Big Decision

Yesterday’s blog post received some comments along the line of “Can’t wait for your news!”  I feel bad about that.  There is nothing wonderful to announce like an adoption or an expansion.   I’m sorry to have led some of you to anticipate a good news report of some sort.

I’ve been considering a certain something for a long time.  I’ve known I needed to do it, but it was a tough decision to make.  I think I first started thinking about this in January.  But with Older Daughter’s wedding ahead (at that time) and our magnificent vacation to Florida being planned, I set this aside for the future.  Now it’s June.  With everything else that’s been going on for the last six months, my idea was still always floating around in the back of my mind.  Sometimes late at night or extremely early in the morning, I would give real attention to my thoughts about this.  There were things about this decision that always made me sad.  But the conclusion was always the same.  There’s really not another option.

For pretty much my entire adult life, I’ve been rescuing.  The work was heavy on dogs for years and years.  That’s where the real need was for a very long time.  Then it slowly changed into being more about cats.  When Winnie’s Wish was established, the rescues and the stories became almost entirely cat-related.  It was odd because in our own furry family, there were always more dogs than cats.  For some time now, I’ve been writing about cats almost exclusively because Winnie’s Wish is home to 25 of them!  There was a time (pretty recently) when we were home to twelve dogs and only six cats.   Ah, but our dogs have been with us for a very very long time.  With such an aging group, we have lost more than a heart can take.  There are now eight dogs.  One of those is Muffin who has lymphoma and will not be with us much longer.  Two of those are Frank and Caramel Apples – feral dogs who will never become family members in the truest sense.  However, they are healthy and safe and quite happy with the life I’ve been able to provide for them.  Our cat family is still six in number plus one foster (Trudi) who never becomes well enough to be posted for adoption.  And then there’s Winnie’s Wish.  Twenty-five Wishers is the maximum capacity.  And twenty-five Wishers is what we have.  There can’t even BE another rescue until someone is adopted.

During the years since opening Winnie’s Wish, I have pretty much exhausted my options for having readers of this blog adopt the Wishers they were reading about.  If you’ve been a follower of this blog and Winnie’s Wish, you are already a different (special) kind of person.  Over the years, I’ve been able to get Wishers into homes because those homes were YOU!  The people who read here are willing to take a cat into their home who is going to require a lengthy adjustment period.  YOU are the kind of people who will adopt a cat with no need for immediate gratification.  YOU are the kind of people who are willing to jump through all kinds of hoops to get a Wisher from here in southern Illinois to wherever you might be.  YOU are the kind of people who adopt a cat FOR THE CAT’S SAKE.  YOU are the kind of people who have the patience and love to make a Winnie’s Wish adoption successful.  The problem, of course, is that all of YOU (the special people) have your cat families with no room for more.

Cats like Slate & Finnick, Kizzie & Bunny, Monday & Clover, Smokey & Pippin who cannot be adopted by “just anybody” will be happier here than in the wrong home.  If one of you reading here today wanted to provide a home for one of these pairs of Wishers, I could let them go because I would know they were going into the only place that could be better than here.  But without that option, those cats along with the many here who, because of their feral backgrounds aren’t adoptable in the normal sense, will continue to be residents of Winnie’s Wish.  I will always have the “potentially” adoptable kitties listed in my sidebar.  And if any of YOU wonderful readers wanted to adopt at some point in the future, I would be forever grateful.  But with the current population being un-adoptable or “less adoptable,” it’s time to change the status of Winnie’s Wish.

There are only three adoptable cats here - Sunspot who can go right into a home with virtually no adjustment period, and Boy Blue and Binks who WILL require quite a lengthy adjustment period but who are still young and who would (ultimately) love a family of their own.  The rest of the Wishers are likely here for life.   There are cats here like Gandolf and Rocky and Prim and Goldie who simply cannot be taken from their current environment.  Rocky and Prim are still untouchable and might always be.  But they have kitty friends and the luxury of living in warmth in the winter and cool in the summer.  They have cat trees and food bowls and toys and outdoor screened decks.  There are also cats who are SO happy here that I wouldn’t dream of sending them away – like Quinn & Isis.  With only a couple of exceptions, the Winnie’s Wish cats are as happy here as they could be anywhere else.  This is home.

I used to constantly hope/beg/promote for homes.  But slowly, as the most adoptable Wishers were Chosen, more and more spots were taken by the “less adoptable” types.  Winnie’s Wish is FAR more sanctuary now than shelter.  SO – I will be re-vamping my Petfinder page.  If Sunspot and Blue & Binks get adopted, there will be room for three more Wishers.  It’s always possible that I will happen upon a kitty or two who can be adopted in the future.  But I will probably be, forever more, not a shelter looking for adoptions, but a sanctuary with a FEW adoptable cats.  

That brings me to my blog.  With no room at the inn, I can’t take in any more cats.  When there are no open spots, there can be no rescues.  Without new rescues, there are no new stories.   Because Winnie’s Wish will continue to exist, I will continue to blog.  Just not as often.  I do not want to lose touch with all of the WONDERUL readers who have supported me both emotionally and in real material ways.  And to be honest, I will still need help.  Twenty-five cats require lots of food, kitty litter, cleaners, vaccinations, vet care, etc.  A Wisher can have a medical crisis at any point in time.  Angel Kitty, who has been through SO much, is now being treated for a UTI.  And we’re still battling Goldie’s “teeth & gums” issue.   It’s always somethin’.    For as long as these Wishers are in my care, they will be treated like they are my very own kitties.  I love each and every one of them deeply and unconditionally.

