Shelby update, and Thank You

Shelby is feeling better!!  She has not had any more seizures in the last 24 hours, and she came home from the E-clinic and is doing well.  She is still ataxic, but that is hopefully just due to the medicine she is on.  If you don't know what ataxic means, well, here's a hint:

Ziggy enjoys a beer.

Unlike Ziggy, Shelby hasn't been drinking, but she walks around like she's drunk, bumping into things and occasionally falling over.  But she's starting to act more like her old self, and hopefully within a few days will be back to normal.  She'll be on seizure medicine the rest of her life, but that is not too expensive so she should be able to be adopted without much trouble once she is recovered from her heartworm treatment.  Someday she will have her Happily Ever After!

Merlin the cat is also fully recovered from his run-in with Ziggy.  Thanks for all of your well-wishes!

Rescue is expensive, and I'm grateful to work with a rescue group that covers all foster pet medical expenses as well as providing dog food for the fosters.  Shelby's emergency vet bill was over $600, and that doesn't include the several hundred dollars it will cost for her heartworm treatment.  Her adoption fee is only $125, so as you can imagine, the rescue group relies heavily on donations from the public in order to continue to help animals.  It always amazes me how many people out there are happy to give just a few dollars to help when they can.  Without so many people giving, we couldn't save dogs like Shelby.

It's great when people donate to the rescue, which by the way is tax deductible, but recently something even more amazing happened.  A very special person read about the problems I've been having with my foster dogs escaping my fenced yard.  Living in a rural area is wonderful, except for the mindset many people have about animals.  If people see stray dogs, they are as likely to shoot them as call the owner, even when the dogs are wearing collars and tags.  So when a neighbor stopped by to warn me that my dogs were going to be shot if they got out of the yard again, I was desperate.  I was out of work and couldn't afford a better fence, but had nowhere else for the foster dogs to go.  So I bought a fence and shared my concerns about paying for it.  I love writing this blog because I get to share the good and the bad of rescue, but I never expected what happened next.  Jess from At A Glacial Pace created a wonderful fundraiser to help me buy the fence!  She spent so much time and hard work, just to help keep my foster dogs safe and me sane (well, relatively sane).  The fundraiser was a lot of fun - an online Valentine's Day Party - and many people in the blog community donated.  I am grateful to each one of you who participated and made this a successful event.  My fence is up and is working perfectly to keep the dogs in the yard!

Shelby in the back yard

Thank you Jess, and everyone who contributed!

Jefferson - trying to help build the fence!

They Come And They Go

Except for Ziggy of course.  He came and refuses to leave, no matter what I do.  But the others come in and sometimes leave sooner than I expect.  I thought Oreo the American Bulldog would be a tough one to place due to his breed and the fact that he wasn't house-trained.  But as soon as I put him on the Internet, applications started coming in.  He received three applications in one week, and last week he went on a trial adoption with his new family.  I also thought that Amber the Pointer mix would be adopted before Sox the Border Collie/Basset mix.  I was wrong again - Sox was adopted to a wonderful family last week.  Amber is still waiting, although she does have an interested family who may adopt her soon!  Lindsay the Aussie mix has also been adopted and is doing great in her new home.  This just leaves me with Chloe the often-upside-down pit bull, Bogey the feral and semi-hairless Shar Pei mix, Charlie the shy dog, Jefferson the obnoxious Shepherd mix, Amber the hopefully-soon-to-be-adopted Pointer mix, and of course Ziggy the Adoptable Dog.

Chloe will be receiving her final heartworm treatment tomorrow, and then will need four more weeks of rest and relaxation before being allowed to resume attending adoption events and running marathons.  Okay maybe not the marathons.  But she will be allowed to go to adoption events in four weeks.

Bogey is still afraid of me.  He loves to play with the other dogs, and he loves to play with toys, and he loves to collect things.  He'll go around the house and pick up any dog toys or blankets or anything else he can and hoard them in his crate.  He will not willingly come anywhere near me, and will move away if he notices that I'm looking at him.  I tell myself that he's making progress, but I'm really not so sure.

Charlie the unknown mix dog (breed guesses, anyone?) has completed his treatment for demodex manage and was given a clean bill of health at the vet.  He is doing great here, but when we go out he is still afraid of strangers - mostly males.  He loves hot dogs so we're starting "hot dog therapy" where strangers toss him small pieces of hot dog so he learns that when a man approaches him, good things are going to happen!

Jefferson is being his usual happy and obnoxious self.  He's now decided that cats are Public Enemy #1, and he feels obligated to bark non-stop whenever he sees one.  If possible, he will also chase and possibly chew on the cat.  I say possibly, because so far I've kept him from actually obtaining a cat - but in a house with five cats, he gets plenty of opportunity to observe and bark at them!

