One I Hold in High Regard

Twelve days ago I did a shout out about a sweet, gorgeous dilute kitty in South Carolina who was abandoned in the rain and found living under a car. Her coat, in tatters, her spirit weak, her resolve to go on-strong!

There were a lot of just plain WEIRD things going on with her health and her future. She was supposed to come to Connecticut to find a new home, but when things with her rescue group fell flat (due to the rude folks at said "rescue" group), we thought this kitty's chances of a happy future were slim.

Our dear friend, Jenna, who I've gotten my latest six fosters from, kicked butt trying to find the dilute some help. She found the kitty a foster home that only had one cat, as opposed to SEVENTY, which was how many cats were at the last foster she stayed with. Jenna asked me to step in and try to help, because the poor cat wasn't able to stay with her foster family for long.

As fate, and it must be fate, would have it, someone on Twitter, saw my Tweet and responded, wondering where in South Carolina this cute kitty lived. Turns out she lived in Greenville. Turns out our new Twitter-friend, Brian lives there, too. (Brian is the King-Cat of Terry Frum. Apparently Brain loves to Tweet! I just can't figure out how this kitty types! ) Anyway, Brian must have had some words with Terry about helping out this poor kitty and Terry could not refuse his cat's orders!

Photo by Terry Frum

Turns out...today, Dolly, the dilute, met her NEW DAD, Terry and her four new anipals! Are we BEYOND THRILLED?

I would say; You bet your ass!! Do I love the power of social networks. You BET I DO! I'm starting to wonder if I'm a "cat yenta"-a matchmaker who puts homeless cats and adopters together. Regardless of what you call it, I'm just so happy to be part of this story and SO SO HAPPY FOR DOLLY!

I hope Dolly will get along well with all of Terry's other kitties and that the transition goes smoothly. I wish them all the best and lots of happiness!

If you want to check out Terry and his crazy cat life, featuring Brian, Sister Sascha, Sister Gracie & Sister Zoe and more about Dolly, you can visit them here.

I'd rather feel horrible that I posted something based on a serious communication error, than feel horrible because some animals died. Last week I reported on a mama and her babies getting euthanized at Henry County. Some cats DID get put down, but I'm trying to find out which one's Betsy's e-mail to me was regarding.

I just learned from my friend, Barbara at WCR, is that the Mama and her babies seen below ARE ALIVE AND WELL at a clinic in Norcross, GA.

I am VERY SORRY for the tears I've caused, though I must add, that some kitties DID die, so to say the tears were wasted, would be wrong. I will ramp up my efforts to double check future announcements so this does not happened again.

My apologies to all...and if you're interested in ADOPTING some cute kitties, let me know!

The transport left, stuffed full of dogs and our two little kittens. The dilute kitty was also supposed to be on the transport, but was held back. The "rescue" group I complained about here in CT behaved completely unprofessionally and, seemingly irrationally.

I don't have both sides of this story, but from what I've heard from the person I deal with, her dealings with them are so nasty, I don't want to get involved. Apparently, the "rescue" group claims our Jenna contacted them too often-was "harrassing" them, which I find unbelievable. Perhaps they were contacted too often because they did NOT return emails or phone calls to confirm they WERE going to be taking the dilute off the transport and into foster care. They demanded to speak only to the OWNER of the transport company-so they were given the info. They did not want to get pick up info from Jenna. Fine, be flakey. They never called the transport company to confirm. They did nothing.

The only time they actually said anything was to bitch at Jenna on Friday, once she contacted them, again, to say the cat was NOT on the transport since she never heard from them. They let loose on her and said she was "unprofessional" and "didn't know anything" about running a rescue. Well, Jenna is responsible for saving hundreds of dogs lives. She has been great to work with and I've gotten six kittens from her. She knows what she's doing and bends over backwards to help. I think this is a simple case of the "pot calling the kettle black." I'm really irritated at these people for their nasty behavior. They played games about whether or not they would pay for the transport-about $75. Jenna ended up having to pay out of her own pocket, as I did for my guys transports. They did nothing but complain and demand and accuse. This is not my idea of a group I'd want to deal with.

