Kitten

Little Pumpkin was adopted this afternoon. Her new adopter referred to her as her new "baby" and her husband, who was supposed to get Pumpkin as a surprise birthday gift, figured out what was going on and said he couldn't WAIT to meet "his girl." I think Pumpkin will get lots and lots of love and attention, though she'll be the sole kitty, at least for now, she'll have new friends to make and the next phase of her life has already begun.

I was really sad that Angel wasn't adopted, too, but I find that these things always seem to work out and the cats end up where they're supposed to be. I just don't know where that is just now.

The "backup" adopters who had offered to take both kitties, opted to go elsewhere to get their new cats. I was glad when I found out they were adopting from Bridgeport, because those cats are at risk. Angel is safe. She has time, the others do not, so it's all good. At least three kitties got adopted today and that's good in my book.

I don't have much time to write. The next rescue has begun. The next fosters are arriving via transport in a few short hours. I need to scrub down the foster room and get things prepared. I'm wiped out from attending our annual fundrasier, the Fur Ball, from running around like a nut making sure the t-shirts for the event got printed, all while trying to cram in some of my own work and even possibly a load of laundry or a bill may have been paid in there, as well.

Look familiar? Read here to learn more about the Cardboard Box kittens and why I jumped in to help. Thankfully, in the past 4 weeks, half of the kittens found homes. I'm taking the remaining four. One is supposedly-the kitten who is cuter than all kittens (in my book, anyway). Not even sure IF I'm getting him, but if I do, this may be a tough guy to adopt out because I might need to keep him! I can't wait for him and his sibs to get here!!

Two hours 'til they get here...Yeah, 10:00pm pickup! Great way to end the day. Better scoot. More stories ahead! Stay tuned!

Angel (aka,"Last Chance") and Pumpkin are here again. They've been shuttled back and forth between my house and Jennifer's since they arrived two months ago. In that time they've been to two adoption events, which didn't result in any Pre-Adoption forms being filled out on them. Their photos have been in the paper and on Petfinder, but so far only Pumpkin's brother, Spyder has been adopted.

A few opportunities came up for Pumpkin, but none of them were right. Not one person has called about Angel, even though she's a spunky, sweet and a pretty young adult. Of course my dream, hope, wish-that they be adopted togethter. They're more like sisters than Mother and Daughter, but that's asking a lot and Huggy Bear and her two boys got adopted together, so my good luck in that area might be used up for now.

In a few hours, a potential adopter is coming to visit Pumpkin. She wants to surprise her husband for his birthday. While I'm not sure that's usually a great idea, I know they don't have any pets right now and their Vet check was glowing. I think it would be a great home for one, but PLEASE let it be a great home for TWO!

It's a delicate balance. I can't push. I can only present options and show her how much fun it is to keep the girls together. It will be up to her to decide what to do after that.

Then there's the next adopter interested in Pumpkin. Yes, there's two now...they have two cats, two dogs, two kids and want to adopt Pumpkin AND Angel together! If their application had come in sooner, they would have had "first dibs" on the cats, but now I have to wait and see...what will happen in a few hours? Will she take BOTH as I dream or leave one behind? Will Angel go to a home that already has lots of animals? Will that be a good fit for her? I'm just not sure.

I'll know in a few hours what the girl's fate will be. I hope they get their happy ending together, but it's not up to me. Guess we'll just wait and see...

It's already been a week since Huggy "Mama" Bear left for her new home. Where did the time go! Just last week it was August, I swear!

Huggy has been renamed. I'm a bit sad about this change. Normally it doesn't bother me that cats have new names in their new home, but Huggy was such a special kitty, it would have been nice to leave things as they were. Her new name is, Holly. Nice name and gee, I guess only a few letters away from her old one.

Oh yeah, we're cool now that we're adopted and all! I am not sure who took this photo. Either I did or Ryan, my nephew. Hmmm.

As you may recall, Huggy, er, Holly and the boys all went to the same home. I drove Dash (renamed, Dash!) and Snuggles (renamed, Turk) to their new home last Thursday night. I HAD to clear the house to make room for two more fosters, so I offered to do a late night drop off. The one thing I didn't figure on was, yeah, it was DARK outside at 8:30pm! No one has house numbers and all the mailboxes are on ONE side of the street, not both, so even with GPS there was no way to figure out which house was #8! Of course, stupid me, I forget to bring the phone number of the new owner! I had to spend $150,000.00 (maybe I'm exaggerating a tiny bit) to call Directory (Rip off) Assistance only to find out that NO ONE WAS HOME!

