DOING IT THE "BEAR" WAY

I came up from my laundry room earlier this afternoon to find this............




Rascal reminds me of a little bear cub - I'm not sure why, but I love it! It always warms my heart when I see fosters that are so relaxed and obviously at ease in our home; that's one of the things that bring us so much joy in this work.

He's cuddling more and more each day - this morning I awoke to find him AND Rocky on our bed, both snuggled in deep, snoozing away (in very close proximity to each other I might add). Rocky seems to be giving this fella alot more tolerance, I think it's because he knows he's just a little boy and he's cutting him some slack.

These are such tender moments - I feel so blessed that we're able to be apart of them.......

TERRIBLE TWO'S

I ask you...........does this not look like the sweet, innocent face of a little angel?

Well, now that Maxwell has found his wonderful forever home, this is what greets us on a daily basis - and Rascal was his name. It was my husband that baptized this little guy, and where he would normally agonize over a new name for a foster for hours and sometimes even days, this one seem to come in record time - not even 30 mins after the little black beauty had arrived!

He made strange for all of 20 mins after being shown the guest room, ever since then, he's tore through the place at lightening fast speeds, zoomed from one piece of furniture to the next, whipped down hallways and around corners, and upset everything in a his path much like a bull in a china shop! He's sassy, brimming with mischief and as cocky and devilish as any male that's just turned 2.
He's like the whirlwind that wips through your home and leaves you wondering if you really did just see a little black cat - he's been so spunky and quick, trying to hold him is like attempting to master one of those slinky toys from the early 70's (remember those beauties)......

As if his high energy wasn't enough to just sit back and watch, he's giving both Silly & Rocky a run for their fur. He's already tried to use both their backs as space ships, has decided that their tails make good dualling instruments, and thinks chasing them at full speed is even more fun when they flop down from exhaustion at not being able to outrun him, and he can then pounce on them some more when they're totally vulnerable. :))

Then in the middle of the night if I wake up and look around.........there he is........curled up in a little ball above my head, purring everso softly, sound asleep in little boy land.

He's a monkey and our baby, all rolled into one.

AT LAST!!!!!!

I am absolutely thrilled to type that Maxwell has been adopted!!!!!!!!



The family that just recently lost Noah contacted me earlier this week enquiring about Maxwell. They really want their female "Tifah" to have a friend at home, and so we arranged for them to come by earlier today to meet the big "M".

You always know great people and even better adopters, when the shy, nervous, distant behaviour of a potential family member doesn't faze them one bit, and they leave, excited to get him home and have him settled.

I have no doubt that all will go well and this is where I'll share the fact that I do not believe in coincidences. I do not believe that Noah's passing just happen to come at a time when Maxwell needed a home.

There is a PLAN and I'm so happy for Maxwell that he wasn't left out of it!

RETURNS OF GOLD

It's always difficult when an adopter calls and for whatever reason, wants to return the precious friend that you entrusted them with.



Well this is exactly what has happened to Rascal. Rascal is not a former foster of ours (not that that matters), but he was one of our rescue's and was returned just the other day. Normally, we try to hold fast to our rule about only 1 foster at time at our house, but this situation seemed okay since we were only taking Rascal in as an "assessment". It was claimed that he had some litterbox issues and so we were going to take a few days to evaluate just what those habits were.

Rascall has been with us not even quite two nights and we are............well, in love. This has got to be one of the cutest little guys to ever grace our home, and his disposition is equally as adorable! He's already out and about with the gang, and so far, things have gone quite smoothly.

It's right about now when I watch Rascal exploring and chatting and getting acquainted with everything in our home, that I thank God that his former family didn't keep him - because to be brutally honest, they didn't deserve him.
If Rascal had been a human child, I wonder if they would have felt that they could simply call up the adoption agency and tell them that they'd changed their mind.....not likely, and that's for a whole host of reasons. But some people seem to think that animals are expendable, that if things get rocky or rough, or difficult, the only option is to go back on your promise to love them forever and simply hand them back like a screaming child that's just messed their diaper.

Rascal is a little charmer and we're so delighted that not only do we get to have time in which to get to know him and love this little tyke, but that we were the ones lucky enough to be able to accept this return!!

