Adopter photo - Simon!

It must be the week for portrait-quality photos!

Elvis visits the local bar - Adopter photo

I'm going over to visit Elvis's haunt on Sunday. Looking forward to seeing you, Alice!

Portraits of ZuZu and Jasper

Thanks, Stephanie. Sorry it took me over a week to get them posted! I love seeing how happy they are. I wish I had the talent and equipment to get such great photographs.

Ain't it the truth

see more Lolcats and funny pictures

sleepy...so just photos....

Leo of the Terrorist Kittens gets adopted...

Yes! An adoption! Leo is actually the shyest of the three when it comes to lap-sitting, but when strangers arrive to visit, he's the only one who comes right out to socialize. He is in a foster-to-adopt, so if his adopters find he is too shy, they can feel comfortable returning him.

I then moved Tinker and Owlie out to the cat facility, as there is an empty run suitable for two. I'm sure they are frightened at the change, but with the racetrack kittens now running around, it was just WAY too many cats in the house. And a dog, no less, even if she is cat-sized.

I love cats, but I like walk into a room and find a chair cat-free, as well, and not constantly hear the thunder of cats romping across the second floor. And my old guys will be so happy to have the activity level lowered, not to mention competition at the treat dish before bedtime.

All four of the racetrack kittens are doing well. The white boy, who is spoken for, seems to be the biggest, uses the cat box, but is still fixated on his bottle. I'd far rather have a bottle-spoiled kitten who uses the cat box, than a bowl feeder who doesn't. The gray kitten still is iffy about the cat box, but she's getting better.

OK, speaking of "cat-sized"...Molly the dog is asleep in a Siesta Bowl near my feet. I wish the camera was at hand, and I wasn't pinned in the chair by Ivan!

Nutro Cat Food Recall

You can check out the Blisstree.com kittyblog for more information.

Speaking of thunderstorms...

I was just out in the cat facilty when the heavens broke loose and the thunder rolled. Storm is terrified of...storms... This normally unpettable cat begs to be held when a storm breaks. So I went in the cat room and picked her up and cuddled her, then put her under a towel to hide. Then I heard two other cats yowling, and went out to find Sparkles, Dustin, and Perci all in nervous mode. You know Perci is nervous if SHE lets you pick her up and cuddle her. Interesting that it was all female cats, although Leo wasn't looking very pleased at all the noise.

Molly the dog just sat on the porch and watched the rain pour down. Nothing much concerns her, that's for sure.

Animal Shelter dog makeovers on the PF blog

Hey Nancy. You'll like this!

Is your dog afraid of thunderboomers?

Then go read this excellent article at Dolittler, including the comments. Heck, read it even if you don't have a storm-shy dog. It's fascinating.

Dirty kittens get cuter despite themselves

I've shipped two kittens off to Angie to bottle-feed. Four was too many for my busy morning, especially given how messy they are. Sticking a bottle in the mouth of a kitten who knows how to work one isn't too big a deal. But tacking on four kitten baths was just too much. I have taken to separating the two remaining kittens at night, with their own separate heating pads, to keep them from slurping all over one another by morning. The rest of the day I can keep them occupied together so they are either eating, exploring, or sleeping. They are both still stained from chewing on one another. I've never run into this before. I've certainly had kittens that have sucked on one another, but not ones that made such a mess.

If you read LOL Cats...

...then you've already seen this. But maybe you checked here first! I like the black cat at the end. Average cats who have smart cats as housemates always suffer for it. :)



And yes, I know this is cheating as far as "blogging once a day." But at least you know I'm thinking of you all!

Shop cat

This one is in no need of rescue. Except perhaps from boredom due to the antics of the strange woman making gestures trying to get him to look up. If I'd realized I was taking my own photo, too, I would have dressed nicer.




After I took the trash to the transfer station, I drove over to Owego to catch the antique/flea market sale, but I must have gotten the wrong day because the place was locked up. So I had lunch in Owego, picked up a few cards at The Hand Of Man, and took a short walk around downtown before coming home to mow, mow, mow.

New alarm clock and stinky kittens solved

I've been trying to figure out how to get myself up an hour earlier (groan). Now that there is a dog to walk, I need another hour before work. And sometimes I work before work.

