It's all about the cats

Robin at the cage at the store.  Not too thrilled, but she settled in!

Well, I know it's been a while since my last post.  Work sent me to Seattle for training for a week, but our youngest was AMAZING while I was gone, and took care of all the cats (measuring their meals, giving their meds, you name it, she did it), and we are so proud of her!   In that time though, of course, lots happened.....

Nightingale's kittens as well as Meesha all left the nest to go into stores for adoption.   Kestrel, Chickadee and Robin have all been adopted!  Sparrow and Raven will be adopted soon, I'm sure, they are absolutely adorable!  Now that they are gone, we can start moving on working on miss Nightingale.   She's such a lovely girl, and so playful and loving now.  Hard to believe when she came all she did was hiss and growl in terror..

Heart is doing very well!  She's almost ready.  Our youngest has been working with her and has done an incredible job breaking her of her habit to nip from overstimulation, and has completely moved her past her fear of people.  I couldn't have done it better myself!  Heart is almost ready for adoption, we just have a few more things to do around getting her easy to handle for carriers and whatnot.   Generally exposure therapy and repetition, with a good dose of positive reinforcement does the trick.  She's a smart girl, I'm very confident she'll figure it out quickly!

"Hamfisted" Tia!  Isn't she cute??

The orange tabby male, now named Rameses, poor angel, we really are working literally from the ground floor with him.  He does allow some love and touch, but gets overwhelmed extremely quickly and goes into complete terror mode.  I've decided to change directions with him, and treat him like I would a fully feral cat, instead of only a traumatized former pet, because when he's in the full grip of his fear, he IS a feral cat in many ways, and reacts with many of the same behaviors.   However, he DOES want to be around people, I just don't think he knows how to past his trust issues right now.    I've started just going into the room, not speaking or approaching him, but reading a book or doing something still and quiet for longer and longer times in his presence.   At first, he WAILS, like a baby crying, but unlike any sound I've ever really heard at all.....   But he calms down more quickly each time we go through the exercise.  I believe he's going to be with us for a long while, because working from the ground up is a time-consuming process, and you can't rush the animals through it.  They have to work through it at their own pace.   I'm ok with that, and I think everyone else is too.  EVERYONE is pulling for this guy, and after all he's been through, he deserves nothing less than our absolute best effort to help him live a wonderful, fulfilling life.  No life lived trapped in the cage of fear is fulfilling.   Hang in there, little buddy, we're here for you. 

One of the kittens pulled this week!

Our Polydactyl mama (hubby requested the pull) is indeed pregnant, and is growing daily.  She has three extra toes on both her front paws, and OMG she's adorable!  Super sweet, she was definitely a pet.  No idea why anyone wouldn't want her!  Those ham-fists are SOOOOOOO cute!  And she can grip things with them just like an opposable thumb (makes her NOT so graceful for jumping, though LOL).   Hubby is teaching her how to give high fives, and she's starting to make friends with Nightingale.  It would be sweet if they could be buddies.  Both are SOOO loving!  I'll definitely post progress on her as she's closer to her due date.  As it is she probably has at least a few weeks left.

Lori, being the wonderful lady she is, pulled a BUNCH of kittens from HAS this week in hopes of helping to avert another vet day.  Guess where some of those kittens ended up?   They have been having fun tearing around in the office and generally trashing the joint, but they are adorable and we don't mind at all.  A couple of them are quite terrified, and might need a few weeks work, but the rest are sweet, ,cute and ready to go.  I love it when a plan comes together, they are all going to an adoption event this weekend, and with luck, next week will find them ALL in wonderful forever homes!

I finally had to make the call on Bis, and he will be going to a barn home.  He's very comfortable with people, but like Dusk and Dawn, wants NO interaction with them at all.  That's ok.  I'm fairly sure he wasn't from a litter with the other kittens, he was feral born and raised through and through.  At least we know that he will be safe where we send him, and he can live life enjoying being cared for, yet still having his freedom.  NEVER a bad thing. 

