It's About the Love...

When the phone rings at midnight it's never good news.  David's out of town and I was sure I was going to have to deal with some tragedy on my own. 

But that wasn't the case at all.

On the other end of the phone was my beautiful 27 year old daughter screaming with excitement that she's getting married!  Her boyfriend of 3+ years had proposed and "the ring is GORGEOUS, Mom!" 

My baby's getting married.  Back to Weight Watchers and lots of trips to California for wedding planning.

I was full of sappy sentimentality while driving out to the shelter.  I don't remember really driving out to the shelter - I must've been on autopilot.  I rescued 4 cats today - one of them named "Hartley" who is an ADORABLE black kitten.  Hartley isn't going to our rescue, but I was more than happy to rescue him for another rescue's volunteer.  It's always fun to meet other people who "get it".  Rescue can be so isolating.  Jill had a lovely room set up for him - fresh food, water, a cozy bed, a heater and lots of sunshine beaming through the window.  I wanted to stay and play with him too.  :)

I grabbed a 16 week old orange kitten for myself.  I'm still trying to decide what I'm going to name the little sweetie.  It's Mark Twain's 176th birthday today - maybe it should be "Huckleberry"!  I'm open for suggestions.  Nothing seems quite right - yet.

For tonight, I'll sit with my little orange guy, missing my sweetie and thinking about white dresses....

After all, it's about love, right?

Rainy Days and Tuesdays

Many thank you's for the emails and understanding of my meltdown yesterday. 

Tomorrow is a rescue day which usually lifts my spirits.  I'm going to try to NOT listen to Christmas music on the way to the shelter.  What is it about listening to Christmas songs that really make the trek to the shelter even more painful?  I remember feeling this way last year too. 

I've had so many wonderful rescue stories to tell lately, but haven't been able to sit down and write them out.  I think that comes with stress which has been overwhelming the past few days. 

With the rescue scheduled to go into TWO Petsmarts in January, I'm going to need a few more temporary foster homes willing to quarantine cats and kittens to go into stores.  Sadly, it's right at Christmas which means a little extra begging.  When has it ever been beneath me to beg?  :)

(I think I felt my face crack when I smiled a moment ago) 

If you follow the shelter website, you may have noticed a big ol' Maine Coon on their site named "Odin":

It was an exciting day when I heard that the sister of one of our (fabulous) volunteer drivers was interested in adopting him.  Unfortunately, as we all know, life gets in the way and she had to cancel the possibility of adopting Odin.  It was the 11th hour for Odin, and I was surprised to find that he was still alive when I walked into the shelter the next morning!  That was all Kelly (our volunteer driver) needed to go into action and find a home for this sweet fluffy guy.  I'm happy to report that we rescued Odin and is now living an incredible life with a Forever Home.  It was a scary couple of days, because Odin would've been killed the following vet day.  (In fact, I still can't figure out how he managed to remain alive)

I can't imagine a world without Odin.   I'm so grateful that he's still with us and happy.  I wish they could all live a life like that. 

Pizza delivery will be arriving in a few minutes.  Things are starting to look up.

Faking Through A Crummy Day

I've had some really terrific news over the weekend.  We've been accepted as a full time partner in another Petsmart store!  We're involved with 3 stores now,  on a rotating basis which should really help our adoptions.  There's going to be more work, organization and anxiety involved, but it'll all be worth it in the end.

Our adoptions for the month of November have been incredible - even without the extra store publicity.  :)

It was a fairly crummy day and it's not over yet.  David is in Europe for the week and I'm using the time to do some extra evening rescue work. 

In all honesty?  My day was so crummy today that I don't feel like writing in my blog, and I certainly don't feel like faking through cheerful news.  Usually, I use this venue to rant a little (or a lot), but I think I need to put today behind me as soon as possible.  Somehow, I think if I start spewing out what's going on at this moment, I wouldn't stop. 

You know it goes...one step forward....then another....

