Robin Olson's blog

I got up at 6AM yesterday. The fear that Moonpie was sick and in the same room with the tiny kittens gave me a gut ache. So I got up and did what I really didn't want to do. I moved Moonie and Pattycake into the bathroom, the only other spare room I can keep foster cats.

Moonie and Patty are BIG four month old kittens. They have lots of energy and enthusiasm. I hated to put them in a small room, but I made sure they have lots of soft places to rest and some space to bounce off the walls-which from time to time, sounds like what they're doing.

©2010 Robin A.F. Olson. Moonpie, ever the clown, reacts to my singing!

They don't seem to mind. Moonpie's runny eye has cleared up and though he sneezes, it seems to be dry and a rare event. His appetite is great and he seems to be doing just fine. That said, I'm not moving him back to the room with the kittens any time soon. He is just too big and they are just too small.

©2010 Robin A.F. Olson. Pattycake.

Last night I sat with the two cowbabies and Patty climbed into my lap. She definitely is a serious lap cat. She didn't move, just rested her head on my leg and relaxed. Moonpie ran around and BIT my iPhone! I moved it 5 or 6 times and he would find it and bite it again. He put claw marks through the clear protective screen gel!

When he wasn't being a nutcase, he was standing on the edge of the bathtub, rubbing his head on me. He jumped down and tried to get into my lap so I picked him up and held him while Patty stayed in my lap.

©2010 Robin A.F. Olson. Moonpie, taking a time out from sharpening his claws.

Yeah, these two are friendly cats. No question. They are also a handful! I think they should be adopted together. Patty has a serene quality about her and Moonpie is a goofhead, but an affectionate goofhead.

©2010 Robin A.F. Olson. Sugar Pie (left), Yodel (rear), Cinnamon (front), Honey B. (facing away from the camera).

The tiny kittens. Well, they are just the cutest things ever. Sugar Pie has a nickname-“Mini-Spencer.” Her markings are very similar to Spencer's and it looks like she will be just as fluffy! Her top coat is sparse and very long. I wonder what she'll look like when she grows up? As if I even have to wonder!

©2010 Robin A.F. Olson. Honey B. with Cinnamon.

Honey B. isn't as outgoing as Sugar Pie, but with more handling, I know she'll come around. She purrs easily and enjoys running around the room, chasing after her sisters. She's very pretty and has very nice markings.

©2010 Robin A.F. Olson. Honey B. demonstrating Kung Fu Fighting. She's got skillz!

Cinnamon. Who wouldn't love this little “owlette?” She's sweet as can be, but far too tiny. She's skin and bones, but her appetite is great. Her siblings are far larger than she is, so I find myself very protective of her. I wonder if she has tapeworm on board-which would answer why she is so small and hungry. The de-wormers we use wouldn't kill that parasite.

Sadly, this afternoon, I went to feed the kittens and Cinnamon was a bit “off.” Her left eye was slightly closed and it appeared she was swallowing hard-maybe post nasal drip? She's not sneezing. Has no discharge. Her energy level isn't great. I gave her some L Lysine and I called the Vet. Dr. Larry is in ITALY, so we are seeing his partner, Dr. M. in the morning. Hopefully, it's nothing serious, but with a kitten this size, everything is serious.

©2010 Robin A.F. Olson. Yodel sees his reflection.

Yodel. Another sweet kitten. Yodel has a goofy face and could be a miniature version of Moonpie, but with long fur. Yodel stayed more in the background, but would let me pet her and would give me a nice purr. This morning she was more outgoing and really enjoyed playing with the cardboard scratching pad and climbing the cat tree.

There really is no problem child in this group. They are all simply marvelous and I treasure each one.

If I could only relax. I'm very worried about Cinnamon. She is too little to have health problems.

Update: Just before posting this I checked on Cinnamon. Her eyes were open, tail up, she was running around, playing. She ate well and seems to be doing better-but she is STILL going to the Vet tomorrow just in case.

