A+A = EMERGENCY 2

I'm not sure if I've mentioned on here previously about my other bit of volunteering with the rescue outside of fostering. It involves me spending Sunday afternoons at one of our local Petsmarts, taking care of the rescue kitties that reside there (when there are no more foster homes available). Currently there are 11 kitties in house, 3 adults and the rest are kittens ranging in age.

The centre has had a nasty URI come through despite our best and relentless efforts to keep it at bay. As a result, last weekend saw most of the cats/kittens affected - some more severely than others. The adults can fight it alot better than the babies can, and by Sunday night after I had put the kids to bed at the close of my shift, I had become increasingly worried about "Antonio", a twelve week old black/white kitten found in a feral colony with his sister "Antoinette".

By yesterday, they were both quite sick and long story short, in order to give them the best fighting chance to recover from it, I found myself offering up my spare room for them to convalesce in. And so here we are..............in the full throes of force feeds, drool wiping, eye mucus wiping, and medicine administering.

Antoinette is the tougher, more feral of the two and just two weekends ago drew blood (on both hands) from another volunteer at the store who was trying to help me put her to bed. As a rule she is hissy, feisty, dodgy, and very vicious with those razor like baby teeth, kitten! But right now, she feels awful, and is barely fighting (which is kind of sad to see).

Just so we're clear, this is NOT a long term foster. This is only an emergency house to get them well, back to being plump little kids, and once they are tearing around the spare room, creating complete havoc - back to the store they will go for adoption.

But for right now, they are melting hubby's heart and keeping me on my toes trying to care for them and keep the "adults" here happy.

UP FRONT

Pica is still with us. We're somewhat surprised, given that she's so pretty, so well behaved, and declawed. Likely it's because her profile on the rescue's website indicates that she has to be adopted by someone whose an experienced cat owner and it clearly indicates that she will likely be shy and reserved initially upon moving to her forever home.

Sometimes you wonder about how much honesty you should share on the profiles. We're firm believers in being totally honest with potential adopters about any behavior or emotional issues because to be anything else will only result in the cat being returned or abandoned when they discover it for themselves if they aren't onside with dealing with it. But being honest about those sorts of things where your foster is concerned is much better left to the in person meeting or the initial phone conversation because that way you have a proper chance to explain and answer questions; rather than a person reading something and dismissing the cat because of the way it's worded or the way it comes across is perceived as negative.

In Pica's case, although the profile may deter some people who think she will be "too much work", that is perfectly fine. She has obviously been horribly mis-treated in the past and as a result, she comes with a set of fears that for her are very real. She's made incredible strides in overcoming alot of them with us, but we're also mindful of the fact that they may become stronger when she's moved again and/or she may never fully let all of them go. Either way, anyone wishing to adopt her has to understand fully what her boundaries will be BEFORE they contemplate taking her home. The profile in this instance helps us weed out anyone not up to the task....


Yes fostering can and is abit of psychology playing as well. You as a foster parent are the last stop of protection - in our opinion you have to take that seriously.

PEEKING P

Sunday was abit of a stressful day for Pica - I woke up to find her acting very strangely - seemingly like she had ants in her pants (for lack of a better expression). She'd settle down somewhere only to jump up afew seconds later like she'd be stung by something or bit.........she'd then take off scurrying through the house. This went on for most of the morning before we finally caught her scooting her bum across the floor.

We suspected her anal glands had become impacted (scooting is dead giveaway for this problem), and called the rescue which were so great about getting us an appointment with one of the vets they use straightaway. A half hour later, Pica had been seen and yes it was her glands, they been expressed. and she was headed back home. Ever since returning, she's been very clingy with hubby who took her to her appointment. Not sure what she made of the car ride or the vet himself who was evidently super nice, but I think it was enough of a flashback to her shelter stay that she became somewhat anxious, almost as if she thought she was being dumped somewhere again.

We're glad she's okay even if Rocky is giving her an extra hard time - I think his happy dance had started when she disappeared for abit on Sunday afternoon and he was completely furious when he realized her return. Still no adoption calls but sometimes kitties that need to go to a home alone with no other pets are abit harder to place simply because alot of cat lovers have more than one. Her time will come we're sure, we'll just keep loving her until then.

