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Friday 23 May 2014

Whooops LOL

After spending some time with Nightingale last night, I was handling the kittens and she allowed me to really pick them up and handle them.  I figured that was a good chance to confirm the sex of the kittens... Looks like my initial observation (admittedly is was quick and mostly from observing from further back) was wrong, and ALL 5 ARE FEMALES!  We have to pick ONE new name (Since Robin could be a boy or a girl's name), so Merlin will now become Kestrel, as a nod to her being a girl and not a boy.  Whoda thunk?

Dawn and Dusk are in for their spay/neuters today, Wind came home and is doing great after her spay, and all is well in the world.  I'll post some bigger updates after the weekend, as I plan on ramping up some of the work with Dusk and Dawn as they recover, and with Nightingale also.   Thanks everyone who reads for your support!

Thursday 22 May 2014

Names have been chosen! And updates

We finally figured out names for the feral mother and her kittens.    Mama's name is "Nightingale".   It's pretty and it suits her pretty self.  The biggest kitten is a female light grey tabby, we've named her Chickadee.  The smaller middle grey tabby is a female and we have named her "Sparrow".  The darkest tabby is a male, and we have named him "Merlin".  The orange tabby is a male named "Robin", and last, but hardly least, the little black runt is named "Raven". 

Kittens happily eating while mom is hand-fed.
We've had Nightingale for several weeks now.  It's been a slow process getting her to accept us and not be terrified at the first indication of human activity, but I'm pleased to report, we have PROGRESS!   Hubby was actually the first one to make a breakthrough, touching her and her babies without any reaction other than a mild hiss, which stopped when he scratched her chin.  She lifted her chin to accommodate him, that's usually a cat's way of saying "Sure, I'll take some more of that, if you can do it right HERE".    He's done a great job making buddies with her, and that definitely paved the way for more progress for me.
Raven loves to be the center of attention.

I feed mama her wet food by hand daily, holding the plate while she cleans it up, making the food-association and ideally, reducing her threat level of human smell gradually until it's not a trigger anymore.  I've also started giving her EXTRA special treats by hand (leftover fillet mignon, sausage, all kinds of things that smell really good and taste good too), and she's got no problems now with my fingers near her face.  I didn't want to touch her though and make backwards progress, but once Joel informed me he touched her, I reached out last night and touched her myself.  She trembled a little at first, but I gingerly moved my scritching-finger around and under her chin, and sure enough, she allowed me to scratch.  By the time I was done, she was leaning against the side of the kitten box, eyes closed in pleasure, and definitely not having any issues with my contact.  Of course, when I was done, she had to give me a cursory hiss, just so she could make sure I knew that she was still in charge.   Silly girl. 
Raven - being heartbreakingly adorable!

Dawn and Dusk I had to move out of the bedroom into a kitty-only room.  They have taken to marking ME, when I'm sleeping.  Standing right on me and PEEING on me.  Claiming ownership, trying to show who's boss, who knows, but it will be easier to deal with them when not having to get up at 3 am and change the bedding.  They are still making progress though, and our house-guest, Precious, is helping to show them the way.

Wind is off getting spayed.  I'll be picking her up tonight on the way home.  She's come from being a terrified cat who hid and hissed, to a loving, DEMANDING kitty who adores pets, loves cuddling, and doesn't even mind being picked up.  As soon as she's healed, she'll be going out to a store to find her forever home. 

Sunday 18 May 2014

The good, the bad, and the ranty....

I told myself when I chose to start blogging, that I wasn't going to be one of those bloggers who has these huge rants.    Unfortunately, I don't think that I'm going to be able to sustain my original intentions.   There's just some things that you see in rescue that are rant-worthy, even if you aren't normally a ranter....   But I digress, and will try to keep is less rant-y and more blog-y...

Feral mom with her kittens.  Not too thrilled with the phone in my hands

First off, great news, FINTAN FOUND HIS FOREVER HOME!  Apparently, his adopters were originally looking for a tabby, but Fintan being who he is (ab-so-freakin-lutely adorable!), he stole their hearts and snagged himself a family.  Good on ya, little buddy!


Things are progressing with the other cats... Mama Feral (we ARE working on names, I promise) is still coming along slowly, although I see progress every day.  Her kittens are doing well, I finally got a few horribly lit quick pictures (mom is TERRIFIED of my phone/camera so I try not to stress her with it).
Dawn and Dusk are moving quickly (as I thought they would).  They are starting to allow brief contact and are very curious.  They love to play and have easily engaged.  Duck adores them and comes in often to groom and play with them.  Trouble is still recovering from a booboo on her eyelids, but still manages to play with them around her cone.

