More Updates

I've neglected the blog for a few weeks - I had a very busy project at my job and was working about 18 hours a day for a couple weeks.  I've spent the last two weeks catching up on everything I pushed aside for work - vet visits, cleaning, etc.

1. Princessa was adopted and went home at the end of September.  Princessa is the first cat I tried to pull from Animal Care & Control.  She was pregnant at the time, and I tried to get her while she was still pregnant so she would have a safe place to have her kittens.  In the time it took the shelter to get back to us about her, she was spayed and her kittens aborted.  She was still healthy at the time and had a chance of being adopted, so we took Rondo instead.  About a week later, Princessa ended up on the kill list with a cold, so we took her after all.  She had to go the the vet straight from the shelter, and she was there for a month before I finally got her home.  She was with us for a few months.  A couple had seen her briefly at Petco and I was in the back of the store - the other volunteers got their contact info and I was able to bring Princessa to their home the next day to meet her in a calmer setting.  She wasted no time in jumping up on their bed and curling up, and that sealed the deal.  She is so sweet, and it was shocking that it took so long for her to be adopted.  

2. Sheri FINALLY got to go home!  She and her kittens finally got rid of the ringworm and I am happy to say it is out of our house now.  Her new owner is so thrilled with her, and she gets along fabulously with her new brother cat.

3. Shirley, one of the cats I originally caught for TNR, was adopted last weekend.  She was NOT with Anjellicle, but the rescue group who paid for her vetting found a home for her quite unexpected.  Either way, I'm still very happy for her!

4. I have a few new fosters: 

Caleb, an 8-month-old cat who fell out of a third-story window and broke his leg.  He had surgery and he is on strict cage rest with us.  He's doing REALLY well and you wouldn't even know his leg was broken unless you really watched him.  He's also very sweet, and I think he'll get along with the rest of our clan very nicely when he's able to leave the cage.  He has a checkup next Tuesday, so we'll see!

Joshua, who was 7 weeks old and a woman found him out on the street alone.  She brought him to Anjellicle while we were holding an adoption event.  He's pretty small for his age, but very lovey.  He has "mommy issues," as we call it, where he tries to suckle on the people who hold him.

Jake, a 4-month-old kitten who has burn marks all the way down his head and back.  I traded another volunteer another kitten I was fostering in order to take him, since she couldn't due to vaccines and such.  Very very sweet boy, and my husband's coworker is actually adopting him.  She is an amazing woman and he'll have a great life with her.  His burns are healing nicely, but he might always have a stripe of missing fur due to scars.

Star, a 1-year-old who was pulled from AC&C but didn't have a foster.  She looks EXACTLY like Dusty, so I asked if I could foster her.  She has already been adopted and is going home this weekend.

I have a new foster coming tomorrow, Katy.  She is 1.5 years old and came into the shelter with a kitten, the owner gave them up because of too many pets.  Spay and neuter your pets, people!  She was on the kill list this past Wednesday and I couldn't stop looking at her, so I asked to pull her.  She gets along with both cats and dogs.  I can't wait to meet her!

Oh, What A Month

So much has happened since I last posted, and I was incredibly busy because of it.  I just didn't have the time to post, and then no motivation to, as you'll see shortly.

Sheri

1. Sheri and her 5 kittens have ringworm.  I have been treating them all but this means they have been isolated from everyone else and have been unable to attend adoption events, and that is bad news during this crucial time when they are very adoptable.  The kittens are now 3 months old and getting sooo big.  I really hope they will still have an easy time finding homes, but the ringworm isn't gone yet so I don't know when that will be.  Sheri was indeed adopted by the lady who was interested in her, and this woman is a SAINT.  She has been so patient waiting for Sheri to be ready to come home, even though it's been 4 weeks already.  She just wants her to be healthy!

2. Prize, Chandra, Tibalt, and Hermie all went to their new homes.  Hoodie is my only remaining kitten from this bunch that were together, and he couldn't go with Sheri's kittens for obvious reasons, so he has been staying with Lily in our bedroom.  Hoodie is incredibly sweet now, I'm so happy with how he's turned out, he used to be the most shy of his brothers.  He is also 3.5 months old now and I really hope he'll be adopted soon.  The older they get, the harder it is...

3. We caught 2 females for TNR completely by luck.  We named them Laverne and Shirley.  We found out they were both already spayed, but they got their vaccines and ears tipped anyway.  Laverne was semi-friendly but just not enough to be adopted, so we released her back to her neighborhood, where it looks like people were taking care of them anyway.  Shirley is still with us for now, she is VERY friendly and we didn't have the heart to release her.  We are trying to find her a home and may need to take her to adoption events with the group that I do TNR with.

Shirley

Laverne

4. I wanted to take a few more foster kittens for Hoodie since he would have been alone otherwise.  I originally agreed to 2, then got talked into agreeing to 7, then 8.  Eight kittens = 5 4-week-olds (no names at the time), 2 8-week-olds (Boo and Bobo), and 1 ~10 week old (Sachet).  When the kittens were first brought to me at an adoption event, I noticed they had diarrhea, but figured I'd give it a few days since it could be due to anything, even just the food they were eating.  However, by the end of the week, the diarrhea had not cleared up and several of the kittens were dehydrated.  Sachet ended up at the vet for 3 days, and we lost 2 of the youngest kittens.  It is the first time I've ever lost a kitten, and I know I am very lucky it hasn't happened until now.  We are doing our best for the others.  The remaining 3 are now named: Blossom, Bubbles, and Buttercup (yes, the Powerpuff Girls!).  Sachet may have an adopter, and Boo and Bobo will start attending events this weekend.

