Declaw

Dee reads my blog (Thank you, Dee!). She bugged her friend, Angi to give Chloe a foster home since Angi lives in Connecticut, has cats and LOVES cats enough to take on one more (and she's also an awesome artist). Dee already fosters cats and knows that Angi would do a great job so she used whatever secret powers she has to urge Angi to give Chloe a home until she's ready to go to her forever home.

©2013 Robin A.F. Olson. Poor Chloe. Feeling scared was not a surprise, but what happened next certainly was.

I would call this “finding a foster home in a haystack,” because I thought there is NO WAY we're going to be able to find a LONG-TERM foster home for Chloe. Color me surprised.

©2013 Robin A.F. Olson. A little self-soothing foot bath before she explores the room any further.

Angi is awesome. She's vivacious and cute with a funky-cool haircut and an easy going attitude. I did a home visit to make sure she had a good space for Chloe to pass the next few months, recover from her abuse and to lose a bit of weight (she's already lost a pound). Angi had a perfect space-a guest room in the corner of her home that overlooks her yard. It's a far cry from the bathroom where Chloe has been staying with Katherine and it's almost as big as the entire living room where Chloe once lived with her former guardian.

©2013 Robin A.F. Olson. Katherine brings out Chloe's favorite brush.

Everything went well with the home visit and today Katherine and I delivered Chloe to Angi's home.

Chloe didn't protest too much in the car, but Katherine and I both worried what she'd do when she got out of her cat carrier. Would she completely revert to being aggressive with Angi? Would she try to bite her? Would she growl and lash out?

©2013 Robin A.F. Olson. Chloe's FAVORITE-Cat Grass!

We covered her cat carrier and rushed her into Angi's house, before Angi's three cats knew what we were up to. We got the room set up with Chloe's things while Chloe watched us from the safety of her crate.

Then came the big moment-opening the door.

We all took a collective deep breath as Katherine opened the crate. Out walked Chloe, planting her face directly into a small container of cat grass. Content to munch on her favorite treat, we all relaxed. At least Chloe wasn't going to charge us, guns blazing.

©2013 Robin A.F. Olson. Or is Chloe's favorite thing being brushed?

Chloe, energized from her treat, surprised us by getting up and casually began to examine her new home. She rubbed her face onto Angi's outstretched hand, the table, the edge of the cat carrier. She rubbed up against ME, which at first scared, then delighted me, leaving me sitting there with my mouth hanging open like an idiot.

Chloe continued exploring the room. She didn't go very fast or very far. She had to take a break and sit down every so often, but she wasn't hiding. She was simply curious. So far, so good.

©2013 Robin A.F. Olson. Happy Buddha-kitty!

Katherine got Chloe's favorite brush out and that put a smile onto this kitty's face. Chloe loved being brushed and it helped her relax.

Hopefully she could trust that even in this new place, with the new smells, things would go on as they did before. She'd still get loved and cared for. It was going to be okay, right?

©2013 Robin A.F. Olson. Reaching up to be brushed. More, please!

Chloe got a bit irritated from all the attention. Perhaps it was a bit too much, too soon. She gave Katherine and Angi a “love bite,” but nothing worse. Katherine stopped brushing Chloe and decided it was time to go over the instructions for taking care of her with Angi.

Everything went surprisingly well. Since Chloe was settled, we bid Angi goodbye and good luck. I joked that Angi should invest in a pair of rattlesnake boots to protect her legs when she entered Chloe's room. I hoped I was wrong, but in a situation like this-and with Chloe losing Katherine, who knows what would happen next?

Katherine and I left Angi's, feeling happy and hopeful that Chloe would finally have a chance to flower.

©2013 Robin A.F. Olson. A little love from Katherine.

A few hours later, Angi wrote that she was have a bit of hard time getting BACK into the room with Chloe and that Chloe attacked her ankles. I guess I shouldn't have made a joke about the boots, but then I realized maybe someone had kicked Chloe and that's why she was upset? When we let her out of the cat carrier, we were all sitting on the floor, which made us less intimidating. Now what was Angi going to do?

©2013 Robin A.F. Olson. A few skritches from Aunt Angi.

Angi took it in stride. She knows this is going to be a long process and now Chloe will have to learn to trust her, too. She's prepared to give Chloe every chance, if Chloe will just allow her into the room once in awhile so she can water her plants.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. April.

The weeks have flown by in a heartbeat. The kittens just celebrated their eighth week birthday. All six have survived those precarious first weeks and are now spending their day either napping or running around playing with wild abandon. I moved them into Bobette's old room so they have lots of space to explore and a big sunny window where they can watch the birds or see a stray bee buzz by.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. The girls.

