Sometimes I feel like I'm the only person in the world that could be stressed in the middle of a beautiful summer. It's really been a wonderful week - lots of adoptions, no complaints to speak of...so how could I be stressed?
D-- had gone into the shelter a few days ago and shared with me the number of adorable Mom cats that were there with their nursing babies - all marked for euthanasia the next morning. She mentioned one in particular that I couldn't get off my mind. She was wearing a red collar and had 5 beautiful kittens. There's something very upsetting to see an unwanted cat at the shelter wearing a collar. She was somebody's pet. They didn't care for her properly, she got pregnant, now they didn't want her.
Only in the summer does the visual of the shelter really plague my mind. I laid in bed a few nights ago thinking of the little Mom cats tucked into their cages for the night with their new babies suckling and warm. They didn't know there was an X on the front of their cage choosing them for death the next morning. I kept picturing the little Mom cat with the red collar. The shelter was going to kill her and her little family tomorrow and I couldn't stop it from happening.
I couldn't sleep. Midnight...1 a.m....2 a.m...I was still awake and getting angrier and angrier. I think it's wrong we get so angry at the shelter for killing these beautiful creatures. It isn't their fault. We KNOW that. But I want to blame something tangible.
By the time I woke up at 9 a.m., I knew it was all over. They euthanize the animals before the shelter is open to the public. We wouldn't want to upset the public.
Only in the Summer does it get this bad for me. I'm leaving on vacation tomorrow and thinking about that little Mom cat with the red collar. I wonder if they left it on her body. Sorry for the morbid thoughts. But I needed a rant. It's not what I really wanted to say...
...What I really wanted to say was full of profanity to the people that cast out these beautiful felines with the garbage.
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Thursday, July 17, 2008
Cat Earrings
I had a dream last night that I was at a car dealership and going to buy an expensive car. But they wouldn't sell me the car because I was wearing cat earrings. I think this is a whole new dream low. I opened my jewellery drawer this morning and saw the offending cat earrings and grimaced as I remembered the dream.
So what if I wear cat earrings? So what if I have a cat charm bracelet? So what if I have a bunch of cat statues in the house? Sure, I sound defensive. My adorable husband who NEVER complains about anything (other than garage sales) finally told me, "NO MORE CAT STATUARY!" Hahahaha! Surely he doesn't mean it, because I just went to Home Sense yesterday and bought THE CUTEST yellow cat statue for the guest bedroom. I haven't unwrapped it yet, and it's sitting in the guest room that he never goes into. Tough cookies, buddy - the cat statue is staying.
I really want a personalized licence plate that says "CAT RESQ". I admit that it's a little creepy - me driving down the highway with my cat earrings, cat charm bracelet, and a Home Sense bag full of cat statuary for the garden in a car with a cat related personalized licence plate.
Nobody will have to guess what I'm about.
But I'm also about other things too. I love God, my husband, my children, my friends, Tim Hortons, and shoes...the list goes on ad infinitum.
Yes, I'm a bit defensive about my life. I've had too many people recently call me "TCCL" (The Crazy Cat Lady). I'm not crazy. Sure I get frustrated, angry, sad and lonely.
But when it comes to "The Cause" - I'm in it all the way...cat earrings and all.
So what if I wear cat earrings? So what if I have a cat charm bracelet? So what if I have a bunch of cat statues in the house? Sure, I sound defensive. My adorable husband who NEVER complains about anything (other than garage sales) finally told me, "NO MORE CAT STATUARY!" Hahahaha! Surely he doesn't mean it, because I just went to Home Sense yesterday and bought THE CUTEST yellow cat statue for the guest bedroom. I haven't unwrapped it yet, and it's sitting in the guest room that he never goes into. Tough cookies, buddy - the cat statue is staying.
I really want a personalized licence plate that says "CAT RESQ". I admit that it's a little creepy - me driving down the highway with my cat earrings, cat charm bracelet, and a Home Sense bag full of cat statuary for the garden in a car with a cat related personalized licence plate.
Nobody will have to guess what I'm about.
But I'm also about other things too. I love God, my husband, my children, my friends, Tim Hortons, and shoes...the list goes on ad infinitum.
Yes, I'm a bit defensive about my life. I've had too many people recently call me "TCCL" (The Crazy Cat Lady). I'm not crazy. Sure I get frustrated, angry, sad and lonely.
But when it comes to "The Cause" - I'm in it all the way...cat earrings and all.
Thursday, July 10, 2008
To Our Former Adopters...
