Time goes marching on....

Paris, London, and Orlando relaxing on the bed.

This seems to be almost like a trap, this promise I keep making to myself to make time to blog, because I WANT to often, but I become so incredibly busy with the things I have to accomplish and the time just slips away.  There's been a lot that's happened since my last post, and I'll do my best to share it all without rambling - lol!

Ramses is progressing well.  Since my last post, he doesn't hiss or trigger as much, and not once has he spun around to nip... not even a love nip!  This is huge progress, although when he does get startled or triggered, he still panics a bit.  Bis is with him, and he's actually shocked us by starting to allow us to touch him briefly.  He adores Ramses, and when Ramses seeks attention, it makes him curious, and he will allow some contact.  Maybe there is hope for him after all, although I don't think he'll ever be a cuddly cat or one who wants to climb in your lap.

Orlando - the gremlin?

The boys have been joined by a girl.....  Her name is Heather.  We were contacted by another rescue because apparently Heather has acted up and was striking out and attempting to bite her foster and other volunteers.    Most rescues are just not set up to deal with major behavior problems (not many people want to subject themselves to the possibility of a cat attack - OUCH!), and we were happy to take her on.  

Heather

I put her in with the boys because I thought they might all help each other.  I have been evaluating her behavior, and she does seem to get highly stimulated when she's really excited, but so far she's only whipped around to nip once, and she didn't actually make contact.  I think that despite her being twitchy, probably from a past trauma, she is recoverable.  So we will work with her, and in the meantime I will enjoy her pretty face, and the boys really seem to have taken to her.  It's a win-win. 

Orlando Ham-Fists posting for a pic!

Tia's kittens have gotten big!  They are 5 weeks old, and all little rock stars in their own right.  Orlando is most especially a little poser, and starts striking poses as soon as he sees the phone.  Not only does he have hamfists, but he flat out is a ham.  It should be interesting, I think there may be a battle when he's ready to be adopted.  There's a LOT of interest.   Paris and London are also adorable, and amuse us endlessly with their antics.  Mind you, it's less amusing at 3 am, and I will assure you, polys have more claws as well as toes!  Time to trim their claws.. again!

We acquired two other kittens a few weeks ago.  We got a call from one of the stores where we have cats... apparently someone left two kittens in a box outside, taped up with a few holes poked in it, and a note asking someone to take care of them, and listing their names, Olaf and Elsa.  They are absolutely wonderful kittens, and although it makes me angry that someone dumped them, I'm just glad they ended up in a good place.  They are now fully vetted, and available for adoption.  It's been a nice treat having kittens come in we didn't have to "fix", no behavior issues at all.   There's been lots of interest in both of them, and I'm confident they will find forever homes very soon!

Elsa - box kitty!

We have a few other kittens around, Jem, Seri, Houdini, and Duster.  Duster is very much like Bis, still very wild and needing work.  Poor Houdini (who Hubby calls boomerang because he's been back many times) was sick again, but is now on several types of meds and is improving steadily.  Here's to hoping that he gets better and out to a forever home soon.  He's a doll!    Seri is an HAC kitten who had been sick, but is now better and ready to be adopted.  She went to an event yesterday (as did the others who were ready), and no bites on anyone except Jem.  SHE may have found her forever home, and is going on a trial this week.  I hope it sticks, she really took to the girl who is taking her, and I have a feeling that once she's there, she'll be staying.   I love those kinds of endings.

Olaf - the other box kitty!

