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).

Happy Gotcha Day Maestro!!!

Seventeen years ago mom was home on break from college and was convinced that the resident cat (Angel Butterscotch) needed a friend. She knew grandpa would be unamused, so she went to the local shelter and picked up this tiny gray and white kitten (we would love to show you a picture, but mom has NO IDEA where she put the old prints). Anyhow, Butterscotch HATED the new kitten...until after he came back from being neutered....  :)

Maestro has traveled to grad school in Michigan, an adventure in Texas and now to our home in Ohio. He is the senior mancat of the house.

Happy Gotcha Day!!!

Mom couldn't get him to wear the hat, so she settled for the silly collar.

No party is complete without treats - hope you can join us!!



We decided to come back to answer a question: How did Maestro get his name? Mom doesn't like to use people names (and before you say anything, Tim and Tom had their names when they got here). Mom was in college when she gotted Maestro. She is into music and the maestro is the conductor of an orchestra - it just popped into her head and stuck. And has been baffling people with the spelling ever since....MOL

We have the sads.....

Mom went to check on Baloo this morning and he was doing very badly like last weekend. She took him back to the vet and his white blood cell count (which should be about 5) was 0.7. After talking to the vet and spending some time with him, she knew that the right thing to do was to help him across The Bridge. He is now safe and healthy and playing with his brother Mowgli.

We think the 3 kittens the shelter took will be fine - they all appear to be very healthy.

We are going to spend some time this weekend with mom doing some cuddling and will be back on Tuesday with a special post.....but we are taking a couple days break until then....though we are sure mom may be reading and commenting.

Thanks as always for your love and support...

A twist of fate....

A couple of weeks ago, mom got an email from a friend she used to work with. Miss Lisa is living with her mom who has Alzheimers. They have 6 cats between the two of them and her mom had been feeding some cats behind her house. The neighbor is now feeding the adults but brings the kittens over to Lisa and her mom (we aren't sure why and didn't ask). Anyhow, we had mom tell Lisa about TNR and they are going that route with the adults.

Mom emailed the shelter to see if they could take the kittens and they agreed. Mom volunteered to foster them if it was a space issue. However, ends up there was someone else in line and she took the kittens. Mom was a little disappointed, but we got Mason and Danny for a week and that was fun.

Yesterday, mom got an email about fostering 3 little kittens. Sure she said...Baloo could live somewhere else short term and Kiari and Cloud will go to their rescue adoption center on Sunday (there is another adoption event on Saturday).

Well, mom got to the shelter last night and found this:

Dang, she thought, those kittens look pretty familiar. She checked their foster sheet and the names matched the ones that had been given to Lisa's kittens....

So, we now have Baloo's siblings with us. Mom emailed the shelter asking if they will accept Baloo and then we will go about re-introducing them. At least he will have company. We suspect the shelter will agree - these will be the smallest kittens in the system and should go fast once they can be adopted.

Thankful Thursday....

Like a lot of others...we are purrin' that Kimo comes home soon - enough adventure already!

We are thankful for all our good friends here!!  Baloo is doing much better. Mom had him out in the pen last night while she sat on the floor with him. He bounces around like mad. Mom has to remember to get the camera out....  Cloud wants to play with him and Baloo gives it right back. Kiari just really isn't sure what to think about him.....she growls and smacks him - and he gets right back in her face. MOL

The rest of us are just thankful for somebody warm to snuggle with....it is starting to get cold here!!

Not Wordless Wednesday....

Baloo came home last night - you can see his nekkid front legs. He is eating like a champ and on 2 different drugs. No call from the vet yet this morning as to a definite parasite so we don't know if this drug will help or if we need another. But we think he is back on track. Oh - and he SO needs another bath....poor baby. :)

We all want to thank you for the power of the purr/grr.....we know it makes a difference and it certainly makes mom feel better to know she isn't worrying along....

PeeSee: Laura & Jet Dragon: we don't think the vet is so much worried about Ivy's hips - more about if her weight is effecting anything. Mom suspects it might at some point, but for now she says she likes her fingers where they are and will take a wait and see approach with our crabby girl.....

Baloo update.....

