Maybe It's "Destiny"?

I went to the shelter today to meet a potential adopter only to find Kim in tears. Today was a euthanasia day, but I could tell something different had happened.

They had to euthanize a Mom cat and her 9 kittens. The shelter was so overcrowded and it's a sad fact that when people don't spay or neuter their cats, little cat families die. Hours after the vet left, Kim went to clean the empty cage where the Mom and kittens had been....

....only to find a survivor....

This little Tortie kitten was found behind the litterbox and under the newspaper. She watched her whole family die:

This is a picture of her Mom and 8 siblings. They all died this morning - but she survived. I think that's our kitten on the far right side.

I called Heather while I was still at the shelter. Heather is one of those amazing people that despite everything else that goes wrong in her life, she's always game to take "one more". Our little kitten is 4 weeks old and Heather had a litter of kittens that were found in a parking lot that are the same age. Our Tortie baby could join that group!

"Destiny" would have friends!

I've been crying off and on since I left the shelter today. To make matters worse, I was driving 120km's (70 mph) down a one way street only to see a squirrel who had been recently hit by a car, dragging it's legs to make it to the side of the road to safety. That was *it* for me and the crying flood waters broke. I held the kitten tightly under my neck as I drove. I wanted to go back for the squirrel, but I didn't know the area and it was a one way street with 5 lanes. How would I ever be able to stop to help the squirrel? I kept going. I really hate that I kept going, but I did.

I'm sitting here with sticky mascara drying against my cheeks. I look like crap and I don't care.

I think "Destiny" is an appropriate name for our tiny survivor. She lost her family today, but she's going to be destined for something wonderful in her life.

I'll make sure of it, Destiny. I promise.

The Annual Meltdown

Every year I have what I call a "meltdown" regarding the shelter. I think it's due to the fact that I'm brave and professional the rest of the 364 days and can handle most of what comes my way.

I had Monday and Tuesday visits to the shelter to do adoptions and rescues. So many had died on Monday morning. I could *feel* the death and the heat was unimaginable in the back by the cat holding area. There's no air conditioning. The staff that works back there were sweating as they tried to clean the cages. But the cats had it the worst - steel cages held the heat and the poor things looked miserable. I couldn't help but think that the ones that died that morning were lucky.

I didn't get to rescue "Buddy". He was gone. I met the young family on Monday morning and gave them the bad news. After the initial disappointment, they chose a darling guy named "Oscar" who had been at the shelter far longer than he should have:

Oscar had been out in the garage and was already neutered and declawed. As always, it's a victory when a black cat gets out of there. The family had already adopted a cat from this shelter last week and I was excited to get a report. They didn't let me down - I got this email shortly after Oscar arrived in their home:

"Hey Beth,It was great meeting you again! Thought I would drop you a line to tell you how the homecoming was. After about an hour of grooming, Oscar is starting to be back to a handsome fella and not so burly. Hope and him are still not all that sure of each other but I truly believe that is just a time thing. Oddly enough like Hope; Oscar's first place that he found to relax and enjoy is my bedroom. He is resting and is very content up there!! Hope seemed to find comfort in the same place for the first few days. I didnt have the heart to keep them separated but they are both leaving each other alone and are very relaxed and happy. Hope is playing with her toys and being her energetic youthful self and Oscar is kicking back and relaxing...which he rightfully deserves. Oh my you should of seen the hair that came off of him...LOL tons and tons! But I think he feels much better now after getting rid of it, getting cleaned up and having a bite to eat. I even believe I heard a few purrs...... :) It is very quiet hear right now and in all honesty I truly believe you had a great idea showing us Oscar. He is shy but he fits right in with us :) I truly do appreciate you meeting us both times and finding two wonderfully amazing additions for are family!! They are both are perfect in there own ways!! Send me your address and I will mail you some pictures that I am sure you would love!! Thanks so much Beth!!"

A current foster Mom contacted me about *adopting* "Dodger" - the little orange guy with a club foot! I'm VERY excited and relieved and the staff moved Dodger to a safer area out in the garage so he won't be euthanized. I did find out that Dodger is a little girl. Oops! :)

It's a dark time of year for the shelter. I'm really clinging to the scraps of happiness that comes my way. They're few and far between - but I'm clingin'...

