Fun Facts about Names Day

We can't make this stuff up - in fact, this is where mom goes to find these days.
   *Also, sorry this is a little late today

However, in the spirit of the day, we will give you some fun facts about OUR names:

Spud

so named as he was a tiny fuzzy kitten and desperately needed SOME name

to put on his medical records to be tested

Mozart

named with his brother Picasso as foster kittens

more commonly known as Mo

Ivy

part of a group of flower named kittens: Iris, Daffodil, Rose, Ivy and Lily

nicknames: Princess, Watermelon

Daiquiri

named as she was added to a group already here with alcohol names

nicknames: Daiq, the brat, bratowski

Tommy

he was 2 when adopted and he and Tim came with their names

Junior

needed a name for medical records and we had seen a big 

orange tom in the neighborhood, presuming it was his daddy

adoption news

ADOPTED

that face kills mom

We know that a lot of you were beginning to think that Dandelion was going to become a permanent resident. Honestly, if circumstances were a little different here, that might have happened. But mom reminds herself that she has to know us and know her limits and this would have been WAY over the limit.

After discovering that Dandelion wasn't on Petfinder, she got his information updated. Shortly thereafter, she got an application. She reviewed all the information and they emailed back and forth a few times - talking about his attitude (or general lack thereof) and his medical background. The couple that put in the application have an older female (about 15) and an 8 month old boy (who is driving her insane). Little Bit was raised from a kitten and Rocky was found when he was tiny. Since he didn't have any siblings, he is a bit of a doofus and Little Bit is not having it. D and J decided that Rocky needs a friend who was tolerant but would also be very respectful of Little Bit.

Monday night mom took Dandelion with her to the store while she was cleaning and then met with D and J. Mom was sitting on the floor with Dandelion when they came in and after introductions, they sat down with her. Dandelion almost immediately crawled off of mom's lap and into D's lap. He stayed there for a while and then climbed into J's lap as well. There were a few kids in the store and he was great with them as well. Mom and D and J did the paperwork but they decided to wait a couple of days to take him home. They wanted to get a space set up specifically for him and they also brought a cloth that they rubbed all over him (and he LOVED that) to give to Little Bit since ultimately it is going to be her decision if he stays. D and J are committed to keeping him but obviously the old lady cat gets first vote. Mom says she is sure it will be fine as he is so respectful of everyone here.

So last night she packed up the big orange boy along with a care package of his meds and some treats and toys and sent him off to his new home. She did make them aware that she wants updates - LOTS of updates - and we will keep you posted on his progress as well.

Just in time for his birthday, our Dandelion boy found his forever home.

*from the mom: this one, as you can all imagine, was a hard one. trust me when I say that if I had ANY doubts about this couple, he wouldn't be leaving. the fact that he climbed right in their laps within a few minutes of meeting them and was SO completely relaxed sealed the deal for me. I knew he deserves a home of his own without the chaos that comes with living here. but wow am I going to miss him.

Dr Suess Day

Can't tell by looking
These cats are extra special
And need no extra care
FIV+ cats need homes and love too

 

Rex

he is about 2 years old - and check out those front feet

Stanley is the new guy

he is super sweet

 

Kevin Kyle

he is about 4 years old and very insistent on getting attention

Since Colony Cats opened it's FIV+ room for cats last fall, there have been 5 adoptions!! To encourage people to adopt, their adoption fee is $25 - such a deal. Fortunately more and more people are realizing that FIV is not a death sentence and these cats (unless they are aggressive toward other cats) can live with negative cats.

For more facts, check out this article on FIV in cats from Best Friends and an article on Catster.com from our friend JaneA Kelley of Paws and Effects.



**disclaimer, we take NO claim of mom being a poet - we told her to leave the rhyming to Dr Suess but no....she had to give it a try. Our apologies

way back wordless Wednesday

*if you are thinking about scratching that - DON'T

well look at that

Mom went up to the rescue's adoption center on Saturday to get some pictures for a different blog post. She wandered through the intake side and then the adoption side and then headed home.

About 90 minutes later, her phone went off with a text "2 7 week old kittens. want them?" ummm - duh. :)  Mom headed right over and came home with these two:

They were kind of chatty on the ride home and freaked out when they were set loose in the foster room. The orange one is a boy and the brown is a girl. Definitely need some work on their social skills, though the boy is friendlier than his sister.

