Super Saturday....

I got to meet Teri and Brighton from Curlz & Swirlz.  They were at a cat show in Wilmington Ohio this weekend and that isn't too far from where I live.  There were all sorts of cats but it was a Cornish Rex specialty, so there were LOTS of those.

I happened upon them at first by accident.  Brighton was being judged.  I looked over a woman's shoulder at her program and realized that Brighton was in the group I was seeing.  They got done and I let them get settled before introducing myself.   There were smiles and hugs and Teri generously let me pet Brighton - which is usually not allowed at cat shows.  He is so soft - I have never been around Cornish Rexes before and it was fun.  I got to observe kitten judging, which was a riot....they are all howling and jumping around.  Some of the judges just judge, but there was a great one who made comments about breeds and the cats and was great to watch.  She judged some long hair cats which included this HUGE Maine Coon kitten - the owner said he weighs about 18 pounds and he is only 9 months old.  I wish I had gotten a picture as he was very handsome as well.

I did get to see Brighton get judged before I left for the day.  Don't laugh too hard at the video.  I don't know what I am doing and didn't realize I shouldn't have changed the direction of the camera.  Plus I have NO idea how to edit.

There was a no kill shelter represented as well, so of course I made a donation and bought some toys before I left.

Adopt a Less Adoptable Pet

  What is it about the one particular animal that grabs your heart?  Everyone always wants the cute kitten or puppy?  I say babies are overrated!!

I have one of these "less adoptable" animals.  Mozart was one of my foster kittens.  He got a VERY nasty eye infection and has a visible corneal scar.  When he went back to the shelter adoption floor, he was 6 months old, black and scarred.  And the vets put a note on his card that he may have to eventually lose the eye.  Yeah - that will make people jump up and offer to take him.

After over 2 weeks of him being gone from my house, I broke down and finalized his adoption.  3 years later he is my sweet baby and still has both eyes.  And you know what - even if he eventually loses one, who cares?

I will never understand why people want a certain color or gender.  Who cares???  Shouldn't it be about the purrsonality and how they will fit in your household???

So - Mo says - get out there and adopt...every kitty and doggy needs a home but especially those that have special needs or some other reason that people overlook them.

Here is our Less Adoptable Pets special:  Barney & Oleander

Barney & Oleander would like to be adopted together from Black & Orange Cat Foundation.  They are scardey cats that love each other and are both 4-5 years old. 

Quick update...

Bug was fine when I got home last night!!  Screaming like mad once he heard me, but nothing serious.  I would love to know what he does all day when I am not home.

Junior was up on the bed cuddling for a few minutes before taking off to kill my toes.  And there was less howling in the middle of the night.  YEAH!!

Momma cat got tested and vaccinated today.  I took Bug in with me to visit before I went to work.  She was nursing and seemed OK with him being in there.  However, Bug sniffed her, tried to eat out of her dish and then wandered around looking for me.  I tried to show him the mommy equipment, but I don't think he quite got it.  To him, I am the mommy and this is just some strange cat he keeps running into.  :)  But hey, being out during the day isn't hurting him, so whatever at this point.

Monday update....

Well, Bug is on his own today (OK - not really since my crew is there, but I didn't bring him to work).  We shall see how this pans out.  I do have a friend who lives close to where I work that has offered to help babysit and/or leave him there so I can come over at noon and feed him.

Momma cat is doing well.  Turns out the kittens had MAJOR fleas, so everyone got a bath last night (and no one was happy about it).

Junior jumped up onto the bed last night as I was reading and wanted to snuggle some.  AWWW!!



Bug and the canned food



Bug's new house (in the living room)

Junior

Junior checking out Bug

Bug & Ivy (awwww)

new momma cat and her kittens

What a weekend....

So by Friday I was pretty sure my boss was over the kitten in the office adventure.  So I emailed a friend who volunteers with Colony Cats and asked if maybe they had a momma cat I could "borrow".  Sure enough they did and I made arrangements to pick her up on Saturday.

