food review #ChewyInfluencer

We got our product free of charge from Chewy.com for our honest review. All opinions are our own. Chewy.com is not responsible for the content of this post.

We were going to get this posted sooner, but after putting in our request, mom forgot about it until last week. And then it dawned on her that we hadn't gotten anything. Mom emailed Miss Sydney and was told the package was delivered last Tuesday. We hope whomever stole the package needed the food and it goes to good use. Miss Sydney was kind enough to have another box delivered....

And that one never made it or was stolen as well....
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Happy Halloween!!!

Be safe.

Random Fridays

Jan asked last week if the reason that no one freaked out about Dandelion was that we have kittens moving through so often. We have to say, that is most likely the reason. Mom laughs when people ask her about introductions. She can give all the advice in the world, but she will have to admit that we tend to make it easy for her. Even with Dandelion, Tommy hissed for a couple of days and Daiquiri got a little bent out of shape, but no one was really upset or did anything about it. Mom says she thinks we see a carrier with kittens in it and just think "oh look - more". MOL
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Mom is taking Dandelion, Saldano and Russell to a senior living event today. She loves talking to the public about adopting and fostering and hopefully she can get some seniors interested in some of our rescue's older cats. She is going to try to print a list of the cats that are over 5 years old to take with her.

Russell and Saldano may go up to the adoption center this weekend. Dandelion is still kind of snorty so we will continue his meds and see what happens.
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a tough life for a momma cat - MOL

A certain momma cat has a v-e-t appointment next Tuesday and then we are going to try to get her spayed and placed in a store adoption location and on her way to a forever home. Mom wants to v-e-t to give her the once over....Marilyn has some dragon breath and flinches if mom gets too close to certain parts of her face.  As for ready to go, the kittens still occasionally try to nurse, but she seems VERY over that and has taken to chasing the kittens around. Since the brandy kittens are still pretty tiny, getting Marilyn on her way seems a good choice.
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didn't they used to be black kittens

Taking a page from other fosters, mom finally found a short wand toy and took to waving it over the heads of the kittens the other day. Worked like a charm....

Calvados and Chambord

Chambord, Russell and 

Kirsch (notice how white she is getting and the ring on her face)

Russell, Saldano, Kirsch and Calvados

Calvados is all about getting Saldano out of his way

As you can see, all three brandy kittens are going silver/white. Chambord doesn't have as much on her face, so the nice thing is that mom can tell the girls apart much easier now. Calvados was the first mom noticed going silver, but again with the short hair it is more obvious. The girls have always had a gray undertone to their coats but were still very much black until recently. It will be interesting to see if this continues or what....

for reference purposes....

you can see the gray undertones on the girls, but geez

not so wordless Wednesday

Back in July mom went to Maine and hooked up with some of her cat lady friends. Miz Robyn from Love and Hisses brought toys that included a packing strap. We know - doesn't sound like a "toy" but kittens love it. Mom found it the other day and finally took it in and the kittens had a blast.

Saldano and Russell

Calvados, Saldano and Russell

Of course, at this age, EVERYTHING is a toy.

playtime

Mom says there is nothing much more fun or a better way to de-stress than for her to go into the foster room and play with the kittens. They sure do know the meaning of fun....and everything is a toy.

Russell - king of the trackball

If you look close, you can see they both have a paw in the game.

Pictures taken when Wheat was still here. She ended up in another foster

home and mom heard over the weekend that she has made it to 2 pounds.

Hopefully her toes will clear up and she can head to her forever home soon.

That incline scratcher is a big hit. Not sure how much longer Saldano is going to be able to fit in the hole however. One of the brandy girls climbs up to the top, digs in her claws and then hangs on the incline. 

weekend

We have great news from the weekend:

ADOPTED

Sumac made it out of foster care and was brought the to remote store adoption where mom cleans. Friday night a nice gentleman came in and was talking to the volunteer cleaning that evening. She got Sumac out and it was love. He filled out an application and Sumac went home on Sunday!!!

And one of the adults in the store went home Sunday as well. A very good day indeed.
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Dandelion - resting up from all his adventures

Daiquiri has thankfully stopped hissing and growling at him. No idea if she thought she was being replaced as the baby or what her problem was with him, but she is over it. At least until he stole her toy.....

