Pink and White

Last night I felt it - the chills, a sore throat and body aches.  I immediately took some Advil and woke up feeling slightly better.  I've always felt that if I stay quiet the first day of a cold, it'll minimize the severity and length.  We'll see. 

But you're in luck!  I thought I'd share with you a few "after" pictures received of the the little white angel who was recently rescued:

When the pictures came in from the foster Mom, I think my knees went weak. You'd have to be in a horrible dark emotional place to not smile when you see his "after" pictures:

Ohhhhh....those pink feet.....

I'm feeling better all ready!

Educating the Public (A Rant)

I really miss having that little firecracker Tortie kitten in the house.  She was such a piece of joy around here!  As promised, here's the video of her when she first arrived at my house:  (Please ignore the blue towel on the rack in the background.  I think I'm the only one in the house who knows how to properly hang up a towel.  Men!)



Because my cat rescue phone line is linked with the shelter's Petfinder website, I occasionally get phone calls from the public who should be directing them to the city shelter.  Today, I answered the phone and a very professional sounding man was on the other end.  He had lost his cat and there was a cat on the shelter Petfinder site that looked like him.  We chatted a few minutes and he sounded educated and sincere - until - he told me his cat wasn't neutered because he "wouldn't want his balls chopped off, so why do this to his cat." 

It's hard to believe people still exist like this.  He sounded like such a neanderthal!  I decided to politely tell him how many kittens die in that shelter every year.   He said that he and his neighbour wanted to "breed" their two cats because they were both "good lookin' black and white cats who could have some good lookin' kittens."  I gave him the usual lecture, but I doubt that it did any good.  It hurt me to think of how many black and white kittens died in the shelter over the summer because nobody wanted them.  Maybe some were the offspring of his own cat.

 Honestly?  I'm STILL angry and I spoke with this idiot 6 hours ago.  How could somebody who otherwise sounded so educated, be so ignorant? 

As usual, I'm preachin' to the choir, but it feels good to write it out.  Hard to believe I managed to write this blog post without any profanity. 

From the Nursery

It was a VERY happy rescue day for the two kittens that I wrote about yesterday. I posted an urgent plea for them, and Lisa came forward to rescue the 4 week old white angel.

I met Lisa at a local Tim Horton's/Wendy's (where else?)this morning. Watching Lisa's face as she pulled that fluffy little white baby out of the cat carrier was too cute! Seriously...It was like watching a child open the best Christmas present ever. :) Lisa took the baby to the vet at her own expense and sent me an updated email:

"Eyes cleaned, bottle feed 10 cc kitten milk replacer and 9 cc watered down A/D via syringe and she PIGGED it down. I pottied her and she peed and peed and peed and then peed some more. Vet says she looks solid and it was ok to use the antibiotic eye ointment on her, so I did. She is now kicked back and sleeping in the bathtub on a blanket.

She is so adorable...and LOUD!" lol

I was really sweating out rescuing the Tortie baby this morning. The rescue that I had hoped would accept her into their program turned down the foster parent's request to take her. So for a few hours, I sat on pins and needles until I received an email from Emily offering to give her a 2 week quarantine period (at her expense) so that the rescue would feel more confident in her health to take her into their program. PERFECT!

The 6 week old Tortie is a pitiful looking little thing. I decided to take her to my own vet before going to Emily's house tonight. Dr. S was hesitant to say that she had been abused, but I could see it in his face - there was no other possible explanation for her condition.

Her ears are heavily scarred from *something*. I was initially afraid they were hematomas but the ears had healed and were left with scar tissue. Her tiny little head had a HUGE scar down the middle of it. Her upper lip was also scarred - we thought it might be a cleft pallet, but gratefully that wasn't the case. It also appeared that somebody had shaved her or used a marker to write on her, but it was really hard to tell.

Basically, Dr. S dewormed her and said she was as healthy as could be!

