Posts (page 2)
A reader emailed us and wanted to see what Seven looked like now. She remembered that Seven had gotten adopted the same day that she got her babies - Stella and Flower. Luckily those two had such a happy landing in their new home - no worries about them coming back. I just love Seven's choppy patterns. Today she even made nice with my daughter. Now I need to get a picture of her where she doesn't look so serious since she is usually quite a silly girl!
Another recent return was Mango. She's a gorgeous girl and her attitude problem is so much better! She was returned for "attacking" their 4-year-old. He couldn't walk down the hall without getting his ankles beaten up - all she needed was another cat to play with, but that's hard when she's been raised as an only. She's doing really well being part of the group here. She hasn't played too much with the other cats, but she seems happier being around them - except for at meal times, then she's not in the mood for sharing, but it's getting better!
I got a cuter picture of Calamity Jane today. She is really coming around too. I had a friend over today and was saying how Jane was very friendly (as she was rubbing our ankles) but didn't like to be held and I had no sooner spoke those words when Jane jumped up and tried to climb my friend. I think she did it because my friend is a "dog person" and didn't really want to be climbed! Cats have a sense of humor about these things! I couldn't resist getting the picture of her being a basket case!
In other news, I've started selling my catnip toys as a fundraiser! So if you want your cat to get the best toys ever, stop in at Muddpuppies - they have a jar on the counter and you can pick your own colors! Get one for each of your cats, get one for your friends' cats! It all goes to a good cause. With the increase in gas prices and the uncertain economy, our donations are way down and we're going to be doing some creative fundraising! We're also going to be doing a TJ's Pizza fundraiser soon, so start making room in your freezer!
By the way, here is Mango's baby picture. Her original name was Ho Ho because her mom was SuzyQ and the other siblings were Twinkie and Ding Dong! But without being in a theme-group, Mango sounds better! She came here when she was just 24-hours-old.
I admit it, I think about cat litter way more than the average person and the last couple of days it's been consuming me! I wrote a nice testimonial for Feline Pine a couple days ago, and now I've started switching my fosters over to it as well. (and collecting the points off the side of the box so that I can cash them in for cool stuff!) I added an additional litter box so that the cats that have run of the basement could choose. One box had Cat Attract, one had "donated" litter and one had fresh Feline Pine. At first glance, it didn't look like the pine had been used, but when I went to scoop, I found that it was quite popular! I had also given it to a couple of cats that are in condos and Kiki had a little party with hers. She can be a digger and she had litter as far as she could spread! But she did use the box, a couple of times. The others that got switched over weren't diggers to start with and did a much better job of keeping it clean. I must say that my scooping bag was much lighter tonight because the pine weighs a lot less than the clay.
I also went on the Cat Attract website today http://www.preciouscat.com and wanted to share it with you because I know that a few of you are dealing with litterbox aversion issues. There are many things to try, and this website has some great advice on real life solutions that you can live with. It was cool seeing them saying a lot of the things that I already tell people, but I think that people believe it more when they see it in print.
I know that Miss Kelly is having a couple of minor issues with this and hopefully this will help her stay in her new home - honestly honey, don't do it on the bed again, that's the one place that people won't tolerate it! For my own cats, I offer a kitty litter buffet so that they can choose if they're in a clay or pine mood that day.
Seven let me hold her today! She was so happy to see me that I decided to take the plunge and pick her up and she just relaxed into my arms and made starfish paws. I hate how hard it is on them to lose their home and end up back as a foster, just one of many cats in a strange environment, but she's adjusting. I'm happy to see that she has a good appetite, sometimes they go on a hunger strike when they lose their homes. She's already starting to play with toys again too. She still has a lot of kitten left in her. I always feel so privileged when they open up to me, it's such an honor when a cat considers you a friend.
Seven's favorite toy is a fleece catnip toy that I made. I call them "The World's Best Cat Toy" and now you can buy them at Muddpuppies! I've been sewing up a storm and making my special toys with premium imported catnip. Muddpuppies has them on their checkout counter with a donation jar next to it, so go get your kitty a special toy (handmade by the krazycatlady) and help out the kitties that still need homes. The economy is hitting us hard, donations are down and so we're trying to get creative in thinking of new ways to bring in money.
Life has been busy in krazy cat lady land! Just as we were getting a summer routine, my daughter has been in day camp this week which means 2 hours out of my day at least in getting ready, driving, dropping off (talking), driving home, going back to get her (and they haven't finished on time yet, but at least I'm getting my money worth) then home to make dinner. Try to squeeze in friends and all the cat stuff and it's hard to find time to do things like clean the house.