GOODBYE IS THE HARDEST WORD

If having to prepare myself for farewell scene's with fosters whose forever families have found them is difficult, the only thing in fostering that I can say surpasses that in terms of heartwrenching, is when those same forever families inform me that their adopted baby has passed away very unexpectedly.

Noah was nothing short of a treasure. Having been found tied to a tree with a note around his neck that simply read: "His name is Noah" - you would think that this crimson coloured boy would have major trust issues; but that's the beauty of animals - they are so much more forgiving than us humans.

We didn't foster Noah that long but he was one of the one's that instantly became my boy - he loved to sleep with me, was a real snuggler and just a sweetheart. When a lovely couple came searching for a new friend for their female kitty at home who had recently lost her male counterpart, Noah was a perfect fit. He was patient and loving and kind and adorable - he treated his female roommate as though she were a Queen and he was her loyal subject. His new family grew to love him and there seemed to be another happy ending............

Sadly, I received word yesterday that Noah had taken sick and that exactly what was ailing him seemed somewhat of a mystery. The hope was that whatever was bothering him would pass, and that he would resume his wonderful, disposition and self. Hoping for the best is important, but when things take a sudden turn for the worse and suddenly you find yourself facing a situation you never dreamed would occur so out of the blue, you realize once again the fragility of life itself and how quickly it can be taken. Noah's forever family had to make the gut wrenching decision to bid him goodbye this weekend - only 6 months after adopting him.

As I look back over his pictures and the notes I made in my fostering scrapbook after he'd been adopted, I am reminded of just what an amazing boy he was. I am deeply saddened that we have lost him, but I try to remind myself that this precious animal could have died, alone, in a cold metal cage, with his last memories having been of that tree and the person who abandoned him there. Instead, he was treated with love and compassion and had 6 months worth of memories that will include among others, his little friend "Tifah" who now misses him desperately.

Goodbye sweet Noah - we love you, we miss you, and we look forward to seeing you again some day not that far away...........until then, rest well at the Rainbow Bridge.

LITTLE NOSEY PARKERS

I just captured the above photo this morning. I had to share simply because I'm amazed yet again that Rocky allowed himself to be "boxed in" in a sense, by his two roommates. As a rule, he also has issues with others in his "personal space" but I guess the fact that they were all as nosey as could be about what was going on outside, for a few moments anyway, that fact trumped the realization that in order to have a front row seat, everyone would have to get up close and personal!

What was of such interest was Daddy outside in the backyard, working on putting a new fence in. Sometimes the boys remind me of a group of Supervisors - having to ensure that he gets everything just right. *L*

There still hasn't been any calls of enquiry for Maxwell and I think the only one that is truly bothered by that is me. As you can see for yourself, he's totally settled in............

ANXIOUS ANTICIPATION

Have I mentioned yet the fact that I'm not a very patient person? Actually, in all honesty, I'm not patient at all. I'm the person at work who you promise something to at the start of the workday, and whose calling you an hour later to see if it might be ready yet............I know, totally annoying.

Well, in this instance my impatience is for sweet Maxwell. Yes, he's still with us and I have to say that I'm finding myself more and more disappointed in people at large because I know as sure as I'm sitting here typing this entry, that the biggest factor in his still being with us is simply because he's a black cat. Would it be too strong if I said that this type of racism in the pet adoption world makes me nuts?!

This beautiful animal, gorgeous in every sense of the word, is still waiting for his forever family to find him simply because the majority of the public do not like the colour of his coat. Call it superstition, call it ridiculous, call it stupidity, but regardless, that's the plain, hard fact of the matter. So, instead of hoping that someone will see Maxwell's profile and "think" about adopting him, the impatient side of me has decided to take matters into my own hands.

I've submitted a new write up and brand new pictures of him for his profile on the rescue's website. I know that the right person is out there for him, it's just a matter of helping them to find him.

If I had it my way, there would be a law instated that demands people adopt the black kitties from shelters and rescue's alike - FIRST! These kitties are just as loving, just as beautiful and just as wonderful as their calico, tabby, white, orange and grey brothers and sisters. They don't deserve to be ignored because their coat colour gives people the wrong impression.................enough already I say!; people need to be educated about having such mindsets - they are pure nonsense.

And there's my first rant on here - all for the best cause ever - and his name is MAXWELL.