Blah.

I've been reading some other rescue blogs and have seen a common thread in all of them: We all sound a little strung out and in desperate need of a vacation. I realize that's all part of the rescue mentality, but seriously - there's some major cases of stress going on in these blogs!

For once, it's not me that sounds overly freaked out. I haven't taken on too much since we moved and I think that's been a good thing for me and my family. When it comes to rescue, I have a tendency to take on too much.

I'm meeting a very nice lady at the shelter tomorrow about adopting "Buddy". She's already adopted one cat from the shelter, and I'm so happy that she's considering another:

I don't know what's the matter with me, but I keep getting this overwhelming feeling of dread when I'm supposed to go to the shelter. Maybe it's because I'm not rescuing the volume of cats that I used to. I *feel* the death in the cat area when I go in on a day when they've euthanized a bunch of cats. I've never felt that before in all the years that I've gone in. But I do now.

There's a little orange guy named "Dodger" at the shelter:

He has a club foot - just a birth defect. It doesn't keep him from running around or using the litterbox. I don't know if he'll make it through the vet day tomorrow or not. Every time I go to the shelter, I keep expecting to see his empty cage. But there he is! I wish somebody would step up and help him. He's so sweet and your typical gregarious orange kitten.

Last week, his eyes told me he had given up hope. Can anybody give Dodger a forever home? I'm going to keep trying until his cage is empty.

September Can't Come Soon Enough!

I woke up this morning remembering that I was supposed to meet an adopter at the shelter. She contacted me and was interested in a little declawed girl named "Taffi". I didn't have time to really talk with this woman a few days ago, so I was apprehensive about our meeting today. I knew she had a big dog and quite frankly, I didn't know much about Taffi OR the adopter.

There was a good chance she would go home without a cat today, and on a day when they euthanized 50+ cats and kittens this morning, I wasn't anxious to turn her down.

Lynn showed up on time with her teenage son Tyler. What a lovely twosome! Taffi fell in love with them quickly. The true test was to make sure our diva tabby would like dogs. We watched her prance by the dog cages without a hiss. Taffi was going home!

As I was saying goodbye to Lynn and her son, Lynn said, "It's too bad we only brought one crate, we would've taken another one."

Crates?? We have crates! We have LOTS of cat crates! Hell, I'd never let someone leave without an extra cat just because there wasn't a crate! There's a lot of things I can't do - but I can always muster up another crate. Lynn and her son had another cat they were interested in. He was a HUGE tabby guy named "Hunter". Hunter must've known, because he purred and kneaded in the air the moment they picked him up. He must've weighed 20 lbs, but he was going home too.

I also brought with me a VERY cute tailess black kitten named "Fritta". Fritta is a fortunate girl - she's being adopted by Ian. Ian is the kind of guy that makes me wish I were a cat that lived in his home. Fritta is a lucky little black cat. Most of the time, the black cats die in that place.

These days, most of the cats die in that place. September can't come soon enough.

Breathing Easy....

When one of my foster cats is adopted, I never breathe easy until I hear that all is well from the adoptive family. It wasn't any different with "Jeffrey".

When the adoptive family (Nik & Jaime) came to pick up Jeffrey, I ask the same things that I ask of every adopter: "Take the cat quickly and call me later."

It hurts too badly to linger around saying goodbye with the cat in the crate. I kissed Jeffrey quickly, told him he was a WONDERFUL little house guest and put him in the crate. The family already had the Heath Record and I bid them adieu.

I was extra worried about this adoption, because Nik and Jaime already had a cat at home who had never been exposed to another cat. Would he hurt my little Jeffies?

Much to my relief, they wrote me an hour after they came home with this email:

"Hi Beth,
Well, we have been home for about an hour, and i have to say that the introduction has gone very well! No drama! Dexter was very interested in seeing him - no hissing on his part at all! Jeffrey seems very confident and comfortable here as well - he has taken over Dexter's toys, and apparently Dexter doesn't mind...so far... I give these two a day or so before they are napping together :) Hopefully everything will stay about the same when the lights turn off tonight - haha!"

