Do I Need "Excitement"?

As I completed an agonizing 3 hours of bookeeping and updating for the rescue this afternoon, I realized that I've been really missing the more exciting parts of rescue.  I'm not sure exactly what constitutes "excitement" in cat rescue.

Dumpster diving for kittens?

Death row rescuing?

Crawling under porches to dig out little frightened cat families looking for warmth?

As I sat behind my desk this afternoon clicking "Enter" and hearing the familiar *ping pong* of the Quickbooks programme, I became vaguely aware that I've become more of a pencil pusher than a rescuer these days.  Don't get me wrong - I've been to the shelter twice this week already, so I *am* rescuing. 

No wonder so many rescues are in a state of financial and emotional disaster.  We all get into this for the animals, and many of us end up feeling resentful for doing nothing else but glorified bookkeeping.  Those of us who AREN'T doing proper bookkeeping and administrative duties find that their rescue is in a constant state of financial turmoil and disorganization.  

Everytime I think I've found a balance, I find the otherside is tipping a little more than the other. 

One element of my rescue mentality has changed over the years:  "I no longer need to be the biggest and best rescue." 

I want to make a difference in people's lives.  I want adopters to feel like they got a fair shake and that they dealt with a professional organization that cares about the animals AND the people.  I want our volunteers to have FUN and know they're making a difference in this world. 

As I keep mentally reciting that mantra:  "Have fun.  Rescue Cats.  Have Fun. Rescue Cats..."  I went over our Adopted Cats list and realize that by early next month....

....we will be at our 

1000th Adoption!

  NOW I'm excited!

How Much Wood....?

I hate it when the phone rings too early.  Especially when I see my son's caller ID on the phone.  I answered cautiously, poised for another trip to the emergency room.   This time he said, "Mom, I'm sending you a picture.  Check your email."

Earlier in the spring, I had posted a picture of an animal that I was unsure of what the darn thing was.  Apparently, it's a Groundhog or a Woodchuck.  You can see his picture here.   Apparently, our little friend is baaaaack with a vengeance:

So this little guy must've REALLY busy last night.  Remember - this is a house we have that's FOR SALE!  I'm afraid to show David.  He thought we should've taken steps in the spring to move the Groundhog.  But he was so cute and I had already named him "Woody"!   

I don't know what we're going to do.  I called Animal Services, and apparently, they only kill them - they don't MOVE them and had no advice.  Killing Woody isn't an option.  I'm actually wondering if we have a "Woodette" and that's damage done by little ones born in the spring.  Little bastards!

I was back at the shelter this morning and rescued 8 deserving cats and kittens!   I took two of the young adults to a new foster home and brought 6 to Petsmart. (Already had been quarantined)  I no sooner had gotten the kittens settled into their cages when an amazing lady showed up and wanted to adopt one of the black kittens that I had just put into the store!   Great way to start the month. 

We had 3 adult cats adopted this weekend!  I certainly wish it could be this way every week.  I don't think things have slowed down from the summer kitten season.  Sadly, they still seem to be coming into the shelter. 

Hang in there .... it's October...it's bound to slow down soon.

Not a Typical Day In Cat Rescue

I no sooner pushed the "Publish" button on yesterday's blog post when the phone rang.  I was already stress with my sweet "soulmate cat" Newman in surgery, but I wasn't expecting complete chaos on the other end of the phone when I answered.  All I could hear was a man screaming.

It was the voice of my son.

The second voice I heard was his girlfriend's voice:  "Mrs. Turner,  I've called an ambulance for Patrick, he's in agonizing pain in his head and can't walk.  Can you come to the hospital?"

What you don't know is when Patrick was a teenager, he fell 45 feet (approximately 4 storeys)  onto the cement when a carnival ride collapsed.  He had recovered from a massive brain injury, but we always had the caveat that he could be predisposed to an aneurysm per his neuro-surgeon. 

I won't go into all the details, but after a CT scan, spinal tap and 8 hours in the emergency, they didn't know what was wrong. 

I would periodically leave the emergency room to check on Newman's surgery at the vets and ask one of our volunteers to take over the rescue's phone lines and emails.  I thought I had everything covered and even remembered there was a house showing at our other house for sale that needed to be cancelled!  I took a deep breath.

