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.