daily dose of dogs (aka cats with your coffee)

Gandolf

Gandolf arrived in 2016 very close in time to when Winter (highlighted last week) arrived.  Oddly, they were colored nearly the same – white and tabby, with those colors in nearly the exact same locations.  And even odder than that – they are best friends.  They did not come from the same location so they definitely aren’t related, but they were certainly attracted to each other and continue to be best friends.

Gandolf was actually first seen eating out of our dumpster.  Unlike Winter (who entered the trap the first time we set it), Galdolf took a while to catch.  When I finally had him, I was able to look him over.  He was extremely afraid so I wasn’t able to touch him right away.  He was dirty and looked thin.  But I didn’t know just how thin until I was able to run my hand down his back.  Because his fur was thick and he had those big tom cheeks, I was surprised to find that his shoulder blades, backbone, and hips were prominent.   There was no telling how long he had been starving – obviously, enough to be eating out of a dumpster.  Gandolf definitely made up for lost (eating) time – he is a nice “full” cat now.

Gandolf was very slow to come around, but he always let me pet him.  He didn’t like it much at first, but he allowed it.  Over quite a period of time, Gandolf began to want my attention.  But it was so hard for him.  He would try to stay in place as I approached him, but he often took off at the last minute.  Well, NO MORE.   Gandolf lives in the same room as Smokey.  Remember Smokey is an attention hog.  So I always have to go to Smokey first.  But Gandolf is always waiting for his turn.  He wants me to pet him and love-talk to him, but his favorite thing is a belly rub.  No matter what surface he is on when I approach, he ends up on his back, showing that soft pink belly for me to pet.  

Here he is. (The last two pictures show that Winter is usually close by.)

 

 

 

 

Gandolf -  Winnie’s Wisher since 2016.  When you support Winnie’s Wish, you’re helping to take care of Gandolf.  When you care about Winnie’s Wish, you care about Gandolf.

See you next week.

 

Winter

Today let me get back to Winnie’s Wish Sanctuary and the wonderful cats who live here.  I started 2019 by telling you that I wanted to highlight each Wisher individually to reacquaint you with these darlings.  So far I’ve blogged about Smokey, Snowflake, Slate, Finnick, Prim, and Rocky.  Prim and Rocky are two of the three Untouchables here.  Today I’ll write about that third Wisher who loves her environment, her cat friends, her life . . .  but does NOT want to be bothered by a human.

Winter was a skinny stray cat who showed up on my mother-in-law’s front porch.   It was January 2016; the day I set the trap for her, the weather was predicted to get really ugly.  I knew it sometimes takes days, even weeks, to trap a stray or feral cat.  But Winter went into the trap on that very first day.  As my daughters and I were driving back home with her, sleet started hitting the windshield.  Winter would be safe and warm and cozy that night instead of out in the elements.  It was a good feeling.

Right away it became apparent that Winter was definitely feral.   She was not the feral type (like I’ve had only a couple of times in all of these years) who beats themselves nearly to death in a cage.  But she did not want to be touched.  She didn’t even want to be looked at.  Winter eventually moved into one of the cat rooms in the cathouse.  She gets along marvelously with her “roommates.”  One of those kitties is her best friend.  That best friend is Gandolf.  Oddly, he and Winter are colored up almost identically.  They are often together, but especially if they are sleeping.  Cute!   To this day, when I am their room, Winter freezes and looks away from me.  And if I get too close when I’m moving around in the room, she jumps down from whatever perch she’s on and heads for the little door to the outside enclosed deck.  She really prefers for me to keep my distance.  That’s fine with me.  She is warm, safe, spayed, and happy with her friends and her life.  I don’t need any more than that.

 

 

 

Winter -  Winnie’s Wisher since 2016.  When you support Winnie’s Wish, you’re helping to take care of Winter.  When you care about Winnie’s Wish, you care about Winter.

 

Last week I mentioned that Andrea (Celestial Kitties) announced a “supplies drive” birthday bash for me (my birthday was at the end of May).  Well, more Wish List gifts arrived this past week.

 

Katie Isabella and Mom Carole – THANK YOU.

 

Turtle Lover (aka Cindyann) – THANK YOU.

(Here is the first picture I tried to take of Turtle Lover’s gift.  My Enoch jumped right up into the picture.

 

silly boy

 

 

Andrea said she couldn’t ask people to send gifts if she didn’t participate herself.

 

Andrea and Greg – THANK YOU.

 

Maria – THANK YOU.

 

And Ginny – THANK YOU.

 

There have been no new additions at Wild Angels (thank goodness).  All of the little creatures are doing well!  See you next week.

