Hello There, Little Guys!

Rory & Zigby

A few weeks ago, we accepted 2 adults from the rescue group to be fostered.  They came to us from their owner, who had to give them up due to allergies and moving to a smaller place (the combination of the two).  Usually allergies is an excuse, but I could tell their owner really loved them, and she was heartbroken to give them up.

Zigby is a purebred Ragdoll, who came from a breeder originally.  She has gorgeous blue eyes.  She took longer to get used to us than Rory, and she was ill when she first came to us - she had an eye infection.  Once she started feeling better, she came out of her shell and we started to get to know her better.  She is very sweet, but on her own terms.  She is quite the character - she'd get mad at something one minute, and the next minute she can't help but come looking for attention again.

 
Rory is a beautiful tortie.  She does not have any "tortitude" at all - calicos and torties are usually thought to be very snooty and moody.  Rory is an absolute sweetheart, very affectionate and vocal.  She would have warmed up to us faster than she did, except that she hid under the dresser with Zigby for a couple days just to keep her company.  Unfortunately, Zigby didn't show any of that affection towards Rory.

We wanted to keep them together when they were adopted; especially since it would be Rory's best chance to find a home if she had to go with such a pretty purebred.  It became apparent to me though that Zigby really preferred to be alone; if she had any bond with Rory, she didn't show it.  She also would not have done well in a home with other cats, since it took her a month just to get along with Rory when their owner first brought Rory home.

Two weeks ago, a couple wanted to meet Zigby.  We explained that we wanted to keep Rory with her, but they could only have one cat.  I brought Zigby to the adoption event that week so they could at least meet her; if things went well, then we would discuss adopting her out alone.  It was absolute love at first sight.  Another volunteer suggested letting Zigby roam around in the adoption area so they could get to know her, but she ended up hiding under a cage for awhile and they didn't get much time with her.  They said they would take a few days to talk it over and decide what to do.

In the meantime, I spoke with some of the people from the rescue group, as well as with my husband.  We ultimately decided that if they wanted Zigby, they could have her by herself.  This couple was head-over-heels for her, and just the way they spoke of their former cat showed how much they would love Zigby as well.

Last weekend, they wanted to meet her again and make their decision, since they didn't really get much time with her the first time.  I offered to bring her to their apartment, and if they decided to adopt her, I could just leave her there.  By the time I got there, the decision had already been made - Zigby was staying!  I'm glad my husband came with me for this, because he got to see the kind of life Zigby would have, and her new owners are amazing people.  Rory is still with us, and we will find the perfect home for her as well.  We are happy to have her with us for now.  Here is a picture of Zigby from her new owners, already ruling her castle!

New Arrivals!

There is still one "spotlight" post to be done regarding cat #6, but my husband will be writing that one, since I can't do him justice.

However, the little guys above just arrived at our house tonight.  Another volunteer with our rescue group cares for a colony of ferals out in Queens.  She found these guys coming out of an old factory near the colony and took them in.  She doesn't have room for kittens, so the rescue sent out a plea for a foster home with an extra room to isolate the kittens for a few weeks until they can be tested, vaccinated, etc.  Not many people have the kind of space we do since most of them live in apartments in the city, so we stepped up.

They are 5 weeks old and all boys.  From top to bottom: Hoodie, Hudson (who is long-haired!), and Hermie.  They are soooo cute.

Spotlight: Permanent Cat 5/6 - SHARKY!

When I introduced Sabrina, I mentioned that we adopted two cats from the shelter we volunteer at;  Sharky is the other.  He is about 8 years old and weighs a whopping 20 pounds (not even very chubby - just a big boy!).

Sharky has an old hematoma on his ear, as you can see in his picture.  I've always loved it, it gives him character.

The cat room Sharky was in at the shelter was where they put all their "bully" cats, since they could defend themselves against each other.  Sharky was definitely one of those bullies.  It took me a long time to work up the courage to pet him, and eventually, befriend him.  Let me tell you, when you've earned the love and trust of a massive cat who is, quite frankly, intimidating, it is the best feeling in the world.

He was miserable in that cat room.  He didn't like being around so many other cats, which is why he was so ornery.  He had to go on quarantine for awhile away from other cats, and all of a sudden, he was a sweet boy who loved attention and could be easily handled.  Of course, I already knew that underneath all the gruff was a mush.