Only, come to find out, the kittens are about 2 weeks younger than Bug and she has 6 of them.  I am going to try an introduction this afternoon, but I don't know how she is going to take to another kitten.  I suspect she may be more a babysitter while I am at work and Bug will be out with me while I am home.  I put up the pen and he is currently sleeping out there.  I am going to get it set up more as a housing thing and then will leave him in there most of the time.

I took him with me to my parents' house last night to watch the MSU Spartans beat Notre Dame.  OK, so I left at the end of regulation since it was LATE but Dad called before I got home and said MSU won in over time.  GO GREEN!!!

Anyhow, Bug was a riot.  I let him out and sat on the floor so he could play some.  He ran around and under their coffee table and was bouncing around.  Fun to watch.  I put him in the pen this morning and he was doing the same thing.  Junior was sitting outside the pen and wasn't sure what to do about Bug.

Speaking of Junior....big breakthrough.  Friday night he came up and jumped up in my lap and snuggled in for some love!!!  I knew curiousity would eventually get the better of him.  Of course, with the momma cat in the bathroom, he was out and free last night.  He has GOT to get over the whining at every other cat thing - he was on and on and on and (you get the point) last night every time he ran into another cat.  Baby - there are 6 adults here....you are going to run into them....get over it already!!

Anyhow, I will keep everyone posted on the new babies and how momma cat does with Bug.  Momma is a very skinny calico and she has 4 boys (white, orange tabby, orange/white tabby and gray/white) and 2 girls (both dulite calicos - one with more white than the other).

OH!!!  And good news - my friend Kelly took Pecan to Youngstown to live with her brother, sister-in-law and nephew.  She is going to have to learn to live with their dog, but I have great hopes for her!!!

Finally Friday

And I am not coming out until Caturday...

ummmm - mom???

I am still not too sure what Spud thinks of Bug.  Anyone want to hazard a guess??  :)

The continuing toenail saga....

Miss Ivy needed her nails again.  Kelly was again available and willing to help out.  This time I decided to employ the ace that the vet sent us to try.  I grabbed Ivy about 1:10pm yesterday, gave her the pill and stuck her in the bathroom for easy finding later.

Kelly arrived around 2pm. She ooohhhed and ahhed over Bug and even got to hold Junior for a few minutes (OK - he was unwilling, but he let her do it which is HUGE).

The moment of truth.  I opened the bathroom door.....and shut it so I could laugh.  OMG - she was sitting on the floor, upright but back legs splayed out to the side, third eyelid about halfway up and looking seriously drunk.  Kelly asked what was so funny...I tried to describe it.  "How much did you give her?"  "One whole pill."  "I only give Murphy a half."  "Yeah, but Ivy is more ornery - or she used to be."  (snicker)

So I pull myself together and grab the princess.  She growled, but it wasn't as bad as normal.  Only one scream and no poop.  YEAH!!  I still had to hold her while Kelly cut, but it wasn't nearly as bad as without the ace.  I was hoping maybe to be able to do it myself, but I don't think we will ever get to that point.  Next time I promise to try it with 1/2 a pill.  :)  It took her the rest of the afternoon and evening to sleep it off.  I did manage to keep her from trying the stairs. 

This was her first attempt to find somewhere to sleep it off:

I am so proud....

Junior is making so much progress.  He is out all day now and is venturing into the living room more often.  No telling how much time he spends out during the day, but he is out most of the evening.  He still runs if something startles him, but he recovers pretty quickly.  His favorite spot seems to be on a chair in the dining room where he can look out the sliding glass door.

Bug is doing great too.  Mom called last night and said she may know of someone who will adopt him when he is big enough.  She just lost her cat and needs some time to recover which will be great for Bug.  He is eating like mad.  I again forgot to weigh him this morning, but he looks twice as big as he was when I found him.  I have been letting him walk around the living room in the evenings.  He doesn't get too far - tough when you are only a couple of inches off the ground.  :)  Spud just sits and stares at him.  I have never had kittens this tiny that have been out and exposed to the crew, so this is different.  I don't know whether Spud is fascinated or thinks Bug is a toy, but he just watches him.

The fosters went back to the shelter on Tuesday.  I got to see them that night and they didn't seem too thrilled about the change in surroundings.   Hopefully they will relax and find a home soon.

