Needs a Home

©2011 Maria S. Bobette and family etting ready to leave for Connecticut.

I can't believe it's been over a week since the Pumpkin Patch family arrived from Maria's home in Georgia. This time of year, it's always more hectic and I had much to do before this family arrived. Even after picking the family up off the transport, the boys only had an hour break before I packed them up and brought them to my rescue group's Home for the Holidays Adoption Event! (I left mama, Bobette home to rest. She was very cranky with the boys and I thought some alone time would do her good).

©2011 Maria S. The transport awaits.

The planning and setup for Adoption Events always leaves me knackered. Someday I hope to have volunteers able to help me get these things done. My car isn't very big, but it seems as though there's an endless supply of “stuff” that has to be crammed into it. Things need to be packed, washed, organized, then I have to figure out how many cats there are plus how many crates needed, plus where is this all going to go and how is it going to get to Choice Pet Supply where the event is being held?

©2011 Robin A.F Olson. Would you adopt me?

Irene is my right hand woman. She shows up. She helps. She fills up her car with whatever I ask. She jumps in and chats people up and tries to get us a few sales or donations. Sam will load up his car, too and help us get the tough things set up, then he scampers off to work on his own projects. I end up having to design flyers, send out notices to the newspapers-the online ones, the printed ones. Then the flyers have to be hung up around town, if I can get away long enough to do that. There's just an amazing amount of work to be done. Meanwhile, there are cats to care for and all their paperwork to fill out, what vaccination they need, getting them to the vet, vetting potential adopters. No wonder I always seem to be stressed out and feeling like I don't have enough time in the day.

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Cutie!

We got some applications and I met with folks who had emailed me about stopping by to visit the kittens. It was all going well when all of a sudden, I heard one of the Angel Babies furiously meowing and scratching at the plastic tray bottom of their crate. As I lifted the cover off the back of their cage, my nostrils were violated by a powerfully nauseating smell. Then, I saw it-diarrhea! Ugh.

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Bananas are good fun.

Irene and I quickly started to clean up the mess. Thankfully the poop wasn't on the bedding in the cage so the cleaning wasn't difficult. The smell, however, was not going away. I had a small litter pan ready to go. It was too soon into the event to offer it to the kittens, or so I thought. If one of the kittens had the runs, I figured I'd better give them the litter pan. Seconds after I placed the pan in the cage, two of the kittens started digging around in the litter. At first I thought they were just bored and playing with it, but after a few minutes it was clear that another kitten had to let it rip-and so he did.

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Jakey the sneak-attack biter!

I truly believe that the U.S. Government should use mooshie cat poop smell as chemical warfare. There is no way troops wouldn't be quickly offended by the stank and run for the hills! Did we manage to clear the store? YES! It was great at keeping the crowds down. Just what we needed.

The orange boys did fine. They were bouncing around, having fun. They laid on each other and the three of them started grooming each other. It was so cute that it made everyone forget the lingering stench, as they crowded around the cage, “ooo-ing and ahh-ing.”

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Hello! This is Teddy or Mikey. I think it's Teddy.

People would ask me questions about the boys, but like the white kitties, I couldn't tell the orange kitties apart (I am starting to a week later, though).

Meanwhile, poor Mazie sat forlornly in her cage. She growled a bit so we covered her up. I bravely stuck my hand into her cage and she started to purr. She forgave me from locking her in a cage by giving me her belly to rub. I felt very guilty about having her at the event, but she's GOT to find a forever home! She's been with us for a YEAR already and she's such an awesome cat!

I was grateful when 4pm came so we could pack up and get home. I wanted to lay down and go to sleep right then and there, but I knew that once we got back I'd have to feed the foster cats, make sure they were all right, then unload the cars and put things away.

I got the cats fed, but after that my body complained to the point where I just had to sit down for awhile. Unloading the cars could wait.

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Bobette a few moments after arriving.

I also wanted to spend some time with Bobette and the boys. I didn't have a chance to get to know them that morning, so now was the time.

I let the boys out of their carrier and Bobette looked at them and hissed. She's barely bigger than they are and at certain times I can't tell which one is the kitten and which is the mother. A few of kittens foolishly went over to their mom and she attacked them. I don't think she had her claws out, but the sound she made was one of pure rage. I made sure the boys were fine. They were scared, but ok. I got them all fed. I kept Bobette away from the kittens. I worried that she might attack me, as well, but she seemed relaxed around me or was it because I was feeding her?

What happened on the transport? Bobette was fine with the boys when she left Georgia, but now she was clearly not interested in having them near her at all.

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Bobette (far right) screams at her boys to get away.

The boys picked at their food, so did Bobette. They'd been eating dry food, softened with water, and I knew I'd have to break them of the habit; better now than never.

After they ate, the boys ran around. I called Bobette over to me. I was sitting on the bed. She came over and let me pet her. She climbed into my lap and got comfortable. I cautiously petted her. She relaxed until a kitten would come near her. As that happened, she'd alert, then growl. She'd lash out if the kitten dared to ignore her warning. I didn't want to lay there with an angry cat in my lap, but she went right back to relaxing and enjoyed my company. She even rolled over with her belly up in the air. I took a long look at her. She's very much got an Oriental Shorthair body with a classic orange tabby coat. She's long and lean with a wedge shaped head, dainty long legs and a long, delicate tail. I didn't see her limping, that would come later. Right now she was content-if I could just keep the boys away from her.