A problem with "working from home" is that it is quite easy to just turn off the alarm and close your eyes for a little bit longer. When I absolutely have to get up (to catch a plane, trap some cats, get to the vet) I put the alarm clock across the room, so that hopefully by the time I reach it I've remembered that I actually do need to get up.

But doing that every day? Uck.

Well, I finally discovered which of the four kittens is the one who insists on sucking and sliming all the others. It's also that one that doesn't eat as well because (and please, if you are easily grossed out, don't read farther) he's filling up on pee and poop by stimulating the others and...well, you get the picture.

So I put the clear plastic tote in the playpen with a SnuggleSafe heater and separated him out after he has been fed and played with the others. No more sucking on his sibs while they are snoozing and when they wake up hungry.

And--surprise! No more wet kittens, and Little Mr. Messy is eating normal food like a champ. I try to put them all together as much as I can (they are together now), and Messy doesn't seem to be too distressed by the alone time. Hopefully he'll break himself of the slurping habit so they can all be back together again.

And the alarm clock? Well, a single hungry kitten makes a lot of noise at 5:30 am, let's just say. And while he may shut up for a few minutes at a time, there comes a point where he says "I want attention NOW" and the squeaking does not stop.

I'm up! I'm up!

Stinkiest. Kittens. Ever!

I have handraised a lot of kittens, and man, these kids STINK! First of all, they are a bit stupid. If you set them on the floor on a blanket, they don't stay on the blanket. They wander off onto the cold floor. Most wee kittens will stay put. Not these guys.

Secondly, they STINK! Yes, I realize I have used capital letters twice in the same post. It doesn't matter how much you stimulate them to pee, they pee more in their bedding. They never poop when stimulated. They ONLY poop on their bedding. They also suck on each other's fur so they are constantly wet. I had to move them out of their big plastic romper and put them in the playpen because the smell was awful in the confined space. The sucking is a bit improved since I gave them a piece of fur to play with. I may have to take a trip to the Salvation Army to buy an old fur coat for them to nuzzle in. I have given more kitten baths to these guys in less than a week than I normally give to a litter the entire time they are with me. White kittens especially have to stay clean or their fur will stain yellow. I can replace all of their bedding twice a day and walk into the room and it will still smell of urine. Man! I can't wait until they are old enough to use the litter box!

I'm sure Molly enjoys the various stinks. I sure don't!

Zuzu and Jasper cuddle. Adopter photo!

It's always a joy to get photos of Zuzu and Jasper, too. Everyone must be in a picture taking mood this week!

Jack and The Leewit check in

Oooooooo...counters allowed? You guys are SPOILED! Or perhaps we are just waiting for the wine to be poured?

Espie in her new home

Put down your drink, and swallow before viewing, to prevent computer damage.



Thanks, Donna. It practically killed me to have to wait until work was over to blog that.

Ben writes in!

Ben, happily adopted has sent us a one-year update! There must be something in the air, because we received THREE adopter updates yesterday, which I'll get posted.

Thanks, Elaine! Give him a hug for me, please?

Hi,
It's been a year since I came to live here, so I thought I would write a quick note to let you know how I'm doing.

The weather is getting warmer so I can spend more time on the porch bird watching and the fresh spring catnip is GREAT....

OH.... I have a new hobby...... mouse catching!!!!!! It's loads of fun.
I tried to wake my person up at 4 this morning to show her my latest catch, but she didn't understand what I wanted to talk about at that hour until she got up and almost stepped on it.

All in all, I am quite happy and doing well here.
Thanks again for all your care,
Ben

Rain gods smiled upon me today

Yesterday the little weather icon on wunderground.com showed dark clouds and lightning bolts for today. Thankfully, they were wrong. It was a warmish, breezy day, with alternating sun and clouds, and one small shower at around 3:00 pm. I spent the day pushing the lawn mower before certain sections grew too tall for the mower to handle.

At around 4:15 I bundled up Molly and headed into town to feed the Fast Food Ferals and maybe catch Nancy at The Grooming Room. When I stopped at the old feeding station (near the building that is about to be demolished, the furry tomcat was snoozing on top of the one remaining shelter. I called to him so as not to startle him and he didn't run when I brought a scoop of food to the feeding station.