Another kitten, Bermuda, has faded a bit, and we took her in to the vet the other day.  She was fine one day, and not the next.  We aren't sure what's up with her yet, but we are taking the best care of her, and should have her blood work results soon. I'm confident she will get amazing care from our vets when they have a good idea of what's going on with her.  Poor little monkey.  Kittens are so volatile, health wise.  It's very hard when they are fine one day and not fine the next.  You beat yourself up and ask yourself if you missed something, if you could have done more.  Poor Lori is feeling down too because she lost a kitten this morning, and despite the fact that he was incredibly ill and it was something of a miracle that he lasted as long as he did, it doesn't soften the blow any.  This is the hard part about rescue, and I have infinite respect for her and everyone who carries on despite the fact that sometimes, it really freaking hurts!  You wish you could just have a magic wand to wave to make them all better.  Lacking that, you are pretty helpless and just do all that you can.  That's really all anyone can ask, and for many of these cats, even a few hours of loving care is more than they had, and infinitely better than drawing their last breath in the high kill shelter, surrounded by sterile cages, frightened and sick cats, and terrifying sights and sounds.  In the end, sometimes a peaceful end is all we can give them.  It's hard to think about it when you're hurting, but it does have meaning and makes those little lives not be lost in vain.

London the troublemaker!

On a funnier note, one of our resident cats has taken issue with Hubby, for some reason, and keeps leaving him gooey presents in his shoes.  While it's unpleasant and requires cleanup (thank goodness for Virkon!), I have to say it is worth a giggle now and again (although I usually have to clean it up lol).  We think it might be Duck, as he takes after his grandmatron, Lou aka Gardenia, and thinks he rules the roost. Several times Hubby has had to remind him that while he's high on the food chain in the cat realm, we two-leggeds are the boss, and we think he's taken exception to that.  It's either him or Trouble, who is like a jealous girlfriend when it comes to Hubby, and is rather put out that she can't sleep with him for a little longer, while Tia and her kittens are in our room.  It's a mystery that we shall solve, but for now, it keeps us on our (hopefully not gooey) toes.

If you are interested in adopting any of the cats and kittens I talk about in my blog, please check out Neveah's Charity of West Lincoln's Website, and contact Lori.  She's awesome and always willing to help match you up with your ultimate fur-baby!

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!

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!  

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. 

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!

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.

Not all cats are traumatized... We do sick, too!

In the course of my time in rescue, I've encountered a TON of sick cats - various types of sick.  Everything from the sniffles to various different serious and life-threatening issues.  It's always a challenge to keep cats quarantined and medicated, as anyone with a cat could attest.  I generally have no issues nursing them back to health, no matter how icky or gross the treatment or symptoms can be.   The whole family contributes to getting sick kitties better when we have them.

There are certain times when it's REALLY bad for a cat to be sick, and when they are pregnant is one of them.  I got a call from Lori who wanted me to help her out by taking a pregnant cat she had pulled from HAC.  The poor darling was very pregnant, but wasn't even listed anywhere because she was sick, and sick = dead at HAC.  Lori decided to pull the cat and ask questions later, and she took her back to her own shelter facility.  The poor girl, named Bianca, did not do well there, and was more and more stressed out.  She needed a home environment to get better and deliver.  Lori called me.  She was especially concerned because Bianca was still very ill, but was ready to give birth any day, but if she did, her kittens were at risk of getting sick with her own URI, and a respiratory infection for wee little kittens is a very, very serious thing.  They need their sense of smell to find the way to the nipple, and if they are stuffy, that's just not happening.  I had my work cut out for me.

I still had lovely Sage and her babies, at the time all thriving, so we agreed to swap.  My healthy, well family to go to another foster, in exchange for pretty sickie white preggo cat.  I could tell as soon as I saw her that Bianca was a sweet girl, who was miserable and sniffly and sneezing.  We took her home and got her settled in a quarantine room by herself.

Bianca and her little "chicken nuggets".  Squee!

The poor thing was SO skinny, a product of being too stressed to eat, in combination with living on the streets before she ended up at Animal Control.  Despite her huge round belly, her little hip bones jutted sharply out, and her face was so skinny...  It looked like she had maybe had a litter already when she was trapped...  Her nipples were swollen and the hair was moved around in the telltale "kittens have been nursing" kind of way.   No sign of kittens when they caught her though.  I can only hope they were safe.  To the matter at hand though, I had to get this girl better asap!