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Weeeee!

I'd seen this behavior before, but never so severe. I wondered if I should crate Bobette, but with her painful leg issue, I realized that maybe it was her pain that was making her lash out? I asked Dr. Mixon, one of our Vets, about this and he said it might be typical behavior of the mother pushing the males out of the colony to keep the colony from having inbreeding issues or...well he wasn't sure. Even after almost a week, she's still aggressive towards them.

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Da boyz.

The boys are doing well according to Dr. M. Mikey has a broken tail tip. We don't know when or how it happened, but it's already healed. Teddy was all right and Jakey was a nightmare getting his vaccines; what a screamer!

Bobette is another story. I see her jumping with some difficulty. She wants to play, but the boys get in her way and she gets angry. Some times she'll run around the room, clearly having fun, but after a few moments, she starts to limp very badly. Her drive to do more is hampered by what happened to her leg. She was in an accident of some kind and it's badly dislocated her kneecap. Dr. M rated it a 4 out of 4; 4 being the most severe. He feels he can correct the problem with surgery and that the patella (kneecap) shouldn't pop back out. I remembered when we first rescued Bobette that the folks at Henry County said they couldn't get her to eat for four days. Perhaps she'd just been hit by a car? Perhaps that had something to do with her inability to provide for her six kittens? I can't seem to let go that we lost three babies. I want to know why they died so we can prevent that from happening again. I know I'll never know why they're gone, but maybe the trauma their Mother suffered had something to do with it?

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Lanky, lean and lovely-Bobette.

The surgery would cost $2500.00. I'm NOT going to ask for donations. What I really need is FOOD, LITTER and some NEW TOYS for this family and for the Angel Babies. I'll be setting up a ChipIn to ask for donations for our Food & Fun Fund soon. I have to wrap my head around what Dr Mixon told me the rescue price would be for the surgery, first.

Anyone want to guess?

He's going to charge us $100.00. That's not a typo. ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS! When he first told me, I thought I was going to cry. I knew we have no where NEAR $2500.00 in our bank account and I was guessing he'd charge us around $1500.00. When he said, $100.00 I asked him to make sure that's what he wanted and he said to just put the word out about his Practice and help folks get to know him. After the surgery is done early next year, I'll be writing more about Dr. Mixon and his practice. For now, I'm very grateful we have his services to depend on and that when we do have money, it will last us much longer. Dr. Mixon also doesn't charge us an exam fee for rescue cats as long as we don't take advantage of his time. We just keep it to a few hours a month. So far, it's worked great.

Without the burden of a huge Vet bill, I can focus on helping Bobette recover. She'll have to have three weeks of cage rest and three weeks of low activity. Instead of going to AID, which was the original plan, Bobette will have to stay here for awhile, until she's better.

This poor girl; she's barely a year old and what hell she's been through in such a short time. You know me, I'll do whatever I can to help her go from “Meh to MEOW!”

In the meantime, I have about 12 other kitties I need to find forever homes for!

Part One of Two.

It seems as though regardless of when I chose to rescue a cat, when it goes into foster care, what day it's transported or when I pick it up, that everything comes together at the same time, even if the rescues happened weeks apart! It's very tough to figure out when to rescue more cats, with the hope that the foster cats you currently have will be long gone by the time the new fosters arrive.

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Goodbye Sweet Truffles! You're such a sweetie pie!

After almost three months of foster care here, Amberly's remaining two kittens, Blaze and Truffles were adopted together! They went with a divorced dad and his three kids. What a GREAT family! I really liked them a lot. Dad is into feeding the kitties a raw diet, so I was extra thrilled! The kids were terrific-sweet, nice, cute. I knew they'd all have fun together, but I didn't know if the girls would even be getting adopted until Friday at 5pm when I knew full well that on Saturday at 9am a transport was arriving with Bob's Pumpkin Patch on board! Talk about cutting it CLOSE! If Truffles and Blaze didn't get adopted, I'd be in BIG TROUBLE! I'd have no room for the new arrivals! What would I do?

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Blazey, you left a big pawprint on my heart, even if you DO have the loudest MEOW ever!

I really lucked out. Blaze and Truffles showed well. Being alone in the room for two weeks helped them blossom. Once the kids started to play with them the kittens forgot to be shy and began ripping around the room, clearly enjoying all the attention. Dad looked on, impressed.

Their new family brought their old dog crate. It was enormous and barely fit up the staircase. I gave each of the girls a kiss, realizing this was “it,” time for another good bye. My heart felt very heavy, but it was mixed with great relief. I only had a few hours to clean up the room. I was already thinking about what I needed to do to get it ready for Bobette and crew. In a way, it made the pain of closing this chapter a lot easier. Another story was about to begin and I needed to get ready. I'd have to cry later.

For the record, Amberly's family was one of my favorites. I loved their story, their crazy coloring, their stunning copper eyes, their big, loving hearts. I'm jealous of their adopters. Each one of these kittens and their mama were superb. Seeing them every day was a great joy and I will always have a place in my heart that belongs to them.

Just before this post went live, I got a note from their adopter. He wrote: “I just wanted to let you know that Blaze and Truffles are doing great...we are all enjoying their company...they are 2 of the sweetest kittens I've ever met. Both are very affectionate but have no problem showing their true colors when they want to play or are letting you know that they are hungry...the poster of Blaze's face must have been taken when she was hungry...she's hilarious. They are acclimating to all areas of the house.”