Heck, I had a trap in the truck. Could I catch him now? He was far too friendly to stay out here. Soon major construction would be taking place. And he wasn't yet neutered. He had to be hungry, since it was likely he hadn't found the new feeding station. So I left him a few pieces of dry food while I went back to the truck.

Yes, indeed, he was hungry, because he didn't leave his kibble as I set the trap a mere four feet from him. Mmmmmm....wet food in the trap! He was in the trap chowing down before I'd walked more than forty feet away, and soon there was the satisfying thump of a falling trap door.

So it was late when I made it to The Grooming Room and it was locked up tight. With the dog and cat with me, and the sun dancing in and out of the clouds, it was not so safe to go shopping and leave them to the mercy of a fickle sun (oh, for a rainstorm now!) so I headed back home.




So he's snug in a cage now. I was able to stroke his nose. He hissed, but didn't move away or lash out. He has hard mats that are going to have to be shaved off when he goes in for his neuter. I'll make an appointment for him this week.

Pups gotta be walked, kits gotta be fed

Luckily, pups also enjoy driving, and Molly can go with me trapping and on errands until the weather gets too warm for her to sit with the air-conditioning off.



I don't think I've blogged the new truck signs. I have one for each side, and both together were only $35 at the NYS Wildlife Management Association conference at the end of February.



The kittens are eating well. Right now I'm letting them squeak themselves out before they get their last course. This is a very vocal quartet. Their eyes are just opening. I'll probably bring them out to wiggle around on the floor for a little bit and tank them up with a last bit of KMR for the evening.

Shifting the Fast Food Ferals

The lumber yard is being torn down and replaced with a store, so I've had to move the shelters and feeding station to the back side of the property. This meant getting permission from the adjacent landowner to cross their land to feed the cats. I got that on Thursday (Thanks,Kat!), so today I took a new clean feeding station over, and cleaned out one of the old shelters, added new straw, and moved it around to the back. We'll feed in both locations for a bit, so the cats discover the new feeding location before construction necessitates the removal of the other stations.

I've been meaning to get this done for weeks, so I'm glad that's off the list, finally.

I appear to be coming down with some sort of headache/icky stomach thing so this one project took all day. Sigh. Oh, well, I also bottle-fed the kittens and took care of the cats. But no mowing, no tilling, no weeding...

Of kittens and pups

I have a long list of things to get done this weekend, and luckily I got a chunk of them done yesterday.

I am neutering cats at a racing stable and have received nothing but enthusiastic cooperation from the staff and horse owners so far.



It is especially nice to have three men (so far) express serious concern about the welfare of the resident cats. So often it is stereotyped that only women cast more than a single glance at a cat. It was a gentleman who left a message on my phone about this pretty lady and her kits:



Mom cat ran away when I entered the stall. I kitten-napped the little ones and left an unset trap (back door removed) and some food for her. I did not set the trap, it being Kentucky Derby Day and the first day of racing at this track was due to begin in just a few hours. I'll return Sunday to try to catch her. The kittens have been great with a bottle and are tucked in here now.

One kitten already is spoken for by a gentleman at the track. He wanted a male white kitten, and lucky (for me!) one of the two white kittens was indeed male. He said he'd head home to check with his wife. :)

To learn about pups, you'll need to check out my personal blog after about 11:15 am. You can't read what I haven't written yet!

PostNote: Alley Cats and Angels has bottle-babies too!

Visiting Sylvester and Harley. Oh, yeah, and my sister

This has been "help the family week." I went over to my mom's to do some garden work, and to my sister Linda's to provide some assistance there. Turnabout is fair play, as they both have been worker bees for my cats in the past. Linda adopted two cats from me over the years: Harley (formerly Horton) and Sylvester.

Interestingly, Harley was raised from a little kitten, but is shy, and Sylvester was caught as a 10-12 week old feral, and is more outgoing with company--or at least, with me. So there are no photos of handsome black Harley, but Sylvester was happy to show off his fluffy self.




For those familiar with the crew here, Sylvie is Storm's brother.

Haven't posted, so at least I can go for laughs

Sorry I've been a bad blogger. Since I haven't posted any of my cute kitties, go here and laugh at Maru.

Espie believes in cable...Adopter photos

Here's Espie when she first came to us...kittens in tow!

I'm so glad to see some of these long-termers get homes!