The cell phone rang in my hand as I sat outside of the hospital for a few moments in the sunshine.  It was the vet at another affiliated vet clinic.  One of our foster kittens was there and he wanted authorization to do an x-ray.  He suspected FIP.

I went back into the emergency room to be with my son and waited for another opportunity to walk outside to check on my own cat and the sick foster cat.  Another two hours went by and the doctor came in to do the spinal tap. 

With coffee in hand, I called the rescue's vet.  The kitten was dying.  It was FIP and he asked for permission to euthanize.  My heart sank.  It was just too much.  Newman, my son and a dying kitten?  I had a moment of complete selfish anguish.  Why can't I have just ONE DAY to deal with matters of my own life?  I put my hands into fists and closed my eyes.

Then I realized...Rescue IS my life, and sadly authorized the euthanisia of "Oz". 

My son and my Newman are both recovering.  I, on the other hand, spent today trying to recover from a Thursday I won't soon forget.

Kiss your loved ones....human and furry...tonight. 

Thursday Thoughts

I didn't sleep last night.  I tossed and turned and fretted about my own 10 year old cat "Newman" who is having dental surgery this morning.  Realistically, cats have dental surgery every day and most people drop them off at the vets, pick them up at the end of the day, pay the bill and go home. 

Not me.

I was thinking this morning how nice it would be if every cat had an opportunity to have somebody love them SO MUCH that their family didn't sleep the night before they have 3 teeth pulled.  I suppose that's what I wish for every cat.  That somebody loves them as much as I love my Newman. 

There's been an unusual number of calls on our rescue's phone line over the past few weeks with people finding litters of kittens or a cat suddenly appearing at a back door.  Strangely enough, the calls are ALL coming from the same city and the same area.  It's driving me crazy to think that people are moving away and leaving their cats to fend for themselves.  Cowards. 

Because these telephone calls are all coming from the same city as the high kill shelter, I'm wondering if people think that the cats have a better chance of survival if left outside than to end up at that shelter.  Every person that's called has said, "I don't want to take him/her to (the shelter) because they'll kill him/her."   It's great that there's been lots of press and education about this shelter.  But it's not so great that people are hesitant to bring lost cats or abandoned pets there. 

There are a lot of things worse than being euthanized at the shelter.  Ask the volunteers who take care of feral colonies, or people who have witnessed torture of animals. 

So yes.  I wish every cat had a home and not just any home...but a home where somebody loses sleep with worry for them.  That's a lot to ask. 

Today, I'll be waiting by the phone to hear how my little Newman did with her surgery.  Until she's back home, a little piece of me will be missing. 

From The Crapper

This must've been the most quiet Monday in history.  I woke up expecting the usual deluge of adoption calls, spay/neuter appointment requests, etc.  But there was only one call.  It was a complaint.

I always try to return complaint calls as quickly as I return the adoption calls.  It isn't easy.  People forget that I'm unpaid and am often returning calls at 9 am with my first cup of coffee in my robe.  If I could guess, I'd say 99% of  the rescue's few complaint calls are over post-adoption diarrhea. 

God, I'm sick of hearing about diarrhea.  Cats get diarrhea.  We get diarrhea.  I don't know why - food? stress? parasites?  Regardless, it makes adopters go crazy.  The problem is, a cat could have ZERO tummy problems before adoption, but I have no clue what they're feeding the cat once they leave our care.  They might have gotten into the garbage, or failed to kitten-proof the house.  Cats can be like raccoons and they'll eat stuff they shouldn't.

This morning, a woman had adopted two kittens from us.  Apparently, they were "shitting all over the house".  (Her words - NOT mine!)  The visual of "shitting all over the house" was alarming, so I called immediately only to find that she wants us to pay a $500.00+ vet bill for....D-I-A-R-R-H-E-A.  No, I'm not paying $500.00 for kittens with the squirts.  Take care of your own cats. 

It has suddenly occurred to me that I haven't posted since last week Wednesday and I'm talking about poop.  But I *do* have some really terrific news:

Clinton, the "too affectionate" cat that we rescued last week was adopted today!!!!  A lovely lady read about his ridiculous abandonment and gave him an A+++ home.  How's THAT for a fast adoption!?

