Trust me. Go see this video. Then answer this question: Is there something WRONG with this cat or is he just really QUIRKY?

Cat "Drinking"from a Faucet

This evening, the nice family that came to visit, decided they would like to offer Huggy her dream of a forever home. Not only that, but they generously opened their home to someone else you may know...

...DASH & SNUGGLES!

YES. HUGGY & HER KITTENS ARE ALL ADOPTED AND ARE GOING TO STAY TOGETHER!

I hope, hope, hope, that because I'm telling you this news now, just after the contracts have been signed, that the adoption won't get jinxed! Huggy still has to stay with me until she completely recovers from Mastitis and the boys have to stay here until their little nuggets drop and we can get them neutered. It'll be a week or two more, but certainly by the end of the month, everyone will be in their new home-and their new family doesn't mind waiting.

I'm not normally someone who believes that things are fated to be, but in this case, I have to say, maybe I'm wrong. All the things that had to fall into place, all the people who had to offer their precious time and money to make this happen-is this a miracle?

Whatever you choose to call it, this is one of the most precious, magical and amazing experiences of my life. I am so deeply grateful and happy.

...and to think...Huggy and her boys would never have made it this far, if it wasn't for all of us. Wow. That really gets the tears rolling!

Congratulations to Huggy, Dash & Snuggles!

Last Friday, the Newtown Bee published our weekly "Available Cats" listing. It included a photo of Huggy Bear that apparently caught the eye of a fellow Newtowner. On Saturday, we received his Pre Adoption Application stating his preference was to possibly adopt Huggy Bear AND ONE of her kittens! I gave him a call to get a sense of whether or not this was a good match.

He sounded great. He has a wife and two children, 7 and 9. They understand that adult cats aren't easy to place and want to do the right thing by helping out a cat who's past her kitten prime. They also felt that since their last cat had passed away two years ago and their home currently had no cats, that they had room to adopt a second cat, which would be a kitten; it might be one of Huggy's or it might be from another litter. We have to wait and see how they feel about Dash and Snuggles, first.

Dash is the easy choice since he's more robust and slightly cuter than Snuggles, but Snuggles has a sweeter personality. Of course, my dream would be that they adopt the entire family. It makes me think of the movie, Sophie's Choice, without the completely unhappy ending. How could someone choose to separate these brothers after all they've been through?

I understand that regardless of which kitten is chosen, the other will certainly find a good home, too, but in this case, it does feel more difficult to do what's required.

Of course, I have no real say over any of this. I just have to open the door at 6pm, be friendly, hope the cats show well and hope we've got a good match.

Cat Yeller [Kat yell'er]

-noun

1. A person who believes they have a magical, possibly mystical ability to work with cat behavior and training issues, but who, in reality is frustrated, often irritated, and can even be pushed as far as not caring about cat behavior or training issues at all.

2. A cat "owner" whose only method of communicating with their cats is to YELL (raise one's voice at high volume).

3. Me.

Synonym:

Cat Whisperer

ANDIE GOT ADOPTED!!!!

Seems Andie's luck had not run out. On Saturday, at our Adoption Event, Andie met a lady and her nice family. Apparently they had also been in line, hoping to adopt Andie a month ago, but were beaten out by another family.

As fate would have it, the adoption did not work out, as you may recall. I'm not sure if we contacted the second family or if they were watching out Petfinder list and saw her name come back up. Regardless of how it happened, I do believe, though, Andie is where she was meant to be all along.

I wish you could have seen this woman, cradling Andie in her arms. Andie meowed loudly, then got lots of pets. She relaxed, smiled, purred. She didn't want to be anywhere else in the world. She finally found a place where she was going to be happy. Her new owners already have a Tortie and know about their personality quirks. They don't expect Andie to fall in love with her new buddy, who was waiting for her at her home. They were fine with however things worked out. The Mom, Dad and Daughter all were smitten.

It's been a few days since the adoption and I haven't had an update yet, but I have high hopes that this adoption is gonna stick. Way to go, Andie!