I got up early to try to trap Buddy, my injured feral cat. No luck. If I could only tell him what was going on, I'm sure he'd cooperate. I keep hoping I'll see him and he'll have miraculously stopped limping, but that is not the case. I didn't even see him yesterday.

While I waited to hear the trap “clunk” shut, I packed up a small bag of cat food, dishes, cleaning supplies and water for my trip to New Jersey where I was going to rendezvous with Mark. It was fortuitous that Mark had to drive from his home in PA to NJ for work reasons, so it saved me an extra six hours of driving-for which I was very grateful. Meanwhile, Sam was still in NYC with his Mother, waiting for her paperwork to be finalized so she could be discharged from the hospital. This meant I couldn't borrow his sport wagon sized car and was stuck with my coupe. I emptied out my car and did some quick calculations. If the crates weren't too big, they'd all just fit. I had plans to take Connie with me, Bobbi's foster mom, so I had to account for her in the car, too. Maybe if we only breathed in, we'd be able to fit?

Finally around 2pm, I got the call. Time to head out to meet Mark! We'd leave in an hour. I was glad that Connie could come with me. She's very perky and can chat like there's no tomorrow. I love it! I told her I figured the time would fly if we talked on the trip. If we didn't hit so much traffic, it would have been a breeze. It wasn't terrible, but I sure was in a hurry to get to those kittens.

I was nursing a headache and was very tired from not getting much sleep these past few weeks. I decided to have some iced tea and some water, thinking I was dehydrated. It was a good idea until I got on the road.

My headache faded, but my bladder was getting full. I stopped at a rest area about an hour into our two hour drive. The line was so LONG at the Ladies Room, I gave up and went back to the car. I figured I could do my “thing” at the hotel.

My phone rang at about 5:03pm. It was Mark. He said he was just about to pull into the hotel parking lot. We were about a minute away, ourselves. Connie and I both thought that our timing could not have been better and that surely this was a sign that we were doing the right thing (as if we needed a sign!).

I pulled into the lot and Connie offered to wait for Mark, while I went in search of a bathroom. I briskly walked into the hotel, trying to blend in, so they wouldn't notice that I wasn't a guest. The place was a tomb. Silent. Empty. Great! I found a directory and quickly walked to the bathroom, my bladder throbbing with anticipation.

I saw the sign for the bathroom, the door was open and there were bands of wide yellow tape across the door with “Do Not Enter Cleaning in Progress” printed on it. I stopped cold in my tracks. I looked into the bathroom. A man was wiping off a sink. He turned and looked at me, then went back to slowly cleaning the sink. I whimpered, but he ignored me. I went back to the directory. No sign of a second bathroom that wasn't in a guest room. I was doomed!

So I went back to the car and waited for Mark to arrive.

©2010 Robin A.F. Olson. At last! Our first glimpse of Bobbi.

I'd planned to take a lot of photos as Mark pulled up, detailing every second of unloading the car and loading mine up, but it was hot and humid. The cats had already been in the car for over 3 hours and would have another 2 in the car with me and Connie. For their sake I just wanted to load and go.

©2010 Robin A.F. Olson. Moonpie and Pattycake.

I said Hello to the kitties and took a quick look at them. Moonpie's eye had a big green mucus goop on it. Oh great! This is just great. We had to transfer the four smallest kittens into my carrier. I wanted to do it inside the car, but Mark insisted that the kittens were too small to run off. I was reluctant, but we did the transfer quickly, from one crate to another, across the parking lot. Once I saw how TINY the kittens were, I realized he was right.

©2010 Robin A.F. Olson. Bobbi's ready to rock.

We got everyone settled. Connie insisted on holding Bobbi on her lap all the way home, so there was more than enough room for the other carriers to fit on the back seat. Bobbi cried and fussed so Connie opened the top of her carrier and she popped right out and took a look around. Connie started to coo and marvel about Bobbi, petting her and scratching her. Bobbi sat down as she was being scratched and started to jerk her back leg, as Connie found the good itchy spots around Bobbi's neck. Connie was saying how she'd love to keep Bobbi, so I yelled at her (okay, strongly reminded) that “if she keeps Bobbi then she can't foster more cats.” Connie reluctantly agreed, but we'll see if she can stop from adopting Bobbi after the week is over.