 

Wildlife Wednesday – They Keep Coming

Two more abandoned baby raccoons have found their way to Wild Angels.  I believe the last count on this blog was six.  Now there are eight.   A friend of Older Daughter’s had a friend who found a tiny baby raccoon (eyes still closed) in a park.  At this age it should not have been outside of the den.   Then just a few days ago, Older got a call about a raccoon in someone’s back yard that could barely hold its head up.  When Older received this one, it was nearly beyond saving - severely dehydrated and extremely skinny.  You might remember two individual babies and a group of four that I reported on previously.  Here are all of the raccoons at Wild Angels at this time.  (Unfortunately, my pictures are a little behind real time.  They have all been upgraded to much larger enclosures since these pictures were taken, and they are all a little bigger.)

 

first of the season, so tiny when it came in

 

the second, playing with a toy

 

four little monkeys – at feeding time

 

came in eyes still closed

 

the skinny dehydrated one

 

I said in a previous post that it has been a particularly raccoon-y baby season.  But you might remember that there was also a tiny opossum and a bird.  Birds grow SO fast that they become adults practically overnight.  The bird did great, moved to an outside enclosure, and has just been released.  Now take a look at this CUTE little opossum in his new roomy cage.

 

 

I mentioned at the end of yesterday’s post that I had quite a story for you today.  I was lucky enough to witness this firsthand.  Do you remember the four fawns Older had last summer?

 

 

All four survived and were moved to an outdoor enclosure.  They continued to thrive and were eventually released.  There were three boys and one girl.  Older would talk about them sometimes – how it was so rare to have all of them survive, and how she wished she knew how they were doing. 

I was at Older’s house a couple of weeks ago.  We were about to take a walk.  We stepped out Older’s front door, and Older exclaimed – There’s a very young deer at the edge of my yard!  It was just stepping out of the deep grass in the field.  Older called out and the deer stopped in its tracks.  I immediately realized that Older thought maybe this was one of hers.  I was expecting the deer to bolt away, but it took a few steps IN OLDER’S DIRECTION.  Older started walking toward the deer.  It was still quite a distance away.  As she walked toward the deer, talking softly to it, the deer kept coming towards Older Daughter.  I stayed back, knowing that my presence would scare the deer away.   My mouth dropped open (and stayed that way) as I watched what happened next.  Three more deer stepped out of the tall grass into the yard – three boys and a girl.  They walked cautiously towards Older Daughter.  I only had my phone on me, but I snatched it out and snapped several pictures.  Most of those pictures didn’t turn out.  But take a look at this.

 

 

I eased down onto Older’s front porch and watched in amazement.  The four deer gathered around Older Daughter.  Something spooked them and two darted away.  Then the other two followed.  They disappeared into the field.  They were completely hidden – as if they weren’t there at all. (The field grass at this time of year is very tall.)  As Older started walking back in my direction, I ran out to meet her.  My heart was racing; she said hers was too.  Older said it made her SO happy to know that they were all still doing well and that they were still together.  This is one of the few rewards Older gets (and deserves) for all of her hard work. 

What an experience!!

 

See you next week.

 

Homes Needed

Hi Fellow Animal-Lovers!  Today I’m going to stray (pun intended) from my current mission of highlighting the Winnie’s Wish kitties.  I need to get the word out about my current group of fosters.  I know that most of the readers of this blog live far from where I am.  But I want to put this current group of foster kittens & one adult on my blog just in case there is someone out there reading who is close enough to adopt one of these precious souls. 

Sabrina is a solid black, long-haired beauty who is everything anyone would ever want in a cat.  She is sweet & loving, young & playful.  And did I mention beautiful?  The problem with Sabrina is that she does not care much for other cats.  The best home for her would be one with no other cats.  I am critically aware that this makes placing her extremely difficult.  But I won’t know until I try.  If you or someone you know could offer Sabrina her perfect Forever Home, please contact me.  One of my email addresses is not currently working.  So please use this one -   chrystaldparker11@gmail.com

 

 

 

And as you ALL know – it’s Kitten Season.  I am currently fostering three precious little babies.  The solid black one is Peep.  The tuxedo is Branson.  And the little gray-&-white is Scamp.  All three are males.  All three play continuously.  All three are healthy.  Peep and Branson LOVE human attention, but Scamp needs someone who will work with him some.  He backs away when I reach for him, but once I have him and start petting him, he purrs.   Take a look at this handsome group.

 

 

 

 

 

Cute beyond cute.

 

Andrea (Celestial Kitties) put the word out about my birthday being at the end of May.  She asked folks to send gifts to Winnie’s Wish. 

