I promise to catch everyone up on Henry Co. Kitties. Many of them got the funding they needed and are poised to be rescued. Final paperwork and details still need to be worked out. Not all the kitties are going to be rescued, but a good, big number of them are. I don't like to say-"not all" but no matter how many we pull, there will always be some left behind.

I hate it and so do all the folks involved with this...there aren't enough people to do what is needed. There aren't enough foster homes...etc...we're doing our best and then some.

My little foster, Felixia, who just weighs 2.5lbs at 10 weeks, fell ill last night and was lame on her back right leg this morning. She visited with Dr. Larry a little while ago, who gave her an exam and tried to get some x-rays of her leg but she was in too much pain to allow much of that. We saw most of her leg and it looked good, just not her hip. She has a bit of a temp (104) and he suspects an abscess is brewing so she'll be on Clavamox for 10 days. Hope that does the trick or she goes back for a good look at her hip---which would require a tiny bit of sedation first.

And...super Deb found flea dirt on her so she and the two other fosters just got Advantage treatments and I just had to clean out their room and have fun with flea spray. Hope nothing is brewing in there. I never had a problem with fleas before, but it's gonna happen sooner or later so I better get used to dealing with it.

More soon, I promise and I hope to have FINAL "time to celebrate" news on some of the Henry Co. Cats. Your donations amaze and delight me to no end. You guys KICK ASS and I love you for it!

We need to raise just $345.00 to help get Huggy Mama and the Babies off death row and into my home for Fostering. I've already donated $100.00 to get the ball rolling, so now we only need $245.00!

Come on everyone! Pitch in what you can and let's get this done! Every dollar counts. I mean it. If you can afford one dollar that's fine. Just do it.

THANK YOU FOR HELPING Kat5, help me...so we can help Henry County and we can all help the kitties. That's a lot of helping!

DONATE

Left to Right: Felixia, Nova & Malibu

Fostering still goes on here at Covered in Cat Hair HQ. Last night I had a very full lap of loudly purring kittens. I managed to get a sound clip recorded on my iPhone. Came out good! I played it back for the kittens and they were all very curious about how I was pulling off such a realistic purr.

I hope you can keep my secret!

Nova helping herself to a place on the cat bed with Malibu

Malibu is settling down. I'm very proud of him. Nova is helping keep him from running off when I enter the room. If she doesn't, he doesn't. Malibu has also started snuggling with Nova more and more. I hope they get adopted together!

Looks like the kitties will be leaving soon. I need to take in a Mama and 5 kittens pretty soon so these guys will go to our main adoption bldg to wait for their forever homes. It's been nicer than I expected having big kittens here. They're all so sweet and friendly. I have no work. Just love 'em and play with them. Nice and simple.

Felixia. A tiny sweetie pie.

I wish everything was that easy.

Speaking of which-am bouncing emails back and forth with the ladies about how we can help those Henry Co kitties. We're doing our best, but are getting stuck on the 2 week foster/boarding placement we have to come up with right away.

Stay tuned.

No news. No nothing from lady in Indiana. The least she could do is say something either way. Since time is running out, I've decided to start work on getting "Hugging" Mama and her two offspring to CT to be fostered in my famous blue bathroom (where Tweetie lived for awhile).

It's not ideal, but it means life for them. It's not saving all the kitties, but it's what I can do. I'm going to be on the hook for an adult adoption and that scares me because we don't have a shelter and have little adoptions as it is, without making it harder to place an adult. I hope like heck she is super friendly or I am really gonna be in trouble.

I don't care. I have a feeling I need these cats to be here. With the kind help of Barbara from WCR and Judy from Kat 5, I hope we can pull the necessary strings to get these guys out of Henry Co. soon.

I just sent the email to Betsy, who's the contact at Henry. Hopefully I didn't say anything wrong since I've never done this before. My fosters come from families here in Newtown or the woods in the surrounding communities, not from Georgia. So...cross fingers I don't piss anyone off, say the wrong thing, step on toes, etc.