As I raced us back to CT, we'd hear an occasional sneeze from the back seat. I really started to stress out and had a nice flashback of last December when I picked up 9 kittens, some deathly ill, off a transport-followed by 4 MONTHS of sick cats. Connie and I tried to brush it off-the climate was different here than Georgia. The allergens were different. Moonpie's sneezes were just allergies or even if he was sick, it was probably not bad and would be better with some rest.

I knew all the cats had been exposed to each other so it was too late. We'd just have to wait and see how it goes. I didn't want to pit stop for my poor bladder. Those cats needed to be out of the car, quick, so I focused on getting us home.

©2010 Robin A.F. Olson. Yodel just out of the cat carrier.

We arrived just before 7:30pm. I dropped Connie and Bobbie off. I almost shoved them out of the car. I was beginning to worry that the kittens really needed to get some food as soon as possible and wanted to be on my way. I think Connie was anxious to have some snuggle time with Bobbi, so she was out the door and moments later I was home since we only live about 1 1/2 miles apart.

©2010 Robin A.F. Olson. Cinnamon enjoys dinner.

I got home. Sam was there, after his adventure caring for his Mother, so he helped me load the kitties into the foster room. I had a big dog crate set up for Moonpie and Pattycake. I thought that it would force them to rest and maybe keep the sneezes to their area, not all over the room. Silly me.

I let the kittens out and as they explored their new home, I quickly opened up a few cans of cat food. I put the plates down on the floor and without hesitation ALL six cats were eating hungrily and enjoying sips of water.

©2010 Robin A.F. Olson. Cin is TINY! What a goofy little cutie. She's a sweetie, too.

I started to relax. Eating is a good sign. Little Yodel's back legs were a bit wobbly, which gave me some concern. I figured he was sitting a lot in transport, plus his blood sugar was probably down. In time he should be fine.

I ended up putting down extra food because the kitties were so hungry. I was glad to see them eat so well and hoped that trend would continue.

©2010 Robin A.F. Olson. Sugar Pie. Ryan and I call her “Mini-Spencer.” I'm already madly in love with her. Uh oh! She's a real love-muffin.

Then I remembered I needed to do something for myself, so I welcomed the kitties to Connecticut and left the them to their kitten food. At last, we were all getting what we needed.

©2010 Robin A.F. Olson. Yodel is sweet ,too and what a goofy face!

I didn't want to do to much with the cats last night, so I had a few short visits. Ryan came over and met them-he approved-and I gave each kitten some loving and pets before leaving them to rest up.

So far, so good. They made it here-all of them. Now I wait and see how this will play out. My very first Kitten Associates fosters! I hope to, one day, remember them as my first, not the first batch of sick cats that broke the bank!

I'm pleased to announce that Izzy & Mark have picked up our fosters, along with the new cat they just adopted and a few other cats they're transporting to VA. The car is loaded down with cats. I wonder how noisy it is in the car right now or if everyone is too scared to meow? I really hope they don't have a car load full of cats that explode with pee or poop from motion sickness, as two of my cats do! Eek! Remind me not to volunteer to transport lots of cats.

Today is the start of another phase of their lives, as they progress towards that ultimate goal of finding a forever family. What's kind of fun to imagine is that those families already exist. They may be talking about how they want to adopt a cat. Maybe they've been looking and hadn't seen one they liked? One day we'll meet and it will be kismet. They'll fall in love with one of the kittens and that will be it. Will Bobbi go to a home with little kids? Will the kittens be able to stay in pairs or be adopted singly? Who will be adopted first?

©2010 Maria S. What a big change a few weeks of good food can do! Bobbi looks GREAT!

Time will surely tell. For now I'm going to get some things done around the house and get some rest. It's about to get busy around here very soon.

©2010 Maria S. Mark loads the car. I hope they have enough room for all those cats!

