individual portraits (taken 5-31)

Chloe Requiem

Nocturne

Minuet

Treble

Cadence

The kittens will be 10 weeks old 6/5/10. They have an appointment at the shelter and I suspect that they all might be big enough to stay. I was sure that Cadence and Requiem would be big enough, but I am not sure I am ready for everyone to go back. Chloe will stick around for a couple of weeks so she is dry to be spayed.

May 23rd kitten update

The kittens went in May 22 for their revaccinations. Nocturne is the little guy at 1.6#. Requiem and Cadence weigh in at right around 2#. Minuet and Treble are in between. I took Chloe also and she weighs around 6.4#. She is still nursing right now. At this rate, I am looking at around another 2-4 weeks before they go back.

vaccinations wear us out...but not for long (see video of Requiem vs Minuet below)

wow are they getting big

These pictures are from May 16, 2010 - which makes the kittens officially 7 weeks old. I have to get new paper collars tonight as they seem to be outgrowing theirs. Tommy & Spud still hiss at everyone. Bless Chloe - she either ignores them or rolls over to avoid things. Of course, I looked on Sunday and found Treble using Spud's tail as a pillow. :)

Chloe

Treble & Spud

Treble sleeping in the cat toy basket

the doorstop

I know what you are thinking...how could something that cute be trouble?? I will explain:

First, Treble (in the green) ALMOST made it over the baby gate this morning. I have been putting it up to let Chloe run around for a few minutes as I get ready for work. The scrambling noise tipped me off - I looked over and 4 kittens in the bathroom and one in the hall. I showered with the bathroom door closed to make sure everyone stayed in.

But I will never understand why the doorstop in the bathroom is such an amazing toy. I mean, last night there were 5 kittens, one momma cat and at least 2 cat toys. What do I hear around 2:30am? The twanging of the doorstop. Which means there was a kitten jumping on it. I finally figured out the noise a few litters ago. And it seems every group eventually finds the door stop and feels the need to try to turn it into a toy.

kitten update

The time of chaos has arrived. Everytime the bathroom door opens, everyone scrambles to make a run for it. I can at least put up the baby gate to keep the kittens in, but that may only last a couple of days...I almost had one get over this morning.

You may notice they are wearing collars. I got paper collars from the shelter and cut them to size. Starting in the upper left hand corner, they are as follows: Cadence (no collar), Nocturne (blue), Requiem (red), Treble (green) and Minuet (pink). They will run around in their pen in the evening and then fall over to nap - sometimes in this figure and sometimes in a big heap.

the babies have names

I decided to go with musical terms:
Minuet is the girl
Requiem is the boy with the white toes
Cadence is my big laid back boy
Treble is the smallest boy and the whiniest
Nocturne is the darkest of the three boys that look alike

They are just darned cute. Nocturne appears to be possessive of the canned food - he was growling last night after I put down the plate. However, without missing a bite, Minuet reached out and smacked him in the head!! That's my girl....

My Saturday

I met Mom for breakfast at Panera. Dad was on his way over to the house to work on the final project - getting the half wall up before finishing the painting. Mom said she would go to the shelter with me to get the kittens vaccinated and tested. Dad started working and Mom and I headed to the shelter.

As we were working on the kittens, Amy (volunteer manager) came in and said I had a flat tire. Great. We get done and wait for Amy to come back from Pet People since she offered to help me change the tire (something I didn't know how to do until yesterday). We get the flat off, get the spare on (which is a nice new full size tire), put the car down....and the spare is FLAT!!! Are you kidding me???? I remember that I got the tires from Discount Tire, which is about 3 miles away. We load the original tire in Amy's car and she takes us over. Well, on my way back from breakfast, I hit a curb. And apparently bent the rim of the tire right away from the rubber causing the leak. They can't fix it - gotta order a new rim. In the meantime, they will put air in the spare - which is back at the shelter on the car. So, back to the shelter, take off the spare, back to Discount Tire, fill the spare, back to the shelter and put the spare back on. NOW, I know how to change a tire.

We get back to the house. Mom heads home and I head upstairs. Dad has the wall built and we discuss putting on the drywall. He wasn't planning on getting that far, but since I was there and able to help, might as well get it done. We head to Home Depot, get the drywall and wrestle it up the stairs. Note to self: next time buy a ranch! Anyhow, we get the drywall up with little argument, get up the wall, put the drywall on the other side and VIOLA!! Half wall! I left to get groceries and Dad finished spackling the wall (it looks like it has chicken pox).

I got home, put the groceries away and cleaned up the construction mess. Then popped dinner in the oven, took a much needed shower and settled in for dinner with one thought - thank heaven I bought ice cream at the grocery store!!

Kitten update

Well, they will be 4 weeks old this coming Saturday. And it is official - 1 girl and 4 boys. I still haven't decided on names. I was leaning toward Venus for the girl. Then other Roman gods for the boys. Ends up they would also be named after planets. And it wasn't working for me. So, they are yet to be named...