Russell is all: what the what is this??

This is Kirsch.

Mom has no idea why the brandy kittens are getting white hairs,

but it is making the girls easier to tell apart in pictures.

Calvados has more white than either girl, but

Kirsch looks like she stuck her head in a can of paint and has a circle on her face.

Mom broke out the flower collar again. The participants were particularly unwilling to cooperate. MOL

The patriot girls are getting better by the day. 

Hopefully they will clear up completely and can be spayed soon.

They do act like they want out of the tower and could certainly 

use more space to run around. But mom is afraid they might freak 

out and then she would have to catch them again.

Random Fridays

Great news: the technical glitch is fixed and the web camera is working again. Mom created a tab at the top of the page that shows it. You can see it (on your computer but not mobile) on our facebook page too!! THANKS to Wayne from MeShare for getting us set back up.
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Back in June we posted about a call the rescue got from Calgary Canada about one of our cats being surrendered to them. Mom got a call from the head of the rescue and got on social media asking for help picking up the cat and then trying to get her back to Ohio.

Mom got a response from Miss Jill on Twitter and they went back and forth. Jill went and picked up Tora (the cat) from the humane society and agreed to foster her until we could somehow arrange transportation. Which is almost 2,000 miles....quite a journey.

As time went by, Jill and mom conversed about how Tora was adjusting to Jill's home. Jill does have another cat named Clover who came from a pretty horrible background until Jill adopted her. Jill talked about maybe adopting Tora, but everyone knew it had to be on Clover's terms.

Over time, Tora came out of her shell and loved on Jill more and more. She came out of "her" room into the condo more and more and the girls, while maybe not in love, were interacting. There were emails about vertical space and play time.

Jill finally told mom that things were going well enough that she wanted to finalize the adoption and make Tora an official member of her family.

And then over the weekend she sent mom this picture of the girls sitting together watching cat videos on the tablet.

Tora on the left, Clover on the right

To anyone who shared or retweeted the initial request for help back in June - THANK YOU!! Tora was saved - the shelter had deemed her unadoptable and would have euthanized her if we hadn't been able to get her back out. From there she found a safe landing space and a new forever home....
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Nothing much happening here this weekend. Have a safe and happy weekend!! Mom says the fall weather is back and she may shut the windows. Mo is hoping that means space heater season is finally here.

new toy

Someone had given us a short scratcher a while ago and it never got put out. Really - too short for the adults here. Mom finally remembered it and put it in the foster room.

The brandy girls were the first to check it out. If you look closer at them, you will notice silver undertones to their black coats. Calvados is the short hair of the group and he has much larger silver markings. Mom is trying to get decent pictures, but they aren't cooperating. It will be interesting to see what happens as they get older.

Let the games begin - one girl on top defending her spot from the "Russell monster"

And....we have a winner. MOL

Mom put it in front of the doors and the kittens seem to be enjoying a different view of the balcony outside. Not sure how much scratching they are doing (and there are a couple of cardboard scratchers in the room as well), but they are having fun climbing it. 

one word Wednesday

TOES

new guy - sorta

Saldano and Russell were spayed and neutered on Monday. However, Russell still needs to put on some weight and the v-e-t lady discovered that Saldano has a urinary tract infection, so they will both be with us for a while.

On Sunday mom found some suspicious spots on Wheat, so she is back at the adoption center getting her toes treated.

Remember this guy:

On Saturday mom found him out on the adoption floor....but he was all kinds of congested. After taking Wheat back, mom figured a trade was only fair, so she brought Dandelion back to the house on Monday. Tommy hissed at him once, Daiquiri stalked him for a while to let him know she is in charge (thankfully Dandelion doesn't really care).

That isn't a trick of the light....his orange has gotten a much darker reddish color.

The patriot girls think he is SPECTACULAR and have found their inner flirts.
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Our former foster Izzy (Calais) and her mom could use some purrs. Izzy was having some issues with her mouth and after consulting their vet and a specialist, Izzy had surgery yesterday to have all her teeth extracted to stop any further deterioration of her jaw bone.

weekend report

Saturday morning mom left and was gone for a while. Turns out she was helping Sophie get to a new foster home:

Otherwise, the weather was nice so the windows stayed open and there was a lot of this:

National Feral Cat Day

Alley Cat Allies started National Feral Cat Day to raise awareness about feral or community cats. We admit, we didn't know much about the details until we moved into the condo, started volunteering with Colony Cats and then found our girl Allie and her kittens. We have since done TNR on at least 6 cats in our neighborhood. No kittens since then and no increase in the cat population. Don't tell us TNR doesn't work.....