I went to bed smiling and happy that my little boy was going to be OK. My "uh oh meter" went off when I woke up to a second email that was sent an hour after the first one....at least until I opened the email:

"Hi Beth,
This is Dexter and Jeffrey becoming buddies. I don't think we could
have paired him up with a better kitty."

So another happy ending for one of my foster cats. I hope this post gives testimony to anyone who says, "It would hurt too much to let them go." Sure it stings to let them go...

...but look how happy he is! :)

Adventures From the Cat Den

The best part about The Cat Den, is the fact that my cats are totally mellow now! Everybody seems happy and **double knock on wood** Ozzy hasn't pee'd anywhere but the litterbox.

(Of course, I've probably jinxed it now)

I thought I'd post a few pictures of the cats in the cat den. I probably chose a crummy day because last night was a helluva storm and everything was wet and steamy.




This is "Butters" who hasn't figured out the door in order to come back in. He can go outside through the cat door, but sits there and meows until I open the door for him. Yes, I realize the sign that says "Cat Friends Welcome" is a little over the top. My sons saw the sign and said "That's the gayest thing I've ever seen in my life." Ahhh....God love the little homophobes. :)
Opening the door gets pretty old. But look how happy he looks!!!


Don't laugh, but I found some "love beads" and thought the cats would want to play with them. Instead, they just look stupid.
I went to Petsmart and bought a medium sized dog house for $60.00. I figured if I wasn't home and the cats couldn't get inside or felt somehow unsafe, they could at least have a safety area. By the way - the ground was SOAKING wet and they're STILL out there playing!!

This is a top view, so I can watch them from the family room. I've planted a bunch of bushes and stuff out there. I can't believe how much those stupid little bushes were such a big hit! They were digging around them and playing hide 'n' go seek around the bushes. It was too cute.

Those of you who said, "It's worth every penny" were right. I love it. The cats love it. Cats that didn't get along are getting along now.

Now if I could figure out a way to winterize the damn thing!

Principles Before Personalities

I've spent the past few days trying to write a difficult post. Each time I start to write, I end up deleting because I sound "too angry", "too bitchy", "not understanding enough", etc.. Tonight, instead of deleting, I'm going to just type and see where this post takes me.

We've had some problematic foster homes. OK...."Problematic" is an understatement.

Really. It's been a nightmarish few weeks.

One of my personal mottos is "Principles before personalities". I try not to take things too personally when I don't understand or necessarily agree with a foster parent. There's probably scar tissue on my tongue from where I bite my tongue rather than say what I really want to say. We're all here to help, right?

Last week we had a foster Mom abandon her three foster kittens at the vets because she couldn't deal with it anymore. She had 1 kitten die, and her own cat got sick. She was frustrated. I get that. But she didn't follow the rules. She let the kittens play with her own cat within an hour of their arrival despite my caveats to the contrary. I can't live with these people - hold their hands. I have to trust there is reasonable intelligence.

I do my very best to educate foster parents BEFORE they commit to being a foster parent. I tell them that they need to quarantine the foster cat for 2 weeks, etc etc. I go into great detail. With some foster parents, I spent HOURS educating, talking and comforting.

For the life of me, I can't imagine why any volunteer would just abandoned 3 kittens at the vets without warning.

We've had all kinds of issues lately with foster families. As I look back into previous posts, I'm finding that this is the time of year we have the most problems EVERY year. I wonder why?

I believe people's intentions are always good and true. I don't think people volunteer to be foster parents with the intent of abandoning their kittens shortly after. I don't think people volunteer to be foster parents to do nothing but piss and moan the entire time they volunteer, or cause problems for the core group.

I think we just need to continue to roll with this and hope that August passes quickly. Somehow, September seems to be a more sane month....

I'd like to write more on this, but am afraid that folks will think I'm writing about them. I can't get into more detail than I am now. The shit has hit the fan lately and I'm ready to turn off the frickin' fan.

There's been no editing on this post. I'm pushing "Send", typos and all....