I better just apologize right now. I'm sorry universe! I'm sorry. I'm really sorry about all the other kitties. More than I can say. In my heart, I have saved them all, but the real world doesn't work like that. I have to be OK with what I can do and move on from there.

I hope to have good news about "Kate + 8" in the coming days, too.

Last call..if anyone can help with fostering or adopting out any of the Henry Co kitties, now is your time to speak up. Contact me and I will help you. You don't have to have the GA License if you work with Ms Lowe-though she is REALLY busy right now, so we must be delicate about bombarding her and I am talking to myself more than anyone else. So just drop me a line and we'll take it from there.

UPDATE: WE ARE IN DIRE NEED OF A FOSTER HOME IN GEORGIA. IF YOU KNOW ANYONE WHO CAN TAKE HUGGY MAMA & HER TWO KITTENS FOR ONLY TWO WEEKS PLEASE CONTACT ME ASAP. JUST TWO WEEKS! COME ON FOLKS! STEP UP!

Please consider making a donation to Winging Cat Rescue. They have the proper Georgia license that allows them to pull cats from at risk, death row situations at any GA shelter and they are currently part of the team helping me save some of the kitties from Henry County.

You an also make a donation to Kat5. Those ladies have transported over 2000 animals since they started in 2000! They can help us with transports and are the go-to gals to move those animals to safety.

Even if you can only donate $1 and you forward this to 10 people you know who donate $1, then it can really add up.

Most importantly, if you volunteer or run a rescue group and can take in a mama with some kittens or any combination thereof, please contact WCR and they may be able to help you with actually removing the cats from the shelters for you and can work with Kat5 to do the transport. It's not that tough. It just takes a little bit of money and a few emails or calls. The cats come to you vetted and ready to go. You just find them the homes (note: kittens will need to be spayed once they are old enough and that may be an add'l cost. Ask WCR for details).

I'm starting to learn a bit more about some of the shelters in Georgia. Not surprisingly, there's a lot going on. With severe overpopulation, not enough spay/neuters done, more and more animals are brought to the shelters to "get rid of the problem." Sadly, as you may know, most animals don't leave the shelter alive.

I think it would be worthwhile to spotlight some of these shelters and ask everyone to lend them a hand. Donate a dollar or two. It doesn't have to be much if we all pitch in together. Send them a donation of food or even better, find a way to help adopt or foster one or more of these at risk animals.

Right now there are a number of mamas and babies at Henry County Care & Control. Most of them face death if not rescued by Tuesday or Wednesday and that can change if more animals are brought in, then the ones who have been there the longest, are put to sleep...sleep? KILLED. I am not admonishing the people at Henry. I don't know their struggle and frankly I don't have the guts to work at a shelter. I have a feeling they're doing as much, and more, as they can to get the word out about these animals.

These are the families that are in dire need, text, descriptions and photos are directly from Betsy at Henry Co.:

There is some confusion about what nursing moms and kittens are at Henry and still in need. Here is a current update. As of today, Saturday 8.15.09 we have 4 families still alive and in need. To make it very clear these families will be held until Wednesday 8.19.09 for any Georgia Dept. of Ag. licensed rescue attempt. Nursing babies and mothers are not up for public adoption and will be released to rescue only.

Thursday morning depending on space the moms and kits who are ready to wean will be separated and put in the cat and kitten rooms for adoption. There is always a chance the rooms are full and these cats and kittens will be euthanized.

If you would like to rescue any of these families they must be removed from the shelter Wednesday 8.19.09 at the latest.

***PLEASE REMEMBER THIS IS A COUNTY RUN ANIMAL CONTROL FACILITY WITH NO VET ON STAFF, NO BOARDING OR TRANSPORT, ETC. YOU MUST ENLIST THE HELP OF A LOCAL RESCUE AND MAKE ALL VETTING AND TRANSPORT ARRANGEMENTS ON YOUR OWN PLEASE***

Here are photos and ID numbers of each family:

Hugging mom [gray and white] and her 2 tabby boys:
ID# 8/6-3651

(This is the family I'm hoping to get adopted out or otherwise put into foster care.)