But they are getting fiesty. They were nursing the other day and the girl was nursing while kicking one of her brothers in the head to get him to move.

My new favorite thing is to go in and lay on the floor so I am eye level with them. They aren't wild about being picked up, but they will come up and I can pet them from there. The one smaller boy (with one white toe) will come right up to me and ask for affection.

That being said, my days are numbered - they are learning to get around. Right now I only have to deal with Chloe trying to get out the door as I come in and out....give it another few days and I will be tripping over kittens as well.

Solomon the kitten

Once per month some volunteers take shelter animals to the local Petsmart for adoption events. We went on April 10th.

As we were sitting at the table with 3 dogs and a cat on leashes that were lounging around us, a Petsmart associate came up and asked if we were taking cats. I said not here, but the shelter would. Standing behind the girl was a mother and daughter with a small brown tabby kitten. I found directions in my box of information and gave it to them.

However, something bothered me. I looked at Terry (my co-leader) and said I was going to go get the kitten. She said sure. I caught up with them in the parking lot and said I would take the kitten. The mother said it was given to them and the father wouldn't allow it to stay in the house. The daughter was upset, but going along. She did ask if I would take his bed with us - I said sure.

Terry did tease me that we are supposed to come back from these events with LESS animals than we started, not MORE.

We got back, got him booked into the system and the vet agreed to process him right then. He was about 4 months old, tested negative for everything and got his vaccines. I named him Solomon. He was neutered Tuesday and was in a holding room waiting for a spot on the adoption floor to open up.

After walking dogs last night, I got him out and was sitting in our adoption office. He was being very sweet, cuddled up and purring. A gentleman came in and was asking about one of the cats on the floor and if he was good with dogs. We explained that we can't be sure, but since this particular cat was under a year, he might adjust pretty well.

As we were talking, Solomon relaxed in my arms and was looking at the man upside down. He asked who the kitten was and if he could hold him. And Solomon turned on the charm. He asked if Solomon was available for adoption, and with a nod from the adoption counselor, I said that he was. We walked out to the adoption floor to see Solomon's reaction to dogs, which went well until a beagle started barking and he got a little scared, but nothing really bad.

So, last night, Solomon was adopted and went home with his new family. It must have been meant to be to have everything line up like that. And it makes me smile that things work out like this sometimes.

New foster cat and kittens

Chloe was brought to CAHS on March 26. Sometime on the 27th, she gave birth to 5 little clones. I picked her up on March 28. She is a nice, very petite and VERY chatty brown tabby girl. I am not sure about the kittens yet....at least 1 girl, but I am not too sure about the rest. She has an appointment on April 11 to get her vaccines updated, so I will get an expert opinion at that point.

So far she has been very good with them. Staff think she is about a year old, so she has had a few teenage mom moments, but is pretty attentive. However, she does think she needs to come out of the bathroom where she is living with the kids. She isn't too bad with the other cats so long as they aren't too close to the bathroom door. She caught Tim being "too close" for her standards and she charged him. She did stop right away and came back to the kids.

I just wish we could cut back on the whining. She sits by the bathroom door and cries. No idea what she wants, but she has quite the voice.

Friday morning.

Friday morning was Morgaine's Place. Here are probably the most friendly cats (in my opinion). I was set up to clean the first room there.

Now, what I found interesting was that the outside rafter system was closed off with panels. I asked the caregivers and they said that some are cut off in summer due to cats going up and refusing to come down no matter how hot it gets. In this case, the panels were put in place to force Cara and Baron (see left) to deal with people. They are semi-feral sibling kittens. Cara will allow herself to be petted once to twice by staff, but Baron is still unconvinced.

Samco was a new occupant in Morgaine's. Since I was going to be in there, the caregivers asked if I would be willing to supervise his introduction. They had him in a tower/condo in the room for a couple of days to see how things would go. Since I was going to be in there, they let him out to check everything else out. There was a little smack talk, but I never had to break anything up. He never figured out the cat doors to the outside while I was there that morning, but he shot out the people door when I went out to clean. And of course, he felt the need to help me clean by attacking my mop.

Rambo here is showing off the boxes attached to the center pole in each room. All the boxes are a different bold color. Some rooms have color coordinated bedding and others not so much. It is up to the caregivers in each house.

Sunny

Wild Child (making sure the laundry doesn't try to escape)

Angel's Rest

Angel's Rest is their cemetery. As strange or creepy as that may sound, it is just so incredibly peaceful. They make a committment to care for these animals during and after their lives. Angel's Rest has 3 caretakers and they do an amazing job. The sand is raked every day to erase footsteps. The gate was designed by one of the founders of the sanctuary.


The last Thursday of every month they have a Blessing at Angel's Rest. We were lucky enough to be able to attend the one in March. They remember all the animals that passed the previous month. They do a big one once per year also. There are volunteers and caregivers. Some tell stories about the animals that have passed and others raise concerns and praise for animals at the sanctuary and beyond. And the entire time we were there, you could hear the windchimes that are all over Angel's Rest ringing. It was an amazing experience.