Looks like we're going to have another rescue day soon....  :)

Rescuing Update

After a weekend of 19 adoptions, I've had the privilege of doing more rescuing than usual.  It's strange how I haven't been doing the actual rescuing as much as I used to.  I miss it sometimes. 

 Our volunteers went to the "high kill" shelter over the weekend and rescued 6 cats.

 Monday we rescued 3 Mom cats and 14 kittens.

 Tuesday was 1 tiny kitten and a 6 month old orange bruiser.

Today, we rescued 1 kitten (because the "tiny kitten" from Tuesday needed a friend) and we also rescued "Clinton".  Clinton was surrendered to the shelter because he was listed as "Too Affectionate".  Seriously.  Clinton didn't disappoint.  He walked into his foster home like he lived there forever.

Today, we also rescued a sweet Mom cat from outside.  Her family moved away from her and left her sitting on the front porch.  Bastards.  "Dear God, please don't let her be pregnant too."

With all the rescuing comes questions, vet visits and juggling.  Three of the cats have already been to the vets for not eating, a possible urinary tract infection, and an upper respiratory virus.  Of course, they came from the "high kill" shelter where it seems like eveybody gets sick and city seems hell bent on bankrupting small rescues like ours.  These cats might end up costing more than their future adoption fees.  We cross our fingers for the remaining cats, but at least they didn't come out of that shelter.  They stand a better chance. 

I always get anxious when we rescue this many at once.  Rescuing was a lot more fun when I wasn't responsible for paying the bills. 

A (Much) Happier Day!

I think I'm still recovering from an insane Petsmart Adoption weekend.   I know I brag about our volunteers quite a bit on this blog.  But holy crap, we really do have the best volunteers.   Friday night, there was a highway closure and one of our volunteers drove for THREE hours just to get there with her foster cats for her shift. 

We're not a huge rescue, but we had every Petsmart shift covered from open to close for all three days of the event.   We had NINETEEN adoptions!!!  Every adult cat was adopted, and EVERY black cat and all but one black and white cat was adopted.  It was crazy - nobody adopted the flashy calicos and the one adorable orange and white guy we had. 

I met a really lovely senior couple at the event.  They only wanted a declawed cat, which we didn't have at the event.  So I went to the shelter this morning and picked up a really homely 4 year old declawed guy named "Louie".  The staff at the shelter told me that Louie was getting depressed and they were so happy I was taking him.   I delivered Louie to their front door and felt a bit like Santa Claus might delivering a very special present.  The couple thought Louie was very handsome and were thrilled.  Louie found the sofa and the huge picture window in the living room.  It was a wonderful moment and I always get teary-eyed to witness it.

The trek to the shelter went much faster than usual.  I took a volunteer with me who had never been to this shelter.  She left with THREE nursing Mom cats and their kittens.  She has a really neat set up for these little families and took a picture of one of the little groups:

Each family gets their own spacious area, and as the kittens grow and become more active, they all get more room.   This particular Mom cat is really neat looking, isn't she?  Love her smokey/black colour. 
I want to hit the "Send" button on this post before anything negative comes up.  It's been such a happy few days and I want to wallow in it for a while. 

Did I mention that we have THE BEST volunteers?  Our rescue and the cats are so fortunate to have them. 

Too Much Dust to "Brush Off"

I wish I had written in my blog yesterday.  I really hate writing two downer blog posts in a row, but such is the life of a rescuer sometimes. 

We received the sad news that one of our kittens named "Dori" was diagnosed with FIP.  Thank heavens the foster Mom was alert to the signs - huge belly and skeletal-like body.  X-rays and a needle biopsy confirmed it this morning.  Dori was starting to sleep all the time.  She was eating, but not much.  Because cats are often called "The Great Pretenders", it was hard to know if she was really hurting but faking it. 

Regardless, there's nothing that can be done for a kitten with FIP.  It's fatal. 

So with tears in my eyes I authorized another kitten to be euthanized.

