2012 in Review - Part 1

So we decided to look back over 2012.....we thought maybe do the highs and lows in separate posts but decided no one would want to read an entire post about the lows of the year. MOL  So we decided to run 6 months at a time.....here is the first half!!!

We started off 2012 with Caramel and Mocha......  Mocha was our tiny baby that mom discovered had an old rib injury that reminded us once again why we rescue....she is in a MUCH better place with her new family now. :)

We gotted our first new cat tree too!!

And this past spring was when things got heated in Florida as TNR came to the forefront with a hotel chain. We have said before that we are ALL for TNR and Junior is the best example.

Before the coffee kittens were adopted, Martin came to stay with us for a while. After he went back, the shelter decided he was going to have to go back to the woman who rescued him since his behavior was unpredictable. Mom ran into Miss Jen this fall and got to see a picture of Martin after Miss Jen found him a new forever home. YEAH for Martin!!

While we were trying to solve the mystery of Caramel's enduring snot, Cheerio came to spend some time with us. Mom has seen his mom at Petco a few times and while he is still shy, he has come around and routinely loves on his new dad. :)

In March we got a call about one of the cats that had been trapped and adopted by a neighbor. It seems that the lady was moving and rather than being responsible, she just left Madam outside. Fortunately, mom was able to catch her and after some minor drama, placed her at Petco and she was adopted by a very nice older couple.....

 The end of March brought a new adventure.  Marble and Silver came to the house. Marble had been spayed and Silver came in as a tiny orphaned kitten. The rescue got lucky and Marble decided that Silver was a nice baby and took her as her own.  You can read mom's favorite Silver memory here

 Oh yeah - and mom got new ink.....

April brought some serious sadness as we were joined by Louisa and her kittens who ran for the Bridge so very soon.....

May brought some serious craziness as we had Wendy and the fast food kittens and then Wild Bill, Annie, Sally Mae and Doc Holiday join us in a short period of time....Ultimately Wild Bill and Annie Oakley ran for the Bridge, but we are glad they got a chance to be loved and safe. And their mom got spayed and the neighborhood where they were found made an effort to do some serious TNR - so they did make an impact in several lives.

 OMG - can you believe that it was JUNE when the alcohol kittens joined us?????  Holy cats....

after staring at the picture, mom thinks the one up front might be Bourb

Stay tuned tomorrow for Part 2

Changeover.....

Quite a few changes over the weekend here.....

Morton was adopted on Saturday. He will be spoiled rotten by a single lady with no other cats (though he may end up getting a companion when they are both ready).

A woman had been coming in over a week after meeting mom at the adoption event. She was interested in Cheerio, but her husband was being wishy-washy. She called mom on Saturday and said she was ready. Cheerio is going to be a foster-to-adopt to make sure he adjusts ok (we know he will).

The rescue is working with mom to place Madam who is now being called Madeline. She adjust pretty well with our neighbor but a spot at Petco opened up, so mom moved her over there last night. She was a little scared, but the staff at the store are all great and we know she will come around in no time.

And.......  Caramel will be vaccinated today and go to Petco tonight. Boy is he in for a surprise. But, we know he should find his forever home pretty quickly.

What a weekend......

Mom ran some errands, spent some time at the shelter and then went over to grandma's house....grandpa was out of town with a group from there church helping with disaster relief in Indiana.

Sunday mom took Caramel to Petco for their adoption weekend. Lots of people looking - and some donations which is good. Cheerio has a couple interested, so we will keep you posted on him. Caramel decided he DID NOT like being at this event and ended up in time out in the crate. MOL

We got locked up in the afternoon for a couple of hours. There was lots of banging and the dyson monster. When we were let back out, the dining room table was gone (mom sold it) and we found this:

Our other tree is now in the back bedroom. Mom says her next project is reorganizing that..... (sure - just don't hold your breath)

Mancat Monday & Judi-Bug

Mom Judi from SASS needs our purrs and prayers......we LOVE YOU!!!
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Mancat Monday

Cheerio is coming along very well. He was out Saturday afternoon. When mom put him in his room for the night (she is afraid he is going to get under something in the bedroom and she won't be able to get him out in the morning - she leaves the door closed during the day). Anyhow, he started banging on the door to get out!!!  And Sunday morning he started in as soon as he heard mom get up. :)

He still hides a little, but he is out and about a lot more. The first breakthrough was Friday night - Caramel was in the kitchen chirping away as he killed a cat toy. Cheerio snuck out and the next thing we knew he was in the kitchen with Caramel.

Cheerio still growls softly when he gets cornered, but he also chirps at mom and comes when she calls his name. She wants him to have another week with us to work on his social skills, but in a week he has made some serious progress.

Cheerio's brother.....

When Cheerio was found, his brother Cooper was with him.

When Cheerio came to stay with us, his brother Cooper stayed at Petco. And Thursday night, Cooper got adopted. His new family has a mom and dad and 2 kids and 2 dogs.

Mom says when they were handing out bravery and brains before being born, Cooper got all the bravery and Cheerio got all the brains. :)

Thankful Thursday......

We know other have posted about this too, but we wanted to add our support to the work of Petsmart Charities Relief Waggin' as they are in Florida. There was a place called Caboodle Ranch that has been shut down due to the conditions there. We had heard good things about this place a few years ago but recently had heard some disturbing things. We hope the gentleman running this place is getting some help and we are glad that several groups have stepped forward to help the cats. We will be purring for all of them....
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We had VERY nice weather here yesterday and got some serious window whiffin time - even if mom forgot to use the camera. However, she was muttering something about 4 feet of snow in July if this weather keeps up. We don't think it is really going to snow here in O-hi-o in July, but she seemed convinced. MOL
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Cheerio update: mom got him out again last night. Normally she would leave him out during the day, but he is so shy that she is afraid he will get himself in somewhere and she won't be able to find him. At least if she is home she can keep an eye on him. He got down from her arms after about 20 minutes and went under the end table again. Mom heard a hiss a while later and looked over to see Junior with his head and shoulders under the table - we think Junior may have gotten a little too close. :)

Cheerio did wander out from under there before the evening was out - he made it about 2 feet and then went back underneath. Mom says she will be home a good part of the weekend and we are going to give him more time out to see what happens. He is a sweet boy and just needs to brave up a little.

Oh no you didn't......

What was in the other carrier?????  This.....

Meet Cheerio.

He was at Petco. But is he VERY shy. So, mom switched him out for Mocha.

So, we are now Mocha-less and up one Cheerio.  :)  He is currently in the bathroom. Mom tried him out some on Sunday. He was pretty scared. In fact, everytime mom walked in the bathroom he was curled up in the litter box. However, last night before bed mom checked on him and he was sleeping in FRONT of the litter box. And as of this morning he was sleeping on the scratcher in the room. We will take that as progress. The second time he came out on Sunday, he stayed in mom's arms and then got down on his own. And made it all of 2 feet until he was under the end table. He did sniff noses with Spud.....  We hope he will come around and can go back to get his forever home.

No one has much background on him. He is about 6 months old and was found as a stray. Other than being scared, he is people friendly. Doesn't care much one way or the other about the cats. Mom took Caramel into the bathroom last night as a test and cheerio acted like he could care less. Mom left them alone for about 30 minutes and when she came back they were both asleep on opposite sides of the room. So much for that.....

We will keep working with him. He has toys but mom doesn't hear him playing with them. He tenses up when mom picks him up but relaxs pretty quickly. Hopefully his trust will come around soon.