Shelter Visit and News

Why is it that the sweetest guys in the shelter are FIV postiive? This is Starsky who is a major Cat of Character. He''s a wonderful guy full of purrsonality with those ownderful Bucky type eyes (remember Bucky?) He has been at the shelter since sometime in 07 and even though he gets lots of attention and as much exercise as possible, well, he needs a home. And then this fellow I met for the first time yesterday. Tucker. He is a cuddle bug and also just a great cat with loads of purrsonality and FIV postive. sigh. I think that those of us who love cats go along kind of a cat love curve. You start out with kittens, perfect beautiful kittens. Ok, so I still just adore kittens, who doesn't? But then if you are involved at all in animal welfare you start to notice the cats that are often overlooked. I like the feisty ones, the cranky ones and the shy ones who need some confidence. Then there are the ones who need medical care or who are disabled. Or they are seniors who have lost their people. I can see as I get older I will adopt older cats. I could see just adopting FIV postive cats if I didn't have the brother sister team now. This is the very beautiful and recently bereaved Simone. She is part Siamese (I love that) and she seems very calm as she watches the goings on from a second floor condo. This is Ebony who was at the shelter since sometime in 2006 and has just found a home. It is always nice to hear that a long timer has been adopted. I think it is a good thing, if you have room for a new cat, to ask who has been in the shelter the longest. And this is Matty who was also at the shelter for a long time and has just been adopted. A shelter volunteer just died, leaving her family of ten cats. They are all at the shelter and I will get to know them on my next visit and I will tell you about them. In other cat news, the Rozzie May Animal Alliance had a Boy Cat clinic that was vey sucessful and has scheduled a clinic for both sexes in a town north of here where many shelter cats and kittens come from. I'll be up there taking photos May 30th. And finally, remember Marty who won the election to become the cat on top of Mount Washington? He is having a great time in his new job. I can see the summit from my house and often this winter I would look up at the frozen heights and wonder how he was doing. He has an important job providing feline companionship to the meteorologists up there. Now that it is spring he has been able to do some outside exploring with supervision.

Ramona, Big Game Hunter

"If I aim for that silly little head I can take this one down. Yeah" It's been a while since I've posted but things have been busy. Just a few days and the valley has bolted into spring and for all the residents the long winter is just a memory. The trees are getting ready to burst into bloom and you can see a faint fuzz of green and red across the valley. The cats are out in the yard all day long and collapsing after dinner. "It's so wonderful, isn't it? Just wonderful." They tell us. Harper is trying to dig up moles from their holes scattered across the lawn. Frogs appeared, frozen and still under the snow. Now the frog pond is bustling with chatter. I would follow the cats and each time they found a shocked frog I would rescue it and put it in the water and watch as it swam away. "Long winter!" the frogs are saying. "Omagod, it's spring at last! Have you seen Fred, Tom, Ethel, Betty?" Oh there you are! Is there anything to eat?" And on and on. The symphony develops as spring advances until we have a full orchestra of bass, mid section and trillers (tree frogs). It is one of the huge joys of the season. My mom was here for a week and we had a lovely time shopping and cooking. Then I got a horrible bout of either food poisoning or flu and was laid low (real low) for a week. Now all is well and I have been working in the garden, planting peas. We have a Boy Cat Only clinic this week. 30 Boy Cats taking the pledge for No More Homeless Kittens. And before that, an auction that raised lots of money for the new clinic. So what do you think? Can Ramona take down a turkey>

Pas de Deux

It's not always harmony around here. Remember, they both have to go to the vet when one has to go to avoid the snafu of the visit when Harper did not recognize her smell. But in general, I would say always try to adopt two littermates for a happy family. I'd love to be able to adopt a mom and her kittens and keep them all together. I don't think we have any idea how they feel when the kittens are suddenly taken away.