It took everything I had to say "Yes, it's OK.  I give my permission for euthanasia."  But when the vet said that according to Ontario Veterinary College I had to say those words a SECOND time to his receptionist for legal purposes, I lost control and started to really cry.  Saying it twice was too much and too painful.  

I'm grateful that I was able to busy myself with adoption event stuff.  We have a large Petsmart event coming up this weekend and organizing cage space and cats is definitely NOT my strongsuit.  Fortunately, we have quite a few volunteers who can organize these events far better than I can.  "I'll bring the cats!  You tell me where to put 'em and how many to bring!" 

It's been a tough week for our rescue.  I feel emotionally and financially drained.  I think this adoption event will be just the ticket for me.  Chatting, smiling and adopting out cats.  It's what I do best. 

Adopted cats mean it'll be time for another rescue. Rescuing is the 2nd best thing that I do.  :)

Another Cursed Monday

Once again, we faced another start of the work week where I had to tell a loving foster Mom that her beloved foster cat passed away.  After spending more than $2000.00 dollars on this sweetheart and days in a hospital, we finally got word from the vet that "Porkchop" is no longer with us. 

I hate that he died alone while the vet was closed and I hate that the $2000.00 that the rescue spent didn't save him.  There are no regrets about spending the money.  Any REPUTABLE rescue organization would do that.  I had to tap into our emergency money, but that's what it's for, right?  With our emergency money depleted, I'm going to have to do some juggling and pray that some fundraising will help. 

As a rescuer, there's never much time to grieve.  Porkchop's passing means there's an open space in a foster home and another cat waiting for a chance to live.  I'm so grateful that his foster Mom feels the same way.  So often foster parents run for the hills when their foster cat dies.  Sometimes it's just too damn painful to put yourself out there again. 

It's been a gorgeous day.  That's been my saving grace today after getting pre-coffee bad news.  The sun has been pouring through my office window with a cooler (dare I say "Autumn-like"?) breeze coming through.  I've been extremely productive and even had time to stain a new screen door for our front door.  The rescue's administrative stuff is now up to date and there might even be time for a 30 minute siesta before I start dinner. 

I almost hate the idea of taking that 30 minute nap.  I've been too busy until now to think about our little "Porky".  But he deserves to be thought about.  I don't want him to be "just another RIP in the rescue".   I'll spend some time thinking about him at our last adoption event and how he sucked on his foster Mom's ear.  Porkchop was such a character. 

He's going to be missed.

The Cell Phone Slave

I had a moment of panic 15 minutes after I left my house this morning.  NO cell phone!  I knew where I had left it - on the kitchen counter.  I could see it there as plain as day, waiting for me to pick it up as I walked out the door.  Thanks to "Bluetooth", normally I make many calls while enroute somewhere.  I'm productive, quick and people appreciate the fast response time from me.  Instead, I sat helpless at the stop light.  I was certain that my cell phone was buzzing over and over again on my kitchen counter. 

What kind of emergencies was I missing today?

How would I check the rescue's adoption line?

My anxiety quickly manifested into a blissful feeling of freedom. 

I could feel my shoulders relax as I pulled into the local pet store.  I had my nails done in total peace and serenity.  I had the nerve to feel annoyed with the noisy toddler another unlucky client was forced to bring with her.  For the moment - I didn't care.  The world could wait.  Let the cell phone buzz!!

My anxiety quickly returned as I drove toward my home and realized that I needed to stop at the grocery store.  Another 30 minutes?  Could I wait another 30 minutes?  Should I go home first, check messages then go back out to the grocery store?  How ridiculous.  Of course, I can go into the grocery store and pick up a few things. 

As I literally ran through the grocery store with my cart, I practiced my speech - telling our beloved foster parents and adopters why I was seemingly so negligent:

"I'm sorry!  I didn't have my cell phone with me!  What's happened?  What can I do?  What needs to be done?  Is there blood?  Have you called the vet?"

I parked in the driveway and ran to the front door with the house key in hand.  There was no time to lose - emergencies were waiting!  I grasped for the cell phone and pushed the green button to put light on the keypad. 

It said "New Voicemails"

I knew it!  I pressed the keys and listened intently...

....it was one of our vet's office.  We owe $5,068.97 for the month of August and can they bill my credit card for the expense?