Thursday

Thursday morning I got to help with Puppy Class. All puppies must attend at least 10 classes before they can be adopted. Before they started this program, their return rate on puppies was about 35%. Since starting this about 5 years ago, they have had 2 puppies (not percent) returned. Puppy class includes walking on a leash, learning their name and some basic commands (sit, down, come). I left my camera in the car as I didn't think I would need it. That will teach me. They were opening their new puppy pavilion that weekend - I didn't get to see it, but they will have more space, no exposure to adult dogs (for disease purposes) and they will be able to expose puppies to household things like dishwashers and door bells.

From there I went to old dogs and did some more walking.

Thursday afternoon I went to Kitty Motel. This is the home of the FIV cats.

Lucky is one of the cats I spent some time with. The cleaning had been done for the day, so I got to sit and socialize. Some of the cats were more standoffish than others, but Lucky climbed right up in my lap and curled up. I sat in a chair next to Knox with Tweak behind my head.

Cornflake

Special needs cat? No problem here. See, Cornflake lives at Colonel's. But he has some....agression issues. :) So, he lives in a crate in his room at night. Every morning, they give him a pill and let him out to wander the halls outside the room (Colonel's is the only house I was in that doesn't have lobby cat - though they do have one that lives in the kitchen) for a couple of hours to let the pill kick in. Then he goes back to his room to hang with the other cats. And no, he isn't missing his one ear - but it doens't stand up right either.

Wednesday

Colonel's Barracks is part of Wild Cat Village. This is where they have some of their more wild kitties that need some social skills or may never be social.

I got over there and was set up to help clean. There are 5 rooms in Colonel's and there were 2 caregivers that morning. In addition, Mike told me that one of their older cats was having some problems and he had made the decision with a vet tech to let him cross Rainbow Bridge that afternoon. So Mike was trying to spend some time with that cat and letting other caregivers know what was going on.

Each room is set up with a board that has pictures and names of all the cats on it for ID purposes. Most also have a list of the room cats that has id information and ages on it.

Each room is set up pretty much the same. There is a center post with runways along the top and boxes down the post. There are cubbies on one wall and the table you can see is on wheels and sits over the kitty boxes.

Their cleaning protocol is interesting. Once per week, EVERYTHING gets wiped down.... Every day, they check bedding and if it smells like pee, it goes in the laundry. If not, it is brushed off using a stiff brush and a mix of Downy and water (1/8 c. Downy to 32 ounces of water in a spray bottle). Picks up cat hair, makes the bedding smell nice and helps with static. WOW - love that idea!! Then flat surfaces are wiped down. Litter boxes emptied and wiped out. Once per week they are changed out and replaced with sanitzed boxes. Then sweep and mop the floors. Then repeat outside.

Callie

After a bad Monday night with Lucky and Quinton (who didn't want to be there and paced and cried all night), we decided to ask for suggestions on who to take overnight on Tuesday. Callie lives in Cat HQ - she is part of the "Jenny Craig" crowd who lives there. This group is on VERY restricted diets due to their weight. We liked Callie so much we decided to take her overnight on Wednesday too. She cried some on the way back in the car, but the minute the carrier opened up, she checked out the room and jumped up on the bed.

We did try to get more information on her Wednesday night and couldn't find her on the website. So I asked about this on Thursday morning when we dropped her back off at HQ. It seems she is a Legacy pet. Meaning her owner gave money to Best Friends for her care after her owner could no longer care for her. They explained that at first these animals weren't made available for adoptions. Then they reconsidered and decided that if someone came to the sanctuary and fell in love that these animals should be able to live their lives in a home. So, they aren't on the website, but they can go home with someone who falls in love with them. Callie isn't wild about the other cats in HQ, so she might do better by herself or with another older cat who would leave her alone.

Tuesday

I went to the dogs on Tuesday. Everyone signs in at headquarters and watches a safety video. Then you are given a whistle - if something happens or a dog gets loose, you are told to stop and blow the whistle until a staff member gets to you.

We went to Fairways in Dogtown Heights to help out in the morning. Most dogs are housed in octagons....most of then in groups. The caregiver here helped leash up dogs and we took everyone for a walk. Some on the long trail and some on shorter ones depending on health issues. It was harder than you would think - everything is sand out there and going uphill is a different thing. Not to mention getting sand in so many different places. By the end of the morning I had sand in my shoes and in my hairs...and my socks were a different color.

This is Mamas. We decided rather than walking in the afternoon, we would take her into town with us. This is encouraged by the staff to get the dogs used to cars and other people. Mamas has only been at Best Friends for a couple of months. She was seized in a dog fighting ring in California - they think she was used for breeding. What a nice girl. We went back to the hotel and she jumped up on one of the beds and rolled around in the pillows. Then she was sitting next to me and saw herself in the mirror on the wall - and growled at herself. I tried to reassure her, but she needed to let that other dog know she was serious. Only other quirk - she doesn't like riding in the back seat of the car - she had to ride in the front seat on Cathy's lap.