I've spent a good portion of the afternoon kissing on her and playing with her. I named her "Pansy". She's like a little Wolverine - biting, growling, running, playing, climbing up my leg. I took a video of her today, but Youtube is obviously having some technical difficulties today. I'll try to post it later if it becomes available.

I'm crossing my fingers that these babies stay healthy.  There are quite a few people with their hearts out on a limb for these two - including my own. 

....And the Cradle Will Fall...

I received two urgent pleas from Kim at the shelter this afternoon.  I hate getting pictures like this, because I want to throw caution to the wind, jump in my car and run to the shelter.  Her email as follows:

"She has obviously been not treated well. She has little hematoma's on her ears (from either someone constantly flicking her ears or trauma to her head) and a possible cleft palate (part of her top lips is missing). She is about 5 weeks old and eating well. SUPER affectionate and all purrs!"

Then she sends me another picture of this sweet white angel that came in a few hours ago.  She's only 4 weeks old. 

I want to kiss her little pink nose and say, "Where is your Mommy?"  Kim said she's eating well, and "sucking the wet food".  :(  

Poor little lamb. 

UPDATE at 6:45 pm Monday:  WHITE KITTEN HAS PLACEMENT AND IS BEING RESCUED TOMORROW!  WE STILL NEED PLACEMENT FOR THE TORTIE BABY!

After all the hard work yesterday, the cycle of cats coming in and out of the shelter never seems to end.  I'd gladly give up my volunteer job if it means that I'm not needed any longer due to a lack of cats that need help. 

If anybody knows anyone that can help either one, please let me know.  They need to get out of the shelter tomorrow. (Tuesday) 

I wasn't planning on blogging today, but how can I turn away?  I keep telling myself, "If only Forever Home Cat Rescue were ready to go...."   Ugh.  Petfinder contacted me today and my veterinary reference letter has been faxed.  All I need is my Charitable status and I'm good to go.

I'm going to lose sleep over these two babies tonight....I just know it. 

Very Lucky Seven

Any time that I can get one cat out of the shelter, I consider it a "good rescue day".  But when I can rescue SEVEN in one day, I call that a "GREAT rescue day". 

I had the privilege of meeting two families at the shelter today each who wanted to adopt a cat. 

Family #1 was a really wonderful couple who agonized over which cat to adopt.  They ended up with one of the most grateful cats I've ever seen:

My jaw hit the ground when the husband said, "I love black cats."  I think I stammered.  :)  I called Kyle and his wife later tonight and they said that our newly rescued handsome black boy LOVED their Standard Poodle and was "sacked out" on their bed purring and kneading.  (I think I'm still smiling)

Family #2 was a really special single lady that adopted two cats from me last year.  She decided she really wanted another Tortie girl and fell madly in love with "Sherra" who had been abandoned and quickly became a shelter favourite:

Imagine my surprise when she went to "Mya"s cage:

Mya has been at the shelter since early July.  She is insanely sweet and had only recently felt depressed.  The adopter really wanted to see if Sherra and Mya would like each other, so we took them into the dog holding area (no dogs were there) to see what would happen.  At first I scoffed..."A Tabbico and a Tortie in the same room?? Pshaww!!"  But the girls were instant friends.  They even walked side by side around the room together for comfort. 

She took them BOTH home.  :) 

The rest of the day was a blurr!  I'm happy to report that my favourite little boy Batman has been rescued thanks to some creative foster parents.  One foster Mom told me that she could foster Batman, but couldn't give him a 2 week quarantine period from her cats.  Another foster Mom wrote me and said that she couldn't foster him, but could give Batman a 2 week quarantine period.  I put them in contact with each other and....Yahooooo....Batman was rescued!  Thank you, Renee, Cindy and Matt for putting this together!

THEN.....I was able to rescue my favourite tabby boy "Chase":

I was so excited when Kelly called me and said, "Beth, I can foster Chase!"  Kelly really put her heart on the line, since she recently adopted her own foster cat.  Taking in another foster wasn't an easy decision for Kelly and I'm so appreciative.  Kelly's going to find out what having a "tabby love fest" is all about!