Sam's mother is still in the hospital in NYC, but looking well. She may be discharged fairly soon, then after she gets settled, Sam can come home.

©2010 Maria S. Maria with her beloved, Cin.

Lion King is still missing. Connie had a commitment today and won't be back until late. I'm going to go over and look for him. Maybe I'll have luck again?

I finally saw Buddy. He IS definitely in trouble. He's limping, but I could not see any obvious break or injury. He can put some weight on the leg if he has to do it, but otherwise he keeps the limb up in the air. When I went out the front door to offer him some treats he ran off. He can still move quickly and that's a good sign. Of course the second he started to move, I stopped and went back into the house. The last thing I need to do is scare him into the road. It's a tough life for a feral. I hope we can get him the help he needs very soon.

©2010 Maria S. Moonpie? Yodel? I better get this figured out! Bye bye, Maria! Hello, Robin!

Spencer...oh dear. That will have to be a separate blog post. Let's just say that too much is a bad thing. Poor Spencer. His chin is an erupted bloody mess. It's a good thing I took him to see Dr. Larry today-before Dr Larry goes to Italy for two weeks! Did he ask me if he could go? Doesn't he know something bad always happens to my cats when he's gone? What nerve! Going on a vacation!

Wait...what is this...vay-cay-shun thing, anyway?

Quarantine is over (even had an extra week). Little Cinnamon got her Health Certificate today! She's safe to travel with Izzy and Mark and the gang! I'm so excited, of course, nervous, too. It's been a very long time since I've had fosters and my first time finding homes for them on my own.

It was touch and go on whether Cin could make the transport. There was also concern that Pattycake was shy a kidney, which would effect her ability to be adopted. Happily for her, Pattycake got a CLEAN BILL OF HEALTH after her ultrasound. She has two normal sized kidneys and her bladder is fine-everything looks good.

These were the last two hurdles. I wasn't sure we would make it, but we did. Now we just have to wait. Tomorrow morning, Izzy & Mark will pick up the gang, then make their way back north. I'm VERY glad the weather here is cool and dry. It will certainly make the traveling easier once they get out of the South.

©2010 Maria S. Cinnamon waits for her Vet appointment.

Of course my next concern is if the kitties will stay healthy once they arrive. Please no URIs! I've asked before. I will ask again! Since Izzy and Mark are super cat people, I know they'll be keeping a close eye on the cats. It's like playing a game of “hot potato.” Move the cats as fast and safely as possible before they get sick, then get them into a nice quiet room to rest and recover.

©2010 Maria S.----Honey B. No, they don't get any cuter than this!

It wasn't all smooth sailing. There was some troubling news today, too. I got a call this afternoon from Sam's daughter, who lives in NYC. She got a message from Medic Alert that Sam's Mother had put in a call for help. I can't go into specifics, but she is in the hospital now. Sam and his daughter are with her. I stayed behind to take care of our cats since we don't know how long she'll be in the hospital. We hope that after all the tests are done, his Mama can go home. If not, Sam will stay there until we can work things out. I'm trying not to think about the arriving cats, during such a stressful time, but I still have to finish preparing for their arrival.

Also, on top of barely any sleep for either of us, we were up at 6AM trying to trap one of our feral cats-Buddy. Buddy has been around for years, but lately he's been seen limping. We're very concerned for his safety and need to get him trapped and to the Vet. Of course he's a smart cat, so we didn't trap him today. Now we have to wait to try again on Monday.

©2010 Maria S.----Yodel. Yes, they CAN get any cuter!

Our dear friend and new foster, Connie, may have lost her kitty: Lion King. He looks a lot like my boy, Bob. Lion King has to be an outdoor cat, even though Connie wishes she could lock him down inside. I just met him two days ago. Connie hasn't seen him in over a day and it's not like him to be absent. I hope my good luck finding cats hasn't turned into making cats get lost!

I'm still struggling with an outbreak of Feline Acne. Nora and Nicky are eh, okay, but Spencer is getting worse even though I've been treating him every day. I'm going to run him to visit Dr. Larry and Super Deb tomorrow. He will be an unhappy cat, but I gotta get him some help. I know he must be uncomfortable.