Monday

Orientation was Monday morning. They get you signed in and then you watch a short video about the sanctuary. There were several wet eyes in the room. Then a tour of the entire place. And yes, you take a van. The sheer size of the place is amazing. Something like 350-400 employees with about 1700 animals on site at any given moment. They told us they had 11,000 volunteers last year.

After the tour we met with a volunteer coordinator who got us signed up for where we were planning to work all week.

Lunch can be purchased at Angel Village every week day for $5. It is vegetarian - which I am not. However, everything was pretty good. OK - except the meatless meatloaf....that just didn't do it for me.

I will say this - drink plenty of water and bring snacks. I had a pack that I carried all week.

After lunch I headed up to cats. Signed it at HQ and then headed to Casa de Calmar which is where the FeLV cats live. I checked out several rooms and then sat down in the lobby. Each house has several cats living in the lobby. Some are just more social and some need more attention. In Calmar, Layla is one of the lobby cats. When she first came to the sanctuary, she ran up into the rafters and wouldn't come down. So they moved her to the lobby in an effort to help her discover that people are a good thing. I sat in a chair and she climbed up in my lap. We must have sat there for about 20 minutes. One of the caregivers walked by and then backed up to see who was sitting on my lap. Seems Layla doesn't necessarily like everyone. I said she climbed up herself and the caregiver just smiled.

Saturday (3/20) and Sunday (3/21)

Saturday was all about the travel.

We connected through Cleveland. We stopped to get lunch and then headed to our gate. As we got there, the attendant asked if we were us. Yep. Apparently the plane was ready early and they had everyone on the plane but us. 25 MINUTES EARLY!! Which ended up getting us to Las Vegas about 30 minutes early.

Which ended up being good cause it took us 45 minutes to get the luggage and then I stood in line for over an hour to get the car.

We then got some dinner and headed for Kanab Utah. To get there, we headed north and then east. Through Arizona and then north into Utah. We passed through the town of Hurricane (pronounced Hurrikin - say it fast). Beyond this was the Hurricane Hill. Right - that was NOT a hill. They cut the road right through a mountain....with on room on either side of the freeway. I don't consider myself clostrophobic, but that was scary. I gripped the stearing wheel and drove 50 mph until we got out the other side. And then swore we were going back a different way!

Sunday we headed to Zion National Park. There is NO WAY to adequately describe this. It is about 45 minutes north of Kanab. At the first pull over at the park we got out to take pictures. What really got me after the sheer size and scope was the silence. There was NO sound....until the next car came around the corner.

We had lunch at the lodge, hit the gift shop and then drove to the end of that road and hiked the Narrows. About a 2 mile round trip hike. Then we came back and hiked the Emerald Pools Trail. I did the first part of it and Cathy went all the way around.

Back to Kanab where we had dinner at Nedra's Too.....awesome mexican!!

Vacation at Best Friends

I took a week in March (20th to 27th) and travel with a friend to Utah. We visited Zion National Park and then spent a week volunteering at Best Friends Animal Society.

The week was amazing. I am going to try to relate some adventures and interesting storie.

vet visit....

I am lucky in that my vet comes to the house. She gets three of the cats in the fall and three in the spring. Mozart, Spud and Maestro were up last night.

Spud had to be caught (after running around the sofa and landing on Ivy several times). We tried to hold him but he ended up in the bathroom with the tech and the vet. Seems he settled down in there for them. He was vaccinated, microchipped and weighs 11 pounds, 10 ounces. I was amazed. That means he weighs more than Mozart and more than Ivy. She did put a mark on his chart - at least if he weighs a lot less next time we know this might have been wrong.

Mozart was being his charming self until he had to be caught. Then the squirming and complaining began. He was vaccinated too, declared healthy and weighs 9.15 pounds.

Maestro was up next. He has lost 2 pounds in the last year - not that he is skinny by any means, but being 15 yrs old, this isn't necessarily a good thing. So, rather than vaccinate him, she drew blood and we will see what is up with him - hopefully nothing more than being a little older.

Spud found his tail....

OK, I know what you are thinking. He is over a year old - should he know it is there by now? After watching him last night, I would have to say the answer is NO!

I see him running around and stop to watch. Yep - around and around in circles chasing the big fuzzy tail. He finally caught it at one point and pinned it down with one paw while he saw down to breathe. It was VERY cute.

I have seen my fosters do this before. And Bugs from the last group was fascinated with tails - probably cause his was so short he couldn't find it. But he has a lot of fun chasing everyone ELSE'S tails. :)

darned basketball.....

So my parents and I went to Indy on Friday morning to celebrate the beginning of March madness. Unfortunately for us, OSU won, and MSU lost. I never thought I would be yelling for Michigan to win, but I have to admit, the fieldhouse was OSU vs everyone else. And it was a wild game.

The reffing in the Purdue game was TERRIBLE!! I can only hope that both teams and schools complain. Bad enough the game stops every couple of minutes for commercials, but there were technicals galore and just some bad calls all around.