And all this came to pass because Maria went to a tag sale early one summer morning and found a skinny cat laying in the road in desperate need of help. It's been quite the amazing journey.

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The Angel Babies are here!

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Loaded up and headed for Connecticut.

Sure, I adopted out two kittens, but I'd already taken on the four Angel Babies; Vash, Jazz, Justin and Princess. It's been so hectic around here that I didn't even get to let you all know how that's been going.

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Jazz (now named, Blizzard).

Sam and I drove to Pennsylvania to meet up with Izzy and her husband, Mark. They rescued six white orphaned kittens when they were just a few days old. I have to hand it to this couple. Somehow they managed to bottle feed six kittens without any of them dying. Amazing! You can read more about their background before the came to my home, HERE.

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Princess de Winter relaxes on her new cat tree.

Of the six kittens, two were spoken for, so I agreed to take the remaining four; three are boys and one is a girl. They all have a smudge of gray on their heads. One has a big swash, one has two smaller ones, one has three and the girl has hardly a gray hair. Can I tell them apart after a week? NO!

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Justin (now named Snowball) is quite the love bug.

What I can tell about them is the bottle feeding helped them become VERY affectionate and easy to handle. These cats will reach up to me to be held, jump on my back or shoulders, call to me to pick them up. They like to be held like a baby. They love to play. If you ever watched Star Trek: The Next Generation, they're like the BORG. They seem to have one brain and four bodies. The react the same way, at the same time, when I call them to eat or jiggle a toy at them. It's as though their thoughts are controlled by a Mothership somewhere circling overhead.

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Bizzard is watching for a chance to jump on me.

It's very easy to love these cats. They're simply adorable. I'm shocked to no end that they don't have 20 or 30 adoption applications each, but I barely have any for them and it's been a few weeks since they've been on Petfinder.

I did a test and decided to change their names to something snowy/wintery to see if that would help get the interest up. So far no change, but it's only been a few days. Of course, I couldn't tell the cats apart before and with the name change, so I might as well confuse myself even further. I'm toying with the idea of dying them different colors (hee hee) or perhaps it would be wiser and I'd get fewer nasty comments if I just put a collar on two of them? I need to print out a cheat sheet to hang in their room. I've never had this problem before!

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Stretch Princess!

I have a lot of guilt about these kittens. My only place for them is my guest bathroom. The laundry room is attached to the bathroom and I can open the door and give them a very little bit of extra room. The problem is that they can get behind the washer and dryer and next thing I know, they've unhooked the dryer hose from the vent in the wall. This is a problem and very annoying to have to fix.

I did my best to block off their access to that area, but the little turds can get back there no matter what I did. Sam had to re-hook up the dryer. Lucky for me he wasn't too chapped about having to do it and it was a good excuse to attach the new clamp for the dryer hose. It should hold more tightly and be less easy for the cats to disconnect-famous last words.

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. The DOOD's old cat tree is really coming in handy!

Again, I thought I blocked their access to the dark space behind the washer and dryer. I left the room so they could run around. I was in my bedroom putting laundry away. I heard a funny sound. I heard it again. I heard a small cry. Oh great. I knew what it was.

I went back into the laundry room. I counted heads. One, two, three...three...where is four? I looked between the washer and dryer. There was a big metal divider from a dog crate folded into the space. I pushed it back towards the far wall, thinking the cats could not get behind it. There, hanging by his paws on the divider was Snowball. I looked at him. He looked at me and meowed. I gave him a dirty look, bent down and lifted him up by his shoulders and whispered into his ears; “You dumbass.”

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Um, excuse me?

He didn't seem to mind my name-calling. I put him down and tried yet again to block off the area. If I couldn't manage it, I'd have to keep them in the bathroom, but at six months of age, these are far from tiny kittens and they need room to stretch out. I hated myself for not having a bigger space for them. I really wanted to just let them out, into the rest of the house, but I knew it would start World War III with the rest of my cats.

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Blizzard and Princess.

I kept trying and failing, but at least the dryer hose stayed attached. Every time I opened the door to their space, a new pile of stuff they'd gotten into was all over the floor. I store some of the extra towels and bedding I use for foster cats on a high shelf. They would climb onto the shelf and pull everything off it onto the floor. After a while I just gave up. They have a nest on the floor made up of an old comforter and a few throw rugs and it's far from their litter pan. I mention this because one morning I went into their room and somehow they'd taken a towel from the floor and threw it into their litter pan. One of them had explosive diarrhea in the pan, but somehow it was tossed about 3 feet up the wall and all over the wall! Another cat had vomited while up on the countertop. The pile landed on the floor and they all must have run through it, then all over the room!

And no, I did not harm any kitten in any way, though I did re-think what I was doing fostering these nut-jobs!

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. They look so innocent...ha ha ha ha ha!

If they weren't so darn CUTE and lovey-dovey, it would have been a lot harder to scrub the walls down at 7:30AM or not be tweaked to realized the bits of paper on the floor were actually cardboard that once belonged to the top of the box the baby scale is stored in. I could see tiny tooth impressions all over the box. One of them must have sat on the box and just gone to town, chomping and chewing the edges of the box. Really, just how bored are these guys?