Today I had to take advantage of the cool morning and met a friend at the dog park on the way home from dropping off the happy camper. Here's a picture that I took of her dog Simon. It was fun, but he was a challenge - way too many cool things to smell and "mark". When another dog joined the fun, my dog Lexi thought that three was a crowd. I can't take Jake to dog parks because he tends not to play well with others, especially as he gets older. So unfortunately, that cut my visit short, but it did give me time to take a shower before my dentist appointment, and I'm sure everyone there was happy not to have to smell me.
Here's a quick kitty update:
Sasha's babies - Tatiana (black girl) had a hernia and had it surgically repaired on Tuesday. I didn't like the way it looked tonight, so she'll be popping in at the vet in the morning. Her twin sister seems to be fighting a cold and is getting eye medicine. She's a fiesty thing and although she purrs when you pick her up, she's a ball of teeth and claws when you want to put goo in her eye. I can't believe how many scratches I have already, but she's getting better about it. If your eye was all swollen and watery, you wouldn't want someone poking at it either!
Venice's babies - 3 are at PetSmart, no calls on them yet :( Naples is still here with a spay appointment at the end of the month. She's becoming much sweeter without her brothers around
Mariposa & friends - she's down to one friend, but in a good way! Someone dropped off a cat at our vet saying that I always take strays in. Lovely - didn't call ahead or anthing. So we got a volunteer foster home to take the kitten, but she wanted a friend for it, so I gave her Cucaracha. Mariposa was a little overwhelmed by how active Cucaracha and Mariquita were, now that it's just the two girls, Mariposa seems happier. She'll still meow for my attention, but she isn't so desperate now and she does cuddle up and sleep with her new sister. Cucaracha and the new kitten are having fun together already and it's always nice having one less cat to care for.
Calliope - she also moved to a different foster home. Tommy (on our website) picks his feline friends carefully, but after living in a bedroom for awhile, he seemed to grow restless and bored, so his wise foster mom asked all of us who she thought would make a good roomie for him and Calliope was my first choice. It's working out really well and the old guy is playing with her.
Jitterbug - I got an email from his new mom that he's doing really well in his new home. She absolutely adores him and thinks that it was a perfect match!
I did have a return this week - Seven. She was found on 7-7-07 and that's how she got her name. She was turned in at the Humane Society of Missouri. Some people think that we're all the same group, some people don't want us to know that they got rid of the cat. Who knows. Their reason was because the wife was pregant. Seven is still a bit shell shocked after losing her home, spending a weekend at the shelter then coming here. She wants to be friendly, but she's not sure about the other cats and hisses when she sees them. Give her a week and she'll be fine. She's a pretty tabby on white, about a year old and declawed. Her markings are really interesting. She looks like someone took a picture of a tabby cat and used photoshop to make random swatches of white. She's short-haired, but extremely soft. Hopefully she'll settle in well and be ready for adoption soon so that she can get back to leading a normal life.
As for myself, I wouldn't know what a normal life looked like anymore! I'm writing this as I'm 1/2 way through scooping the boxes for tonight, I guess I can't put it off any longer. Time to get it done and get to bed.
I'm often asked what my favorite cat litter is and I always jokingly reply "whatever is donated" because it's almost always true that free is good. (of course free pets are never free, but that's a different post)
So on the subject of cat litter, the environment and free is good, I present the following link to you.
http://www.naturesearth.com/specialoffers/
It will take you to the Feline Pine website and offer you a free box of it. This is a litter that I use for my own cats. They have two litter boxes of this and the other two are of Cat Attract. There are a couple of things that I like about Feline Pine. The first is that it's environmentally friendly. It comes from a renewable resource and is biodegradable. I like the smell and it does a great job of masking odors. It also is pretty easy to scoop. Much less dusty as well. I started using it because some got donated and I had a litter of kittens that had lived outside and weren't getting the idea of using the clay litter. So I tried the pine, and they went right to it. I gradually switched them over to the regular litter, but then I started using the pine for my own cats and they really liked it. I especially like that their new packaging is recyclable cardboard! It's also not as heavy to lug around as the clay litter - both when you bring it into the house and when you're taking it back out. It really saves an aching back!
This is an excerpt from their website:
Litter selection is one of the largest health issues for cats and cat owners. All clay and clumping clay cat litters are made from bentonite clay, a non-biodegradable substance that requires environment-damaging strip mining to acquire. The health issue involves the silica dust produced by this substance. Have you ever noticed the large cloud of dust that is produced when you pour a bag of clay litter into the litter box? Most people don’t think this poses a threat, but in actuality silica is listed as a carcinogen!