Another pulled kitten, he has such cute markings!

As always, if you are looking to adopt any of the wonderful cats and kittens I talk about, check out Neveah's Charity of West Lincoln.  If you can't adopt, donate, or volunteer!  Every little bit makes a difference for a rescue!  Thank you for reading.  I know this was rather uneventful, but I'm still catching up! LOL!

Breakthrough!

So here I am, on an airplane traveling for work.  It's one of those "I have to do" sort of things, and I guess that's ok, but I'd much rather be at home with the kitties.  It's been a wild couple of days.  As anyone who read my last post knows, we ended up with a lovely orange tabby male from one of the local Humane Societies who wanted help with this poor boy.  They knew his case was far too difficult for them to handle there (although they did an AMAZING job with what they could!!!), and that he would need to be placed with someone who could help him.   That is, apparently, my crazy family. 

Fortunately, though, they were right, we can help this guy.  He's the one who was left in a trap for over 24 hours, shredding himself to get out the entire time.  The mere thought of it still angers me, but I'm trying to let my anger be motivation for doing things that will cause change, instead of making me bitter. 

As I walked into the room with him (we are now calling him Ramses), I could see that he was very deep into his trauma.  His eyes were HUGE, and he didn't stop looking at me no matter where I went in the room.  It's never good for a cat to show this level of fixation on their target of fear... It generally means that they can't move past that at that moment, and it can lead to them lashing out (hyper vigilence plays a huge roll for cats!), or just not being able to connect.   I put some food in front of him, and he didn't even sniff it.  If a cat is not sniffing something tasty, then they are really far gone into fear.  Pretty much any cat will sniff after a big juicy piece of meat,  but when they don't, you have a good idea of just how much damage has been done.

Our boy was bad... really bad.   I talked to the family and told them what he was all about, let the kids meet him and give me their take.  We all agreed that he's terrified, but how to break through if he's not acknowledging anything aside from the object of his fear?   Well.....  Patience.   I have been going in the room with him several times a day, for short stints, 5 or 10 minutes.  At first if I would move close, Ramses would WAIL.  That's the only way I could describe the sound he made.  It wasn't a scream and it wasn't a cry, it was a sound that said "Please just leave me alone and dont hurt me anymore!" It was heartbreaking!   

Determined to make some kind of breakthrough before I left for ym work trip, I broke out the trusty boiled chicken.   He did allow me to approach without wailing, and he did allow me to feed him.  This was good, we had an in.  I got down to his level and stayed there... every time I was above his level, he lost his mind.  After a lot of patience, and making sure not to scare him any more than he was, I was finally rewarded by him reaching out to sniff me..  YAY!!!  I thought I had already made enough progress, but sir Ramses surprised me by head-butting my hand.   I just decided to go with it, and after a 20 minute long love session in which he not only head butted and kissed me, but also rolled around exposing his belly to me, I was totally thrilled!  I never expected him to come forward that quickly!  After only a day or so!  But it shows something about the animal spirit!  This boy was ABSOLUTELY someone's pet.  Feral cats simply don't see human contact without having had prior....  This guy was a lovebug, wanting the chin scratches and he seemed to know just how to direct me to that spot on his cheek that was oh-so-good.  This, we could work with!  

Here's this cat, been through so much, and able to let go of everything and just live in the moment...   It's amazing to me how they can just move forward from trauma.  No way in the world Ramses is going to be "normal" anytime soon, but even the step he made forward, the fact that he was willing to TRY , to have faith that SOMEBODY wouldn't hurt him.   He was living in the moment.  I wish more people did this!  We are all so busy looking forward and clinging to the past like a 2 year old with their wubbie, and we miss the RIGHT NOW!  Every time that moment happens that a connection is made, I can't help but be present in the now, or I would never be able to make connections with these cats.   It forces me to slow down, think, and relish the moment.  Take a deep breath and just be in the now.   If we were like this, the world would be a whole better place.  