Tonight I dropped way too much money on an automatic laser pointer thing. You turn it on and it wiggles a laster painter beam all over the place for about 15 minutes, then it shuts off. At least if I couldn't spend hours with the kittens, it would be something I could do for them a few times a day between feeding visits and lovey-dovey visits.

More than anything, I'd like to see these cats get adopted, even if secretly (okay not so secretly now) I would love it if they stayed here (but don't I always say that?). They're so marvelous I know anyone who meets them would love them right away. Wednesday I'm taking them to a photo studio to meet Chris from Greengirlz and to star in a photo shoot! I thought our Holiday Card should have something to do with having a White Christmas, but after what I've seen these cats do, I just wonder how wise it is to take them somewhere with a backdrop they can climb and props they can chew. I'm glad Chris is a Professional Pet Photographer. Yeah, that's what I was thinking, too. They're cats. Professional or not, cats are going to be cats. Good luck with wrangling them, Chris! I'm going to just stand back and watch you work!

I wonder if we should just be happy if we can get a photo of them after they're exhausted from ripping apart the studio? Gee, I sure wish I had a video camera all of a sudden.

Tomorrow...part two...Bobette and Family arrive and with them more questions about Bobette's limping and what we can do to help her. Oh yeah, and I didn't even tell you about MY FIRST SPAY, the companion to MY FIRST NEUTER. That is a fun story. Oh yeah...yikes!

So many people say to me that they wish they could do cat rescue, but just don't have the space or time or funds or the secret power-of-letting-go when the foster cat gets adopted to be able to do it. But you DID just take part in a cat rescue! How does it feel?

Two days ago I posted about Barney & his sister Bella. Barney is a smart cat and somehow figured out he could flush the toilet. In fact, he seems fascinated by the sound, the swirling water, the sheer power of cause and effect. My post could have simply been to point out this cat's quirky talent and leave it at that, but sadly Barney and Bella were facing a trip to the Kill shelter because their mama, who's in the Coast Guard, got transferred to New Orleans and at the last minute, the family member who offered to take the cats, backed out, leaving her in quite the jam.

Bella and Barney, two VERY LUCKY CATS.

With no resources to help her cats, and a looming deadline to meet, she was faced with the only other option-to relinquish the cats to the local Kill shelter. Thankfully, before she did that she turned to our own Maria's, mama, who lives in Virginia and knows Barney & Bella's owner. Mama-Bobby told her friend that her daughter, Maria did cat rescue and she would ask her for help.

I get calls and emails every day about cats needing help. I wish I could promote each one. Many, you never hear about, but behind-the-scenes I try to help them, as well. When Maria asked if I could post about Barney & Bella I admit that her request gets my attention. She's caring for our Pumpkin Patch family. How can I say no? Toilet-flushing-guru-cat or not, I had to help.

This is what I LOVE about the internet. I did “my part” to help save these cats. I just wrote up a blog post. It took a few hours, getting details right, posting the video, asking all of you to just help me get let everyone in Virginia know, that these cats sure could use some help.

Of all the posts I've written, this one was re-tweeted and shared on Facebook with wild abandon. As I tapped my few connections in Virginia, others tapped their friends and rescue contacts, too. SO MANY PEOPLE shared this information, that what we hoped would happen, DID.

The RIGHT people saw the posts; the people who can do their part of a cat rescue. One woman offered to donate money to cover the costs of Barney & Bella's vetting. She couldn't foster them or adopt, but she did her part. Both kittens are in dire need of being spayed/neutered. They were snap tested for FIV+ and Feline Leukemia. They are negative for both! Maria's mama is going to make sure they get their surgery done on Friday and will keep them at her house to recover for the night. She is doing her part!

Then Kim Harkin posted a plea for help on the Facebook Page for King Street Cats, in Alexandria, VA. They are Alexandria VA's only free-roaming no-kill cat orphanage! 100% volunteer-run and Kim is one of their foster moms. She got the OK to take them into the King's program on Saturday! How did Kim find out about these cats? She said she thought she found the info on the No Kill Ohio Facebook page (I looked but didn't see a post there so we aren't sure who to thank for the post that caught Kim's attention)!

According to Petfinder, KSC already has 47 cats in their program. Asking them to take on two more is a lot to ask. As a THANK YOU to them, I'm going to share a few photos of their Adoptable cats. Make sure you visit their pages to see more if you live in the Alexandria, VA area and want to add to your kitty-family.

Meet Harper Lee. What a cutie-patootie!

This is Midnight. She and her brother, Scamp, a tuxedo, are hoping to find a home together!

Lenore has been waiting for 8 months to find a home. She's 10 years old, tiny and though initially too stressed to be sweet, her foster home says she's starting to snuggle up. Lenore needs a place where she can blossom. Let's find her that special home.

King Street looks like a great refuge for Barney & Bella until they find their forever home. Since they're be in foster care to start, Barney will have a new toilet to flush!

I wish we could ALL do a BIG GROUP HUG right now! I can't (and won't) take all the credit for this rescue. There are SO MANY POINTS WHERE THIS ALL COULD HAVE FAILED. Their current mom could have just abandoned the cats or given them to the Kill shelter, but she wanted them to have a chance and that good intention was the spark that made everything else start to fall in place. So many of you took some time out of your day to spread the word, some as far away as California offered them a home, another offered to sponsor their Vet care. Maybe many of you thought nothing would come of it, that because you couldn't physically save them, it wasn't enough. But it WAS ENOUGH. This puzzle was pieced together quickly by a bunch of cat-loving strangers. We should ALL jump for joy that together we CAN make amazing things happen. We just have to do our part and be willing to get involved in whatever capacity we can.