It's a happy time for them and relief for me. The kittens have been weaned. It went so easily and perfectly. They've also done great with their litter pan technique. Knock wood, these kittens have been a complete dream to foster. I can't remember the last time I didn't have to worry about loose stools or runny noses.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. Getting ready to meet Dr. Chris.

It is, however, a sad time, too. It's time for April, the kittens mama, to go on to the next chapter of her life—a journey she has to make on her own. She's been a GREAT mama-one of the best ever. April constantly burbles and meows to the kittens, maybe telling them to be careful or “watch out!” She's always on the alert, making sure the kittens are safe. I hate taking her away from them, but I know it must be done. April is shockingly thin and needs time to recover and get strong. She can't do that with the kittens around. I can't risk them nursing on her any longer. She needs to be spayed, then go to Animals in Distress where they will work on finding her a forever home.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. Cutie Patootie and Belly Holiday after their Vet visit.

In the time we've spent together, April has blossomed. She no longer hisses at me, but seeks out attention. She enjoys being petted and sitting nearby. I hope she gets a wonderful home, with people who will cherish her. She has a goodness and sweetness that's palpable.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. Belly and the ball.

The kittens, too, are just about ready. All that remains is that they need to be spayed. They had their first FVRCP vaccine and first visit with Dr. Mixon. The kittens did amazingly well and didn't give him much trouble at all.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. Cutie's big mitt.

Dr. Mixon examined the three polydactyl kitten's paws. He suggested that the extra toes be declawed. I was against it until he explained that those claws, being on such short toes, would never be able to be sharpened. If that couldn't be done, the claw would simply grow and eventually grow INTO the kitten's paw pad and cause a nasty infection. This just happened to my own cat, Gracie and she's not even polydactyl. I would never want that to happen to any other cat-even if the adopter promised to trim the claws every week. With them being so young and Dr. Mixon using a laser it would be the least painful to do it now. Next week it will be done, but I feel more than terrible about it because I believe that in one case the entire toe is going to come off because it is so very tiny, it's more of a claw growing out of the paw, then out of a toe.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. Looks like a reference photo for a Picasso painting!

Thanks to my friend, Katherine at AID, one of her foster families offered to take April so she could recover in their home before she gets spayed. I thought it was a good idea since normally I'd have to crate April to keep the kittens off her and that wouldn't be very easy on her. It's best to say our farewells now.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. Relaxing without a care in the world.

What I didn't expect was that this foster family offered to adopt one of the kittens, too, even though they are currently fostering some of the cutest kittens I've ever seen! The family is from England and black cats are good luck there. They had a black kitty many years ago and they miss her dearly. When they heard about my kittens they asked if they could give one a home because they understand how difficult it is to place black kittens.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. Between a pillow and a hard egg?

What made me appreciate them even more was that they wanted the kitten that would have the toughest time to find a home. They didn't want one of the polydactyl kittens, they wanted a simple, black kitten. That's it.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. Black Beauty.

I met with the Mom of the family four weeks ago and she fell in love with a kitten. She said her children wanted to name it, “Bon Bon.” I said we could give the kitten that name, but didn't push her to adopt that particular kitten. It was too soon to take her anyway.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. April's eyes are full of hope that her forever home will find her soon.

On Thursday she returned to take April home and to choose her kitten. She brought her daughter, who was very sweet with all the kittens. She understood the importance of giving the kitten a home who others might overlook. Sure enough Bon Bon came over to them and honestly if I had other kittens that might have been considered more adoptable, they still would have chosen her.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. Bon Bon with her new mama.

I made special arrangements for them to take Bon Bon before her spay, which will also allow her to be with her mother awhile longer and vice versa. The family reported back to me already that both Bon Bon and April are doing well. April's being shy, but they know she'll come around in time. She's eating very well and eating a lot of food so this is great news. One day I hope to see April again, but this time looking plump and resplendent, the days of difficulty long past.

My heart aches. I've grown to love Bobette and April and Bon Bon, but I must make room for more. There are four kittens in South Carolina who need help. Four more to love. My heart is ready to be re-fueled. This is the life of a cat rescuer, the constant tug of sadness mixed with simple, profound love.

Fantastic flying felines and zombie kittens! SQUEE ALERT!

(Farewells in Part 2.)

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. Zombie kitten wants to eat your brains!

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. Cutie Patootie's showing her secret white belly button.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. Sabrina mugs for the camera.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. Hi Five..or is that six?