Amber is such a good girl.  She does really well with all the other dogs, and she loves to play.  She and Jefferson are a really good match - they are roughly the same size and have the same amount of energy, so they wear each other out quite well.  I'm not sure what I'm going to do with Jefferson once Amber is adopted!

Ziggy is in BIG TROUBLE!  We had an incident where he decided to run across the room and down the hall in order to attack my cat Merlin, because he thought Merlin was going to go into his room.  Merlin ended up with a dislocated jaw, and Ziggy ended up with one more strike against him, since now he can no longer go to a home with cats.  In the past two years he's never attacked a cat, and typically ignores them altogether, so now that he's decided that cats are a threat who must be attacked to keep them from eating his food, it makes him even harder to adopt (and much harder to live with).  He already spends too many hours in a crate because he can't be out with other dogs - now I'll also have to rotate and make sure when he's out there are no cats around either.  Did I mention he's in Big Trouble?

Ziggy did not want me to tell you about this Most Dreadful Incident because he was embarrassed that he panicked and thought Merlin was there to steal all his stuff.  He did not mean to hurt Merlin and claims is very sorry for his bad behavior.  I have not completely forgiven him yet, since Merlin is still in pain and has to stay in a crate for two weeks while he recovers.  Merlin should make a full recovery though and my guess is that he will never, ever, go down that hallway to Ziggy's room again.  As for Ziggy, plans are in the works to build him his own room in the walk-out basement and fence in an area on the side of the house with a dog door in the basement door so he can have much more freedom and the other dogs and cats will not be forced to "time-share" the house and backyard. At this point, it's still just a dream, but several wonderful people have volunteered their time and expertise to make it happen, so hopefully it will one day be a reality!

Also, for any of you familiar with the All Paws dogs, you may remember that I occasionally fostered Toby, the Shepherd/Pointer/Hound mix.  He has been in foster care for a Very Long Time, and has caused more than his share of destruction and trouble.  He has a lot in common with Jefferson, as they both have goofy and obnoxious attributes.  But it finally happened - a lady who loves big, goofy dogs saw Toby on the Internet and ended up adopting him.  She says he is doing really well and she's very happy with him.  So sometimes there are Happy Endings even for the very special fosters like Toby!

They Look Nothing Alike

When I was first contacted about taking in another FIV+ cat, I hesitated.  I'd been planning to take a break from fostering cats for awhile, but it was a good friend who asked, and then she sent me a picture of the cat.  I knew he'd be euthanized if I didn't take him.  And he looked just like my cat Merlin.  So of course I said yes.

I brought him home and named him Murphy, because Merlin's nickname is Murray, and since they looked almost exactly alike, I thought their names should be similar as well.

Murphy

Murphy immediately settled in, and tried to be just like Merlin.  He followed Merlin around, and slept in all Merlin's favorite places, and tried to convince me that he was really Merlin.  He even fooled me a couple of times when I walked into the room and mistook Murphy for Merlin at first glance.  I laughed and told everyone how he was just like Merlin.  Well, almost.  Except Murphy's tail is fluffier, and his eyes are teal instead of gold.  And Murphy is slightly bigger than Merlin.  And as I started listing all the differences between them, I soon realized that they really look nothing alike.

Once I took pictures of Murphy I realized it was true -

Murphy

Merlin

they look nothing alike.

Why My Pets Hate Me

It's a good thing dogs don't hold grudges. If they did, I'd be in big trouble. Last night was my first night at the new house. I took Remi with me, but my husband Dave won the coin toss for Noelle and she is staying with him at the old house. Okay, we didn't really toss a coin. We had a grown-up rational discussion, where nothing was decided, until I finally acknowledged it was his turn to win a fight so I gave in. She's always been his dog, since the moment they met. I still get visiting rights, but the only thing Noelle knows is that I've abandoned her. Fortunately, she's a pit bull - one of the most loyal breeds there is - and when I come visit her this evening, she's not going to hold a grudge. She'll instantly forgive me and shower me with kisses. Of course that'll make me feel even more awful when I leave her behind again.

But then I get to go home to Remi, who doesn't have a reason to be angry with me. Oh other than the fact that I took him away from his home and brought him to this strange house that he hates. Dave installed all new laminate flooring throughout the house, and it's very slick. Have you ever seen a giraffe trying to walk on ice? If you can imagine that, you can imagine Remi trying to walk on laminate floors. It's not a pretty sight. But Remi doesn't hold grudges, so it's safe for me to return home. I think. Even if he is angry, it's pretty easy to outrun him inside the house.

Tomorrow I get to go to an adoption event and the boot camp instructor dog rehabilitator is going to bring Ziggy by to see us. I am so excited and nervous. Because if any dog were ever to hold a grudge, I'd imagine it would be Ziggy. When I see him, I want to just bend down to his level and wave at him and say Hi Ziggy!! and then throw my arms around him and give him a big hug. Which of course is exactly the wrong thing to do. I didn't say I'll do it. But I really want to. Hopefully Ziggy is not holding a grudge for me sending him to boot camp. If he behaves himself I may even be able to take him home soon!