"Logan" is another love sponge who had been at the shelter far too long:

I brought him to my house this afternoon and left him in my washroom until his new foster Mom was available.  I inadvertently forgot to tell David that Logan was in there.  I could hear David in the washroom saying in a rather high voice,  "Hey buddy....do I know you?  Then there was silence.  Then I heard him shout (sounding a little more desperate), "Beth!!!!  Do I know this guy in here????"  (Have I said how much I love my husband?)  My friend Michelle has never fostered a tabby boy before, so she has a VERY special tabby Logan love fest in store for her!

Last, but certainly not least, I received an email this morning from Forgotten Ones Cat Rescue who asked me to pick up "Conner" for her:

This picture doesn't do Conner justice!  He's so sweet and handsome!  I'm guessing he'll be adopted quickly.  His eyes looked at me with such appreciation. 

I realize this isn't a beautifully written blog post tonight, but I'm hoping you can read by the fluff to count 1, 2, 3,4,5,6, SEVEN cats rescued today.  I really can't think of a better way to spend a beautiful Sunday:  Rescuing cats, and meeting the people that made it possible for me to rescue them.   Thank you all so very, very much for making me smile today.  :)

Friday Videos!

I was out of bed this morning while it was still dark today.  (I know....no sympathy from most of you!)  So much to do and so little time to do it!

Debbie from Forgotten Ones Cat Rescue was over the moon happy over the donations that came in to help Spritzer!  (Me too!)  It's a huge thing when smaller rescues take cats like Spritzer who need dental work.  As some of you know, dental work isn't inexpensive and your donations allowed Spritzer to be rescued:


As I type this, Spritzer is now in a loving foster home and his dental surgery has been scheduled for early next week.  Thank you all from the bottom of my heart.

Y'all are going to be surprised that I did not come home with that adorable tabby kitten.  I held and kissed him, but knew that bringing another cat into my home for a possible extended period of time wasn't a good idea for my guys.  It killed me to leave him there, but I'll do my best to get him out. 

I walked into another cat room at the shelter to hear horrible desperate crying from a young cat.  I know the sound.  It usually means it's a cat that isn't doing well in a cage environment and it's a plea for help.  I walked up and down the aisle and quickly found the little guy who was so upset:


Be still my heart!  These kind desperate guys KILL me!  He's about 5 months old and adorable!  If I rescued him I'd name him "Batman".  He's not doing well in that cage, so I'm praying somebody comes forward to help him. 

"Nobody can do everything....but everybody can do something..."  I need to keep telling myself that.

Predictability

Today was one of those "git 'er done" sort of days.  I suppose everybody has those days and I'm grateful I'm not one of the 9-5 working set that can only manage errands on the weekends. 

With great trepidation , I mailed the package to become a registered charity.  I marched deliberately to the postal box, but by the time I arrived I ended up with shaking hands and almost turned back to go home with my package in hand.  I dropped it in with a "what will be, will be" attitude and walked home - my stomach churning.  There's a fairly good chance that I'll be turned down.  Canadian Charities Directorate perfers to give charitable status to those who are currently in business.  I'm hopeful that my years in rescue and serving on boards - here in Canada and California - will account for something. 

I'm happy to report that shortly after I blogged about "Spritzer" yesterday, I received a happy email from Debbie at Forgotten Ones Cat Rescue saying that she'll be happy to rescue my orange and white fluffy boy!  The dental work is going to be expensive, so I really appreciate any donations to go directly to Forgotten Ones Cat Rescue - Click Here to Donate.  Forgotten Ones isn't a huge rescue, but they're very reputable and do great work!  Debbie rescues quite a few cats from this shelter, so I'm always happy to help her. 