Brushing Off the Emotional Dust

I received a call from the shelter last night.  Can I save 2 grey and white kittens marked for euthanasia tomorrow?  I'm appalled that they're killing kittens in eff'ing (almost) DECEMBER, for Christ's sake.  (Excuse the language)

Then the next question came....and this one hurt most of all...."Can you save their Mom too?" 

You can't imagine how badly it hurts to say, "I can't save the Mom too." 

I went to the shelter this morning and picked up the babies.  The Mom's empty cage nearby.  My heart broke into a million pieces.  I silently vowed to find THE BEST home for her kittens, and cursed the person who dumped the family there in the first place. 

I also rescued a 3rd grey and white kitten too.  Many thank you's to Susan who took this little guy at the last minute. 

Lots of juggling today - including taking a video of our latest little "Special Needs" girl that I call "Twinkle":

The call came from the shelter earlier this week - they were going to kill her because she had an injury or neuro damage to her front left paw.  "Can you come get her?"  Sure.  We can come get her.  A volunteer dropped everything to pick up this little girl because the staff found it appropriate to kill her. 

Do I sound bitter today? I guess I am.  The shelter seemed virtually empty today and I couldn't muster enough courage to ask how many were euthanized this morning. 

So once again, I find myself brushing off the emotional dust and dealing with other people's mistakes.  I have to wonder what the vet bill will end up being for little Twinkle:


But right now....I don't really care.  I'm just glad she's safe.

Three Cheers For Admin Days

I took advantage of my son borrowing my car for the day to declare today "An Admin Day".   If I don't take days to do paperwork, update our website, and spreadsheets, I end up with 7 month old unneutered kittens still in foster care.  (Yikes!)

The phone rang off the hook for adoption calls yesterday.  But oddly enough, I ended up with four adopters calling who were named "Jennifer".  Those who know me, know I'm pretty organized, so it was very unlike me to end up calling the same Jennifer THREE times over 3 different cats.  Holy God, I felt like such a doofus.  She must've thought I was a complete idiot. 

I had some Kodak Moments for my little foster guy "Phil":

It wasn't until I took a few more pictures that I realized that this guy ALWAYS has "the deer in the headlights" look:

It's not that Phil is startled or anything - he's always looks...um...a bit goofy.  It seems that I have a knack for picking out the goofy guys to foster.  Phil has turned out to be my little shadow and rarely leaves my side. 

I'm still wearing my slippers from this morning, but am happy for the work that was accomplished today.  David has clean socks and underwear, and the dishwasher has been emptied.  I'll try to put on some lipstick before my man gets home. Maybe he'll notice the Christmas wreath on the front door.  :)

"The Governor"

Last night I received a call from another rescue who needed some help with transport of 4 cats from the shelter.  Although I'm very busy with my own rescue, I  hate the idea of 4 cats sitting in cages when they could be safe in foster homes. 

At the same time, I received a Facebook message from a friend who was interested in a very handsome big-headed tomcat at the shelter named "Simon". 

Ahhhhh....now I have FIVE good reasons to go to the shelter!

I practically skipped into the building knowing that I had an opportunity to meet and greet a big ol' tomcat.  I love those guys.  They're hard to get out of the shelter sometimes.  Somehow, foster parents often equate tom cats with spraying. 

But I was too late....

My heart sank when I found that Simon had been killed only a few hours before I arrived.  I put up with so much emotional shit when I go into that shelter, but THIS is the one thing that drives me crazy more than anything else.  I had a probable home for this guy.  He was so sweet.  I was The Governor and I missed the execution.  I hate it.  I hate it.

With a heavy heart, I drove the 4 rescued cats to a predetermined vet clinic.  I tried so hard to be happy for them. 