Babies relaxing while mom eats.  The little black runt is so cute!!

Bianca is now spayed and ready to go to her forever home in a few days. 

Here comes the rant part, but it's starts with a bit of a story..   I think I've mentioned before this lovely family in Hamilton who helps the neighbourhood strays.  When she finds cats or kittens who have been dumped, she calls me, because she knows that generally, I can help her get them into the hands of a rescue and help.  This lady and her family are fantastic, and have helped us to keep numerous cats out of the hands of animal control.  She got in touch with me at the end of last week to let me know about a stray cat she saw going through her area, and it seemed the mom had kittens.  Mom was in rough shape, but she managed to get her into the house by grabbing the kittens and mom followed.  I said I would ask around and see who had space to take them, and if she could hang onto them for a little while until I had a placement.  She agreed, and I began my search.  Of course, my first go-to is Lori, but at that moment, we were really full, so my next go to is the wonderful Karen from Ninth Life Cat Rescue.  Her and Lori have worked together to get families placed, and in rescue, it's always about the animals.. once it becomes about ego or partisanship, the only ones to really suffer are the animals.  Karen agreed to take the family, but needed a few days to get her current cats shuffled around to accommodate.  That was fine, I knew the family was safe, so I was pleased.

Mom and babies enjoying a nice meal.
End of the week came, and I went to see the Hamilton Hero family to pick up mom and babies.  I was greeted at the door by the sweetest little black and white baby...  soon to be followed by the whole brood.  Mom followed close behind.  My very first thought when I saw her was awe.  She's easily one of the most stunning cats I've ever seen for markings and coloring.  My second though was Oh wow, this poor girl is in rough shape.   She was basically a skeleton with fur, and I knew in that moment if my HH family had not taken her in when they did, she would have been dead and her kittens probably soon to follow, especially considering that this is an area extremely bad for dumped and abandoned cats, and trappings happen there regularly.  A good deal of the trap cats at HAC, in fact.  I got the family packed up, thanked the wonderful lady again for helping us and being patient and went along my way.

Dinner's even better when you sit in the dish!!
It turned out I needed to keep the family for a few days to allow the wonderful Ninth Life people to deal with their shuffles, but that was ok for me.  It's not often I actually get "undamaged" cats on a social level to enjoy.  And this little family is NOTHING but enjoyment.  The kittens are adorable, mom is a love (as well as stunning, have I mentioned that yet?), and all are in dire need of some serious food and care.  No problem, my pleasure.  As I got the family settled into their temporary digs, I got really really angry.  I just couldn't (and still can't) imagine how ANYONE could dump or abandon such an incredible little cat!?   WHO DOES THAT?  I do understand that it can be difficult when renting, but people really need to make themselves aware of what the laws are.  Last I was aware, the laws in this province don't LEGALLY allow a landlord to deny a person to have a pet.  Yes, they may discriminate when you make an application if you mention you have pets, but the reality is they CANNOT PREVENT YOU FROM HAVING THEM, except under special circumstances outlined in the Landlord and Tenant act.    Don't believe me, look it up!  And these days, with a TON of low cost spay and neuter programs, there is NO EXCUSE not to have your pets spayed or neutered!!!  A simple Google search can help you find one in your area! The vast majority of these dumped or abandoned cats were not fixed, and are in turn adding to the feral populations, which feeds into the circle.  Rescues do all we can, but unless people take responsibility, there is no way any group can keep up.  They are outside, half starved, subjected to the elements, kids and even adults harassing or abusing them, sometimes ending up trapped (and traumatized) and in animal control, marked for death.  Or even worse, dying by a wild animal bite, of wounds from fighting, from rampant illness, or car tires.  There are a lot of dangers out there for a cat.
Two cuties in need of an after-dinner bath!


