Rescue stuff

 Still no kittens. But it's still April, although mom is developing a twitch. 

As an update we are just fostering and mom is volunteering with the shelter. She had some personal issues with the small rescue and decided it was time to move on. 

Speaking of rescue though, there is a bird rescue in MI that got some attention over the last few days. Everything is  summorized here. But essentially, she got an inquiry asking to come to their location to view the birds, though their policy is you have to apply and be approved first.

A lot of small rescues will do this as it cuts down on wasted time for volunteers. And there are people out there that do treat shelters like a petting zoo where they can just come and hang out. For larger groups and facilities that may be fine, but it's very hard on small rescues.

Anyhow, the guy got mad and the director decided she had enough and replied with quite the email calling him out. He of course had to respond and she decided to post it to their Facebook page. They are now over $30k in donations, which is amazing.  But more than that, I hope this is a window into how small rescues operate and how your "one request" is just one more than on top of so many other things. 

So...hang with us while we wait for kittens. And please be kind to your local rescue staff and volunteers. 

A weird day in rescue

 *a post from the mom

For anyone in rescue, you know it can be a total up and down adventure.

Friday was totally one of those days. The alarm went off and when I turned it off I discovered a text from another volunteer that the family that adopted Annatto who was here as a foster in August 2017. For new readers, he was surrendered to a local vet. When they tested him they discovered he was FIV+ and sent him to rescue. Of course Colony Cats believes FIV+ and negative cats can live together, so I took him to foster and introduced him to the spice kittens and when they were adopted, he met Goldfish.

Well his name is now Roe and his family adores him. 

So that's a pretty great way to start the morning. 

However, later that morning I got a text from the director of the rescue. I had done an adoption on Wednesday to a family of two cats - one went home and the other we kept back when we realized she had a big bump over her spay incision. She was seen by the vet the next day. Friday morning the volunteers came in and found she had passed away over night. She was 3 years old and super sweet. I had to call the family who was waiting for an update on when they could take her home only to have to tell them that she had died. (before you judge, I offered to contact them since I had met them all on Wednesday) Fortunately the family was very understanding and will be coming in next week to see if they meet another cat to adopt.

It takes a village

Last week mom got an email from the director of the rescue asking if mom could figure out how to get a cat back from TN. Mom ran with it, reaching out to her favorite bloodhound people for help and posting on social media. Within 4 days We had drivers lined up and a plan in place. Mom's sister-in-law along with her niece (aka the kid) would pick Roxy up and start the chain.

Well....best laid plans and all that. It started to snow on Saturday. Traffic sucked. But Abby and the kid were on the road. It was decided they would get Roxy and keep her overnight but call off the transport and try again on Sunday.

After several hours they got to the shelter...to a sign that were closed due to weather. After banging on the door they found a person, tracked down the cat and paperwork and everyone got back on the road.

Roxy spent the night with mom's family and everyone got on the road on Sunday.

She made it back to the rescue safe. Now we start the process to find her a new forever home.

Thank you to everyone who stepped up: Abby and Lanah, Jacquelyn (sorry Saturday didn't work out), Roberta, and Amanda. Chris for getting us organized and Karen with our local cocker rescue for reaching out to their KY adopters to help us fill the run.

In honor of a new start, the kid voted she keep the name she was given in TN. Welcome home Linley.

the forest for the trees

Mom is a firm believer in the starfish story - heck, she has starfish tattooed on her forearm. You know the one "you can't save all of them, but you can save this one". Mom says it helps her to focus on what is in front of her and not be burned out trying to worry about things she can't change.

However, an article was posted in Animal Sheltering Magazine talking about changing the rescue model. The author talks about another proverb where a town keeps seeing babies in a river and struggles to save each one. At one point two people start running up river and when the villagers try to call them back, they respond by saying they are going to try to stop them from being thrown into the river.

An interesting perspective.....honestly mom says she hasn't thought about it long enough to know what the answer is for her. But it does require a change in thinking - for example, if someone comes in to surrender an animal, rather than just have them sign over the pet and be "angry" at the surrender, why not ask questions?? What is going on? Can the person be helped with some information or support? Lead them to a food bank or low cost medical care. There are websites out there that also help pet parents with medical costs.

Want to be inspired about this sort of thing? Follow the Pongo Fund out of Portland Oregon. They are striving to keep pets IN THEIR HOMES!! And they are making a difference.

Along those lines, earlier this week Jackson Galaxy and his Foundation moved kittens from Los Angeles to Boulder CO. If you watch the original video, he talks about being inspired....and what it took to make it happen. In short - he knew the right people and they were able to take adoptable kittens from the Best Friends LA shelter to Boulder Humane...which allowed Best Friends to take vulnerable kittens from the LA City Services shelter.