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. Attack of the 50ft Kitten!

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. This is how we do it.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. Zombie kitten searches for the next victim.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. Cute break with Cutie!

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. Okay one more cute break with Black Beauty.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. Invisible hang glider.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. One-eyed flying machine.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. Engaging telekinesis in 3…2…1.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. Hello Mousey with Hello Dahlia.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. Sabrina in a tangle.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. Belly Holiday firing super-cute rays into your heart.

©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. Anatomy of flight.

The kittens are having a grand time and didn't want to stop having fun, but their joy was tempered with some sadness. In part two I'll fill you in on what happened after play time was over.

I hate it when senior kitties suddenly need to be re-homed. It's a tough sell to most adopters because many want a kitten. I was just alerted to the plight of Sweetie & Joy and they were just so lovely I had to post about them. The girls are not related, but are very bonded. Sweetie is almost 13 and Joy is 12. They're located in Woodstock, Georgia. Their owner has kept them up to date on shots, they are spayed and Sweetie is declawed.

Their owner contacted another rescuer and I'm sharing her email, below. You can see she wants the best for her cats and with a very sick husband, she has more than she can handle. I'm not here to judge her choices. I just want to help.

We are looking for:

Ideally, A NO-KILL rescue in GEORGIA to offer to take the cats, but out-of-state is OK. If out-of-state, we can arrange transport.

OR an ADOPTER who would LOVE to give these gorgeous girls a loving home.

This is Sweetie.

This is Sweetie napping.

This is Joy's belly. How do you do, belly.

This is Joy's cuteness.

CONTACT ME at info@coveredincathair.com and I'll put you in touch with the owner. PLEASE SHARE THIS POST! I'd love it if we can pull off another miracle and find these girls a safe place to land.

-------------- This is from the kitty's current owner--------

I was just referred to you by my vet, where our 2 kitties, Joy and Sweetie have been receiving care, shots, and grooming for the last 5 or 6 years.

The reason I am writing you is that we can no longer take care of them. My husband, age 81, is quite disabled after a fall and pneumonia, and massive bleeds and other infections, and I am his caretaker.

He is allergic to cats and his lungs can't continue to tolerate the cat dander. And one of them likes to sit in his path, and he can't afford to trip on a cat and fall again (he takes coumadin for A-fib.)

They are both female and neutered. They love each other and sleep and play together, even tho I got them at different times.

I am overwhelmed with care of my husband and lack of sleep and can not care for the kitties like they should be taken care of.

Sweetie is the Himalayan, and I got her in fall of 1999 somewhere in Cherokee or Cobb county ­ don't know because I had just moved here from Florida. No papers, but she is supposed to be the "real thing". She has been declawed. Her records are at the all at the vet, and I think I can find my file on them. She loves to sit next to me and will just hang around a person even when the person is napping, like watching guard.

Joy is the "main coon mix", and the two of them sleep wrapped up with each other. Joy was raised for the first 6 weeks by my son and wife and given to me in 2000. She has her toenails.

Both of them sleep most of the day, and watch us closely whenever we do something that is different than our normal schedule. They both like to live in a small room, eat in it and sleep in it and if we would leave their door open they could cry for us to come close it (meaning, at 6pm they are fed and run to their room and in the morning they are fed again and let out of their room).

They have lived in 3 different houses and adapt quite well. I have had kitties all my life and have never had one put down for convenience they all have lived to get old or get cancer or leukemia. Oh, they are indoor only cats.

The grandkids love to pet and brush them and play with them. After too much play tho, Sweetie will take a swipe at you, but will not walk away. They both like ice cubes in their water ­ spoiled?

They do well when we go on vacations with a feeder and water feeder and a family member looking in on them every 4 days.

It would be WONDERFUL if they could go to a no-kill shelter. I know someone would consider them quite adorable and want them.

UPDATE: Jan 25, 2012: THESE GIRLS HAVE A RESCUE!

Basil & Nigel are very lucky. Not only was I willing to go to bat for them, but TWO groups; the Siamese Cat Rescue Center and the Humane Society of Forsyth County both stepped forward to offer the boys a safe place to live until they find their forever home. Thank you, again to HSFC for taking them on!

Before the boys could go anywhere their first stop was East Lake Vet for a checkup! There the Vet would do a snap test-a simple blood test that indicates if the cats have Feline Leukemia or FIV+. This is the WORST part of doing rescue-not the late nights, phone calls, millions of emails...waiting to find out if the snap test results are positive is dreadful. If the boys were sick, very few rescues would take them and their future happiness would be in peril.

