Random Fridays

Tostada - now Sweet Pea

We got an update from her mom:
          "I just wanted to follow up with you about Tostada (Sweet Pea) to let you know how well she has settled in. She has been to the vet who loves her and is happy my household has a cat again.  She is very playful - she loves her toy mice, and anything of mine that is not nailed down.  She loves getting belly rubs - it is amazing how trusting she is.  She is as affectionate as can be and loves curling up next to me wherever I am.  And she travels well.  She doesn't fight getting into her crate, although singing the whole time she is in a car is the norm. She has virtually no adjustment period in transitioning to new places - so she is able to go with me almost anywhere I go overnight. That can be pretty much in my independent life!"

Wow - that is so awesome!!! Heaven knows we worried with how long she had been with us and the rescue, but it sounds like she was just holding out for the purrfect match!

Honestly, if you really want to make the day of someone who fosters and you have adopted their kittens or cats (or dogs)....send them pictures and an update. You will make their day - we promise!
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Mom is going to try to finish the kitten area this weekend. She had an idea of using screen doors to close off the space....the interesting part will see her getting the doors from the store to the house in the Beetle. (we promise to make her take pictures)  For now, we have been enjoying the space and Daiquiri has been using the floor covering like a slip and slide. Mom does plan to get a rug to cover the tarp....even if just to keep it from moving all over the place. MOL   #kittenwatch2016
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And of course.....there will be basketball. 

Tostada

Mom went out to run errands on Saturday and came back with this.....

Yep - that's Tostada. Our girl who was here as a tiny kitten, went to the adoption center, got sick, got better, got sick....ended up here on meds....had exploratory surgery....got more meds and finally went up for adoption at one of the remote locations.

Well, mom got an application for adoption for Tostada the end of last week. The lady is out of town until today so rather than leave Tostada up at the remote location taking up space, mom agreed to bring her back here so that another cat could have that spot. Tostada will go home tomorrow evening and in the mean time is making herself right at home.

It took her a little bit to get comfortable around the house....and the French City Kittens were REALLY not too sure about her. However, she has relaxed some and it doing well with all of us (though if she rounds a corner too fast, Lyon still puts on his stranger danger suit).

What is making mom really laugh is how talkative Tostada has become. She started it up at the remote adoption location....she would yell when mom came into the store. Looking for attention most likely. While she isn't overly chatty here at the house, she certainly has opinions about certain things. Like Sunday morning at about 3am when she decided to inform mom that the food dishes were mostly empty. MOL

Anyhow....she will be the only cat in the house and we suspect she will be spoiled rotten by the lady adopting her.

like mother like daughter

A while ago mom reported that Margarita (mom to the fiesta kittens) had been adopted. Come to find out the lady that was approved changed her mind. Mom found out when Margarita got moved to another remote adoption site....ironically the same one where Tostada is residing.

Tostada (on Sunday)

Margarita (on Sunday)

They look VERY alike. These pictures don't do any justice to Margarita, but they both have the same round face and expression. Margarita does have some white on her chin and chest. And they sound alike too. Tostada doesn't talk as much now that she has Reno for a roommate. But it is funny how much they resemble each other in so many ways. They haven't been reunited....and mom doesn't think they will since it is unlikely Margarita would recognize Tostada as her "kid". Margarita was very unhappy at the other store and we are hoping that with a bigger cage and some access to seeing outside that she will relax some. She can go to the adoption center for the rescue but the fear is that she will find a place to hide and not get seen at all.

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Don't forget that today is Giving Tuesday....after several days of shopping madness (not by us or mom, but still), we hope that every one will stop and take a few moments today to remember to be thankful and give back to those less fortunate. There are so many great organizations out there helping people and animals that run on shoe string....give local and give what you can. Thanks!

weekend report

We were spared from mom yelling at the TV about football this weekend. She went out to lunch with a friend and missed the game....but her team won so it was all good.

Mom mostly spent time with us and relaxing. She is enjoying that Acorn has decided she wants to be more of a lap cat now. Almond is going on Wednesday to be neutered and then will head out to be adopted. No family yet, but hopefully a family will step up soon and find him. Acorn is still pretty snotty - may be time to find a new med for her. Nashville is still here too....mom is afraid if he goes back to the adoption center he will get really snotty again from stress. But....he isn't getting adopted in our living room - he needs to be somewhere out where he is seen. He may go with Almond and see if that helps him adjust.

Reno and Tostada are still at that remote adoption location. We haven't had an adoption from there is a little while. Mom may consider moving Reno to the adoption center with the other boys from here and allow an adult to move to the store.