REWIND

One of our former adopters "S" reached out to us recently with a lovely donation for the rescue. She also provided us with some photo's of the two kittens she adopted from us Petunia (now affectionately known as Toonie) and Finn as well as two other kittens from the same litter, now named Alero & Corolla.

In case you can't quite place these babies in the army of kitties we've saved over the years, here is the before:

There was actually six in total but both "S" & "D" took two each - and here is the after:

I don't know about you, but I LOVE these types of updates! :))

STILL MY SISTER

This entry has absolutely nothing to do with cats.............

Today marks 24 months since my younger sister's (Tanya) death at the age of 38. Out of respect for her memory, I do not work today nor will I in any of the anniversaries that will come after this one and I will continue to dedicate a blog post to her on this day.

Life has carried on all around me in the days and months since she died and I continue to try to carry on with it. There is however a pain that continues to burn deep down in the depths of my soul, one that I feel each time a new day begins and ends. If nothing else, I can and do appreciate more now than I ever did before that sorrow and sadness can live quite strongly inside of us while we continue to try and keep walking forward - I know because it is alive and well inside of me.

I discovered a song not too long ago that a musician wrote for his Father who had passed away. I'll leave you with a part of it because it captures perfectly the journey I am on and my wish that when my times comes to return home to Heavenly Father; Tanya will be my guiding light that helps me home.


Well the road is wide,
And waters run on either side,
And my shadow went with fading light,
Stretching out towards the night.

'Cause the Sun is low,
And I yet have still so far to go,
My lonely heart is beating so,
Tired of the wonder.

But there's a sign ahead,
Though I think it's the same one again,
And I'm thinking 'bout my only friend,
And so I find my way home.

When I need to get home
You're my guiding light,
You're my guiding light.

When I need to get home,
You're my guiding light,
You're my guiding light.

Well the air is cold,
And yonder lies my sleeping soul,
By the branches broke like bones,
This weakened tree no longer holds.

But the night is still,
And I have not yet lost my will,
Oh and I will keep on moving 'till,
'Till I find my way home.

Tanya - 5 months before her passing

LITTLE LADY

Pica is doing great! She has settled right in, is way more relaxed and calm than she has been since arriving, hardly ever becomes nervous with affection anymore, and has allowed her true personality to shine through which is quite comical.

She's co-existing with the boys just fine but every now and again one of them will be walking by in too close proximity to her and she'll reach out to give their face a flurry of swats and a hiss - I think it's just her diva way of telling them not to forget she's Queen (like they could anyway). She also loves to spook herself, chasing shadows on the walls and other imaginary things that make her puff up like a cotton ball - it's hilarious to watch and she seems to be thoroughly enjoying herself in the moment.

No further adoptions calls have come but we've been in this long enough to know that when it's meant to happen, it will.

Happy Friday everyone.

BUY THE BOOK!!!

We've been busy collecting books for the upcoming fundraiser I'm having which is being held on Saturday, September 6th from 10:00am - 1:00pm here at our home. 100% of all funds raised will go directly to Toronto Cat Rescue, and the fundraiser is being held in memory of Ching (see my last entry regarding his passing). I've also arranged to have bookmarks printed that will have Ching's picture on them and TCR's logo that will be tucked inside each book sold as an added little surprise for the buyer and a thank you from us.

I've never held or organized a fundraiser before so I'm really hoping that it's a great success. I've circulated the invite electronically to all I can think of and will be going door to door in my neighbourhood to drop the invite hardcopy into mailboxes. I'm also stopping by my own vet's office, one of the vet's offices the rescue uses close to our home, and afew other places, asking if they might be willing to have afew copies at the front for people to take.

On the kitty front, they boys and Pica are all doing great! There has been some grumbling the last few days as we've had contractors in doing work on the house and so the kids have had to be confined to bedrooms for hours. Initially what started out as fun was about 7 or 8 hours later not fun anymore, and the crying, pawing at the door, and annoyed noises has left us not terribly popular as Mom & Dad I'm afraid!

So here is the fundraiser invite itself - please consider dropping by the sale if you are able, the array of books is wide and alot of great reads are ready for the buying.