No More Cats

I prefer to foster dogs.  I've been trying for years to give up fostering cats and focus solely on dogs.  I would like to say that I've finally succeeded.  I would like to say that, but it's not true.  Because currently at my house are six foster cats who are pretty sure they own the place.  And although I don't talk about them much, I thought maybe if I wrote about them on my blog, someone out there would want to adopt one of these wonderful, fantastic, absolutely perfect cats.  Really, they are.

I've introduced Belle to you before.  She's a very sweet front declawed cat who does well with other cats and is a great companion.  She would love a quiet home with someone who would give her a lot of attention.   She's very calm and laid-back and loves to sit on laps and purr.

Next is Pogo, a five year old gray tabby cat.  He is very outgoing and loves everyone he meets.  He is great with other cats, and he loves dogs. I introduced him to Roxy, my foster pit bull, and he immediately walked up to her and started rubbing his head against her.  He does this all the time now, and she gives him baths with her tongue.  He would do great in an active, loud, noisy household with a lot going on.

Then there is Junior.  If anyone wants to adopt a cat that sneezes constantly, this is the cat for you.  Junior has some kind of sneezing issue.  He's been through every test known to veterinarians and no one can figure out what is up with him. He had his nose checked to see if something was stuck in it - nope.  He has been allergy tested and tried on different diets and different environmental factors with no luck. He's been on all sorts of medicines with no luck. So he's not really adoptable (unless you want a cat who sneezes a lot!) but he's staying here temporarily until he goes back to his other foster home.  He gets along well with other cats and with the dogs.  He's front declawed.  He's rather independent and doesn't seek out attention.  If you want a cat who you hardly notice except when you hear him sneezing, this is the cat for you.

This is Thomas.  He was at a local shelter and tested positive for FIV, just like Belle, so I brought him home.  He's a very friendly cat.  He's great with the other cats and he is very, very affectionate.  He also has a giant head.  I'm still learning more about how he is with dogs and what kind of home would be best for him, but if you want a rather large cat with a big head and a squeaky voice, he's your guy.

This is Kona. Or Kimba. I can't tell them apart.  I originally had them when they were kittens, and they were adopted out together.  The family who adopted them decided they couldn't keep them, and they gave them away to someone else.  Those people either lost them or gave them away or something, because they were turned in to a shelter today by someone who said they found them.  So now they're safely back home with me, and we'll try to find them better families this time!  Kona and Kimba are very sweet and affectionate.  They're typical kittens (around five months old) and love to play.  If you want to add a cute and loving kitten to your home, Kona or Kimba might be a perfect fit!


So that's it for my foster cats.  Which one would you like?

Cat Update

  

Chip



I'd just like to say that it wasn't my fault.  I'm not the one who rescued these two kittens. I was just trying to be nice, and since I had to take one of my fosters to the vet, I offered to take these two kittens in for another foster mom.

It's not her fault either.  She took these kittens in the day before, from someone who found them living outside and begging for food.  She just accepted my offer, and planned to take them right back as soon as they got checked out by the vet. 



Dale



It's not the kittens' fault either.  They're just typical, adorable, sweet, purring kittens.  I can resist kittens.  Even when they purr.  I'll tell you whose fault it is.  It's the vet's fault.  They were running late, and kept me waiting for half an hour.  I have a lot of self-control, but being stuck in a small room with two purring kittens for half an hour is more than even I could resist.  Thirty minutes after arriving in the office, I called the original foster mom and offered to take the kittens back home with me.  That is how I ended up fostering Chip and Dale.  Not my fault at all. 



In addition to Chip and Dale, I am also fostering the following cats:



Belle, the FIV positive cat with very soft fur.  She likes me, and she likes other people, and she puts up with other cats, but she doesn't much care for the dogs. Every night she waits for me at the door to her room and meows until I give her treats.  She's very good at begging.

Lovey - the FIV positive cat who pretends she's not a tortie.  She is one of the sweetest cats I've ever met.  We've been struggling to get some health issues cleared up, so she's been on various medicines and different foods, and in spite of it all she still acts..well....lovey. I am starting to understand why she was named this.  She does great with other cats, isn't crazy about the dogs but does okay with them, and does great with all people. 

Lily - Originally named Lightning (as part of the Tornado litter), Lily was adopted out to a family along with her brother Thunder.  The resident cat in that home didn't particularly care for Lily, and Lily likewise showed her displeasure by refusing to use the litter box.  After confirming that there was no medical cause, Lily came back to us and immediately returned to having perfect litter box habits.  So Lily is now looking for a home where she will be a better fit.  In addition to being beautiful she's also very sweet and loving.  Lily is staying up at PetSmart for a few weeks and hopefully she'll find a new home quickly! 