She immediately loved the King sized bed covered in fuzzy blankets in her quiet room.  This is good, she was getting comfortable, de-stressing and decompressing.  Within minutes though, she had a coughing fit so bad I thought she was going to explode.  OI!  The illness in her lungs had a tight grip, it was going to be a challenge to meet the deadline of getting her URI gone, getting her weight up, and all this before she delivered (and who knows when that could be, it could be any day).  I started her with Lysine added to her wet food, as well as kitten milk.  Kitten milk has lots of protein and calories, and pregnant mamas can use it just as much as kittens can.  Adding it to the food of a pregnant or nursing mother, it can help them make up for the calories they loose nursing and still sustain their own body reserves.  Nursing mothers need three times the amount of calories they would normally... How much would a sick, pregnant, malnourished mama cat need?   She pretty much spent most of her time in the food dish, and the rest of it cuddling us, and coughing.  And sneezing.  And having these near-athsma attacks that totally disturbed me. 

I also realized that she was at least partially deaf.  She's a white cat with blue eyes.   About 80% of blue-eyed, white cats, they are genetically deaf.  It has something to do with the development of their eyes and ears in the womb..  Often even a white cat with two different color eyes will be deaf on the blue-eyed side.  Hooooooo boy.. another challenge.  Deaf cats get along just great, but they can certainly be more prone to defensiveness, and a mama cat who's deaf is especially challenged.. how do they hear their babies when they cry?  Bianca was VERY sensitive to vibrations though, and I hoped there was a chance that her deafness was in part a product of her stuffiness, but we wouldn't know until she was better.  Days went by and every day she seemed to get a little better, cough and sneeze a bit less, and she started filling out.  Those jutting little hipbones were covered with a sleek layer of conditioning that looked good on her.  I just begged the powers that be for every day she was sick that today would NOT be the day she went into labor, she wasn't ready yet, the kittens COULDN'T get sick!!

Lori was also concerned because Bianca had been vaccinated at HAC.  Oftentimes pregnant cats will be vaccinated to induce abortions....   Bianca had been JUST newly pregnant at the time, and chances are they didn't even know she was pregnant, but regardless, we were very worried about the kittens because of this, as well.   Vaccination during pregnancy can cause deformities and other nastiness in the babies.  All we could do was keep our fingers crossed and hope for the best.

Adorable sleeping threesome!

About 4 am on a Sunday, I was blissfully sleeping.  Bianca had been resting on the bed with my husband and I, and I was off in lala land.  I was awoken by my husband, shaking me frantically.  He said "Don't move your feet, she's having her babies there!"  DOH!  I had a kittening box prepared, but obviously Bianca decided to go her own way...  I looked down and saw lots of blood, and some white, and moved her as quickly as possible into her kittening box.   (Doing laundry at 4 am on a sunday - please note, NOT on the list of fun things to do on the weekend!)  The first delivery went pretty quickly... And although I was helping her, I could tell something was off about the first baby, it wasn't really moving or struggling as they do when they are first born, and it looked like something was hanging......   She delivered the second baby and abandoned the first to me...   I picked the baby up and on closer inspection, I was heartbroken to see the baby was badly deformed.  It was born with it's insides on the outside (trust me, the actual visual is no better than the imagined one), and it was weak and dying quickly.  There was nothing I could do for the poor thing, so I made it as comfortable as I could and went to assist with the other babies.  It died a few minutes later.

There are no words as to how adorable they are.....

Bianca was very tired, and was struggling, probably not just from the labour, but still being weak from her illness.  She charged on though, though,  and delivered three more perfectly exquisite, extremely tiny, squirming and loud little white babies.  She was a very attentive mom.  She seemed to be making up for not hearing them by always having her eyes on them.  I couldn't have been happier that she was so loving and conscientious of them.  I was worried about her passing her cold to them by licking them, or her losing condition because she was behind the 8 ball already, but all I could do was my best.... 

Playful little stinkers!

