Things just keep rolling along.....

Lots happening, but isn't there always?     Kittens grow, kids grow, the world turns, and cats get dumped.  Seems to be the way things are lately.   The high kill shelter in our area is stuffed with cats and kittens, and a good majority of them are dumped, or are the products of dumped cats.  Some days, it feels like a hopeless cause, getting cats out just to see more show up, but it's a labor of love.  We try to save as many as we can, but at least we get some out.  Lori is pretty amazing when it comes to taking the cats that others leave behind, and it feels good to know that someone cares!  There are other rescues that take tough-case cats, but I think Lori is sort of famous (Infamous?) for it.   I couldn't be happier about that... I love a challenge, and she never has a lack of providing me with challenges!

New hissy.  Hard to get good pics when they move a lot!

The hissy kittens from a few weeks ago were basically ready, with the exception of one particularly terrified little Tortie.  Poor thing was just not ready to go.   So I'm keeping her to continue working with her, and the other three (Jetson, Smoke, and Houdini) are off to the store to find their forever homes.  They still aren't huge fans of being picked up, but Lori will help them with that at the store.  Sometimes having them exposed to that environment really helps progress their development faster, and kittens are SO adaptable!   Miss Tortie (we are calling her Meesha), will be coming around in no time.  There are some things kittens can't resist, and play is one of them.  She's already come out of her shell a bit more since the others left last night.... with the scared ones, sometimes divide and conquer is the way to get things done.

A VERY unhappy tabby hissy.   Can't wait to win him over!

Lori and I discussed last night, but we have come to the conclusion that Dusk and Dawn would indeed do best in a barn cat program.  They are not afraid of people anymore, and yell at me for food, for play, etc, but NOTHING, and I mean NOTHING, will interest them in allowing to be pet.  Precious (their den-mother) has done a lot to move them past the last bit of fear they had of people.  When he comes for love, they come and scream at me because I'm not letting him give THEM attention, and they are just not interested in attention from people.  They aren't scared, they aren't aggressive, they just aren't INTERESTED.   That's ok.  They are allowed to be like that, now it's a matter of finding them a safe place to be (they are fixed, microchipped, and vaccinated), and Lori is working on that.  I felt a bit defeated at first, but the reality is, not every cat who comes to us will want to be a companion.  I'm ok with that.  They will go somewhere safe, and live happy lives chasing mice and lounging in patches of sun....

Little black hissy trying to melt away from view....

Nightingale's kittens are growing so fast it's scary.  They go for their vaccinations next week, then they will be going off to an adoption event to find their own forever homes. It will be bittersweet, but it always is with babies you raise, and they are wonderful little kitties who deserve wonderful homes.  They will have great lives.   Them being gone will also mean we can really concentrate on Nightingale and getting her into a more comfortable state.  She's a love, and she deserves to be comfortable.  We adore her.  Hard to believe when she came she was so protective and terrified, she wouldn't even make eye contact, and would growl even if you just moved around her.  Now, she's a lover, a tv addict, and loves junk food (we found she LOVES potato chips... long story, but we have to keep potato chips away from her LOL). 

Lori managed to save some other kitties the other day, and she scooped them BEFORE they made it into HAC.  Someone has trapped them, apparently they had a bunch of feral kittens running around their back yard.  They caught some, and were bringing them to HAC, but Lori miraculously saw them before they walked in the doors, she peered into the carrier, and that was that.  She agreed to take them and now they are with me.   They are all hissy, obviously feral born, but literally are already coming around (just overnight!).  I think more than anything they are scared and hyper-vigilant, and they've already realized I am the bringer of foods.....  So they watch me closely and have even meowed a few times when I enter their room.  It won't take long at all.  

This weekend, I am picking up Heart, the cat from the local humane society.  They reached out to me for help with her as a last resort.  They just aren't set up for dealing with scared or feral cats.  She is a little growly if you move quickly, and their volunteers are a little scared of her when she's like that.   Otherwise, it seems like they have done a really great job and gotten her quite a long way down the road to rehab.... She just needs a change of scenery and a specialized touch to get her the rest of the way.  MAD props to the ladies at Burlington Humane for working so hard with her so far, and for not giving up on her.  I promise I will do my best, and so will my entire family, to get the lovely Heart adoptable and help her to blossom into the kitty they know she can be.   She's a lovely girl, and when we went to see her, I could see that she's just at the cusp of crossing over.  Some kitty friends to guide her along the way (Duck and Trouble will be huge with this girl), and the right kind of approach, and I'm very confident she will be adoptable and happy as someone's companion.   I look forward to the transformation! 

The lovely and elegant Miss Heart!

