Babette was adopted!

The beautiful Persian cat that liked to glare at me has now been adopted. I wanted to find a picture of her looking really happy to show how excited she must be in her new home.  This is the best I could come up with.  

"Yippee" 

Update on my Pets

Yep, it's that time again.  Time for you to catch up on what all animals are at my house, and what they've been up to lately.  First are my own pets...

Remi - a four year old Harlequin Great Dane.  We adopted him when he was one and a half.  He'd already been through several obedience classes, and came to us well trained.  He gets along great with other dogs, and lets the cats walk all over him (literally).  He is my dog and prefers to be with me as much as he can.  Until 8pm which is his bedtime.  Then he goes and waits to be let into the bedroom so he can go to sleep.  I don't know how he knows what time it is, but he always knows. 

Noelle - Totally a Daddy's girl.  She follows Dave around the house, and he lets her get away with anything she wants.  She is the most loyal, loving dog I've ever met.  She loves to cuddle, and loves to show how much she loves us.  Lately she's taken to climbing up onto my lap while I type on the computer.  All 60 pounds of her.  And of course I let her, because I love her too. 

Merlin - The last official member of the family.  I am crazy about this cat, and Dave is going crazy because of this cat.  It's a nice balance, I think.  I let Merlin get away with anything he wants, and Merlin thinks he owns the house.  He meows to get attention or to have a door opened for him.  He jumps on counters and steals people food.  He follows me around and sleeps on my pillow at night.  And I encourage him in all of it.  I love this cat.   





Now for the foster animals... in order of arrival at my house. 

Scribbles - arrived Jan 2009. This is Her Fluffiness when she takes on one of the dogs.  Scribbles eventually got tired of living in our spare bedroom and has joined the rest of the family.  She now usually hangs out in the living room or the kitchen.  And what is great is if any of the dogs decides to bother one of the other cats, Scribbles jumps to their defense.  And ALL the dogs keep their distance from Scribs!

Simon and Sampson - arrived Dec 2009. These two have made themselves at home.  Usually one or the other is sitting on my lap, and they both enjoy drooling and then rubbing their face on my face.  Someone told me its a sign of affection in cats.  Its one I could do without.  But I am glad they like me.

Ziggy - Arrived Dec 2009.  Ziggy has improved greatly since I brought him home.  He gets along well with all the other dogs, and loves to wrestle with them.  All those possessive behaviors he exhibited when I first brought him home are gone, and other than being so mouthy, he's turning into a very good dog.  Which means he is sure to get adopted soon.  Because as soon as I get them trained, they get adopted and I have to start over again.  It's the curse of a foster mom.

Rudy - Arrived February 2010.  This is my newest foster cat.  He kept trying to sneak out the door at his previous foster home, so I offered to let him come to my house.  Three or four large dogs trying to come in or go out whenever I open the door have prepared me to handle door-darting cats.  Rudy is a sweet cat.  He's very affectionate and seems to be fitting right in. 

And that's it right now for fosters!  Only one dog and four cats - its like a vacation at my house!  Duke the Beagle/Coonhound is still at my friend's house.  He's still doing well, and up to his usual antics (more on that later).  Babette the Persian cat went to stay at PetSmart, and she appears pleased with the change in environment.  I am hoping to take Kermit the Heartland dog home, but have to wait for approval from his shelter caretakers.  So my next foster dog is probably going to be Emma's sister, named Shadow.  Another black lab - hopefully this one doesn't mind baths so much!

A Detective Story - part 2

If you have not already done so, please read part 1 of the detective story in order to familiarize yourself with the scene of the crime. 

And now, let us turn our attention toward the suspects. 

Remi - Great Dane

Motive: Remi has recently been put on a diet.  Perhaps he decided to supplement his food with drywall? 

Means: Remi has long nails, but they are probably too thick to do this kind of damage. 
Opportunity: Never crated, and allowed run of the house even when everyone is asleep and no one is home - Remi had plenty of opportunity

Detective Notes:  While I do not believe that Remi was capable of this crime, he was most likely present - lying on the couch nearby - when the crime was committed.  Unfortunately, this eye-witness refuses to testify.

Merlin - Orange Cat

Motive: Boredom. Merlin often complains that I don't spend enough time playing with him. He may have become a vandal in retaliation.

Means: Merlin has claws. Very sharp claws which I'm in the process of trying to get clipped. So far he is not cooperating.
Opportunity: Merlin is the only cat that constantly hangs out in the living room regardless of what dogs are around. He had plenty of opportunity to vandalize without fear of any dogs coming by.
Detective Notes: It doesn't look good for Merlin - he has motive, means and opportunity. But Merlin has been living in the home for many months now, and has no previous known history of vandalism. 

Noelle - American Pit Bull Terrier

Motive: Noelle seems to enjoy being naughty, so it is no stretch to believe that she realized this would be naughty and jumped at the chance.
Means:  Noelle has nails that are definitely capable of scratching up a wall. 

Opportunity: Noelle is usually not left alone due to her tendency to be naughty at times, but she may have managed to sneak away for a short time without someone noticing.