But not everyone has those connections or abilities.

When mom was with a previous group, she had a clash of personalities with the director of that group. The lady told mom that she needed to see the big picture and see the "forest not the trees". Mom got mad and told the lady that the lady's problem was that more often than not she was so focused on the big picture that she forgot the forest was made up of trees.

Cookie and the snack kittens - now all adopted

Not everyone has the abilities to fix the "big picture". While we know that the shift is coming - and that is great - there still need to be people on the ground taking care of the trees. And there is nothing wrong with that either.

Licorice - now adopted

thankful Thursday

Geez we love this tree.....  Mom has had to tighten the blocks at the top a couple of times, but we blame user error rather than design. MOL

When mom was in TN, she got a text from her friend, Miss Rita who is also our pet sitter. She wanted to know who the "mini Tim and Tom" was. Mom had to laugh....Daiquiri certainly does look like the boys - though in actuality, she is more gray than they are.
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If you have been following us on Facebook, you would have seen posts about a rescue over the weekend. Mom got an email from a previous adopter about a cat that kept showing up on her back deck. It got more urgent on Sunday when our area got at least 4 inches of snow. Mom went back and forth with Miss Roberta and also the head of the rescue. Finally about 7pm on Sunday night the cat came back to the deck and mom ran over (Miss Roberta lives about 5 minutes from us) and got the cat.

Tuesday mom got her to the local clinic. We got confirmation that she is a girl (mom wasn't sure). She had been previously spayed, but had no microchip. She was tested (negative) and is now vaccinated. She does have quite the "vocabulary" to her....mostly growling at all of us. Mom suspects that it is mostly fear and she will get over it in time. But what to do about a name....

Meet Sonata: (from wikipedia) in music, literally means a piece played as opposed to a cantata (Latin and Italian cantare, "to sing"), a piece sung.

She is pretty tiny weighing just over 7 pounds. She is now safe and everything else....

Know anyone who is looking for a house panther???

Random Fridays.....

Mom got an email from our contact with Ontario Bloodhound about two dogs about an hour away from us. Seems that they are left out back and basically ignored. The female is so big she won't fit in the doghouse and has been left to the elements. A local rescuer has been after the people to release them....which they finally did. And then loaded their motorcycles on a travel trailer behind their new truck and took off for Florida (before we even have the dogs). Grrrrrr

 
The female is in foster and the male is being boarded until he can be vetted and then will be moved to a foster home.

And of course, this is the mom we are talking about, there were two cats hanging out at the house too. Both pretty friendly. And mom had one carrier.... She was contemplating the drive back out there this weekend (cause when they got Blu out to get him in the car, the cats both scattered). However, the woman from the local basset rescue that was helping with the boarding kennel stopped by as mom was dropping him off. The lady is on the board of the local humane society...they know about the cats and someone is going out in the next couple of days to pick them both up and bring them to the shelter. thank cod....
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Mom is still working with Cumin. He won't come looking for attention, but at least doesn't run away like mom has cooties or something. We still wish he had a friend, but it is early in the kitten season.

We did learn something interesting about him....when mom picked him up someone said his name was "fed ex". So not keeping that. But mom asked Miss Mona the other day what was up with the name. And it seems the a Fed Ex driver found him and asked at one of the Petco stores where we have adoptable cats about what to do with him and they took him and called the rescue. Cute....
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And in a hilarious moment, mom pulled into the garage late after dropping off the dog on Wednesday night. As she parked, she looked up and.....there was Allie our feral girl. Mom has several spots set up for her to sleep, and now Allie is BUSTED since mom knows her spot.  :)  Oh, and it isn't the nice new shelter with the straw either. MOL

Opt to Adopt - Snapdragon

With Chex being adopted, there was an open cage at Petco. Mom conferred with Miss Beckie and they decided to help out our rescue vet and take this handsome mancat up to the store.

He is about a year old. Mom isn't sure about the entire story, but here is the part she has gotten.

A couple moved into a home in the country and this cat kept coming up to the house. When it was SO cold last week, they let him into the house. They also contacted another local rescue and was told to take him to the vet that both rescues use. The vet tested him (negative for both FeLV and FIV), vaccinated him and neutered/microchipped him. They have four cats (well now three after Saturday) living in the clinic. So Miss Beckie suggested that we help out and take him. So Friday after work mom picked him up from the vet and took him to Petco. He is a little scared and shy but likes people and we know the clerks at Petco will have him outgoing in no time.