The kittens have grown in leaps and bounds.  They are sweet little "chicken nuggets", as my older daughter calls them.   They are almost 5 weeks old now, eyes open, totally mobile, and totally endearing.  Bianca is a lovely mama, who it seems is only PARTIALLY deaf (She can hear some tones), which is GREAT... the complete deafness WAS from her congestion... Even better!  Bianca is so intensely loving and sweet (not to mention beautiful!), I don't doubt that she will find a forever home very quickly once she's ready... But for now, we get to enjoy her lovely nature, and her adorable little white kittens.  We have named them, one girl and three boys.  We wanted to have fun with their names, so we named them all something that means "White".   Nerys is the girl (White lady), Fintan is one of the boys, the end of his tail is crooked (a genetic thing), his name means "white one", and Dhaval who's name means "white fire".  Bianca means white too, so the family theme fits.  I will be posting lots more about these guys until they get adopted.  For now, it just means you get to enjoy their ADORABLE pictures and videos.   Aww, shucks!    It's nice when you don't have to really fix them sometimes, and you just get to enjoy it.  Don't get me wrong, I'd NEVER give up working with Trauma cats, but it's nice to enjoy a little normalcy, too :) 

About as feral as my kitchen table......

There are a lot of groups on Facebook devoted to cat rescue.  Many rescue groups work hand in hand - understanding that it doesn't matter WHO helps a cat, as long as a cat is helped.  There's several animal control services in the area, most of them are fairly good, but there is one in particular, Hamilton Animal Control, that is a terrible place to be if you're an animal.  They are kill-happy, and tend to not really investigate ANYTHING about the cats that come in... They just assume and carry on.  Basically, if a cat swats, hisses, growls, or does anything other than just sit there like a lump, they can be deemed "feral".  Nobody takes into account the simple trauma of being in that environment.. small cramped metal cages, unfamiliar noises, the smell of suffering, foreign things, and fear.  That kind of environment could put ANY cat over the razor's edge and cause them to act defensively.  Unfortunately, being marked "feral" at HAC means being marked for death.  Once that happens, the clock is ticking for any rescues who want to help.  Once "vet day" comes, the deed is done, and there is no help for the dead.

One particular little black and white (Aka Cow Cat) was getting a lot of chatter in the rescue groups.  She had a big nasty injury on her cheek... something she had received from being trapped.  The door of the trap came down on her face, and removed about 3/4 of her cheek.  The injury had not been tended because she was hissing and growling...   She was marked as "feral".  The timer was ticking, and Vet Day was only a few days away.  The race was on to see if she could be saved.

Lomasi in her HAC picture.  The mark under her left eye is the injury she sustained from being trapped.  No wonder she was traumatized!  The fear in her eyes is obvious.

Part of the issue with rescuing cats from places like HAC is that most of the wonderful people who want to help can't necessarily get there to collect a cat.  And only approved rescues can "pull" from there.  A rescue had to agree to pull a cat (essentially sponsor their vetting, adoption, etc) in order for it to be saved, but then comes the matter of GETTING it to safety.  There were a lot of busy people and it was tough to find a ride for this girl once a rescue stepped forward... and there was also the matter of where would they go?  Most of the rescues do not have the capacity to deal with cats this damaged, and it was easy to tell just from the look in her eyes that this cat was horribly traumatized by her experiences.  Moved, and determined to help this poor girl, I volunteered to take her if a rescue could pull her and we could arrange a ride.  The race was on!

Neveah's Charity of West Lincoln, run by an amazing firebrand of a woman named Lori Dudley, stepped up to the plate and agreed to help out this girl.  Unbeknownst to me at the time, Lori is a HUGE fan of "cow cats" (a favorite of ours as well, considering we have three), and really wanted to help this girl.  I hadn't met her or worked with her before, but all of my network said that she was a fantastic lady, and that NCWL was a reputable, honorable, and excellent rescue.  Perfect!  I would be working with them to get this girl out... now to get a ride.

Things were starting to get frantic, as the clock was ticking, and as the search continued for a ride, Vet Day arrived.   Generally things start to happen around 11 am, so the window of opportunity to save this "feral" cat was in full swing.  Finally, an amazing lady in rescue who does many of these "delivery" operations stepped up to volunteer, and we finally had everything we needed to get the black and white girl out!   The "pull" was arranged, the volunteer arrived, and not a moment too soon.  When she arrived, there was just under an hour until "D-moment".  Talk about a near miss!  One hour longer, and all hope for this girl would have been snuffed out.  Now, she really had a chance....