I will still be operating my business, a small boarding facility, until someday when Husband and I can afford to retire.  There will still be all of the work associated with having Winnie’s Wish.  I just won’t be writing as much.  Life isn’t going to change here.  But it will probably seem like it has if judged by my blog.  I’m hoping Andrea will still put on the occasional fundraiser.  To be honest, your financial support has played a big role in my being able to keep Winnie’s Wish going.  And I will NEVER stop hoping that one of YOU special people out there might find yourself in a position to adopt a Wisher.

June is Adopt-A-Cat month so I’ll push hard the next two days to try try try to get the sweet Sunspot and Blue & Binks into Forever Homes of their own.  After that, I’ll post on Tuesdays with the occasional Wildlife Wednesday.   I hope you’ll keep stopping by.  There are still 25 cats here. And if any of the three adoptable ones are ever Chosen, then Winnie’s Wish will take in homeless cats to fill those spots.  To those of you who have participated in fundraisers, have sent money directly to me or thru paypal, to those of you who visit my Wish List and send items from there, I hope you don’t stop doing what you’ve always done for this rescue.  We still need you. 

 

 

With love and gratitude,

~Chrystal

 

Comments

[Random Felines]

you will always have our support. and remember you have to do what is right for YOU and the CATS without making it too hard. we cross our paws for adoptions but we certainly know how hard it is as well.

[Cassandra]

Oh Chrystal. I know this must have been a very difficult decision for you, especially with all you've had going on lately. I want to thank you for taking these kitties in, and giving them a wonderful place to live. (If reincarnation is a thing, I want to come back as a kitty at your place!). I absolutely will still help you try to get Wishers adopted, even the 'less adoptable' ones, if you'd like. I will also donate when I can (which isn't as often as I'd like, but I promise not to forget you and your Wishers.)

<3 <3 <3

[Ginny& the Fur Family]

I will miss your daily blog. HOWEVER I do know what you mean about a sanctuary. I have always been a sanctuary here. My rescued cats are always going to be here. I do love them all. Some are feral. Some are crippled. I just took two to the vet this morning. One has to have fluids weekly the rest of both our lives. As one gets older and we all do we have to choose our live styles. Please keep putting pets on the pet finder for the Project Hope - Some good folks out there may take a chance of a couple of feral kitties. We will miss you but won't ever forget you.

[Julie Tracy]

Just as our lives change and evolve our missions in life do the same. Providing sanctuary for those who need it is a most honorable mission, whether for animal or human, and those who are in your care are blessed indeed!

[Maria in FL]

That's so funny, Chrystal, because I've been thinking for a long time that SO many of your kitty fur babies are not adoptable in the "normal" sense of the word. This does not make what you do any less important! In fact, it becomes more important, because a typical shelter probably wouldn't take the kitties that you do. I will miss seeing you in my inbox several times a week, but I will look forward to reading your posts eagerly when they do appear. You are still, and always will be, my heroine!!

[Sweet Purrfections]

I've followed you a long time and loved reading your stories, whether happy or sad. You have a way with words and a heart of gold. I look forward to continuing to follow your blog. Take care of yourself and all of the cats in the sanctuary.

[Ellen Pilch]

You are an amazing woman. I have 13 cats and feel overwhelmed at times so I don't know how you do it all. Of course, I will keep reading, I am sorry I don't comment that often.

[John Bellen]

I understand your decision. It was a difficult one, undoubtedly, and not easily made. But there are stories yet in sanctuary cats. In truth, every adopted cat is a sanctuary cat, in a manner of speaking. My four perma-cats are here to stay (as long as I stay) but there are stories about them that I flatter myself people will read. Those who read your blog will always want to know what new or funny thing one of the cats in your care has done, or how its health is faring.

I think this is a natural trend for rescues: those cats hard to adopt need to be rescued but they don't go anywhere once in the rescue's care. They cannot be abandoned, of course, so they take up the space a newly-rescued cat would take. It is neither a good nor bad development; it simply happens.

I am happy that those who are not adopted have the safety and affection of your home and family. I will continue to read anything you care to report, and hope that there will be much of that.

[Andrea and the Celestial Kitties]

You know I will continue to do fundraisers as long as I can! I'm trying very hard to put one together right now, in fact. I'll miss the stories, but I understand the situation. But I will read every word you do post! :)

[GD]

John Bellen's words are my words. We will always be here.

[Goldie Goodwin]

Chrystal, this was a tough decision for you. Life does continue to move on and the trick is knowing when to stay on the path, and when to jump off the path. I think this is your "jump off the path" moment. I'll miss the blog too. I may not comment a lot, but I do read every day. And of course as the proud mom of two "wishers" Max and Dearest I will always have a piece of you with me.
It will all work out the way it is supposed to.

[Karen Lucas]

You are the only blogger whose posts I have saved to be able to go back and look at often. Maybe another book is in the offing? I know we will all look forward to your Tuesday posts just to keep in touch with all of your furries and I will continue to help out as often as I can manage. John Bellen said it best. Tell us stories about all of your cats and dogs. Hugs