Thanks for all the good wishes.....we think they are working.

Mom called the vet's office and Baloo can come home with her after work. No test results back yet, but he will come home with some meds just in case.

Weekend Reports....

Baloo report: The vet isn't sure what is going on and we are hoping to hear more this morning. For now, he is at the vet so they can get fluids in him and everything. The problem with kittens this little is that they can go from good to ok to bad so very quickly and it is hard to get them back. So mom decided to leave him with the vet to give him the best chance possible. He was doing well last night and she is waiting to hear more this morning. One cute moment from yesterday - mom was letting Baloo wander around the exam room while they waited for the vet. He was walking around and would come over when mom called his name. He was about a foot from the door when it opened - he SHOT up in the air, spit very loudly and ran under the bench where mom was sitting. She couldn't help but laugh as she managed to get him back out and soothe him a little......   Mom did give him another bath on Sunday and got rid of the last of the fleas..... 

Gray kits report: Adoption events both Saturday and Sunday. Everyone thought they were cute, but no real interest. Someone did take an application and info on Kiari, but no word from them yet....we shall see. Another event on Saturday and then mom will probably take them to the adoption center to increase their chances of being adopted. :) There was a HUGE storm that blew through last night. The kits were playing and then there was a LOUD clap of thunder - they both shot under the sofa. 

adoption events are hard work

v-e-t report: Our vet came on Friday. Tim, Tom and Ivy were due for exams and vaccinations. Mom also weighed Maestro and he actually gained a little weight, so she isn't as worried about the old man. :)  Tim and Tom were OK about the whole thing. Ivy was her normal screaming self. Dr Taylor did ask if Ivy was sensitive on the back end....mom laughed and said only when you touch her without permission. Then Dr Taylor asked if Ivy has trouble jumping up on things or if jumping seems to hurt (the boys lost a few ounces and apparently gave them to their sister). Nope mom said, Ivy's only jumping difficulty is that she is short....  Dr Taylor laughed.

It has been nice here for a couple of days, but the weather guy says that winter is on the way......

But, our Christmas cactus has bloomed again. Grandma says hers doesn't bloom every year, but ours does. This is about the only plant mom hasn't killed. Though she does keep it at the top of the shelves to keep it away from us....

Baloo update

Normally we don't post twice in one day, but the post below was already planned...

Anyhow, Baloo is doing....OK. He has a vet appt this afternoon as he isn't eating like mom would like. He is active and lovey and everything else, but his gums are a little pale. We know they had bad fleas and mom is wondering if he isn't a little anemic and that is affecting his appetite. Mom has tried a few different foods and that doesn't seem to be it....

We have other updates, but we will do those tomorrow....

well crap....

The vet just called and Mowgli ran for the Bridge. We know it happens with the little ones, but man this year has been bad.....  They couldn't get his temperature and glucose to level out.

Baloo is now alone and that is a whole other issue as well.....  And mom has to tell Lisa as well.....

Rescue Me Week - final day

Today we are doing something a little different. If you have been following us long, you know that we foster kittens for a couple of different local groups. Mom also drives transports sometimes on the weekends. And sometimes she gets a phone call from a friend that needs some help....

She got one of those calls last week. She and Lisa used to work together. Lisa now lives with her mom who has Alzheimers and they have 6 cats between them. There are also community cats behind the house that her mom used to feed and the neighbor is now taking care of. However, the neighbor thinks that Lisa and her mom need to be responsible for any kittens (yes, we had the conversation about TNR and they are working on trapping the adults). The neighbor had brought over 3 kittens....mom emailed the shelter and they were able to take them. Well, on Monday mom got an email from Lisa and they found two more - mom told her to bring them over since Danny & Mason were on the way back to the shelter and Kiari and Cloud were at Petco. The kittens came on Wednesday:

Mowgli

Baloo

Now, we could use some purrs for Mowgli. Mom gave them both a bath last night due to fleas. She worries that she didn't get him dry enough and warm enough cause when she checked on them around 12:30am, Mowgli was wobbling around and cold. Mom FREAKED OUT!!! She called the 24 hour vet that helped with Swizzle and took him up there. He was so cold his temperature didn't register. They got him warmed up and some fluids under the skin. Mom and the vet agreed to leave him there overnight - mom has some skills, but he was better where he could be closely watched and eventually they could get an iv in him. Mom called this morning (took her 30 minutes to work up the courage) and he is still alive....thank heaven - we don't think mom could stand one more heart break right now. They got his temperature up to normal and an iv in him. But they aren't sure he is completely out of the woods and able to regulate his own temperture quite yet (the guess is that they are about 3-4 weeks old). So he is still at the vet and mom is stopping after work to get a space heater for the bathroom (we are a little jealous).