If you are interested in adopting, fostering, or even donating, every little bit helps.  I know I always say this, but the need has never been greater.  We will be putting together some fundraiser events for NCWL in the next little bit, and would love to have any support we can get.   The rescues run 100% on donations, and even $5 is $5 more than they had.  That $5 can be the difference for a cat.  I'll post some information when we have some good events planned.  Please feel free to follow NCWL on Facebook as well for up-to-the-minute information about events and kitties finding forever homes!

Thank you so much for reading.   I can't thank everyone enough for supporting this blog and our efforts to help the cats.   It makes it that much more rewarding to know that people care.   :)

Sometimes tired is all there is.....

Yep, I'm tired.  It's been a whirlwind of a month so far and it doesn't appear to be slowing down anytime soon.   Between the day job, the kids, the cats, and just normal household upkeep, some days I'm amazed I make it to bedtime.   I am not complaining, I would rather be busy than bored, but it's definitely a challenge some days to balance it all out.

I wish I could just work with the cats all the time, but of course, I have to pay the bills, and volunteer work doesn't pay so well.   Someday, my dream is to make this my career somehow.  But for now, I just have to keep working out the balance of life/work/passion. 

I'll get to the meat and potatoes and share what's been going on with the kitties at hand.

Nightingale watching over her playful kittens

Dusk and Dawn are still with me for a while longer.   They proved to be tougher nuts to crack than we thought.  Even after being fixed, they were both still pretty sketchy, and took to peeing on me in my sleep.   Funny, until you have to get up at 3 am to strip bedding and wash it.  LOL!  Either way, I moved them into their own room for a while, and am working with them every day.   They weren't QUITE ready to be handled and be stressed out when I had to take them in for their fixing, and it did set them back a little.  But with the help of our houseguest, Precious, they are slowly coming around.  They are not cuddlers, and probably never will be, but now they greet me happily when I come into the room, take food from my hands, and play with me.  I can touch them briefly, but that's about all they will tolerate. It's still in the air as to whether they will be gentled enough to become companions cats, or if they will go into a barn cat program.  I think we'd all much prefer them to be companion cats, but in some cases, the feral runs too deep and the best you can get is that they don't hate or fear humans, they just don't really want to be around them.  It would be a shame, but at the same time, you have to do what's best for the cat.  I'm not ready to give up completely yet, but I have to admit it's a little saddening at times.  It is what it is, and all anyone can do is their best.   Most importantly, they weren't euthanized just for being ferals, and that's the goal.  No cat deserves to die just because they are a feral.  Every life is important.   This is one major thing I'm glad that Lori believes too.   She keeps rescuing the ferals and difficult cats, and I will keep helping her with them.  The pretty cats, the friendly cats, they are easy, and the other rescues can have them if they like.  Every life is precious and worth saving.   Thank goodness for Lori.

Chickadee and Raven posing in a kitty pile

Nightingale is doing extremely well.  She has turned into a regular lovebug.  She loves people and loves being around them, and she especially loves TV.  She will watch for hours from her spot on the floor.  No way in the world this cat was ever feral.  Terrified, in pain, sure.  Feral, never.  We will be taking her for her xrays soon, but as she is ok and manages, we decided to wait until her kittens were gone before we started to stress her out with xrays, poking, prodding, and potential treatment for her disability.   It's an old injury for sure, pelvis or legs or both.  I can't imagine how she survived, pregnant, crippled, in pain.  Makes sense as to why she was thin as a rail when she came.   I have no idea how she hunted and fed herself while pregnant with her mobility so compromised.  She is a miracle and so are her kittens.    They are absolutely little darlings, too, so I'm glad she made it and so did they.  They are growing like weeds!  7 weeks old now, in a few more weeks they will be ready to head to their forever homes.   A definite victory for all involved, and especially for them and whoever gives them forever homes.  They are all little angels and will make anyone wonderful life companions!

Robin snuggled up

I have had a special project this last week as well.  7 fully feral kittens, about 10 weeks old, who needed socialization before they could go into the stores.  All hissy fussy little pisspots, but I love them.  Kittens trying to be tough is one of the funniest things ever!  In reality, they are just scared, without their mom, and aren't really sure what to make of all the fuss.  Three of them only took a few days and have already headed off to the store.  The last four are the more frightened of the bunch, and will probably take a few more days before they are ready to go.  There's one in particular, an orphan who was all by himself, trapped, brought in, malnourished, and was thrown in with a bunch of other kittens so he wouldn't be alone.  I call him "Houdini", because he can get out of anything and can get in anywhere....  But it's fairly obvious he's been through deeper trauma than just being separated from his mom and trapped.  Trap-trauma is bad enough.  This little guy is scared of humans for more reasons than just that, I think.  I plan to get to the bottom of it, but I have a feeling he's going to be here for a while.  Poor little guy.  The others are just more scared and are already making leaps and bounds.  A few more days, they will be good to go.  It's nice when you can get the scared/feral ones when they are really young, because they are like children; move past fear more quickly, are more motivated by play and food, they are just closer to the blank slate than an older cat who's experienced major trauma.  Helping them before bad habits and paralyzing fears become crystalized and ingrained is the best way to help them.  I'm confident they will find forever homes quickly!