Well done, everyone! Well done!

If you want to thank King Street, please LIKE them on Facebook. If you're loaded and want to send them a donation, in honor of Barney & Bella, you can find out how to do that HERE.

LOCATION WASHINGTON, D.C./VA Area

Bella, left and brother Barney, right.

Barney and his sister, Bella, are bright, friendly and sweet cats. They are 10 months old and NOT spayed/neutered yet. The woman they live with is in the Coast Guard and has been transferred to New Orleans. She had a place for the cats to go, locally, but it fell through. We have TWO DAYS to find a rescue to take them or a family to offer to adopt them.

Barney with a cute smudge of color near his right eye.

FLUSH!!!!!

Barney is VERY smart. He figured out how to flush the toilet! If you wanted to take a step forward and toilet train him, he's be a great candidate! Sadly, Barney is not smart enough to be able to help get himself out of this terrible predicament---and he faces a sad fate if we can't help him.

Bella.

I don't have a great deal of information, but what I did get is from a trusted source.

Barney, looking for a miracle.

• The kittens have a $100.00 sponsorship towards their vet care.

• Transport CAN be arranged. There are folks in the area who will drive the cats to you or your NO-KILL Shelter---even out of state!

• SHELTER FOLKS-REALLY... TAKE THESE TWO CATS! THE VIDEO, ALONE, OF BARNEY SHOULD BE ENOUGH TO GET YOU ADOPTERS QUICKLY!!

If you're with a licensed no-kill shelter or are a kind-hearted soul who is looking to adopt, here's the contact information:

Bobby Hansen

504-329-2787

Bobhan91@yahoo.com

PLEASE SHARE, TWEET & CROSS-POST. TIME IS RUNNING OUT! THANK YOU!!!

Bobette and her boys visited Dr. T at Noah's Ark to have their spay/neuter surgery. As they often do, because they're so young and male, the boys were fine and running around after their surgery. Bobette didn't fare as well. Her surgery was unremarkable, but sadly, Bobette was very uncomfortable after her spay.

©2011 Maria S. Poor Bobette was very uncomfortable after her spay surgery

I'm very glad that Maria is such a doting foster mama. She saw Bobette angrily swatting at the kittens, as she sat curled up tightly. As any woman knows, the good old heating pad is a friend during certain times of the month. Maria figured the same might be true for what would comfort Bobette so she offered her the same soothing warmth. Bobette gingerly stepped onto the heating pad, then slowly stretched out. Her injured rear leg sat in a slightly awkward angle as Bobette curled her front legs under her chin. Poor Bobette. We don't know how her kneecap became subluxated or what happened to her bones fusing together. I have to get Bobette to Connecticut so she can have more tests and see a specialist, but our ChipIn isn't doing very well and we REALLY need help getting Bobette and family to Connecticut.

©2011 Maria S. Maria wisely offered Bobbie a heated pad, which helped her relax. You can see her kneecap is not in the correct location.

We use PETS, LLC to transport our cats. They're professional and though 97.4% of their transports are DOGS, they give us a place up front for the cats. The transport fee for the family of four is $300.00 ($75/cat). Yes, we could dig around to find a cheaper transport, but many aren't as reliable as PETS and don't provide the same attention to the animals during transport. If we can't do a private transport, this is a solid alternative.

©2011 Maria S. They boys did well after being neutered and it's clear they LOVE sleeping on a BED..

Adoption applications are coming in and this time of year there's a blip up in adoptions. The Pumpkin Patch has a reservation on a transport for next week and I have an Adoption Event for the day they arrive. I hope they can make it up here in time, but I may have to hold off on moving them if we can't raise the funds.

©2011 Maria S. Teddy.

Sometimes I wish I could just get in my car and go get them. I can't wait for them to be here. I need some orangey goodness now that Bob has been gone these past three months. Bob...I miss him so very much. In the next month or so I will be making a big announcement about him. I wish I could tell you now, but it has to stay a secret awhile longer. I know you'll be thrilled when you find out! Okay..I'll stop teasing you!

©2011 Maria S. Mikey's stripes are getting more defined.

A week has passed and Bobette is feeling better. She's still a bit testy with the kittens, but that's to be expected. They boys are oblivious and spend their days playing, napping and growing. They're ready for their next adventure-Christmas in Connecticut-and with any luck, a forever Home for the Holidays.

©2011 Maria S. Mikey is too tired to be photographed.

Your donation for Bobette and family is TAX-DEDUCTIBLE. The money will go to my Non-Profit Cat Rescue: Kitten Associates.

If you'd prefer to send a check, please make it out to: Kitten Associates and mail it to:

Kitten Associates
P.O. Box 354
Newtown, CT 06470-0354

Thank you very much for helping Bobette and her family!

©2011 Maria S. Bobette finally feeling better after a few days of rest.

Note from Robin: CREEPY PHOTO BELOW, BUT NOTHING GORY! You have been warned.