A PET IS FOR LIFE!!  Sure, there are some circumstances that would require someone to re-home a pet.  That is for sure.  But when you assume responsibility for an animal, it means that if you can't keep them, you have to be responsible to find them a GOOD PLACE TO BE!  Rescues are a good place to start, even if they can't take them, they can often help you find one who can.  The vast majority of rescues have very strict guidelines and standards regarding who adopts the animals, not to mention, they will vet them if needed.   If you had to give up your child, due to circumstances beyond your control, would you not want to ensure that they went somewhere that loved them as much as you did?  The fact that people can be so vile, so petty, so irresponsible with another life, a life that loves them and depends on them, just absolutely baffles my mind.  Maybe it's a lack of education.  Maybe it's a statement about the general direction of society.  I don't  know, and I don't care.  But the work we do would probably not be necessary or as overwhelming if people just stepped up to the plate and did what was right by their animals.  A cat or a dog is not a stuffed toy to be dumped off at the second hand store when you're done with them.  They are a commitment, just like marriage, just like having children, and if you aren't willing to commit to them, don't do it!  Walk right past the "adopt a kitten" sign and carry on with your life.
This is how skinny Mom is when she stands up.  

Perhaps that may seem a bit stern, or harsh, but myself, and the other people I know in rescue have to clean up after the leavings of irresponsible people every day.  The plight of this one gorgeous mom and her kittens is a testament to that, but in reality, it never should have had to come to this.  She never should have been dropped outside to fend for herself, have kittens and try to survive in a harsh world of man.  I am only incredibly grateful for the wonderful rescue people and groups that work to give these cats another chance at happy, safe lives.  Thank you to Karen at Ninth Life and all her people for being part of the next steps in their journey to that life.  Thank you Lori for helping out (co-ordination wise) and caring.   These people are truly heroes, and the lives they touch with their efforts, the cats and the families that take them into their homes and hearts, would never be the same (or would have ended tragically) without their efforts.


If you are committed to give one of these wonderful cats a loving home, and enrich your life beyond measure, please consider adopting through a rescue. The lovely mom and her kittens will be available for adoption through Ninth Life Cat Rescue.   The people there are fantastic, and they will make sure that they are all healthy and happy when they are ready for their new homes.  They have a bit of a journey to get there, but I know they are in the right hands.

Stunning mom and her coat of many colors and patterns.

Mom and her brood resting with full tummies!

There are also wonderful cats and kittens available through the rescue I foster with, Neveah's Charity of West Lincoln.  Many of these cats are rehabilitated from abuse or neglect, or rescued from sure death marked as ferals.  They have lots of love to give!   And if you can't adopt, or just aren't ready to take the plunge, please consider donating to these rescues.  They go to any lengths to get cats healthy, but vets aren't cheap, and even $5 is $5 more than they had before, and may make the difference in the health of a cat.

If you're still reading by this time, thanks! :)


Tuesday 13 May 2014

AMAZING NEWS!!!!! And lots of other neat news, too....

Lots going on, but when isn't that the case?  I should just stop using that as my preamble, but it's the truth!  Lots of news to report though, and lots more fun challenges ahead!


First off, I got news that the lovely Bobby has been adopted!  He's a super sweet boy and totally deserved the best forever home.  Good luck on your journey, sweet boy!!

Trade at Pet Valu.

More news, Trade got adopted the day after he went into the Pet Valu!  It was by a family who apparently comes in there a lot, so I'm hoping to get updates, I'll share as I have them.  I couldn't be more pleased!

Bianca is now dry, and is having her spay done Friday.  She will be going to her forever home after that, and I'm very excited.  The lovely lady who is adopting her always had bad experiences with cats, until she met my best friend's cats.. then she realized they aren't all bad.  Bianca will certainly finish changing her mind about cats, she's such a sweet girl and will give this lady many years of love and companionship.  Can't wait for her next chapter!

Fintan at the Pet Valu, entertaining everyone with cuteness!

Her kittens have had a bit of a rough go lately.  Dhaval and Nerys unfortunately contracted a skin infection (the vet feels it was due to their already-depressed immune systems), and will need to stay with us a bit longer, until they are finished their medication.  Fintan, though, was completely unaffected.  He's off to Pet Valu to find his own forever home (if Lori doesn't scoop him first, she has a thing for white cats and if ever a white cat was irresistible, it's Fin!).    Everyone adores him, I have no doubt it won't be long before he's off to his forever home too.

Wind is still with us.. She's finishing her medication, and then she will be off to be spayed and find her forever home.  She's more than ready (she's turned into a right lovebug, and a very confident cat!), she just has to get over her nasty cough first!  It won't be long now... She deserves to be loved in her own home!

