Sunday, November 30, 2008

Whiskers in Winter, January 4th!

Hold the date! Our annual Christmas party is now a New Year's Party, and we hope you'll be able to stop on by.

If you would like to attend, please leave a message in comments or email me at info at americancat dot net (you'll have to translate that in email address format)and I'll send you an invite.

Every year I have a day-long bash (1pm - evening's end) for people to stop in, visit the cats, eat some great food and drink some great wine, and stay for dinner if you choose. Some people come for just a minute, some people stay for hours! I'll be getting invitations out. Everyone who has attended in the past should be getting one. If you haven't attended before but might like to visit, please drop me a line so I have you on my invite list.

There will be more info to come, but I figured I'd best get the date out there.

Kittens to go



This next month is going to include a big adoption push. I have a bunch of cats and kittens that need homes. Hope, the Terrorist Kittens (who appear to have overcoming their sneezes), Emmi, and Bear, all need to be adopted.

Emmi and Bear are a priority. Their presence in the house has caused an Imbalance In the Force that has resulted in actual cat fights. When Bear liked lounging on the front porch, he wasn't a problem in the house at night. But he refuses to go out now that it's cold (smart cat!) and is staking his claim in the house. Ivan is attempting to keep his Alpha Cat status (and frankly, he's too old to be taking on 16 pound Bear), and Emmi just doesn't get it, and ends up being a target for Squeak and Ivan. I woke up last night to squalls and thumping, and found bits of Emmi fur all over the hallway, with Squeak disappearing down the stairs.

Poor Bear has been banished to a run in the cat facility (with daytime runaround privileges on the farm).

Today I'll take another trip to Home Depot for the stair door I've been planning to put in, or a temporary screen door for the upstairs hallway, to keep Emmi safe. Thankfully I can use these screen doors in the cat facility this spring, or I would be grumbling over the waste of money.

The time has come to Poster The World and get ads in the paper, as well as update the Petfinder page. Its Home for the Holidays at Wildrun.

Thursday, November 27, 2008

I am thankful...

As I prepare to leave for family gatherings, kittens are ramming from one end of the house to the other. Stodgy Ivan has decided to join the general mayhem, adding the sound of thunder to the pitterpat of kitten paws as he launches off the furniture to join them.

It has been a rough year, but out of difficulties have come so much to be thankful for, mostly in the form of YOU, dear readers. While I've done less rescue this year while life is reorganized, some of you took it upon yourself to fix cats in your own neighborhoods and properties (and in many cases, get them off the streets into homes) and we were some small part of that, in getting some of them fixed. And we did have some handfuls of cats and kittens come through here from existing colonies, to be fixed and placed in homes.

On the money front, Mary and the Leewit Fund, the generosity of several past adopters, the natural gas lease, and the thoughtfulness of a long-absent father who nonetheless included his daughters in his will, have provided a jumping-off point that may actually mean there is seed money for a REAL community spay/neuter fund for outdoor cats. I need to be sure the farm is secure, and that mandatory maintenance is taken care of, that the natural gas lease is real and not just smoke-and-mirrors, and must complete the 501(c)(3) process, but it's looking good.

(as Ivan comes roaring back into the room...Nellie and Ditzy on his tail).

I am thankful for all the friends who have gotten me through my reintroduction to single life, with cards, email messages, phone calls, and dinner out. I received two invitations to Thanksgiving dinner, which brought me to tears. I am thankful for my family, with whom I've had more contact than ever before and who haven't once told me to buck up and get over it, no matter how long they've listened to me ramble on the phone!

I'm thankful for this house, barn, and land, which I appreciate now more than ever before. I am thankful for this good green earth, and the tiny patch of it that I hope to make into something more than just a living space.

So while I lost one thing, I gained so much more, and learned how to love what I have.

I'm extremely thankful for my fosterers, and for Donna and Tim, for looking after my cats while I travel for work. Special thanks to Cary for taking on my bottle babies this year!