Everyone celebrated.  Relieved that one more innocent life was spared a sad, lonely, terrifying end for no other reason than being unwanted.  .  I was nervous, not sure what to expect, but knowing full well this cat would likely be severely traumatized, and would have a long hard road ahead of her.  I was definitely right.

The angelic rescue driver arrived, carrier in tow, and we chatted for a few minutes while she set the carrier down and let the kitty have a moment.  I could see she was huddled in sheer terror at the back of her carrier.    She was in full meltdown mode, generally a good sign of PTSD.  Not even the presence of other cats could bring out any curiosity (another sign of complete mental shutdown).  This girl REALLY needed our help!  The angel-driver left, and I moved Miss "Feral" up to a quiet room to decompress.  Even with her carrier door open, she refused to come out.  She was ok with me sitting close to it, but any quick movements would have her cowering and cringing, trying to practically crawl into the ground.  The poor thing was fully in trauma.

I put my hand close, and although she would hiss and growl, never once did she lash out.  This was a hopeful thing for me, because if she isn't lashing out, she's not aggressive, she's just defensively posturing.  Can't say as I'd blame her in her current state.  I was pretty concerned about the injury on her cheek though, and let Lori know I wanted to take her into the vet to get it looked at.  It was an awful injury, literally a millimeter or two higher and she would have lost the eye.  She was lucky, but an infection could still come to a nasty end, so I wanted to be sure.

It was easy enough to get her into the carrier (since she'd never left), so I closed the door and carted her off.  She was very afraid at the vet... but something very good happened there (aside from her getting needed meds and a clean bill of health overall).  The vet clinic has a resident cat... a lovely little boy who himself was a rescue.  I noticed that when he was in the room or close by, this little girl would calm down.  I asked them if he could stay in the room during her exam, and they were fine with it, but I realized that perhaps having other cats help me to reach this girl would not be a bad idea.  Armed with meds and a plan, we came home and settled her back in.

At the vet they had logged the cat as her HAC number, because she didn't have a name yet.   I asked Lori if she had a preference, but she left the name in my hands.  A beautiful cat deserves a beautiful name, and after poking around the internet, I found one I felt was suitable.  "Lomasi" - it means Pretty Flower in native american (Cherokee, I think).  She's a beautiful cat, and it seemed to fit.  Lomasi was our choice.  Our pretty flower had a long way to go, but flowers are things of hope, and we had a lot.  One thing I definitely knew.... this cat was about as feral as my kitchen table.  I thank all the powers of the universe that she's still around so she can prove it.   We just had to get her there.....

(To Be Continued..)

It starts with just one....

While fostering for a rescue, I dealt with many cats and kittens in various states of socialization, trauma, issue, illness, and what have you.  We had cats from hoarding houses, from neglect, dumped cats, abandoned cats, all kinds of cats.  All of them pretty much came around, and were adopted out as loving, social, sweet, well adjusted cats (haven't heard anything to the contrary from MANY adopters of our sweethearts).  Sometimes, though there is just that one cat, that special one that really needs your help, that can really help you to understand your passion.

Legacy came to me through a good samartan. A phenomenally beautiful purebred Showshoe Siamese,  she had been dumped by her family, and was housed with a senior cat who really hated her, and constantly attacked and harassed her.  I couldn't fathom even for an instant how anyone could allow her to get in such a terrible state, though.  Her fur was dull, her whiskers were broken off, she was overweight, but most of all, she was completely terrified of everything and everyone.  She wasn't fixed, and had never been to the vet (absolutely infuriating, I'm quite sure that she was being used for breeding as well, she had the look of having nursed kittens when she came).   When she first arrived, I put her in a room with my youngest daughter (She's 10).  I find oftentimes, highly traumatized cats respond well to calm, caring children.  Perhaps they sense that they are not as scary as adults, but there have been many times my kids have made connections with these cats before I do.  It doesn't bother me in the least WHO makes the connection... All I really care about is that it happens.  Once it does, magical things start to happen.