Feral mama (she doesn't have a name yet and neither do the kittens, we're working on this) gets a little better every day.  I can't do my usual of having other cats help with her, because, well, she'd eat any other cats protecting her kittens, so with her, we are formulating a different strategy.  It may take a little longer, but it should ideally end up with the same result.  She doesn't go completely panic-stricken when we walk in the room anymore (and mad props to hubby for working as hard with her as I have been), and she's even starting to return slow blinks.  I've started feeding-therapy (as I think of it in my head).  Being present in the room, still and silent, close to her wet food, and staying there for the duration of her eating it.  I move a little closer each time, and as she realizes nothing bad happens, and smells the mingled scent of me and her food, she will eventually associate people with good things, and that's how it starts.  Right now I'm able to get as close as a few inches to her while she's eating.  I don't want to over-push her challenge lines, because if I stress her out excessively, it could potentially affect her milk production, so slow and steady wins the race.   She'll get there, I have no doubt.

Dusk and Dawn in their HAC mugshot
I have two new ferals..... two black kittens Lori saw at Hamilton and could not leave behind.  They are very cute, but one is especially traumatized from the experience of being trapped.  They spent an unhappy first night in the house, scared of the thunderstorm and growling every time the thunder clapped (it's sort of funny, until you try to sleep through it).   We have named them Dusk (male) and Dawn (female), and they should be quick, being that they are young.  That of course, depends on the extent of the trap-trauma, but I'm sure they will come around.  If Lori hadn't pulled them, they had two strikes..they were feral AND black.  Most rescues wouldn't bother with the black ones.. they're harder to adopt.   I'm glad Lori doesn't leave these cats to die, though... not if they can be helped.  We will get them sorted!
 
Finally, the biggest, best news ANYONE could possibly have given me last night.  As I arrived to Lori's store to pick up Dawn and Dusk,   she had just finished a phone call from the store that has Lomasi.  It was Lomasi's potential adopter, asking a few questions about her.   SHE GOT ADOPTED!!!!!! LOMASI HAS A FOREVER HOME!!!!

The beautiful Lomasi at Pet Valu.
 I was beside myself with excitement, and as soon as I got home I told everyone and they cheered, and our youngest daughter even did a little jig.  I have misty eyes of happiness even now as I'm writing this.    It's what we DO this work for in the first place!  We are all going to work very hard to make sure that Dawn and Dusk, and Feral mama and her kittens, and all the cats we deal with, all have the same wonderful conclusion.  Lomasi, Trade, Wind, Dusk, Dawn, all of these cats would have simply been killed as feral cats.  No chance, no hope, no future.  It's people like Lori who's intense dedication and wish to see these cats have a fighting chance that makes it happen.  My family just happens to have the honor and privilege of helping her out.  It's an honor to meet these beautiful little souls, and to help them to find themselves again.  There's no feeling in the world like knowing they are off to be in homes filled with love and have a place to call their own forever instead.   Hubby says we are making a difference one cat at a time.  Today, I definitely believe him!



Wednesday 7 May 2014

SWAMPED...but pleased...

I've been too busy to blog lately, so much going on, but I figured I'd post an update so people understand why I'm quiet.  I do have a few long posts in me, but definitely not right now!  Some quick updates:

-Lomasi is off at PetValu and is a darling.  She's settled in fine and isn't a bit scared.  Bobby has settled into his PetValu location as well, and both have adoption interest!  Here's to them finding forever homes!

-Bianca and her white kittens have been separated.  They are pretty much weaned anyways, she needs her milk to dry up so she can be spayed, but she already has a forever home waiting for when she's ready!

-Trade and Wind have made AMAZING progress!  Trade is a little lover who adores being pet, and isn't afraid to yell at you if you aren't petting him THAT VERY SECOND!  He's fixed, and literally is ready to go.   Wind had a bit of a URI, so she has to get past that and get spayed before she can move on, but aside from a little skittishness (which lessens every day), she's essentially ready, too!