This afternoon, while I was waiting for a call from Bobby, I got an email. Maria surprised me with photos of the boys. Apparently she was in the area when Bobby brought the boys to the Vet so she stopped by. The subject line of her email was: “neg/neg” I know what that means! The boys are NOT SICK! WOOOOOOHOOOO!

More details about them came in: 1) Overall they're quite healthy! 2) Nigel weighs 27 1/2 pounds, while shy-guy Basil weighs 21 1/2 pounds, 3) they didn't have any sign of fleas or flea dirt, so they must have been indoors, 4) Poor Nigel's belly is burned. It appears both cats must have been confined to a VERY SMALL area. Possibly Nigel had to lay on bedding that was soaked in urine for a long time.

In a way, I'm glad we will never really know what happened to Nigel because it would kill me to find out. Nigel is a big love bug and even tried to jump onto the exam table, but because he's so big, he didn't make it and fell backwards. He wasn't hurt, but it's so sad he's trapped in that big body. It's only temporary, but still, it's brutal to see a beautiful animal suffering like that. It's just wrong.

We wonder if the boys might be Burmese/Siamese mixes due to their dark coloring. I'm not well versed in what makes a siamese. Maybe one of you might help us figure that out? Bobby told me their eyes are a very beautiful blue and that they're both good cats.

Basil is shy. We don't know if he was always like this or it was due to cruel treatment. Fortunately he is NOT aggressive, just a scaredy-cat. He didn't make a fuss when he was examined. I think he just wanted to get out of there an into a small dark place...okay a big dark place, to hide.

Later in the day, I got a few emails from Bobbie, who has graciously offered to foster the cats for the next 10 days or so. Bobbie said that Nigel was enjoying himself, but that Basil was hiding in the cat tree (which is not really bad since he wasn't hiding under a bed and was up high so he will be less stressed). That Basil wasn't eating their new grain-free canned food, to which I was not surprised to hear. Transitioning the cats to high quality canned food will be tough. Nigel DID eat, but wanted to eat alot more than he should, so Bobbie took it away and went back to letting them get used to their new home.

Most people know that you can't put a cat on a diet. Their metabolism is very different from that of a human. Cats get energy from protein, not carbs, as we do. They also can develop “fatty liver” or hepatic lipidosis if you try to get them to lose weight too fast. HL is deadly and NOT to be messed with.

I did some research and found some helpful tools that I could use to determine what these cats need for calories. Sadly, most cat food can labels do not list carbs or calories so you have to do the dreaded “M” word...MATH! This is a starting point. I realize I need to write a lot more about nutrition and feeding guidelines, but that will have to wait. For now, give this a try...

Also, from what I can tell, THIS IS NOT AN EXACT SCIENCE and every cat has different requirements for caloric intake so you MUST keep that in mind.

To start, you have to know how much your cat weighs, then convert pounds into KG. You can do that HERE

Next you have to use a Enteral Nutrition Calculator (ACK!) to figure out how many calories your cat needs. Based on Basil's weight-we'll call it 21 pounds. He would be 9.52 kg and his BER (basal energy requirement) is 355.59 kcal/day. That would be to MAINTAIN the weight he is now. The rest of the calculator is for sick cats or cats that need extra caloric intake. You probably don't need to use that, but I used this to find out that I am grossly under-feeding Bob, which is probably why he's a bag of bones right now. I've already started him on a different feeding regime to help him out.

The last step is to grab a can of whatever you're feeding your cat and READ THE LABEL. This Cat Food Nutrition Calculator from the Cornell Book of Cats is a start, but I discovered that it gave me one number and I saw a calorie listing on the cat food that said it had 40 more calories than the calculator determined! You can see why this is not an exact science!

Going by what it says on the label, fill in the percentages in the yellowed out area of the form. You'll copy the following information from the label: percent of Protein, Fat, Fiber, Moisture & Ash/Other Minerals. Once you do that, it will calculate how many calories are in every 100g of food.

The labels I checked show the gram weight of the food on the front, under the Net Weight. So for example, one can was 156 g in weight (a typical 5.5 oz “tuna can” size) and 106 calories per 100 g of food. That's roughly 165 calories per can. What shocked me was the HUGE difference from one brand of food to another. The one I thought was very high in calories was actually quite low!

Once you compare what your cat needs versus what it's eating, you'll see why you might have a tubby tabby on your hands. Now that we know the numbers, we can adjust Basil and Nigel's intake accordingly, but first things first...they need to settle down and get used to eating different food. Breaking them off the habit of eating dry will be tough, but in time they will adjust, especially since they don't have a phone and can't order a pizza behind our backs!