Whose cute little face is that at the top of the stairs?

Could it be Dude?

Thanks, Debra. We're all looking forward to more, as he gets more relaxed in his new home.

I finally tracked down some Dude baby pictures!

Here's what he looked like the night he arrived, poor guy.

July 2006. Dude is almost three years old! Whoa, time goes too fast.

Tucking in the cats

I feel badly that I have not been posting more photos of the rescued cats. Mostly this is due to my failing camera. But that is a cop-out, as I have a pile of gift cards (by way of an award from work) to a camera store to replace it---I just need to pick one out and make a phone call.



Faith, Hope's mom, is such a little pistol. She now bounces right down out of her cage to be with the other cats, although she's still not quite sure of them. She loves the laser-pointer, and she plays with anything and everything. She is the cutest little cat that's come through this place in a long while. Maybe she's filling the spunky-black-and-white-girl-cat void left by Espie? Her fur is pretty dull, probably from her year on the streets. Given how shiny little Hope is, I'm betting once this sheds out, she'll be as pretty as her daughter.

She is so happy to be warm and well-fed. It's a joy to watch her zooming around the cat facility. She tends to trot rather than canter, and I've never seen a cat trot quite so quickly. I didn't think cat legs could move that fast.

I have someone in mind for her for a home. I'll let you know how it goes.

Quite the productive day

Every second or third Saturday is trash day. Once the weather warms up, it is almost every other Saturday because you just can't let trash cans full of cat litter go three weeks in the hot sun. Trust me on that.

The trash didn't even fill 1/3 of the truck, so I drove down to the lower barn to haul out yet more junk. I packed the truck full.

I've caught kittens (and a mom cat) for the Tioga County Solid Waste folks, so we get along pretty well. There's always a little cat chit-chat when I come in--not much, because they are always pretty busy. Today they pointed out their new wall-of-honor for their customer's visiting pooches.



They actually go right out to the parking lot and use their own camera to photograph the dogs riding shotgun who have accompanied their owners to the transfer station! I told them I was going to put Arthur in a harness and bring him in for a photo next time I came in, so there's a cat on the wall of honor, too. And I may just do that. Not much bothers Arthur.



On the way out to the transfer station, be-bopping over the hills, I noticed a sign for a maple sugar house. As I had promised to bring real maple syrup to the Humane Society of Schuyler County's pancake breakfast tomorrow, it was like fate dropped it right on me. I took a sharp right on the way home and got the most delightful surprise.



I thought I was going to find an open sugar house with the owner splitting wood outside or engaged in other chores to end up the season, and he'd come wandering over to let me in and sell me a quart of syrup. Instead, as I wound down the narrow dirt lane behind the dairy barn, I found a roped off lawn full of cars. It was an open house! OK, cool, LOTS of people buying maple syrup and getting tours, I thought.

Then I walked into a full fledged seriously country pancake breakfast! It reminded me of the roadhouses in Alaska, with the low ceilings and board walls. A young woman immediately invited me to sit at the bustling family-style tables, and I said I was just there to buy syrup, but I was grinning from ear to ear I was so surprised and pleased. Dad pointed me to the wall of syrup (liquid gold...ranging from tiny shot-sized bottles, to gallons. My quart was $16, and worth every cent). I paid at the kitchen window and Mom (I'm making assumptions here) was frying up a glorious pan of eggs. They were beautiful. The place was full of the sound and smell of cooking food, and the rumble of conversation and laughter. Maybe I should change my mind? But time was short. I asked how often they had an open house, and they said just once a year, the third Saturday in April--unless it was the day before Easter.

So remember that! I swear, I'm rounding up all my friends to go next year because this place was just about as as perfect as you could get.

Here you go! Real maple syrup for tomorrow. Although this time of year, you never know. Someone may have donated real syrup to the Humane Society for this event.



I love living here. Every time I contemplate moving, I run into something like this and am reminded of what I would never find anywhere else.

World of Pets Expo Today at the Ithaca mall!

Nancy, Wildrun fosterer, adopter, friends, and groomer extraordinaire will be there from noon to six today, so stop and say hi at her booth for The Grooming Room! If your dog needs a brush-out or nail clip, she'll take care of that for you today.

Have fun, Nancy!