Many of our cats have the opportunity to stay up at PetSmart for a few weeks at a time.  This gives shoppers a chance to visit them and often causes them to be adopted much more quickly than when they're living in a foster home.  Volunteers come in each day and take care of all the cats, scooping litter boxes and providing love and affection and playtime.  If you're in the St.Charles, MO area and are interested in volunteering your time one morning or evening a week, please contact me!  Or if you're in another area, consider contacting your local PetSmart or PetCo store to see if they have adoptable cats and need assistance.

Introducing Lovey

You may remember my feelings about cats known as "torties".  Honestly they scare me.  I've fostered several torties and they can be sweet, wonderful companions, but make them angry, and Watch Out!  Since fostering often requires making cats angry (taking them to adoption events, making them live in the same house with dogs, keeping their nails trimmed, sometimes giving them medicine, and never giving them as much attention as they'd like), I spend a lot of time being afraid of tortoiseshell cats. And now I've got a new tortoiseshell foster cat. 

Her last foster mom - or maybe the shelter where she was before that - named her Lovey.  I wonder if the person who named her was trying to negate her reputation as a cat with attitude.  Or maybe they have a sarcastic streak.  I'm sure that she wasn't named Lovey just because she's loveable.  That goes against everything I know and believe about torties.  Just look in her eyes.  Doesn't she look like she's thinking about five hundred different ways to harm me?

 

Sure, she pretends to be all sweet and loveable.  She purrs when I pet her, and she has yet to hiss or scratch or do anything even slightly scary.  But that just makes me more nervous, because I know it must be an act.  She's trying to lull me into a sense of complacency, but I'm too smart to fall for that.  

Lovey is FIV positive, just like Belle.  That's why I brought her home, so they could become friends.  But now I realize what a mistake that was.

Oh they've become friends all right.  In no time at all, they were sharing a cat tower.  When I entered the room to take this photo, it appeared that Belle was sleeping and Lovey was relaxing on the tower.  But I have my suspicions.  See the way the carpet is bunched up under Belle's head?  And how Lovey is lying on the edge of the platform instead of the middle of it?  These are clues, you know.  Clues that suggest perhaps the two cats had just rushed into their spots when they heard me coming down the hall.  And perhaps prior to that, they were huddled together, planning something.  They think they've gotten away with it, but I'm not fooled.  I'm going to be keeping a very close eye on these two.

Four Kittens and a Dog; Update on my fosters

Five of my foster pets were adopted this weekend!  Thunder and Stormy, two kittens from the Tornado litter, were adopted together.  And then Lightning and Raine, the other two kittens from the same litter, were also adopted together!  We always like to adopt out young kittens in pairs if possible, because it gives them a friend to play with in their new home.  So I was really excited to have all four of them go home in pairs.

In addition to the four kittens being adopted, Forrester was also adopted!

It was a great weekend, as several other puppies and dogs were also adopted.  It also gives me a much needed break, since for awhile there I had five foster dogs and eight foster cats.  Four foster dogs and four foster cats is a much easier number.  Here's a quick summary of my remaining fosters, in order of arrival:

Ziggy - Deaf pit bull, he got to stay home on Saturday because there wasn't enough room in the car for everyone to go.  I'm planning to alternate him and Tulsa at adoption events because both of them can be challenging to handle at PetSmart with all the strange dogs and people.

Kira, Kimba and Kona - All three cats are finally ready for adoption.  Kimba and Kona, the two kittens, went to adoptions today, and I don't think they'll take long to be adopted.  Kira, the momma cat, is still recovering from being spayed so she will not be ready for adoption events until next weekend.

Belle - Belle, the FIV positive calico cat, has settled in to life in my bedroom, and she enjoys spending her days looking out the window, and her nights cuddled up with me.  I had planned to take her to the adoption event today but somehow I forgot about her she managed to stay behind.  Adoption events aren't her favorite thing, but they're her best bet for finding a permanent home, so I'll try to take her next weekend.

Target - White and brown mixed breed dog - Target is doing great - he's learned to walk well on a leash, is crate trained and is doing very well with house-training.  He is very popular at adoption events, and I expect that he will soon be finding a home of his own.

Toby - Another white and brown mixed breed dog! - Toby is also doing great, and had a lot of fun at today's adoption event.  He got some great new toys from the lady who was responsible for getting him into foster care, and he loved the new toys and all of the attention from the volunteers and customers at PetSmart.

Tulsa - Deaf Blue Heeler, went to her first All Paws adoption event and did much better than expected.  She met and greeted several dogs without issue, and although she barked at dogs while in her crate, she was very good about not getting too excited when being held on leash.

Belle is Positive... and that's a negative.