This afternoon, I had a VERY sweet young woman come to meet my foster kitten "Bradley".  She's going to pick him up on Friday night and take him home.   She has a female cat and it's unknown how she'll react to Bradley.  But "Brad" is a pretty happy-go-lucky fella and not much hurts his feelings:

As usual, I find myself brushing off the dust and moving forward.  Some days are harder than others, and I'm sure I'll go to bed tonight thinking about Simon and what his life might have been like as a happy, loved cat.

I Have Nothing Figured Out

I was looking at our "adopted" spreadsheet and realized that the last 3 cats that were adopted were black and white!!  Is that possible?  Seriously - in August, I reduced the adoption fee by 20% on all black or  black and white cats and not ONE was adopted.  Suddenly, three get adopted. 

Don't get me wrong - I'm THRILLED when any of our cats are adopted!  But the black and white cats are often left behind with the black ones.  I have to wonder if there's a popular commercial or t.v. programme that features a black and white cat on right now. 

Thanks to a toiletpaper ad, everybody wanted a white, fluffy kitten for a while. 

I put a probable Maine Coon kitten on our website for adoption late last night.  I went to the grocery store this morning, and came home to EIGHT phone calls about the same kitten!  Holy crap....we have so many cute kittens!  Ask me about somebody else for cryin' out loud! 

Two nights ago, I put "Noah" (Norwegian Forest Cat)  on our website for adoption and I thought the phone would be ringing off the hook....but not one call:

Noah Before:

Noah After:

The highlight of my weekend was having an adopter call for "Diana":

We all know Diana is adorable, but she's definitely an ordinary black and white cat.  This family drove almost an hour (ONE WAY!)  to meet Diana and take her home!  They just *knew* she was "the one"!!!

Just when I think I have people figured out....I realized that I don't have anybody figured out at all!

But then again, *I'm* the one thinking about taking "The Sherminator" off the adoption page.. :)

The Vet Bill Cometh

Thank you all so much for your kind emails, comments and thoughts for my Maggie.  As you can see from the picture below, she's resting comfortably and getting all kinds of spoiling and attention.  We even took her to Starbucks on the way home from the vet's office for her cup of whipped cream.  Nothing is too extravagant for our girl! 

I always find it ironic that when a loved one (human or furry) is ill or having surgery, THEY are the ones that get the awesome pain meds.  I could certainly use whatever Maggie has for pain right about now. 

I'm hopeful our holiday fundraiser will be a good one tomorrow.  Our vet bills have been scary lately, as one of the cats in our program needed very expensive knee surgery:

 "Jared" is "the million $$ man" and is doing very well post-surgically.  The same vet performed  Maggie's surgery and did an excellent job! 

(Note:  As I typed this blog post, Jared's foster Mom called and said Jared did "something" to his knee and she's rushing him back to the vets...UGH!)
I always laugh when I look at the rescue's bank account after a big adoption event.  For a couple of days, it feels like we actually DO have money.  For a few moments, I feel like one of those people who won the lottery and is rolling around $100 dollar bills on their bed.

 But then the vet bills come in....and in....and more come in...then the phone calls from former adopters arrive who are ready to spay and neuter their adopted kittens....

I pity the next person who tells me we're charging "too much" for an adoption fee.  :)


  

Serious Business!

My heart feels heavy today, as I left my 14 year old dog Maggie at the vets for surgery today.  It was considered a "high-risk" surgery due to her age, but the poor old girl had a mouth of infected, rotten teeth that needed to be taken care of.  I feel completely negligent that I didn't notice she was having trouble eating until I gave her a TimBit (small donut hole) and she yelped.  It's awful to be so busy that you don't take proper care of the ones you love.

My son works at Starbucks and whenever David and I go there, we bring Maggie.  My son dutifully brings out a small cup of whipped cream for her.  It's VERY serious business for Maggie!

I really cherish the time this old gal has given me and my family.  I don't think we have lots of time left with her, but I'm going to do my damnest to make sure that she knows we love her every minute of her life.