The MSU game was fun to watch - who knew we would end up in overtime?? Minnesota put up quite a fight and wasn't missing anything. Whereas MSU couldn't get a darned thing to sink.

We were going to stay for Saturday and Sunday but were able to sell our tickets so came home. We listened to the double overtime minutes of the Illinois/OSU game and Dad nearly drove us off the road a couple of times as we cheered for Illinois. Then got to watch the Purdue/Minnesota game at home. There is something a little less painful about losing when the team that beats you then goes to the next game and kicks the other team around too.

So - before the final game on Sunday - GO GOPHERS!!!

disheartening....

As time goes on, I discover that more and more volunteers are getting discouraged. There was a meeting scheduled to discuss with backroom walkers how decisions are made for dogs to get to the floor. I didn't attend and couldn't care less. Yeah, there are discussions and a behavior test, but it still isn't fair. And compare that to cats and it is even worse. I refuse to spend an hour listening to management justify their decisions.

We had a volunteer leadership meeting last night. I don't know why we bother....management is making it more and more clear that our services don't seem needed. Why have leaders if our opinions no longer matter? And the shelter is so management heavy. I told someone last night - I am willing to bet that no one in management could name more than one animal on the floor - and give specifics about that animal. Or list the five cats that have been there the longest. All we hear about is revenue and money. I know the shelter needs money to operate, but aren't we an "animal" shelter first???

Douglas

This is Douglas the kitty in his foster home with Ava the dog and Steve the dad. Douglas was rescued by CAHS CID officers. A lady had cats locked in dog crates in her backyard covered by tarps.

Anyhow, Douglas is about 5 years old and a true velcro boy. He was slated to move to a barn, but seemed too much like a house cat. So I convinced Nancy (married to Steve) to take him as a foster while we find him a permanent home (looks like he is home to me, but we will see).

Douglas and Ava have become friends in less than a few days. Nancy told me the other day that they were sharing an open window as she was leaving to volunteer. In this shot, Ava has crawled up in the chair with Steve, which is something she has done since she was a puppy. Douglas climbed up there too and Steve called Nancy to get a picture.

4:30 in the morning

Why is that all cats must be annoying so darned early in the morning???

I heard banging in the bedroom this morning. I had a bag hanging on the back of the closet door and Tommy decided he had to get into it (keep in mind that the bag has been on the door for over a month now). Banging on the door and being a general dork. I yelled at him and he stopped. For about 5 minutes. Threatened to get out of bed and he ran....and was back in another 10 minutes or so. After the 4th attack on the door, everyone got kicked out of the bedroom. WAY too early to deal with cat shenanigans.

Ivy's new best friend

I got home last night and discovered the heat was off. Electricity was on, but no heat. And it was COLD!!! I called the company but no one could get out until this morning. So I ran to Home Depot and bought a space heater. Ivy decided it was her new best friend. She spent most of the early evening curled up right next to it - I was honestly expecting her whiskers to get fried. And yes, her front paws are UNDER the heater.

Foster update

Honey was cleared today and I left her at the shelter to find a new home. I am going to miss her but she will love being in a home getting all the attention for herself.

Of course, then I went to help Debbie process some cats. Two very nice big black males - both came back FeLV positive. I went home after that....knowing there is nothing I can do to save them sucked the wind right out of my day.

I would love to get to the day where we have space somewhere and these cats can be saved. I know the shelter will never get to that point....it is just so frustrating.

black cats and dark garages...

Poor Mozart…

I think he spent the night last night in the garage. I noticed I didn’t see much of him after I got home, but didn’t think much of it. However, I didn’t notice him in bed last night and that should probably have tipped me off.

I went to leave this morning and as the garage door started up, I heard him cry. I stopped the door and called his name. He called back but didn’t come out. I freaked out – what if he was caught under the car? I called some more and he finally came out from under the car. I picked him and tried to cuddle a little and check him out, but he was WAY more interested in getting back in the house.

Poor baby…

Hey - it's dark in here...

I got an email from the foster coordinator last week saying the Honey (the girl from the last group) was snotty when they went to spay her. So, she is back with us for a couple of weeks to get over her cold.

Anyhow, she gets kind of whiny at night when she is put to bed in the bathroom and I get ready for bed. However, she settles in pretty well and things are quiet from there.

Except for Saturday night (OK - Sunday morning). I am lying in bed and I can hear her howling. I don't want to deal with it, but I roll out of bed and open the bathroom door - catching her as she runs out the door. And I think to myself - heck it is dark in here...and I know I just changed the bulb in the night lite. I reach back and flick the light switch - nothing happens. That explains it - the power it out.

I head into the kitchen with her tucked under my arm to find my cell phone. It is about 2am. So, I have two choices - put her back in a very dark bathroom by herself and listing to her howl about it, or leave her out.

I woke back up about 30 minutes later when the fan came on with the power. I was sleeping on my side and she was curled up on my hip. :)

Christmas Lights

OK - should there be an "epiration date" on taking down lights after Christmas? I was on my way to my parents house on Wednesday (about a 10 minute drive) and spotted at least 10 houses with their lights still up.