So, this time it is about rescue kittens that WE helped rescue. These boys will be in the bathroom for another few weeks - have to get them tested once they are a little bigger. We are hoping to get them into the shelter system since they will get adopted so much faster, but mom says we will cross that bridge when we come to it.

We want to add our thanks to everyone who commented on our posts and everyone that posted....we know how important even just a little more knowledge of the animals out there.

Rescue Me Day 4....

Mayzie is still hosting Rescue Me Week. She mentions today that it is a little hard to see all the pets that still need homes - but we hope bringing attention to it will get at least some of them adopted!!!

Today we would like to talk about returns. Almost all shelter adoption contracts we have ever read have a clause about returning the animal to the shelter if you can't keep it for any reason. Having been in rescue for many years now, mom says she has seen it all. Her thought is this - if you can't keep the animal, bring it and back and be honest about the reason. Don't make up something so that YOU feel better....your comments have consequences for these animals. It is hard enough to go from a shelter to a home and then back to the shelter. But if you say the cat isn't peeing in the box, that cat may not make it back out to an adoption floor. If you don't tell the shelter your dog bit someone and it happens again, the shelter ends up looking bad. Bringing back the animal isn't about YOU - it is about trying to help that animal.

These kitties are all from CHA.

 Bach was adopted a few months ago with his brother Mozart (no, not our Mozart). Mozart was returned about a month later as the person said that he was peeing outside the box. She did say she took him to the vet (most people will admit they have not done that) but she was pregnant and had two little kids and....  You get the picture. So Mozart came back (and was adopted again last weekend). About 2 weeks ago she came back with Bach and said that he was running around the house and wouldn't settle down and was just too much work. (um, yeah cause he is a teenager and he is bored since you returned his brother....)

Falcon was adopted 3 months ago and just returned due to family allergies. Falcon is an ACTIVE boy....constantly on the run and would need a playmate in the home to keep up with him. Mom goes both ways with this excuse - she saw a dog returned a few years ago due to family allergies and the kid had serious hives (the mom and kid were together). Other times mom wants to suggest they take a pill. But, we guess it is better to have the animal back in the shelter's care than with a family that isn't willing to make some accomodations.

Winn was adopted and returned due to aggression on the part of the family cat. In this case, the family did try several things and Winn was just taking the bad end of the deal. So, he is safely back at the shelter. Mom says she is ok with this one so long as the family makes some attempts to make it work. But the ones that make her nuts are the "we took the kitten home and just let it loose in the living room and our resident cat hates it and it has been 24 hours and we can't do anything else". Mom wants to hand out intstructions about introducing cats....none of which involve taking them home and opening a carrier door and hoping for the best.

Anyhow, sorry about mom ranting a bit today.....

We hope Rescue Me Week is helping animals get noticed and maybe adopted!!!

Rescue Wednesday.....

PHOTOBOMB!!!

Kiari

Danny

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Once again, we are pawticipating in Mayzie's Rescue Me Week!!! 

Danny & his brother Mason are available for adoption from CHA.

Kiari & Cloud are available for adoption from Colony Cats.

Danny & Mason went back to the shelter last night. Which was good cause Mom was told the night before at Petco the store manager (not the rest of the staff) would prefer to have adults since the kittens are "too much work to clean". Mom didn't want to create waves so she contacted the other ladies and they all agreed to remove the kittens. So she dropped of Danny & Mason, worked her shift and then picked up Kiari & Cloud. She did try leaving them out of the bathroom last night but that only lasted about 30 minutes before they were driving us all nuts and she put them back in for the night. :)

Lovely adoptable girl.....