Any cat that is taken into the rescue I volunteer with gets vetted prior to adoption.  This means they are spayed or neutered, vaccinated, dewormed, tested for Feline Leukemia and FIV, and microchipped.  And if they have special needs we take care of those too.  In Belle's case, she had already been spayed prior to the time I got her, so I had hoped one vet visit would take care of all her needs and she could move to PetSmart to be seen by a lot of people and hopefully be adopted quickly.  She's front declawed and very friendly, so I hoped she'd be another quick adoption.  Unfortunately, things didn't happen as planned.  

Belle tested positive for FIV.  This means at some point she has been exposed to Feline Immunodeficiency Virus.  Or she could have antibodies from receiving an FIV vaccination in the past.  Since her previous owners abandoned her without sharing that information, we don't know, so we have to treat her like she is actually carrying the virus.  

FIV isn't all that scary.  It can't be transmitted to dogs or people, and it can only be transmitted from cat to cat via a deep bite wound or blood transfusion.  Most cats with FIV never even show symptoms - they live long, happy, healthy lives.  But when there are thousands of other cats to choose from (literally - there are over 1,500 cats available for adoption within 100 miles of me right now), people tend to overlook the cats with special needs or the cats who test positive for FIV.  Some rescue groups euthanize cats who test positive because their odds of getting adopted are so much lower.  But the rescue group I volunteer with doesn't do that, so Belle is going to live a long happy life.  Of course she's stuck with me until she gets adopted, so it may not be as happy as she wants. 

In the worst case scenario, FIV can cause Belle's immune system to stop working as well, and she could become seriously ill from an infection or illness.  But I've decided that she is going to be one of those cats who never shows symptoms.  (yes, it's just that easy).  She can't stay at PetSmart because the cats are allowed to interact with each other, and there would be a risk of her getting in a fight and spreading FIV to another cat.  So I take her to adoption events on the weekend, but the rest of the week she is here with me. 

I tend to have a bias against calico and tortoiseshell cats after fostering Scribbles and Whisper.  Calicos and Torties in general are known to have more "cattitude" than other cats.  There's no scientific basis for it, but in my experience, it's true, so I actually almost didn't take Belle from the shelter just because she was a calico.  But I'm so glad I did take her - she's one of the sweetest cats I've met.  She's started sleeping with me every night and she is so affectionate.  I hope that some adopter out there will see what a wonderful cat she is, and give her the forever home that she so deserves.  

More Introductions

I'd like to introduce you to a few more dogs and cats, if you don't mind.  I'll try to make this quick, because there are several of them.

First is Simon.  He's a gray tabby cat that came from a city shelter where he'd been living for seven months.  He's three years old, and he really wants a home of his own. 

Next, there's Polly.  She is one of the puppy mill dogs that All Paws took in about a month ago.  She's been in another foster home, where she had taken to climbing fences and bullying the other puppy mill chihuahuas, so she was sent to rehab at my house.  Ziggy volunteered to be the drill sergeant.

As if I didn't have enough cats running around, I went to a different city shelter and pulled this girl.  I named her Belle, and even though she's a Calico, she seems very sweet.  She is six years old and was in danger of being euthanized because of her "old age", so I had to take her.  This was the glare she gave me when I called her old.

And finally, I brought home this dog and named her Pebbles.  Then I remembered that I already had a foster dog named Pebbles previously so I changed it to Freckles.  Then I checked my blog while typing this post and realized I also had a foster dog named Freckles already.  So I think I'm naming her Cleo.  For now.  

She doesn't really have laser blue eyes.  She does however love to chase cats.  Which makes it not an easy foster situation for someone with three foster cats running around (plus two staying at PetSmart and Kira and her kittens in another room).  Wow - when I put it like that, it doesn't really sound all that crowded around here. 

So for those of you keeping track, here's the latest:


Remi (my Great Dane) is visiting Noelle (my deaf pit bull) and Dave (my husband) at the old house this week.
Ziggy (deaf foster pit bull) is starting his own boot camp to keep the other dogs in line.
Polly (foster Chihuahua) is learning how to be a real dog instead of a puppy-making machine.
Cleo (foster Beagle mix) is learning the new rules of the house and enjoying life out of a shelter.
Simon (foster tabby cat) is living at PetSmart and hoping to be adopted.
Tiggr (foster tabby cat) moved to PetSmart today and is hoping to be adopted again.
Belle (foster calico cat) is living in a quarantined area (aka my bathroom) until she can be tested/vetted.
Brie (foster tabby cat) is hiding in the home office.
Sorbet (foster Siamese mix) is exploring the entire house and still bouncing off walls.
Kira (foster torbie cat) and Kona (kitten) and Kimba (kitten) are living in the "cat room".
Merlin (my cat) is enjoying the new house and all the new friends.  I'm sure of it.


Now I'm planning on no more new fosters until I get some adoptions!