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.

Tommy's adventure

The end of the week brought a scare for the household. I came home about 10pm from a party on Thursday. Everyone was fine. I woke up Friday morning and no sign of Tommy. He wasn't demanding breakfast, and I searched the condo high and low. I got ready for work and walked into the living room to discover one of the window screens was MISSING!! He must have been sleeping in the open window (the weather had been nice) and it fell out and he went with it. I freaked out!!! But, I had to go to work since I had a case that had to be filed.

After a few hours, I managed to get to a point where I could leave. I had him posted on PetFBI.com and updated the microchip company. I left a flyer with CAHS and CHA.

A friend called on my way home and offered to come help me look. Kelly and I searched the neighborhood for a couple of hours but didn't hear or see anything.

As we sat upstairs (after trimming Ivy's toenails - boy do I owe Kelly now), there was a bang on the door. I ran down and it was a neighbor who had seen the flyer I had taped to my front door. She had seen Tommy outside my garage around 11pm, but was unable to catch him. We spoke for a few minutes, and as I was heading back inside, Kelly was up on my balcony and told me to wait cause she heard something. I stopped and yep - there is was...Tommy cries!! Kelly came downstairs and we looked high and low. He was under a neighbor's a/c unit. No entry to her patio, so Kelly bravely climbed my ladder and scared Tommy back under the stairs where I could crawl under and managed to grab him.

He didn't seem much the worse for the experience, other than being pretty dirty. I don't have the heart to give him a bath, and now it being Monday, he is getting himself a bit cleaner.

I now have a new found sympathy for those people who come into the shelter looking for a lost animal. All I can really say is THANK YOU to Kelly and that I kept telling myself - he has a microchip!!!

Wally nut...

Gotta love the boy. :) He was crawling all over me the other day while I was reading a book, so I flipped him over and shoved him in the corner of the chair. That was great - now he could get his tail and his back feet. And my fingers when they wandered over there. I had the camera next to me and shot this blind. Then laughed when I realized it actually worked.

The tabby girls are pretty relaxed now.

Hazel has been clingy. The appointment is Saturday to have then vaccinated again, so I am going to have her checked out. She just acts like a little kid that doesn't feel good - she wants to cuddle and be held. Not that I am complaining about a kitten that wants to cuddle, but her siblings are pretty active and she isn't as much.

new kittens...

Here is the new crew. Since it is kitten season and I have a revolving door on the bathroom (OK, not really, but I should), I took a new group home the same day Chloe took up residence at the shelter. I was there all day anyhow and told our processing department to save me a trip. As Deb (our tech) said, she was giving me the rowdy bunch. Just my luck. :)

Actually, this is a nice group of kittens. Probably around 6 weeks old. I am not convinced they are all actually related though. I didn't get a picture of the boy - he is all black and yawned as I shot it (which I didn't realize until I uploaded the pics from my camera - gonna have to try again). I wasn't sure about names and then made the comment that they were a little nutty.

So, the gray tabby is female named Pistachio. Pecan is the female brown tabby. Hazel-nut is the tortie girl. And their brother is black and named Walnut (aka Wally). I had the gate in front of the bathroom door over the weekend and both tabby girls would puff up and hiss everytime one of my crew walked by - being ignored by everyone but Spud of course.

adoptions.....

Chloe went back to the shelter on Saturday. You can see her on Petfinder: http://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/16703866 The photographer at the shelter thought her momma pic was pretty funny so that made in online at the shelter website and I posted it on Petfinder too (I update Petfinder for our shelter). No interest yet, but she is in a room surrounded by kittens, so that doesn't help.

Speaking of kittens, all of hers were adopted. I got an email from the family that adopted Requiem saying he is trouble of the fun kind and was currently killing a toy mouse I had sent him (all my fosters go home with a bag of treats and toys). I love getting updates and knowing my "kids" are being loved as much as I loved them while I had them in my house.

black cats and sunshine

What is it with black cats and sunshine?? It has been in the mid to upper 80's here in Ohio for over a week. I know it is June, but I hate being hot. I stood in parent's garage talking to my Dad last night and got sweaty doing nothing.

Anyhow, despite the layout of my condo, there is regularly a patch of sun by the sliding door by mid-afternoon. Saturday, Mozart spent a lot of time over. At one point I leaned back over my chair to check on him and he cracked an eye at me. That must have been enough invitation, cause at that point he felt the need to come over and share the love. Now, I have the a/c on, but there is just something extra hot about the black and now very warm furry hot water bottle. Love the boy, but way to hot to be loved on by him at that point.... :)

Poor momma cat....

Well, the kids went back to the shelter to be adopted this past weekend. Requiem, Minuet and Cadence stayed after their appointment. I took Treble and Nocturne home with me. They all made weight, but there was only one open cage. However, processing called Sunday morning to let me know another spot opened up, so I took the other two boys back Sunday morning. It is pretty quiet with no kittens in the house.

However, Chloe is the first momma cat I have had that still looks for her kittens. She was pretty good the first night. But Monday night I was passing Animal Planet on cable and stopped to watch. There was as tiny kitten that squeaked and Chloe's ear perked right up and she looked around. A few minutes later, the show came back to update on the cat and the kittens and Chloe got a little frantic looking for kittens. I wish I could explain to her that her kids are OK and she doesn't need to look for them.

Cadence has already been adopted. They were neutered and spayed yesterday, so he will go home today. Requiem has a hold and hopefully his new family will come in today for him. And I was told that a family had expressed some interest in Treble. YEAH!! I was concerned since there are so many kittens right now and these guys all look alike. I really think it makes a difference that I put up signs telling people about their personalities.