As fate would have it, my last post about the dilute did not go unnoticed. A "re-tweet" of this article fell into the hands of someone who doesn't know me or my website. This person, a big time cat lover, who already has four cats, contacted me and asked where the dilute was. I said; "Greenville, SC." They said..."hey! We live in Greenville, SC, too!"

They really liked the dilute, but could they give her a home? Well, nothing is for certain just yet. The dilute is with a foster mom, an angry tom cat and a dog. She's hanging in there. I'm told she is super sweet! Will these wonderful folks adopt our baby? I dunno! It remains to be seen, though I can't help but wonder if this was all "meant to be?"

Every good cat rescue must begin with a hearty breakfast! This morning we met at O'Rourke's at...cough...8:30AM (which meant leaving the house at 7:30AM) to enjoy their amazing concoctions! I had "Oscar Benedict," with steamed shrimp, black bread, poached eggs, provalone and hollandaise. Mmmmm!

After breakfast, we put the pedal to the metal to get to the drop off location of the transport. The arrival of the "Berry Babies" (Blackberry & Blueberry) was quite surprising! Instead of a van, pulling up to the Park & Ride, we were met with the sight of a huge trailer, already set up before we got there, not only with us in attendance, but about 50 other people! What were they all doing here? Adopting DOGS from the South!

And where were we on this line? AT THE END! Yes, the only people who wanted cats were at the end. Fitting, I suppose.

What I didn't figure on was how wonderful it was to be at the end of the line! As we waited, every few seconds, we'd hear a number of people gasp, clap, "ooh and ahh" as the puppies and adult dogs were brought out to meet their new owners-who had adopted these dogs never having met them before!

Some of the dogs were scared. They came out of the van looking a bit limp, with their tails tucked underneath them. Then, then new owners came up to get their new family member and within a few minutes, the dogs were wagging their tails, jumping up and down, giving kisses-all with the relief that their journey from the Kill shelters down south was over. They were saved! Today was the first day of their life with their new family begins. We got to witness this transition over and over again. I wished the line was longer!

Within a flash, it was our turn. They asked me which dog I wanted and I replied; I'm the one here for the only cats you've got! For which I was told that some times there are up to four whole cats on the transport! Wow...yeah...compared to a buttload of dogs!

A moment passed, then out comes the carrier with the tiny kittens on board. I welcomed them to Connecticut and took a peak inside their cage. They are so small, sweet, a bit dirty from stray food in their fur, but alive and well. I can't imagine how scary it was for them to be with so many barking dogs, even if they were up by the front of the transport. I faced their carrier at Jennifer and Sam so they could see the new arrivals and share the warm glow of knowing we saved another two lives!

It was a very brisk morning, around 38°F, so we rushed the kittens to Jennifer's car after a few minutes of playing "where is the paperwork" with the folks from the transport (they gave it to someone else, who figured it out before they left the parking lot, thank goodness!).

I sat in the back seat and removed Blackberry from the carrier. I could feel his ribs. He was perky alert and very curious as to what the heck was going on. I got some quick photos of him, handed him to Jennifer to make their "hellos" then put him back and did the same thing with Blueberry.

We didn't spend a lot of time together. I wanted the kittens to get to their new foster home so they could get cleaned up, fed and have some quiet time to relax. Tomorrow they're going to have some company! A little girl is doing community service for her school and she and her mom are going to visit the kittens and help start socializing them. This is a crucial age and the sooner we start, the better.

All in all, it was a nice morning (other than having a fight with Sam on the way home, because I was rude when we got to the Park & Ride and after driving around the lot for longer than I could take it, I finally blurted out "park already!" because I was so anxious to get out of the car, oops) and a joy to see so many families adopting dogs.

Maybe next time we can load them up with cats?

Maybe next time, I should drive?

This email just arrived...