After dropping off Maggie at the vets for her surgery, I went on to the shelter and rescued a couple of kittens.  One little grey/white 4 month girl that wasn't on the shelter website yet, and "Tonka":

Eight week old "Tonka" arrived at the shelter with a terrible eye infection.  She's been given proper medication and her eye looks great now!  Holy crap, is she CUTE!  She was covered in poop when I arrived at her foster parent's home.  She never stopped purring when we had to put her poopy feet in water.  I think she knew she was safe!

But the name "Tonka" has to go!  :)

Our rescue is part of a big Holiday Fundraising Bazaar this Saturday at a local church.  Fortunately, we have such a kick a$$ fundraising committee, I don't have to work at the event!  I'm actually going to be a SHOPPER, which is something I do VERY well. 

Glad there's *something* I do well, because right now, I'm feeling pretty hopeless where my Maggie is concerned.  I can hardly wait to pick her up tonight. 

"We Dun Good"

Typing anything today has been an exercise in futility.  My new little foster guy "Phil" has decided that my keyboard and in between my hands is the very best place to be.  It's taken me twice as long to do anything today than it usually does!  "We've" erased important emails, added to text and I've had cap locks on several times today.  Why don't I just put him on the ground?  (I don't think I need to answer that - those of you who read this blog certainly understand)

I'm VERY happy to report that I rescued Noah today. Lots of you asked about this gorgeous 22 pound Norwegian Forest cat. Many thank you's to the city shelter where we rescue who provided great veterinary care for him so that our rescue didn't have to foot the bill:

This guy really is impressive in person too!

I also received an awesome "Before" and "After" picture from a foster Mom who took in a couple of really sad looking little waifs from the shelter.

Here's (obviously) the Before picture:

And.....AFTER:

As my grandmother would say,  "Ya dun good on this!" 
"Phil" and I are so proud. 

Gearing Up For a Good Week

It was a very successful adoption weekend and I'm full of good news!  We had more than 15+ cats adopted over the weekend - not just from Petsmart, but from our foster homes too.  (I would certainly hate to think what would happen if we put all of our eggs in the Petsmart-basket. )

We had a very close call with one of our kittens on Saturday.  I met with a terrific couple with a large dog who wanted to adopt one of our kittens.  They brought their dog into the store and we sat in an adoption room to insure that the dog would be ok with the kitten and vice versa.  It seemed like a great match!  The dog was licking him, and the kitten seemed 100% ok.  Apparently, the couple took the kitten out of his carrier in the car.  The dog viciously lunged at the kitten.  Thank God, the couple had fast reflexes and the kitten was OK. Thankfully, the couple brought the kitten back.  They were all very upset.  It could've been so much worse. 

If any of you "dog people"  know  how this could be prevented in the future, please let me know.  I really thought we did full due diligence and all was well.  The dog was wonderful with the kitten in the adoption room.  *sigh*

Speaking of Petsmart, we've been approved to be an adoption partner at another one of their stores!  We'll be rotating on a monthly basis with one other rescue.  We open in January there, and couldn't be happier with this opportunity.  Lots to do in December to get ready!!

I'm also happy to say that Hubert for whom I put out an urgent plea last week was rescued today by another rescue! In fact, I was speaking with Kim at the shelter last night and found out that more than 20+ cats were rescued out of the shelter today! I can only hope that the vet day was cancelled  for tomorrow.

This feels like the start of a good week....

Why I Do This....

The cages and tables are set up for our big adoption event tomorrow.  But I'm not really writing about that. 

Tonight, I wanted to write about a special "Before" and "After" picture, along with an email I received with the "after" picture.  It started with the recent adoption of Monty:

With the writer's permission, I'm copying her email word-for-word.  My purpose for doing so, is to bring understanding of the importance of these wonderful animals in our lives:

"Hey beth!