Ivy, Walnut & Hazel checking out the new guy

Weekend update....

Tommy checking out BUg

I got home Friday and Junior had "gone over the wall". The gate was still up, but no orange kitten in the bathroom. I took down the gate and left it alone knowing he was somewhere in the condo. Around 8pm I heard some hissing and managed to herd him back into the bathroom. So it has gone for the rest of the weekend. He spends his days out - mostly in my office and nights in the bathroom. I am hesitant to let him out at night as I don't want to have him in my bedroom and not be able to get him out in the morning. And then last night he actually ventured down the hall toward the living room. He didn't make it into the living room, but this is as close as he has gotten. Serious progress for 3 weeks in the house.

The nuts went back to the shelter this morning. I am sad to see them go - I have had them for a while and they were a joy. The caregiver at CHA thinks they may go to a local Petsmart adoption center, so that should help them get adopted a little faster. I will say that I think the adults had had enough of this group and may be glad they are gone. Even Mozart was losing patience. :)

And Bug is doing great. Eating like mad and getting bigger every day. I don't think my scale goes that low, but I am going to try to weigh him tonight (and yes, I now think he is a boy). I trimmed his nails the other day and they are sharp already again. I may try to introduce him to canned food next weekend. I had him at my parents' house over the weekend and discovered I could entertain him by letting him suck on my finger. I also put him on the floor last night and after wandering around a little, he crashed for a nap. I went into the kitchen and when I turned around, Ivy, Walnut, Pecan and Hazel were all standing round him watching. I have caught Spud laying in front of the carrier just staring more than once. Wish I knew what he was thinking.

All in all, a good weekend. :)

Meet Bug...

OK - so we found another kitten in the neighborhood. A neighbor named Susan found one Wednesday, but he was dying and I had a local vet help me with him. However, she called yesterday and said that she was hearing another one. We made plans for her to bring it to my condo. Only she couldn't get it out from under the stairs. So we went over and I laid in the mulch and after about 15 minutes and a lot of swearing, I managed to get the kitten on to the end of a broom I brought and pulled her out. She was pretty filthy and had some fleas. Back to my house and I got her cleaned up. She appeared to have a wound, so I got the vet on the phone that helped me with the other one and they agreed to fit me in. She checked out pretty well. About 2.5 weeks old and weighs in at only 0.3 pounds. But she is eating so I will keep up with her. I was up several times last night with her. She slept for longer than I would have thought, but I think a lot of it could have just been recovery after a good meal and now being warm and safe. I brought her to work with me this morning knowing that I was going to have to beg my boss to allow me to bring her to work for a couple of weeks. He says he is allergic but I think the cute overwhelmed his argument and he agreed. YEAH Jim!! So, she is in a carrier on a heating pad next to my desk. :) Keep your fingers crossed for her. She is tiny and has a long way to go, but I have hope. (sorry the pic is fuzzy - I took it with my phone)

Junior update

Getting his picture is a pain.  This is the cutest one I have so far.  He either looks mad or you can't see his face - his chin blends into his chest and it just looks odd.

He is making progress.  Last Friday I got out of work early and decided to run an experiment.  I put up the pen I have....

That requires some explanation: I bought a baby gate to use in the bathroom door so I could leave the door open - to get some air in and let everyone see each other.  Problem is that kittens can get over the gate pretty quickly.  So I got to thinking about rabbit pens.  A little expensive though.  I borrowed one and it worked GREAT!! So I decided to make the investment and found this one Dr Foster Smith.  It works great.  And once the kittens can get over THAT, then they deserve more freedom.

In Junior's case, it allows him a feeling of safety.  I know he could get over it - though I am not sure he knows that.  When I first put it up, the fosters were fascinated.  I heard a shuffling noise and went to investigate - the purple towel (you can see it in his picture) was moving across the floor.  I find that towel all over the bathroom.  He gets adopted, it will have to go with him. 

Now he is sitting in the hall for a good part of the day.  He can interact with the kitten (I have seen he and Wally playing with his ball through the bars).  The adults seem more than ready to ignore him.  Hazel and Pistachio still have fits when they see him.  Stachi followed me into the bathroom this morning when I went back in to grab my rings and he actually charged at her hissing right back.  I kind of wanted to applaud.