This is an open "Thank you" to all of our former adopters. Not our future adopters....but to the folks that have adopted from us. (Although we hope our future adopters can learn from the former adopters!) With all the whining I do in this blog, I figured it was time to make a special note to lovely people who give our cats forever homes...
Thank you....
....for showing up on time when you met our cats and calling us when you were going to be late.
....for staying in touch with our foster families after you bring home the cat. We loved "Fluffy" when he was frightened and flea bitten. You can't imagine how an e-mail or phone call telling us that he's happy makes us feel.
....for sending us a photo album of "Fluffy" in every cute possible pose when we only asked for 1 picture. It makes our hearts soar!
....for making us a friend on Facebook.
....for understanding when we cried when you put Fluffy in the carrier. It's hard letting go sometimes.
....for taking Fluffy to the vets when Fluffy got sick the first week he's home with you and not complaining to us. We didn't know he was sick when he was adopted - really and truly.
....for making BIG exclamations on how "completely adorable...perfect...wonderful...so sweet..." Fluffy was when you first saw him. (We thought so too!)
....for telling us about all the toys, cat beds, and windows that are in your house.
....for telling us something really cute that Fluffy did when he first arrived in your home.
....for letting us know if Fluffy has passed away. We want to grieve with you too.
A special note to Shiya's adopter: I know there's not much chance you'll see this...but we can't find your phone number and Shiya's foster Mom desperately wants to know how she is. She still cares....
...and always will. It's what we do.
Thank you....
....for showing up on time when you met our cats and calling us when you were going to be late.
....for staying in touch with our foster families after you bring home the cat. We loved "Fluffy" when he was frightened and flea bitten. You can't imagine how an e-mail or phone call telling us that he's happy makes us feel.
....for sending us a photo album of "Fluffy" in every cute possible pose when we only asked for 1 picture. It makes our hearts soar!
....for making us a friend on Facebook.
....for understanding when we cried when you put Fluffy in the carrier. It's hard letting go sometimes.
....for taking Fluffy to the vets when Fluffy got sick the first week he's home with you and not complaining to us. We didn't know he was sick when he was adopted - really and truly.
....for making BIG exclamations on how "completely adorable...perfect...wonderful...so sweet..." Fluffy was when you first saw him. (We thought so too!)
....for telling us about all the toys, cat beds, and windows that are in your house.
....for telling us something really cute that Fluffy did when he first arrived in your home.
....for letting us know if Fluffy has passed away. We want to grieve with you too.
A special note to Shiya's adopter: I know there's not much chance you'll see this...but we can't find your phone number and Shiya's foster Mom desperately wants to know how she is. She still cares....
...and always will. It's what we do.
Friday, July 04, 2008
Another Glamorous Day in Rescue
Ahhhh....the Glamour of Rescue! Today was an administrative day. I spent a glorious 8 hours filing, sending out tax receipts for donations, bookkeeping and updating my e-mail address book. If that wasn't boring enough, the highlight was a trip to Staples to buy some office supplies for the rescue.
I could probably make administrative days much easier on myself, but I really believe in the personal handwritten letter to anyone that sends us money. These days money is too hard to part with, so I really believe it's the right thing to get off my ass and send people a thank you note. Yep..."My Mama done brought me up riiiight."
On a happy note, my foster cat McKinley was adopted last night! He was dropped off by an adopter (I think I wrote about him in my last post) on Canada Day. I was SO HAPPY that he didn't have to stay for very long. He was such a nice boy and he was adopted by the same couple that had adopted my foster cat Magoo!
I'm dealing with URI in the house right now. My foster baby "Carson" had a fever last night and "Eddie" the siamese is sick with it too. My little "Thomas Turner" is now sneezing. I've never had URI run through the whole house, but I'm guessing that's exactly what will happen. I had Carson quarantined for 2 weeks, darnnit. I suppose my next blog post will be something regarding snot. Something to look forward to.
I feel like a mole down in the basement on this beautiful day. But I really have to be mentally prepared for a day of administration and I thought about it all last night. It's the side of rescue that nobody really talks about and nobody wants to know that I do. I wish I were rescuing some cats that needed me instead of doing this.
But alas...with the "House of Snot" going on, maybe being in the basement isn't such a bad place to be.
I could probably make administrative days much easier on myself, but I really believe in the personal handwritten letter to anyone that sends us money. These days money is too hard to part with, so I really believe it's the right thing to get off my ass and send people a thank you note. Yep..."My Mama done brought me up riiiight."
