daily dose of dogs (aka cats with your coffee)

Countdown

This is “the week before”. We leave for Florida at the end of this week. My sister and I were talking about how the week before and the week after make you wonder if the time away is worth it (smile). Of course, it IS worth it. As I've said other years, this is my one and only chance to be away from EVERYTHING. Rescue work is definitely not nine to five, Monday through Friday. Neither is running a kennel. So there are truly no days off in this business which means vacation is the only real break. However, I really don't need a break from the animals. I love every minute I spend with them. It's all of the other stuff I'll be glad to temporarily get away from.

 At some point during this vacation, I hope to meet Cheryl. She is the feeder at the Florida hotel feral cat colony. Cheryl tells me all of the buildings are now down. It will be strange to see. When we discovered the colony one year ago, it looked like this . . .

 

So much has happened since then. Cheryl has been feeding there since last Fall. The hotel was tagged for demolition and the buildings are all down. Cheryl moved the feeding stations to an area near where the buildings had been. She needs SO much help. She needs more volunteers to feed, and they need a TNR program in her county. Until then, Cheryl did manage to get some of the hotel cats out. A couple of them qualified for the barn program in a neighboring county. She has a cat from the colony in her own home who cannot use her back legs. A couple of kittens were trapped and adopted out. And then there are Peter Pan, Tinkerbell, and Quinn who are here at Winnie's Wish.

 The plan is for Cheryl to try to trap two more from the hotel area and have them ready for me to bring back when we leave Florida. She will do her best, but without any help she is unsure of how successful she will be. It all came together at the last minute when the Rescue Railroad set up to bring the three (Pan, Tink, and Quinn) from Florida to me.  I hope it will be possible to give another couple of kitties a chance at the good life.

 Unless we discover another feral cat colony while we're gone (weak smile), I'll be spending my time drinking coffee under the palm trees, taking walks on the paths under the palm trees, and catching up on some reading under the palm trees.

 

 

My new kitten room is empty. The three moms with litters are in new locations. Quinn is now in my kennel office. Peter Pan and Tinkerbell have moved to the cathouse. The three new little bitty Winnie's Wishers will move to the kitten room just before we leave. By the way, little Mango is doing MUCH better. After some good help from Dr. A, he has joined his sister and brother in becoming a healthy normal kitten – eating, sleeping, and playing.

 I will miss the animals SO much. But I will take this break, soak up some time NOT constantly working, and recharge for another year of rescue work.

 

I look forward to introducing you to some new Winnie's Wishers when we return from Florida. Keep your fingers crossed that Cheryl will be able to save a couple of those hotel kitties just in time for me to bring them home.

 See you in June!

 

 

No Post Today

Whew!  BUSY weekend.  BUSY Monday ahead.  I'll be back tomorrow with a post about the countdown to vacation.

Cats With Your Coffee

Grab your coffee and settle in. I've got LOADS of pictures of cats and kittens today. Enjoy!

 I hope to find out by this weekend if anyone has stepped up to become a temporary foster for all of my fosters. The FIFTEEN kittens and their three moms in my Kitten Room need a place to go while we are on vacation. Keep your fingers crossed.

 

Waiting on their turn out to play . . .

The three Florida hotel cats – Quinn, Peter Pan, and Tinkerbell are still living in my upstairs bathroom. They will be moving to the cathouse this weekend. Quinn will probably only stay there until we get back from vacation. He is still terribly shy and I will need to have him close to me to help him become adoptable. So after vacation, I will move him into my kennel office for a while. Peter Pan is bored in the bathroom; I think he will be quite pleased to be where there is more action. Not sure how this will affect tiny little Tinkerbell.

Can't tell in this pic, but Tinkerbell is MUCH smaller than Peter Pan.

 

I received a few pictures via email that I'd like to share with you. This one is of Maverick in the bathroom WITH Julie. Yep, she said in this email that she can't even go to the bathroom by herself now that Maverick has joined their family. I get the impression that Mr. Mav is EVERYWHERE.