He still is jumpy though.  He will be sitting in the hall but run back into the bathroom when I come down the hall toward him.  He bounces back pretty quickly though and will come right out when I call him.  He tried to come out of the bathroom last night with me, but considering it was 3am, I vetoed that maneuver.  However, based on that, I may try that as my next step.

He is still vocal - likes to talk to me when I am spending time with him.  But still growls and hisses at the kittens and I am not sure that is really what he means.  Plus we have to work on the biting thing....he doesn't do it hard enough to draw blood, but he doesn't have any inhibitions either.  I am hoping he will get comfortable coming out into the living room with everyone and when he tries it on the adults they will teach him some better manners.

For now I am very proud of his progress.  Now to find the right family to adopt him....that is the challenge.

awwww

The gang of four (honest, Hazel is still here, just refusing to cooperate for the picture taking) were spayed and neutered yesterday.  The foster mom lady got almost all the way to the car before she realized that Hazel wasn't in the carrier with Wally.  She went back and the vet tech came out at the same time - apologizing like crazy.  No big deal - at least she didnt' get home without our sister.

We were feeling a little crazy last night but much better this morning.  No one seemed to like us much when we got back to the house.  The foster mom lady said we smell like the V-E-T and the adult kitties don't like that much.  Too bad for them....

The foster mom lady says we go to the shelter on Tuesday to be adopted.  Not sure what that all means...we will have to wait to see.

Last night....

As most of you know, I volunteered at Best Friends this past March. I am also on their volunteer network. I got an email a couple of weeks ago about helping with a puppy mill transport. ABSOLUTELY!!! Their truck picked up over 150 dogs from various "breeders" in Missouri and are transporting them to NYC. (they should be there by now) They stopped in Columbus as a mid point. Got here about 8pm. We watered, fed and cleaned for 3 hours. By 11pm they were ready to go and I was tired, thirsty and smelled FUNKY (the kittens were enthralled when I got home). The dogs are slated for rescues in the New York area and then on to forever homes.  

Ava....

I got a text yesterday from my friend Nancy. "Ava is gone. Her back legs gave out"

It hasn't even been two weeks since the diagnosis of lymphoma.  And a week before that she was fine and happy and her daddy gave her a bath and didn't feel any lumps.

We here at Random Felines are sending our love to Nancy and Steve and Douglas the rescue cat.  You were well loved Ava and will be missed.

Thankful Thursday

Pecan, Pistachio, Hazel & Walnut

We, the gang of 4, are thankful that the hots are taking a break here and the foster mom lady leaves the screen door open so we can smell the flowers and try to catch those bugs!

wordless wednesday

Scafflaw Week

Our buddy Fin at Housecat Confidential has started this and we MUST participate.  We have been up to no good for a very long time and find that one week may not be enough.  Plus we have gotten the foster kittens in on the act.

Everyone on the couch

Wally on the counter

Spud on the dining room table

Tommy on the dining room table
(Tommy says if mom uses it for storage then we can sit on it)

Pistachio in the kitchen sink

Tim on the end table

Prayers please....

We need to be thinking about Douglas' family.  His goggie Ava has some lumps and her mom and dad just found more and it is lymphoma.  With steriods the vet says maybe 30-60 days.  Ava is 6 years old....this is her with her dad in their favorite chair - Douglas jumped up after Ava did.  We love you Ava!!! (and Nancy & Steve & Douglas)

Round one - me; Round two - Junior

So he was fine Wednesday night out of the bathroom for about an hour. I even got to trim his front nails (which ended up coming in handy last night).

Anyhow, yesterday, I dropped the nuts off for surgery but they ended up getting bumped for some emergencies, so they will go back later. After picking them up, I got home and decided to try round two with Junior (I gotta change that name soon or it is going to stick). I wrapped him in his towel and went out to sit with him and watch everyone. Pecan hissed a little at him and Pistachio again had a hissy fit. He went nose to nose with Maestro and Tommy. Fine with Maestro but hissed a little at Tommy - which Tommy graciously ignored.