There's lots to do to get the kittens adopted, too. I got my Petfinder account approved, which is a huge milestone for me. I know you can look for coincidences anywhere if you try hard enough, but I have to admit that my shelter code is also my birthday. It feels like a cosmic sign of good luck some how! Every shelter gets a state code and a number. Mine is CT 431. My birthday is 4/3 ___1 Hee hee! The page has to be filled out and I have to get my web site up and running so I can have adoption forms available and it all has to happen quickly! Even though many of the kittens are too small to be adopted, I want to post them on PF so I can begin screening potential adopters.

©2010 Maria S.---Sugar Pie. Too much cute to look at!

In some ways, this is the calm before the storm. If all I have to do is find homes and keep the kittens socialized and fed, I'm golden.

©2010 Maria S.----Cinnamon and Moonpie get ready to go on their big trip.

Of course things never go as planned. I'm just wondering what I'll think when I look back on these first days. For now, I'll try to be positive. Sam's Mother will be all right (knock wood), we will trap Buddy and get him to the Vet (knocking again), the kittens and Bobbi will arrive safely and in good health and stay that way (knock, knock, knock), poor Connie will find her dear cat, Lion King! (super knock wood) and Spencer will get some medicine for his hard-to-get-rid-of feline acne (kkkkknock!).

And oh yeah, I need a cookie. Maybe one with vodka flavored chocolate chips.

A few weeks ago, I put into motion the rescue of my first group of cats under the Kitten Associates banner. They're comfortably housed with Maria, who lives in McDonough, the same town where Henry County Care & Control can be found which is where the kitties were rescued from. On Saturday, the cats are scheduled to be transported to CT by our dear CiCH friend, Izzy and her husband, Mark-who are going to GA to pick up their newest kitty and who offered to chauffeur a few kitties for me while they're at it! I think they will now have a zillion cats or 18, something like that! These guys have super HUGE hearts!

Maria has been one of the most important parts of this rescue. She stepped up, out of the blue, to take on these cats as fosters. It's been a lot of work for her, but she was always ready to take on one more foster if she could figure out how to fit them into her home. She's also been terrifically responsive to all my annoying questions. Monitoring the health of little kittens from over 1000 miles away is no picnic and I depend on Maria to provide me with a lot of information and be willing to go with the flow, as we have to figure out ways to react to this ever-chaning situation.

Pattycake and Moonpie are BIG. They're at 4 months old. Since getting them S/N in CT is going to be a long way off-it's very tough to find a Vet to do the job without a long wait list-so I opted to have them taken care of while in Georgia. As you may recall, Patty had a difficult spay. Her ovaries did not connect to her uterus. The Vet who did the surgery, also was concerned that Patty may have only ONE KIDNEY. She was not able to see both, but to be sure, she felt that Patty should get an ultrasound.

©2010 Maria S.-Pattycake.

I talked to Dr. Larry about doing the ultrasound here, but he warned me that it costs about $350 and he wanted to be sure the test was necessary before we set up an appointment. Maria, called one of the local vets. They have the equipment on site and can do the ultrasound for about $65!! Needless to say, Patty is having the ultrasound done today. Whew. I didn't want to do another fundraiser!

The next question mark is Bobbi. She got her Health Certificate on Tuesday, which surprised me. The Vet who checked her did not feel she had ringworm, but a dermatitis caused by the flea infestation she had. I've been on pins and needles, not knowing if Bobbi could be transported. She'd have to stay behind for a MONTH if her ringworm culture was positive. I talked with the Vet today. The culture is NEGATIVE so far. I have to check it again today. It looks good that Bobbi is safe to travel. Now, someone MUST have a broken scale because they also said that Bobbi has GAINED TWO POUNDS in barely a week!! NO WAY!

©2010 Maria S. Bobbi relaxing.