And here are some pictures from Mary out in California who persevered through several failed transport attempts to adopt Frosting and Hershey Bear. She says they are adjusting beautifully.

The babies are all still with me.  My little Mango Man is not eating well, but I'm remaining hopeful. He does eat a little, so let's end on that note. The babies – EATING.

 

Moose

Mango

Gabby

Have a great weekend!

 

 

Mariela or Gabriel?

We've taken in kittens who were so weak it was a sure bet that they wouldn't survive. It can go either way. I was fostering three little sweethearts for the shelter, one of which was in a near-coma state, in the Fall of 2011. The two little boys made it, but little Mariela did not. Then there is the amazing story of Gabriel. I took him in with several other kittens during the Flood (Spring 2011). He was completely comatose that first night. Not only did he survive, but his story touched somebody reading about him on this blog, and he went to a wonderful home in Canada.

 I waited on Sunday morning to receive the text from Older Daughter about who, if anyone, had survived Saturday night. The three kittens were severely emaciated; one of the three, a little calico, came in to the shelter as comatose as Gabriel had been. I did not get my hopes up that somehow she would live (as Gabriel did), but I hoped that the other two had survived the night. And if by some miracle that tiny little calico HAD survived, I knew her name would HAVE to be Gabriella. As I ate my breakfast and drank my coffee, I waited for the news.

 I had not been up long when that text arrived. All three lived through the night. I wanted to jump and dance and scream Hallelujah. I knew that didn't mean we were out of the woods. I knew with that kind of starvation, we could still lose any one of them at any point. I also knew that Older Daughter had her hands full. She was getting ready for work and would have to take them with her - to syringe feed and try solid food all day. I had volunteered for a transport for later in the day, but I told her to swing by on her way to work and the kittens could stay here. I would spend the early part of the day caring for these babies, and we would reassess before I left for my leg of the transport. Older Daughter was greatly relieved about where they would be on Saturday. But she hadn't thought past that. She was in “saving mode”; beyond that there was no plan for these three. So I told her my intentions and she asked if I really did have room.

 There are ten Winnie's Wish cats right now. I have also already committed to bringing home two more from the hotel colony in Florida when we are there later this month. But that still leaves room for these three babies. I'm not going to turn away until I truly cannot take in any more. This is only May. I know what the Summer and Fall will bring. But . . . I could receive word at any moment in time that someone has fallen in love with a Winnie's Wisher and wants to offer him or her a forever home. If we can keep that cycle going, there will always be room for more.

 These babies are vulnerable. It's been a bit of a rocky road these past few days. But at this point in time, all are eating. My hope is for them to survive and then to thrive. I know you will hope with me. Now meet the new babies.

 

Eating

 

Playing

 

Moose

Mango

Gabriella

Have a great day!

With No Place to Go

I've talked about the three foster families I have in my NEW Feline Room. The kittens are old enough now to be adopted, but it is much better for kittens to stay in foster care than to be housed in the shelter. They are not fully protected at such a young age from the various illnesses, including the upper respiratory disorders that often pop up in shelters. My daughters are VERY glad that these fifteen kittens are with me. But keep in mind – these kittens are registered to the shelter, and the shelter is responsible for placing them into homes. In addition to these fifteen, there are a handful of this shelter's kittens in other foster homes as well. AND, with no more room in foster homes, the only thing left to do when still more kittens come in is to put them in the quarantine cages at the shelter. That's where today's story begins. The shelter is FULL.

 On Friday, Younger Daughter had a day off. Older Daughter was working, along with another co-worker (J). That morning, two sets of kittens came in. And that was it. Every quarantine cage was full.  Every foster home was full (which is the safest way to house kittens). There was NO MORE ROOM. This is what Kitten Season is like in a shelter.  From here on, if a person brought kittens to the shelter, they would be given the phone numbers of other shelters and put on a list. If kittens got adopted, more could be taken in. There's simply nothing else that can be done.