Dilute Calico and her three girls:
ID# 8/6-3660

(I don't know anyone helping these beauties. Please get the word out on them as they need help soon!)

Kate Plus 8:

Tuxedo mom and 5 kittens of her own with 3 additional kits who came in individually and would have had to be put down.

Kate is ID# 8/3-3620

Her kittens are 3 gray and gray tabby males, 1 gray and white female and 1 black and white female. Her foster kits are one solid white teeny weeny, 1 black and white, and 1 solid black screamer. Those kittens are not sexed.
Kate has taken in these additional babies happily. We will be VERY upset to see her life end here, she is the pure expression of Motherly LOVE!

THANKS to BARB at WCR, THIS MAMA AND 8 BABIES MAY BE RESCUED. CROSSING FINGERS

Dilute Calico mom and her 2 kits ready to wean, one black and white and one orange and one tabby:
ID# 7/20-3032

Tabby is behind the two kittens and is here.

**Please Note; When forwarding, crossposting, or re-posting I ask that you leave this message intact exactly as it was written by me. I do not give permission to post my message, part of my message, or my photographs on Craig's List. Thank you for your help and support, and for respecting my wishes.**

Betsy Merchant~

Contact:

mystiblu@bellsouth.net

Henry County Animal Care and Control

527 Hampton Street

McDonough, Georgia 30253

(770) 288-PETS

http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/GA67.html

Our Hours:

Monday-Friday:  9 am-4:30 pm

Saturday:  9 am-1 pm

Sunday:  Closed

County Observed Holidays:  Closed

The shelter is located at 527 Hampton Street in McDonough. We are located south of Atlanta off I-75. Take exit 218 and head east on 20/81 toward McDonough. Our address is 527 Hwy 20/81 East.

For all other information regarding ordinances, county codes, and other functions of Henry County Animal Care and Control please visit www.hcacc.org

We always make sure that our foster cats are helpful, as well as cute.

Re-posted photo StacySays uploaded so you can see it live, instead of poking around to find it!

Welcome Aboard!

I didn't even get a chance to post anything about my new arrivals, Ernie, Nova and Felixia! They're all orange or buff tabbies of different ages and sizes. Today, Ernie, who will be named, Bernie (after Bernie Williams) was adopted by a family who already has two cats; one 18yr old who loves other cats and a 9 yr old who's not sure about that.

For the record, Ernie is a very outgoing, friendly and cute little bug. He's got extra toes and big, baseball mit paws.

We wish Ernie good luck and best wishes for a life full of happiness and love in his new home.

Makin' room for more!

UPDATE: there was a miscommunication regarding this kitten. She was put with the Dilute Calico Mama & 2 Kittens ID# 7/20-3032.

The rescue effort continues. I'm on pins and needles wondering if this potential adopter is going to become a committed adopter. To make matters more complicated (not really worse?!), the ACO at the Shelter needed a mama to help nurse a newly stray/rescued kitten, who would have starved otherwise. Mama stepped in to help out!

Photo by Henry County Care & Control

So now I need either someone to adopt all four cats or, at least someone to adopt Mama and maybe one kitten, then we can move the remaining kittens into foster care. We'll find something for them. Just don't know what yet. It feels like we just dumped the contents of a jigsaw puzzle onto the table. We have all the pieces, we just don't know how they are going to fit together. I can't use a hammer to make them fit, though I'm sorely tempted! I'm reduced to crossing my fingers and hoping for the best until I get further news

I had a chat with our Director last night. I was hoping to keep her out of this since our group is "full up" and I know that, but she was wonderful and supportive and assured me that if we needed to do the rescue, as long as I take them in to foster, that we will get them homes. No problem. I can't tell you how scary it is to put yourself out on the line like this...the mama could be FeLuk or FIV+...the babies, too...then what can of worms have I opened? BUT. If I don't stick my neck out, we know what might happen. Not an option.

Our group grows to four. What the heck. In for a dime. In for a dollar. I gotta get ready 'cause I have a potential adopter coming to meet Malibu. Hope she takes two kittens. I think I'm going to need the room for more soon.