Here's the strange part. Miss Beckie called mom on Saturday to ask about him. Apparently the lady who brought him in had called the vet clinic and wanted him back, but they were going to let him outside. The vet said that he is friendly and deserves an indoor forever home. If the couple wants a barn cat, the vet could put them in touch with a rescue. In the meantime she told the lady, our rescue had him and would try to find him a home. Not liking that answer, the lady called the rescue and left a message for the head of the rescue. Oops....Miss Beckie and mom kind of hadn't told Miss Mona about him yet.....  MOL

However, Miss Mona said the same thing - if you want a barn cat fine, but you can't have a nice friendly cat back if you are just going to toss him back outside. Besides, after leaving him at the vet, the lady sent the vet a text saying "you can keep him, we don't want him back". Works for a release for us. And gotta love the vet lady - she said if the woman gives her a hard time she can pay the vet bill first (and at about $500 for the test, surgery, vaccines, revolution and boarding, we suspect she won't want to pay).

So, Snapdragon is safe with us and looking for a loving forever home....with a nice warm bed for him.

new guy??

Mom looked at the picture from yesterday and realized you could see Edison's auction tag. Not sure why the temp foster didn't remove it, but mom did tell the transport coordinator (who was also driving a leg) that it was still on and Chris promised to bring scissors to cut it off. Yes - cut it off - there is no buckle or anything - they are put on and grommeted shut. Just sad.....  But better knowing he and Marie will NEVER wear one again.....  paws crossed for permanent homes soon for the slobbery kids.
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OK - so we teased you yesterday about mom giving two kittens a bath. Mom just takes them in the shower with her. They get more wet and they are shut in behind the shower doors. No one enjoys it, but it seems to be easier than arm wrestling them in the sink - in the shower mom can keep them on the bathtub floor and avoid the pointy parts.

But we would like to tell you WHO got a bath. Cognac has had some....ummmm....issues with the backend. So, he needed to be cleaned up.

The other guy???  Well, when mom stopped at the rescue adoption center the other day, there was a single kitten in a carrier. Seems someone in the shopping center had seen a cat out back and wanted to borrow a trap. The rescue lady went out and it was a little black kitten. She put down food and just grabbed him - no trap needed.

Mom had seen him a few times and finally on Saturday when she was picking up the cats to take to Petco, mom threatened to put him in her pocket. The rescue lady rolled her eyes and said "just take him already". So mom brought him home.

He was the other guy who got a bath. He had a bad case of fleas and got a pill on Friday to kill them all, but mom wanted to be sure he was cleaned up. He was good and then cuddled with mom. And she spent about 15 minuted picking little tiny ticks off of him (and drowning them in rubbing alcohol - best way to kill them). She is pretty sure she got all of them. While she turned him all over while he was drying - and bless him he made biscuits on her arm and PURRED.

The alcohol kittens have pretty much accepted him. He is pretty scared so he spent time with mom while the other group ran around loose several times over the weekend. Doc on the other hand hissed at the poor guy several times.

So, we hope you will help us welcome Bear. (oh and he isn't completely black - he is more a chocolate color with red undercoat - mom is working on a better picture).

Good karma points

we are going to hand this over to mom:

I can only hope that this morning leads to a few good karma points for me.

I had signed up to do a transport of Edison for Ontario Bloodhound Rescue. In order to get to the boarding place to pick him up, I had to be out of the house by 7:20am (and to have time to grab some breakfast for the road).

I got him in the car and he was wonderful. I did discover that the local vet listed him at about 2 years old as opposed to about 7 years old, which is what they announced at the auction. hmmmmm  Anyhow, Edison traveled so well and was a joy. I know his foster family and eventually his forever family is going to love him to pieces.

I got to the handoff spot and got him out to take him for a walk when this little jack russell mix dog came out of the bushes. Pretty dirty, no collar, and not neutered. great.....

The woman driving the next leg got there and held Edison - the little dog was scared of us but pretty interested in the bloodhound. I managed to FINALLY get a leash noosed over his neck and get him in my car. I don't know that area great, but I had passed the humane society. Back in the opposite direction. ok.....

I got there and spoke to someone explaining the situation. He sighed and made a couple of phone calls. He then told me that his director said they can't take the dog and I have to take it to the dog warden. Which is of course, another 15 minutes going away from home.

The dog warden was MUCH nicer. I have to admit, I now completely understand why people get so frustrated when they find animals. I am trying to do the right thing and somehow the burden is on me. Which is fine, I was never going to leave the dog in a parking lot off a 4 lane highway, but the average person may not do that. Anyhow, the dog warden scanned the dog - no chip. He took my information and how I found him. Said there is a 3 day hold and then he will be evaluated for adoption.