Dear Robin,

The CWA Membership Committee has approved your application for Professional membership. Congratulations, and welcome!

I'm SO EXCITED and DELIGHTED! This means I'm going to have to use spellcheck, think before I write and possibly attempt to...I don't know. I'm too excited to think! I get a membership number and I get to go to the annual conference in November, being held right here in White Plains, New York (the only town in the USA where I always get LOST) (so NO FLYING! Weeeee!). PLUS, I get to attend a dinner, presentation-thing (see? I'm doing better with my writing already!) that Dr. Kevin "Hottie Pants" Fitzgerald (from Emergency Vets and E-Vet Interns on Animal Planet) will be hosting! I'm drooling already!

Yikes! I just did some "research" to get a link for Dr. Cutie when I noticed the poor guy had a STALKER! One who BOUGHT HIM A COFFIN!!! How does she know what size he would take? Do coffins come in sizes? Why buy a coffin? They are so expensive. Cremation is better for the environment, isn't it? You know, I can think of better first gifts to give a cute Vet than a coffin. I know no relationship lasts forever and maybe she was just being prepared for that sad day in the future...but... Wait..what am I saying? I mean that I can't write about Dr. Muffin because I don't want to upset him should he read this. I would never stalk him (or anyone unless they were a fluffy tux cat), but it IS ok to drool a tiny bit when I see him in person? That's okay, right? Yikes.

Once again I completely lost my train of thought all because of some guy! Sheesh! So yes, I'm a Professional Member in good standing of the Cat Writers' Association.

"They LIKE ME! They really LIKE ME!"

Later that same day: Okay, the President of CWA saw my post. Am I mortified? Umm...hee hee...embarrassed, yes! Glad she took it in stride and laughed instead of called the cops on me! She said Dr. Fitzgerald IS really cute in person, too. Whew. Thank goodness it's not all smoke a mirrors. I DO know how to retouch photos in photoshop, so I know what kind of magic can be done! Oh, here's Dr. Cutie. I don't know who shot this photo to give them credit, but you know who you are.

Look at how cute he is! And he's holding...or...wait...is he CHOKING a tiny, helpless kitten?!!! Someone SAVE the KITTEN!!!

The transport was delayed and got in at 1am! Needless to say, we were all a bit bleary from the long day. Chrissy pulled her transport van into the lot, we jumped out of the car with carriers in hand. Chrissy thought she only needed one carrier. Good, I thought. They are still small. I was worried about them being HUGE, after all this rescue started well over a month ago. Sure enough, there were two crates left, all the others were empty. The kittens were meowing hysterically, ready to end their confinement and get some FOOD on board. Chrissy grabbed one out of the carrier while the door to the transport was open. I imagined the other one jumping down and running off into the night, but Chrissy must have an iron grip. She got that kitten into the carrier and went to reach for the next. Then, I realized...SHIT these kittens are HUGE!

They didn't exactly all fit into one carrier, but we only had a five minute drive back to our house, so while they squirmed and cried, Sam put the pedal to the metal.

I had warmed food ready, so I opened the cat carrier, as the kittens exploded out of the carrier. Each was running madly, trying to figure out what to do. I put the food down and within seconds they were inhaling it. I mean, these guys were HUNGRY! One of them started to growl. I tried not to be concerned since they were in a high stress situation and the food was really good, so maybe one would get a bit pissy about having enough.

Dinner. Growling and the fastest chewing I've ever seen.

They ate two 5.5 oz cans of food between the four of them. Clearly, they wanted more, so I got them another two cans to eat. Finally, they started to calm down, finish eating and make use of having access to a clean litter pan. Right away they were ready to play! As though nothing happened. They were relaxed, happy, a few let me pet them. One even purred, then sneezed...again, and again. Two have runny eyes. They were transported with albon. Hmmm...guess that means their treatment for coccidia needs to be continued? Too late to figure all this out.

