (uh oh) but Miss Mona from the rescue said she had gotten a text and everyone was doing well (cause Amber had met a couple of dogs and wasn't so sure about them). Mom actually met this family as well. They had come in and were looking at Mica but his application was already pending. As the man was filling out the application, he was standing by their condo and Amber kept reaching out and grabbing his shirt. Good girl!!!

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We got an award from The Cat on My Head

How cool is that???? It does come with a few rules though:
1. Visit and thank the blogger who nominated you.
2. Acknowledge that blogger on your blog and link back.
3. Share 7 random facts about yourself.
4. Nominate up to 15 bloggers for the Shine On award, provide a link to their blog in your post, and notify them on their blog.

THANKS to the kitties at The Cat on My Head!! We lurv those guys and gals.

7 random facts....hmmmm

Tim: my newest spot to sleep at night is right next to mom's hip
Tom: I don't mind when mom holds me upside down like a baby and scritches me
Mozart: I love to sleep in the sun...all the time (mom says I am gonna bake like a potato one of these days)
Ivy: I wish there were less boys in the house
Spud: I am excited for mom to get more shelves so I can be UP
Junior: mom is impressed cause I am getting a little closer to her in the kitchen (ok, there was kitten food involved - I couldn't help myself)
the mom: chocolate...need more chocolate  :)

We don't know who has or hasn't gotten the award so feel free to pick it up. we love all our followers and fellow bloggers and you help us shine. :)
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It has been in the 70s here all week so we have had the windows OPEN!!! Woohoo....and mom said that it should be nice over the weekend and we may be able to have them open then too.

Jet and Quartz are feeling much better. Winston and Calvin are still pretty snotty. Though mom got all excited the other day when it now appears that Winston really does have two eyeballs (the one was pretty glued shut most of the time despite mom keeping it cleaned up). Transport for a bloodhound Saturday morning and then an adoption event Saturday afternoon (Ash and Coral are going - maybe Jet and Quartz too).

We hope you all have a wonderful weekend!!

thankful for friends....

We are sure some of you remember our posting about Katniss - the girl cat that was spayed by the shelter but then left outside with no real care.

Well, after finally catching her, mom's friend Miss Emily took her and set her up in a pen outside to let her adjust to being somewhere new (this is pretty standard with ferals). After 3-4 weeks they let her out....and didn't see her again. They eventually had to move the food out of the enclosure as it was attracting raccoons.

It was hard cause they didn't see her after that. There was food up on their deck as they have other ferals. But she wasn't seen. It was one of those times where mom had to admit that they had done everything they could to help her and that was the point - regardless of the outcome.

However....Miss Emily was volunteering on Friday when mom stopped at the adoption center to check on the kittens. And they got talking and mom asked if Katniss ever showed back up. And lo and behold - she has!!! Miss Emily said she has to sneak a peak around the corner of the drapes to their deck to see her or Katniss will run, but she has seen her out there several times - a couple with their one "friendly" feral Corduroy. Mom was thrilled.....they managed to catch her, move her and she is doing ok in her new location. YAY!!!!

video Wednesday - Mae West

Mae is such a sweet girl. She is staying in a smaller quiet room at the adoption center. She is kind of freaked out by all the cats at the adoption center. She is a talker too and mom took her camera up and got video of her chatting. Mom is afraid that people will think that Mae sounds crabby and that people will overlook her afraid that she is mean. That couldn't be farther from the truth. Though our friend Miss Emily said the other day that Mae does sound like a 70 yr old diner waitress that smoke 2 packs a day.
*if you are watching at work or someplace public, you may want to turn down the volume. you have been warned....  :)

Blog the Change and Opt to Adopt

Every three months, BlogPaws sponsors Be the Change for Pets. Bloggers pick a topic and talk about how they want to make a change, something they believe in or a way they are making a change.

according to Merriam-Webster -
   hysteria:
         a state in which your emotions (such as fear) are so strong that you behave in an uncontrolled way

         a situation in which many people behave or react in an extreme or uncontrolled way because of fear, anger, etc.

   educate: 
         to give (someone) information about something : to train (someone) to do something

We want to talk about FIV. For some reason you mention a positive test and people lose their minds. Which is where education comes into play. The more you know, the less scary something can be when you discover it.

Meet River Diva:

She was found dumped at a local river spot and when tested came up positive for FIV. Unfortunately, in the majority of shelters across this US, this would have been an automatic death sentence. She got lucky that she was picked up by our rescue that is no-kill and will give her a chance to find a home. She is about 2 years old and super sweet - she sleeps on her foster mom's pillow at night. And she lives in a foster home with other cats.

What kind of a home? Someone who loves her. That is all it takes.