Let the anxiety begin (again).

Out With The Bad.....

Part of animal rescue is accepting the good with the bad.  But today was a downright shitty day.  Waking up to authorizing the euthanasia of our darling "Tater Tot" brought my day to a standstill:

Tater was great at our adoption event!  Happy, playful and energetic.  By Monday night, he was obviously sick.  By this morning, he was dying.  We did a viral test to put the foster parent's minds at ease and it was negative.  Now we'll just have to guess as to why our little "dumpster kitten" died. 

But with rescue, "standstill" isn't always possible.  I drove out to meet another foster Mom and picked up our big ol' (former) Tom cat named "Manny".  Apparently, a family at Petsmart fell in love with him and is willing to give him a FOREVER HOME.  The Animal Services originally wanted to include this guy as part of their barn cat program citing that he wasn't adoptable.  Boy, were they wrong!    We called him Mr. Big Cheeks .  It was a happy moment for me and for the foster Mom that took a chance on him. 

Maybe it's the terrible weather today, but I've been unable to shake losing our Tater Tot.  Even watching a happy family take Manny home today wasn't enough.  I wish there had been a more definitive reason for him becoming so ill.  The problem with experienced rescuers, is that we ALL think we're smarter than veterinarians sometimes and we second guess ourselves. 

My oldest son is coming out tonight to pick up "his two cats":  Parker and Butters.  They've only ever lived with me, and I'm feeling nostalgic about letting them go with him.  Will my son remember "Snack Time" at 9 pm?  Will he scoop the litterbox?   He adores these two cats and is 24 years old.  I still feel uneasy and hope that those feelings will pass.  Whenever my son visits us, Parker and Butters RUN to him.  They adore him and it was the agreement when we adopted them:  When my son moved out - he would take Parker and Butters. 

Tomorrow will be a better day.  (I wish I had a nickel for every time I ended a blog post with THAT statement!)

Birthin' Babies

Ahhhh yes....Labour Day Weekend!  Last night I asked David to set the alarm for 6:30 am.  He said that it should be illegal to set the alarm for 6:30 on a Saturday.  But today is an adoption event!  

Yesterday despite a lot of obstacles, we rescued a darling little calico from a construction site.  Bless her heart, she was VERY VERY pregnant.  It's hard to believe (at the end of August) that I even had a foster home available for her.  But the universe agreed and she's safe and sound...

She must've known she was safe, because within hours of her rescue....

Calico #1

Calico #2

It's still early and I'm waiting to hear about more little lives that have come into the world during the night. I can't what would've happened to this little family had she tried to give birth at the construction site.

Labour Day isn't the perfect weekend to have an adoption event, but we were invited to participate and I really hate to turn something like that down.  Even if adoptions are slow, it'll be nice to hang out with other volunteers and share a common goal. 

Keep that coffee coming...

God's Country

It was nice to be part of a rescue again.  It's not very often that I get to visit a lovely horse farm with the intent of rescuing cats.  The drive was incredible out into the country with a fellow volunteer in the passenger seat.  I could almost smell the leather from the tack barn as we drove into their driveway.  Oh how I miss having horses sometimes! 

Sadly, only a few of the tenants (who board their horses) give a crap about the 15+ cats inhabitating their farm.  Nobody really feeds them and of course, none are fixed.  So NOW that the spring kittens are getting older, everybody's panicking and they're asking for help. 

As usual, before any  rescue I call foster parents and ask for help.  I knew I could take 3 cats comfortably.

But I left with 5. 

Two already have pictures and names:

"Ferguson looks pretty happy to be out of the barn!"

"Forbes is a happy guy too!"

Now that five are out of there, the owners and tenants of the farm have vowed to get the rest fixed in order to avoid things getting out of control. There's such a small window to catch friendly cats before they become untouchable and fertile.

I still have a preference for rescuing out of shelters.  But I feel like I made a huge difference with this farm and may have been able to help them from a situation becoming out of control.  It was hard to take them away from this farm.  The sun was warm and they were all in a bail of hay grooming each other.  They were happy!!  I tried to remember that Canada's winters can be unforgiving and scooped them into carriers. 

I kissed each one and promised them a better life....and I meant it.