Back To The Shelter

It was really nice to be back at the shelter today. I must admit, there was a sense of dread the entire way out there, but once I was there - I was OK. Last Friday had been a horrible euthanasia day. Not only did 50+ cats die that morning, they had to euthanize 20 more that afternoon to insure there was enough cage space for the idiots to dump their cats over the weekend.

Very few rescues are helping right now and the majority of the cats are dying a sad and lonely death.

Fortunately, I was able to meet two very nice families to adopt two cats. One of the cats was a sweet little girl named "Omelette". As soon as you picked her up, she started purring. It was love at first sight. I received an email from this family as soon as I got home:

"Hey Beth I just wanted to thank you so much for meeting us today in Hamilton and helping us pick out the perfect addition to our family. We decided to name the once "Omlette" now "Hope". Figured it was a very suitable name for her. You must no what you are doing b/c she has adjusted amazingly. Currently she has found her bed and is sleeping in my queen size bed peacefully. She has quite the personality and has made herself extremely at home. She is playful beyond words and mysteriously can get up on everything and anything she wants :) Anyways I just wanted to drop you a line and thank you so much.thanks again."

Ahhh....that brightened my day!

The other family that I met adopted a very cute guy named "Toby":
Like many redheads, he was Mr. Congeniality and already neutered. Bonus!

There were so many cats there today that were already spayed and neutered. I wanted to ask, but didn't "How many died today?" There was nothing I could do anyway. At least I saved two.

I got home to another email from the family that adopted Toby:

"Hello Beth,
So sorry it took so long today to get situated with our decisions we were trying to make. Travis and i both stopped by my house before i took him home and "toby" remained in the cage while my oldest cat Sada met him, absolutely no trouble at all. Then my dog Max (husky/sheppard)met him in the same fashion, still no trouble at all.
"Toby" is now safe at Travis's apartment, he has since ate some cat food and drank some water with no trouble. One remarkable cat he is.. I will keep in touch you. . By the way during the car ride home he remained laying on the back seat."

I feel like I've been trying to pump myself up all afternoon. "Two Lives Saved, Beth!" If two little lives saved are better than none - why do I feel so crummy?

Jeffrey

My little Jeffrey had a very nice couple come visit him last night. The couple had made a pact that they wouldn't take him home on impulse, but would think about it. Good plan!

I didn't hold my breath. Jeffrey was a 100% booger last night and wouldn't have much to do with either of them despite my best efforts. It's like having a bad child. He gave them a token purr when they picked him up, but that was about it. These people even crawled into the cat den to hang out with him.

Jeffrey loves the cat den. I was excited to hear that this couple put their current cat on a harness and leash for walks in the park, so they would be doing that for Jeff too!

Needless to say, I was surprised to get The Call tonight. Jeffrey is being adopted!

The couple just had their cat Dexter neutered, so they wanted to wait until next week to insure Dexter is feeling up to having his new brother in the house. (cute, eh?)

I realized after this adoption visit that my house has a flaw: It has NO place for potential adopters to sit and relax with their prospective new family member. In my old house, I had a really nice cozy den with a door on it. People could sit on the floor and visit with the cat. There were toys, etc.

Jeffrey was like a wild man when these people were here. He was passing gas, running around, and body slamming Thomas. There was no where I could take him out of the equation and allow these people to visit him quietly. (Although he would've still been farting.)

It's going to be sad to see Jeffrey go to his new home. He's been a great little house guest. My sons are mortified that I would let "Jeffies" go. They wanted to adopt him.

But don't they always? Here we go again.... :)

600+

I've been really looking forward to getting back to the business of rescue now that the majority of the boxes have been unpacked. Since I'm involved primarily with the fostering program and rescuing, you could've knocked me over with a feather to be informed that our rescue currently has 600+ cats in the program. Holy sh*t. Really. 600 cats.

With 600 cats, comes the responsibility of insuring they are all healthy, happy and in proper foster homes. Once I heard that number, it didn't come as much of surprise to hear the second half the news: The rescue wants to put a hiatus on rescuing the larger number of cats for the month of August just to catch up.

That means - no big rescue runs for me.