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Terri Royal has a big heart. She loves cats and has been particularly touched by the plight of feral cats in her community of northeastern Georgia. Terri's not one to look the other way when a cat needs help. She and her husband, Warren, always seem to have a foster cat in their home, in addition to their five cats, all of whom were rescues.

Terri is the caretaker for a number of feral cat colonies. She makes sure they get fed and that they're all spayed or neutered. Once in awhile a friendly stray comes along and she helps that cat find a good home, too

A few weeks ago, Terri spotted a tiny kitten when she was putting food out for the feral colony. From her husband, Warren's email to me, he described the situation:

©2011 Warren Royal. Used with Permission. Dexter, so sick, but what is wrong with you little guy?

He lived in the bushes behind Target and today when she went to feed them, he walked out and was very lethargic- horrible respiratory infection, dripping from nose, mouth, and eyes. He was blowing bubbles from his nose, and sneezing terribly.

He was too weak to eat, or to struggle, so Terri just picked him up and put him in a small box. He's very young- 6-8 weeks, and starving. We think he has 2 more siblings in similar condition.

©2011 Warren Royal. Used with Permission. Just after surgery.

She [Terri] took him to the emergency vet, who gave him fluids, vitamins, combo test, and antibiotic shot, and some milk replacement. I had to leave to catch a flight (on it now) but he's in great hands with Terri. She took him home, set him up in a bedroom upstairs, with water, a little warm bed, and plenty of food and the milk. (she just told me he LOVES it!). He is resting very comfortably and is purring when she pets him- he seems to love affection.

Terri named the kitten, Dexter. He weighed only 1 lb, 4 oz.

Dexter wasn't doing so well. Although he loved affection and wanted to eat, he had constant, severe breathing problems. He had great difficulty eating. It would take him 30 minutes to eat a small amount of food. Terri gave him milk replacement, which he could eat more comfortably, but the poor little tabby was very ill.

Warren writes: And he would start sneezing - I mean REALLY sneezing - sometimes 20 times in a row, violently. We would find blood spots afterwards. The vets thought that his nose was just really irritated from all the sneezing, maybe a tiny vessel rupture, and that was causing the bleeding. But also he could barely breathe - he was always breathing very loudly, and sometimes mouth-breathing.

The Vet said to let Dexter rest. Give it time. Thank goodness Terri and Warren didn't heed the advice. They'd seen cats with upper respiratory before. After another day passed, they were sure something else going on, so they took Dexter back to the Vet.

One of Dexter's nostrils was bigger than the other. Nothing remarkable about that, but it was odd. What happened next was horrifying. When the Vet looked into Dexter's nose, SOMETHING LOOKED BACK...and was MOVING INSIDE DEXTER'S SINUS!

©2011 Warren Royal. Used with Permission. THE WOLF WORM.

Warren wrote:

This little kitten had a 1-inch+ WOLF WORM living in his nose.

No one expected that Dexter would have to have surgery, especially to remove a Wolf Worm!. Simply tugging it out was NOT an option. Wolf Worms are Bot Fly larvae. Removing just a piece of them results in a horrific anaphylactic (allergic) reaction and terrible infection which could easily go to Dexter's brain.

But would Dexter survive the surgery?

Warren writes: But since we didn't know this, Terri had fed him that morning, before the vet visit. And when they figured out what it was, they had to anesthetize him, which was very risky because he had eaten. (We have lost other ferals during routine spay/neuters under similar circumstances and had been heartbroken). But we felt that it was an emergency, and we had to go ahead and cross our fingers and hope for the best. They waited a few hours to make it a little safer - and while he was down, we went ahead and neutered him.

©2011 Warren Royal. Used with Permission. Getting some rest.

The Vet carefully removed the Wolf Worm. It was no longer Dexter's Dark Passenger. Now it was safely preserved in a jar while Dexter began the long road to recovery.

Warren writes: He is much better now, his breathing is completely clear - but there may be some residual damage. They say he may always have issues with sneezing, and his nose may be permanently enlarged. But we just don’t know. He is very happy, and playing, and eating like a HORSE.

©2011 Warren Royal. Used with Permission. Squirrel!

Since he has been with us, even with the worm, he has gone from 1 lb 4 oz to 2 lb 4 oz , mostly on the milk replacement. But I think now the will really start to thrive...

©2011 Warren Royal. Used with Permission. Making friends with Abby

Dexter will be ready to find a forever home in a few weeks. Though they struggle with the idea of keeping Dex, Terri and Warren know they can't help more cats in need if they have too many cats of their own. It's not an easy decision to make, but with Dexter's loving personality and winning ways, we feel sure his family will find him soon.

©2011 Warren Royal. Used with Permission. .

If you're interested in learning more about Dexter or want to adopt him, please contact me directly at info(@)coveredincathair.com and I'll put you in touch with Dexter's family. Transportation can be arranged. Dexter is located in Northeastern Georgia.

The Wolf Worm is not available for adoption.

A friendly stray cat, starving and exhausted lays in the middle of the road one summer morning. Who knew the act of choosing such a dangerous place to rest would change this cat's life forever?

©2011 Maria S. Moments after the kitty was discovered.

Maria, our super-foster-mama, was going to a tag sale, but got a lot more than she bargained for when she saw this friendly cat in the road. She stopped to offer help, not sure she should get involved, but not being able to stop herself from helping this poor soul. All the questions she may have asked herself, all the worry about if she could handle taking on another foster cat and what that might entail. What if the cat was sick? What if she needed more than Maria could provide?