Tomorrow, I'm rescuing Spritzer from the shelter and getting a much needed "root job".  Why is it that I just know it'll be a good day when my hair looks good? 

I can only hope that I can walk away from a certain brown tabby kitten at the shelter tomorrow...

I shouldn't be so predictable, but I am.  Does this guy have "Beth" written all over him? 

Last night, I had a lovely couple come over and meet my foster guy "Doodle".  They left without him because they want to think things over and were worried about their cat Priscilla would think about Doodle...yada...yada...yada...

Of course, my first thought was when they called,  "Oh boy...if Doodle gets adopted I can rescue Chase..."  

I have no shame. 

3 Ladies and An Urgent Plea

I woke up this morning to find that my blog had disappeared and a dozen emails from friends alerting me.  Three years worth of work went *poof* thanks to a hacker.  Fortunately, Blogger knew that there was unusual activity and temporarily shut it down.  Obviously, it's back up and running!  Whew!! 

I met a wonderful lady named Tracey yesterday, along with her two daughters.  They wanted to adopt a calico to add to their Calico family of 3.  She's a dog groomer by trade and lives very close to me.  Like so many people who come to the shelter for the first time, they were overwhelmed by the number of cats.  Unfortunately, the cages were already marked for euthanasia this morning which added to the anguish of choosing a cat. 

The family knew immediately that the would take "Bella":

She curled into their arms like a little calico blob and they laughed out loud as she immediately went limp like a ragdoll in relief.  Bella has a home! 

The surprise of the day was when this family fell in love with a 1 year old rowdy orange and white guy.  I couldn't find his picture of the shelter Petfinder site, but he was a riot!  He licked their faces like a dog and there was NO WAY he was going back into that cage.  He had a home too!

I was excited to hear that they wanted to foster!  Unfortunately, since my rescue isn't ready yet, I referred them to another rescue.  Whomever they foster with will be fortunate - they're awesome!


AN URGENT PLEA!

As I mentioned, the cages were already marked for euthanasia.  It's always horrifying, because the cats have no idea this will be there last night alive.  I held and kissed some of them before sadly putting them back.  Maybe for some, it's the only time they experienced somebody loving them.  Very painful for me.  I stopped when I came across a big, sweet, fluffy orange and white boy named "Spritzer".  His cage was marked for euthanasia.  I held him and he purr'd and purr'd.  The vet tech told me that he needs some dental work and he's about 6-7 years old.  She didn't think anybody would want to rescue him because of the cost of dental.  (I can certainly understand why she'd feel that way!)

They took him off the euthanasia list this morning as a favour to me.  They have given me until THIS Friday to find placement for Spritzer.  He's absolutely adorable and purrs the moment you pick him up.  He will need to have two teeth removed.  He's already been neutered and I kissed his little fluffy face until his fur was stuck in my lipstick. 

I'm hopeful that somebody can come forward to save Spritzer's life.  He will die Friday morning before the shelter opens.  So he really only has today and Thursday. 

Spritzer wants to live and he wants to be loved.  Don't we all?

Reaching Out

I was really happy to wake up this morning and find that the weekend's protest at the shelter was successful.   I guess it's hard to gauge what is successful in terms of a protest, but some hardworking, animal loving people showed up on a busy SPCA weekend and let folks know that what's happening at Animal Control is not acceptable:  See Article Here 

When I read the article, I was disappointed that the local newspaper out there once again gave a lukewarm representation of what really happens in that shelter.  When is The Spectator going to grow some balls and take a stand?  Where are words like "outrageous" or "city embarrassment"? 

I guess if I wanted something different to happen, I should've gotten my butt out to the shelter with a sign.  Because while these people were marching and being hassled by SPCA employees, I was probably reading a book by the fire. 

I'm still moving forward with my own rescue.  I'm halfway done filling out the forms to become a registered charity.  I feel it's the most responsible thing to do first.  Many starter rescues don't do this first - they do it as an afterthought, and this rescue will really need donations fairly quickly when we're fully up and running.  Hopefully, this will confirm the legitimacy of what I'm trying to accomplish by being registered as a charity. 