Mom Cat

This is Sally, a very very thin MomCat who was rescued from a hoarder and brought to the shelter. She is a lovely, world weary ladycat whose attitude is somewhat like"another litter of kittens? No problem." This will be her last litter though and hopefully, she will go on to a good life with someone who will love her. She has the most amazing eyes. There are five kittens and I need to go back and get better photos of them. They are Basil, Clover, Ginger, Juniper and Mulberry. Tigers and Butlers.

Abby Goes Home

You may remember sad Abby. She arrived at the shelter last July after her beloved person died. She was depressed and confused, not understanding what had happened. She also unfortunately couldn't stand the company of other cats, which stopped her family from offering her a home. So she languished and I was sorry to see her each time I went in, knowing she needed a special human. Well, even in this crazy often unhappy world, good things do happen. One day a man came in to the shelter. He didn't have a cat. He didn't have a dog. He was allowed to open Abby's cage (the same one she had been sitting in since July, a small two roomer) and he stuck his whole head in there. The shelter staff thought "this won't last long". Abby has a strong sense of her personal space. But minutes later he was still there and something wonderful happened. They bonded. And Abby went home. In other good adoption news, Clyde and Maia went home for the second time. Clyde had demostrated his confusion at his first adoption attempt (after this pair had lost their person), by peeing on the human bed. Not a good idea, Clyde. This second attempt seems to have worked out so either Clyde learned his lesson or he liked this home better. The very personable Solar has also found a home after only being at the shelter since January. In sadder news a lovely cat named Angel was returned after one and a half years with an adopter. It was said that she did not get along with the other cats. I don't know what I would do in a situation like that, however I would try to provide more cat spaces (high cat tree spots and special bedroom hiding spots) I would also separate feeding and provide separate litter boxes. If it was really impossible then one cat would become the studio cat. I will be posting Angel's photo on Petfinder in the next couple of days. There was another cat returned and I will find her photo too. I visited with Kylie who is our beautiful Mom cat. She has one kitten left who will be picked up soon. I really feel for this sweet feline who was rescued from a hoarder. She is very shy and afraid of being touched. It will take some time for a person to make friends with her but I think this is one who would be a very special companion for the person willing to be kind and take the time to let her feel secure. She has beautiful soulfull eyes which show there is a conscious being there. I wish I could take Kylie home but I will have to hope for the right person who will be blessed with this girl. There is also a family of new Babycats and Mom. I will post their photos too.

Spring Fling

This is quite the sight to have outside your back door. The four women have been coming round for hand outs for a couple of weeks now but then this dude showed up waving his tail and poofing out his feathers. He makes me think of the Blue Meany in Yellow Submarine. When I throw out some food the women run right for it (there are few things funnier than a running turkey). Some days when the snow is frozen the grils have slid on their butts down the hill. Hey, turkeys have to eat too. I have heard that these wild birds aren't much good for eating so I hope I am not fattening them up just so they can get shot next fall. With a winter like the one we are STILL HAVING, we need all the entertainment we can get. Oh yeah, we also got four more inches of snow this morning. At least the skiing is still fantastic. Cross country. This is going to end up being a major record breaker snow year here. We only have two more years to beat to be the all time since the 1800's champion snow year. But everyone is tired of it and anyone who can is heading south for a break. Three hours south of here the flowers are blooming. And someone is really tired of it... "Me no likey this white stuff!! What's going on here!! Where's my garden!! Why can;t you fix it!! I want out now!!" Harper is very Speakative. "And get rid of those big birds!! No bird should be that big!! Me no likey!!"

In Search of Home

This momma cat and her kits were rescued from a hoarder and are now living in the family room at the shelter. Two kittens are already spoken for and that leaves three and Momma. Momma Kylie is still very shy and will need a patient and loving person to let her take her time coming out of her fear. She is a lovely Lady Cat with wonderful green eyes. Little Sasha is, I think, already adopted. And here is Simba, of course. If you need a House Lion. That leaves Jack, who is the orange short haired fellow, Kaylee, Lilac, and shy, beautiful Momma.