Celebrating the new.....

Wow.  It's been a long while since I last wrote a blog post.  When I started this blog, I was intending to write in it regularly... making it a part of my own essential "me" time, but that hasn't really necessarily happened.  Regardless of that, I do enjoy it, and hope that those reading it enjoy it as well.  There's just so much going on, it's hard to know where to start.  Basically all the news is good news anyways, so I suppose I can just started with the newest news!

Orlando at the top, using Paris as a pillow with London Below

Tia, the gorgeous polydactyl Lori pulled for us (well really, for Hubby) from HAS who we suspected to be pregnant.... well, she wasn't fixed and was outside.. OF COURSE she was.  She had her babies just over a week ago, and it was fun holding our breath to see how many of the babies (if any) would end up being polys, aside from just how many she would have.  It added an extra layer of excitement to the waiting.  Well, we now have our answer!   Tia gave birth to three extremely feisty and healthy little kittens!  Two girls and one boy... and that boy has a SPECIAL surprise.  He's a Poly just like mommy!!!  Little boy, now named Orlando, and his two sisters, London (grey and white tabby) and Paris (dilute tabico), are growing fast, and have been developing even quicker than imagined!  That's the difference when mom is well-fed throughout pregnancy, I suppose.  On the day of their 1 week birthday, theirs eyes were already open!  It was insane.  They are absolutely adorable, and healthy and bawdy.  I will be posting up lots of pictures of them before they go to forever homes.   And man, those paws on Orlando, they're like little meathooks!  Huge!  We are so pleased all is well with this little family.  They certainly are special!

We had a few batches of feral kittens Lori pulled en masse to try to avert a major vet day about a month ago.  It's kept us full, but these little darlings were all pretty much feral born and had no hope if they'd have stayed at HAS, and most of the other rescues don't deal with ferals too often (with some exceptions - thanks to them!).  All except one have drunk the "humans are great" kool aid, and although they are all fighting a bit of a cold at the moment, they will be good as new asap, and will be ready to go to their adoptive homes!  Whoever ends up with these little darlings are all going to be happier families for it.  They are all wonderful little cats, despite their feral birth.  You would never know they were born feral, unless someone told you.  It feels good to know these little sweethearts have a shot at the spoiled lives they deserve.   I can't wait!  Don't get me wrong, I'm going to miss the little buggers, but it's always nice to see them go into homes and get to shine on their own.

Orlando blinking his newly opened eyes.

We were contacted by another local rescue group, Hamilton Street Cats, to provide temporary housing for two feral cats who were taken from a colony for a TNR program they do.  These ladies are awesome, and are doing this 100% under their own steam... No way I could say no to giving a couple lovely ladies who lived the hard life a cushy place to convalesce  for a while.  Both were scared at first, but one in particular showed that she's a social lady at heart.   She has a unique story that deserves it's own blog post, really, but suffice it to say she'd been through a lot and deserved a break.  We named them Peony and Pollyanna.   All went well with their recovery, but one day I came home to make a sad discovery.  Poor Peony had passed, and with no obvious signs of struggle or distress.  It upset me immensely because I felt like I'd failed her somehow, and reviewed my actions to see if I could have done more.  Reality is though, these things happen unfortunately, and as it turns out, many of the cats that were TNR'ed from that colony became sick after their surgeries, and some died.  There is a good liklihood that the cats were poisoned shortly before being picked up.  It's disgusting, and sad, and horrible, but unfortunately it happens.  I had to reconcile that I had done everything I could to make her comfortable, but that I couldn't have known without any signs.   Poor Peony.

The story is much better for Pollyanna.  She's a complete and total little lover!!!  She's so friendly I was very quick to tell HSC that she is absolutely home-able, and so she won't be returning to the streets!  She will stay with us until we can get her out to some adoption events through some rescues who have offered to help, and she will never have to want or suffer ever again...  She will be the pampered princess she deserves to be!!   I am so excited about it, and in the meantime, our older Daughter is happy to have her visiting in her room.  It's the best kind of scenario for a lady like Polly.

I'm sure many are wondering about the big orange tabby we got from one of the local Humane Societies.  This poor guy was left in a trap for over 24 hours before being brought to the shelter, and it still infuriates me when I think about it... .but, fortunately, we've made lots of progress with him, and I am fully confident that someday he will be able to live out a completely wonderful life in a forever home.   We discovered that he was not fearful of just ANY humans... but specifically, WOMEN humans.  All humans give him a scare, but females in particular absolutely terrify him.  Thanks so much to the stupid, selfish, ignorant woman who trapped him.   We found this out as I was having Hubby help me feed him, and he very much enjoys going in to visit the lovely Ramses.  Hubby brought the food in, and Ramses quickly moved right past his inhibitions and bold as anything walked up and rubbed against his legs!  This is HUGE, as he has not really made many overt movements to get CLOSER to humans.  This was a massive breakthrough!  Although, I have been working very hard to gain his trust.  Sitting quietly in the room, being totally non-threatening, just exposing him to human, female interactions without it ending in misery and terror for him.  It's slowly working.  Just the other day, when I came in the room, he meowed, but instead of breaking down, he walked nearby me and rubbed up against a table, looking at me.  He actually MADE EYE CONTACT without peeing himself or panicking.   With those little tidbits, we can move forward, as every day we see more and more glimmers of the cat he really is, hiding inside all that fear.  Peeling back the layers, I know we will find a wonderful, lovely, typical big 'ol orange tabby Cyrno De Bergerac.  I also made the decision to put Bis in with him.  We weren't sure if Bis was male or female for sure, because we still haven't been able to handle the cat well, and being black it's hard to tell unless you get right in there, so to speak. However, Bis is definitely male, and had to be separated from Nightingale, who's sort of been a surrogate mom to him, before things got past motherly LOL.   In the meantime, he's keeping Ramses company, and although Ramses was a little nervous at first, Bis is also helping to bring him out of his shell.

Ramses Before and After

The last time I peeked in, the two were cuddled up in a little fur ball in the middle of the room.   This is also huge for Ramses, who feels very exposed and rarely lays out in his room.  He's usually under something or on top of something.  Hopefully with the combination of Bis teaching him how to be a cat again, and the work we are doing to remind him of what it's like to be loved by humans, he will make much faster progress now.  Stay tuned and I promise to keep everyone up to date on what's going on.

Nightingale has come a long way.  With her own kittens gone, she's turning into a kitten herself, practically.   She's not the growling, terrified, panicky cat she was when she arrived.  She's filled out nicely, and although we are still going to investigate further what kind of damage was done to her back end, as she gets stronger and healthier, she is more and more able to move around.  She's very wobbly, and is sort of like a motorcycle in that she can only stay really upright when she's moving (she falls over when she stops), she actually gets around incredibly well, and has even ventured to get up the cat perch a few times.  She falls more than she makes it, but the mere fact that she is trying and keeps trying is nothing short of inspirational.  She's a GORGEOUS cat, and her sweet, gentle, loving nature will give someone incredible companionship. 

Thankfully, kitten season is starting to slow down, and we can work to get some more adults out into forever homes.  Kittens are lovely, but adult cats are too, and should never be overlooked just because they aren't as "cute".  With an adult, you know what you're dealing with.  Kittens can be a crap shoot.  If you are looking to adopt a cat, please consider a wonderful adult, too.

As always, if you are interested in any of the cats and kittens I talk about in my blog, please contact Neveah's Charity of West Lincoln.  Lori is amazing and will absolutely help you find the cat of your dreams :)  If you can't adopt, please consider donating.  You can also check out the amazing online auction we have going on for a few more weeks.  All proceeds go to the cats!  Thanks everyone!