 As the busy morning whizzed by, Older Daughter was performing her duties at the shelter. Two of the kittens who had come in were sick. She tended to them, and did the dozen other things on the list for that morning. Her co-worker was at the front desk when a woman brought in a cardboard box.  J was already thinking how they couldn't take this group. But the woman's story didn't seem to add up. There was no mom kitty. The woman said her dog would eat the kittens.        J looked in the box and there were three kittens, but one appeared to be unresponsive. She got the distinct feeling that if these kittens were turned away, it would be a death sentence for them. She took the kittens and alerted Older Daughter that one looked really bad. Older Daughter checked, and sure enough – a tiny little calico appeared comatose. As she examined each one, she could not believe how thin they were. She had only felt this level of emaciation a few other times. She checked their gums. The calico's gums were completely white, and she hung limp in Older Daughter's hand. This one wasn't going to make it. As Older Daughter and her co-worker folded the remaining box flaps back, there on one of the cardboard flaps, written in marker, was FREE KITTENS. How long had they been in this box? There would be no way to know what their story really was, but clearly they had been without ANY form of nourishment for a VERY long time.

 Older Daughter got busy trying to revive the tiny calico. She tried a tiny bit of kitten canned food for the other two – they attacked it and growled and inhaled it immediately. She mixed formula and each of these two sucked it down. The calico was in a near-coma state so Older Daughter had to put a drop at a time on her tiny little white tongue and gums and hope that she could absorb enough to pull her blood sugar up.

 We had a family meal planned for Friday night, and I texted Older Daughter what time we would eat. She called me back. I'll still be there – she said – but I've got three kittens that may not make it; one for sure won't. The shelter doesn't even have a place to put these three, but I wouldn't leave them here tonight anyway. I don't want this little calico to die alone.

 Of course, I told her to bring them along. They had no place to go. I was extremely pleased that J had taken them in even though there was not one spot anywhere for these three and they couldn't even be registered to the shelter. We would put them in the downstairs bathroom while we ate dinner. I sat in the floor with her while she syringe fed the two stronger ones. The calico was now holding her head up, but she wouldn't eat or drink. I held each one. They were long-haired kittens so it was a horrifying shock to feel the bodies beneath the fur. SKELETONS. I couldn't imagine that any of the three would survive. At this level of starvation, there is often organ damage.

 Outside it was pouring rain and the wind was howling as my daughters headed to their own homes. I was so glad those three kittens were going to spend the night warm and dry. I knew the calico probably wouldn't make it. Maybe it wasn't too late for the other two. I already knew what I would do if any of them lived. I'd make them Winnie's Wishers. I carried my heart around in my stomach for the rest of the night. At bedtime, I texted Older Daugher – Please text me the minute you get up in the morning. I'll be crazy until I know who made the night.   OK – she texted back. Good night.

 

 

 

 

On The Road Again

Remember me saying something about spending the next couple of weeks doing updates on Winnie's Wish kitties who need homes? And remember I said this - Of course, around here you never know when something will happen to shake things up a bit. Well, let's just say I'm going to wait to do my Winnie's Wish update until probably after vacation. This past weekend, specifically Saturday, brought some moments of joy I'd like to share with you.

 Early last week my email included one from The Rescue Railroad. A beautiful dog named Abby needed to get from a shelter in Missouri to her forever home in Georgia. Here is her story (which was posted at the beginning of the RR request for transporters): Abby’s story: Found pregnant & abandoned in a foreclosed condo in downtown Atlanta. Transport was set to go to Reno Ranch in MO, but Abby decided to have her pups in GA! So, after 3 weeks with a temp foster, she went on her way to rescue. Babies are happy & healthy now, and original foster would LOVE to adopt her girl - she will be foster to adopt so that her Mama can get her spayed at “home” so that she is there to take care of her sweet girl! Adoption will be finalized after Abby is spayed!

 I had a packed kennel weekend, but it would only take me two hours to get to the pick-up location, then less than two hours on the road with Miss Abby to the meeting spot where I would turn her over to the next leg of the transport.