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According to Crash's Landing in Grand Rapids MI (a rescue that takes FIV and FeLV cats):
FIV transmission

FIV is difficult to transmit, the main route is via a bite where the virus is actually injected into the bloodstream

There is often confusion between FIV and FeLV, this is particularly the case regarding the transmission of the virus.

The FIV virus is present in the saliva, and for transmission to another cat to take place, the live virus has to enter the bloodstream of the recipient cat.

There are two main reasons why FIV isn't transmitted via shared bowls or mutual grooming as is sometimes wrongly suggested:

Firstly the virus is very fragile, and does not live for long once outside the body - it is destroyed by drying, light, heat and basic detergents - normally the virus will be long-dead before any surfaces come to be cleaned, it is the initial drying that sees off the vast majority of the virus, and this will normally happen in seconds.

This is why the route of transmission is primarily via a bite, where the still wet saliva containing the live virus is effectively injected through the skin directly into contact with the blood of the recipient cat.

The second reason is that the mucous membrane is a fairly effective barrier to the virus, so even if some virus does enter the cat's mouth, it is very unlikely to cross the mucous membrane, so will likely die within the stomach. It has been suggested that, for the virus to actually infect a cat when taken in through the mouth, there would need to be ten thousand times as much virus present for it to achieve a cross infection.

Interestingly, this is confirmed by the fact that kittens born to an FIV+ mother are rarely infected with the virus - although the kittens are not infected directly in the womb, as the placenta will protect them, the virus is present in the mother's milk, so all kittens will have prolonged exposure to the live virus in their digestive systems, yet it is very uncommon for the kitten to actually become infected - this is testiment to how effective the mucous membrane must be in preventing transmission.

It is for these reasons that the often-prescribed "keep separate from other cats" is NOT valid. FIV cats can live communally with non-FIV cats with very little risk of the virus being transmitted between them - unless the cat is a fighter and gives another cat a serious bite, which is rare with properly introduced household cats. The vast majority of cats, once neutered, will not bite other cats they live with - they may play and scrap, but this rarely leads to the serious bite required to inject the virus. There are numerous examples of households with large numbers of cats living together with FIV-positive cats without the virus being transmitted. A slow and careful introduction is required when bringing any new cat into an existing household, especially so with an FIV cat.
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So, River Diva needs a home. With someone who is willing to care for her like every other cat deserves to be cared for: a safe home, good food, regular vet care. She doesn't need to be locked away from other cats. She just needs to be loved.

Spread the word - the more people that understand that this IS NOT and SHOULD NOT be a death sentence the better.

For other resources, check out these articles:
   Best Friends FAQ about FIV
   Shadows Cats FIV article

weekend update

 Pearl went home on Saturday. And whined the entire 3 hour ride. Mom seriously considered investing in ear plugs. She is cute but she was NOT happy being locked up in the carrier. They got to the meeting place first so mom put the harness and leash on Pearl and let her wander around the car since they were parked. And Mom got to have lunch with Miss Kelly from Whiskers in the Window too. Pearl is set up in her own space and it sounds like the other cats at the house have the typical reactions to the kitten behind the door - curious, freaked out or just don't care.

The lady hasn't come yet to pick up Mica. She is sounding a little flaky and we aren't sure things will finalize with her - depends on what happens in the next couple of days.

Otherwise, snoozing commenced and took place most of the weekend. Mom was getting ready to go on Saturday morning when a tiny black kitten walked by her in the hallway. Mom walked into the bedroom and then backed out when she realized it was Jet. She checked baby jail and Quartz was still in there. Jet must have figured out how to get out. The little girls were given their freedom on Saturday but Jet wasn't feeling well on Sunday and they are back in there together.

Random Fridays

First, thanks for all the well wishes for Jade. Mom wasn't "freaking out" worried but was worried some and it was good to hear the news!

And here is some other good news:

Cinco GOT ADOPTED!!!!

She went home last night. Mom doesn't know too many details, but she got the meet the mom and daughter and gave them one of her cards, so hopefully we will get an update. And it seems they are well aware she can be a bit of a brat - the vaccinated her one last time and she blew a fuse and bit the mom. And they took her anyhow. :)

Mica has an application too. Mom got to meet the very nice lady and if it were up to her she would send him home. She did leave a note with her "stamp of approval". She has a 2 year old female Siamese mix at home and is looking for a laid back male. Mom assured her that Mica is that guy.

Quartz and Jet are doing much better. They have gotten to the jumpy kitten stage so there are some shanigans going on in baby jail most of the time.

And we promised pictures of the new guys: meet Calvin (the orange) and Winston (the black).

Winston's eye is pretty ugly (don't look too close) but the meds have already made a difference in a couple of days. So hopefully by next week they will be feeling much better.

We hope you have a wonderful weekend. This is how we plan to spend most of ours:

 Coral and Ash snoozing

Ash and Tim checking out the little girls