throwback Thursday

(or...mom got busy this week and didn't get something else prepared for today....hahaha)

The flower kittens are now 11 weeks old. Can you believe it??? They are all feeling much better so hopefully in another week or so we can get them back to the adoption center. Amaryllis' surgery went well and she is now in her own private set up at one of our remote adoption locations.

Dandelion

Muscari

Trillium

Orchid

(mom loves this picture - it cracks her up)

wordless Wednesday

Amaryllis

Amaryllis goes to be spayed tomorrow and then hopefully to the remote adoption location where mom cleans. (that depends on other adoptions - they have applications)

Amaryllis has been a great momma cat. She did a great job raising the flower kittens. Though it was funny that once she lost interest, she really was done with them. She would still let them nurse if they caught her, but she tried her best to find a spot in the foster room where she could escape them. When the tree kittens were added, mom swears she heard Amaryllis' eyes roll into the back of her head. With them all in there, we can hear Amaryllis grumble grumble grumble but eventually give in to the kittens. We suspect she will be MORE than happy to have some peaceful accommodations to herself for a while. Mom hasn't seen her actually play, but we do suspect she isn't very old. She doesn't seem overly fazed by all of us, though there haven't been any nose to nose meetings.

100% over your shenanigans

kittens? what kittens? I see no kittens....

weekend report

We hope you all had a nice weekend. It was HOT here on Saturday. Mom was cleaning at one of the remote adoption locations for the rescue and ended up calling the police for a small dog locked in an SUV. Our state has passed a law for breaking windows for pets and kids, but it doesn't go into effect until August. As the police (finally) showed up, the family (WITH KIDS!!!) came out of a nearby store and the cop did lecture the dad. Hopefully they won't do it again....

As for adoptions, the best laid plans and all that.....

Mom took the flower kittens up to the adoption center after work on Friday. Dandelion started doing his cough from being sick in May so mom ended up leaving Orchid and Muscari (who, it turns out is a BIG whiner). She planned to meet the head of the rescue Saturday morning to have her check Dandelion.

Well, turns out he was running a fever....and the other two didn't look so hot either. Mom ended up picking them all back up and bringing them back home.

The little ones are sick as well. From all appearances, it is a virus called calici. The FVCRP vaccine covers this, but since the older kittens were sick, their vaccines just started and the little ones got their first one when they came to our house. All of OUR vaccines are up to date, so it isn't something we will get from them. And Amaryllis was vaccinated right after the kittens were born, so she had time to build her immunity. Mom got a text from Miss Beckie that has Trillium and apparently he had a fever on Friday. Must be a weird family thing. Anyhow, they are on meds and the important part is to keep them hydrated and eating (which they all are). However, nothing like trying to socialize hissy torties and now having to catch them twice per day and force meds on them. sigh.....

 

Sumac

Dandelion

 

Juniper and the boys

(she the friendly tortie)

 

Hemlock and Sumac

still not sure about that foster lady

random Fridays

Well, the flower kittens did very well after their surgeries and will be headed up to the adoption center today.  We suspect they will all be gone by the end of the weekend....or at least we hope so. Amaryllis goes for surgery next week and then will go to one of the remote locations for adoption. If you didn't see it on Instagram or Facebook, we got an update from our friend Miss Beckie about Trillium who is still a little wheezy but doing much better.
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mom loves that face (Daiquiri)