We have a surprise for you tomorrow....it's cute, we promise.

wordless Wednesday

synchronized snoozing

(the nuts - Almond on the left, Acorn showing her 'tocks)

Daiquiri up top, Tostada lower

Random Fridays

That house gets some action. It comes off the foundation occasionally, but there is usually at least one occupant if not more. Poor Tim never seems to get a chance to sleep in there by himself. Someone (in this case Tostada) will end up climbing in with him.

aww - sleepy Tostada recharging in the sun

she is feeling so much better

Hey look - tiny kittens. The gray is the boy Cortland and the black is his sister Gala. They are eating and howling and (mostly) using the litter box. Mom set up baby jail and they are allowed to run around in there a couple of times per day while mom is cleaning the tower or feeding them.

Their sister Fuji however isn't doing so well. Mom got home from work on Monday and Fuji was cold and howling. Mom ran to a nearby v-e-t and ended up at the 24 hour clinic. They are giving her fluids and she is eating some on her own, but her temperature and blood sugar seem to go up and down, so she will be at the vet until they get her stable.

As for the rest of us, we are taking a cue from Nashville and plan to snooze the weekend. Though there is rumor of a kitten heading to an offsite adoption center and adoption events all weekend, so we suspect some kittens won't be getting much peace this weekend.

Tostada update

Our tabby girl seems to be feeling much better. The head of the rescue had been ill and mom and the vet decided to see about other options while decisions are being put off. The vet and mom talked and decided to try a pretty high end antibiotic to see if that would help. Tostada did seem to do better on the prednisone, but the cough came back after she was done with the meds. So this time she was put on azithrymicin for 10 days. After about 4 days she seemed to be doing much better.

Early last week mom sent a picture and text to the vet. "She seems to be feeling better. We may have to get used to hearing 'I told you so'. Do you want to try more meds?" The vet responded and said 'I told you so' is always better than more surgery. They agreed to keep Tostada on the meds for another 10 days. So sometime next week she will have had 2 rounds. Mom is completely ruling out her final judgment until after Tostada has been OFF the meds for a week or so, but for now it is nice to see Tostada feeling better. She is much more active and having fun with the other kittens. She doesn't sleep with her head tilted. No more cough. And she stopped sleeping in front of the refrigerator.

Of course, now that she is feeling better, mom has to chase her around the house to give her the meds each night. MOL

For those who sent purrs and lots of positive thoughts....and those who donated to her medical care. THANK YOU!!!! Mom says that this rescue is great for going above and beyond helping cats that need help. But we can do more because you support us. 

video Wednesday

Acorn and Tostada

weekend report

The little ones are doing good - no pictures as they are just starting to learn to eat and they are MESSY!! Mom did decide on names though....the boy will be Cortland, the girls Fuji and Gala. Both girls have white chest lockets so they may end up wearing collars to be able to tell them apart at a glance. While they act like they would prefer being syringe fed, mom discovered over the weekend that all of them are eating on their own....she is mixing canned food with KMR and they are kind of slurping it up. With no mom to teach them, they will be a little behind the eating curve until they figure it out on their own.
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The weather has been pretty nice here so we have some open windows for fresh air and window whiffing. That ladder may be one of the best investments mom ever made.

 

Daiquiri and Nashville look like they are telling secrets

 

synchronized snoozing

 

Acorn is pretty adorable

 

and pretty fiesty

 

This is Acorn and Tostada looking out the window

Mostly we did some serious snoozing over the weekend.

random Friday

Daiquiri likes to snoopervise out our front windows. 

No idea what she was looking at but mom loves how Daiq balances on the ladder.

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Good news: Margarita - the mom to the fiesta kittens - went home on Sept. 26. Took her a while to find the right match, but it sounds like she was worth the wait.

Bad news: the moos didn't make it. Mom thinks there was just too much not in their favor and they never really thrived. Devon is back with her colony and we take heart knowing they were given every chance.
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Tostada is on a new drug. The vet jokingly said we are taking a "shotgun" approach to this whole thing. Hopefully a stronger antibiotic will show some improvement. She does seem to be feeling better since she is certainly playing more, but the cough stops her and it just sounds uncomfortable.
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The little ones are doing well. The black ones both have white lockets on their chests and are both girls. (of course) The gray one is a boy. So far they are being called: the chunky one, the whiny one and the boy. MOL  Mom has been leaving some canned food and KMR in a dish for them and we know at least some of it is being eaten - the boy has been caught in the act. However, to be safe, mom has had our pet sitter come in around lunch time to feed them....just in case. Mom got a text from the pet sitter on Wednesday and apparently Almond was being goofy while she was feeding the little ones.