So we sat there in the car and waited awhile. Sure enough, I recognized the car and like a good stalker, followed them into their driveway once I had them in my sights.

I felt badly bringing the kittens over so late at night, but the Dad, Chris was really nice about it. He unlocked the door and we entered his home. His son was wearing his Boy Scouts uniform. Looked really cute. His pants needed to be hemmed. I have no idea why I would notice that, but I did. I guess it made him cuter. Anyway, Chris called out to Huggy saying she had been sleeping with him and his wife and was doing well.

Huggy was NO WHERE to be seen! Chris called and called to no avail. Huggy had vaporized into thin air.

I felt a bit uncomfortable about all the fussing to find Huggy. I didn't want to stress her out and I didn't want Chris to feel bad that I wasn't going to see her. Then, as I stood at the bottom of the stairs, I saw Huggy RACE down the stairs from the second floor where Chris had been looking for her. She FLEW right past me. She was hunkered down LOW, scared out of her wits. The house was big and wasn't packed with stuff so sounds really carried. I could see why Huggy/Holly would be frightened.

Resigned to not getting to say hello, I asked if there was a small room to put the boys into and Chris just said to let them out and to first show them the litter pan. He walked us into another room and there it sat, the one thing I did NOT want to see!!!!!...one of those monstrous "automatic" poop scooper litter pans. As Chris blithely lowered Snuggles/Turk into the pan I told him that those pans have the highest rate of causing inappropriate elimination of any box. Kittens can also get hurt in them. Well, Chris was havin' none of that. Saying Huggy was using it (what choice did she have?) and it was fine. (ok, call me when the cats start peeing all over the house). Also, there was only ONE pan for all THREE cats. Hmmm...

I realized that this was the FIRST home visit I've ever been on. I had to wonder how many other adopters I'd be rudely telling to ditch their litter pan setup or more? I shudder to wonder.

Litter pan blunders aside, they are super nice people and I just heard that after a day Holly (see, I can remember things!) began to recognize the boys and all three are back to their lovey-dovey selves.

Hopefully, I'll get more updates on the kitties in the coming months. It's funny how anticlimactic the entire farewell was. The boys found the litter pan, then Dash ran off (dashed off?) to explore. I waved to the boys, knowing I'd already loaded them with kisses before I left my house and called out to Huggy (she was STILL Huggy then so there!) hoping one day I would get to see her again.

So we're done. Three lives that surely would have ended in a Kill shelter in Georgia, to three lives that get to be lived fully, with two happy children and two parents who will give them all the love and good things every cat deserves.

Yes, these cats definitely won the Lottery. That's for sure.

Six weeks ago, I was moved by a plea to help save a Mama cat who was notorious for "hugging" her kittens. She was called, Huggy and she and her two offspring were slated to be euthanized in a few days if no one stepped forward to help her.

At first, I thought we had an interested family in Indiana, so I started to put together a plan to help transport the cats to them, but it fell through. The person in Indiana never stepped up or even let us know she had changed her mind. Already involved, I felt it would be wrong to throw my hands up, say I did my bit and walk away. I just couldn't.

Many of you know what happened next: with what seemed like endless emails, questions, fears and hope, between myself, Winging Cat Rescue, Kat5 and a handful of helpers, we were able to rescue this mama and her babies, along with quite a few others.

I never did this before. I never pulled a cat from a kill shelter close by, let alone from 1000 miles away. I know many people frown on doing this, especially if the cat isn't even purebred and there are so many that need help right here in Connecticut. She's just an average domestic short haired cat, but a life is a life and I was in too far to turn back. Huggy's life was no less precious or less worth saving than any other cat.

I was told Huggy was friendly, but really, how could I know? I had no idea how old this cat was and without a shelter, how was I ever going to find her a home once she got here? Who adopts adult cats? I feared I would have her until, at least, the end of the year or longer. Something inside me said, yes, I need to do this, no matter what it takes. I need to make it right for these animals.