We have a new challenge... a mom who was listed as "feral" who gave birth at animal control.  The poor thing was trapped, then had her babies the next day!  She was marked as feral, and there was a good chance she and her babies would have been "marked", but the amazing Lori to the rescue pulled them, and they are now with me.  Mom is ABSOLUTELY terrified, not feral at all, if you ask me, but that's not all that surprising.  She has had some pretty traumatic experiences and has had no reason to trust humans for a long time.   We've got her in a quiet room to herself, and we visit regularly and talk quietly to her.  But she will definitely need some extra time, with the trigger of her newborn kittens being there will make her that much more defensive that much faster.  It should be an interesting challenge, getting her to trust us WHILE working to ensure the kittens are socialized to humans and able to get into forever homes.  Still sort of formulating a plan with this one, observing her, working slowly most of all, but I know there's hope.  She doesn't have mean eyes, and much of her body language and communication is that of fear and terror, not of anger or aggression.  I will see if I can't get some pictures of her and her adorable little babies, and post an update later this week.....

And if anyone wonders why I've been busy.. yeesh!



Friday 2 May 2014

Been busy - but we have a breakthrough!!

Wow, what a crazy busy week!   Aside from work and other normal-life business, there's been cat busy-ness too!  Lomasi is at the store waiting for adoption.  She's done better than I ever dreamed she would going into a strange and sometimes scary environment and owning it, not to mention, making everyone fall in love with her.  Bobby is in a store and has some people interested in adopting him....   Bianca is ready to separate from her kittens, dry up, get spayed and go on to her forever home.  The kittens are almost old enough to get adopted, but unfortunately two of them have a skin infection and will need to stay a bit longer.  The third one, Fintan, is unaffected so we're figuring out how to handle that.   Trade and Wind are carrying on along.   Wind has a bit of a penchant for peeing where she's not supposed to, but we're working on that too.

Both Trade AND Wind now enjoy human company.  Not jump in your lap and cuddle up enjoyment - yet - but when people enter the room, they seek out human attention.  In fact, Trade, the little booger, screams at me with his tail in the air in greeting, DEMANDING that I pay attention to him, purring without me even touching him, yet when I tried to pet him, he'd run away...  .rinse, lather, repeat.  But finally, my husband mentioned the other day he managed to pet Trade, if briefly. . My husband works from home, so he's with Trade more than anyone.  I sort of figured if someone made a breakthrough there, it would be him.  It seems they have a little something going on, so far be it from me to not take complete advantage of them taking a shine to each other... :)

Then, yesterday, I came into the room, Trade did his usual "PET ME DON'T TOUCH ME" dance, and I'd had enough.  I followed him to where he flopped down, and just went for it.  He flinched a little at first, but he let me pet him and didn't hiss, swipe, or otherwise discourage it.  I scratched behind his ears and gently stroked around his neck and higher on his back, and then got brave and reached around to scratch his chin.  A purr erupted from him that sounded like a tractor trailer starting up!  We had about a 10 minute love session, and he was finished, but hey, BREAKTHROUGH!  Now that I've pet him once, he will tolerate it more often.  We had several more short love sessions through the evening.  He can only handle so much before his instinct is to nip, but I find that's very common with feral and feral-born cats for the first little while.  They are very easily overwhelmed by stimulation they aren't used to, so you sort of have to slowly up the doses over time.  After a while they give over to it (or they don't, some cats will never tolerate a lot of petting or handling, not even non-ferals), and then things get easy.  Trade is almost ready.  Getting him past being a little skittish won't take long now that the barrier is broken.  Not that he had ANY problems sleeping ON TOP of my head on my pillow at night (But OHHH NO I couldn't pet him.. grumble).  He may already even have a home.  Lori has a lovely man who's interested in him, I can get him ready and he will be adopted right away, ideally.  Wind will need a little more time.  She's VERY small, we felt she probably wasn't quite ready physically for a spay yet....  She had a touch of upper respiratory, and she just had a heat.  It stressed her out enough that the respiratory thing kind of went a little further, so she's off to see the vet shortly and we will get her sorted so we can get her spayed.  She's doing great too, and was the first to allow us to pet her.  She's still VERY scaredy, but I do not see her taking long at all.  She really loves pets when she forgets to be scared of people, and she's forgetting longer and more often now.   Soon, she will move on too..


Of course, Lori being who she is..... Saw a family at animal control with a mother listed as "feral'.  And from the behavior reports, she probably is.   With 5 newborns she had at animal control a few days ago.  Lori couldn't leave the family there to be sent off to die for no other reason than being feral - And I agree with here.  Mama's not going to be scared and overly defensive and protective at ALLLLLLLLLLLLL......   I guess it's always fun to have a challenge, right?  Time to invest in some more alcohol, bandaids, and polysporin.. .it's going to be a FUN weekend LOL.