Daiquiri and Tommy

~~~~~~~~~~

Well, the newbies have names. Sticking to a spring theme, these 5 are going to be named after types of trees (and honestly, while naming the torties girls, mom cracked herself up - see if you can figure out why):

Hemlock

Sumac

Juniper

the orange boys won't hold still

They are: Cedar and Alder

(need to get close up pictures to be sure which is which)

torties: (front to back) Juniper, Hemlock, Sumac

Mom was leaving for work the other day when she saw the first picture and managed to get it before anyone moved. Then she realized that everyone was actually over there and got this picture. OK - so the torties are in one pile, one orange kitten is moving and the other is facing backwards. But....this is whole current crew.

measure of character

**a post by the mom

The Friday that I left Best Friends, I stopped by the medical clinic (Hope House) in Cat World where a friend of mine now works (she volunteered with me, took her family back out and now she and her husband both live and work out there). She grabbed a chair and took me back to her desk. Another chair was back there with two cats curled up asleep - both evident from their appearance to be pretty old.

I sat down and the black cat heaved himself to his feet, walked between the arm and the back of the chair and on to my lap. From there he wiggled his way up to my shoulder and then made himself quite comfortable as I crossed my arms to give him a place to lay down. He rumbled a deep throaty purr and sighed. My friend and I chatted for about 40 minutes - he lay curled on my arms the entire time. She got called away to do something and another employee walked in and saw Darius lounging in my arms. She told me thank you for loving on their boy. I just nodded as I really hadn't thought anything about letting him climb up on me and snooze.

My friend and I continued to talk and she told me about Darius and his friend (whose name escapes me). Come to find out the sanctuary pulled them both from a kill shelter. They had been living in Hope House for about 3 months as the vet staff tried to give them some quality of life....Darius was about 16 years old and his friend a year younger. Darius wasn't doing any better and had begun to decline....the staff had made the decision to help him cross Rainbow Bridge - and in fact were going to do it that afternoon. I didn't know that when I sat down and honestly, it wouldn't have made any difference to me.

I had to get going, hugged my friend and put Darius back with his buddy - kissing his head and wishing him a safe and gentle journey over the Bridge. I got packed, got a shower and headed south on the freeway back to Las Vegas. As I glanced at the clock in the car, I realized Darius had left this world, and I admit I shed a few tears for him and the people who loved him at Hope House.

“The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.” Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

As I drove, I got to thinking about things. I have heard some version of the quote above several times. But what if a measure of character isn't just how people react in times of adversity but how they react when others are in need of comfort? What if a measure of character happens in those quiet between moments when nothing is expected of us but "being"?

Darius was old....he was so very thin....he had patches of missing fur....he had scabs on his ears.

I thought through the people I know. Would everyone have been willing to sit with him curled up in their arms? If I am completely honest, the answer is no. There are people I know that would have taken one look at him and made sure he didn't get any where near them. In my mind, I was just sitting there, why not let him snooze on me if that is what he wanted.

I'm not writing this for applause or self congratulations. But it made me give serious thought to the people I have in my life.

It isn't that hard to sit quietly and allow an animal some comfort in a warm lap. And yet not everyone would have been open to the experience. Now...some may have changed their minds when they found out the additional information about him, but I think that disregards the original premise - that comfort should not have requirements or restrictions. It should be freely given regardless of circumstance.

Sometimes we have people in our lives that give voice to their opinions about what WE should be doing with our OWN lives. The thing I want this to make you...and me...think about is how we let those outside voices affect our decisions. And maybe start to limit the effect those voices have on how WE choose to live our lives.

wordless Wednesday

Dandelion

flower kittens

Some of you may remember this collar. Mom got it in 2013 at BlogPaws from the ferret rescue that was there. Triscuit had gone to BlogPaws with mom and wore it. The collar has come out again on occasion and since these are the flower kittens, it seemed appropriate.

And like all kittens, put something on them or around their necks and they suddenly can't stand up.

Orchid in the process of falling over

Muscari trying to out run the collar

Dandelion suspect something may be up

And then has to wear the collar as well

The kittens were dropped off for their spay and neuter surgeries this morning. Mom intends to take them up to the adoption center on Friday and we suspect they will be adopted pretty quickly.

And of course there must be video:

weekend report

We gained some new kittens over the weekend. Our friend Miss Amanda found a kitten, went back and then found mom and 4 more kittens. She had them for a week and mom was spayed and released since she was feral. The kittens need some socialization and Miss Amanda has a lot going on. After some back and forth, mom picked up the kittens on Saturday morning. There are 2 orange tabbys and 3 torties. The orange boys spent about a day behind the pen in the foster room and are now out with the flower kittens. The girls need a little more work and are behind the pen until mom is sure she can catch them if she needs them.

 

Amaryllis says - heck NO to more kittens

she is 110% over kitten shenanigans

Orchid would like to know what is in the mysterious carrier

you can see Muscari and Dandelion in the background

with one of the girls putting on her stranger-danger suit

Muscari is VERY sure these kittens will make great playmates

Letting the orange boys out was uneventful. The older kittens are pretty good with them and the boys yell if they get too rough. Of the girls, one is pretty good right now, one needs a little work, and the last one is very sure that mom is evil. MOL They are probably about 5 weeks old, so we have time to get them friendly for adoption. Right now with the girls, mom will pick them up and hold them and she also sits with them when she puts out the canned food twice per day and makes them come right up to her to eat.

Random Fridays

Our friend from Glogirly visited Best Friends as an ambassador a few days before mom went out there. They just missed each other, but the posts and pictures she got are pretty amazing.

ours aren't quite as good as Glogirly, but the flowers are pretty

~~~~~~~~~~

maniacal laughter (Orchid)

*while being sniffed by her brother Dandelion

Dandelion telling secrets to Muscari

(he looks stunned doesn't he? or maybe just confused)

synchronizing kittening

with Muscari and Dandelion

pow - right in the kisser (Orchid)

The kittens are scheduled for surgery next Tuesday and then off for adoptions. The rescue doesn't have a ton of ready to go adoptable kittens right now, so we suspect they will be adopted pretty quickly. Amaryllis needs a chance to dry up her milk and then she will go as well. Mom is hoping that a spot will open up at the remote location where she cleans and Amaryllis can go there.

the cats of CalMar

**a post by the mom

Casa de CalMar was funded by a wonderful couple named Cal and Martha. They wanted to make sure that the Feline Leukemia cats at Best Friends had a home of their own and started the funding to make it happen.