For now, Nashville and Reno will go back on meds for their cold. And everyone will more than likely be with us for a little while. The head of the rescue has been ill and the volunteers are trying to keep everything on an even keel until she is better.

OH - and sorry we have been a little sporadic. Mom did something to her back on Sunday and can't seem to sit (or walk or stand or whatever) for long periods of time.

not the plan

Mom intended to go to an adoption event on Saturday. However, they were short help at the adoption center and she ended up staying there to help.

 She came home with a carrier.....Tostada couldn't wait to check it out.

These guys are about a month old but not quite eating on their own. Mom isn't sure how this week is going to work out with them but we will manage. (mom is hoping they will decide to start eating on their own and make it easy, but we suspect we know how THAT is going to work out)

However, there was a great adoption story.

Corrine has been with the rescue for 2 years - she was found as a stray, already spayed. The parents of a friend of a volunteer were in town from Michigan for the weekend. Their son had adopted from the rescue before. They wanted to adopt and wanted to do it from our rescue.

They looked around for a while and ended up over in the intake side (normally not where people are allowed but the exception was made in this case). And they met Corrine....she was sitting on a table and reached out and touched D on the sleeve. His wife B came over and they fell in love. This was their new kitty. They did the paperwork and asked mom if they could pick up Corrine on Sunday morning on their way home. No problem.

Lesson note: when this happens in the future, put the cat in a crate overnight.

Mom and the family showed up Sunday morning. And spent over an hour looking for Corrine. Nothing - she was no where to be found. Mom kept apologizing and the family was great about it. D and B are retired, so they decided to stay one more night and everyone traded information. Mom promised they would keep looking.

Mom had to leave to clean cages at one of the remote locations. As she was getting ready to leave, she got a text "They found Corrine, she is in a crate now".

WOOHOO!!!

Mom called D and they agreed to meet again and send Corrine home. Mom asked the volunteers. Apparently they walked to the front of the intake space, came back and Corrine was just sitting on the table. No clue where she had been hiding. Mom got her packed up and she was on her way to the good life.

PS: Mom got a text later in the afternoon from D and B's daughter. She said her parents decided to rename her Rosebud and promised that she will be loved and spoiled rotten. Restores mom faith in humanity....

random Fridays

Tostada update: she was on prednisone after the surgery was a bust to see if it would have any effect. She did seem to be feeling better but that obviously isn't a long term solution. At the end of the round of meds, she was back to hacking and her eyes are goopy. She sleeps in front of the refrigerator too (cause it blows warm air out the bottom). The vet wants to run a couple more tests and the rescue is working on plan B. Mom isn't sure what that is at the moment, but we appreciate your purrs and support and please know we will keep you posted as we find things out.

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Nashville and Reno are a little snotty but nothing serious. Nashville has turned into a snuggler. The three older kittens are all out and about 24/7 and loving it. Nashville has been getting up on the bed at night and snuggling up next to mom. No one is much interested in laps during the day though. Too much going on.
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Mom has an adoption event on Saturday. Daiquiri says she plans to spend the weekend napping.

We hope you all have a safe and wonderful weekend. To our friends on the east coast, try to stay warm and dry and safe. It all of a sudden got a little chilly here so maybe we will get lucky and mom will break out the fuzzy blanket to watch TV this weekend. 

weekend report

Mo says thanks for all the birthday wishes.
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Mom took off Friday afternoon and was gone until really late Saturday night. She headed north to visit the foster lady from Whiskers in the Window. And then they went to one of those football games and were rooting for the Spartans....who won!! And we got an afternoon of mom not yelling at the TV. MOL

OK - so that second picture is fuzzy (mom took it with her phone). Anyhow....there is a dog that they let on the field that chases frisbees during breaks in the game!!
By the way....this is Ash (black) and Fern (gray) They are being fostered and Ash has a home but Fern is still looking. If you know anyone near Detroit looking for a seriously sweet girl, let us know.
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Remember these guys????

 Well....they are back. Both got a cold at the adoption center and since we make a commitment to all of our kittens, they are back here for a little bit. They aren't terribly snotty, so hopefully they will be back to the adoption center soon. Either way they are still on Petfinder if anyone is looking.

