Land O' Ice

How many people book a trip to Iceland during the Canadian winter?  Answer:  Canadians that thought it was a good idea in August.  Good Grief.  What were we thinking?  We forgot all about this  trip until two days ago when David got a reminder on his phone.  I've been moving full  speed ahead  with rescue and have had very busy days - no time for a holiday right now.  

Looks like I'm going to Iceland next week.  *sigh*  

We've had 90+ adoptions again this month, and we've been doing a lot of rescuing just to keep up with the numbers.  Does this sound like I'm complaining?  Noooo....not at  all.  But I'm certainly not prepared to take a break and go to Iceland.  

I need to file the tax return for the Charity.  It's due now and I'm behind on bookkeeping, bank deposits and and the usual administration.  I am *never* this far behind.  It's obvious that I need to take several administration days or set my alarm to get up before the phones start ringing.  

Yesterday, I  worked the ENTIRE  afternoon entering Paypal donations in our bookkeeping software.   Believe me - there weren't that many!  But with the text messages, phones and emails interrupting me, I found myself making data entry errors and was completely distracted.  I really need to lock myself in somewhere and finish all this stuff.  

Tomorrow night, we move from one Petsmart store to another.  Packing up, moving out and moving the cats with us.  It's all such a hassle, but I think it's nice for some of the volunteers to get a monthly break.  Those of who are more hardcore in the rescue...business as usual.  

Tomorrow is another rescue day for us.  I'm tired and am beginning to wonder if  my socks are clean or if I'm putting the dirty ones back in the drawer.  That's how I lost my wedding ring a few months ago!  It just completely disappeared on an evening I was 100% exhausted.  At the end of the day, I took off my earrings and my wedding ring and put them in the drawer.  I  woke up the next morning - they were gone. *Poof*  For all I know, I'll find them in the refrigerator when I  (finally) have time to clean that.  

Nope.  I'm not ready for a vacation.  But I'm getting one anyway.  The universe has a way of slowing us down when we need it the most.  I suppose I should be glad I'm getting a trip to Iceland and not an appendectomy!  Tomorrow, I'm  setting my alarm for 5 a.m. and will try to power through some of this tax shit.  stuff.   The glamour of running a rescue...tell the masses :)

Busy February!

Whenever there is a larger gap between posts, I always wonder where I should begin.  For once, there hasn't been anything super newsworthy!  At least nothing that I want to discuss publicly.   Those of you who have been reading my blog for the past 6 years might be surprised that there are actually things that I don't want to talk about.  :)

A few weeks ago, we rescued this pathetic little guy from the "high kill" shelter:

He was declared to be really old and very sickly.  You never know what you're going to get when you rescue a cat like this.  He might need to be euthanized right away, or the costs could be in $$$$'s in order to make him well.

Rarely, are there PLEASANT surprises in rescue...but this guy was  a REALLY pleasant surprise:

Turns out our "sickly old man" was really a  "starving kitten!"   How cute is this picture????  PLUS, this guy LOVES the other cats and the dog in his foster home.  BONUS!!!

Our adoptions are really strong again this month.  I'm certain it will be 90+ adoptions for the month of February again.  But with 200 adoptions in two months come a lot of rescues.  We've been swamped keeping up with rescuing, vetting, placing, Petsmart, adoptions, etc etc.  It's a good kind of busy.  No complaints from me yet.

I wish it could be this way every month.  Even the black cats are being adopted fast.  It's funny how there's always a certain colour that seems more popular than others every year.  Some years it was the orange cats.  Other years it was the calicos.  This year?  It's the tabby's.  EVERYBODY wants a tabby.  :)  I'll have to start paying more attention to the Temptation Treats and toilet paper commercials.  They seem to dictate the Cat Du Jour.

I've posted on Facebook some pictures of our new dog "Jeffrey".  He's so homely that he's cute:

Honestly.  I can't be the only one that will admit that Jeffrey is a bit... u-g-l-y, can I?  David gets very sensitive when I say that Jeff is homely.  But Sadie likes him, and that's important too:

I'll try to write more this week.  I'm really holding back on some thoughts and  issues happening in my life.    I'm hoping that they'll correct themselves - but if not...I'll need a place to talk.
Vent.
Piss & Moan.
Whatever.