Feline Leukemia can be a heartbreaker. It can be spread through common contact, so these cats cannot be housed with cats that test negative. For most cats, this is a death sentence. Fortunately, Best Friends is able to house some of these cats and give them the best life possible. Unfortunately, they can only be adopted by those with no other cats or other positive cats....and FeLV will shorten their lives.

When my niece and I went to Best Friends two years ago, I made it a point of making sure we volunteered in CalMar. I had been there before, and despite everything that most people think, these cats live wonderful lives. I wanted my niece to be exposed to that. We had long talks about FeLV and what that meant for the cats. And every cat we took on sleepovers that time and this past week were all from CalMar. When we got to Best Friends this trip, our first stop was Cats....I asked her where she wanted to go to volunteer and without any hesitation, she said CalMar.

Swanson (born 2012)

He is super sweet and is a lap is available, he is on it. 

Unless Pearlene is around....then he is gone. 

Pearlene (born 2014)

She is the queen of the room - and the smallest cat in it.

But if there is an available lap, she would much rather snuggle.

Fanta (born 2015)

She was great on the sleep over and so playful.

Bo (Barney's brother) (born 2011)

He isn't as brave as his brother, but if you sit down, 

he will haul his very large self all over you.

On our last trip, we did two sleep overs with Harper (here) and one with Foley. About 4 days after we got home from our last trip, my friend who works there called to let me know that Harper had crossed Rainbow Bridge. Telling my niece was one of the hardest things I have done. When we got to CalMar this trip, we learned that in the year following our trip in 2014, Harper's sister Bronte crossed, Foley crossed, and the four kittens (Hewy, Dewy, Louie and Murray) that came in to CalMar on our last day there all crossed as well. FeLV is a heart breaking disease....and yet my niece embraced loving these cats with no hesitation.

All animals that cross at Best Friends at buried at Angel's Rest or Angel's Crossing. I knew on this trip that I wanted to make a stop to find Harper's marker. On Sunday, we checked in as volunteers and got my parents off on the tour. And to my surprise, the kid point blank asked me if we could find out where Harper was buried and visit the spot. I had never once mentioned to her that I was going to do that very thing - this was completely her idea. We spoke to an employee, got the information and a map and set off. To keep things from getting too serious, the map wasn't overly helpful and we ended up wandering aimlessly trying to figure out the system.

We finally found the right spot. Each site has a stone and a nameplate. Someone (I'm not sure if it is staff or a volunteer) has been making stones with their names. And the colored stones are left by those who visit as a remembrance that these lives will not be forgotten.

As you look around Angel's Rest and Angel's Crossing, there are windchimes every where. It is said that as an animal crosses, the chimes ring to announce it. I've heard stories of days when it is completely calm with no wind and as an animal is remembered, chimes will start to ring. That happened for me on that Sunday. There was no breeze as all, but as my niece and I stood and took a picture, the chimes started to softly ring.

Best Friends - part 2

Wednesday morning was puppy class for mom and the kid (grandma and grandpa were walking dogs). All puppies go through several socialization classes to help them learn to listen and be more comfortable with people and objects in a home.

Then it was time for walks. Mom and the kid took Arizona. She is a wonderful loving puppy - with some dog issues. The caregivers are working with her and will give her all the time she needs, but it is hard to get a puppy adopted when they have dog issues (they were passed on the walking trail and Arizona clearly growled at the other puppy - they aren't sure what sets her off but are hoping to figure it out for her sake).

 

Arizona

These puppies were part of the puppy class. There was a group of 9 puppies plus their mom that a group took from a local reservation and they are all ready for homes. The black and tan one up front is the one mom and the kid worked with in class.

Wednesday afternoon mom and the kid worked in another cat house called Vinnie's. Mostly going on walks and socializing.

 

tough job but someone has to do it

Thursday the kid and mom spent all day in CalMar again. Cleaning, walking, strolling and socializing. Grandma was with them in the morning as there was one spot in horses and mom put grandpa in there to break up his routine.

Sunkist (Fanta's sister)

 

Trinket (another of the NJ kitten sisters)

 

Sunkist again

Thursday night was another sleepover. Mom left it up to the kid and she chose to bring home Clarisse, the fourth of the NJ sisters. Clarisse was a little more unsure of herself. Mom found out later that she actually spent part of the night sleeping on the between grandma and grandpa (we are sure glad grandpa didn't find her - he isn't a cat guy). About 4am Clarisse was awake and pretty restless. Mom tried to calm her but no real luck. Out of ideas, mom stuck her under the covers. And that worked like a charm.....Clarisse crawled under the covers and fell asleep against mom's legs.

hiding in the dresser

Friday morning, mom worked in cats with grandma, while grandpa and the kid got a session with the pigs. No pictures since mom wasn't there, but the kid said she had a great time, met lots of pigs and gave lots of belly rubs.

Mom headed back to Las Vegas on Friday afternoon since she had an early flight home on Saturday.

If you have been to Best Friends, tell us about your trip. If you haven't, give some serious thought to making the trip....it is a magical place.