©2011 Maria S. Baby Jack LiLac. Just rescued by Maria!

I was very glad that I could help Maria feel confident that she could take this on, by assuring her that my rescue group would cover any expenses and would find a forever home when the time was right. It became even more important that she had our backing after she realized the cat had given birth and that her kittens needed to be found as soon as possible. Many of you may have read about this miraculous search and rescue. It's detailed HERE including some amazing photos.

©2011 Maria S. A Mother's Love.

The cat was named Amberly, though barely a kitten, herself, was also a good mama. She was laying in the road, hoping it would lead her to the right person who could help her. Her babies, just days old, were saved. I named them after plants and elements since they were found under the base of a tree. One of the kittens I named, Jack LiLac. He had a skunk stripe on his nose, but was as sweet as could be. Jack thrived in Maria's care until he, his mama and his family were old enough to come to my home to be fostered here.

©2011 Maria S. Baby Jack.

Amberly's journey had taken her off the streets of Georgia, into a loving foster home. Her next stop would take her and her kittens across 1000 miles to my home where I'd be waiting to care for them. Who could have imagined she'd have to travel this all these miles for a chance to find her forever home? Amberly's new family was looking for her. We just had to wait for them to contact us.

©2011 Maria S. Little Man, Jack.

The family has been with me for a little over two months. They're all remarkable cats with copper penny colored eyes. I got many applications for them, but each one was not good enough. We have strict adoption policies. I realize that makes adoptions slow, but it's important that we know every cat has the best, safest, most appropriate home. I tried not to give up that we'd find a match before the cats were too old, but it was challenging.

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Jack, today. He outweighs his mama now.

Last week I started to get applications that looked very promising. One of them had interest in just one cat. They wanted AMBERLY! We met, we spoke at length about their home, their life, their past cats. I did a Vet check. I did a home visit.

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Congratulations to Amberly & Jack!

The husband and wife came to visit the kitties today to finalize their choice. Although the couple wanted ALL the cats, they knew that Amberly had to be their girl. Amberly is barely recognizable from what she once was. No longer thin, with her coat thick and plush, there are new signs of her having a longer coat than we imagined. She's playful and robust and loves to race around the room, stop and give kisses, then lounge on a soft bed. She never has to worry about where her next meal will come from or having loving companionship.

What I couldn't have predicted was they they fell in love with Jack, too. Jack is sweeter than sugar and loves to wrestle with his Mama. They're more like siblings than mother and son. They'll never have to be parted, as this couple is adopting Jack, too! I'm glad they'll stay together for the rest of their lives.

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Amberly & Truffles.

The family can't wait to give them the best home and most love they can provide. Amberly and Jack will have two small dogs to be friends with and two young boys to play with. It's a lovely home with plenty of space. The family is planning on getting cat trees and scratchers, feeding the right diet and giving them whatever they need. I couldn't ask for more.

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Lady Blaze.

Jack and Amberly will be here for another 2 weeks. After that time they'll be going to their forever home. Contracts are signed. Fees are paid. I will really miss them a lot. They're so easy to love.

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. BlueBelle is more lovely than ever.

I just can't understand and I suppose I never will-why Amberly was alone in the first place and why she had to give birth under a tree in the woods. I'm sorry she had to suffer. She must have known the love of humans at some point. We'll never know how she got to that road or why she was laying in the middle of it. Amberly's journey is almost to an end. She's on the road again one last time. This time it will take her to a very happy future, side by side with her son.

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Periwinkle (left) is one of the nicest cats I've ever met. I have a crush on her.

There are more home visits coming and possibly more of Amberly's family will be finding their forever homes soon, too. Stay tuned!

It began simply enough. I was trying to take some photos of Mazie. She's taken to sleeping in the little basket that hangs off the cat tree. Most of the cats are too heavy for it. Nicky tried it once but the results were less than stellar (in his mind...to me the results were hysterical!). I need to update Mazie's photo for Petfinder. She's been here for almost a YEAR! We gotta get her a forever home!

©2010 Robin A.F. Olson. Umm...yes you are!

As I photographed Mazie, Spencer and the DOOD had to investigate. Mazie, content to literally hang out, wasn't bothered. I snapped a few photos, then noticed that Spencer and the DOOD were getting into a playfight.

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Mellow Mazie in her hanging bed-basket.

Of course I had to capture the antics as long as no one was getting hurt and the fighting was kept to gentle bitch-slapping and not claws out and ready to rumble

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. You can tell it's Spencer by the overabundance of pouff.

What was almost as amusing as Spencer and the DOOD going at it was the fact that Mazie continued to sit there, unfazed by the the ruckus. Blitzen lurked in the background. He was probably smart to avoid getting into the middle of it.

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Three cats, one cat tree. Now that's a good use of a cat tree!

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Spencer and the DOOD begin warming up. Mazie just sits there.

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. The only thing missing is the sound of Spencer snorting while he tries to breathe and smack the DOOD at the same time. Blitzen's on the left. See him?

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Mazie? Are you just gonna sit there? I guess so.

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Gotcha!

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Gotcha big honkin' tail! (Hi Mazie! Still sittin' there!)

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Spencer's got that fed up look on his face (so does Mazie, it seems). This won't last much longer.

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Shot looking UP from underside the second level of the cat tree. DOOD!