I got home and stopped to buy cat litter and discovered the cats hadn't been brought over. Made a phone call and ended up driving over to pick them up and bring them back. Oh and an interloper, but more on that Monday.

Then, home, a shower with a pair of kittens that needed a bath, and some Olympic watching.

Mom's Saturday Adventure....

We know you want to hear about the adventure, but first - a break for some kitten news: the fast food kittens were neutered on Thursday and mom got to see them at the shelter on Saturday.

They all looked great. And..... the Rally man was adopted on Sunday.

Happy Gotcha Day Rally - concats to your new family!!

And, now.....on to the adventure (oh, and the powers stayed on through the brief storm yesterday - yeah for a/c!!):

We know what you are thinking....that is NOT Penny the Beetle.

Nope.....this is the official June 30 Bloodhound Transport Vehicle.

See, mom got an email a couple of weeks ago from the bloodhound rescue that there was supposed to be a huge sale in Ohio on June 30th of puppy mill dogs (of all breeeds - total number to be sold was over 546). We HATE these things. But the rescue had a possible opportunity to get a pair of bloodhounds and mom assured the rescue that we were in and would do whatever to make sure they made it to the temporary foster near us.

The slobbery kids were picked up by mom and transferred into the rented transport vehicle. Neither knows anything about a leash or cars. They both had to be picked up to be put in the SUV.

This is the girl. The idiot (and that is all we are going to call him) said she had been only bred once, with puppies weaned in February (no, we have no idea what happened to the puppies - presumably sold in a pet store or online). Mom took one look and her and snorted - she told the rescue coordinator that if this girl had only been bred once, mom would eat her auction tag.

This is her handsome boyfriend. They weren't in bad body condition and their skin wasn't bad - though in need of a bath (or four). Put his nails were so overgrown....there was one that had to be an inch and a half long. Plus it appears both of them may have abcesses between their toes from the wire crates.

They will both go to the vet tomorrow and be checked out. They are approximately 6-7 years old. Hopefully they can adjust to a home life quick and find their forever homes.

Mom got to name them too - she decided to name them Marie and Edison. They are named after her maternal great-grandparents. Both started life out a little rough but once they met each other their lives got so much better and they lived a love story. Mom figured that was a good start for the slobbery kids.

As a side note: she rented a Chevy Equinox (pictured above). While she wasn't sure how she was going to like an SUV considering our regular car, she was surprised how much she liked it. She couldn't get 2 big dog crates in the back, but the one did fit and Marie traveled tethered next to the crate in the back.

Let's see......

Mom spoke to her sister-in-law last night. They came up for the week to bring the kid and to spend the week with grandma as she recovers. Grandma had just gotten home from surgery and they were getting her settled. Mom did warn Abby to read the med bottle and not trust grandpa to get it right. :) But it sounds like all went well.

Annie did end up at the v-e-t last night. She is just so little that mom says better safe than sorry. Mom took Sally with for moral support. It was fun to watch them race around the exam room waiting for the v-e-t. OK - Sally raced and Annie waddled along behind her. :) The tech asked when Annie had last peed. Not sure. And then she peed on the floor - well, there you have it. MOL The v-e-t recommended putting her back completely on KMR and on a med called lactulose until her system adjusts. It may have just been too much change and she couldn't keep up. So.....Wild Bill is in with the bigger kittens and Annie is in solitary getting her meds and KMR. At least Bill can't try to nurse on her this way.

Wild Bill likes to sleep ON Doc Holiday

And in other good news, the rescue lady said she would accept this group of kittens into the rescue to get them adopted (when they are big enough).

Oh - and while at the v-e-t mom noticed a spot on Sally's front paw. It was....a TICK!!!! ewwwww  Mom got it off and drowned it in alcohol. And then went over the rest of her pretty well - and Doc when she got home. Hopefully it was just that one (cause mom said she felt like she had the cooties all night).

Something to think about.....

"What is it about these creatures that just seeing them, knowing they're all right, makes every petty worry fade? Faith mused. Is it because they give us back ourselves? That with them we are not judged, need not pretend, can allow the emotions we must hide in order to survive to emerge freely, in all innocence, without fear?"

from Best Friends The True Story of the Worlds Most Beloved Animal Sanctuary

From the mom: I have had people ask how I can continue to rescue and foster after seeing bad things. I think the better question is, how can I not continue? Does my heart break with every loss? Sure. But, I rejoice at every save and every adoption. Every transport and every post about good news lets me know that there is good out there - even in the bad times. I don't think you can get into rescue and expect everything to go perfectly and no animal to suffer - but you have to focus on doing the best you can for that animal in that moment (and if I could get that tattooed on me without being wordy, I would).