No complaints over here, I'm just emailing to let you know how 'monty' aka 'sheldon' is. I originally thought of naming him cornelius but it didn't stick. I've just been calling him shelly, or sheldy. He sleeps in my arms and yells at me if I stop holding him. Are you sure you didn't give me a dog? He follows me around and literally will throw himself at me for food. The first day I left him alone in the bedroom, he was so happy when I got home he jumped into my arms. He also tries to stop me from leaving. Hell jump up onto the coat rack and dive bomb onto my shoulders. He's a little goof ball. I'd really like to thank you for suggesting this guy to me.

Ill be honest, I've had depression for years and coming home to him makes me the happiest person on the face of the planet. I do have another cat (as you know) but she's nowhere near as cuddly and I think this is what I really needed.

You rock!

No.  I think *YOU* rock!   Monty's "After" picture will make me smile for days.

Thank you for reminding me why I do this (often) gut wrenching work. 

Happy Friday....

Never Enough

It was a fab rescue day today - NINE little sweeties were rescued!!  It felt like a drop in the bucket when the shelter was full.  I did my best to empty cage space so that the vet day isn't so drastic.  Unfortunately, it's not going to be a good day for many of the cats in the shelter.

There's one guy in particular that everybody's in love with (including me) - his name is Hubert and I'm hoping somebody can come forward for him:


One of the litters that I rescued was a litter of FIVE fluffy little darlings.  It wasn't until I walked into another cat room that I heard an outrageous sounding meow:


Now I don't want to say "Typical Tortie"...but she was already a 5 week old diva! I couldn't leave her, so put her with the 7 week old litter of 5. She was SOOO happy to be with them. I could almost hear her *sigh* with relief as she snuggled in with her friends who immediately accepted her as part of the gang.

I also rescued a sweet girl named "Bindy":

As always, I left the shelter feeling like it wasn't enough.  But it's never enough. 

Right now, I have a red couch calling my name for a 30 minute siesta before I return the voicemails that were left from earlier this afternoon.  I'll dream of one of my rescues being "enough".

6 Hours and $40.00 in Gasoline

I'm happy to report after 6 hours and 1/2 tank of gas later, 5 cats have been rescued and are now in their foster homes.  I'm exhausted and came home to 10 voicemails and more than 35 emails that still have to be promptly answered.  I've brewed a pot of coffee, put a fire in the fireplace and I'm good to go again.

I met with a young woman at the shelter who had rescued a pregnant Mom cat about 4 months ago.  The two remaining kittens are now 12 weeks and she was devastated that she couldn't keep them.  At one point, she actually changed her mind about letting me have them.  She drove out of the parking lot at the shelter, turned around and came back to find me.  She was in tears. 

We also rescued this sweet little pair:

I placed them with a new foster Mom.  Her face lit up as she saw them - like a girl on Christmas morning!  The resident cat was mildly interested.  I loved watching "Chewy" (the resident cat) awake with a lazy yawn   from a sound sleep, sniff the (now) empty cat carrier and muster some interest in the newcomers.  Cats are a riot.  You know that Chewy was probably THRILLED with some excitement in her day, but she wasn't about to let me know.

I also rescued a 4 week old FLUFFY FLUFFY FLUFFY dilute tortoiseshell kitten.  Oh. My. Gosh.  It was like something from a cartoon calendar.  Seriously...that little fluff-ball made me laugh just to look at her.  

The trip today involved delivering cats to 3 foster homes and 2 veterinary offices.  Looks like tomorrow is going to be more of the same.  But this time, I've asked a volunteer driver for help...Thank goodness for volunteer drivers.  Did I ever mention how much I appreciate the volunteer drivers?

Tomorrow is going to be another great rescue day.... :)

The High Cycle Cometh

I'm finally feeling back on my game.  I believe we all have high and low cycles...or whatever you want to call them.  You can have a bad few days, but never fear - a few good days are always right around the corner. 
Some of our foster parents are battling some tough situations both with their cats and their personal lives.  Watching and helping them gives me strength too.  I've put my energy in positive things and it's paying off.  No more obsessing over my ex-husband's Facebook page, or his young wife (with new boobs! Argh!). 