On a happy note, my foster cat McKinley was adopted last night! He was dropped off by an adopter (I think I wrote about him in my last post) on Canada Day. I was SO HAPPY that he didn't have to stay for very long. He was such a nice boy and he was adopted by the same couple that had adopted my foster cat Magoo!
I'm dealing with URI in the house right now. My foster baby "Carson" had a fever last night and "Eddie" the siamese is sick with it too. My little "Thomas Turner" is now sneezing. I've never had URI run through the whole house, but I'm guessing that's exactly what will happen. I had Carson quarantined for 2 weeks, darnnit. I suppose my next blog post will be something regarding snot. Something to look forward to.
I feel like a mole down in the basement on this beautiful day. But I really have to be mentally prepared for a day of administration and I thought about it all last night. It's the side of rescue that nobody really talks about and nobody wants to know that I do. I wish I were rescuing some cats that needed me instead of doing this.
But alas...with the "House of Snot" going on, maybe being in the basement isn't such a bad place to be.
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
Kelly and McKinley
Happy Canada Day! My holiday started with the return of one of our cats. McKinley is a very cute older kitten that was adopted 6 weeks ago by a young woman and her boyfriend. I've always been a little prejudiced against young people that live together out of fear that they're just "playing house" by adopting a cat. I always worry about their commitment level.
I received the call from Kelly last week. Her and the boyfriend broke up and the boyfriend doesn't want McKinley and she still has 1 year left at school and has to move home. I avoided calling her back right away because I had hoped she would work things out by reconciling with the boyfriend or her parents would allow McKinely to stay there. It wasn't meant to be. Her calls became more and more frantic.
There were SO MANY things I wanted to say to Kelly. I had rehearsed them last night night. I wanted to tell her "Next time, adopt a fish", or "What were you thinking?" or "Obviously, you weren't ready for this kind of commitment."
I couldn't do it. She showed up at the door and was a lovely young woman. She had his toys and McKinley had received his booster shots and her own vet. She loved him and took care of him. Her eyes brimmed with tears as I took him out of his crate. She couldn't speak. I took McKinley around to some of my cats and said in a cheery voice, "McKinley, this is Wilbur your new friend!" I suddenly wanted to make her feel better. I told her that she could come visit him and she could have him back if she pulled her life together and he was still available. I even said something stupid like she could meet the potential adopters. *sigh*
We all make mistakes. Certainly I was naive at 22 years old. But at 22 years old I was married, had a baby and 4 cats. It was my choice and I wouldn't do anything else. But I couldn't help but console this young woman. She had a year left of University. Her life was in front of her. There would be other cats and other boyfriends.
For now....I need to console McKinley. He's a confused little guy and doesn't understand what happened to him. He's so sweet and gentle. He'll be ok.
Kelly will be OK too. I hope she remembers us after she graduates from University. Maybe she'll become a veterinarian and offer her services for free! One can only hope!
I received the call from Kelly last week. Her and the boyfriend broke up and the boyfriend doesn't want McKinley and she still has 1 year left at school and has to move home. I avoided calling her back right away because I had hoped she would work things out by reconciling with the boyfriend or her parents would allow McKinely to stay there. It wasn't meant to be. Her calls became more and more frantic.
There were SO MANY things I wanted to say to Kelly. I had rehearsed them last night night. I wanted to tell her "Next time, adopt a fish", or "What were you thinking?" or "Obviously, you weren't ready for this kind of commitment."
I couldn't do it. She showed up at the door and was a lovely young woman. She had his toys and McKinley had received his booster shots and her own vet. She loved him and took care of him. Her eyes brimmed with tears as I took him out of his crate. She couldn't speak. I took McKinley around to some of my cats and said in a cheery voice, "McKinley, this is Wilbur your new friend!" I suddenly wanted to make her feel better. I told her that she could come visit him and she could have him back if she pulled her life together and he was still available. I even said something stupid like she could meet the potential adopters. *sigh*
We all make mistakes. Certainly I was naive at 22 years old. But at 22 years old I was married, had a baby and 4 cats. It was my choice and I wouldn't do anything else. But I couldn't help but console this young woman. She had a year left of University. Her life was in front of her. There would be other cats and other boyfriends.
For now....I need to console McKinley. He's a confused little guy and doesn't understand what happened to him. He's so sweet and gentle. He'll be ok.
Kelly will be OK too. I hope she remembers us after she graduates from University. Maybe she'll become a veterinarian and offer her services for free! One can only hope!
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