Monday Catch-Up

Last week I declared Monday, August 27th my "Back to Reality" day.  I figured 7 days of whining, unpacking and general forgetful behaviour would be forgiven for a 7 day period.  After that, I was sure I'd be labeled a "Flake".  I was so certain that in 7 days all my boxes would be unpacked and I'd be happily skipping around the new house putting up pictures and nesting like a pregnant woman about to give birth.

No such luck.  I only found the box of linens last night.  We've been sleeping without pillowcases all week. 

I finished organizing my office today and feel as if I can make some better decisions about the rescue and an adoption event coming up this Saturday in the city.  (Locating my cages, tables and brochures will be another story.)  Sure, I'm a little worried about having an adoption event on Labour Day weekend, but it's been advertised and the pet store owner is pretty excited about having us, so I'm going to drum up some enthusiasm and adopt out some cats on Saturday!

Wednesday, I'm driving out to farm country and help an upscale horse farm with an overload of cats.  Apparently, they're all friendly and healthy.  It's hard for me to ask for money, but I did ask the owner for a donation to get the cats their initial vaccinations, deworming and defleaing.  I'm not sure how many there are, but they're going to be in a mess soon as many are still pregnant and having kittens.  This isn't exactly "my kind of rescue", but the people seem so supportive and helpful, that I think it's a good idea. 

I was thinking today how easy it is to forget about the plight of discarded cats that live outside when it's a beautiful late summer day.  But it's only a few months away when things get cold and the weather unforgiving.  Although it's awful that cats are euthanized in the shelters, it's a much easier way to die than freezing to death.  Those who feed feral colonies will agree, I'm sure.  

I received a tearful voicemail from a lady that adopted one of our cats in the spring.  Sadly, the kitten is now dying of FIP.  I remember this lady - she was lovely and gave this kitten (and his brother) a wonderful home.  My heart broke as her voice cracked and she started to cry on the voicemail.  I had to replay it again as I thought I heard incorrectly that she wanted me to pay for the euthanasia since I didn't have to pay for the kitten's neuter surgery. 

Seriously?  *sigh*

It's going to be a busy week.  I hope to stay in touch with my blog a little better now that life is giving me some organization...

...and some pillow cases for our pillows!

Cat Den - Part Deux

I unpacked my camera!  It's like Christmas when I found it - so many things about the move and the house that I wanted to document.  Most importantly, I wanted to post some pictures here with the new cat den.  It's actually the same set up - different house and it wraps around the corner of the house.  :) 

We're having some work done at the house today, so I locked the cats out there for safety reasons.  Nobody is happy with "forced fun", as you'll see in these pictures:

I love that this cat den is more open than the last.  We had it wrapped around some small trees and bushes with hope that would add interest.  The cats can go out through a flap in the basement window.  Sadly, nobody is THAT interested in using the cat den right now except for Sherman  

Back to unpacking the rescue's office.... 

It's Over!

I've survived.  Right now, I feel like the only person that ever moved.  Maybe it's because I did three HUGE moves in 9 years.  Too much.  This house is going to be the "pine box" house.  Next time I move - they're carrying me out in a pine box.

Once I find my camera I'll take some pictures of the new cat den.  They wrapped the cage around the side of the house and enclosed some bushes and some climbable mini-trees.  I woke up this morning to the chatter of black squirrels scolding my cats who were in the cat den.  Sherman and Parker were frozen in excitement.  Success! 

I'm feeling guilty this afternoon because I have boxes upon boxes to unpack, but here I am writing in my blog.  PLUS I went shopping at The Container Store this morning.  I think I'm just burned out and need to do something fun.  We found a huge bouquet of flowers on the front porch yesterday morning with a darling "Welcome Home" card from our new neighbours. 

Don't know how I did it, but I managed to do adoption calls and take foster home inquiries during the move.  There was a point in the 2-day move where I had the phone under my chin, carrying a box and chatting merrily about one of our adoptable cats.  I think the rescue had about 6 hours in downtime between offices, internet connection and phones.  Not too shabby!