In the meantime, I've been fiddling with a website which has me frustrated and swearing.  Even the "Anybody can build a website" stuff has me pulling my hair and pushing the delete button more often than not.  Every morning I wake up and try to do SOMETHING with it, but I'm finding that it's more than I want to do, and it might be time to ask for help.  I should probably just hand the job over to somebody who wants to do it and move on to doing something more productive that I actually KNOW how to do!

I'm meeting a lovely sounding mother/daughter team at the shelter tomorrow.  They want to rescue a calico.  They already have 3 rescued calicos at home - one is 19 years old.  They sound so nice and - who knows, they could end up being my first foster family some day...or have a spare million dollars to donate, right? :)

I'll wrap up this blog post with a moment of cuteness from two of my own cats "Thomas" and "Willy".  Thomas used to walk around each day to each cat in the house and dip his head with hopes that SOMEBODY would lick the top of his head.  Thomas has finally found his head-licking buddy in Willy.  Every day, I find them spooning on my bed and the top of Thomas' head is always wet.  They both have "drunk eyes" and look completely sated. 

 I feel a little sleepy just looking at them on that white fluffy blanket. 

 Happy Monday! 

Looking Into the Sunbeam

I ran out the door to the shelter this morning without my camera!  Crap!  I really wanted to take a video of my favourite girl "Lema" being rescued.  I wish I could describe it properly....it was like...she *knew* and she was waiting for me!   Lema was sitting in front of her cage and I started to sing my silly little rescue song as I walked up to her. She meow'd SO happily and stood up as I approached. I grabbed her up and kissed her over and over. Lema is such a smooshy love muffin.

I dropped off 4 other adorable kittens for another rescue and took Lema into the city to her foster Mom.  She chattered at me as I drove and I found myself singing to the song on the radio, "I Kissed a Girl" by Katy Perry.  I'm such a doofus, because I changed the lyrics to "I kissed a kitty and I liiiiked it....the taste of her furry little liiiips..."  Lema meow'd in appreciation.  I'm surprised I didn't have an accident. 

Not sure why I felt so emotional over this little butterball tabby.  I've rescued so many over the years, and every once in a while I feel extra emotional about one.  If the truth were really known, I wish I could've kept her forever.   Watching her little face stretch towards the sun peeking through the clouds made me choke up.  I'm betting she'll be flopped in front of a sunbeam in no time at all. 

Even though I promised myself that I wouldn't - I ended up walking through several of the cat rooms today at the shelter.  The cats had already been fed and wicked-witch-of-the-west employee was stomping around the rooms with her headscarf on her head and usual bad attitude.  I wonder why some people get a job at Animal Control if they really don't like animals?  Or at one time in their life they did like animals, but the job just brought them down and they lost perspective.   I would really like to ask that question, but I'm afraid it would come out as, "Why do you always act like such a bitch?" I guess in any workplace there's always ONE nasty person that everybody tolerates.  But what bothers me is that she cares for such innocent creatures who are prisoners to her nastiness.  *ugh*

Things really do seem to be looking up at the shelter.  There are more than just rumours stirring about adoptions and ALL cats will be vaccinated as they enter the shelter.  They're even changing cleaning protocol in the anticipation of providing adoptions!  I'm hopeful that some of the rescues who left this shelter due to illness, etc, will come back now that things are improving.  As I get more information, I'll provide it here.   I'm hesitant to say too much.

Halloween at my house is quiet. The house we bought almost two Halloween's ago is on a busy street and I think parents are hesitant to let the kids trick-or-treat.  Admittedly, it's a relief not worrying about a cat flying out the door everytime it opens to give out candy.  Happy Halloween to all!!!

 

What's With All The Second Guessing?