Dinner, part two

I went to bed after 2AM. I hoped they wouldn't have a poop and pee festival all over the guest bed during the night. I slept hard and didn't get up until 10AM. Before I did anything else, I got the kittens fed and checked in on them. They didn't even mess up the litter pan and the room was in great shape. Whew!

I looked at the kittens. They have crazy markings. Two look like Maine Coon mixes, the other are bizarre tabbies. They must be around 11-12 weeks old, which is about 3 weeks older than I would have liked. My goal is to get them on Petfinder ASAP, so we can start finding them homes.

Here's the gang. We have...

Delilah, or "Dee"

Dylan, yes, tough to tell apart from Delilah!

Millicent McMuffin "Milli"

Monte McMuffin

NO, I don't know what the deal is with the "McMuffin" last name. It just felt right. Maybe it's their white paws?

So I've got new fosters and a new story to tell. Will I be able to find homes for such BIG kittens? I'd better! There are about 12 more we need to help soon! At least this part of the journey is over. These kittens were saved from being euthanized by a dog-rescue pro, Jenna, Dr. Anderson and a generous foster mom, Trish. They made sacrifices of time and money to get these kittens here. Now I'll do my part until they're ready to go on to their forever homes!

But man, they are HUGE!

Want to adopt? Visit our website for more!

After sweatin' it out for the past two weeks, since Bob took a trip off the deck and fell 16.6 FEET, I got news of his latest blood test results. We were looking to see if this ALT (liver function) had come down since the accident. On the day of, it was over 700 (100 is normal). Two days later, it came down to 536. Yesterday it was down to 172!!!!! For Bob, this is like having normal liver function. He NEVER is under 200 except for ONCE when he was on an IV for a few DAYS!!! This is awesome news!

Some of this is attributed to Bob being lucky, getting rest and mostly, I'm guessing, giving him Denamarin to support his liver function. I think it's one of those drugs just for dogs! I have to check that. Regardless, it really has helped him. He's been acting like a younger boy, too, by climbing the stairs to the second floor, jumping up onto the bed (which is very high for him) and eating well. All great signs!

Also, I was excuse me, but shitting myself with worry about what his BUN (kidney function) would be since I did give him Metacam. Luckily, his BUN was normal. No sign of damage. Even though Bob did not seem to be effected by the Metacam, I am not going to give it to any of my cats again. I just can't risk it.

So, we start the day with good news. Where the day goes from here remains to be seen. I feel refreshed (okay, I need tea) and relieved! As Dr. Larry said, Bob may have burned off a few lives, but looks like, cross fingers, the old boy has a few left in him still!

In August we took in five flea covered kittens and their sweet mama, Calli. They were quite the delight once they weren't full of fleas, of course!

Calli was a GREAT mama and a sweet, affectionate cat. I worried we would never find her a good home, but oddly enough she was adopted before her kittens! Emily, one of our CiCH members, decided it would be better to adopt an adult, since she understood that they are the toughest to place. She knew that although the kittens are cute, they don't stay "kitten-like" for very long. I wanted to give her a big hug for being so wise, but I just sat there and smiled as she decided, for sure, that Calli was her girl!

Putting up with "the kids," as I remember her from a few months ago.

Renamed, Merly, and having gained a few pounds, our dear foster is doing well and enjoying her new home, after a few days of getting adjusted.

Without a care in the world...

I LOVE to get updates on my fosters and this is no exception. Merly looks great and content. I couldn't have asked for more!

Merly looks so happy and her coat looks GREAT!

As fate would have it, Emily has become a magnet for cats who need a helping hand. Not long after Merly arrived, this little boy showed up at her door. Unwilling to let him fend for himself, Emily jumped in and began feeding and caring for this friendly kitty. She named him Smudge, a fitting name for this curiously marked boy. He's going to be neutered very soon and get all his shots. Right now he lives outside, but soon and with any luck, he'll be introduced to Merly and the other kitties, in hopes that he will find a happy home. If not, we will step in and help Emily find a placement.

Smudge, relaxed and with a full belly, thanks to Emily!