Tomorrow is another rescue day for us.  We have several new excited foster parents on our books and their enthusiasm is contagious.  For the first time in a long time, I'm taking several older kittens from the public.  I've made it no secret that I really don't like taking cats from the public, but this young woman took in a stray Mom cat and needs some help.  Fortunately, we have the space (for the moment) and these two kittens have been socialized with children....a bonus!   As always, I hope they are what she says they are - "Friendly", or I will have to turn her down.  Lordie, I hate turning people down.

I'm also going back to the shelter tomorrow.  The shelter has sent "Noah" back out to the vets for blood in his urine:

This guy is 25+  pounds of Norwegian Forest Cat handsome and sweet!  I really want to rescue him now, but I might as well let the city pay for his immediate medical care and let me know what's going on.  It'll probably save our rescue $300+ in medical costs.  I hate that he's there and scared, but it's the right thing to do for now. 
Tomorrow, I have a few others to rescue from the shelter, along with taking the 2 from the public.  I have to drive them to their foster homes about an hour away.  It's going to be a busy day and will start EARLY.  I'm trying to prep for a big adoption event this weekend and will need every ounce of my renewed sense of positive thinking to keep organized and not get frantic with all there is to do.

Serenity now..... :)

A Pathetic Spider and A Rescue Day

Somebody sent me a video that they thought I might think was funny.  It was a bunch of university-aged guys who see a HUGE spider on the wall.  They start to scream like girls and try to flick it with a rubber elastic band.  It became a competition on who could kill or flick the big ugly spider off the wall.  The poor thing was so frightened it ran behind a picture frame.  One of the guys flicked a rubberband at it and it snapped two of it's legs off.  The spider fell to the floor and tried to get away.  As it did, it dragged it's remaining legs - obviously in agony.  The boys were laughing hysterically.  I closed the video.

I was so angry.  I don't like spiders, really.  I wouldn't want to have one as a pet, and I have two adult children with severe spider phobias.   So why on earth was I so upset??  I wish I could just let things like this go, but I closed the video and felt so awful for this big ol' ugly spider.  I'm sure he was squished and forgotten about.

Back to the shelter this morning to meet an adopter!  It's been a while since I met somebody at the shelter, but she had adopted one cat from me already and is really a neat girl.  Nothing warms my heart more than somebody calling me and saying, "Beth, I want to adopt a declawed male cat from the shelter - he can be the ugliest cat in the shelter...I don't care..."

She came home with the first cat she looked at:  "Monty" who is now known as "Cornelius":

Monty snuggled into her arms right away.  His eyes and nose were a little runny, and he was great around the other cats.  He had a pink nose and Meagan was in love.  :)  

My plan was to rescue a HUGE Norwegian Forest Cat named "Noah" today.  Unfortunately, on Noah's cage was a note that said he had been urinating blood and for the vet to check him out tomorrow.  They had sent Noah out to the Emergency Vet over the weekend, and he came back with some antibiotics.  I think I'll wait on Noah to see how he's doing before taking him.  He's probably got crystals with a UTI thrown in for good measure.  No doubt somebody dumped the poor guy there for pee'ing inappropriately.  Assholes.

I ended up rescuing little "Valerie":

She's a VERY red little girl - certainly not orange!  She was so sweet, gentle and purr'd the moment I picked her up.  It won't take long for her to be adopted. (I hope)  She reached her little paw up and gently put it against my cheek. 

For a moment,  I forgot all about the video and the spider. 

What's a Few Extras?

My intention when I woke up this morning was to rescue one little very sick guy at the shelter:

I saw him on Monday and promised him that I would be back for him this week.  I knew they'd euthanize him tomorrow, so I was true to my word.  His name at the shelter was "Manny", but I am determined to call him "Phil"!  (C'mon!....that's CUTE!)

As always, I checked my email this morning before I left and there was an email from a foster Mom that said, "Beth, if you're going to the shelter today, would you check out Frazier and Murphy for me?"