Sharky's quality of life and disposition changed so much once he was in our home.  While we do have other cats, the house is large enough and has enough rooms that he can get away from them if he wants.  He ignores others for the most part, but he has never once attacked one of them unless they were accidentally in his way, which would earn a growl and maybe a halfhearted swipe.  He's a lover now and he curls up by me at the computer every night.  He's usually the first to greet us and rub up against our legs.

Just an idea of how large this cat really is (that is my husband!):

I also wanted to mention how many other volunteers have approached me and were thrilled that I kept my word - I always said that I was going to adopt Sharky and Sabrina, and as soon as the house was ours, we did.

Rescue in Action!

I knew exactly what happened when my husband called me at work and his first sentence was "Tell me I did the right thing."  I think it's turned into a code phrase.

On his way back from the bus stop after work, he saw a mother cat and two kittens.  The mom ran, the tortie kitten followed right behind her, but the little fluffy tuxedo boy was disoriented just long enough for my husband to grab him.

He is about 8-9 weeks old if I had to guess, definitely old enough to leave his mom.  We are going to try to catch his sister and eventually trap his mom for TNR.  He's in pretty bad shape; crusty eyes, stuffy nose, etc.  We cleaned him up and gave him eye meds and antibiotics.  Up next: bath time!  More pictures to come as he feels (and looks) better.  His name is Cody Rhodes, since he looks like a mini-Dusty.

Spotlight: Permanent Cat 4/6 - SABRINA!

I wish I had more pictures of Sabrina - I must remedy this.  Sabrina is 12 years old.  She has diabetes which is currently controlled by diet, no insulin.  She has incredibly soft fur and loves to give kisses.

My husband and I volunteer at a no-kill shelter, Pets Alive Westchester, in Elmsford, NY.  We started volunteering there in 2010.  I made a lot of furry friends there, and as you know, we couldn't have more cats until recently; as soon as we closed on the house in January, we went to the shelter and did all the paperwork.  We decided on two cats.  Most of the cats I originally wanted to adopt either passed on or found homes, and my choice will be in the next post, but my husband's list never changed.  Sabrina was always his #1 choice.

After we first did our volunteer orientation, I went to the shelter a few times by myself.  By the time I brought my husband with, I was familiar with the different cat rooms and some of the cats in them.  Sabrina's room was the "senior/declaw" room.  Sabrina happened to fall into both categories.  In each room, my husband would sit down and give love to whoever came over for it.

This room was no different - except that while he was being bombarded with kitties, I noticed Sabrina just sitting patiently away from the group, but staring hopefully at him and waiting for her turn.  I pointed her out to him, and he immediately stood up and picked her up.  It was absolutely love at first sight.  When he found out she was 12, had diabetes, and was declawed, that sealed the deal.  He wanted her.

Unfortunately, Sabrina had a hard time with her insulin a few months after we met her, and they figured out that insulin wasn't the best choice for her, so that is when she went strictly to being managed by diet.  Even more unfortunately, this special diet meant she couldn't be in a cat room with free-fed dry food.  She was kept in a kennel in the infirmary ever since, and shortly after she moved in there, they stopped allowing volunteers to enter the infirmary.  We had to get special permission for the staff to bring her out to visit us, but we still did it.  Every time she came out to visit, she would light up and snuggle contentedly with us.

Over a year after we met her, we made it official.  My husband calls her a "little black dress."

We are technically fostering Sabrina, but it's more of a "forever foster," as the shelter calls it.  They do this for their elderly animals who might have high medical bills that would otherwise dissuade adopters.  I get her prescription food from them, and if she ever has problems with her diabetes, they will care for her.  Thankfully she hasn't had any problems yet, but it is a huge relief knowing I can still fall back on them. 

My husband is still madly in love with her, and every morning before work, he sits on the couch and they spend time just cuddling.  When the bedroom is open (currently occupied by fosters), she always comes in for 10-15 minutes before we fall sleep and just snuggles between us.  I don't talk about Sabrina much on Facebook or to other volunteers/staff/etc. because she honestly would have done well in ANY home, unlike the other cat we adopted, coming up next.  Sabrina is an amazing addition to our home.

Spotlight: Permanent Cat 3/6 - BOBBY!

His full name is Bobby "The Brain" Heenan.  Yes, it was intentional, following Dusty Rhodes.