 I now have experience with transports from three perspectives. I have driven long distances on many, many occasions to get one of my own Winnie's Wish kitties to a forever home (the most recent being just the Saturday before this last one). Other people have driven long distances to help me get these kitties to those homes. Then there was the case involving getting three kitties here to my cathouse – the three Florida hotel cats. They came via the Rescue Railroad, involving lots of people driving transport legs from central Florida to southern Illinois. The other experience I've had (several weeks ago for my first, and now again over the weekend) is to be a driver in an interstate transport for an animal I will only know for a couple of hours. I found it be so rewarding the first time I did it. Now I've had a chance to do it again.

 Younger Daughter (who LOVES to go on transports) decided to go along with me. It works nicely because she normally has Saturdays off and Rescue Railroad transports are on Saturdays and Sundays. My leg was in the afternoon, so we left after lunch. We drove in the rain (it's been raining ALOT here) and talked about how these organized transports are the most amazing things. Complete strangers (to the animal and to each other) sign up to get cats and dogs to better places. It's SO great.

 We arrived at our transfer spot, there was brief conversation with the people driving the previous leg, and then we were on the road with Abby. She was a fantastic rider. She stood with her head between us for a while, observing the passing scenery and absorbing the love talk and petting she was getting. Then she settled down on the back seat and rode along like this was the most natural thing she'd ever done. We told her several times that she was going to her forever home and that her new people were anxious to receive her. I think she understood.

 

Before long, we were at the next transfer location – a rest area beside the interstate. We arrived before the other transporter so we got Abby out to stretch her legs and do her business. (There was a handy little “dog walk” at this rest area.) Then we were handing over her bag of “things” which includes her paperwork, and she was gone. Younger Daughter and I made our way home. And Abby was another step closer to her own home.

 

 

 That's what I did on Saturday afternoon. Getting home on Saturday evening was both exciting and anxiety-producing because of an event that actually started on Friday morning. That story tomorrow.

 

Foster Families for Foster Families

Yesterday, I said I wanted to spend the next couple of weeks doing posts about the ten current Winnie's Wishers. But I completely forgot about an update on the shelter cat families I have here. We are searching high and low right now for foster placements. I will need to get these families into other foster homes before we leave for our vacation. Of course, I posted about Glimmer being FeLV positive. The kittens may or may not be. But even healthy kittens this age just really can't go to the shelter. So I sent pictures of the kittens to be posted through the shelter as needing temporary foster placement. Also, Whimsy's group is now old enough to be adopted; Malta's group will be adoptable soon.

 Keep your fingers crossed for foster homes for these three families. We need for that to happen IN THE NEXT TWO WEEKS.

 Now here are pictures of kittens - a dose of happy brain chemicals to get you on your way to the weekend!

 

Here is a gorgeous updated picture of Whimsy Whiskers.

 

 

Whimsy has three girls and two boys. Here's Inka.

Britta

 

Secret

 

 

Pandi

 

 

Poe

 

 

Malta is SUCH a sweet cat.  There are four girls and one boy in her family.

 

 

Biscotti

Bree

 

 

Wubbles

Clover

 

 

Milky

Have a great weekend!

 

May

THIS is the wonderful month that takes me to Florida. Every year in May, we close up the kennel for a couple of weeks and head for the land of palm trees. Have I ever mentioned that I love palm trees? Yeah, OK, maybe I have. Well, have I ever mentioned I love coffee? (Duh.) Do you know what I do EVERY morning while in Florida? I drink COFFEE on my little deck underneath the PALM TREES. It is a little bit of heaven.

While on vacation in Florida last year, we discovered the abandoned hotel which was home to a very large feral cat colony. I've told that story many times so I won't repeat it (again). You know Cheryl trapped three of those hotel cats, and by way of the wonderful Rescue Railroad, we got those cats from Florida to me. The buildings of that hotel are still going down. I get regular updates from Cheryl, who is, of course, still feeding that colony. She and I have a plan. At some point during our Florida vacation, I am going to meet Cheryl. And she is going to have another kitty or two for me. I have room in the cathouse (THANKS TO SO MANY RECENT ADOPTIONS), and I have a special place in my heart for these hotel cats. Between now and when I will be in Cheryl's part of the world, she will trap two more cats (if possible) and have them ready to travel home with me. (Now everybody cross your fingers that I don't discover another colony while I'm in the sunshine state!)