 

Timmy Tomcat and Family – THANK YOU.

 

And June – THANK YOU for your Paypal gift.

 

See you tomorrow for a Wildlife Wednesday – and WHAT a story I have to tell!

 

 

Wildlife Wednesday –Opossum “Tails”

It has been a very raccoon-y Baby Season this year.  But in the midst of all of the baby raccoons, there was the one little opossum.  I wrote about him – he was so tiny that he went straight into the incubator.  He was found when a wonderful person stopped to check a dead opossum beside the road and one little survivor was inside the pouch.  He is doing great.  He has already started learning to lap his formula from a dish.  Always better if they can do it on their own – less chance of aspiration.  Here are the pictures of this little guy.  Look how sweet he is sleeping inside the hat (pouch) in the incubator with his little hands in tiny fists.  Then there he is learning to lap.  And the final picture is of him holding a back foot, giving it a good bath.

 

 

So cute!!     Now keep reading for another super cute opossum.

I don’t know the exact number of opossums Older Daughter has released.  They are released and usually never seen again.  There have been a couple of times when Older has had a little wildlife visitor show up in her yard and there is no doubt it is one of her releases.  That happened recently.

Older’s husband was about to step out the door to leave for work the other morning, and this is what he found on the porch rail.  No doubt one of Older’s opossums from some previous year, back to say hi and have a little visit.  Husband snapped the picture and when he stepped out to go to his car, the visitor quickly slipped away.

 

 

But then a few days later, Older was outside near some of her wildlife enclosures when she heard what sounded like leaves rustling.  She looked around and saw an opossum with a tail full of leaves.  Now you might already know this.  I only learned it once Older Daughter started rescuing wildlife.  Opossums carry bedding materials in their tails.  When Older has taken an adult opossum, she will often find it tearing up the newspapers in the enclosure and collecting them into a ball to be carried by the tail into whatever little shelter is in the enclosure.  On this day, the opossum Older encountered was sauntering along with a tail full of leaves – clearly taking them somewhere to build a nest.  The opossum didn’t dart away when it saw Older, so she went to get a dish of yogurt and some water for the hard-working little creature.  Without dropping a single leaf, the opossum came over to have a snack.  (Look closely and you can see the leaf nest in the tail.)  It even let Older touch it on the nose.   Probably the same one that posed for that stunning picture on the porch rail.

 

 

How rewarding!

 

 

 

Rocky

Last week I told you about one of The Untouchables here – Prim.  There are two more Untouchables in the World of Winnie’s Wish.  One of those two is Rocky.

Rocky was a feral cat in my parents’ neighborhood.  While we were trying to trap another feral cat and her kittens in my parents’ yard, Rocky started showing up to eat the food that was being left out.   As we look back on those days, it seems likely that Rocky was the father of those kittens.  Anyway, he was pitiful and hungry and he started staying in my parents’ yard a great deal of the time.  They have a cat who goes out with them when they do yard work or are out sitting in the swing, etc.  Their cat did not care for Rocky much.  So there was really only one thing to do.  Rocky would become a Wisher.  No more fathering days for this one.  And he would finally have a place to call home.

Rocky has never come around as far as taming.  He is one of those feral cats who is content to live in his new world but wants nothing to do with a human.  He lives quite happily in the same room with Prim (last week’s star) and four other cats.  This group gets along well, and all seem to enjoy each other’s company.   Even though I can’t pet Rocky (or Prim), I feel good about them being here.  They are safe, fed, comfortable, content, and can no longer contribute to cat overpopulation.   Here is my big Rocky.

 

 

 

 

May is a special month.  My birthday is in May.  We usually get to go to Florida in May.  Mother’s Day is in May.  One of the things that makes May special for Winnie’s Wish is Maria.  Maria is a reader of this blog and supporter of my work.   Each May she asks her children to send a donation to Winnie’s Wish for Maria’s combined birthday and Mother’s Day.  Son Brad and daughter Lindsay sent those wonderful donations this past week.  Brad – THANK YOU.   Lindsay – THANK YOU.  And Maria – THANK YOU for using your Mother’s Day and birthday to help Winnie’s Wish.

Unfortunately, medical bills have taken the place of a trip to Florida (and my beloved palm trees) this year.  But the end of the month brings my birthday, so we will try to get away for a few days at some point.  Husband has the next couple of weeks off, so I won’t be blogging.  We will get some projects done around here and hopefully slip away for a short break.

See you June 4^th.  (But I WILL be back tomorrow for a Wildlife Wednesday.  And it’s a cute one!)