5. Rondo, who was living at Petco now, passed away unexpectedly.  He got very ill very quickly and passed away at the vet before they could drain some fluid from his chest.  They think it was either heart problems or cancer.  I was devastated.  He had just been adopted and was going to be delivered to his new home the next day.  Absolutely horrible news.  The group is thinking of starting a Rondo Memorial Fund to assist with vet costs for cats who get ill so quickly, which is a great idea and I'm happy he'll be remembered that way.  Here is a video from after he first went to Petco:

6. Current count = 25.  We are taking a break - no more fosters for awhile.  Of course we will continue to go to adoption events until the kittens are all adopted, but especially this latest batch of kittens and the ringworm have taken a toll on us and we need a breather.  The adults aren't as time-sensitive to take to events, so having a few adult fosters isn't as bad.  Of course I say "no more" right now, but there are always cats in desperate need of a home.  I'm trying to be serious this time, at least!

Swap: 1 for 6

The very first cat I rescued from the kill list was Rondo, back in March.  He is an incredibly handsome 3-year-old fellow.  He was brought to the shelter as a stray and came to me with a pretty bad cold and an abscess that was draining, but not healing.  After about a month, including over a week at the vet, he was healthy and lovey as ever.  We kept him in his own room for a long time while he was recovering.  A short time after he was finally good to go, he snuck out of the bedroom while the door was open.  Normally we would immediately intercept and put him back, but he had been in the house long enough that he at least knew most of the other cats by smell, so it was a good introduction test.  He crept a few feet, then went STRAIGHT for our biggest cat, the 20-pound Sharky.  It was the first time I saw an actual hissing-screaming-ball-of-fury cat fight, straight out of a cartoon. 

After that, Rondo was separated again.  We got a large cage and put it in the living room and for weeks we kept him there to get used to the other cats, thinking he just needed a longer introduction.  We started letting him out again for short periods of time.  He would be okay for an hour or two, then out of nowhere, he'd corner another cat or just attack one.  He always goes for the back of the neck, so we quickly learned that it's all dominance - he isn't attacking them out of aggression, but the need to be the dominant cat.  We tried so many times, but he is just TOO dominant to be with other cats.  Maybe he would do well with one submissive cat, but he wouldn't be able to work with our clan.

There was another cat that lived in the condos at our Petco location, and I found out she was good with other cats.  I recommended that we switch the two - Rondo could live at Petco and I would take this girl.  Timing worked out well and she got adopted a few days before I was to bring Rondo to Petco this past Saturday.  So instead I got this family in exchange:

 

Meet Sheri and her 5 8-week-old babies, Kara, Kennedy, JR, Juniper, and Justine.  JR is the only boy.  This picture was taken at the adoption event where I was picking them up from, they are in our large foster room right now.  They are all a little ill right now with colds and eye infections, but doing well.  They are ALL very friendly.  Someone is already interested in Sheri, which is amazing, because I'm always afraid that the moms will be left behind after kittens get adopted.

For those playing along at home, our cat count right now is 21 - 10 are kittens, though, and 4 of the kittens have applications and/or already approved to go to their new homes, so the numbers will be decreasing rapidly this week.

As always, Rondo, Sheri, and her babies are available for adoption through Anjellicle Cats Rescue.

Updates

It's been pretty busy around here lately, so here are a bunch of updates:

1. Several kittens went home in the last two weeks: Hudson went to a home that had an adult cat, and Ajani and Tibalt went to a home together with an amazing couple.

2. Speaking of Ajani and Tibalt, Lily's kittens had their retesting done last week...and all four came back negative!  My beautiful, brave, strong Liliana managed to give birth to six perfect babies with NO FIV!  Just Chandra and Jace are looking for their forever homes now.

3. Jezebel, the skinny little stray, went to the vet yesterday and tested negative.  She's been vaccinated and ready for a new home.  She isn't quite ready to be spayed yet though, the vet wants her to gain some more weight for about a month before spaying.

4. RIP Cody.  He also went to the vet yesterday for evaluation and testing.  It was ultimately decided by the vet that he was too old to be socialized, and was taken away from his mother too young to have the survival skills to be put back outside.  They decided it was most humane to euthanize him.  I feel very responsible for this little life having been lost, since I should have started socializing him sooner but just didn't have the proper environment to do so.  I had just gotten him a nice cage and was ready to start, but the timing just ended up not working in my favor.  I don't think I could agree to this decision again if it comes up, but what's done is done in this case.  I'm so sorry, little guy.

5. When I went to an adoption last week with 6 kittens, I came home with 7.  The AC&C van had dropped off a bunch of kittens that the group pulled from the kill list and the director asked who wanted kittens.  We agreed to take a solo kitten who had been thrown out of a car window and onlookers brought him to the shelter.  His name is Prize, though we call him Sir Prize.  He is about 8 weeks old now.  Both he and Hermie have people interested in them!

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.