Detective Notes: Dave claims that Noelle is not capable of such destruction, but since it is a well known fact that Dave has a blind spot when it comes to this dog, I am not ready to rule out Noelle as a suspect.

Babette - Persian Cat

Motive: Just look at her glare at me.  I think her obvious dislike for me is excellent motive.
Means: Babette has sharp claws. 
Opportunity: None.  Because she also glares at the other cats (and hisses at them too!) she is in solitary confinement. 
Detective Notes:  I am confident in ruling out Babette as a suspect due to the lack of opportunity she had to commit the crime. 

Duke - Beagle/Coonhound mix

Motive: Duke always wants to hide his bones, and could easily have decided to dig up the wall in order to make a new hiding spot.
Means:  Duke has shown to be a good digger, as evidenced by the holes in the back yard.  He is definitely capable of this crime.
Opportunity:  Duke has been crated when I am not watching him, so he has not had much opporunity to commit this crime. 

Detective Notes: Since either Dave or myself are responsible for constantly watching Duke, and Dave claims he did not fail in his supervision, I am inclined to believe that Duke is innocent.  Otherwise I would have to take responsibility for his failed supervision, and I'm not prepared to do that at this time. 

Scribbles - Tortoiseshell Cat

Motive:  Revenge.  It's been a year since I brought this dog-hating cat home as a foster cat, and I believe she has been plotting her revenge all this time.
Means:  Sharp claws.  Very sharp - this I have learned the hard way.
Opportunity: Limited.  Since the living room is the dogs' domain, Scribbles rarely ventures into their area. 

Detective Notes:  If the damage had been done to the wall in the spare bedroom, Scribbles would be a prime suspect. But since the damage was in the living room, it's highly unlikely that she is the culprit.

Ziggy - American Pit Bull Terrier

Motive:  Enjoys chewing up things.  Has been known to enjoy chewing rocks, limbs (the kind from trees and the kind on people), paper, and many other non-food items.

Means: Ziggy has had a lot of practice chewing and digging.  He is believed to be very capable of this crime.

Opportunity: Due to not being 100% house-trained yet, Ziggy is watched very closely.  For that reason, it is highly doubtful that he had the opportunity to commit this crime.

Detective Notes: If not for the lack of opportunity, Ziggy would be my prime suspect.  Therefore, I am keeping an open mind in case it is determined that there was a lack of supervision that has not yet been discovered.

Harley - Himalayan cat

Motive: Unknown
Means:  Harley is a four-paw declawed cat.
Opportunity: Limited.  Harley prefers to stay away from the area of the house where the dogs hang out.

Detective Notes:  I feel confident in ruling out Harley as a suspect. Even if he wasn't declawed, he's much too sweet to do something like this.

Simon and Sampson - Domestic Short Hair cats

Motive: Simon's vision is impaired, so perhaps he thought he saw a bug or a shadow and was trying to destroy it. 

Means: Both Simon and Sampson have front claws and are capable of commiting the crime.

Opporunity: These are two sneaky cats.  Sampson has always taken care of Simon, and is always watching his back.  As evidenced in the photo of them together. 
Detective Notes: These two kitties had the motive, means and opportunity.  Also the fact that there are two separate spots of damage located next to each other is suspicious to me.  I'm definitely keeping my eye on these two.

Conclusion: Prime suspects are Duke, Ziggy, Merlin, and Simon/Sampson.  Interviews with the suspects themselves produced nothing more than blank stares, tail wags, licks and purrs - not helpful at all.  The crime scene was dusted for paw prints with no luck.  All suspects nails and claws were inspected for evidence of drywall, but it is believed the perpetrator cleaned up after leaving the scene of the crime, so nothing was found. 

The decision has been made to enforce a lock-down of the suspects when the primary caregiver is not supervising, in order to set a trap in case the perpetrator returns to the scene of the crime.  This will be done by giving one suspect freedom while the rest are sequestered overnight.  If the damage reoccurs, the responsible party can be identified by process of elimination. 

The suspects do not appear to be pleased with this decision, but the primary caregiver is unrelenting.  Further updates will be made as the investigation progresses.

<Click here to learn of the culprit>

Introducing Harley and Babette

Harley is a Himalayan cat, around 5 years old.  Due to allergies, his family wasn't able to keep him any longer, and they asked for help in finding him a good home.  He's a purebred Himalayan, and he's declawed, so I think the hardest part about fostering him will be sorting through the many applications he is sure to receive.  That, and trying to keep him happy at my house while he waits for that perfect home.  He's never lived with other pets before - poor guy doesn't know what is happening to him!  But he is still sweet and friendly, and lets me visit and pet him.  I'm keeping the dogs and other cats away from him right now, so he can adjust to them slowly. 

My other new foster cat, Babette the Persian cat, is also starting to slowly adjust to her new surroundings.  In this picture she's hiding under a bookshelf, but that was because she was scared of the camera.  So I stopped taking pictures and started just petting her, and she seemed to enjoy that.  Even though she never did purr, and she does still seem to glare at me on a regular basis.  Except when I give her canned food - then she seems to like me a little better.  So now I'm giving her canned food every chance I get.