 

 

Wildlife Wednesday – Early Baby Season

It’s been busier than usual for this early in Older Daughter’s wildlife Baby Season.  This past week, Older increased her baby wildlife population again.  The first to come was a baby bird.  When she received the call, she told the people to look really hard for a nest near where they found the baby bird.  It’s not true that once a baby bird is touched by a human that the mom bird will no longer feed it.  The very best chance any baby animal has is to be with its mom for as long as possible.  Older told the people to try to locate the nest and return the baby to it if at all possible.  If they couldn’t find the nest they could give her a call back.  They couldn’t find one and Older ended up with the tiny tiny baby bird.  It did not have a single feather, not even those fuzzy first feathers.  Older didn’t feel like she could keep alive a bird so very young.  Also there was bruising on the tiny body presumably from the fall.  But this little bird is a fighter.  It is still alive (even starting to grow some feathers).  Keep in mind that Older had to feed it every 20 minutes from sunup to sundown.  Now it is being fed every 30 minutes during those hours.  Baby birds don’t have to be fed overnight.  But what a task for Older . . .   If this baby continues to live, it will all be worth it.

Then Older received a call about a baby raccoon, eyes still closed, found in the edge of a woods near the people’s yard.  It was covered in ticks.  Older arranged for the raccoon to be delivered to her just as she got off work.  Right before the people were due to leave their home, they called Older back.  The husband trudged out into the woods just to make sure . . .    And there were three more baby raccoons – scattered all about.  This is not what baby raccoons do.  They stay in the den.  Mom doesn’t bring them out unless she is moving them.   The babies stay in the den until their eyes are open and mom invites them to come along with her.  So something must have happened to mom when she was out hunting for food.  The people scooped up the three and brought all four to Older Daughter.

Here are the new babies.

 

By the time this pic was taken, baby bird was beginning to grow a few feathers.

 

Unfortunately, this pic is dark, but the four little raccoons are cozy and doing well.

 

Lots of work for Older Daughter.  But she doesn’t mind a bit.

See you next week.

 

Prim

Prim is one of three littermates who came to Winnie’s Wish when they were older kittens – old enough to have developed feral ways.  As I reported in Finnick’s post, this group was like nearly every feral group I’ve experienced.  One tamed enough for adoption (Peeta), one tamed only enough to develop a relationship with me (Finnick), and one doesn’t want any human contact to this day.  That one is Prim.

Prim seems to be quite happy in her Winnie’s Wish cathouse room.  She lives with five other cats and they all get along well together.  There are two cats in this room who hurry to hide when I come in each day.  Rocky (his story another day) and Prim.  Both of these kitties will come out as I’m working in their room.  They watch me pet the other cats and listen to me as I talk to each one.  I talk to them as well.  And they will watch me from across the room, but if I try to approach, they slip quickly away.   I take comfort in knowing that Prim is not living outside as a feral cat in the small town where I got her.  She might not be alive today if she was still there.  And for sure, she would have had numerous litters of kittens over these years.  I wish she could have developed a relationship with me, but I’m glad she is content and comfortable and cared for.

 

 

 

 

Before I close for today, let me share a gift and a couple of pictures from the family of two previous Wishers.  In celebration of Felicity (Frosting when she was here) and Hershey’s 6^th Gotcha Day, their wonderful parents sent this gift to Winnie’s Wish.

 

The note that came with the gift said “from two of the most loved, most beautiful Wishers and their family!”

 

Felicity, Hershey, and Family – THANK YOU.

 

I also heard from someone I haven’t heard from since right after the adoption – four years ago!  The adopter of Jaws and Dora sent a picture of these two all grown up – still living The Good Life.

 

 

Nothing makes me happier than to see previous Wishers in their wonderful Forever Homes.

 

Ginny – Older Daughter and I THANK YOU.

Cynthia – Older Daughter and I THANK YOU.

 

See you tomorrow for a Wildlife Wednesday.  Older has MORE babies.

 

Wildlife Wednesday – Three Babies

Last week I showed you the newest baby at Wild Angels (at the time) - a raccoon less than two weeks old.  Older Daughter had just moved her three squirrels to an outdoor enclosure to begin the transition to freedom.  So she had plenty of time for this little raccoon baby.  (That baby is doing well, by the way.)  Then last Thursday, babies came at Older Daughter from all sides.  It was her day off from work.  But by late that night, Older didn’t feel like she’d had a day off.