But that aside, before we left Lori pulled a sweet little Polydactyl momma cat (quite preggo), and she's a complete darling.  No confirmed name yet, but soon enough, and it's nice for the kids to enjoy a "normal" cat now and again lol.  Everyone else is doing well, but I just wanted to share my breakthrough with everyone.   I could not be more pleased and excited for what this means for Ramses's prospects.   Thanks all for reading!!

A day in the life.....

A day in the life of a cat rescuer.... and it's been a crazy one!  Aside from the actual day job (which is great, but it doesn't involve cats, booooo), had to do some cat-catching today!   Dusk and Dawn got their barn placement.   So today, Lori came to pick them up to go to their new forever home, in the great outdoors.  They are placed with a lady she knows who has some barn cats already (all fixed, etc), and welcomes them to her little group.   I'm so pleased, but man they wanted NOTHING to do with me once they saw the carriers!  After a mad chase, and a stinky present left in the carrier (sorry Lori, LOL!), they are off to their new home.  May their days be filled with cuddles of other kitties, fresh air, lots of bugs and mice to chase, and safety. 

Nightingale's kittens are still here, as well as Bis and Meesha.  Robin and Raven BOTH had a little bit of goopy eye when I came home today, so out of caution, we're keeping all the kitties they were around cooped up for a bit.  I highly doubt it's anything serious (we've had nothing around here serious anyways, and all the adults are already vaccinated), but these things just happen sometimes.  That's ok, we can enjoy them for a few more days, and that's alright.

BIG progress with Heart!  She's really come out of her shell!  She was a little overwhelmed by the strong personalities of our cats, even Duck was a little much for this poor little shell-shocked girl.  With Dusk and Dawn leaving, I figured Den-Mother non-intimidating senior declawed Precious could help out.  I was right!  Precious is so sweet and calm, Heart took to him right away.  And he's so incredibly friendly and people-oriented, she just started following his lead!  Now when we walk in the room, she comes to greet us right along side him, with her tail up straight and the end in a little question mark, and she seeks attention too!  Yep, she's letting us pet her!  Seeking it out even, rubbing against legs, and generally people-friendly!  She's still a little quick to startle, and will sort of run, but she doesn't hide anymore.  She goes a little way and just watches.   Now, she comes back to you.  She does tend to get really overstimulated with petting, still, but that's fairly normal.  She's given a few love nips, and a few swats, but nothing aggressive at all.   Often cats who don't know how to relate to people yet get over-excited when they realize the wonderfulness that is people pettings.   It's just a matter of getting them used to it, and they usually calm down fairly quickly.  Without any major setbacks, I think that she will be ready to adopt pretty darn soon.  That's very exciting to me, and to everyone else who knows this sweet girl.  All she needed was a chance.  I have to say I can't take much credit for her, though... Our youngest really did the most work with her, and she's done an exceptionally good job of making sure she's a solid cat.  Now we just have to make sure she's solid with things like being picked up, and we can call her a success!

Look at this poor guy, no skin on his nose :(

On another note... we got a call from another Humane society.. an emergency case.  This poor orange tabby male was trapped.   That's bad enough, but not even the worst of it......
The person who trapped him didn't take him anywhere right away.   They left him IN THE TRAP for over 24 hours!!!  All the while this poor fellow was absolutely shredding himself trying to get out.  He rubbed all the skin off his face, shredded his feet and claws just to get out of the trap.  It's one thing to trap a cat, it's another to leave them in obvious distress for AN ENTIRE DAY AND NIGHT!  I don't ever want to meet the person (thankfully I have no clue who it was),  because I'd be tempted to awful things, and that's just not who I am.  But I can't help but be absolutely enraged by the obvious neglect for the feelings of an animal... Not even abuse, just complete disregard for the fact that they had just trapped a living thing and it was terrified!!!   I can't even begin to know just how traumatized this poor fellow is, but here's to hoping we can help him.  PTSD is a definite with this little fellow.. He's likely going to need a lot of work.  We don't have a name for him yet, but honestly, he hasn't even come out of the carrier yet, so we haven't gotten a good look at him. We will wait to see what he's like and pick something suitable.  He's a gorgeous boy, a medium-haired orange tabby.  When his face heals I'm sure he's going to be a gorgeous boy.  He's so far into his trauma bubble right now, though, who knows how long it will take.  He wasn't even interested in any kind of yummy stinking wet food.   When a cat is not even interested in food, you know they are way inside their own mind.  Poor guy.  It boggles my mind how someone could do that to a cat.