Legacy is a beautiful purebred Snowshoe.  Not a common cat at all.

Legacy was with us only for a few days when she started to realize that nobody was going to hurt her, and nothing was going to attack her.  She hissed and growled a little at first, unsure and hyper-vigilant for attack.  I felt awful that she was living in that state of constant fear and hyper-awareness.... but after a little while, she started to let her walls down, and we could see that she really WANTED love and attention, but had never really had it before.  This was absolutely disgusting to me.  I was determined that she would be allowed to shine, and that we would find her an amazing forever home.

With a lot of work, slow movements, and patience, we got her trusting us.   Eventually, we wanted to test and see how she would do with other cats, but we didn't want it to turn into something that would traumatize her further and perhaps set back her progress.   Cats who are traumatized are often further harassed by other cats.  Even cats who are usually nice can be on the offensive with traumatized cats, as they sense their weakness.  We have lovely resident cats, who for the most part are excellent with other cats, but admittedly, there are some strong personalities in our clowder who could be triggered by a "weak" cat.  We wanted to work past that in a way that wouldn't move us backwards.

Instead of introducing her to adults, I thought that, chances were good that she would be less intimated by kittens.  We had some foster kittens at the time, particularly fun and playful ones, and we decided to do an experiment.  We put the sweetest, most outgoing kitten with her to see how she reacted.  At first, she was a little grumpy, not sure what to make of the situation.. But soon, she started to engage him, and before long, she was grooming him, cuddling him, and watching him as he played.   This was particularly interesting to me, because she never engaged him in play.  I had tried everything, every toy and trick in my arsenal to get her to engage in play, and no matter what I tried, NOTHING worked.  Play is a fantastic bonding activity for cats, and I was sort of put out that I could not crack this nut.   The kitten, however, managed to do what I could not, and almost as if she was learning from him, she started to engage him in some play.   When I realized how much she watched him before she attempted herself, I realized, it was because she DIDN'T KNOW HOW TO PLAY!  Of course!  If nobody had ever played with her, how would she possibly know how?   I was extremely excited at the breakthrough, and knew that her progress would move along even more quickly now that I had another way to build her confidence.  Play for cats is EXTREMELY confidence-building.  It's also a good way to get the weight off, and she sure needed to get to a healthy weight!  Good food and lots of play work wonders!

The big day arrived, and it was time to take Legacy to be spayed - she was looking trim and sleek.  In the time between her arriving, and her being fixed, one of my very best friends had a tragic even occur in her family.  One of their beloved cats was struck after running outside by a driver outside of her home.  This particular cat was one of those extremely SPECIAL ones (I know they all are, but you know what I mean, some are extra-special).  She was like a small, furry, four-legged soulmate to my friend.  My friend had to suffer through the horror of seeing the accident, and having her fur-child die in her arms.  She is one of the most wonderful people I know, and I know how much her heart broke in that moment.  I knew that no other cat could fill that hole... but, I also knew that she needed to have someone to help, to help her through the pain, to help the coping, and to give her hope again.  Legacy, also, needed someone special.  Someone who knew cats and could and would invest the time and energy into helping her finish her journey.  Allow her to be who she was and flourish in her confidence.  I asked my friend if, when Legacy was ready, she wanted to bring her into her home.  At first I'm sure she felt like she was betraying her baby, but the idea grew on her, and she agreed to give her a forever home.  In fact, she chose the name.  Legacy, as a testament to the legacy left by the fur baby who'd gone to the rainbow bridge, and a testament to the power of love to heal.  I felt it was a fantastic name, for a fantastic cat, from a wonderful woman who deserves love.  When Legacy healed from her spay, she had a forever home willing and waiting.