When Huggy arrived, there were plenty of problems. First, she had evidence of having had fleas. She had bad ear mites. Her chin was full of feline acne from eating out of a plastic bowl. She was thin. Her coat was rough and yellowed. Her kittens were odd looking and not that friendly. She was in much worse condition than I expected.

Huggy, day one.

Huggy also became seriously ill with mastitis, then had to be separated from her boys for two weeks, given meds twice a day and lots of rest. It was very difficult, but she never complained. She was easy to pill, she ate her food right up. She loved to lay on my lap, then attack my leg, letting me know she was still young and wanted play time, too. Only 1 1/2 years old, Huggy has a lot of energy and more and more as each day passed and she got stronger and gained her weight back.

Feeling Huggy's boobs.

Huggy showing Snuggles the ropes (pardon the pun)

Two weeks ago, Huggy was adopted, but it wasn't until today, that I finally got the OK from the Vet to let her go to her family. It's about as close to a magical experience as I think I'll ever get; seeing so many changes in this once tired, mama cat. Her coat is soft and clean, her chin is almost completely healed, her ear mites and fleas are long gone and her mastitis has resolved. She gained 1.50 POUNDS since she got here. She's at ten pounds now.

This photo ran in The Newtown Bee, which was how Huggy's new family first found her.

Since she arrived, there hasn't been a day when being around Huggy wasn't a joy. She truly is a sweet, mellow, feisty, cute, loving, chatty lady. Her new family couldn't wait to come get her once I told them she was ready to go. She'll be living with a Mom and Dad, their son and daughter. She'll have a wonderful home and all the good food and love she'll ever need. Although part of me wants to cry at seeing her go, I am SO VERY HAPPY that we made it this far, so quickly, seemingly as though it was all meant to be, that I can only smile. I am so grateful for everyone's support, so lucky a great family came forward- understanding that adult cats have a hard time finding a home and so willing to give her AND her two boys a chance.

This is the most rewarding work I have ever done. Each and every home I find for each and every cat fills my heart to bursting. When people ask me how I do this? I can only answer, how can I not? It's worth all the effort by tenfold.

Sleep deprived, just back from the Feline Forum, no makeup, but a GREAT a kitty in my arms; here's me giving out the hugs. (Photo by Ryan Feminella)

Huggy. You beat so many odds that I don't think there ARE odds for how lucky you are. From death's door to the lap of luxury. It doesn't get any better than this.

It's time to say Good Bye, friend. (Photo by Ryan Feminella)

Hugging Dash good bye. She'll be seeing him and Snuggles again in a few days. (Photo by Ryan Feminella)

Huggy, with some members of her new family (used with permission).

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!

Last month I added my voice to those who were pleading with folks to come together and find a way to rescue some kitties from Henry County Care & Control in Georgia. With the help of Kat5 and Winging Cat Rescue and the generosity of many people, we were able to raise the funds needed to bust some of these precious kitties out of Death Row.

I offered to take Huggy Bear and her two kittens, but had no placement for the dilute calico we named, "Last Chance." We'd gone as far as I thought we could go. Without another foster family or rescue group stepping up to the plate, Last Chance and her offspring were going to be KILLED.

Thankfully, our friend Jennifer, stepped up and offered to help. She'd never fostered kittens before and never fostered for our organization before. She doesn't even live near any of us, but she didn't care. She just wanted to help. If it wasn't for her last minute offer, we would have lost these sweet animals. They were saved just hours before their time was up

For the past two weeks, Jennifer and her hubby have been caring for Last Chance, now called, Angel and her babies, Spyder and Pumpkin.

Tomorrow the kittens are due to be spayed and Angel will be seeing them again on Saturday when we have an adoption event at a local pet food shop. Since it's a long drive to our Vet for Jennifer, she dropped everyone off at my house tonight so I could get them to their Vet appointment by 8:30am.

It's great to finally meet these guys-especially Angel. You can tell she hasn't had the best life. Though friendly and very affectionate, if you reach out to pet her, she tucks her tail and ducks her head back. She'll still come to you for pets and is easy to purr. She's got a beautiful patchwork pattern and cute gray spot on her chin. She reminds me very much of Huggy, both in her look and overall condition. She's a mama, who's young enough that she still wants to play, but had a tough go of things and it has quieted her disposition. I can see this kitty really flowering once she has a safe and loving home to call her own.