The timing is good from my prospective. It'll give me a chance to regroup and work with the cats and foster homes currently in our program.

What am I supposed to "say" to the cats that are going to die in the month of August? Sure there will still be rescues, because there will be adoptions. But there won't be the usual 35+ cats in a week rescued.

Looks like the blog posts are going to be a little different for the month of August.

I get it. But I don't like it.

Rise Above It and Move On

First, I want to thank everyone for opening my eyes to the potential dangers from the neighbours next door. It never occurred to me that they would harm my babies, but - y'all are absolutely right - if someone is willing to poison a squirrel, why wouldn't they harm my cats too? (Yes, I feed squirrels too!)

The good news is - they left this morning for the UK for the month of August. I have an entire 30 days to get things in order for when they come back.

Initially, I killed them with kindness. (I only had 7-8 minutes talking with them) They're gardeners and in my best "snow white" voice asked if they would help me with choosing some fast growing ivy to grow over the cat den. Her answer? "I told my husband when I saw that *thing* (points to cat den)...they're either wealthy or stupid."

I've decided that "all bets are off". I don't think being sweet is going to amount to anything. That's not like me. I'm usually the one that thinks "You get more bees with honey, than you do with vinegar." (I can feel my Grandma smiling at me from heaven for saying one of her quotes.)

I don't trust people who "hate animals". There. I said it.

I'm ready to get on with the business of rescuing again. I still have many boxes to unpack, but my kitchen is set up, toilet paper is on the roll and litterboxes are being used - all the basics are in place and I'm missing the rescue.

What a mistake to go on the shelter website and see these two little guys:

They're scheduled to be euthanized. I don't know if they'll make it through the vet day tomorrow or not. I feel so out of touch.

It's time to rise above the pettiness next door and remember who I am and what I love to do.

...and if those old farts next door don't like it - screw 'em.

Up For Air!

As promised, I'm posting a few pictures of the Cat Den as it was being built. Kris and her husband were wonderful and did a terrific job!

This is the side of our new house and how the cat den is constructed. As you can see, you can stand up in the darn thing and there's a human door too!

The shelves are pretty neat!
This is Kris installing the Plexiglass window on the right so the cats can freely come in and out. So far, nobody is "freely" coming in and out - I'm having to play doorman. I hope they get the concept soon!

My plan is to put cat-friendly plants in there, hammocks, small trees to scratch, etc. to make it more fun. I never thought decorating for a cat den would be so much fun :)

On a sour note, we had an immediate incident with the new neighbours (not the pet friendly neighbours) as the cat den was being installed. When I worked with Kris (and our real estate agent) I worked very hard to insure that the cat den wouldn't be intrusive to our neighbours or even be really that visible to them. Our new neighbours crapped their pants over the cat den. Within 3 minutes they announced that they don't like animals, poison squirrels, and were calling the municipality to see what their rights are about this cat den.

What kind of people poison squirrels - not to mention tell someone they don't know in the first 3 minutes of conversation?

It's hard to believe this benign looking retired british couple could be so hideous, but they were. Moving day, I was in tears. They really took the joy out of the whole experience for me. I hope I didn't move next door to the neighbours from hell - but it's not looking good.

On a happy note: I was told we rescued 18 cats while I was on moving sabatical! Such happy news :) Thank you David S. for making this rescue possible!

We All Survived

I'm happy to report that we're all moved in to to our new (well...it's new to me) house. David and I haven't killed each other...kids are still alive too. We survived.

I really must be addicted to blogging, because as soon at the internet was up, I'm here typing to you. Unfortunately, I can't upload pictures because so many things are still packed.

We had our "First Barf" and "First Poop" in the house...both from Maggie the dog. Poor little old dog was very upset about the move. Of course, it rained complete with thunder and lightening. She was scared to death and despite all of our reassurances she had some tummy problems.

The cats are doing well. There's been some tense moments as the cats reacquainted themselves. It's like they all have to restablish who is the alpha cat, etc. Lots of hissing, growling, overall ugliness, and slithering around.