When cats clean themselves, they ingest particles of litter that have stuck to their paws. Because clay is non-biodegradable, it can build up in the digestive system of a cat, and cause obstruction as severe as complete blockage. Veterinarians also recommend avoiding clay litter after feline surgery, as the litter can infect the wound.
Veterinarians recommend the use of litters such as Feline Pine® to avoid these negative health issues. Feline Pine® is 100% natural, biodegradable pine that has been heated and pressurized to remove any harmful wood oils. It is not only silica dust free, but is proven to have the least dust, in general! The size of the pellets decreases the chance of feline ingestion, and has absolutely no unhealthy contents or qualities. Feline Pine is even recommended for post-surgical recovery.
Saturday was painfully slow, one cat and one dog got adopted. Luckily we had some mid-week action and 3 cats went home on Sunday too.
Dogs: Allie, Joey, Herman,
Cats: Princess Vespa, Mopsy, CJ, Theodore, Simon, Pasha, Echo, Cymone, Duncan, Molina & Jitterbug
Allie: gorgeous golden/shepherd mix, was adopted out as a pup and didn't get along with the other dog in the house. She got adopted this weekend by a wonderful family that fell in love with the picture of her big ears - they stand straight up. I have no doubt that this lovely lady will be pampered beyond belief! They plan to do obedience as well.
Joey: another shelter dog that was black lab & great dane mix - yeah for the black dog finding a home!
Herman: a cute little beagle
Princess Vespa: our gorgeous siamese went home with a single guy, first time cat owner. He had a lot of support from family members that have cats, and he has us to fall back on. He couldn't have picked a nicer cat to start out with. Cross your fingers that she is a good girl and takes it easy on him. He knew that a dog wasn't right for where he is in this stage of life, and our Princess Vespa wants a quiet house. He even understood the Spaceballs reference with her name!
Mopsy - gray tabby kitten, went home mid-week
CJ - black kitten who demanded much attention. Putting her in a cage at PetSmart by herself worked! We hoped to play the sympathy card and got someone hooked. Yay for the black cats getting adopted and CJ will never have to beg for attention again!
Theodore & Simon - little tabby twins, Theodore had a white tip on his tail. Such adorable boys!
Pasha - gray tabby kitten from the litter born at Easter time
Echo & Cymone - kittens that were angora mixes, beautiful fine, white fur!
Duncan & Molina - adorable kittens named after the Cardinals players, one was white with little gray "horns" and the other was a very spunky gray tuxedo.
Jitterbug - a returned maine coon, we're hoping that we found the right home this time. He is a very sensitive cat and will bite when he gets overstimulated, his new mom lives alone and has one other cat and got a long lecture on how to introduce him to the household. Hopefully she can give him the life that he deserves. He's such a sweet and handsome boy, I'd love to know what happened in his past to make him so reactive. He lived here for the last month and really did well in his "rehab", but I don't know how he'll handle change again. Hopefully this is the last time he'll ever have to have a new owner.
I went to the shelter last week and picked up Cucaracha and Mariquita. While I was there I took pictures of their dogs, and I thought I'd share them with you. I love looking at their eyes, so sad, you just want to reach out and comfort them. One of the Heartland dogs showed up there and so after his holding period is up, he'll come back to a foster home.
This is Noah, who was adopted out as a pup, he is terrified to be there but will be back in his foster home next week and available for adoption soon.
I fell in love with this fluffy shepard, if I could foster a dog, I'd take this one home!
This little pup and his friend wanted so much attention, they didn't care that they were in a shelter, they're just happy to be getting fed and to be seeing people. They should get a happily ever after. It's the ones that know better that I feel sorry for. The next dog, with the blue eyes, has been here since he was a tiny pup. He had mange all over and is still fighting it off. Such a sweet boy, he's in for a real treat when he finally gets his forever home.
I'm not sure if this is a husky or malamute or a mix, but this nordic dog is gorgeous! Doesn't belong in a shelter.
It's hard to say if this dog is so terrified because life has been hard or if life has been good and this turn of events is beyond comprehension. Either way, life is very scary for this dog.
What gorgeous brown eyes on this average family dog. He just doesn't understand why he's here. Great dogs like this are available at any shelter. Who knows how they get there and how they handle this change in their lives. Poor babies, not enough happy endings, luckily this shelter has a very low euthanasia rate.
A couple of days ago I was all fired up about the first day of the rest of my life. I was sure hoping to get a whole lot accomplished this week, but life had other plans. I've been sidetracked with a headache for 2 days now. Still I've managed to trudge on and take care of the cats and do some decluttering, but I'm not out saving the world or anything!