The kittens are chubby and rambunctious. Both are completely adorable. We're already getting adoption inquiries on both of them. I hope to find them awesome homes very soon!

It's all good. We came together and found a way to save these kitties and I'm really proud of all of us, but...if I sit quietly and stop thinking about the million things I should be doing, I get a pain in my gut. I feel like I'm going to burst into tears. I look at their faces and imagine them being put to sleep-that someone would have done that to them and they'd already have been dead for two weeks.

Who would have been witness to their lives? Who would have seen the love Angel has for her offspring or their joy in playing with a new toy? Who would have heard their purrs or taken comfort in watching them eat a good meal?

Who would have cared for them in their last moments? Indeed, would anyone?

In my joy is such sadness, more than anything else, for the ones we could not save that day. For the ones we could not save the next day or the next. Or the ones at Spaulding. There are so many it's sickening. You don't want to know about it. You don't want to look and see their faces. You want to fix it, but you don't know how!

So we pick our battles. We try to find joy in this moment. These cats will have a good life. They will know love and a warm bed. They will not know a cage ever again. When it's their time to pass on, they will be missed. They will be cared for in their last moments. It will be life lived that wasn't cruelly ended before it had a chance to begin.

In July I said good bye to Sprinkles, Twinkles and Pixie (and their nasty feral mama, Gabby!). As you may recall, Twinkles and Pixie went to a home together to live with another kitty named Snowman, while Sprinkles went to live with Ms. Terry and her nice family and their kitty, Patches.

Sprinkles & Twinkles. Which one is which?

Sprinkles, renamed Ninja, didn't get the warm welcome she had hoped for from resident kitty, Patches. Concerned, Ms. Terry contacted me about the situation and I sent her a long list of things to do to encourage a "proper" introduction between the two cats. Patches was growling and angry, no doubt causing Ninja to retaliate. After reading my email and carefully following the strategy I suggested, within a week or two, she wrote back and told me the great news that everyone was getting along well!

Photo by Ms. Terry and used with her permission.

Apparently, Ninja and Patches are such good buddies they sleep together and enjoy play time. Ninja also decided it was time that Patches gained the upper hand with the family dogs when she showed them who was boss! Now Patches has joined Ninja's efforts and the dogs are now in their proper place! So there!

Ninja (left) and Patches (right). Photo by Ms. Terry and used with her permission.

To make things even better, Ms. Terry told her friend about our group and a few days later I met her and her family when they adopted Shamus and Arabella! Yay!

It's really nice to be able to share some good news with everyone. I have even more. I just need some time to write it up.

I can give you a hint that one of our dear readers was so inspired by the efforts here that she reached out to help a stray cat in dire need of rescue. Stay tuned for her heartwarming story!

Okay. One last cute photo!

Photo by Ms. Terry and used with her permission.

Thank you to Ms. Terry and her family for not giving up on Ninja. I know they had some tough times, but in the end it worked out well. It's always tough to know when to give up and when to give it more time. In this case, things worked out well. I've been invited to visit everyone in the near future and am looking forward to that very much! Of course, I'll report back here with more photos-hopefully of the cats beating up the dogs! (JOKE).

Shamus (above) and Arabella (below) were adopted by a very nice family yesterday. Congratulations, kitties and family!

Sadly, poor Malibu and Nova still don't have a home. They're both getting big and the bigger they get, the less time we'll have to get them a good home. They're both really sweet kitties, but Nova doesn't show well and Malibu is goosey, even though he purrs loudly and with great passion and loves people! I hope they find their place with a family very soon.

Lastly, though Our Director is a private person, I have to ask everyone to think good thoughts for her kitty, Spruce. Somehow, on Friday, he tore the ACL in one of his legs. He was rushed to the Vet and it was determined he needs surgery. Spruce will have his surgery on WEDNESDAY, 9/9/09. If you'd like to leave Spruce a message with your good wishes, please post them here and I'll pass them along.

I'm not going to wonder what's next. This week will be crazy juggling cats. I don't even want to think about knowing I'm the back up rescue group for the eight babies down in South Carolina that no one has stepped up to help. I feel like I bit off more than I can chew, but I'll stand by my promise, come Hell or high water...ho boy...