You may have wondered why I haven't mentioned the cat den that I've been so excited about in recent posts. The Cat Den is up and running, but the weather has been too crummy for the cats to thoroughly enjoy it. I'd like to do a whole separate post on it, complete with pictures. :)

For now....I have lots of unpacking to do and lots to be grateful for.

I'm only sorry that I'm too tired to enjoy the moment....

Procrastination is My Best Friend

I'm procrastinating.

If I type on the computer, David thinks I'm doing something relative to the move.

"I'm changing addresses, hon!" I call out to him in a "Snow White" voice.

I can hear the tape ripping upstairs as he's taping boxes. Ha. Ha.

I've been packing, de-garbaging, organizing, and sorting for 3 weeks now and I'm completely fed up. Looks like I'm not the only one:

This is "Jeffrey" my foster kitten. What you can't see if that he's sitting on top of 4 huge boxes.

Maggie looks a little ticked off too. But she looks "ticked off" quite elegantly in her pink scarf!
Ever wonder where all your cat toys go? Here's your answer: Everthing I move in the house has copious amounts of cat toys under it, abandoned in a pile of dust with some dried cat pee thrown in. "Look! A pill bottle in the midst" I wonder who didn't get their meds because I couldn't find them?

The packers come tomorrow, and we're going to a hotel. I'm guessing this will be my last blog post for a few days as I move and pray I have internet shortly after I arrive. I'm going to need a brag-fest on my new cat den and will hope I can find my camera to take a few pictures.

Until then....Please don't forget about the cats in the shelter. I haven't.

The Happy Place

Don't laugh. But the only thing that is keeping me from going crazy with this move is my future new Cat Den that will be built in the new house. I keep the brochure in my purse and keep looking at the pictures. It's become my "happy place" amidst chaos.

I wrote on my Facebook page that "Marital Bliss" is NOT synonymous with "Moving". That was an understatement. We think so differently about organizing. He's worried about recycling a piece of cardboard the size of matchbook and I'm taking out the junk drawer in the kitchen and dumping it in the garbage can.

Must. Kill. Husband.

We moved a bunch of furniture into storage today for my son who is taking the "old stuff" for his apartment next month. All weekend people showed up as I put freebies on Craigslist. (Note to self: NEVER EVER put free crap on Craigslist again) The house is looking rather bleak and the cats are scurrying around trying to find spots to nap.

I feel extra sorry for my little tabby Thomas Turner. He's kind of a sensitive guy and was abandoned in an apartment when his family moved away and left him. He's been acting so strange today - following us around, purring, and looking very insecure. My poor little man! How can I explain to him that I won't leave him?

The worst moment of the day was moving a large bookcase to find a piece of petrified cat poop under it. My God. How long had it been there and how could I have not noticed a piece of cat CRAP in my living room??? How did a cat squat under a bookcase???

The packers come Wednesday, the movers load the truck on Thursday and they unload on Friday in the new house. It takes 3 days to move all my stuff even though I've given half of it away. David, the boys and I are going to a hotel Wednesday and Thursday night which should set the cats and dog into a fit of insecurity being in an empty house.

Sounds silly, but I hate sleeping without my cats. What will my Newman do without her Mommy and "binkie" to sleep with at night for two days in an empty house?

Despite the chaos around the house, I keep thinking about the cats at the shelter. They aren't far from my heart as I can't rescue right now. I think the rescue I volunteer with is relieved to have a few weeks off as they organize and get some money in the pipeline. The summer months are notoriously slow for adoptions and money flow. When I bring in 25+ cats per week it really takes it's toll on an already burdened rescue.

Anyhooo....We're all surviving despite my bitchin'. I've really appreciated the support from my friends in rescue offering to help with driving and phone calls while I'm otherwise occupied. Funny...but I don't remember moving being so difficult or me being so whiny about it!

I'm leaving now for my "Happy Place":

Ahhh....better. :)

Seven Days...and Counting...

It's one week until the official move-in date of my new house. We have professional movers and packers coming, but because the packers charge $190.00 per hour(!!!) we're packing some things to save ourselves a little bit of money for my new Cat Den that's going to be built the first day we arrive. Seriously, I'm more excited about this thing than I am the new house! Take a peek: Cat Den . Soooo...I have to pack some boxes to help pay for the new cat play thingy....((**Shrug**)) It's going to be HUGE - 8 feet width X 19 feet in length X almost 6 feet tall!