I wish I could remember the exact time we got Bobby.  It was a few months after we took Dusty in, but it was before I got really into Facebook or things like that, so I have no real record.  It was most likely October or November of 2007.  There were a lot of stray cats outside our apartment building, but most were skittish so we didn't think about it much.  This cat had come up to us a few times, and one day, it was really cold and I think it was raining.  I was walking back to the apartment after work and saw him, he came right up to me and started rubbing up against me and wanting attention.  I scooped him up and brought him inside.  Thankfully it was just my husband, our roommate wasn't home.

We were going to find a shelter to take him to, but in the meantime, we would keep him inside.  For the first few days, when our roommate wasn't home or was sleeping, Bobby would get to wander around our bedroom.  If the roommate was around, we kept Bobby in the cat carrier and in the bottom of the bookcase.  This was before he learned to meow, so it actually worked.

We finally called the Yonkers Animal Shelter and they straight up told us that the shelter was full and if we brought him in, they would put him to sleep.  So we basically told our roommate we would keep looking for somewhere to take him, and he just kind of stayed.

Bobby has changed the most over the years we've had him.  For the first few years, he was just kind of always there; he didn't have much of a personality.  The most we understood about him was that he could balance on his back legs for long periods of time (as in the picture), and that he had to learn how to meow, in which he sounded like a kazoo for a long time.  We were willing to give him to anyone who might want to adopt him and we almost did at one point, I'm glad we didn't now!

When we moved into our last apartment and it was just 3 cats again, I don't know what prompted it, but Bobby changed.  He was seeking attention, he would voluntarily come over for pets, he started playing games with us (we play tag with him!) and he turned into a genuine love bug.  I don't think I ever heard him purr until this.  He fell in love with me and started learning my bedtime routine, waiting for the bathroom for me, then coming and sitting in bed with me for a bit.

Bobby's name has made him what we call "a furry little punchline."  We make all sorts of jokes, like if Bobby was a politician, he'd be Lobby Bobby, things like that.  In reality, Bobby is probably the best cat we have right now.  He has perfect litter box habits, he never gets in trouble, he plays with the other cats, and he's just a very sweet kid.  We also have "Uncle Bobby's Daycare," because he's always very good with kittens and loves having new playmates.  Bobby doesn't seem to like when a lot of people are over; I don't think he's shy, I think he just doesn't like the noise and commotion.

Spotlight: Permanent Cat 2/6 - DUSTY!

His full name is "The American Dream" Dusty Rhodes.  He is 5 years old and weighs about 15 pounds.  We think he is a Ragamuffin mix.

About a month after I moved to NY (5 years ago), I saw a 4-month-old kitten in the stairwell of our apartment building.  At that time, he was just a friendly little kitten who was meowing at me and let me pick him up and hold him.  I asked our roommate if we could take him in, and he said no, that we had agreed to no cats.  A few days later, while my husband and I were coming home from work, he was in the stairwell again, but this time soaked and filthy from the rain outside and shivering.  This was the first time my husband saw him.  He scooped him up and took him into the apartment, and he didn't care what our roommate would say.  The kitten needed us.  We gave him a bath and tried to feed him, but every time I set him down, he would jump back up on me and just cuddle; I never had a cat before, nor since, that cared more about being near me than exploring a new place.  I will never forget that night.

Dusty is a gorgeous cat.  While we will never know exactly what breed he is, based on his characteristics, we strongly believe he is at least part Ragamuffin.  He has many of the breed traits, too much in common to ignore it - fatty pad on abdomen (different from a chubby cat), medium-length hair that doesn't mat, large expressive eyes, and goes limp when held.

Dusty used to be our ambassador cat when we brought in new cats, but after the last 2 years of it just being him, Pumba, and Dusty, he's grown to dislike new cats when first introduced, but it seems more because of jealousy than aggression.  He got too used to having a lot of our attention.

Even though Dusty isn't the first cat to make friends with new cats anymore, given time he gets along with anyone.  However, he is deeply, deeply bonded to Bobby, who will be our next spotlight post.  If anything ever happened to us, these two would HAVE to stay together.  We call them DustBob.

He is our ultimate lap cat.  As I mentioned in Pumba's post, our visitors are either Team Pumba or Team Dusty.  Dusty has absolutely no problem jumping into a new person's lap, whether they want him there or not.  He's incredibly friendly and travels well.  We even took him to a Christmas photo event at the shelter we volunteer at; we were the ONLY people to bring a cat, everyone else brought their dogs.  He was a hit because of it.