Don't get me wrong - it was pretty cold and we had some snow there for a couple of weeks. I wouldn't have wanted to be outside either. But do you still have to turn them on even if they are still up outside?

Just one of those random things.... I guess I just think that by mid-January you should have them down. Of course, what do I know when the stores have Christmas decorations out by Halloween and Easter stuff out in January. sigh...

Bandit memorial

February 1997 to January 2010

Bandit was Rob's first dog. He had been looking for a while and saw a picture and wanted this breed. I guess it was better than the Malamute he originally wanted (until I told mom how much they shed and she shut Rob down on that one).

Rob found a breeder in Toledo and talked me into going with him. There were two 3 month old puppies. He picked the one he wanted and off we went. And about 30 minutes down the road, the dog threw up on me....thankfully we were near a gas station and we could exchange shirts. :)

Bandit was a great dog. Rob took him to college where he was very popular. In fact, the guys in his house took to walking him for Rob to pick up girls.

He lived with Rob and Abby until Lanah was about a year old. By that time Bandit was getting older and they were afraid he might unintentionally snap at her as she was using everything (including the dog) to pull herself up to walk. So Rob called our parents and they agreed he could come live with them.

Bandit wasn't feeling so well over Christmas and last week Mom had to make the decision to let him go. He earned his wings 1/8/10. I know there is another angel over Rainbow Bridge waiting for us.

Maestro

Maestro is my old man kitty. He joined the family November 1994 as an 8 week old kitten. I was in college at the time. Butterscotch would have been about 2 years old. I was convinced he needed a friend. I brought home Maestro - though I knew Dad would have a fit. Butterscotch also wasn't convinced a new kitten was a great idea. He would pin Maestro down and chew on his ears until Maestro would cry. Then Maestro was neutered and they were friends from the day Maestro came back from the vet.

When I moved out of the house, Butterscotch and Maestro came to live with me. They were my friends through several moves and new homes. They even went to Texas and back.

Maestro is now the old man of the house. He is unamused by foster kittens, but has learned how to stay away from them. His favorite spot is on the arm of my chair during the day when I am home and curled up next to my pillow at night. He is my sweet bowling ball boy. :)

group shot

I finally managed to get them all in one picture - ok, so it isn't great, but at least they are all in the shot. :)
In order: Tim, Mozart, Ivy, Spud, Tommy and Maestro (with his back to the camera)

New Year, new fosters....

These are the new kids. Got them 12-19-09. The dilute calico is Honey. The boys are Bugs and Taz. Taz is a grey tabby and Bugs is a grey tabby with white chest and paws - and his tail is only about 1.5" long....and yes, he does bunny hop. We spent New Years Day curled up together in my chair with a fuzzy blanket watching the parades and football and taking naps. :)

my favorite Tim & Tom story

Not long after their adoption was finalized, they decided to get into a bit of trouble.

I was lying in bed one night and heard a crash in the kitchen. I got up and as I walked down the hall I could hear something hit the floor, and then crunching. Hit the floor, crunching. I turned on the kitchen light to see Tim on the counter next to a bag of M&Ms that had been purchased for my sister in law. The bag had been ripped open and Tim was hitting M&Ms to the floor one at a time where Tommy was eating them. <> Fortunately, I know he didn't get that many, so I wasn't too worried even though it was chocolate.

However, about a week later, I hear a similar crash. This time I am a little slower to get up. I finally do and find my pill box on the counter...open...and all the pills spilled out. Tommy was crunching on something as I walked into the room. I picked up all the pills and put everything back in the appropriate boxes. Only one pill missing. A birth control pill. That's right - my 5 year old (at the time) 15 pound neutered male tomcat ate a birth control pill. Ugh....

I called my vet the next morning. I had to explain myself twice before she put me on hold. After almost 10 minutes, the receptionist came back on the line. "I spoke to each of the vets and they said he should be fine. If he starts acting funny, bring him in. Or if he starts wanted to shop or anything like that." Yep - like I hadn't been hearing that joke all morning at the office. :)

He was fine - and now I hide the pills futher up.

The last group of kittens got adopted!!

OJ went home on the 22nd with a nice young couple. I had to laugh when I spoke to the adoption counselor. I guess the boyfriend was asking about our return policy and the girl looked at him and said she would make him leave before the kitten. YEAH!! Plus she works for a vet, so he is in good hands.

Cider went home Christmas Eve. The family lost their last cat in September. They were sure they wanted a dog, but after looking for a while, changed their minds. The kitten was a surprise for their 4 year old daughter. The mom has my contact info and promised to keep in touch.

Blackberry went home on Saturday with a nice family of 4 - 2 kids who are going to spoil him rotten.

It is a relief to have them all adopted and home so I don't have to worry about them.

Aida found a home!!

A very nice single retired guy took her home from Petsmart last night!!! Yeah - a great Christmas present for all three of us. She gets a home, he gets a companion, and I get the relief of knowing she is safe and loved and in a home of her own. He has no other pets, so no risk of her terrorizing another cat. :) He has my contact info and I assured him if anything happened, she will come back to my house. I am so happy for her!!!