Raven: "Whyfore you blind me wif dat bright ting!?"

This week I was also contacted by a local Humane Society to help them with one of their cats.   She's good with other cats, but is TERRIFIED of humans.  Unfortunately the Humane Societies are not set up to deal with scared or feral cats.  They are a place that is set up to adopt friendly, settled cats into forever homes.  They don't have many options when it comes to helping the scared ones, although I firmly believe they do the very best they can.  I agreed to do what I could to help them help the cat, and have built a basic plan.  I'm heading out there today to meet her, assess her, and hopefully give the staff some advice for things that they can do that will help her move past her fear.  I have to get some kitties off my plate before I could take her to work with her, and honestly, I think that with the right techniques, the staff there could be taught how to handle cats like this and get them normal and adoptable, or at the very least make assessments between "feral" and "scared".  It would be awesome if that could happen.  Either way, I don't want a sad end for this little girl, and neither do they, so I will do what I can to help her out.  If I have to take her for a while, I will :) From how she's been described, though, once the fear is gone, she will be an amazing cat.  She's good with other cats and likes them, that is always helpful in showing them the way.  Another little soul who deserves life.   She's going to get the best chance possible.  I'm mostly just relieved that they reached out for help instead of giving up, which would be the easy route.  Nothing about cat rescue and rehabilitation is easy, but the payoff in the end is so immensely huge, it's all worth it.

There is always something you can do to help.  If you are a photographer, helping your local rescue get really great pictures of cats and kittens gets them adopted more quickly.  If you can drive cats to appointments or help out that way, you are STILL MAKING A DIFFERENCE.  A donation of $5 might not seem like much, but it might be that last $5 needed to get a cat a surgery or medical procedure that could save their life.  If you are willing to open your home to foster, please consider it.  And if you are looking for a cat to adopt, please adopt a rescue!  Rescues have so much love to give!!  You will never find a more grateful pet than a rescue.   If you are interested in adopting any of Nightingale's kittens when they are old enough, or the former ferals, or any kind of cat at all, please contact Lori at Neveah's Charity of West Lincoln and she will help you find what you are looking for!  You can also find links to some of the other rescues we love in the links section of the blog.  All are awesome, and you will be sure to find the kind of cat that's suitable for you and your home.  Please adopt don't shop!

I love happy endings!

Well, it's been a while, but as it ALWAYS is around our house, it's been crazy and hectic and busy.  That's not a bad thing, I know I'd rather be busy than bored, but it does make it hard to find time for updates sometimes.

The beautiful miss Wind!

This was a weekend with TWO happy endings.  First off, the beautiful Wind went to her forever home... even before she made it into a store!  A lovely couple adopted a cat from Lori as a companion to their current cat who's companion had passed away.   Unfortunately, the first cat was not a match to the household, and they returned her to Lori.  Lori wasn't about to give up, and thought that Wind would likely be a good match to the family.  She was right!  They fell in love with her beautiful looks right away, and she's now getting herself settled into her new forever home with her new play buddy!  We couldn't be more happy, she absolutely deserves it. 

Another happy ending...Bianca!  This is the mother who was horribly ill during her pregnancy, as well as being vaccinated while pregnant.  It was a struggle for her and her babies, but she got spayed, got healthy, and we found her a forever home as well!  My BFF had a friend (who I also knew but not as well) who'd lived with a horribly aggressive cat for years with her ex, and was actually afraid of cats.  She got past that meeting my BFF's cats, and when I mentioned that Bianca would need a forever home and would make a cat lover out of anyone, the connection was made!  Bianca would go to this lady to be her princess!  It was something of a road trip to deliver her, but she is now firmly ensconced in her new home, and settling in nicely.  The lady fell INSTANTLY in love with the beautiful Bianca, and I know it's a match made in heaven!  Congratulations Bianca, you deserve it!

Gorgeous Bianca with her babies.