Zeus the Persian went to his forever home today.  At least I'm hopeful it was his forever home.  It was one of these adoptions where I wasn't 100% sure I did the right thing.  Zeus had belonged to a senior citizen and I placed him in a home with a younger child in the family.  I've already contacted the family and they said he was settling in and all was OK. 

I wish I didn't worry so much, but I feel very responsible.  I don't have the same resources that I once had, and I don't want to place a cat "from the frying pan, into the fire."  I verified that they have a neuter appointment for him on Tuesday next week, so that's pretty much all I could do.  Worry...worry...worry...

Over the past few weeks, I've been working pretty hard at getting my latest favourite girl "Lema" out of the shelter:

Anybody who reads this blog with any kind of regularity knows how much I LOVE fat little bowling ball cats.  Lema has been spayed and declawed.  She's THE SWEETEST lovebug!   A rescue has come forward for her and I'm over the moon that I get to go pick her up tomorrow!!!  They're going to be so surprised at how sweet she is.  I sat on the floor at the shelter and she climbed into my lap like she knew me forever.  I almost brought her home that day.  It was horrible putting that big girl back into such a tiny cage.  I've been kicking myself for days for not bringing her home. 

On my Facebook profile today, I put:  "Getting married, having a baby, moving, job transfers, etc. are NOT REASONS for abandoning your pet, they are EXCUSES. Pets are a LIFETIME commitment the same as children are a LIFETIME commitment. We don't get rid of children for these kinds of excuses... we adjust our lives. Our pets deserve the same level of devotion." 

 I wish they'd put that in the Animal Control front office.   One of these days, I'll stop preaching to the choir and actually say it to somebody that NEEDS to hear it.   Do you think anybody will turn around and take their pet home? 

Staying In the Loop

I'm happy to announce that the 4 week old kitten from yesterday's blog post has been picked up from the shelter and is safe, loved and happy in a foster home.  Many *hugs* and thanks you's to Lisa and Gary who drove out to the shelter this morning to pick up the little girl.  Lisa already sounds smitten with her, so we'll see how quickly she is to part with her at 8 weeks.  (*LOL*) 

Thanks to a new manager at the shelter, I've heard a rumour that the "no public adoptions" policy is being reviewed and perhaps eliminated.  You heard right:  They are going to work towards opening the shelter for adoptions!!!   I'll believe it when I see it....but it's the first time I've heard that there are PLANS in the work.  Normally, I'd make a bigger hoopla about such news, but I don't want to be disappointed.

I've been keeping myself busy and am so happy when people email or call me with questions about a cat, etc.  It really makes me feel as if I'm still in the loop of things. 

I had a good time hanging out with Bella and Mr. Billings yesterday afternoon.  They each held vigil in separate washrooms.  Bella wasn't thrilled with my cats and caught me off guard with some serious snarling.  God, I hate how that sounds!  I'm sitting on the toilet combing my hair and Bella LUNGES at the door where one of the tabby's had an inquisitive paw.  I think I screamed out loud, but I may have blocked out the entire ordeal. 

Somehow, I managed to spend $400.00 at Winners (USA friends:  "TJ Maxx" or "Ross") and am being taken out to dinner too.  Sounds like David is happy with the extra time I've had lately and his newly stocked drawer full of clean underwear.  No more "back of the drawer undies" for MY husband! 

In the meantime, I'm following up with a potential adopter for a very frightened little Persian named "Zeus".  His Mom died and they've already euthanized his brother.  He sure needs a home:

Fingers are crossed for Zeus....

Reclaiming My Life Again

It was a beautiful rescue day today!  One of my favourite foster Mom's came forward and offered to foster Bella.  Imagine my excitement to go to the shelter today to rescue this sweet girl who was dumped there with such negligence.

To add to the excitement, I received a phone call from another rescue who asked me to rescue Mr. Billings for them too:

Mr. Billings was really quite depressed and had given up all hope of rescue.  He stopped lifting his head when people would come by.  What a victory to bring this guy out of the cage today!