Poor little Mariposa is such a cutie, but she's so lonely! Yesterday while we were starting to clean my daughter's room (we actually found the floor and discovered that there's floor under the bed too!) we brought Mariposa up with us so that she could be with us and not so lonely. It was sure fun watching her explore and finding all kinds of new things to play with.
Since Mariposa is spanish for butterfly, we kept with that theme. So the black boy is Cucaracha (cockroach) and the tortie girl is Marquita, which means ladybug. Both are about 6-7 weeks old and very sweet and eager to purr. They should get adopted based on personality!
Tomorrow will be the first adoption day that I take kittens. Palermo had a negative fecal today, so he can come up with Rome and Sicily! Sasha's babies are also going to be there! I also have Calamity Jane and Mango ready to come up, so hopefully I can get them all there and hopefully there will be people ready to adopt and that they're people that I want to adopt to!
The Colbert Report just came on and in his opening he said "Today is the first day of the rest of your life, and it's already 11:30" Gosh, that just seems to sum it up! There is just so much I want to do and just not enough time to do it all.
Now that the kids are home for summer, I have to find a whole new balance again. Obviously, they are the most important part of my life, but it's hard to find the right amount of time to give to them and balance all the things that are important to me. I want to save as many cats as I can. Every time that I think that this is crazy and I want to cut back, I'm sucked right back in by the next sad story. I'd like to help a new shelter get off to a good start, but when our adoptions have stalled, I can't pull more cats from them. I'd like to work out everyday, sew, read, scrapbook, declutter my house, get back into horseback riding and learn to play a musical instrument. I'd also like to become more environmentally active and educate the hicks around here about recycling and making "green" choices. (sorry if you resemble that remark, but it's your planet too and just like you understand the importance of spay and neuter, it really does matter if you throw that aluminum can or plastic water bottle in the landfill) I'd like time to research that and go to the city council and get things changed, but I'm only one person and I can't do it all. I'm hoping to get my Girl Scout troop involved in being little activists! It's time to gear up for the next Trivia Night and I have a million other fundraisers and grants I want to attempt, but just no time.
So yes, it's 11:30 on the first day of the rest of my life and I still have scooping litterboxes to look forward to before bed. I have to ask myself did I use my day wisely? Did I achieve any of my goals? Was I a good mom, Girl Scout leader, wife and foster mom? Did I give myself any time? Even though I do tend to keep myself quite busy, I'd say that I spent today well. I got up early, did email and told people that we don't have room for more cats, carpooled kids to The Painted Pot for a Girl Scout badge workshop, got a friend's kid to babysit, took kids to McDonald's and let them play while I got to talk to other moms, took kids to the orthodontist (where I got to read a chapter in my book!), took kids to the grocery store so they'd have "read food" to eat, made dinner, made my daughter cry by being a mean mom who won't just say yes to everything, was a nice mom who gave lots of hugs and kisses and dried her tears without giving in, went on a quick date with my husband, sewed some cat toys while watching a movie and had a bit of time to write in my silly little blog. I also learned a bit more about a computer/design program to do cool stuff for Heartland and looked at a couple of grant possibilities.
While there were a bunch of other things that could've gotten done today and part of me feels guilty for not getting to them, I guess that making my list makes me feel a lot better about what I did do today. My question for you is how was the first day of the rest of your life? Did you make it a good one? Are you or the world better off because you spent 24 more hours on the planet? If your answer is no, do some thinking and see what you can do tomorrow to change that! I think that so often we sleepwalk through life, just getting by from day to day that we forget that each day is a special gift. Tomorrow is your gift, what do you hope to get out of it?
I'll start enjoying tomorrow very soon since I'll still be up finishing today's gifts. I'm going to pet my dogs and snuggle my fosters and be glad that I get to do it all again tomorrow. That and a million other things!
I really didn't have room for another cat, but what do you do when you get a call from someone who is driving around with a tiny kitten in their car and no where to go with it? So we welcome Mariposa to our clowder. She's almost 6-weeks-old and looks just like one of Sasha's gray babies. She's lonely and confused, very loud and very hungry. That girl can eat the canned food! And when she eats her dry food her teeth kinda squeak on the sides of it because it takes so many chews for that little mouth! I'll have to give her some Royal Canin baby kitten food, it has much smaller pieces.
While I was up at the vet picking her up, they said they were just about to call me. As I feared, the litter with Jackson, Miley and Lilly is FIV+. We'll still try to adopt them out, but it'll be a hard sell. If we still have them at 6 months and a year, they'll get retested to see if their status changes. Their mom was FIV+, so sometimes that can affect the kittens and they'll have a false positive for up to a year. But if you know anyone with FIV+ cats who would like a kitten or kittens, please let them know!!