Lastly, we're still trying to fund our ChipIn for the boys. It's not a lot, but their food is costly and the Vet bill was rather big. If you can donate the cost of a cup of coffee to the boys, that would be great! If you can do more, even better. In a way, we all helped save the lives of Nigel and Basil because I couldn't help them, if you didn't help us with donations, so great work, TEAM CiCH!

I finally have some good news to report. After the past few hellish weeks, out of the blue, today I got TWO updates on some of our former foster kitties! The news did my heart good and I hope it does the same for you.

Bobbi

Bobbi was rescued from Henry County Care & Control last summer. She was thin, covered in fleas and her skin was full of sores. To make matters worse, Bobbi was declawed! She had NO WAY to even scratch herself---and she was NOT EVEN SPAYED. I wrote a very "blue" rant about this which you can read about here if you're not offended by swearing. There's a more genteel post about her HERE, if you'd like to know more about this little girl's journey.

©2010 Henry Co. Care & Control. Bobbi at the shelter. Just looking at her, I knew I had to rescue this little sweetheart.

Apparently, Bobbi has settled in well with her new family. She's their only cat and is pampered and loved to her heart's content.

©2010 Maria. S. Bobbi out of the shelter and into foster care. She's thin and her coat is terrible. She was almost starved to death.

Bobbi's coat has surprised everyone. We thought she had Maine Coon in her, but her coat was shaggy and sort. Today it's plush and full. Her family tell us:

“We just love, love, love her. She is doing well, and has a healthy figure now:-) Her fur/hair is a complete surprise and amazement. I imagine her hair was thin and unhealthy when you first saw her in Ga. And when we adopted her, her hair was silky and medium. Well, I hope the photo I send shows this, but she has about 3 undercoats followed by lots of long hair. Her color is even a little different, more red has come out. She loves to be scratched and we love to give her the attention.

She loves to sleep in the sun, eat, play with a silk cord and jumping into pillows and blankets that I make into a big pile. ”

©2011 The Murdoch Family. What a difference six months makes!

This is why I do what I do. To get these updates and know I did something that changed this cat's life for the better and for the rest of her life. She will never know suffering again-and that's how it should be for every cat and dog in need!

©2011 The Murdoch Family. Life is good for Bobbi now.

Moonpie & Pattycake

©2010 Robin A.F. Olson. Moonpie (left) and Pattycake (right)

I had Moonpie and Pattycake for a long time—months and months. Patty had ringworm, then Moonie got it. Then I decided they HAD to stay together. I could not adopt them out separately. They were like two peas in a pod. I knew it would be tougher to find them a home, but I hung on and hoped against hope the right family would come along.

They did. In a BIG way!

Moonpie and Patty live in a 5000 sq foot home. At first it was too much for them and they spent a few worried weeks running around the house. They've been with their new family for a few months now and today I found out that they've adjusted beautifully and are very “chill” cats, indeed.

Their pet sitter told me they have not just a cat tree to play on, but they have a “city” of cat towers. Not just in one room, but on each FLOOR of the home! They get the best food, the most love, and are doing wonderfully well.

I miss them dearly, but am so glad they're happy and healthy. It was worth the time spent worrying they'd never find a good home to know they're where they were meant to be all along.

If you'd like to read some of Moonpie and Patty's story, you can read it here and here.

It's tough to write. Actually, it's tough to do ANYTHING with 12 cats running loose in my house, plus four sick cats in the foster room who I have to make sure don't cover me in contagion every time I enter their domain.

©2010 Robin A.F. Olson. The Halloween Express is stuck at the URI-Station!

Between the complicated feeding parade, breaking up fights, cleaning up urine marking, plopped poops and just the plain ol' litter pan scooping, I've lost hours every day. That doesn't even include play time-a must for these INSANE BEASTS and lovey dovey time, which, for my own cats has been whittled down to the bare minimum. I'm so out of touch with my own cats, it scares me. Sam has drifted into making sure they get fed, the raw food gets mixed up (I order and pay for it), while I do my shift feeding the fosters in three different locations, making sure they're all locked in their rooms during feeding time so I can monitor that everyone is eating enough.

©2010 Robin A.F. Olson. Pattycake and Blitzen share some snuggle time.

This is not what I had in mind. I had a room, ONE ROOM, not ALL MY AVAILABLE ROOMS set aside for cat care, with one room as a flex room-in case I had to separate out a cat or two. It's funny, though. I realized that if I just had four fosters in one room, plus my eight cats, that it would be a BREEZE! You get to a point where the “nubs” wear off and you can handle more and more. That said. I do not want to handle this many again. I am more than max'd out.