While Pumba is -my- boy, Dusty is Daddy's boy.  Even though Dusty does love us equally (which we've proven several times by seeing if he would leave one's arms for the other!), my husband is head-over-heels for that kid.  We love all our animals, but Pumba was my first cat, and Dusty was his first cat.  Nothing can change that.

Spotlight: Permanent Cat 1/6 - PUMBA!

My goal is to introduce our own 6 cats one at a time, and hopefully one each day this week so I don't just keep putting it off.

This is Pumba!  Pumba is currently 8 years old.  He is the first cat I ever owned.  When I was growing up, we always rented, so I was never allowed to have a cat.  When I decided to move into an apartment for my senior year of college in 2005, I only considered those that allowed cats, and as soon as I moved in, we went to the Dane County Humane Society in Madison, Wisconsin.  My lease stipulated that cats have to be declawed, and at the time, there were only 2 declawed cats at the shelter.  While Pumba, named Benton at the shelter, was a little scared and cautious, he was a beautiful cat and I adopted him.

Within a few days, it was clear that Pumba was very sick.  He had a very bad URI, an incredibly high fever, and wasn't eating.  About $600, an overnight stay at the vet, and an emergency vet visit later, he recovered.  It was a crash course in cat ownership.

It just so happened that during the time when it was just me and Pumba, I went through an episode of depression.  Things had been off for awhile, and my then-boyfriend-now-husband knew that something was seriously wrong with me when I said I regretted getting a cat and I didn't want it anymore, when I wanted a cat my entire life.  After months of struggling and Pumba at my side, I made it out of the hole I was in, just in time to adopt a second cat from DCHS - Pookie.

While this post is about Pumba, they went hand-in-hand for a long time, though never bonded.  I adopted Pookie when she was 15 years old and she was an "office cat" at the shelter - meaning she stayed in someone's office instead of in a cage.  She was sweet, but also a vicious food hound and liked to pick on Pumba.  A lot of his neuroses today are because of her.  Pumba loved to play fetch with a certain kind of jingle ball, even brought it back to me after I threw it, and used to sleep on my pillow every night.  When Pookie joined our household, she stole everything from him - food, toys, etc.  He now walks away when other cats come near him while playing or eating, even if I'm trying to give him a treat or some chicken.  He would follow her around to keep an eye on her.  He would still come in bed with me when I first laid down, but after a few minutes he would leave to go watch her.  He has just never gotten over it and he's a coward now.

I left Pookie and Pumba with my mom in Iowa when I moved to New York, because I was under the impression that cats weren't allowed in my husband's apartment (which turned out to be false, his roommate was quite a character).  A few years later, when Pookie was 17, she developed diabetes and her health spiraled very quickly.  She lost all interest in eating and withered away, and was peeing everywhere but her litter box.  After a very long discussion with my trusted vet, we decided not to treat her diabetes, since she was so old that daily (or more) injections of insulin would be unkind to her.  A week or two after that discussion, Pookie had given up completely and my mother had her euthanized with my permission.  I will always regret not being with her when we let her go, and now that I know more about feline diabetes, I sometimes wonder if we gave up too easily.  She had a great life with us though in the few years we had her, and that is the best we can hope for when an older senior ends up at a shelter.

A few months later, my fiance and I went back to Iowa to get married.  We packed up Pumba and took him on the 20-hour car ride back to New York with us (with breaks, of course!).  It was unpleasant for all of us, since Pumba has bad carrier anxiety, but we all made it in one piece and he was so happy to be back with me that he forgave us as soon as we let him out of the carrier in his new home.

While Pumba never really bonded with any other cats, despite so many to choose from that came through our doors, he will occasionally play with Dusty and Bobby, and that makes me happy enough.  He is my boy and won't let me forget it!  He knows 4 words - Pumba, Pookie, ball, and down.  Pumba is the only cat I ever managed to train "Down!" when he was up on a desk or counter that he shouldn't be.  Anyone who comes to our house either falls into Team Dusty or Team Pumba.  And I have to say, recently Team Pumba has the most members!