Pancakes for pets on Sunday

Anyone else want to join us? It's a benefit breakfast for the Schuyler Humane Society at the Montour Falls Moose Lodge, Route 14, tomorrow, Sunday April 19.

It's $6.00/adults -- $3.00 children, and children five and under - Free. I realize my earlier post said $5, but that seems to have changed (and $6 makes more sense, anyway).

Judy will be there, and Debra and perhaps her mom and sister? We are planning on arriving at 9:30. If anyone else wants to meet us, let me know at info at americancat dot net (convert that to email address form). It's a good reason to get going in the morning! And they even say they have vegan options.

I'll try to remember to bring the real maple syrup!!

KITTEN FIX!!!

Go here.

Time to go out, Bear!

Bear has been taking advantage of the ton of work I'm churning out by sneaking into the snuggle ball by the bed and attempting to camouflage himself under kittens, hoping I'll forget to banish him to the cat facility for the night. Unfortunately for him, he's just too darned big.

Sorry, Bear, time to go visit the shelter kitties.

From a friend, today...

If you want someone who will eat whatever you put in front of him, and never say its not quite as good as his mother's...

.... then adopt a dog.

If you want someone always willing to go out, at any hour,for as long and wherever you want...

....then adopt a dog.

If you want someone who will never touch the remote, doesn't care about football, and can sit next to you as you watch romantic movies...

....then adopt a dog.

If you want someone who is content to get on your bed just to warm your feet and who you can push off if he snores...

...then adopt a dog.

If you want someone who never criticizes what you do, doesn't care if you are pretty or ugly, fat or thin, young or old, who acts as if every word you say is especially worthy of listening to, and loves you unconditionally, perpetually...

...then adopt a dog.

BUT, on the other hand...

If you want someone who will never come when you call, ignores you totally when you come home, leaves hair all over the place, walks all over you, runs around all night and only comes home to eat and sleep, and acts as if your entire existence is solely to ensure his happiness...

...

...

...

...


...then adopt a cat!

And for our dog-owning readers: grape and raisin toxicity

I didn't have a clue. Read about it here.

On the road for Easter

I stopped by to visit Jasper (the blocked kitty in the post below) and Zuzu on my way home today from Easter dinner with my family. Jasper's photos came out fuzzy, but Zuzu was turning herself inside out to get my attention. What a sweet and silly cat! (Valarie, Zuzu is the kitten you rescued).



Tinker discovered my armoire in the bathroom when I opened the door this morning. Oooo....fuzzy camouflage pants to snuggle into! They make me laugh. It's always good to have something to laugh about.

Vets and urinary blockages.

I have yet ANOTHER adopter who has taken their cat to their vet for a urinary blockage only to have the vet:

A) not do a urinalysis to determine if the cat has crystals in his urine and what type and

B) has NOT put the cat on a prescription diet to deal with whatever crystals he has and has just sent the cat home with antibiotics and instructions to be on "wet food."

I am so mad I could just SPIT! This is the third cat that adopters have called me on that have been back to their vet multiple times for the same problem, racking up huge bills, and the most basic work is never even done. A blockage can kill a cat. This is not something to mess around with!

These are three different vets! What the heck is going on? In this case, it's not even as if the vet thinks this is just a basic urinary tract infection. The vet even mentioned crystals...but did not prescribe a diet to fix the problem!

I am at a loss. There really are only two issues that bother me in veterinary medicine: the tendency of veterinary hospitals to move away from providing emergency care and referring clients to very-high-priced emergency clinics to cover evening hours (resulting in some of my past adopters choosing to let pets die or euthanize pets because they cannot afford the emergency fees after their first experience in this system), and the repeated feedback I get from adopters about blocked cats not receiving what "used to be" standard tests (urinalysis) and treatment via diet.

Post Note: Edited to remove "God damn it!" from the subject line, although I still feel like it should be there.

From Debra's Facebook page:

"Dude was downstairs last night playing laser tag. Let your friends know that Dude Easter Pics are coming! Take Care."

Whoo hoo! Shy little Dude is coming out of his shell in his new home.

Hope keeps Angus company

Angus is back from the vet, feeling pretty miserable, and Cary has sent us a shot of Hope keeping him company.