Here's the thing: apparently someone saw an online ad (you know those listings) for kittens being sold as...snake food. Yes - we are appalled that this is even a thing. But this is not the first group of kittens that the rescue has taken from ads like this. Maybe they are just saying that to get someone to feel sorry, but we aren't sure. Anyhow, some nice people "answered" the ad and took the kittens then asked the rescue to take them. Of course they did and now the kittens are safe with us. Serious or not, mom and her friends agree that the people placing the ad suck.

After some time, mom decided on names.....the orange boy is Coyote, his sister is Roadrunner. Meet the #looneykittens

While her brother has decided mom isn't so bad, Roadrunner is pretty sure mom is scary and avoids her for the moment. However, they are out and playing and having a good time - mostly when mom is not in there.

Yes....someone knows they are in there. No...he isn't allowed to play with them. 

Mom picked them up within an hour of them arriving at the rescue. They were dewormed and got flea meds and their first vaccine, but they need to be tested.

snoozing

Best way to spend the weekend - find a favorite spot and stake it out

Spud loves the cat ladder

probably as he can get up high

and get a sense of security

 

bazillions of places to sleep in the house

and this is his favorite

 

Mo staked out that bed when we first got it

and rarely gives it up

HAPPY Gotcha Day Mozart

OK - so it's technically tomorrow, but since we don't normally post on weekends, this is what happens....

Mom was looking stuff over and realized Mo's Gotcha Day is tomorrow! And it is his 10th!!! We hope she breaks out some good treats or something.

For those who are new here (or have forgotten), Mozart came to us as a foster kitten with his brother Picasso. Mo developed a NASTY cold that infected his eyes and extended his time here with us. Everything healed up, but he does have a corneal scar on his left eye. (which accordingly made mom laugh when she was updating his microchip information and it asked for identifying information - good luck on a solid black short hair cat - until mom remembered the scar). He actually went back to the humane society where mom was volunteering at the time. He was there for a few days - and the vet that was working there at the time put a note on his information that said he may have to lose the eye and the new adopters would have to deal with that. So now they've got a 6 month old, solid black male cat with potential expensive medical issues. Oh...he got pretty cranky about being back at the humane society. Mom finally saw the writing on the wall and brought him back home.

So, to our cranky old man and lovable house panther:

HAPPY GOTCHA DAY!!!

This isn't a great picture, but you can see how the light hits

his left eye differently. THAT is the scar. 

food review #ChewyInfluencer

This month for our Chewy.com review mom chose the Solid Gold Purrfect Pairings in chicken and goat milk. There are 6 containers to a box and it is actually more of a mousse consistency rather than chunks or pate (which mom would have known before opening the container had she actually read the description a little closer - we of course don't care one way or another). They have other flavors as well but mom is trying to keep us away from fish for the moment. And it is also grain free which she is trying for us as well.

Mom has been hoping to supplement Mozart and Tommy with wet food. This didn't work out so well on the first attempt mom when she fed them in the bathroom and Tommy didn't like being behind the closed door - even if mom was in there with him and Mo.

Mozart was a fan. He doesn't eat much at one time but he did seem to enjoy it.

Tommy can be hit or miss. Normally he will eat just about anything, but mom suspects with the cold he is still fighting, he can't smell much and nothing much is appealing if it is different from what he normally eats. (on a side note, despite the cold, he IS still eating and drinking so mom isn't too worried about him for the moment)

Mom did decide to serve this meal in the kitchen. It has a door sized opening that allowed her to keep Mo and Tommy in and the others out. She wanted to give the older two boys a chance first. Plus, Spud isn't allowed wet food as bad things happen.....

When Mo and Tommy decided they were done, mom allowed in the clean up crew. Daiquiri, Dandelion and Junior were big fans. Ivy wasn't about to get shut in the kitchen with the orange stalker, so she didn't participate.

The Purrfect Pairings come in 5 flavors - we got chicken. There are 6 containers to a package which works out to about $1.39 per 2.75 ounce package. You should be aware though if you are avoiding fish....the chicken version has tuna in it (seems odd to us).