I can think of more, but I'll post that on the Feral By Nature blog this evening.

(as Ivan gives up on kittens and tries to cuddle into my lap...which is occupied by the laptop...He succeeds).

So to all of you, have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Sunday, November 23, 2008

CFA International Cat Show



I'm sitting in the Atlanta airport on my way home from travels and thought I'd catch up on blogging. While I was here, I stopped at my very first "real" cat show--curious, as I had never attended one--the CFA International Cat Show. I'm afraid I'm not feeling very chatty at the moment, so I'll just post photos.







Wednesday, November 19, 2008

Terrorist Kittens are slowly getting over sniffles





Not fast enough to make me happy! Tinker, on the right, was finally spayed yesterday. The vet tech brought in two kittens she was fostering to be neutered, and they had a sniffle, too. I gave dire warnings about them swapping sniffles, and the vet told me the tech practically took a bath in Roccal-D between their surgeries.

Tink is going to a new home with a friend of my Mom's. Hopefully next week or the following week.

Velvet gets a grooming



Not much gets me out of the house early, unless it's an opportunity to visit a grown-up adoptee. Now, for some reason I thought her name was Violet, but when I look through my pictures, I find Velvet. Nancy will let me know what her name really is, because I have now confused myself so much I don't recall.

She has grown into quite a pretty lady, but she had some mats on her belly so was off to The Grooming Room for a spiff-up. Nancy let me know that Velvet was going to be in at 9:30 am Sunday, and there I was, believe it or not. It was great to see her owners, who used to foster for me until they filled up their homes with not only Velvet, but Gnocchi as well (who apparently has grown up into quite a pisser, picking on all the other
cats).

Even cats sometimes need a bath, so if yours does, Nancy will help you out!

Saturday, November 15, 2008

Caretaker photo: Tuffy

Here's Tuffy, i.e. Teddy2, yet another big ol' tom cat who has found that a guy and an armchair beats being a tom on the street anytime.

Foster photo: Hope

Cuter every day!




Here's a little size comparison (scroll down).

Adopter photos: Zuzu!

Apparently,Zuzu thinks she's hiding.

Thursday, November 13, 2008

Buyer beware--mistakes happen




My Terrorist Kittens have an upper-respiratory that refuses to die. They get better, they get worse, they get better... They can't go into new homes if they are sneezing. So I made arrangements for one to go to the vet to pull out the "big gun" medications. The vet did a thorough exam and provided a prescription for Azithromycin, which needs to be obtained from a pharmacy. I trotted up to get it and when I got home, I squinted in skepticism at the label.

1 ml per lb? That would be 10mls for a 10lb cat. TEN droppersful for a single dose. My vet was closed so I called another rescuer who has used Azithromycin and she told me the likely dose was .1ml/lb (my guess as well). I called my vet once I was back in town today. Sure enough, she had marked the prescription "1ml/10lbs" (i.e. .1ml/lb) and there had been a typo by the pharmacy.

Needless to say, I would have some pretty sick kittens if I'd given them 4-5 mls each of this stuff for 10 days. Worse yet, I had a refill to continue it beyond 10 days if they weren't totally resolved.

A) Listen to your vet when they prescribe drugs verbally in the office
B) Read the prescription the vet gives you while you are still in the office. Make sure it matches what you heard her tell you. When the pharmacy takes it away, you may never see it again
C) Make sure what the pharmacy hands you matches what was on your prescription and there wasn't a typo.

This is true of human meds as well as animal meds, of course! Don't fall into the "why should I pay attention to the verbal directions when I know it will be on the label" trap. There are too many steps in transferring the doctor's advice to that little bottle.

Black Cat Rescue blog

Yet another blog by friends! The banner is going to make you laugh out loud. So perfect for a feral kitten blog! And hey, quite the nice homepage, too.

The founders of Black Cat Rescue in Boston used to feed the Fast Food Ferals when they lived in Ithaca. I'm proud to have played a small part in corrupting them to the Feral Side.