 I have a couple of weeks before we leave. My hope is to do some stories about the Winnie's Wishers who are currently waiting patiently for homes of their own. That's my plan. Of course, around here you never know when something will happen to shake things up a bit. I learned a long time ago to roll with the flow as far as the rescue work is concerned. It is often unpredictable. There are ten Winnie's Wishers right now. I plan to blog about all ten even though a few of them aren't quite ready for a home yet. It think it's time for an update around here. See you tomorrow.

 

We Never Gave Up

The plan was for me (this past Saturday) to drive north in Illinois on Interstate 57 as Janet was driving west on Interstate 70. Where those two interstates come together, I would hand off Hershey Bear and Frosting and head back home. Janet would continue her drive west – to Utah.

 Janet ended up getting a later start than she had originally planned and as Saturday ticked along I waited for the green light to head in her direction. As it turned out, we were not able to meet until about 9:30pm. Originally, Younger Daughter had offered to make the trip with me. She has Saturdays off. But she works bright and early on Sundays, so I told her she was definitely off the hook for the transport since we would not arrive back home until after 1:00am. But she was a trooper and vowed to go with me anyway.

 When Cheryl sent Quinn, Peter Pan, and Tinkerbell (hotel cats) to me from Florida on the Rescue Railroad, she sent them in two large carriers. Cheryl donated those carriers so the cats wouldn't have to change from carrier to carrier all along the route. And - the carriers are big enough for a small litter box with room left over for a kitty to curl up on a towel. We loaded Hershey and Frosting into their individual travel units and off we went.

 

It rained most of the trip up. We found our designated meeting place, and Younger Daughter and I sat in the parking lot, in the rain, and waited. Janet was driving her last two horses west, so we watched for a truck pulling a large horse trailer. When she arrived, we met and got the cats (in their roomy carriers) settled into the horse trailer. I could tell Janet cared about the cats. You can just tell when someone is like that. We didn't take time for chit-chat; it was raining and it was late and Janet had SUCH a long trip ahead. I told her I had to bolt for my car anyway as I was about to burst into tears. Gosh how I wish I could explain it all to Hershey Bear and Frosting. Hershey was peep-crying when I was handing him over.

 And that was it. I filled my vehicle back up with gasoline, and Younger Daughter and I hit a Starbucks and headed home. It poured rain all the way. We talked, and we listened to music. And I worried. SUCH a long trip for the kitties. But I told myself what I always do – this is what has to happen for them to arrive in a forever home where they are wanted so badly. I hoped they wouldn't think I'd abandoned them. I hoped they would be OK on the rest of the trip.

 They traveled nonstop all night Saturday night, Sunday, Sunday night, and into the wee hours of Monday morning. Then they traveled again all day yesterday. My understanding is that DeLynn and her husband picked them up at noon and started towards Trish (Katnip Lounge) who had started towards them. Trish would deliver them into the hands of their new mom and dad. *Check out Katnip Lounge today for the story from Trish's perspective!

 I am ever so pleased to announce that they have arrived. Mary and her husband reported to me that Trish delivered one Hershey Bear and one Frosting to them in Las Vegas. Then they started the last leg of the journey HOME. Mary emailed me when they had the cats and were on their way. I emailed back that it was late (here in the Midwest) and that I would head on to bed. I raced to the computer this morning to read about how Frosting and Hershey did once they were released from those carriers into their new house. Mary had written this (in part):

 Together they ate about 1 1/2 cans of Fancy Feast and drank lots of water. Hershey fell asleep under the bathroom cabinet. Frosting was still wide awake with curiosity. I told them that they were HOME and they gave me slow blinks. :) Hoping they get some good rest tonight. Will send you another update tomorrow. 