Our girl Allie

TNR 6/12

Feral Cat Facts (courtesy of Alley Cat Allies)

• Cats have lived alongside humans for more than 10,000 years. They are part of the natural landscape. Feral cats, also called community or outdoor cats, are the same species as pet cats, live in groups called colonies, and can thrive in every landscape. They are just as healthy as pet cats, but they are not socialized to humans and are therefore unadoptable.
• Trap-Neuter-Return is the only humane and effective approach to caring for community cats and stabilizing the cat population. From 2003 to 2013 the number of local governments with official policies endorsing TNR increased tenfold, with hundreds of cities and towns successfully carrying out TNR programs. That number continues to grow every year.
• In many cities, cats are still caught and brought to animal shelters and pounds, where most are killed. In fact, the shelter system is the number one documented cause of death for cats in the United States. About 70% of cats who enter shelters are killed there, and that number rises to virtually 100% for feral cats. 

Blog the change

cat people versus dog people

When did we get so divided? What happened to "pet people" or "animal people"?

Just the other day mom was on facebook and there was a post about the stupid new law in Montreal banned pitty type dogs. The first comment posted said "that is what happens when cat people get elected to city council". Excuse us?? Mom commented back and said that the comment was uncalled for - that ALL animal people should be against breed specific legislation. (the guy never responded - and the ASPCA took the city council to court to try to get the ban overruled)

That isn't the only example - there are articles all over the place about how one animal group is more outgoing or smarter or whatever than the other group. Granted, most of these articles are clickbait trying to get you to come to their site and have no real scientific basis, but that doesn't stop the public from reading the articles and believing they are true - heck we have seen some of them make it on to the national news.

Mom thinks there is a pet out there that fits the lifestyle of anyone who wants to put in the time and commitment. But choosing one pet over another doesn't make you wrong or right..... find what works for you and for that pet and make a life together. And stop criticizing people for their choices.

Can't we all just get along???

random Friday

News: mom got the last two boards to put up on the doors and got them installed on Wednesday after work. THAT should slow down climbing kittens. MOL  And....we got a replacement camera. Mom is going to work on it Saturday afternoon and hopefully we will be back up and running (no promises since it took mom the techno-dork about a week last time). We will let you know....

Poor Marilyn - those kittens just won't leave her alone

(and no, she isn't as sad as she appears - just half asleep)

The nice part of having all of the kittens together is that

Russell and Saldano are about the same size....so when

they decide to beat on each other it is a fair fight.

Dis my momma - get your own.

(and as an aside, mom STILL can't tell the girls apart)

Well...Saldano and Russell are over 2 pounds and are scheduled for surgery on Monday. We always bring our kittens home for a couple of days after surgery so they will go to the adoption center next week sometime. There are a few kittens their size but we still suspect they will go quickly.
          Weights:
Wheat 1 pound 11 3/4 ounces
Saldano. 2 pound 1 1/2 ounces
Russell 1 pound 15 3/8 ounces
Calvados 1 pound 6 3/8 ounces
Kitsch 1 pound 3 1/8 ounces
Chambord 1 pound 3 1/4 ounces

Oh - and a couple of other updates. Mom asked about Dandelion - he wasn't adopted but apparently had gone back into foster to get over a cold and managed to pick up ringworm, so he was in quarantine at the adoption center being treated for that. He is close to being done, so mom is hoping maybe a spot will open up at one of the stores and he can go there. Can you believe those kittens are over 6 months old???

the cute was deadly at that size

And....Sumac went to another foster home for....a cold (it gets around). She apparently has come COMPLETELY out of her shell. She was at one of our remote adoption locations and was doing great. If she goes back there mom will stop by to see her and get a picture.

Otherwise, mom has a transport on Saturday and then plans to yell at the TV some in the afternoon. Fall is mostly here....it gets chilly at night and we are all loving it. Open windows and everything. Have a safe and wonderful weekend.....