While getting her groceries and supplies with her husband, she received a call that a baby raccoon had been discovered by a person who is in dog and cat rescue.  This person knew from her acquaintance with Older that she had a wildlife rehab license.  So Older told her if she could get the raccoon to the shelter, Older would pick it up on her way through when she headed home later that day.  Then before she even went to pick that one up, she got a call from someone who’d found a baby raccoon that was almost dead.  It was barely breathing and not lifting its head.   She arranged to pick up this one on her way home, then she would swing by the shelter and pick up the other baby.  When she got the nearly dead one, she realized that she probably couldn’t save it.  Even if she could keep it alive (which she doubted), it probably was already in organ failure.  At least it wouldn’t die alone.  And she would keep it warm and as comfortable as possible.   She stopped at the shelter to pick up the other baby, and got more of the story.  This one was only about 5 days old.  And it had been tossed into a bucket to await animal control to come and get it.  It had been in the bucket for 24 hours.  The person who contacted Older about it knew that an animal control pickup was not what this tiny baby needed.  She took the baby and got it to the shelter for Older to pick up.  Unfortunately, the chances of keeping this one alive were so slim as to be nearly impossible.  At this age, without warmth or nourishment for that long . . .

So Older got home and went to work.  The babies got subQ fluids and she started them on pedialyte (which is best when there is dehydration).  She couldn’t move the 5-day old into the incubator with the baby raccoon that was already there (from last week) because they needed different temperature settings.  So she moved last week’s baby to a carrier with a heating pad.  She got the 5-day-old baby into the incubator.  She got the nearly dead baby (who was about 5 – 6 weeks old) into a carrier also with a heating pad.  About the time she got all of this done, she received a call that a baby opossum had been found alive in the dead mother’s pouch.  (The person who found it checks dead opossums’ pouches, just in case.)  There was only the one.  The others were dead like the mother.  So Older’s husband went to meet this person to get the tiny opossum.   It was so young it had to be in the incubator, too.  Fortunately, it could be at the same temperature as the tiny raccoon.  Older devised a divider and got both settled inside.

My daughter called me to say that she didn’t know if ANY of these babies could be saved.  She said the 6-week old raccoon probably wouldn’t make the night.  She guessed it had been starving (and dehydrating) for many days.  It didn’t move.  And she thought the 5-day old was too young to make it after surviving the previous 24 hours.  Maybe, she said, the opossum would survive.

The bad news is that she lost the 5-day old raccoon.  This broke Older’s heart.  I talked with her about it.  I reminded her that the work she does is SO hard.  The losses in wildlife rehab are often greater than the wins.  But the older raccoon made the first night and is still alive.  It is recovering very slowly, but it can now hold its head up and even push up onto its front legs.  And the little tiny opossum is thriving.  Here are the pictures of the two survivors.

 

first day

 

now

 

first day

 

now

 

See you next week.

 

 

Finnick

Now that I’m back to blogging, I will continue the stories of the cats who now call Winnie’s Wish their permanent home.  I have transitioned from being a shelter with adoptions to being a sanctuary.  The current cats will live out their lives here.  They are not cats who would have had an easy adjustment if I had tried to get them into homes.  Luckily, the remaining Wishers are quite happy and content right here.

I started these Wisher re-introductions with Smokey.  I don’t even know why I started with him.  But once I did, I then went on to his biological sister (Snowflake) and brother (Slate).  Since Slate was the last one I wrote about, I will now re-introduce you to Finnick – Slate’s BEST friend.

Finnick was one of a litter of “older” kittens who had already learned the feral ways by the time I took them in.  There were three – Finnick, sister Prim, and brother Peeta.   As with nearly every litter I’ve had, one of these three was able to tame enough to be adopted.  Peeta is living The Good Life in his Forever Home.  Prim is still here and will probably be the Wisher I will highlight next week.  Finnick is today’s pick. 

You just never know what kind of relationships will develop between cats.  I can say without hesitation that Finnick and Slate are move closely bonded than any other non-biological pair I’ve ever had.  And of the three from this litter, Peeta tamed enough for adoption, Prim is to this day un-touchable, and Finnick is terrified of all people except me.  He is almost as excited to see me as Smokey is.  Finnick and I are very close.  And he and Slate are even closer.

Here is the handsome guy in pictures, including a few of him with best friend Slate.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The cathouse has three rooms.  At this point in time, the cats in each of these rooms get along with each other marvelously.  Room #1 in the cathouse is the small room.  The other two rooms are three times the size of the first room.   You have now been re-introduced to the entire population of room #1.  Snowflake, Slate, and Finnick inhabit this room, and they do not get along with other cats.  That’s fine, of course, because they don’t have to.

 

 

See you tomorrow for a Wildlife Wednesday.  Older Daughter has more babies.