Okay so maybe they're not cute little kittens just learning the ropes and they weren't rescued from a tragic situation and they haven't, thankfully, had to face anything worse than being kicked (accidently, of course) off the bed at night (for HOGGING THE BED), but heck, aren't they CUUUUUTE? Don't you just LOVE THEM? Look at Nora's rear leg, draped oh so elegantly over her brother's big ass. It's endearing, is it not?

Nick and Nora believe in sharing. Either that or they're both stubborn and won't let the other have the entire chair to themselves.

Isn't it amazing to see how they can cram 46.25 pounds of cat into a small, vintage chair from the 1940's-made during the days when people's butts did not suffer from too-much-time-on-the-computer-spread. This also means that I can't fit my ass into it, which is why it's become a giant cat bed.

So there.

Okay, now what do I do? Huggy is home and happy and her boys are locked up in the dog crate, climbing up the sides of the cage, trying to get out. They cry, look at me with those little sad faces that beg to know why I'm being so mean to them!

So I left the room. I couldn't be in it. I wanted to hang out with Huggy and let her rest on my lap. I decided to just let her rest on her own. I came back hours later with her next round of meds. I got her to take everything by hiding them in tiny portion of "kitty crack" (e.g., Solid Gold canned tuna). I scooped the rest out onto two plates; one for her and one for the kittens to share. I lifted her carefully and unlocked the crate, letting the kittens free and locking her safely inside with her dinner. She looked up at me with those big, knowing, green eyes and went back to her food. She'd eat because the food was so tasty, but was resigned to being locked up yet again.

Dash and Snuggles raced around the room, finally free after a day in captivity. They attacked their food dish with great enthusiasm now that they can no longer get snacks from Huggy's sore mammary glands. They'll be free until the morning. Then I switch them back into the crate.

There's no winning here. Someone has to be locked up. It's either that or I have to put some of them into the bathroom and leave the other/s behind in the guest room. Then they'll each get even less time with me because I'll have to bounce between rooms and the bathroom isn't exactly full of soft, comfortable places to sit, if you get my drift.

It's only for a week...well, a week until Huggy's re-check at the Vet. Then she'll let me know if it's all right for Huggy to be reunited with her kittens and I can go back to feeling guilty about something else.

Poor Huggy. Poor Dash & Snuggles. Poor me. Boo-hoo. I know. Get over it. It's a week. Sheesh.

You tell them, that.

We got the call. Huggy Mama did well over the weekend and is stable enough to come home! We ran straight over to pick her up. One of the cute Vet techs from Mill Plain brought her out to see us! Huggy looked alert and raring to go-a far cry from the limp, weak darling we left their on Saturday morning.

Huggy has to be on lots more Baytril and Amoxy-and Dr. Larry will love this, METACAM! After all my ranting about it, I have to give it to Huggy. Just a DROP for the next few days to manage pain. I had it out with the Vet at Mill Plain, but she also assured me that she's not seen any problems with it at a low dose for a short period of time and she reminded me that if either of us was in pain, we'd want something, too.

The worst of it, no surprise, Huggy MUST be separated from her babies. No contact. We can't risk them giving her another infection and she's gotta stop producing milk! Enough already! The kittens are well past being weaned. I have the big dog crate set up and the kittens are in it now. I can hear them banging around, trying to get out. I'll give them cage time, then swap them out, then lock up Huggy. I hate it, but it's got to be done. At least they can see each other.

Huggy's only been here for a few minutes, but already she started to "burble" the second she saw the kittens. They surrounded her cat carrier, wanting to get at her. I got them locked up and let Huggy out. I put out a big dish of food and she attacked it hungrily. I'll give them all some time to settle down. It's a perfect day, light breeze, warm temps, but not too hot. Will be a great day for Mama to rest in the sunshine and continue healing. In a week she goes back for a re-check. After that, if Huggy gets a good report card, she'll be back up for adoption. Then the crossing-fingers stage begins!

Thank you to everyone who sent such encouraging "Tweets" and emails. I know they must have helped Huggy. She is so much better today. It's like I got a new cat back from the Vet!