Try

**a post from the mom

I've been fostering for several years now.
Some people think the hardest part is seeing kittens and momma cats go back to the rescue to get adopted.

Actually, the hardest part is when they don't survive.

Monroe passed away during the day on Tuesday.
I found him when I got home from work. 

While I will never know for sure what happened, it was most likely just failure to thrive. He seemed to get better along with the entire group after everyone was sick about 3 weeks ago (except Russell - that boy has the constitution of a brick wall), but he never seemed to get bigger or put on as much weight as everyone else since then. I was going to call Monday to get him in to the vet but didn't get the appointment made. Honestly, I don't think it would have made much difference.

                      

                 Monroe with his ninja bodyguards

Monroe and his momma

Of course, when something like this happens, you start playing the "what if?" game in your head. I have learned over time that I can't let myself do that. I would go nuts....or quit. Second guessing every decision I have made with him and this group doesn't change anything.

It doesn't change the fact that I was so certain 3 weeks ago that one of the girls wasn't going to survive the night. It doesn't change the fact that Monroe didn't make it. It doesn't really change how I raise these kittens or kittens in the future....despite everything, I did what I could. Sometimes it just isn't meant to be. That is hard to accept, but volunteering in rescue, especially with a group that primarily deals with stray cats and ferals, you have to learn to accept your limitations. These momma cats aren't pampered house pets that are getting the best care and food before they have kittens. Most are struggling just to survive. This time of year, stray moms can be on a second litter of kittens which further depletes their systems. And honestly, even if Marilyn had been getting the best care, there is no guarantee that Monroe would have survived.

So what do you do?? Give up....keep going....

I know the best tribute I can give to Monroe and any kitten that hasn't survived is to keep trying. There will be kittens that continue to need care, and I will continue to learn as I go along. I will succeed and I will fail. But I can't just give up. Someone once told me that if you stop caring about every loss, you need to find something else to do with your time. I truly believe that.

My heart may continue to be broken, but I won't give up. Safe journey Monroe. You were very loved.

I promise that I will continue to try.

(and no comments from the Star Wars fans out there....after Tuesday, Yoda can bite me - LOL)

video wednesday

Mom says it over and over....that trackball may be the best $9 she ever spent on a cat toy.

book review

*mom was asked to review this book. She received the book for free but that in no way influenced her opinion. All opinions expressed in this review are hers alone.

I love good fiction and if it involves cats, I'm in....so at the request of a fellow cat blogger and one of the authors Abby Cheshire, I downloaded the book and gave it a read. Don't get me wrong, I'm not a fan of the term "crazy cat lady". I think it has a negative connotation and I avoid using it, but I didn't pick the title.

This anthology covered several genres: from paranormal fiction to suspense to cozy mysteries - a little something for everyone. I think what I love best about anthologies in general is that they are a vehicle to introduce me to new authors and different types of books that may not normally be on my reading list. And at the rate I read, it is always good to be adding new authors to my list. Plus anthologies being a collection of short stories, it makes for a quicker read of each story and a nice variety of genres.

Each novella has a cat - in some form - as a character. And none of the ladies are crazy....plus, hot guys. As an added bonus (for me), several of the stories also included information about rescues and adoptions. "Mr. November" even includes a diabetic cat that gets adopted.

This is an e-book anthology, so fire up your reader and download this - available today. I enjoyed every novella and look forward to reading other books by the authors.

Thanks for including me Abby....it was a great read.        

relaxing weekend

Good news- that new orange guy that mom found a week ago is doing MUCH better. He calmed down after a day or so and apparently is quite the nice boy. Next step - new home.
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Let it not be said those kittens won't find a snack wherever they can.

One of the brandy girls was playing with mom's shoe. Normally mom doesn't wear shoes around the house, so this was something new. And it is all fun and games until your sister shows up.

Mom needs to ask about the other two boards for the doors.

Wheat is 100% over the other kitten shenanigans     

Mom took Russell to another adoption event on Sunday. He did great -though he did attempt to make a run for it when a bird that is caught in the store made a fly by. Otherwise, he snoozed on mom's lap or in the carrier. He did sing the song of his people in the car....and totally harassed the other kittens when he got back to the house since he had gotten such a nice long nap.