Legacy was AMAZING at the vets.  Though she was a little scared at first, she quickly charmed the staff with her chatty ways and her extremely loving personality.  Her recovery was very fast, and as she healed, she flourished even more!  She found a little ball that she enjoyed, and would bring it and drop it by me.   I picked it up and threw it... Low and behold, she brought it back and dropped it, ready to be thrown again!  I was so excited, I immediately texted her new mom and told her all about it.  She was excited too, and was just as pleased to see that her fur-baby was making so much progress!

The day arrived to take Legacy to her forever home.  It was a three-hour trip from my house to where she was going, and I was a little worried about how she would handle it, but it had to be done, and I knew that once she arrived, she'd never be leaving again.  She was perfect for the trip, didn't howl, cry, or otherwise fuss.  She chatted a little in her Siamese way, but it's almost like she knew this was her last trip, and at the end was happiness.  When we arrived, I took her inside and set her down, trying to see how she was reacting to the change in environment.  Her ears were forward and alert, and she was looking everywhere, but not fearfully.  She was curious and anticipating the door being opened so she could explore.  We opened the door, and out she came, as confident as you could ever wish for, and started exploring her new home.  Within minutes, she was up the cat climber, and made herself quite at home.  It was like she was meant to be there all along.  Her new mom was thrilled, and she's quickly become a darling in the household.  She gets along with the other resident cats, and is a confident, playful, and loving girl.  She loves playing fetch, and keeps her mom busy throwing her little ball for hours every day.   She is not a "replacement" for the lost fur baby, but she has made the hurt a little less, and instead of filling a void, has carved out her own space in the hearts of her forever family.

Legacy ready to play fetch some more.  She will play all day long, according to her mom.

All it takes is one, and Legacy was it for me.  She was the one who really made me realize that we had made a massive difference, and even one cat at a time, if we could only help the worst off, they would have a chance at life that they would never have otherwise.  We all decided, we wanted to help cats other people wouldn't (because traumatized cats don't get adopted quickly and the lifeblood of many rescues is a quick turnaround), or couldn't (many are intimidated by a hissing, growling cat and don't automatically register that with the cat being scared - only aggressive).  It starts with just one.... but here's to hoping there's many more!

Cat rescue is great, but it's definitely not easy....

My family and I decided that we wanted to volunteer somehow.   We figured, hey, maybe we could foster cats for a local rescue group?   We already love cats, so figured it kind of fit with things.  Myself, I have lots of cat/animal experience, so it sort of made sense to me too.

Quark - Resident Cat - Was born in our home to a foster.  She never left.. :)

We set about finding a rescue, Google helped us out, and we got set up.  The first year was really hard, we had a LOT of cats go through, and learned a lot.  We felt the need to move on, after a while, because of various reasons, but we still wanted to help cats.  I won't go into gory details, because I don't believe rescue should be about ego... just about the cats.   That about sums up my philosophy on things, and so, for a while, we just sort of did our own thing.  I felt particularly drawn to the plight of extremely traumatized, scared, formerly abused, neglected, feral, or otherwise neglected cats.  I found that I had something of an ability to gain their trust and help them to figure out their place in the world.  My family, too, are great with these cats, and even our own, resident cats, seem to sense when a cat is in distress and are supportive, in their own ways (even if it means just not bugging or pestering them for a while).  We sort of fell into it, but now most of the time when we foster rescues, it's because they need special help and attention to get into a place to find a forever home.

I share my experiences with others sometimes, but I don't want to just have that stigma as "the crazy cat lady"...  but.. I do know some people out there would like to hear the things I learn.  Maybe they want to help their own cat... maybe they want to help rescues.  Maybe they just care enough about animals that they are interested in hearing the stories of cats that get a new lease on life.  I don't know, but it feels like the right thing to do, and gives me something of a venue to share my stories without burning everyone else out.  Mind you, most of my friends that I speak to regularly are "cat" people on some level, but I would like to share things to others beyond that group.  Hopefully I can inspire just one person to do something that can make a difference.  Even one animal who's saved or helped is still one more animal not in a bad place.  That seems worth sharing to me.  So here I begin the story of my life in rescue, and the Diaries of all the cats who are subjected to Trauma, but come into my home for help.  I hope you enjoy.