Hodge Podge of Emotional Writing

I really haven't felt like myself since Doug left us.   I know it sounds crazy, because pets come and go and  as a veteran rescuer, you'd think I would've hardened up a bit more.  But his unfair departure from our lives have left me feeling empty and sad.   Maybe it's just seasonal and the dark days are getting to me.  I've been thinking about my life in Southern California quite a bit lately which is very uncharacteristic of me.

We named our frozen orange and white guy "Wallace".  (William Wallace the warrior!)  It seemed to suit him after he had been through so much.  I think his picture from our vet clinic speaks volumes to how Wallace feels  about square meals and warmth:

"Wallace"

A Rant:

We recently rescued a cat from a fellow rescuer who reached out for help.  This rescuer has been *no* friend of mine over the years and has been part of that "Crazy Protester" group.  She's  really a pathetic little woman that has said some pretty nasty things about me and our rescue over the years.  She's called me an "enabler for kill shelters", etc.   I find it incredible that when she needs help for one of her OWN CATS, she asked us.  I didn't take the cat for her, I took the cat because she was desperate and I was worried about him.

The cat arrived to us in horrible shape.  According to his veterinary records, he had lost almost 2 pounds in the past 9 months.  He had  hardened weeks and weeks old diarrhea down his legs and so much caked to his back side that it completely covered his rectum.   The vet felt she had to shave and bathe this poor cat before he could go into a foster home.  The vet also indicated that his feet were caked with mounds of litter - all of which meant he was either living in filth or this pathetic excuse for a human being kept this sweet cat caged.

I'd love to post pictures of this cat, but will keep her identity anonymous.  She doesn't really deserve it, but I need to protect myself too.

How?  How on earth can she call herself a "rescuer"?  How can she sit there on a Facebook page and advocate for animals at a high kill shelter when her own situation is such a horrific mess?  I read her posts about how "disgusting"  this shelter is and that the staff is void of conscience...yada yada  yada...God, I can't imagine what the rest of her cats look like. This poor cat is going to need medical care and lots of it.   I hope the vet files a cruelty charge against her.  I really do.

End Rant

Wasn't this a hodge podge of emotional writing tonight?  I've had a few people mention that I need more before/after happy stories in my blog.  I try to remind readers that this isn't our rescue's blog.  I wouldn't be writing stories like I have over the past 6 years if I was representing our rescue in these posts.  These  are my own personal thoughts and I really think it needs to remain that way.  I'd consider a "Disneyland Rainbow Rescue Blog", but I don't think I could write it.  That isn't really rescue. But after seeing that poor cat that we took from a (supposed to be) fellow rescuer, I'm not sure I really understand it all anyway.

We Did It!

Remember this sad little soul?  (if you missed the post, you can read about him HERE or HERE.

My rescue partner, Shelley and I were knee deep in a hoarder's house rescuing a bunch of unwilling cats when my cell phone rang.  I didn't want to answer the phone, I was busy but didn't recognize the number. Maybe it was a Petsmart volunteer who needed help.

"Beth?  This is E*** the people who have the orange and white cat that was freezing to death in our back yard?"

My  heart skipped a beat.

He was there.  He was in their back yard.  But this time, he was dragging his back leg and he appeared to be severely injured.   I don't think I've ever seen Shelley move so fast!   She jumped in her car and left to pick up the mysterious frozen orange and white cat and I stayed behind to take a 9 hoarder's cats to the vet.

He was there when she arrived.  His hip looked bad - maybe he had been hit by a car.   He must've known he was going to be safe.  He never struggled and this gentle soul allowed the vet to examine him and trim his nails.  X-rays, possible hip surgery, neutering and vaccinations - all on the list for this sweet abandoned cat. He bears a few war wounds across his nose that tom cats often have.   But those will heal.  

 We did it.  He's safe.  He will never have to be cold or hungry again.