Then there's Cinnamon. The smallest of her litter. She doesn't even weigh one pound, while her siblings are a quarter of a pound, or more, bigger than she. At her dainty size, the Vet felt she was too small to safely be transported. That was on Tuesday. Today, Cinnamon goes to the Vet for a re-check. I'm not sure they understand that this transport is being done by cat lovers who know their cats and that they will have Nutrical with them, as well as food and water and that they will know to watch her carefully. Hopefully, she will be a pound tomorrow, so she can travel with her family. If she can't go, I'm not sure what I will do. Maria can continue to foster her (it helps that Cinnamon is Maria's favorite!), for awhile longer, but I have no idea how to get her up to CT if not this weekend. I'm trying not to pull my hair out, but sleep has been tough to come by, that's for sure.

©2010 Maria S. Cinnamon (left). Sugar Pie (right).

And with all this going on, I got an email from Izzy. Out of respect for her privacy, let's just say the trip was possibly going to be delayed for a VERY good reason. She and Mark were able to work things out, but it was all touch and go for a few days. In fact, they've already left for Georgia! They just don't know which cats they'll be taking from my group!

©2010 Maria S. Nap time with Sugar Pie and Honey B.

As Izzy and Mark drive south, I dream of the kitties coming north. Connie, who is going to foster Bobbi after she arrives, may drive to New Jersey with me on Sunday to pick up the kitties. She was just going to foster for a night, then bring Bobbi to Animals in Distress, but now has decided (with my suggestion) that a week in a quiet home would be better for her before she is moved again (or longer because Connie is so excited to have Bobbi live with her!).

I hope they can ALL make it. I have fears that we will leave one behind. I'll do what has to be done for the safety of the cats, but it will be with a heavy heart.

After all this work, it would really stink to have them miss the transport.

Mark your calendars. Sunday afternoon or early evening I'll be on my way to pick up the kitties. Then the fun really begins! If you pray, then please pray NONE of the cats break with URIs!!! I have PTSD flashbacks of “Santa's Team” ringing through my head. Please...not another 4 months of sick cats...and no dying cats, either! I ask a lot, but I'm only asking for their sake (75%) and mine (25%).

Stay tuned...

Last year I fostered four kittens. One of them was fractious. He bit the Director, then when I got him he ended up biting me, twice. I wrote about this kitten's journey, being in foster care and the tug of war over whether or not I would be able to socialize him before he was neutered, ear-tipped and released to the woods. While his brother and sisters played, I got into an argument with the Director about this cat's future. While I won the battle, I lost the war. We never truly got along after that. For this one cat, named Tweetie, I took a big chance. I was either going to be stuck with him forever as an unadoptable cat or I was going to have to find a way to reach his heart and help him learn that humans are ok.

©2009 Robin A.F. Olson. Arrival day. Tweetie (top left), Angel (center), Twitter (right), Fluffy (front left).

I wrote about this crazy journey in “The Tweetie Chronicles.” Little did I know that this little cat would make such a huge impact on my life. As I was working with him and he began to trust me. One day I noticed he looked just like “The Internet's Most Famous Cat, Sockington!” and decided to Tweet about it. If you read the Chronicles, you'll see in detail how Socks' Fans, “Socks Army” rallied around Tweetie and urged Sockington to do the right thing and acknowledge that Tweetie was his secret son. It was all fun and games, until I was contacted by Socks' Mom, “Food Lady” and his dad, “Fatty,” who I call, Mr. Scott.

©2009 Robin A.F. Olson. Tweetie while still in “Feral Rehab,” but bearing a shocking resemblance to Sockington.

Food Lady came to visit Tweetie. Her tender heart urged her to help. Since her other cats, PennyCat and Sockington were also rescued from dire situations, it just felt right to help another cat in need. The visit went better than I could have dreamed. Tweetie went right up to Food Lady and sat on her lap, purring. He looked up at her and perhaps, in that moment, his future was locked into place.

A few days later, Sam and I drove Tweetie to Boston for a “trial” adoption. That was ONE YEAR ago TODAY.