Not a good day for our adopters' dogs

Two of our closest friends/adopters took their dogs off to specialists today, and the news was not the best for either.



Hope's buddy Angus went in for a dental issue that turned out to be a large mass that has gone to biopsy. Angus is a shelter mascot, beloved by lots of kids, not to mention his mom Cary, so please send good thoughts his way.



And Jack (at left) -- owned by Nancy, who adopted Gizmo -- has a fatty tumor that, while not life-threatening, could cause some limitations in movement down the road, which is the last thing a mature dog needs. Nancy reports that "When he (the vet) got in there to see, he found it really grown into the muscle already - too close to the ligament and lower leg blood supply to remove. It is not bothering him much now, and that invasive surgery would have made him worse off. So the good news is no major surgery. the bad is that it is still in there. Hopefully it will stay a slow growing lypoma, and it will never bother him much." I'm partial to Jack because he reminds me so much of our Sadie dog.

A rough day for two good friends. But both have great vets and wonderful homes, so we'll be lobbying for happy endings! How can they not do well with all those kitty-vibes surrounding them?

Everpresent communication

By the wonders of modern technology (camera phones and email) adopters and friends can wake up and send me photos of their adopted cats while they are still brewing the coffee and rubbing the sleep out of their eyes.

Morning Simon and Cary!

A "real" home apparently suits Espie!

This is the lady cat who ruled the cat facility with an iron paw. "Don't even THINK of cuddling with me, thank you!"

Apparently being in a real house and home with plenty of love has mellowed her in short order.

Prayers for the victims at the Binghamton American Civic Association

There is a prayer service this evening. What an incredible tragedy, aimed at people who do nothing more than help other people. You watch these events on television, tell yourself "thank goodness it hasn't happened here yet." And then it does.

I seem to recall a resolution...

...to blog every day. Like most resolutions, it is shabbily treated. There are cat boxes to clean, floors to vacuum, cats in the cat facility to tuck in, and a big orange stray outside I'm hoping ate the food I put out for him. How did it get to be Thursday, by the way?

Last week I was at the Virginia Federation of Humane Societies 2009 conference, which was really a lot of fun. For those who watched me whining on Facebook, you'll know it was an adventure for me to get there and back, what with canceled and delayed flights. Why I didn't drive...I just don't know.




Nonetheless it was a great conference. I made a point of going to the feral cat presentations of course,





as well as wildlife diseases, and then I spoke on wildlife handling. The conference committee was great, the exhibitors are getting to be old friends, and I'd just seen some of them at the Animal Welfare Federation of New Jersey conference four days before.

Most conferences have some sort of fundraiser, and silent auctions are deadly to me. I was a good girl this time. I was after this silly stuffed cat, but another attendee thought it was cute in its homeliness too, so when the price got around the cost of a neuter, I bowed out.



I'm afraid I did buy a sweatshirt I've been lusting over for years. (Ivan is lying outright on my forearm, purring his head off. Perhaps he's happy to see me blogging again? Or maybe he's hoping he'll get a Cheeze Doodle)

I really encourage anyone who is interested in animal welfare to pick one conference a year to go to. Before I got a job in animal welfare, I would go the the NYS Wildlife Rehabilitation Conference. I had no money, so I usually camped or slept in my truck, but I loved hanging out with people who cared about animals, and I got to meet all sorts of people who became life-long friends. My "vacation" each year was always a conference.

Every field has professional conferences. In animal welfare, we are lucky that there are more and more of them, so sooner or later, one is close by.

But now I'm home, safe and sound, at least for a bit. There are new feral cat adventures on the horizon for us--more on that to come!

And MORE pancakes, this time for Schuyler Humane

Benefit Breakfast for the Schuyler Humane Society
Montour Falls Moose Lodge, Route 14
– Sunday April 19
$6.00/adults -- $3.00 children
Children five and under - Free

Traditional Breakfast and
Vegan Breakfast

Raffle for Dog and Cat Goodie Baskets

The Schuyler Humane Society website is at www.schuylerhumane.org

Anybody want to go?

Kitten Palooza in NYC!

Do you ever wish there was a course in caring for those little feral spitters that you are trying to make into purring house kitties? The NYC Feral Cat Initiative is holding three workshops to help you out. For you lucky folks near NYC, you will want to check it out.