New updates:  Dusk and Dawn will be moving into the youngest's room.  Taking them to the vet for their spay/neuters set them back a little so we sort of had to re-start the program.  I normally like to wait until all trust is in place to do vetting, but these too were too close to the brink and had to be fixed pronto.  They are in the kitty room right now, and we do visit them regularly, but there's something to be said for them being around sleeping humans.  It seems like they get a lot out of people being totally non-threatening (to predators, another predator sleeping around them is a sign of trust), and I think this will move their progression forward much faster.  I don't forsee it taking long, and the youngest is extremely good with ferals.  She has a knack of making them trust her very quickly.  She is definitely helpful!

With Wind leaving, it opened up our room to having Nightingale and her kittens move into the bigger room.  Now that Nightingale is trusting us more, I wanted to speed up that progression, and also have a chance to observe her much more closely.  I knew something was up with her, but wasn't 100% sure what because she wasn't moving around a lot away from the kittens.  This is normal with a feral, scared, protective mom, but it seemed to me like this was something more.  Her eyes weren't reacting the way they should to light, and I was SURE I saw her stumble a little moving around a few times.  Now I am sure.  Fairly sure her vision is disabled.. She seems to register movement, but doesn't recognize anyone unless she smells them or they speak.  As soon as she registers motion she hisses, and has to cock her head around the other way to get a better look.   Makes sense why she seemed more scared than usual.. if her vision is bad she's going to be more reactive to perceived "threats".

L to R: Chickadee, Robin, Raven, Kestrel, and Sparrow

Moving her into the bigger room, though, definitely showed more issues than I initially thought.  I saw her move around, as the kittens were in their glory tearing around all over the room and exploring their new space, and I realized, this cat has a badly healed old injury.  Either  a broken leg, or some kind of pelvic damage.  She stands funny and has a hard time weight-bearing on her back hind leg.  It sticks out a bit funny too.  I checked her over and there's no swelling, nothing CURRENT that's causing the condition.  Her temp is fine, her heartrate is fine, and there is no external damage that I can see, but there is definitely an old injury there, and it's causing her pain and discomfort as she moves around.  We will be taking her to the vet this week to have him look into it, and I'm keeping my fingers crossed that it's nothing extremely serious or permanent, but my feeling is this will not be the case. Either way, she's making great progress on the social front.  She now thoroughly enjoys petting and chin-scratches (after her initial startle reaction), and is now coming out to lay in the room.  In fact, I'm quite sure that this cat is nothing close to feral, but was dumped or lost.. because she seems more comfortable in a home environment than any cat I've seen that was truly "feral".   That, and we discovered one interesting, and amusing thing.  Nightingale LOVES TV!

Nightingale avidly watching TV

The first time we turned it on with her in the room, her ears perked up, she moved out to somewhere she could look, and she happily watched House on Netflix with us for hours!  It was the sound that perked her to it, and something tells me, she's enjoyed TV before.  Poor darling, I can't imagine what she's been through, but that is all in the past, and she's never going to be neglected or hurt again.  We will make sure of it!

The kittens are doing extremely well.  They are sweet, social little things, although Robin and Raven are a little shy at first.  All five girls are running around like crazy, and the three larger ones, Kestrel, Chickadee, and Sparrow, have all started eating wet food!  This is great, because it will fill them up more and take some of the pressure off of mom to provide all that milk, and also leave a little more for the littler ones (Robin and Raven).  They are all very adorable, highly photogenic, and mom is an excellent mama!  They are regularly using the litterbox now, and I haven't even really had to put them in it!  So far we've only had ONE accident, and that's because baby got lost across the room (I put boxes in every corner so this doesn't happen, although she just didn't make it in time), and she couldn't wait anymore.  Oh well.   These ones are going to be fully litter-trained in no time!  Mom is an excellent example! 

Little ham Chickadee posing for her pic.

I'm very pleased with all their progress, and we are enjoying them all immensely.   Please, even if you can't adopt, consider fostering.   I hear a lot of people say that saying goodbye is hard.  Sure, it absolutely is.  I don't have an easier time saying goodbye to fosters than I would any other animal or person I cared about.   But it's not about me, or us, or any of that.  It's about what's right for the animals, and seeing pictures of them happy in their forever homes, being loved and cared for like they deserve... that makes it worth the hardship of saying goodbye!  There was an excellent article on Catster about this. If you can't foster, donate!  Especially during kitten season, the bills for the rescues pile up, and with so many cats and kittens to help, it's hard for them to make ends meet.  Remember, they are run 100% on donations.  Even $5 can help towards a vet bill or a meal for a rescue cat in need.  It helps to SAVE LIVES, and anyone who fosters, or even donates, are contributing to saving lives.  Be a hero, help out!

As always if you are interested in adopting any of the cats or kittens I talk about on my blog, contact Neveah's Charity of West Lincoln.  Lori Dudley is absolutely amazing, and will bend over backwards to help you find the perfect feline companion for your home.