Setting boundaries and cleaning up the edges

You know how when you try to do a little of everything, you do nothing well? I've decided it's time to organize my countless ventures. Wildrun will return to what it was created for: a blog on feral rescue. I've created a second blog, Feral By Nature for friends and family who might be interested in the day-to-day. I realize that this is a bit of a nuisance to those who don't mind viewing both. To make it easier, I'll be placing a link immediately to the right for Feral By Nature, so you can just click over if you like.

That way, if someone sets a link to Wildrun elsewhere on the internet, a newcomer won't click in and find themselves in the midst of a rant about over-45-life-in-general instead of feral cats.

The cats all applaud.

Tuesday, November 11, 2008

The heat's on. The clan finds new sleeping places

And Emmi has discovered there is a heat vent under the pedestal sink! Mmmmmmm....warm! Stretch and curl up. Silly cat!




I just got home from a work trip to Augusta, Georgia, and Ft.Lauderdale Florida. As we flew into Ithaca, I looked down at a white world. Snow! So on the way home I stopped for 4 new tires to replace the bald ones on "Ebu," the white truck, because I need to do some driving for family.

Am I ready for winter? I'm not sure. I went out to the cats at around midnight for one last tuck-in last night. The beautiful bright white fields, the crisp cold, and the porch light over the snowy lawn sure were worth the visit.

Post Note: Alice has posted Emmi here. Thanks, Alice! And I was just talking to my friend, Susan, about how her cat chooses to use the tub as a urinal. I'm glad Emmi has decided that the sink makes a better napping spot than a potty spot.

Tuesday, November 04, 2008

Election Night at Wildrun



No TV at Wildrun, but CNN has streaming video. I had been hoping to find an election party tonight. I did spend about 45 minutes at Chili's, watching the returns, enjoying a beer and barside commentary, but I needed to get home to build a screen door.

Yes, 11:13 on election night, and I'm starting a screen door. With an enthusiastic Atlanta congregation singing from my laptop.

Make a Difference for Grayson County HS, KY

Donna, who helps care for my Wildrun cats, is a friend of MANY groups, including the Grayson County Humane Society in KY. Please feel free to link or copy this post, to get the word out!

As part of the national Make A Difference Day, the Leitchfield Veterinary Clinic (located in Leitchfield, KY) performed 40+ cat neuters and spays - all free of charge - for cats waiting to adopted or rescued from the local Grayson County Humane Society (GCHS).

With more than 100 cats/kittens now filling every available space at the GCHS, it's BEYOND urgent that the ones that are fully vetted and/or sponsored (i.e. fees paid to be vetted) find loving homes or rescues ASAP.

Any cat that is now at the GCHS can go to an approved rescue group FREE OF CHARGE. Many - if not most - of the cats/kittens that are four-months-old or older, are now fully vetted (spayed/neutered, rabies vaccinated, FVRCPC vaccinated, FeLV/FIV tested, dewormed, and treated with flea preventative) and ready to go. Adoptions - which normally cost $55 for a fully vetted cat - are now only $30. Out-of-state adoptions ARE allowed. To speed up the process, you can fill out an adoption application online at http://www.graysonhumane.org/forms/ .

Transport to the northeast or towards the Chicago area can often be arranged and work is being done to put together a transport for the weekend of November 8th.

Please take a minute to look at the individual photos of the precious kitties in need by visiting the Grayson County Humane Society/SPCA Petfinder web site at http://www.petfinder.com/shelters/KY103.html .

If you can rescue, adopt, or foster any of these fabulous felines or if you have questions about any of the cats that are listed, please contact the shelter volunteers at dwhite@aggressiveonline.net (@aggressiveonline.net) or bethany@mail2cook.com (@mail2cook.com), or call 270-230-8839.

Special Kitty cat food recall, sold at Walmart

Just in case you missed this, here is the link.

Saturday, November 01, 2008