It's been a draining few days. Seems like the dam burst on health problems for the cats...and not just mine, but foster cats and kittens and our Director's own cats. I find it tough to remind myself that it can always be so much worse. To just go with the flow, do the best I can to deal with situations and understand that in the realm of problems we could have, knock wood, this is nothing.

Or does it count that once again Dr. Larry prescribed a med that's only for dogs but that is fine to use on cats, too? Does it count that within 12 hours of Gracie getting this crap, Temaril-P she was VOMITING and there clearly was BLOOD in it? That it didn't stop for 48 hrs. Of course this has to happen over a friggen' holiday weekend, so I'm limited to waiting it out or getting her to an ER Vet for a shot of Reglan.

One bit of kibble and no pasta sauce, that's bloody vomit. Pretty, right?

Gracie's been vomiting little fur balls, bloody mucus, food. Then she'll go about 12-16 hours and be fine. She's stable right now so I'm still hoping to wait until tomorrow to get her to the Vet. She's been in good spirits, eating and bugging me-all normal.

So it's fine, except that what the you-know-what is in this stuff that made her vomit BLOOD? This poor cat has been through Hell and back. The last thing I need is to add a complication to her treatment and here we are hurting her-and who will pay for her shot, her IV that I'm guessing she may need? Who can't get a refund on meds that my cat's allergic/badly reacting to? This sucks.

Add to this, the fun with fleas, the ear mites, the chin acne that poor Huggy Bear has from being fed out of plastic bowls when she was on death row, her sutures almost blowing out...that Nicky has to be pilled daily because his colon is blocking up and it could kill him and it starts to feel crazy

Then I find out that Andie's adopter, who had good references, or so I was told, decided it wasn't working out and that Andie had to go! This is after FIVE DAYS. FIVE. This woman is a flake. She insisted on coming over to my home to beat everyone else out on adopting Andie. I made accommodations for her to make it happen. While she was here, her kids were going back and forth. They clearly liked Shamus, but the cat was for HER, not her kids. That already was weird to me. She didn't even spend much time with Andie and based her choice on looks. I should have stopped her.

Four days later I get an email saying it's not working out. That their resident cat who was semi feral didn't like Andie and was VERY upset. I asked her if she introduced the cats PROPERLY as we discussed, well, no. I never got an answer. I sent her more info on doing introductions and told her it can take a few weeks, to go slow and it would be fine. I've seen it happen so many times! The cats need a few weeks to get things worked out. So she says, I was just tired and didn't sleep much so, okay I'll give it more time. The next MORNING she sent her husband out with Andie to bring her back, not to me, but to our main adoption home. Why? Because Andie peed on a bed and pooped outside her litter pan. Because she wasn't properly restricted from the gillion animals this woman already has and the poor thing was left to fend for herself.

Andie is shaken. THIN. CRYING. Does NOT even KNOW her OWN brother, Shamus and sisters, Arabella and Sunshine. She growls and hisses at them. She won't EAT. She is pooping outside the litter pan now. What the _____ did this _____ do to this cat? I'm so FURIOUS. I SO WANT TO LET HER HAVE IT, but I can't. I'm not even sure I can say this much, but it's said. I'm really mad. Andie was perky, proud, friendly and loved her siblings. Now she's a shell of what she once was.

Sam and I saw her yesterday. For three hours we sat with her. She only wanted Sam. He made her feel safe. I got her to eat a lot of food. I saw her use the litter box correctly three times. She had a long nap on Sam's lap. So long that his legs kept falling asleep, too.

I worry about Andie's long term prognosis. We plan on visiting her again tomorrow. I wish we could just keep her here with us, but I have no place to put her where she can be around people and not end up being around lots of cats, too. It would just flip her out more.

Thankfully, four more kittens were adopted yesterday. Andie only has to share their huge room with five other cats, instead of nine. She may be able to calm down more and begin to recover. If she doesn't, we'll find a way to get her back here to help her. She's such a lovely creature and has a good heart. We will always do right by our foster cats and this is no exception. The problem now is finding the right home for her with someone who can work with her. A home that's quiet, sane, full of love and with a family who maybe only has just ONE other cat or dog. That's it.

Oh yeah, and there's MORE!