With all the boxes around the house, it a freakin' playground for the cats. There's a cat asleep on most of the boxes and few have already been pee'd on. *sigh*

I did my last rescue before the move a few days ago. I rescued a butterball orange guy named "Hagen" and a very cute grey and white girl named "Sarah". It seemed weird only taking two cats, but adoptions are so slow this time of year and foster homes are asking for cats to be moved for various reasons.

David and I did "Cat Delivery" last night. It was a beautiful night and driving into the city was extra pleasant. Nobody pooped in their crates and despite "Chirp's" constant protests about being in the car, everything went fine. :)

Bloggin' is going to be rather boring over the next week or two. I won't be rescuing and it hurts to think of the cats that will die because I can't be there to help.

Even Though It Hurts...

I hate it when Kim from the shelter is on holidays all week. She's the one that tells me which cats are marked for euthanasia and is able to tell me about their personalities. Don't get me wrong - there are other dedicated people at the shelter that help me too! But Kim is the only one that I can call at 10:00 pm and ask her to take somebody off the euthanasia list for the next day.

My favourite pair of human sisters took the long trek to the shelter today to rescue "Noodle" for me. They had never been there before and traffic was horrible. The shelter was already closed by the time they arrived. Fortunately, they're resourceful gals - and they ended up finding someone to let them in so they could complete the rescue.

Unfortunately, because the shelter was already closed, the cages were marked (for euthanasia) for the next morning.

I could hear the desperation in their voices when they called me from the shelter. I knew how they felt, as I had been there so many times before. Walking the cages...seeing the cat's faces with the fucking "X" on the front of the cages. How I've learned to hate that letter. Many of the cats are eating their last meal for the night, or grooming themselves for families that will never come back to save them.

The ladies came home with Noodle and another buff coloured guy. I'm not sure who this fortunate buff coloured gent is, but I know that his cage was marked with the "X". He's a very lucky cat whomever he is.

Thank you Alison and Jennifer for going out there today. Noodle thanks you too:

I know Alison and Jennifer will go to bed tonight thinking about the cats they left behind.

I also know that there are two cats tonight that will go to sleep tonight being spoiled rotten by these two kind women who took time away from their beautiful Sunday to put their hearts on the line.

Many thank you's to ALL of you who put their hearts on the line every day to help.

Pearl, Spirit and 3 Days at the Shelter

When Pearl first arrived at the shelter she was a beautiful, white, girl with 7 toes on each foot. I remember when she came in at the end of May. She was engaging and at the front of the cage. It didn't take long for Pearl to look like this:That's what happens when they sit in a shelter cage. Pearl lost everything - her family and her home. She became ill at the shelter and the staff tried so hard to save her life despite the fact the the shelter was very overcrowded. Pearl recovered and the staff waited for rescue.

I rescued Pearl yesterday and her foster Mom sent me the following picture. Pearl had been out of the shelter for 4 hours when this picture was taken:

Yeah. I cried when I got the picture. :)

"Spirit" is another sweetie pie that I fell in love with at the shelter. It's no surprise to those who read this blog that I love the big butterball cats. Spirit was no exception:

Spirit was so big she didn't fit into a cat cage, so they had to put her in a large dog run:

I was so excited when a favourite foster Mom contacted me and said she had a friend who would foster Spirit! I drove all the way out to the shelter that day just to get her. I couldn't let my girl stay one more day in that cage!

Spirit was struttin' her stuff coming out of that cage. I'm looking forward to getting some new pictures of her from the foster family. (Did I mention that I love that little girl?)

The following are some pictures I VERY quickly snapped at the shelter yesterday. I was overly emotional yesterday because it was the day before the vet came to euthanize them. I'm happy to report that the cats in the pictures below are still alive - although not for too much longer. I thought these were good pictures that represent what *I* see every time I go there to do a rescue.

While I was at the shelter on Monday, somebody left a box at the front door. I took a picture of the actual box and put a can of cat food next to it so you could see the size:

.....and in the box?