Oh and Tostada is doing ok but now that she is done with her meds, her cough is back full force. Mom has to touch base with the vet today.

weekend report

Well, for those that didn't see the facebook update, they didn't find anything during Tostada's surgery. We know there is SOMETHING going on, but the vet couldn't see anything. We aren't quite sure what the next step is for her. Right now the vet and mom have Tostada on a low dose of prednisone hoping that will give her a little relief. Tostada was playing a little Saturday night, but is still very lethargic and the cough just sounds bad. Mom is going to update the vet today and have her call the rescue and see what they decide from there. We will keep everyone updated....

Our weekend was relatively quiet. Mom took Nashville and another kitten to an adoption event on Saturday. Most times they are at pet supply stores so getting adoptions is a slow proposition at best. But the rescue gets out there and talks to people and that is always a good thing.

Otherwise it was quiet around here - except for mom yelling at the TV watching the football game. :)

random Fridays

Tostada will be dropped off at 8am this morning for her surgery. We know mom will be a wreck most of the day. Not sure when it will be done, but we will put an update on our facebook page when we know more.

THANK YOU!!! for the purrs, prayers, positive thoughts and donations. Mom stopped by the rescue Tuesday night and the head rescue lady mentioned she had gotten some donations through the website (she was shocked by the Canada thing haha). She didn't know we were going to put it out there. Again - we know things are tight all over and we are SO grateful for those that are giving...and understand that not everyone can give. But keep up the purrs....right now that is most important for our girl.
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kinda a weird form of cat tetris

Nashville headed off to the adoption center on Wednesday night. He sure came out of his shell once his siblings left for the adoption center. He is much friendlier with mom. And boy is he a flirt!! He LOVES the ladies around here....and of course snuggling with Uncle Tim. He wasn't very happy about the car ride....or any part of being left. Until mom put him in a tower with other kittens - he curled up in a hammock with his new "girlfriend" Inge.  :)  (picture on our facebook page)  Hopefully he will go home with another kitten or cat.
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A Moo update:
The Moos are actually are not here at the moment. Mom went to Tennessee last weekend and before she left she noticed that Devon wasn't doing so well. Since mom was going to be gone, Devon and the Moos transferred back to the rescue to be watched over. Devon has mastitis but is still nursing the kittens. They have just started eating canned food on their own, so the plan for now is leave them where they are (being in a crate seems to help Devon remain calmer) and when the Moos are eating well on their own, they will come back to us and Devon will go back to her colony. Mom stopped to see them on Tuesday and Devon hissed (go figure), Mac was busy eating, and Mollie walked right up to mom to register a complaint about something.

However, since kitten season never ends, mom brought home two other kittens on Wednesday when she dropped off Nashville. A lady had a cat that had kittens (don't get us started) and the rescue agreed to help with the kittens ONLY if mom cat was spayed. The lady got it done and we got kittens. We aren't sure if they will be honorary Moos....probably, even though they are about 2 weeks older. They are both black and white so there is that. If that is the case, we are thinking 2 more "M" names. The one on the left is a short hair male and the one of the right is a fuzzy girl.

They were a little hissy and jumpy when mom first got them home, but settled in pretty quickly. By a couple of hours later, the girl was all playful with mom even. We suspect they will figure it out in no time.
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Adoption update:

In case you missed it on our facebook page, Anise, Topeka and Reno were all adopted last week or over the weekend. Topeka has a nice young girl to spoil her. Anise was adopted with another kitten (not one of ours) and mom didn't get any info on Reno. But we are glad it didn't take too long for them to find homes.
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Bee update:
Mom tried to kill them with no luck. She found a removal company and the guy came out yesterday and took the pot, the plant and the bees. There were a few bees left but the guy said a spray would kill them or they should die on their own in about 36 hours. The bee guy did say that these were yellow jackets and they are indeed evil bees and that no amount of spray was going to kill them due to the size of the hive and it's location in the pot. He said he would know more once he froze the whole thing to kill everything, but he estimated the whole hive contained about 3,000-5,000 bees. Gives mom the heebie jeebies just thinking about it.

Tostada needs surgery

Tostada has been back with us for a couple of weeks. Mom noticed right off that the meds didn't seem to be making any difference. So a week ago she took Tostada into the rescue vet. After doing some looking around, the vet decided that it is more than likely a nasopharyngeal polyp. (info from Cornell Vet)

Basically there is a small mass, normally benign, that grows at the back of the throat. It can block breathing and give them a gag type reflex. Mom was gone over the weekend and when she got home Sunday noticed that Tostada was laying in funny positions - trying to get comfortable.

The only solution is surgery. Tostada will go in on Friday and they will sedate her and remove any polyps they find. Hopefully that will resolve any issues and not come back. She will be on meds for a couple of weeks so she will be here for a little while as well.