David and I are back in our king size bed again. (post house staging) We've been falling into bed at night with such exhaustion that we haven't had a chance to fully enjoy the additional space.  All I know is that as much as I love my husband, I'm SO FREAKIN' GLAD he's *over there* on the otherside of the bed.  Too much togetherness is for the under 25 years old set.  :)  The cats seem happy to spread out too.

Looking forward to being back into some form of routine.  I didn't unpack even one box today, so that's not a good start.  :)  But I *am* cooking dinner!   God help me if I eat one more piece of pizza or McDonald's.  Puke. 

I hope the oven works...

48 Hours

For the next 48 hours, we are without our beloved Cat Den.  Kris at Habitat Haven showed up promptly at 8:00 am this morning and took down the den and is now installing it at our new house as I type this blog post.

My cats are having withdrawals and it's mayhem at my house. 

We have a house showing this morning and the some of the cats must remain in the house during the showing since we can't put them out in the cat den.  It's 11 am, and my once clean hair is skinned back in a pony tail and I'm sweaty.  I have to be back at the new house by 1:00 because Ikea is delivering some stuff for my son's room. 

Yesterday, I ran into a former adopter at a local pet store.  Lynn is a lovely human being and she adopted our Gabby and Ramone.  She wanted me to come over to visit them before I moved.  I hesitated.  She lives only 3 minutes from the pet store and I knew she wanted me to come over right away.  How could I make time?  Too much to do....but I decided to go anyway.  Maybe the diversion would be good for me. 

What I didn't expect is that I burst into tears the moment I saw them!

They looked cared for and happy.  Their coats were shiny and there was no doubt that they were adored.  Ramone playfully bit me and I sang my little "Gabba-Gabba" song to Gabby.  I think she remembered!  I wiped my eyes in embarrassment.  I don't know where that came from.  Maybe just from the stress of the past few weeks.  But I was SO glad I saw them again. 

48 hours and I'll be in our new house - complete with cat den.  THEN the work begins!  Until then, dealing with 10 cats "flipping out" over the lack of cat den is going to be brutal.  Maybe they can go over for a visit tonight.  Hm.  Or maybe not.  :)

Meltdown Central

I was still half asleep when David leaned over to kiss me goodbye.   He gently whispered in my ear, "Sweetheart, don't look out the front window, there's a really big dead raccoon that's been hit by a car in front of the house."

I sat straight up in bed.  "How do you know it's really dead? What if it needs medical care??"  I ran to the window and sighed.  Poor guy was gone.  No doubt was the Daddy for half the raccoons born in the neighbourhood.  Animal Services picked up his body a few minutes ago.  I said a silent prayer and worried that some other little raccoon might be missing him.  Do raccoons have best friends?  I hate that I'm such sap and think of this stuff.

It wasn't a pleasant start to the day.

The day hasn't gotten much better as I'm waiting for the Cable company.  They gave me an EIGHT HOUR window of time of arrival.  How the hell do people who have real jobs deal with that?  Ridiculous!!

We officially move into our new home on Friday.  The "Cat Den" people are coming Wednesday to dismantle the cat den and put it up at our new house.  It could be a rough two days without it.  My cats love their cat den!

I've spent the past 2 or 3 weeks doing nothing but complaining, stressing and scratching the surface of things that need to be done.  We have one volunteer that had a 40th birthday party and instead of receiving gifts she asked for donations to our rescue!   She's been patiently waiting for me to connect with her to give me money and I've been unable to manage a secure time to be home!   I'm so embarrassed.

I have so many missing "thank you's" that I've neglected to say to people.  That's probably driving me crazier than anything.  It's such a worry that people may think I've been rude or neglectful.  On top of everything else,  I think I lost an adoption cheque.  It was paperclipped to the adoption agreement.  The adoption agreement is here but the cheque is gone.  I'll have to reimburse the rescue for that if it doesn't turn up. 

Fortunately for me and the rescue,we have the best volunteers around.  As I type this, two of our volunteers are driving into the city to pick up kittens and take them into Petsmart for me.  I'm truly blessed at every turn and need to remember that as I have these mini-meltdowns. 

It's a good thing I'm distracted.  The $7000.00+ vet bill I just received from ONE veterinarian didn't phase me as it usually would.  :)  I'm feeling better now as I type this, and I think I'll go make another pot of coffee and keep cleaning out cupboards. 