Tweetie's trial is long over. He's now a cherished member of the family. A few days ago I got an email from Food Lady, updating me on how Tweetie's been doing. Here's some of what she had to say:

©2010 Food Lady. Tweetie (right), plots his next bum attack on Sockington (left).

“He's still a real snugglebug. He tends to follow me around the house (although having said that, I'm not sure where he is at the moment). He can't jump as well or as elegantly as Socks (those long legs, you know) so Socks will hop atop the bookcase or dresser, causing Tweetie to get very vocally upset. :)

©2010 Food Lady. “His newest discovery is that he can be *under* the blanket as well as on top of it. So he'll quite often root around until he can get his head under the blanket. So one of the shots is of that. In one of them, he's got half a shakymouse toy in his mouth. He adores boxes of all kinds - I think they remind him of the crate at your house.”

He's got a thing for brushes - I now have to hide away my makeup brushes and the big poofy wool duster, because he runs off with them in his mouth. :)”

Food Lady also told me that Tweetie eats everyone's food so he has to be fed in a separate room! Oops! He also likes to sneak up on Socks and bite him in the bum! Tweetie and Socks are quite close, even if Tweetie is a pain in the butt-literally.

©2010 Food Lady. Tweetie with Baron Von Shakeymouse

What lies ahead for our former foster? We really don't know anything more than Tweetie has grown up into a big, sweet, playful kitty. Will he ever be as famous as his dad? Probably not. Does it matter? Not to him, surely.

So without further adieu, put on your party hat and get out the nose makers! Not only can we celebrate the adoption of a cat who beat the odds, but we can take delight in the fact that Tweetie's life in the glow of the nearby limelight suits him just fine.

In fact, it was meant to be.

©2010 Food Lady (goofy type by Robin).

©2010Food Lady. Tweetie all grown up. The spitting image of his Pop, Socks.

Another chapter in the Tweetie Chronicles draws to a close. Along with the big smile on my face and the proud feeling I have about Tweetie's success, I'm enjoying the new nickname “Tweetie” gave me in honor of this special day. You may now call me, “Nice Robin Lady.”

Tomorrow, August 5th, is a VERY SPECIAL DAY here at CiCH HQ. It's almost time to celebrate! We have news about one of our most cherished fosters, along with special photos of him.

Here's a teaser. Can you guess who it is?

Can you guess what tomorrow celebrates?

What are you planning on wearing?

©2010 Photo by Maria S. used with permission. Calico Mama, ID# 6/25-2567

Calico Mama, ID# 6/25-2567, with her sweet personality and affectionate nature, got under the skin of the Kennel Master at Henry County Care & Control. As other cats were euthanized, “Mama” was spared, but Robin, the Kennel Master, knew she could not give her much more time.

Barely two weeks ago, Mama was pulled from Henry County, along with her two offspring, who we call Moonpie and Pattycake. Instead of her kittens being adopted first, it was Mama who got the attention from Marian, a historian and author who lives in South Carolina. Within hours of her rescue, Mama was already adopted!

©2010 Photo by Maria S. used with permission. Calico Mama and Pattycake share some mother/daughter time.

Now that Mama has finished her quarantine period and gotten spayed, it's time for her to go to her new home and meet her new family.

©2010 Photo by Maria S. used with permission. Moonpie wrassles with Mama.

Although separating her from her offspring might seem to be a sad thing, from the many mamas and kittens I've fostered, I can tell you the Mamas are usually glad to be away from their kittens. Cupid used to go on a rampage and beat up little Blitzen every so often. Once in awhile the kittens would try to nurse after their teeth had come in. Can you imagine how that must have hurt? Saying goodbye is never easy, but Mama will not want for companionship, whether it be human or animal and will only know a loving home from now on.

©2010 Photo by Maria S. used with permission. Moonpie plays peek-a-boo.

In other news, Moonpie and Pattycake had their spay/neuter done today. Sadly, it wasn't easy going for Pattycake. I'll let you know more tomorrow. There was an unexpected complication during her surgery and although she got through it all right, she will be very sore for a few days. We may need to do some tests on her when she arrives in CT this weekend, but that remains to be seen. At least these two kittens are one step closer to their forever home.