Today we are going to pawticipate in Rescue Me Week!! (for more info, click on the tag on our sidebar)

Esmerelda is an adorable 2 year old torbie currently at CHA. She has been there since this summer and would love her own home. She is doing OK at the shelter but doesn't like it much and would do so much better in a home of her own (but then again, who wouldn't do better in a home of there own).

Here is what the shelter wrote about her:
Esmeralda is a lover through and through. She thrives on attention and loves to be pet. CurrentlyShe loves to have visitors come and spend time with her. She really likes to be softly talked to and always starts to purr when people talk to her and rub under her chin. Esmeralda likes to be held and cuddled. She loves cat treats and is very smart - She had a treat dispenser in her cage at the shelter that she quickly learned how to use. She would push it around her cage in order to get treats and would meow at staff when it was empty. Esmeralda likes to be held, but then she loves to be put down and to go off and explore. She gets along pretty well with other cats at the shelter and especially likes to roll around and play with kittens. She would make a great companion for another cat. Esmeralda loves visitors, so come see her today!

Hooligans

hooligan (n): a rough lawless young person

Danny

Mason

Mom has come to the following conclusion about 4 month old kittens: they have the attention span of fruit flies, the speed of hummingbirds, the energy of the Energizer bunny, and the combined brain power of an artichoke. But they have been fun - and fortunately they follow mom into the bathroom at night for dinner and don't complain about spending the night in there....

Mason seems more content to run around and play. Danny seems to want to be into everything. And Junior is having a blast with kittens he can play with. Mom says she likes the tiny babies, but Junior definitely likes the ones he can chase around and play with.

Danny & the pink mouse

Danny & Junior

Easy like Caturday....

We are taking it easy this weekend, but mom said we had to share some good news with you all.

Danny and Mason were adopted together last Sunday.

Mom took the gray kitts to the rescue adoption center on Monday. She got back to check on them on Wednesday and....Kiari had already been adopted. :)  A woman who adopted a tortie about a year ago came back in and was looking for a tortie/dilute kitt.  YEAH!!!  Cloud is still there but he seems to be putting on the cute and we hope he will get adopted quick.

Mom worked at the shelter yesterday for their black Friday sale. There were 7 cats and kittens adopted - included 2 older cats that needed to be the only cat in the home. :)

Indiana: The Land of Orange Construction Barrels

If that isn't there official slogan, it should be. Mom spent the day driving to Indiana to meet Chrystal to help get Bagheera to his forever home with Cat. It should have gone smoothly....except for the million orange barrels and the 45 mile per hour speed limit......

But, Bagheera traveled like a champ. He was chatty with mom for about the first hour and then dozed for the rest of the drive. Cat was pretty excited to meet him and we know he has found a special forever home.

There is cute, and then there is this...

      blogblast-for-peace-2011
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A kitten was brought to the shelter about a week ago. Medium hair gray tabby - in that "my hair won't lay down" stage of kittenhood. Mom was pretty enamored.....

Anyhow, somehow over the weekend, the end of her tail was shut in her cage door. Not broken, but it bled some and she wouldn't leave it alone. So the staff contemplated their options. She needed a cone, but most don't come that small - and she needed to be able to eat and get around. So they decided to do this:

Yes, that is a bowl - one of those you would use at a picnic. They cut a hole in the middle. Works like a charm.....and makes her about 500% cuter!!!

Oh, and cause you can't never have too much chaos at our house, mom picked up these guys last night - Mason and Danny are about 3 months old and recovering from the tail end of an eye infection....it must have been bad since one of them (mom can't tell them apart yet - she didn't get good info) has a corneal scar that covers his whole right eye. Mom mentioned something about letting them out tonight...we better get our naps in now....

About that time....

Well, there was an opening at Petco after an adoption, so the rescue asked me to get them microchipped and take them over there. So mom is going to do that tonight - we have grown to like these two although they are a pair of drama queens...Kiari was hollering this morning when Junior jumped on her.

Here is some video to enjoy....we will keep you posted on their progress.

Wordless Walking Wednesday....

Featuring Ivy, Tim, Spud, Mozart, Tim (again) and Junior.