Well, I think I might have pushed him too far. At about the 90 minute mark, he got curious and was sitting on my lap watching the kittens. Something startled him and he took off. I spent the next 15 minutes trying to catch him. Around the condo...I was hoping he would duck into the bathroom and I would be able to shut the door, but no such luck. He went into the kitchen and in my overconfidence, I tried to grab him. Bad idea - he scratched me and bit my wrist. Entirely my fault. Then under the sofa. I managed to get him out and he went down the stairs to the front door. I took the towel and followed him. He was in the corner and I could tell he was freaked out. I tossed the towel over his head and he burrowed further underneath. We went back upstairs and back into the bathroom. I sat with him for a few minutes and he relaxed and was purring and looking at me with those cute baby eyes. <>

So, I have to remind myself to take it slowly. It is hard looking at the well adjusted foster kittens. But I have had them since they were 6 weeks old. They may be the same age as Junior, but he doesn't have the same solid background.

Keep your fingers crossed. He has potential. I just have to give him time.

Pecan says: "I don't want to sleep by myself"

sleepin' with Ivy

sleepin' with Tim

Junior...

OK, so the name isn't great, but he needed one yesterday at the clinic.  And he looks a lot like his daddy (who we still have to catch and get neutered).

Anyhow, all the tests came back negative!!  Yeah - now we can work on getting him socialized and find him a forever home.  He is very sweet - pick him up and he purrs and has started to knead on me.  He even climbs up from my lap to my chest and will head butt my chin.

He isn't convinced that coming to me is a good idea yet.  And he is still spending lots of time hiding in the carrier, but that is about to come to and end...I need the carrier back.  :)  So, he will have his own space in the bathroom for now and slowly meet the rest of the crew to see how things go.

The fosters get spayed/neutered on Thursday and then come back to the house for 4-5 days to recover.

We caught us a kitten....

Well, our neighbor put out the cat trap again last night.  And caught one of the older kittens!!  I went over and picked him up.  I am going to get him neutered and try to socialize him.  Keep your fingers crossed.  Carol saw the other cat that we thought was pregnant - and she is skinny, so we now suspect she had her kittens.  So we are going to hold up trapping until they get a chance to get a little older. (or if we can find them)  Which leaves the black cat (that might already be fixed) and the big orange boy.

Gotta come up with a name for the new guy.  I will be working with him right now, and once he is tested and recovered from surgery, I will start SLOWLY introducing him into the house and the kitty crew.  He seems freaked out, but not wild.  I know he came out of the carrier last night as things were knocked over in the bathroom, but he was back in the carrier this morning when I went in to get ready for work.  I can pet him but he won't look at me.  For now, I am OK with that.

Satisfaction

We have some community cats in our condo neighborhood (I don't really like the term feral since it freaks people out and doesn't always apply - Best Friends has started using this new term and I like it better).

Anyhow, a note was in the last newsletter asking for help for some TNR (trap neuter release).  I contacted another woman named Carol, and we set a trap I borrowed from my dad.  Monday morning we caught our first cat.  She apparently has been pretty friendly with some of the neighbors and one woman stepped up and offered to adopt her!  Chatty Cathy went to Stephanie's house last night and I got a call that said she is already adjusting very well.  She had to have been a pet that lost her home.  Well, now she is spayed and will be spoiled rotten.

I never thought it would be this satisfying - this is my first foray into TNR.  We are going to keep at it until we catch them all.... one big tomcat, a couple more girls and some juvenile kittens.

frustration...

I won't go into details, but I am no longer with the rescue organization I joined over 7 years ago.  After some thought I have found a group closer to my house.

Here is the frustration part: with some many organizations working toward what I would think would be a common goal of less lives lost in shelters due to overpopulation, why are so many groups badmouthing other groups???  I refuse to go there, which is why the circumstances of my change aren't going up here.  My family and my friends know what happened, and that is enough for me.  But over the weekend, I ran into a friend from another group and she starts (without knowing my decision about where to go next) about the group I intend to join.  It bugs me....  I think for me it is all about this adage: if you don't have anything nice to day, don't say anything at all.