Bella's rescue wouldn't be complete without a "rescue video" featuring my shrill voice:


Bella and Mr. Billings are currently in two of my washrooms enjoying some moving around time.  :) 

AN URGENT PLEA:  The following is an urgent plea on a 4 week old black kitten that just arrived.  She's being syringe fed and isn't in the general cat population.  She's an angel!  You'll be able to tell that I'm already in love....


Please let me know right away if you can help this darling kitten. 

I feel like I'm slowly getting my life back again.....thank you for the love and encouragement. :)

Singing the Rescue Song

Despite all the empty cages after the Monday euthanasia day, it felt *right* to be at the shelter. I was asked by another rescue to rescue a cat to insure the right fit for a foster home. I've always said that playing "cat matchmaker" was something that I do the best.  There's a lot of things that I don't do well, but I take pride in my ability to match the right cat with the right person.  I'm hoping that today was no exception.

I ended up rescuing "Ozzy" who had been at the shelter for 2+ grueling months:

Ozzy had already been neutered, and the shelter vaccinated him for me and he was good to go! This guy was SOOOO happy to be out of the cage. He pranced around the cat room at the shelter! He rubbed. He purr'd. He meow'd. He gave love bites. He was overjoyed!! I got to sing my "rescue song" to him so that made us both pretty darn happy.

Of course, a rescue wouldn't be a rescue without the token poop as we pulled into the vet's parking lot. *sigh*

I had a lovely visit with Bella while I was there. As soon as I saw her, I knew it was her. She was rolling around, rubbing and purring. Clipped to her cage was her health record that the family left, along with a package of Temptation Treats. Did that alleviate their guilt to leave some eff'ing Temptation Treats for her?

 Isn't she precious?  She's a beautiful cat - a little overweight, but who cares?  I had taken a video of her, but it seems YouTube isn't cooperating.  I'll post it later if YouTube gets it's act together. 

I'm hopeful I can get Bella out of the shelter in the next few days and will let you know.  I'm looking forward to singing a rescue song - just for her. :)

"Company's Coming"

When you work at an Animal Control shelter, I'd assume you'd get to the point where "I've heard everything."  But when I received an incredulous email from Kim who works at Animal Control, I knew that this cat's story deserved to be told.

Actually?  There really isn't a story.  "Bella" was surrendered to the shelter by her owners because...

"She's scared when people come over to visit."

Yeah.  That's the reason that was given by Bella's loyal family.   So this beautiful, (did I mention that she's sweeeeeet?) spayed, declawed, girl will die (unless she's rescued) because she doesn't like it when company comes over.

I hope somebody can help her.  Because Bella is an owner surrender, the shelter doesn't have to keep her alive for the usual 3 days.  They can kill her at any time. 

"I hope you enjoy your company, you ignorant *&!#@"

My Feet Feel Cold

Imagine my surprise to find 6 messages on my rescue phone line for people interested in cats at the shelter!  (The phone number on the Petfinder shelter site is mine rescue line that rings in my home office)  It wasn't until I listened to all the messages that I realized they were all for the Himalayan and Siamese who are currently there.  Don't get me wrong - they ALL need help.  But it was a bit of a let down since these cats usually don't have a hard time getting out of the shelter this time of year.

There was one call from a woman who is interested in a declawed male cat.  I was thrilled.  She sounded very nice and lives alone.  Her boyfriend comes in from Buffalo a few times per month with his own 13 year old cat.  I must've spent 2 hours with her today on the phone talking about the cats, the shelter, etc.  She called me back a few minutes ago and left a message:  "My boyfriend is worried that a shelter cat would be bringing in a disease that might harm his cat." 

WHATEVER!  She wanted to rescue somebody from THAT shelter.  Now her part-time boyfriend is calling the shots.  I hope she comes to her senses soon. 