This is on the Chewy website from the manufacturer:

Key Benefits

• A holistic grain and gluten free food for cats and kittens of all life stages
• Unique flavor combo of real chicken and goat milk
• Picky cats will love the light mousse texture
• Goat milk provides a highly palatable, easily digestible source of essential nutrients
• Each Purrfect Pairings Mousse contains 78% moisture, making it a great dietary source of water

**disclaimer: we got the food for free in return for our review. This did not influence our review and any opinions expressed are our own.

Almost wordless Wednesday

Allie our feral girl. Probably about 7 years old now and still looking good and doing well.

photohunt - silky

This week's word is silky

Dandelion has some of the smoothest silkiest furs around. Mom says he isn't quite as soft as the patriot girls, but he has some wonderful silky spots....and doesn't mind his soft belly furs being rubbed either. Such a sweet boy

prepare for the end

No.....not that end....

The end of times....

If you have followed our blog for any period of time, you know that Junior, Ivy and Spud do not get along. It is tolerance on a good day and there are others when there is chasing and name calling.

Ivy loves to snooze in the house. Junior likes the spot next to it where he can sleep on the blanket and get his buns warmed by the floor vent.

Well the end of last week mom look over and this was happening. And not just for a couple of minutes. They both slept there for about 30 minutes. It has happened a couple of times as well. Of course, if you look close you can see the expression of "drop dead" on Ivy's face - right before she got up and left.

Don't get us wrong - these two will probably never be friends. But some peaceful co-existance....mom says she will take that.

We hope you had some of the nice weather we had this weekend. Not too much sun on Sunday, but it was nice and warm (especially for February). Our basketball team lost. And some serious snoozing.

Random Acts of Kindness Day

do something nice for someone

not because you have to

but because you CAN

The partner store where mom cleans and does adoption event goes WAY above and beyond for the shelter kitties.

As a group of stores in this area, they do litter drives, food donation drives, and the funds from the sales of their calendars this year is all going to our rescue (last count it was over $16,000).

Beyond that, the staff in mom's store LOVE on our kitties, are quick to talk to people about them and are great about giving mom and the other volunteers feedback on the cats and any applications that come in to the store.

That being said, mom tries to make an effort to give back and let them know THEY are appreciated. The other night she left a box of cookies with a note saying "thank you from the Colony cats and volunteers".

It isn't about doing something big - it is about doing SOMETHING. A smile, a hug, a card in the mail...let someone know you are thinking about them today (and every day).

photohunt - delicate

The word of the week is delicate.....

There is something just so sweet about kitten faces. Cassis was at the adoption event on Sunday and just snoozed.....check out the ears...and the nose....and the whiskers. sigh.....

wordless Wednesday

Quick update: mom took Cassis to the adoption center for the rescue last night about 5pm. If you didn't see it on instagram or facebook, by 7pm our little girl was already adopted!! A volunteer that mom is friends with was there last night and kept us updated. Her new mom and dad have 2 small dogs but are going to take the introductions very slow. Congrats to Cassis and her new family!!!

homewreckers - part 3

Homewreckers R Us

Work Cheap 

Results May Vary

Episode 3: getting closer to mass destruction

Supervisor kitty has some doubts about the wreckage technique

Wrecker kitten goes in for more damage from the inside

Wrecker kitten gets distracted by supervisor kitty's tail

And you wonder why the house is still standing

Cassis jumped off the coffee table, slid over the roof and the whole house flipped over. She jumped around some on the inside and then rolled it again while she was distracted by Daiquiri. Amazingly, the tape held and the is still intact - mostly. Though mom did have to turn it back right side up.

The chimney so far is taking the most damage. Daiquiri chews and it and had gotten it off of the house once. Mom put it back but suspect it may disappear at some point and eventually be torn into bits by the supervisor kitty that likes to chew on cardboard (thankfully she doesn't eat it).

Not sure how this is going to continue as the wrecker kitten is due to go back to the adoption center this evening.....

You can see Episode 1 here, Episode 2 here and the Bath House edition here
~~~~~~~~~~

Happy Valentine's Day to all of you!!!

Mom was distracted last night by the dog show and plans to be watching again tonight. She and Miss Amy will be on twitter doing a drinking game if you need a good laugh.