That being said, I have to post a huge THANK YOU to my friends and especially my parents.  This change has been hard on me and they have been so supportive.  I remember when I first decided to get into animal rescue, my Dad (who is so NOT a cat person) made the comment that I was going to end up with a ton of cats and he thought this was a bad idea.  He has come a long way since then, though he will never be a cat person.  Last week when all this happened, he and my Mom were upset about everything.  There is a fund raiser this week for the former group and they are not attending.  I didn't ask - in fact I told them that I support the reason for the fund raiser and while I wouldn't be there it was fine.  Nope - they are supporting me and that is all there is to it.  I know in part it is a "parent thing" but it makes me feel good.

Chloe update

Unfortunately, her first adoption didn't work out so well. When she was returned, a spot opened up at Petsmart and I was able to take her up there.

In the meantime, I had emailed the family that adopted Minuet and Nocturne and let them know since they had asked about her.

Good news!! Chloe went home with her name family on Sunday. The neice of the woman who adopted Min & Noc went to Petsmart and saw Chloe and fell in love with her. She has two other adult cats and thinks it will be a good match. Plus I got to hear more about the adventures of the kids. Chloe seemed very relaxed with all of them and I am thrilled!

nap attack

Mozart and Ivy say it is better to sleep with someone than sleep alone.
Or in Ivy's case ON someone.

Wednesday at the zoo with Fred

No, her name really isn't Fred. That is just what I call her. This is Lanah - my 6 yr old niece. I took Wednesday off from work and she and I and Grandma spent the day at the Columbus Zoo. We have new polar bears here - a pair of sisters. They are a lot of fun to watch.

We also saw the baby elephant and discovered there is new baby gorilla - she was playing with her keeper and all my pictures have a glare from the glass.

It was hot and humid but fun to spend the day.

Minuet & Nocturne update...

I also got a recent email from the family that adopted Minuet and Nocturne (yep - Noc will spend the rest of his life being tormented by his sister).

Thank you so much for the pictures, gifts, and background of Nocturne and Minuet. You did a wonderful job of socializing these two beautiful little darlings. I am very glad they were able to spend their first days and weeks with a loving, caring, foster mom. I was curious about whether or not you have a dog. We have an 8 year old german shepard, and minuet fell in love with him after a day of her observing him. She is all over him. He is not quite sure what to think of this yet, but she is gaining his trust everyday. For some reason both kittens have no fear or any qualms about cuddling with him. We are being careful though. He is a very big dog, and even though he is very kind by nature, we are being careful with that.

It meant a great deal to us that you sent are darlings off with a little background info., and we have never before adopted a pet at a shelter. It was quite a different experience for our family. We can not thank you enough for taking such good care of them. We are sending you some current pics of them at their new home. I am so glad there are people in the world that care about the welfare of these defensless animals. We promise to love and care for them all of their days.

Requiem update...

I got an email from Requiem's new family when they got their care package:

Thank you for Requiem’s package. Very thoughtful. I especially appreciate the photos and the confirmation of his birth date.

You’ll be happy to know he is healthy, happy and growing like a weed. He passed his first vet’s checkup with flying colors.

As you indicated, he is very playful and loves terrorizing the toy mice. He’s playing with one that you sent as I write.

He so rarely sits still, it’s been difficult to get a good photo, but a couple are attached.

Support HSDC

Kroger is offering $150,000 to shelters across the US. Delaware County Humane Society (Delaware County Ohio http://www.hsdcohio.org/) is one of them. If you click here: http://petloversvote.com/Pages/Vote.aspx then they get a vote everyday and could win the top prize of $50,000. Right now they are in second place.

They are messing with me....

Those little foster kittens had this all planned out - I am convinced of it. They were due to be vaccinated on 7/17/10. I made the appointment on Thursday. Got home after walking dogs at the shelter and Pecan's green eye goop was back and all four kittens sneezed at least once in the next hour. I don't know how they know, but they did.