©2010 Robin A.F. Olson. Meanwhile, Yodel is passed out on my bed.

Even as I sit here, I had two fosters battling for space in my lap, Blitzen and Spencer and Honey B all in my tiny office. Then they started fighting-no surprise and to save face (literally) I had to scoot them out the door for my own safety. Now they're ripping up some paper and a cardboard box. There is rarely ever a silent moment now. I have to get up every two seconds to break up fights-that's the worst.

Yet, I was ready to take in another foster cat two days ago! Thankfully, the little cutie--pie at Henry, got a rescue before I had to step in. In for a dime, in for a dollar, at this point.

There is a glimmer (of something, not sure if it's hope or just a bug in my eye) on the horizon! Maybe. Just MAYBE, I MAY have not one, but TWO potential adopters lined up. I don't want to jinx anything, so I'm not going to say much at this point. Just...maybe I will be down a few cats before the weekend is over. I sure hope so. I just spent $240.00 out of my own pocket on cat food (and that was with a HUGE discount). Yes, fundraising for Kitten Associates will be starting soon! We just saw our CPA and he helped us get a form done that was standing in the way of us getting our non-profit status. We are "this" close to being the real deal (Okay, we're incorporated, so that is a cool start!).

Since I may have only two more seconds to write before the next fight, I wanted to do some updates.

PRINCESS FIFI

©2010 Robin A.F Olson. Princess FiFi barely a month ago.

©2010 Robin A.F. Olson. Princess just the other day-looking lovely!

Well, she is just doing GREAT! Carole, the President of Animals in Distress, brought her to the shelter so we could have a visit. Princess has grown. Her eyes are clear, where they were once full of dark, crusty, discharge. Her mood is light and happy, instead of limp and barely alive. She likes the other cats and [sorry, had to take a break, again to get Honey off my BOOKSHELVES-knocking everything onto the floor-great. Oh wait..I had to yell NO about 10 more times. I swear I start and end my day yelling!]

©2010 Robin A.F. Olson. I love the markings near her front paws.

Oh yeah, and Princess MAY have found her forever home. Oops. It's sort of been there all along. Carole, who has been doing cat rescue for almost 20 years, is moving soon. She's taking her two Persian cats with her and vowing NOT to take Princess along for the ride. BUT...Princess LOVES her cats and they love her. Princess “uses her paws like little hands (you have to squeal when you say this, as Carole did)!” Carole is still in denial, but she's turned down a lot of adopters. I think she's fostered Princess FiFi long enough. Time to make it formal and adopt her.

©2010 Robin A.F. Olson. Sitting by the door to the Shelter. Waiting for her forever family...or is the wait over?

ROCCO

©2010 Robin A.F. Olson. Ryan preps Rocco for his belly-rub-a-thon.

I love Rocco. I just do. He's a big guy. He got a raw deal-getting dumped by his crappy family who just didn't want him any more. I had a chance to visit him a few days ago. I brought my nephew, Ryan, whose mother is kinda-sorta-mulling-over the thought of MAYBE adopting Rocco. She has the brothers of our cats, Nick and Nora. All four of these “cameo” short haired cats are GIAGANTIC and they love belly rubs and they are just sweet sweet cats. Sounds a lot like Roc.

©2010 Robin A.F. Olson. He's not fat. He's TALL!

Part of the goal of my visit was to get good photos of Rocco so I could post his ad on Petfinder. Carole told me he shut his eyes every time she took a photo. I figured I'd shoot without a flash and see if I could get anything.

Ryan and I tried to get a good shot. We jiggled toys, gave him catip, offered treats. He didn't react to much of anything. In fact, I started to think that Rocco is deaf. Carole bent down, looked at him, called his name and clapped. When he saw her clapping, he perked up and ran over to her. I think he knew the gesture, not the sound. We didn't get to the bottom of his hearing issues, but it was very sad to think that maybe that was why he was starting to become shy of the other cats at the shelter.

©2010 Robin A.F. Olson. Don't open your eyes to make our job easier. Okay, great. Hold it!

Even with all that, he would still come over to me, throw himself against my leg and want some belly action (which I happily gave him). In the end we got some OKAY photos, but nothing that really showed off his pretty green eyes. He's a big, probably older, fella. He got kicked to the curb and maybe he's not a fancy, spring chicken, but he's still got some miles left and hasn't forgotten how to love.