Maybe I should start counting my blessings too. 

A "Too Busy" Tuesday

Yesterday was a Provincial holiday in Ontario, and although it was a holiday for most of us, I felt like I was missing out on important "things to do" by not treating the day like an ordinary Monday.  I woke up today feeling like I was behind on everything.  What good is a holiday if I'm stressed about everything when the holiday is over?

In keeping with our vow to maintain a fabulous marriage, David and I decided to spend the night away from home on Sunday night.  My son takes care of the cats and geriatric dog while we're gone, so it's pretty special to be able to have some spontaneity and take off like that.  We went to dinner, the movies and back to our hotel.  No scooping litterboxes or feeding cats for 24 hours.  Lovely. :)

 I had a laundry list of things to do today so the day started way too early.  I was back at the shelter this morning and rescued 3 sweethearts that looked like they needed a Forever Home. We had a black cat adoption this weekend, so I wanted to rescue somebody else that would be considered hard to adopt.  I walked the cages thinking, "Who is the ugliest in here?"  Yes, I found somebody but I'm not going to say who :)

I met with a lovely couple at our veterinary clinic who lives in a rural area.  They had been feeding and caring for two kittens that had been dumped off....so I took them too.  (the cats...not the couple. hahaa!)   This is why living in a rural area wouldn't work for me.  I couldn't stand how many animals get abandoned and I'm sure as soon as local folks found out that I was "cat friendly", I'd find dozens on the property.  Maybe that isn't fair to generalize that way, but it's certainly been my experience.

Back to Petsmart to insure that everybody is ok there.  I met one of our younger volunteers while I was there and that was a treat!  She was such a sweet girl and I couldn't help but think, "What an AWESOME volunteer job to play with kittens for a few hours each week!"

It's 3:15 as I type this blog post and I'm  now realizing that there is absolutely NOTHING to cook for dinner in the house.  How could I spend over $250.00 for food yesterday and not have a thing to cook for dinner??  Holy crap.  I need to stop judging my value as a wife by what I cook for dinner.  Certainly David doesn't care.

Tomorrow will be a more detailed day - hopefully, less scrambling.  Would love some time to cross my T's and dot my i's.  Heck...I'll just settle for a dinner with fresh vegetables in it. 

To Be....Or Not To Be?

It's very unlike me to not update my blog until now.  You know I must be sick, exhausted, and swamped to let it go a little too long without writing.  The truth is, I'm sick, exhausted, swamped AND I haven't had much to report or write about lately.  I'm beginning to sound like a habitual whiner with tales of my housing woes, etc.  :)

Adoptions have picked up this week and I'm heading out towards Guelph this to pick up a couple of kittens to put into Petsmart.  It's our turn for August.  Setting up in Petsmart is never fun, but it does give our cats some new opportunities to be adopted.  I sure hate to add an additional responsibility this month to my list of tasks - emotional and physical. 

I've been giving some thought to ending my blog, but don't want to do anything while I'm so tired and emotional.  I might end up being sorry.  But I have to wonder:  I've been writing this for 4 and a half years!  What else can I say that hasn't been said?

We received a call from the "low-kill" shelter that said they would be forced to euthanize a big (otherwise) sweet cat that HATES other cats.  This guy doesn't just hiss or growl...he goes on full attack.  Can we help by 5 pm today?  I put out an urgent plea for an "only cat" home.  Those type of foster homes are like GOLD.  I was more than a little shocked when  a lovely young woman came forward and agreed to take him for 30 days and assess him.  Her boyfriend is allergic but even he was willing to stay on meds for 30 days. 

So now the pressure is on to find this guy a home in 30 days during the slowest time of the year.  He's 6 years old and declawed.  He's been INSANELY SWEET SWEET SWEET with his foster Mom so he's fine as an only cat: 

We rescued him at 3 pm....2 hours to spare!  So I think we'll waive his adoption fee for "donation only" to get this sweet guy moved on.  We need the adoption money, but we need a home for him more.

It's time for me to shower-up and get things moving and grooving for the day.  I definitely could use some motivation and adoption excitement.  Maybe our big grey boy will find a home today!  :)