I get periodic emails from foster homes (from the former rescue I was with) that tell me about their sick foster cats, etc.  Some of it sounds pretty nasty and the vet bills sound high.  Without knowing of my resignation, they email me and have asked for cats to go to the vets or be moved to another foster home. 

I sit at my desk and think, "Holy crap.  Am I ready to get back into this with my own rescue?"  

When you have your own rescue, you become an island.  You have some support, but mostly the buck stops with the one in charge.  It's a frightening prospect - one that I've done before, and it's not an easy path to take. 

I'm going to keep moving forward, but might need some slippers to keep these cold feet of mine warm. 

ALMOST Wordless Wednesday

If you aren't singing this song compulsively by the end of the video, you need to turn up the volume:

Baby Steps

Every day I've been trying to do some work towards Forever Home Cat Rescue.  It isn't an easy task to start a rescue and I'm still not really sure where this is heading.  Regardless, it feels great to be doing something during the day.  David tells me that I'm starting to micro-manage everybody in the house now that I'm not as busy as I used to be.  I think he was being polite. :) 

The Sunday adoption at the shelter fell through.  While they were waiting, the woman ended up going next door to the SPCA and adopting two kittens - complete with $400.00 adoption fee - and taking them home.  My friend-in-rescue was so upset because she had recommended her.  Upset enough, that she took home little Kiara:

Imagine my delight receiving an email that Kiara had been taken home!  This little polydactyl girl had been languishing at the shelter since August. 

It wasn't such a bad day after all.  Certainly not for Kiara!  :)  I'm not at all upset about the kittens being adopted from next door at the SPCA.  They needed a home too.

I want to ask Kim, "Is anybody rescuing from the shelter right now?"  But I already know the answer, and my heart hurts. 

No rescues.  No public adoptions.  No chance for survival.  They're all sitting there waiting for their turn to die.  I can hardly stand it.   

But I haven't given up. 

A Drawer Sounds About Right

Ever since I resigned, I've been receiving some REALLY cute pictures of cats that I've either rescued or fostered.  I wish people knew how much this warms the soul for any foster parent to receive pictures like this:

I almost wish I could crawl in that drawer with him.  Sunday didn't turn out like I had planned.  I'll talk more about it tomorrow when I'm in a better frame of mind.  It's been a roller coaster of emotions today, and I'm ready to get off the ride. 

"Move over little orange dude, I'm coming in...!"

On The Job

I've had a lot of fun reading all the names y'all think would be great for a cat rescue.  It's sad that the "market" is so saturated with rescues that it's not so easy to find a good name, that I don't have to spell, has available name and web presence AND (most importantly) represents what I want to do!  That being said, I've decided *IF* I were going to start my own rescue, I would call it:

Forever Home Cat Rescue

I think that will be the ticket :)  For now, that's the name I will use to do adoptions at the shelter.  I think it speaks volumes.
 
Kim sent me a list of the cats that are MOST urgent at the shelter.  Although ALL the cats are eventually killed, these are the cats that have lived in a tiny microwave-sized cage for a long time.  It horrifies me that after all they've been through, they could end up dead:

Mya- been here since July 26
Edison- been here since Aug 3
Mr. Billings-been here since Aug 11
Lema-been here since Aug 14
Siblings- been here since Aug 25
Kiara- been here since Aug 25
MaryKate & Ashley- been here since Aug 28
Ozzie- been here since Aug 30
Wylie- Sept 10
Brayton- Sept 11
Nadia- Sept 12
Rodney - been here since Sept 13
Randy - been here since Sept 13
Sherra - been here since Sept 27

All of the cats listed are healthy, vaccinated, dewormed, flea treated and desperate to be loved.  They are shelter favourites and very adoptable.
Please use the link to the right of this page that says, "Cats that Need to be Rescued Urgently", to see their pictures. 

Forever Home Cat Rescue is on the job and is meeting a prospective ADOPTER on Sunday!!! 

Happy days are here again!  :)