©2010 Robin A.F. Olson. Really, don't open your eyes. It will ruin the photo and no one will want to adopt you.

Rocco is HERE on Petfinder, in case you know anyone in the area of Connecticut, who might like to give this boy a home. I'm not going to post Princess's ad. I don't want to waste your time! (Carole, please don't kick my ass for saying that!). (Carole scares me a little bit, but don't tell her that.) Oh and here's one more ad for Chance, a kitty A.I.D rescued after she lost her litter of kittens. She's not even a year old and is a very pretty medium-haired tortie.

©2010 Robin A.F. Olson. Ooo! You opened them! Quick, take the photo..okay yes I did photoshop his eyes a tiny big, but they ARE that color! I swearzzz!

Time to feed the cats and scoop some pans. It was nice writing for awhile. Maybe I'll be allowed to do it again one day. Oh and for the record, I am REALLY going to MISS the cats who might be getting adopted...yes, after all my complaining...I'm going to probably have a good cry after they leave, but I'm not gonna say if they will be tears of sadness or tears of JOY!

Maria sent me some photos of some of her fosters. They were all just pulled out of Henry County Care & Control. None of them stood a chance of surviving or getting adopted, yet here they are. They beat the odds!

©2010 Maria Sandoval. Rocco dreams of his forever home and is very glad to be out of that tiny cage!

Rocco is a mellow guy. He digs belly rubs and just hanging out. Considering he lost his life-long home and must be very confused about what lies ahead, he's taking it on the chin.

It cost $32. to get Rocco busted out and vetted. He was already neutered. That's it. $32 to save his life. I didn't even have to do a fundraiser...of course, to get him to Connecticut might be another story.

©2010 Maria Sandoval. Rocco enjoying the sunshine.

Maria discovered a lump on his back flank. Hopefully it's just from getting his vaccines and nothing more. Other than that he's eating well and livin' large. We look forward to his arrival in Connecticut. An adoption at the shelter, just today, opened up a bit more space for him. My dear, Marshmellow (who I was considering adopting) is spoken for. He'll be flying to Minnesota to live with his new family!

©2010 Maria Sandoval.

The first litter we rescued this week, are lovely little babies. They were starting to get URI's, the death knell for kittens at a shelter. Some are doing worse than others. Hopefully, they will start to get better now that they don't have the stress of shelter life to deal with.

©2010 Maria Sandoval. Nap time for this litter of four babies.

Being sick is such a tough start for these little ones, but it's something I see all too often. In fact, the idea of getting kittens that aren't sick seems like an unheard of dream come true.

©2010 Maria Sandoval. Little flame point in her soft bed.

©2010 Maria Sandoval.

©2010 Maria Sandoval. I don't feel so good!

©2010 Maria Sandoval.

These little guys will be traveling to New York and New Jersey as soon as they are well enough to go. I know they will find great homes in a heartbeat!

There's nothing particularly special about a big, red tabby cat who sits in the lobby of Henry County Care & Control. His days of being a cute kitten are years behind him. He was surrendered by his family. They didn't want him any more. We don't know why. We just know they left him in this cage that's barely big enough to hold him.

©2010 Henry County Care & Control. He doesn't know what he did to deserve being in cage, but Big Red hopes to get out.

He's flanked by two other big tabby cats, from other families that gave up on them, too. They all just sit there, waiting to die. The odds of them being rescued are about nil.

©2010 Henry County Care & Control.

I want a magic wand. I would wave it over everyone and, first, of course, get them to SPAY & NEUTER their dogs and cats. Next, whatever cat was stuck in a cage at a kill shelter, I would transport them into a new home-one that would love them and care for them and never give up on them. Lastly, I would make Animal Shelter and Rescues not necessary. With no overpopulation problems and no surrendering of animals, we would be able to spend our lives simply loving our pets, with never a tear shed over an animal being euthanized due to space issues or curable illness.

©2010 Henry County Care & Control.

But I don't have that power, nor do I have the ability to rescue adult cats. Fostering from my home, not a shelter that has visiting hours, makes it impossible to place adults. I know I need help with this. I need a shelter that won't kill this boy, who can take him for me. I need a friend...but who can I ask?

©2010 Henry County Care & Control.

Call it being annoying or call it calling in a favor, but I sucked it up and nagged Carole at A.I.D. to take this cat. He's declawed and neutered. He's very affectionate, too. He could get a home here in Connecticut AND A.I.D just had quite a few adoptions so I know they have space!