 

The "M" Kittens

As I mentioned in my previous post, we have been working with a rescue group that saves (or "pulls" as we call it) cats from the kill list.  About a month ago, one little 5-week-old tortie kitten was on the list.  I'm a sucker for torties.  As I read through her information, I found out she had 3 sisters who were also in the shelter, though not on the list (yet).  The ACC has a policy against adopting out kittens who are under 8 weeks old, only rescues can take them.  We decided to pull all 4 kittens.  They were eating on their own, which was our only real requirement, we didn't want bottle babies; that's another story!  All 4 girls had URIs (upper respiratory infection, basically a cold) and so were on antibiotics and eye ointment.  They recovered in about a week. 

This is Minnie.  She was the one who was actually on the kill list.  Hard to imagine anyone wanting to put her to sleep just for being too young for a home and having a cold.  Minnie's story is interesting.  The way the "kill list" works is that every night, a list of animals to be euthanized the next morning comes out on Facebook, and then people scramble to contact rescues or the shelter to foster or adopt them before they can be put to sleep.  A woman was in contact with my rescue group to adopt Minnie that night, but the process takes a little bit of time (checking references, etc).  So I had pulled all 4 kittens just to foster; a few days later, this woman got an email saying she was approved to adopt Minnie, and she was so confused because she thought someone took all 4.  Anyway, she was thrilled and finished up her adoption requirements, and patiently waited 3 whole weeks before I could deliver Minnie to her, which was last weekend.  She now lives with two older female kitties.

 

From left to right/bottom: Mellow, Mikki, and Mallory.  All three went to their new homes this past Saturday.  Mallory is SUCH a sweet kitten.  She loves people and she would just crawl right up to me and curl up.  She loves to be held and she's going to be an amazing companion.  She went home to a family with 2 young girls and 2 other female cats.  Mikki and Mellow went to a home together.  They are complete opposites, which is what makes them a good pair.  Mellow is exactly like her namesake - she is very calm and just goes with the flow.  Mikki is a typical kitten - full of energy, absolutely no fear, and TROUBLE!  The couple that took them hadn't owned cats for a very very long time, but I think having these two will be a good start for them.  Gotta start somewhere!

So now our total is down to 17 cats.  With 6 7-week-old kittens just about ready to be adopted, hopefully that number will keep going down!

Back From The Dead!

I've been thinking about this blog a lot lately and decided it was time to revive it.  Things have changed a LOT since my last posts and I really want to document things.

First of all, to finish up Patty's story:  We kept Patty for about a week.  We didn't tell our landlord about her since we were hoping to find her a place ASAP.  However, our landlord entered our apartment without permission while she was there and she was in the bathroom.  To this day I have no idea if he found her, but the day after that, we panicked and took her to a shelter.

The biggest update of all:  We bought a house!  In January, we became homeowners.  It is a 2 family house, so not only do we have our own home, but we rent out our upstairs apartment to a guy with a sweet Pitbull and get nice income that way.  The upstairs apartment is 2 bedroom, and our part of the house is 3 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, and 2 "storage" rooms, as we call them, because they aren't technically bedrooms, but have windows and doors.  We finally have enough space to foster and rescue cats as we see fit.  And let me tell you, we've been taking full advantage of it.

Right now, we OWN 6 cats, 3 chinchillas, 3 gerbils, and 1 rat.  At the moment, we also have 7 foster cats through Anjellicle Cats Rescue: 4 adults and 3 8-week-old kittens (we had 1 more kitten who just went home this past weekend).  And finally, we have a stray momma cat we took in, and the 6 beautiful 6-week-old kittens she gave birth to while in our care - I will give this family a dedicated post since they've had a rough go of it..  Unfortunately, the momma cat is FIV+, which complicates a lot of things in regards to finding homes for the kittens.  We are trying to put plans together for them right now and have been in touch with a few organizations.

In case you don't want to do the math, yes, that means we have 20 cats in our house.  But we have the room, we take care of them all, and almost half of them are kittens, which don't really count.  We also realized that 20 is our limit, even if they are temporary.  The individual feedings, medications, etc. just get to be too much, so that is how we arrived at this limit.  Also, I don't feed my own cats wet food, and with everyone else getting it twice a day, it gets EXPENSIVE and time-consuming.  No more, thanks.

I also have a room set up and dedicated to TNR (Trap-Neuter-Return), but I haven't gotten to use it yet.  We only did this for one female so far, and she wasn't very feral so didn't need the trap and cage.  Hopefully I will be more active in this arena soon, I've been putting it off too long.

So that's the current situation in our house.  I'll post again with pictures and stories for our residents in the coming days.