Ha! I knew what that meant:  Put a couple more carriers in the car!

It's a great feeling to go to the shelter and rescue more than one.  I had three on my list today which was more than I had rescued recently.  It felt wonderful!!

A shelter staffer reluctantly brought me into one of the cat rooms and pointed to a lower cage.  I eased down unsure of what I'd find:

Five weeks old - and SIX toes on every foot.  He was just the right age to be buddies with the little black kitten that I rescued on Halloween.  Fortunately, the foster Mom for "Cha-Cha" was more than happy to take on a second little hooligan. 

What rescue would be complete without "The Ridiculous Rescue Song":


"Phil" is currently at our vets on IV ($$$) and lots of TLC.  I asked the vet to make sure they put in lots of blankies for him.  He's been sick and sleeping on newspaper for weeks.  I could almost hear his "sigh" from another room when he cozied into the softness of the blankets.  I bet he knew he was safe. 

I wish they ALL knew they were safe tonight.  My heart breaks every time I leave that place.

B-O-R-E-D

One aspect of cat rescue that nobody talks about are the days that are ridiculously boring.  For the life of me, I can't figure out why I'm either insanely busy or am twiddling my thumbs and waiting for the phone to ring.  It's not that I don't have things that need to be done.  It's just that I don't really feel like doing them.

This morning was spent calling our 15 affiliated veterinary offices and letting them know that my credit card expired on the 31st, and to give them the new card's expiry date. 

Oh the glamour!!! 

I spent 20 minutes writing an email to a foster parent to ask about the health of their foster cat only to remember after pushing "Send" that she wrote me last week to tell me that the cat went to the vets and is fine. 

Chalk up another insane brain fart to a menopausal moment.

This afternoon, I sat on the sofa holding "Bradley" our latest foster kitten.  He likes to be held like a baby, so it was really wonderful to just sit and hold a kitten.  No T.V....no computer...no phone.  Just me, Bradley...and 5 other cats climbing up to enjoy the moment with us.  I heard a crash from the kitchen and knew that the only other cat missing was "The Sherminator".  My peaceful moment was over. 

There was so much that I should've been doing - tax receipts, filing, correspondence, updating foster lists, and phone calls.  It probably doesn't make much sense, but I was just too bored to do any of it.  I did however, manager a "Kodak Moment" of  "The Sherminator" teaching his new prodigy "Bradley" some of the finer points of begging and receiving a mid-day unauthorized meal:

I'm OK with a little bit of boredom.  It looks good on me for one day.  But I can't afford too much sluggish behaviour. 

Somewhere there's a cat that needs me, and a foster parent willing to love him until there's a Forever Home to call his own.  *sweeet*

Just Another Tuesday

I woke up this morning to a Barf and Poop Extravaganza.  Honestly, I don't know why this seems to happen all at once, but the dog seemed to have a field day in our basement, and I found several piles of cat barf in strategic locations around the house.  *sweeeet*

My new foster kitten "Bradley" has been a perfect fit in the house so far.  He spent the night in the washroom so that he could get used to the idea of being in a home again.  This morning he was ready to party!  Unfortunately, he only wants to party with ME...not with the other cats.  Poor Sherman really needed a partner in crime.  It's not that Bradley doesn't like other cats - in fact, he's GREAT with other cats.  He just loves me.  He perched on my shoulder the entire day!

(A ponytail AND dark roots...have I no shame?)

The highlight of the day was when "Butters" our grumpy orange alpha male cat sauntered up to Bradley.  Bradley looked so sweet, "Hey orange guy! Be my friend!" Butters laid his ears flat and gave Bradley the nastiest, spitty hiss I had ever heard.  In mid-hiss, Butters started to sputter and cough like an old man.  It was a lovely moment that ol' bad a$$ Butters wasn't such a bad a$$ afterall.  

I think things are going to work out just *fine*.