I didn't get an answer right away. I had to wait a few days. I spoke with Carole, who told me she didn't want any more males at the shelter right now and listed all sorts of reasons not to take him, but I had just done her a bunch of big favors, including raising almost $900 for Princess's vet bill, so heck, she caved in and said YES. I hope Carole's not mad at me, but honestly, it's about the cat. He's just a big, red goofhead. He needs OUT of that place.

Before Carole could change her mind, I contacted Betsy and gave her the approval to get this boy out. Needless to say, she was thrilled and surprised. The other two cats are still hoping for a miracle.

©2010 Henry County Care & Control. Every cat deserves a name. Meet: ROCCO!

As of this writing, this big cat who tips the scales at 20 lbs...and he is BIG, not really FAT, is safe. His snap test was negative/negative and he got his shots. He meowed and yeoweled in the car and at the Vet. He hates being in the cat carrier and he didn't like getting all those shots.

If he only knew he was being rescued, he might have simply relaxed and enjoyed the ride. I'm guessing he is going to be a handful on transport day, but we have two weeks to wait on that and by then he may not care where he goes, as long as he NEVER goes back to Henry County Care & Control again.

I can't say what it is that made me go to bat for this cat. Perhaps it was that he was nothing special that made him so very special, after all.

It's been a few months since I first wrote about Bobbi, a Manx/Maine Coon mix whose owners felt it was ok to declaw her on ALL FOUR PAWS and whose Vet felt it was OK to do this and NOT EVEN SPAY HER!!!! If you want to read my blue-worded-rant, you can go HERE and if you want to read about how I came to rescue her, you can go HERE and HERE.

©2010 Henry County Care & Control. Thanks to Robin, the Kennel Master and Betsy Merchant, I learned about Bobbi being in dire need of rescue. Luckily, the timing was perfect and I could help her out with the efforts of my team: Maria, Bobby (who Bobbi is named after), Connie & Carole.

After Bobbi's long trip from a Kill Shelter in Georgia to a little break at Connie's house in Connecticut, to living at Animals in Distress, Bobbi got adopted by a family with another cat. Sadly, Bobbi didn't seem to like other cats, but she wasn't SPAYED (which we didn't realize at the time), so that might have been the reason why.

Bobbi got returned after a week. She got spayed a few days later. She got along fine with all the cats at Animals in Distress, which is an open shelter with no cages. We all felt bad for her. She'd come so far, yet we wondered if we could find a home for her without other cats. Maybe that was best?

©2010 Robin A.F. Olson. Who is lovin' life right now?

On Saturday, during the adoption event, a family came in to visit Bobbi. I had just taken photos of her for her Petfinder listing. Apparently, the Mom of the family had been there a few days before and had taken photos of Bobbi to share with her husband and adult daughter. They'd recently lost their 16 year old kitty and wanted to rescue a cat in need.

They had returned, together, to see if Bobbi was the right cat for them. They took turns petting her, then holding her. She sat comfortably in their arms. I swore she was smiling. After a day spent being surrounded by other families, kids and cats, Bobbi was non-plused. She was just happy to be safe, with a fully belly and a nice place to sleep. She glowed from all the attention.

©2010 Robin A.F. Olson. Oh yeah, she's got them wrapped around her little declawed toe!

It wasn't a tough decision for the family to make. They filled out an application, got a great Vet reference and were greenlighted to adopt Bobbi. I chatted with them a bit and found out they live near my house, I know of their Vet and that he is a proponent of feeding raw to cats. They wanted to know about feeding a better diet to Bobbi so I gave them some handouts, as well as anything else I could come up with to help her transition off dry food. These people are genuinely warm, kind and loving. I could tell they wanted the best...for THEIR cat...this little, loving wonder who somehow survived Death Row and a VERY long journey to find that her perfect home was waiting for her all along.

©2010 The Murdoch Family. Used with Permission. Bobbi at home with her new Sister.

This is what I live for. This moment. This feeling that lifts my heart above the clouds. Knowing that this one cat, who didn't stand a chance, got plucked out of Hell and placed into the loving arms of a family that will NEVER put her outside to slowly starve to death...that will NEVER dismiss her or give up on her. She will finally know what she should have known all along-that her family will always look out for her and love her for the rest of her life.

©2010 Robin A.F. Olson. Bobbi showin' off her "stuff."

And to think, they wrote to me to thank ME for what I do, but it's really them. Bobbi could have languished at the shelter for months or years without them being willing to give her a home. I feel a sense of peace and joy, knowing this journey has come to happy end.

...but that wasn't the only adoption I have to tell you about...there is still ONE MORE to go.