So, I had a plan. I took them in and mentioned to Debbie (our processing tech) about my fear of them breaking with URI (upper respiratory - kitty cold) while on the floor. Since the surgery schedule is a week or so out, I suggested putting them on the schedule for next week and then I would bring them back next Saturday. That was they would have the weekend to be adopted but not be on the floor so long that the stress would make them sick. She said it sounded good.

I grabbed Pecan and put her on the scale. And the plan went right out the window. See, surgery is based on weight in kittens. They have to be at least 2.25 pounds (I prefer to get them a little bigger if I can). Pecan now? 1.87 pounds. Pistachio? 2.17 pounds. So much for that. Hazel was big enough. Walnut was WAY big enough (2.7 pounds). As Debbie asked if I wanted to leave the boy, he sneezed on her. The vet was walking by, took a look at him and declared 14 days of antibiotics.

Yep - so much for that plan....

In other news, I discovered Chloe (the momma cat from the last group) was returned. They said she needed too much attention and was crying all night to go outside. Funny, I never had that problem. She is understandably upset by the change and let me know when I went to check on her yesterday. Fortunately, one of our cats living at Petsmart is being adopted tonight and I am going to take her up there to fill that spot.

latest foster pics...

Right now, the kittens are scheduled to go back to the shelter on Saturday, so they would be available for adoption over the weekend, though they can't go home until they are spayed/neutered. They have been a blast. I was determined to get more pictures - especially of Wally since he is harder to get as he is all black. Here are some of the shots:

Pistachio
Wally

Hazel

Pecan

WWF - Cat style

Tim & Tom have a nightly routine. They start grooming, then the wrestling starts. Then they break - tails waving as they prepare for round two. Someone pounces, and the game is back on. It eventually breaks again and there is some mutually grooming until one of them walks away. I had been thinking about it and trying to remember to grab my camera. I was in luck last night. The fosters are due to go back on Saturday, so I was trying to get some more pictures. I was sitting in my chair with Wally and Pecan on my lap when the nightly match broke out. Here is the match....or at least round 2.

Foster update....

I had been worried about Hazel. When they were vaccinated on the 3rd, she had lost weight over the 2 weeks that I had her in the house. So, we agreed to feed her science diet a/d and give it to her separately. Worked like a charm....she weighed 2 pounds on Saturday (up from 1.43 pounds on 7/3). Plus she is MUCH more active and joining in the play with her siblings.

The tabby girls are still just adorable. I think Pistachio got all the whiny in the family. If Wally gets anywhere near her to attack, she starts to cry. Pecan on the other hand will stand there and open her mouth, but nothing comes out.

And Wally....I noticed a bump on the top of his head so he had a vet appointment on Saturday. She thinks it is just a cyst and they made a note to remove it when he is neutered. Great, I told her - that will get him adopted a whole lot faster. He is male, black and will now have a bald spot in the middle of his head. She laughed and said "and a stitch". Lovely.... LOL

RIP Moe....

Moe was a kitten in 2001 when he was adopted from CAHS. In 2007 he was brought back (for reasons I can't remember right now). He was surly, front declawed, hated kids and dogs and ended up on a special diet. After several months of being at the shelter, he became the first cat moved to our adoptions office in a condo. Then he got more time out of the condo. Then we took down his condo and he just was allowed to live in the adoptions office. When the shelter was closed to the public, he could be found wandering around. He had a serious catnip addition. Cat treats would make him throw up but he loved McDonald's french fries.

After 2 years at the shelter (and while people felt sorry for him, he was living a very good life), his favorite adoption counselor took a full time job at a local clinic. She had said if she left, she was taking Moe. The joke was that we couldn't even give him away - he was the reason the "Cat of the Month" program was establish. His adoption fee was waived. And still he lived at the shelter.

So a year ago, Mandy took Moe home. Now, we were a little concerned as Mandy has a dog. Come to find out, Moe discovered he could terrrorize the dog and that become his new hobby.

About a month ago, he started losing weight and throwing up. They changed his diet. No luck. They ran some tests. Turns out he had lymphoma. Mandy couldn't bear to put him through chemo, so he crossed Rainbow Bridge on Friday. RIP Moe - we all loved you and miss our shelter office cat. You havea earned your wings.