©2011 Robin A.F. Olson. Spencer, the mascot of CiCH declares playtime is over. Time for the napping phase of the day to begin (again). I hope the DOOD leaves him alone! Mazie is STILL in the basket!

Sally and Clare were barely busted out of Henry County and spayed, before Sally's sutures started to rupture and she got a hernia. Foster mom, Bobbie, got her to the Vet right away. He said it had to be fixed and was one of the worst hernias he'd seen. We didn't hesitate in saying, YES, to going forward with the surgery. Bobbie left Sally's sister, Clare with Sally at the Vet so the two would not be alone, even for a day.

©2011 Bobbie Coker of Cats-Goats-Quotes. Sally's herniated belly boo-boo!

By the next afternoon, the girls were home. Sally was recovering slowly and had to wear the “cone of shame” for about a day so she wouldn't tug her sutures out. She did well and got back on her paws quickly.

In the meantime, I asked for some help. The girls didn't have any toys and were clearly itching to play. Miss Memory and Miss Emily jumped at the chance to help and sent a VERY NICE selection of toys. The girls LOVED THEM!

©2011 Bobbie Coker of Cats-Goats-Quotes. Nom nom nom nom nom

The only problem was that Sally is not very good at sharing. She'd grab up the toys and guard over them, growling at her sister if she came near. Sally also eats FAST and jumps into Clare's dish if Bobbie isn't watching them during meal time. Okay, so maybe Sally is a bit of a brat OR she just never had toys before and good food, so maybe this is just a passing phase?

©2011 Bobbie Coker of Cats-Goats-Quotes.Are you gonna eat that?

Bobbie reported that the girls are very friendly. Sally more outgoing, Clare more reserved. They're both full of energy and want to play, over sitting in Bobbie's lap, but they do like their head skritches and pets.

©2011 Bobbie Coker of Cats-Goats-Quotes. Clare with her toys-until Sally steals them away!

A few days ago, the girls started to have very stinky poo and were having lots of accidents all over the carpeting! Bobbie took a stool sample to the vet and sure enough it was positive for Coccidia. This is why when you foster like Bobbie does, you MUST keep the foster cats separate from your own cats. Coccidia is very contagious and is spread through the litter pan so good thing Bobbie didn't let her cats share the girl's pan!

©2011 Bobbie Coker of Cats-Goats-Quotes Don't even think about taking Sally's favorite toy!

It was touch and go for a few days. The girls were having lots of accidents and Bobbie was being very gracious about having to clean it up. I shipped her some things to help with neutralizing the odors and helping clean up. I sent her some Cat Attract cat litter to see if the girls would stop having accidents if that was added to the litter. I told Bobbie it might be that the girls just didn't feel well and that hopefully they would stop going outside the litter pan as soon as they felt better.

Two days later...the girls stopped their inappropriate behavior as their stool began to firm back up and clearly they were feeling better. This is yet another example of why it's so important to get your cat to the vet when it inappropriately eliminates!

©2011 Bobbie Coker of Cats-Goats-Quotes. The snowshoe sistahs!

The girls are doing well and having loads of fun with all their toys. Thank you very much to Memory & Emily for their generosity and kindness. Bobbie and I appreciate your help and I know the girls are passing the days until they come to Connecticut with joy in their hearts with all those good toys to play with and a belly full of nom-noms.

ME-OW!

Two months ago, I rescued Basil & Nigel from certain death. Either way you looked at it, these cats were going to die. If it wasn't due to them being on death row at the shelter, it was going to be from being so grossly overweight. We had to do something FAST to save these big boys.

©2011 Betsy Merchant. Two months ago, Nigel, left with brother Basil, right, sat in a cage at Henry Co., waiting for a miracle.

We began giving them good food, but in carefully controlled portions. Both cats struggled with being very shy. They didn't even want to eat much, at first, but with carful coaxing, they began to come out of their shells. We don't know what their past was like, but it's very possible they were in a confined space and were probably left with a huge bowl of dry food nearby. All they could do is eat. Nigel had sores on his belly from laying in his own urine-a sure sign he may have spent a long period of time with little to no room to move around before he was dumped at the shelter.

Basil & Nigel were transported to the Humane Society of Forsyth County because I had no room to take them to my home in Connecticut. I've worked with Jennifer H. who is in charge of shelter intake. She loved the big boys and offered them space at the shelter. You can read more about their story HERE and HERE

©2011 Jennifer. H. Basil, slimming down to 20 pounds (with more yet to lose) and lookin' fine!

Basil and Nigel didn't do well at the shelter. Clearly, they were terrified. Jennifer took them to her home, where they still have a tough time overcoming their shyness. They've been though a lot and lived in many places over the past few months. No wonder they're struggling.

The good news is that they're both slimming down! I can't believe Basil, pictured above and below, was the once a meatloaf-sized cat!

©2011 Jennifer. H. Basil, still shy, though.

These boys still need a forever home. Their Petfinder Ads are HERE and HERE Please let your siamese-loving friends know about this special duo. There's some hope that a very wonderful family may adopt them both, but right now they still need to slim down and gain some confidence. They're in really good hands and Jennifer H. loves them dearly. She's been very compassionate regarding their care-especially getting them out of the shelter when she saw they were regressing. Way to go, Jennifer. Thank you so much for doing right by these boys!