 We did it.  We never gave up.  Two wonderful kitties are now in the hands of two wonderful people. My deep gratitude to Janet, DeLynn and husband, Trish, Jeanne, and of course Mary and her husband!

 Have a great Tuesday!

Baby to the Bridge

Today is the day Hershey Bear and Frosting will be in their forever home with Mary and her husband. Mary has promised pictures, so I'm sure before this week is out, we will all be able to see these two lucky kitties FINALLY with their new mom and dad. I drove them to Effingham, IL on Saturday and turned them over to Janet. Janet got home (Utah) just a few hours ago. Today DeLynn will meet Trish, and Trish will meet Mary and Husband. By late tonight, Hershey Bear and Frosting will be home.  I'll be sure to update tomorrow.

 

I have a sad story today, but I don't want to linger. I just never feel that it's proper to not acknowledge a crossing to the Bridge. My only solace in this particular loss was that it was quick. For me, it's not the death that is most horrifying; it's any suffering. I don't do well with that.

 This all happened last Tuesday. There was so much good news to share on the blog last week that I chose to keep the good times rolling. Also – I really did want to memorialize this little soul in a moment all his own. It was a baby who left us – one of Glimmer's kittens.

 On Monday night, both of my daughters stopped by at the same time to see the new Kitten Room. I told them they were welcome to get some “kitten therapy” while they were here. We turned loose three litters of kittens and the girls just plopped right down in the middle of them. Kittens raced around, skidded into each other, arched and skipped sideways, batted at toys, and climbed the cat tree (the one that had been in my office). We thoroughly enjoyed ourselves and then the girls had to get going.

 On Tuesday morning, I did all of my animals, all of the kennel boarders, Isis the office cat, and then went into the new Kitten Room to start the work in there. I started glancing into the three cages, talking and meowing at the kitties. Glimmer's six (the oldest group) always start climbing up to one of the perches in the cage when I step in. They know I will reach in and pick each one off that perch and set him or her in the floor to start the playing and racing. As they started their ascent, my stomach clenched when I noticed one of the stripeys not moving on the blanket in the base of the cage. I ran over and reached in. It was Beau. He was practically unresponsive. It was Older Daughter's day off, but I called her. She would need to make the appointment with the shelter vet. Younger Daughter had already gone to work. Ten minutes later I was on my way to the shelter to deliver Beau into the hands of the vet.

 On the way home I was in a complete panic. One of the reasons I keep kittens here instead of sending them to the shelter is because they are so vulnerable. My daughters and I don't want them to pick up a virus. They need to stay in foster care until they can be vaccinated. But here I was with a deathly sick kitten. WHAT could possibly be wrong? It just couldn't be. Not only were they in the cage they had been living in for weeks, but they were in a brand new, ultra clean room. There COULD NOT BE any viruses in that room or in that cage. The kittens had all been playing together. I looked into my future and saw fifteen more sick kittens. How?

 When I finally got a report later that day, it was very bad news. Beau had a high fever. The vet thought it was unexplainable, so she FF-tested him. And Beau was positive for leukemia. This would mean that it was transferred to him from his mother – Glimmer. My heart sank.

 Each of the moms in that room would be tested. If Glimmer was positive, then all or most of her litter would be. If Beau had “gotten” this from interaction with a kitten from another litter, then it was likely that another mom was positive (meaning those kittens would be).

 Younger Daughter brought home tests, and she and Older Daughter tested the three moms. Whimsy Whiskers and Malta were negative. Glimmer was positive.

 The vet instructed us to keep the litters separated. She said it would be highly unlikely that Glimmer's kittens could expose the other two litters, but we would take the precaution anyway. The other five Glimmer kittens continue to romp and play and show NO signs of illness. Of course, the other two litters are completely healthy and doing great as well.

 Beau died on his own that evening under veterinary care.

 We will now have to find a permanent foster placement for this group – not an easy task. But we will hope. I am grateful that even though Beau was gone by Tuesday evening, he was still romping with his siblings on Monday night. He must just prefer the beauty at the Bridge.

 

 Beau – Farewell.