She was in the box next to her dead brother. Barely alive herself.

I didn't feel good about being part of the human race that day. I'm happy to report that the puppy will make a full recovery and will eventually find a home.

It's been a busy 3 days. I'm going to hold on to the wonderful thoughts of Pearl & Spirit - among others. I'm not sure how I'm going to find time over the next 2 weeks to do as much rescue with my move coming on so quickly. But I'll have to manage.

They need me. They need all of us.

A Bit Weary

I've been way busier than I like to be for the past few days. Normally, I'd say it was a GREAT kind of busy - two trips to the shelter and another tomorrow. But with my pending move in 2 weeks, I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed.

I woke up this morning to my email being down. Technology and I are not friends. Hitting the "Enter" button 20 times in a row didn't seem to bring the server back up, so I called my husband at work (aka: Home Tech Support) to cry (aka "Complain") and ask (aka "beg") for help . After a short temper tantrum, I had a moment of calm and complete clarity:

"No Email. I didn't have to check email today!" I was suddenly free and relaxed to enjoy the large rescue that I had put together. I managed to rescue more than 20 cats this week (I'm too tired to count tonight.) :)

The smile for the day is a big boy named "Kitty" that I recently rescued. He was left at the shelter because his family moved away and left him. He was placed into a wonderful foster home who has loved him as her own: "Kitty" before....

"Kitty" after...look what 2 weeks of love can do!
Tomorrow should be a much easier day. I have so many things I'd like to share on this blog, but time hasn't been kind to me lately. To give you an idea, I actually had people calling me last night at 10: 30, 11:45 and MIDNIGHT to see about rescuing cats. No, I didn't answer the phone, but I'm incredulous that someone would think I would want to talk intelligently about cat rescue at midnight.

Speaking of "intelligence"....I just reread this post. I'm certain a Grade 3 student could write something more interesting than I did tonight. It's 9:45 pm...I'm pushing the "Publish" button on this post and heading off to bed.

I hope I dream about something other than cat rescue tonight, but I doubt it. :)

Feast or Famine

I felt like it was my birthday today. Unexpectedly, I had TWO awesome volunteers come forward and drive out to the shelter today, pick up cats and take them to their foster home and to the vets for me. Oh. My. Gosh!! It was so weird to leave the shelter with only a litter of kittens that the foster Mom would pick up at my house an hour later! Thank you Stacy and Thank you David & Sheilah!

We rescued 14 cats and kittens today in total. (Including a couple that adopted "Herman" before I showed up today - I wish I could've met them.) The shelter wasn't as full as it usually is and I don't want to jinx it by saying much else. There's VERY little illness in the shelter other than some minor sniffles. Ahhh...it almost feels like Christmas!

Which reminds me....I heard there was a local cat rescue that is actually "rescuing" cats from Craigslist. They're doing it because they don't want to spend money on vet bills because cats get sick coming out of the shelter. Well *DUH*. Shelter cats DO get sick sometimes. If you can't afford vet bills - STOP RESCUING. Getting kittens from irresponsible people who don't get their cats spayed or neutered off Craigslist ISN'T rescue!!! It's bailing people out so that they continue the cycle of making more kittens. You may disagree with me, but kittens are being euthanized at the shelter because no rescue steps forward for them. Hearing a so-called "rescue" cherry picking cats off Craigslist really pisses me off.

**Stepping off the Soapbox**

As of 4:00 pm today, I have hot water!! I haven't had hot water in my home since Sunday and things were getting ugly around here. My hairy legs and sink full of dirty dishes were really starting to get to me. When the technicians FINALLY showed up and installed the hot water heater, I did a happy dance and have been turning on the hot water periodically for the past 30 minutes - just the feeeeel of it!

I'm looking forward to the weekend and will be following up with people who haven't gotten back to me about fostering or adopting. I've promised myself that I'll spend an hour each day doing something to get ready for the move in 3 weeks.

Tonight...I'm feeling very grateful for the care and support of my friends in rescue. (and for the hot water too!) It's going to be a fabulous weekend. I can feel it.