Big News! Time to do the HAPPY DANCE!

Huggy Mama is OUT of Henry Co. and on to her temp. foster home. Instead of going to Indiana, she is coming right HERE to Covered in Cat Hair HQ for fostering until she and the babies find a forever home!

Dilute Calico Mama is OUT of Henry Co. and also on her way to a temp. boarding facility where she will be out of harm's way until she can go to her foster placement!

And this my friends, this is my great joy...this mama and her babies were going to be put down today, but at the very last minute we got a SUPER GENEROUS OFFER from one of our very own, beloved Covered in Cat Hair members, Jennifer, who is graciously opening her home to these at high risk foster babies! (Apparently, Jennifer just picked out names for them, not being able to wait for them to arrive!) This morning, Barb did her magic and I made a tearful call to Robin at Henry County to ask if these guys were still available (ALIVE) and she said YES. Once I found out, we got the balls rolling and Mama will be out TOMORROW.

And yes, I will put out ONE MORE request to bring in some funds to help cover the costs for this mama and her babies, but then I will shut up for awhile. Once we have a widget set up for their donations, I will post it and if you can help, super great. If not, then just send them your love. They need that, too!

And our spare, orphan was adopted by the woman who dropped her off a few days ago. We didn't raise funds for this little one, so no harm done and we are very happy she's off to a good home!

And believe it or not, Barb and Judy have managed to rescue even MORE cats than I have photographs of! I am SO SO HAPPY that all of you pitched in, gave up money during a friggen' recession, and sent so much love and support-well THANK YOU isn't enough, but that's what I got!

THANK YOU EVERYONE FOR YOUR HELP!

We've got MORE to rescue, so let's get to it!

Poopie thing I have to add: I hate to worry alone, so you should all remember that ALL these mamas MUST TEST NEGATIVE FOR FELINE LEUKEMIA AND FIV or ELSE I am gonna CRY and they are gonna have to be PTS. I'm sorry to rain on the parade, but we got them this far...hopefully this is just the beginning of their journey to their forever homes.

Kate + 8 have been removed from Henry Co. and are off to their next stop, where they can live for the next two weeks while they are in quarantine and before they are moved off to foster care. Please think good thoughts for the kitties as Mama has to have a "combo" test which will test her for Feline Leukemia and FIV. It could be sad news if Mama has Feline Leukemia, but for now, let us focus on one phase of this journey being accomplished.

Kate + 8 are out of the KILL SHELTER!

Thank you very much Barbara at WCR for doing all the paperwork, making the calls and finding a safe haven for all these kitties, Judy with Kat5 for finding transport and boarding and Bobby for kindly transporting the kitties OUT of Henry Co., as well as all the other folks I have not met yet, who are part of this hopeful story!

Two weeks ago, Tweetie went to visit Sockington & Pennycat and has yet to return. I've checked in on him quite a few times and each time he tells me he's enjoying himself and that Food Lady and Fatty, err...Mr. Scott are very nice to him, too.

He's not quite sure what to make of the pale lady cat. She gives off a funny vibe, so he's staying clear. Mr. Sockington seems strangely familiar and it's comforting to spend time with him now that "Socks" isn't hissing so often. It's also delightful to have lots more space where he can run. Living in the bathroom was getting boring. One can only play with the faucet and flush the toilet so many times.

There's still no final word on whether or not Tweetie will become a permanent member, and highest ranking, but shortest, Officer in the Sock Army, but seeing this video, gave me the feeling that things are, at least, going fairly well.

A frame showing Tweetie in his first Supporting Role, from the newly released Socksamillion video, celebrating Socks's One Millionth Follower on Twitter (though now he's at 1.03 mil). Go Socks! You can see the rest, HERE. Tweetie's getting so BIG!

I'm very proud of Tweetie and I'm glad I worked so hard to give him every chance to break the desire to return to his feral roots...and glad I had the backing from my Director to do so. It was a long, scary journey, but now looking back, things fell into place just perfectly-as perhaps they were meant to all along?

This is my artist's interpretation showing Tweetie with Sockington. Some day I hope they'll really sit for a portrait together. Thank you to Jason Scott for allowing me to use the photo of Socks.

Will Tweetie find his forever home with Socks & Penny? Even if he doesn't, he's had a Hell of a run; the support and love of new friends from all over the world and more than a moment in the spotlight. It's far more than most (former!) feral kittens could ever dream for, but in this little kitten's case, he hit the jackpot and I couldn't have asked for a happier ending.

I'm sure Tweetie's story will continue on through his updates on Twitter; both as a spokescat for The Animal Center and also as his sly, devilish, no-holds-barred self. It's time for me to re-focus my efforts. I have more kittens to rescue; some from death row at kill shelters in the south, some from just down the street. Wherever they come from, be assured there'll be more stories like Tweetie's, filled with challenges, heartbreak and joy. I hope you'll keep visiting, Covered in Cat Hair and join me as I continue that journey learning the ropes of being a Cat Rescuer and try to maintain my sanity living with seven (and more) cats.

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.