I think this illustrates how even though we think we find cats to give homes to, they seem to find us, just as often. Although it may have not been planned, I'm grateful that Emily was willing to open her home to "just one more," especially during these tough economic times.

Kudos to you, Emily! Keep up the good work!

Thanks to Super-Deb, knower of all things important and good for kitties, I can share with you the url of a great resource for anyone considering changing their cat's diet from crappy dry or questionable canned, to a RAW or better choice of grain-free canned.

The Feline Nutrition Education Society, in their own words: "Promote[s] awareness of the issues involved in feline nutrition and health, with an emphasis on specie-appropriate raw feeding for cats. We will educate people on the techniques, benefits and issues involved in raw feeding for cats, and advocate not feeding grain-based artificial foods to cats."

Provide information on feline nutrition and health.
Provide information on raw feeding for people new to the idea.

• Create awareness of feline nutrition and raw feeding through traditional outreach: ads, adoption booklets, media outreach/releases.

•Create awareness of feline nutrition and raw feeding through new media: internet, video, blogs, mobile, viral marketing.

•Inform and shape the current attitude towards feline nutrition and raw feeding with the general public by promoting the health benefits, safety, and ease of a raw diet.

•Inform and shape the current attitude towards feline nutrition and raw feeding within the veterinary and pet food industry by promoting the common sense health effects of raw feeding.

•Help to change how people (general public, veterinary, pet food industry) think of dry food for cats by providing information about its unhealthy effect on felines and its inappropriate use for obligate carnivores.

•Reward the commercial prepared raw food industry by increasing their customer base.

•Encourage "do it yourselfers" with information on how to make homemade raw food for cats.

•Create a national/international member organization for feline raw feeders and those interested in feline nutrition and health.

Do I feed Raw? No. Did I? Yes! Did it make a big difference? YES, but...I did experience that "OMG I GAVE MY CAT FOOD POISONING" last year so I stopped, also it was ungodly expensive for me. Am I reconsidering feeding RAW. Hell, YES!

I'd pop over to FNES and check it out. Really looks to be an awesome resource!

Okay, so I didn't do a write up about the Feline Forum yet, but in lieu of proper review, here's a tidbit to tide you over from a brochure I picked up at the Conference:

I'd like you all to check out Alliance for Contraception in Dogs & Cats. Their mission is to find a non-surgical solution to humanely control cat and dog populations around the world. Imagine, a simple shot, given to a puppy in a third world country where Vets are in short supply and funds to pay for neutering are nil. Imagine a way to control feral cat colonies in a way that's safe and less stressful for all concerned, also, the money saved by not having to pay for surgeries could be used for educational programs or to put towards emergency medical costs.

Instead of imagining all of this, there is already a product being used in male dogs under 10 months old called, EsterilSol™/Neutersol® (who comes up with these names!). I hate to tell you that this, but the drug is delivered via a shot directly into each testicle. Over time, the testicle withers away. Boohoo. Bye bye teste! (Sorry to my male reader/s!) I kind of wish I had this shot for a few of my ex-boyfriends! Also, I'd like to see them try to do this to a cat! Yeah. I knew I shoulda got those Kevlar lined, elbow length gloves I saw at the Feline Forum! (it's not FDA approved for cats just yet, by the way)

Thanks to Dr. Michelson, who is SUPER RICH and is a great advocate for finding a solution to the troubling problem of pet overpopulation, he's put up $75 MILLION BUCKS in grants and prizes to the first "entity to provide a single dose sterilant for male and female cats and dogs." If you're a super genius, visit Michelson Prize & Grants in Reproductive Biology for more info.

Maybe you're not an uber genius, but you want your shelter or rescue organization to support the efforts of ACC&D. They're looking for folks to join their worthy cause. You can find out how you can help by visiting HERE.

Imagine...no more need for KILL SHELTERS, followed by no more OVERCROWDED shelters...followed by?? What do you think will happen to the pet population if there one day IS single dose sterilization product for cats and dogs? No more shelters at all??