As always, if you are looking to adopt, please adopt a rescue cat!  Neveah's Charity of West Lincoln has some awesome and adorable cats and kittens available now, including some adorable siamese kittens!   If you are looking for a cat, get in touch with Lori, she will hook you up!  And if you can't adopt, please consider donating.  It makes all the difference in the world to a cat in need!  

They come...they go.. Then more come!

It's been a hectic week or so, with lots going on!  Three of Nightingale's kittens are now at the store waiting for forever homes.   Chickadee, Kestrel, and Sparrow are all of on the next leg of their journey!  They are so cute, they won't be there long, I'm sure of that.     Robin and Raven are going to stay with us a little bit longer.  They are especially tiny and we wanted to make sure that they get a little extra meat on their bones before they move on. 

Little miss Chickadee!

Most of the hissy kittens have moved on to the store as well.  They came around fairly quicky, got their shots and dewormings, and are looking adorable for future adoptive families.  The Tortieshell kitten (we have named her Meesha), and another black feral orphan, we've named Bis, require a little more time though.   Both are coming around quickly now that they're getting a lot more attention, but they just weren't ready to go with the rest.  They're quite happily hanging out together now, and enjoy playing with the laser pointer and feather toy, and snuggle up together for naps.  It's adorable, and they'll be ready very soon.

Pretty Sparrow

Heart is doing nicely.  She's got some very hair-trigger reactions to fear.  It's understandable, especially for a cat who's been in a cage for probably 1/3 of her life, for her to re-focus her fear in other ways and in other places.  She will hiss and swat occasionally, but slowly we are breaking her down.  I got her to engage in play the other day, and she was moving toward me fairly confidently.  That's a pretty big step, and although she's shy, she's more motivated by play than by food.  I've moved Precious in with her to see how it goes.  She was good with Duck and Mouse at first, but unfortunately, she's a submissive cat, and coupled with her fear, even the nicest cats will often pick or push around a cat that is fearful and submissive.  Precious is an old guy and is declawed (came to us that way), and is probably the most non-threatening cat who ever lived.  He's also amazingly attached to humans, so he will show her the way with regards to being excited about seeing people come in the room.  I'm looking forward to her progress.

Petite little Robin.

Another Humane society has reached out, and needs help with another trap-trauma feral.  I will be doing some work with this one as well at some point, just have to figure out the logistics of getting him here. ;)  It's much quieter though with less kittens.   When Robin and Raven are gone, Nightingale is going to start her long journey to recovery as well.  Currently, though, she's in heat, and although I feel awful for thinking it, she is pretty funny when she tries to stick her butt up in the air in a customary "come hither" fashion, but stumbles out of it almost as fast.  I will be very glad when we can get her some more relief.  Hopefully, something can be done to at least help, if not correct, her disability.  She's a very lucky girl.  Lori saved her and her babies in every possible way.  And she sure deserves it.  They ALL do, but frankly, Nightingale is pretty special.  I see how limited she is and every day I ask myself how she survived outside, pregnant, disabled and starving.   Now, she's safe, well fed, contented, and the sweetest cat anyone could ever want.  She will never be unsafe again, if I have anything to do with it.  This is what it's all about.