Mo the mighty hunter

I was lying in bed last night reading when I heard Mozart. At first I thought he had gotten shut in a closet or something since his meow was muffled. (yes, his meow is so distinct that I know it is him) I listened and it got closer. I looked over and he appeared in the bedroom carrying a stuffed toy. I looked at him and he dropped it and meowed at me again. "Good boy Mo - you are the mighty toy killer." He jumped up and I scratched his ears for a little while before he took off for his next adventure.

Babies on the run

I moved the gate yesterday morning to give them a little more floor space to run around while I was at work. Then I left, heading to the dentist, work and then a shift at the shelter.

When I got home, I was met at the door like normal by my crew. As I got to the top of the stairs - SURPRISE!! Three little kittens sat there staring at me.

I went to check and it appears they shoved at the pen enough to squeeze through. Who knows how long they were out - probably most of the day. But there were no messes and they appeared to have had a good time.

she's not so scary

I let the kittens out to run around last night - at least under supervision.

Anyhow, Cider was doing laps and ended up under a side table. Ivy came up to her and Cider laid her ears back and HISSED. Surprisingly, Ivy backed off. I was rather surprised.

Everyone was having fun. I think Blackberry was a little freaked out, but Ivy and Spud and the kittens spent over an hour running around in circles. They are so much fun to watch.

foster update

awwww....aren't they cute? They were vaccinated 11/22/09 and were all worn out. Fortunately, everyone is eating without standing in the food dish, so all of them and my bathroom are MUCH cleaning. Blackberry (black and white) is still pretty whiny but loveable. The other two will PURR the minute you pick them up.
I did laugh the other day at them. Cider was sitting cleaning on back foot. OJ was lying about 12 inches away. I look over and he is reaching out with one paw. I thought he was just stretching until he grabbed the carpet and pulled himself toward his sister - and then repeated it. I think his stalking technique needs some work.

Tim & Tom

This is Tom & his brother Tim. As of 11/09 they are 7 years old. They were brought to the shelter 5 years ago together. Fortunately for Tim, our processing department said they should be adopted together. They were put in one of the glass cat atriums. However, a cat fight broke out. Tim got scratched up and Tommy was blamed for starting it. I still say that my best guess is that someone went after Tim and Tommy stood up for his little brother. After a few days in medical, I convinced our adoptions department to make them "special adoptables" and put them in a foster home. What I didn't realize is that they planned to make ME the foster home.

After fostering them for about 4 months, I got a call that someone might be interested. I thought about it and realized I couldn't give them up.

They are quite the pair. Almost every night there is either races around the condo or a wrestling match. They will groom each other and are usually asleep on the bed at night pretty close to each other.

Mozart

Would you trust this face? What if it came right up and gave you a mighty purr???

This is Mozart - 2 years old and black. He came to my house as a foster with his brother Picasso (orange tabby). He got pretty sick and ended up with a NASTY eye infection. In fact, he has a corneal scar on one eye.

I had taken him back to the shelter, but by then he was a black teenager among many. I woke up one Sunday morning and was convinced someone was going to adopt him and I would never see him again. His adoption was finshed within 30 minutes of the shelter opening that same day.

He has been a joy. Doesn't mind the foster kittens and he is young enough to put up with the antics of Spud & Ivy. He is my lover kitty....looking for a lap or somewhere to snuggle. He slept behind my knees under the covers the other night. :)

and a spare

OJ & Cider had to go in for vaccinations on October 25. There was this tiny black and white kitten being carried around by one of our intake counselors. I told her if she could get the vet ok, I would add him to my crew. Well, she did and I brought home Blackberry that same day. He is the same size as Cider, though much less fuzzy. Just as whiny as everyone else though....the three of them make quite the racket when I go into the bathroom. No, they aren't starving, but they would like you to think that. :)

New fosters and an update

This is the new pair - OJ is the orange and his sister is Cider. I picked them up on 10/18/09. They are MAYBE 4 weeks old. Tiny and VERY messy. You don't even want to see my bathroom.

In other news, Daisy and Mouse have both been adopted. I didn't get to meet either family, but I hope they have other cats to play with. Minnie is in the CAHS medical department - she decided she didn't want to leave her spay incision alone and ended up having to be knocked out again so they could fix it. Now she has big stitches and a blue cone on her head (gonna have to get a picture of her).

Daisy Mae, Minnie & Mouse (in that order)

Well, the girls went back to the shelter on 10/11/09. I know I can't keep them, but I miss them. I even miss them running around the house at all hours of the night. I had never let a group out like that, but since they weren't official fosters, it didn't seem to matter. Saturday morning they were out and spent I have no idea how long running laps around the condo - down the hall, into the bedroom, over the bed, out the door, down the hall and around again. And then Mouse stopped on my chest and just looked at me for a few seconds before taking off again after her sisters. Cross your fingers they find their forever homes soon.

a moment to reflect

I think sometimes I get so caught up in the day to day of work and family and volunteering that I forget how far we have come helping make progress for the cats at the shelter.