©2010 Photo by Maria S. used with permission. Tail toy.

Now all I have to do is GET THEM HERE and hope they don't break with URIs once they arrive. Okay, I need to get on Petfinder, too and I need to get my web site up for Kitten Associates and I need to get some adoption forms put together. No problem!

No wonder I'm not getting much sleep and am so tired!

©2010 Photo by Maria S. used with permission. Calico Mama, relaxes before leaving for her new home in South Carolina.

Farewell, Calico Mama and Congratulations! You're our very FIRST completed rescue under the Kitten Associates banner! Hooray!

I have NO idea how I got enough votes in the Best Cause Related Blog category since I didn't vote for myself, nor did I ask anyone to vote for me in this category! So it brings a question to mind...who is out there who believes so much in what I do that they would put me alongside other folks who focus on a Cause?

What's even more curious to me...you guys are right! I'm glad you know me better than I know myself. Heck, YEAH, I'm all about the CAUSE. This isn't a blog just about my cats or fun cat products or the latest cat news, though I DO include those things here on Covered in Cat Hair. Where my heart has led me, is to reaching out and helping as many cats as I can, regardless of where they are located or how old or young they might be.

When I started this blog over four years ago, it was supposed to be a vehicle for my book project, entitled: Covered in Cat Hair: Mostly True Stories of a Life Spent with Cats. I imagined an Editor at a major publishing house would “discover” me and offer me a book contract since I have lots of great stories written. I'd sit in my office, surrounded by annoying cats and write, write, write, then look forward to going to the local bookstore to see the finished product on the shelf.

Yet here I sit, surrounded by annoying cats, writing, not published, other than a few little things here and there, but making connections to many people across the Country, who, like me, want to make a difference in saving cats (and dogs!) lives, but maybe aren't so perfect at how they go about it. They just want to do something, anything, but more than donating to a charity, then not seeing the results of that donation. They are willing to take a risk, get their hands dirty, be willing to not know the outcome will be a happy ending, but do it anyway.

Slowly, but surely, you all have found me, as I have found you. Many of us have worked together creating some amazing rescues-whether it was with our $5 donation or by offering to foster cats for weeks at a time. Whatever you did, you were wiling to dive in and trust that we could do it-then all of a sudden we DID. We DID IT and we keep doing it.

For every life we save, we can turn to each other and say “THANK YOU for taking part in this wonderful and bittersweet challenge to save every cat and kitten we can and rejoice in the human bond we are making with each other.”

So, whoever voted for my Blog, in a category I did not expect, I thank you most sincerely for seeing in me, what I did not see in myself and for encouraging my efforts and making them seem so very worthwhile at the moment I'm about to embark on a bigger journey and form my own Non-Profit Organization!

You guys are the BEST! Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!

We're doing the Happy Dance here at CiCH HQ!

I'm pleased to announce that we've been Nominated for a Pettie 2010 Award for Best Cause Related Blog! Thank you to EVERYONE who voted for us!

If you like what we're doing and believe in helping all animals find safe harbor, loving homes and be freed from Kill Shelters, then please vote for us!

As many of you know, we're about to embark on a big, new program that will be part of our new non-profit rescue organization called Kitten Associates. We're going to be able to not only rescue some kittens-as many as our foster network allows and we can afford, but we're also going to be helping the small shelters and rescue groups, who can't afford to build a website or don't have the savvy to benefit from using online marketing. How we help, will be announced soon, but it's going to be great and will allow us to impact the lives of SO MANY dogs and cats in need. We're really excited about our plans and can't wait to share them with you in detail.

In the meantime,

please visit HERE to vote for us!

Also, two of our good friends, Ingrid King of The Conscious Cat and Janiss Garza of Sparkle the Designer Cat were nominated for Best Cat Blog. I can't say which one to vote for because they are both terrific, but vote for one of those two!

Voting ends on August 20th, so vote soon! Thank you!