** from the mom:
Here is where I need to ask a favor. As you know, Tostada is a foster kitten. Like all rescues, Colony Cats runs on donations. And just the day to day expenses are high. Add in unexpected surgery and that just adds to the stress. Come to find out another foster kitten needs the same surgery as well. If you are so inclined, please consider a small donation to help with their surgerys. Just mark "Tostada surgery" on the form. Or if you want, you can contact our vet Health and Harmony and donate direct to the vet bill (614-360-3941). I wasn't sure about asking, but even the price of a cup of coffee helps.

I know I am lucky - I live in an area with low cost spay/neuter clinics. Our rescue vet is great about helping to control costs. But the simple fact is, the humane society here isn't much help - they won't help ferals and kill for space - and any other excuse they can come up with. The other shelter where I volunteer tries to state they are "no kill" but the simple fact is they are VERY limited in the admissions they take. Which leaves small rescues like Colony to step into the void. There are other small rescues that exclusively do TNR. But Mona (the head of the rescue), despite being called names but those who don't know her, has a heart of gold. Which means she will step up to take the hard cases. Look in the windows of some rescues and you see the "perfect" cats for adoption. Look in our windows and you see 3 legged cats, one eyed cats, scared cats and just a few scruffy ones that need time to adjust. We even have a couple of foster homes that are exclusively hospice fosters. But that means our medical costs are higher....even with discounts.

So for Tostada - and every other cat given a chance with Colony they wouldn't get anywhere else around here - we ask for a little support. I know times are tough for everyone. I know not everyone can give....believe me I get it. But for those that can - even just a little - THANK YOU!!!

Random Fridays

A couple of comments on Mo Cats Day thought that Mo should be allowed to have his own day. Mom says he already has a birthday, gotcha day and Black Cat Day to himself. let's not encourage his head to swell any more than necessary.
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All the kittens are doing well. Nashville's eye is clearing up to hopefully by next week he can head off to the adoption center. Tostada has some other issues that we will talk about next week so she will be here a little while. Between flirting with the girls, this is Nashville's favorite spot.
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The Moos are doing well. Devon will let mom scratch her on the head a few times but that is about it. It seems to be 1/2 step forward and then 1 step back. Both Mollie and Mac are sort of mobile so that probably isn't helping Devon's peace of mind either. (nor mom screaming during the bee incident)

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Tostada seems a little smug here, no? Actually mom forgot to turn off the flash and she blinked. MOL But geez check out those whiskers.

Have a great weekend!!

weekend report

Today is Labor Day here in the US and that means mom gets a long weekend. 

We plan to celebrate by doing NOTHING!  MOL

Mom took Reno, Topeka and Anise to an adoption event on Saturday. There wasn't much interest other than "aww they are cute". Not too surprising...in all honesty these events are more about talking to people than adoptions. A pair of early 20-something girls stopped into the store with a 5 week old kitten they had found. Mom talked to them about shots and gave them some info about our local low cost spay/neuter clinic.

After the event, the kittens went up to the adoption center. Mom will get their info up on Petfinder, but really kittens get adopted much faster where people can see them in person. Most of the kittens at the center are older than these three, plus the cute factor, so we suspect they should be adopted quickly.

Nashville is having fun running around the house. His eye is looking some what better but not enough to go the adoption center. He has turned into a ladies man and can be seen flirting with Tostada and Daiquiri. Tostada is pretty relaxed around the house and is cuddling when in the mood. Considering she was the most skittish of the fiesta kittens, mom was surprised by the turn around.

Thankful Thursday

Adoption news:

Tamarind and Tumeric were both adopted last week!!! (not together, but still) Since mom doesn't do the adoptions at the center, we don't know anything about this new families, but we wish them good luck!!

Nashville and London are now both on Petfinder. Mom is reluctant to send London to the adoption center just to avoid him getting snotty again....we shall see. However, we suspect just getting him up on Petfinder will get him a home. :)

Speaking of snot, Tostada is back with us for a little bit. She had gotten pretty sick right after going to the adoption center. Then she came back out to the adoption floor, got sick, came back out, got sick.... notice a pattern??  Anyhow, she was on the adoption floor on Friday when mom stopped by and when mom got her out, she noticed Tostada seems kind of wheezy. Rather than put her back, mom said she could come to our house in the hopes she would recover a little better. For now she is in the tower so mom can catch her to medicate her. We don't care but she has been growled at several times by Topeka and Nashville.

Mom will be at an event tomorrow night and plans to take London. After last weekend, he appears to be pretty bomb proof. :)