So, last night I was sitting and reading the book Rescue Ink about the group by the same name in New York City (http://www.rescueink.org/). As I sat there reading, I looked around my living room. Tommy was asleep on the pillow on the sofa. Mozart was asleep behind Tommy on the back of the sofa. Maestro was on the chair arm next to me and Tim was snoozing on the hassock by my feet. Spud was curled up (with one leg sticking out) in the corner cat cubby I have. Ivy was behind my in the dining room - licking the carpet (don't ask).

Minnie was asleep on my lap and her sisters were doing laps around the living room.

I may not be able to affect every life out there, but I have made a difference for these felines - and many more at the shelter and through fostering. It was an interesting reflection....

Spud

I am going to try to get a paragraph or two up about each of the current crew.

This is Spud. The daughter of a neighbor of my parents found him last fall in a box outside of the daycare where she was working. After a couple of days she realized kittens are a lot of work and called to see if I would take him and get him big enough for the shelter. With everything she said, I was sure he was a bottle baby. Nope - ends up he was about 6 weeks old at the time.

I brought him home - at the same time I had Ivy and her mommy and sisters. My main concern was getting him FIV/FeLV tested. I managed to get a last minute appointment with Banfield. They took him in the back to draw blood and the vet came back out with this tiny red kitten in one hand and the test in the other and a concerned look on his face. I panicked - I was sure the test was positive. Nope - seems the test wasn't done yet but the vet wanted to know if I would be upset if the kitten was male, not female as I had told them (really, I hadn't looked too close). I told the vet I didn't care if the kitten was a puppy so long as the test was negative.

Turns out it was, and a year later, he is still living with me. He bonded with the group of kittens and when Ivy came back to stay, I couldn't part with him. You can't tell really well in the picture, but he is more red than brown and has the LONGEST fuzz coming out of his ears. He is OK with people, but very comfortable with the cats. In fact, I call him the "stalker boy" as he has no sense of personal space - if Tim or Tom lays down, he is right there - right up next to them. I have seen him pull the same move on Ivy who usually doesn't mind. Mozart and Maestro make him move or get up and leave.

Dazed & Confused

Daisy is one of the kittens that I took from the shelter. A friend is letting the momma cat take up one of their spaces at a local Petsmart in the hope she gets adopted soon. Aida's spay and dental went very well and her long term outlook is great.

Anyhow, Miss Daisy is trouble. Last night I got home and everyone met me at the door to the garage. I went upstairs and the kittens followed me to the bathroom for dinner (I am trying to feed them canned kitten food at least twice per day since they are now out and about 24/7). Only - no Daisy. Which is strange.

OK - the kittens were downstairs. So I go back downstairs and hear "meep meep meep" from behind the garage door. Yep - she went out as I came in. So I grabbed her and took her back upstairs for some dinner with her sisters.

But, it gets better. Later that night, I opened the fridge door to get something out and let it shut without checking first. Yep - about 10 second later "meep meep meep". I open the door and Daisy stuck her head out with this look on her face like "Why did you do that?" I have seen her launch herself into the fridge before and just this one time didn't look before shutting the door.

Note to self: make sure you know the location of all kittens before shutting any doors.

Ivy

So, this is the only other (permanent) girl in the house. Like everyone but Maestro, she was a foster failure (definition: came as a foster, failed to return). Her mommy was Harmony and she had 4 sisters: Iris, Daffodil, Rose & Lily. Believe it or not, Ivy was much smaller until last Christmas - apparently Santa left her about 5 pounds while I was out of town.

Anyhow, I love the girl, but she is going to be the only girl. She has....attitude. She is now a year old, spayed, short hair, torbie (a cross between a calico and a tabby - a brown tabby with orange spots). Her full name: Princess Ivy Crankypants. Nickname: Chunky Monkey

Let's put it this way - I can trim nails on every one but her. I took her with me to the shelter Saturday morning to get reinforcements. I held her and an adoption counselor got her nails. I then took her over to put her on the scale - over 10 pounds - and she screamed. I finally got her back in the carrier and she spent the next 20 minutes growling at everyone. In the car on the way home - she was rolling around being a flirt.

put up or shut up

I have been thinking about this a lot. I took that momma cat (still needs a home - she should be spayed next week) and kittens, I wonder if there isn't something more I can do. Some friends and I have talked about starting our own sanctuary. No way we have the money to buy land or anything, but I have been doing some research about getting a name registered and getting non-profit status. It seems hard, but not impossible. At least that was, we could take cats from the shelter, raise them up, get them well, whatever, and then post them on Petfinder or take them to events. Plus, we can take donations and accept adoption fees. The more I think about it, the more I think I have to do this. We wouldn't take cats from people - just cats from the shelter to alleviate space. I would love to get money, get some land and do it that way, but that may be more down the road. Right now I just think there is more I can be doing. It may not be the ultimate step, but at least it is a step in the right direction. And better to have tried and failed than not tried anything at all.