And then there's Merlin. Merlin has been living a life of contentment and luxury at my parents' house for several months. But I miss him, and my parents are not begging me to keep him, so I'm going to be bringing him to the new house in the next few days. And one thing that is different about cats and dogs - I think cats do hold a grudge. So Merlin may never speak to me again, after I bring him to the new house. At least the dogs won't be able to chase him very easily on the new flooring. With enough canned food and cat treats, I might even be able to convince him that life with me isn't so bad after all.

Have you ever done anything so awful that your pet held a grudge? Tell me your worst stories, and help me stop feeling so guilty for making all of my pets miserable!

Merlin Lives Dangerously

When I was forced to temporarily relocate my cat Merlin, I thought long and hard about where he could go.  I knew he may have to be gone for a few months, and I wanted him to be happy, wherever he was.  So in the end, I thought the best place for him was my parents' house.  They have experience with cats, my mom is home all day so Merlin would get a lot of attention, and most importantly, I knew if I asked, even though they didn't really want a cat, they would say yes.  We thought at the time it would only be for a couple of months.  But Merlin has been there for well over six months now.  I could understand them wanting him gone, but I thought they'd just ask me to come get him, not take other, drastic measures.

My sweet, innocent Merlin is an indoor cat.  I don't ever let him go outside since there are too many dangers of cars, loose dogs, and other risks.  I knew my parents felt the same way - and even if they didn't, I knew they would keep him indoors since that is what he is used to and that is what I believe is best for him.  At least that's what I thought, until I received these pictures:

Not only was Merlin outdoors, but they had put him in a tree!  Just to take a picture and threaten to make him stay in the tree if I didn't come get him.  Poor, poor Merlin.

He looks so small and helpless.

Doesn't he look terrified?  How could anyone be so cruel... so heartless.... so.... oh, wait.  That's not exactly how it happened.

Okay, fine, the truth is Merlin is not sweet and innocent.  He is sneaky and quite brilliant. He learned how to slide open the screen door to make his escape to the Great Outdoors when no one was watching.  Then, because he's a cat, he decided the best thing in the world would be to go after those birds in the tree.  So he climbed the tree.  And since she's my mom and she knows how much I'd want pictures, my mom went and got her camera and took some photos before trying to lure Merlin down with his favorite canned food.  Which worked... eventually.

Notice how in spite of the canned food my mom is holding in front of his face, Merlin is focusing only on the birds still tormenting him from the safety of the treetops.

 Thanks Mom, for all you've done to keep Merlin safe.  Thanks for not taking any drastic measures to get rid of him, and for saying he can stay as long as needed.   I'm sorry I implied otherwise - it just made for a better story.   I'll come over and help you cat-proof your screen door tomorrow.

Merlin Plays Fetch

I hope you had a very Merry Christmas. I haven't taken any new pictures for a few days, so I decided to share this video with you. This was taken a few weeks ago at my mom's house, shortly before decorating the Christmas tree. Merlin, my cat, loves to play fetch. He also loves to chew on small items, and to wrestle. We think he may be part dog... or perhaps he's just been living at my house for too long.

View at YouTube

I had some trouble with my camera battery not being charged, so the video is a bit choppy, but I hope you enjoyed it. My nieces and nephews especially like the part where Merlin runs into the wall. In fact, I've heard rumors that people may at times deliberately throw the mouse against the wall on purpose just to watch Merlin hit the wall. I do not condone this behavior, and I swear when I threw the mouse against the wall on the video it was an accident. Really. And the laughter you hear afterwards was me laughing at something my mom said - I was not laughing at Merlin. Really. Although the fact that he continues to run into the wall time after time (or so I've heard) may just be another example of how his intelligence more closely mirrors a dog than a cat. I'm just sayin'.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Today I am grateful for my family, my friends, my country, and my pets.

I'm grateful for the couple who took in Gretchen as a foster dog when she was out of time and had no other chance to be saved.  I'm also grateful to the rest of the rescue volunteers who save all the dogs and cats just like Gretchen when they have nowhere else to go. 

I'm grateful for the family who adopted Gretchen, and I'm grateful for all of the other people who adopt dogs and cats - especially those who adopt the ones that are older, disabled, shy, difficult, or otherwise hard to place into permanent homes.   

I am grateful for those of you who share your life with me through your blogs.  I'm grateful for each reader that takes time to read my blog and share in my life as well.     

I'm especially grateful that you don't turn me into the ASPCA when I post pictures like the one above.  

I'm grateful for my cat Merlin, who was yesterday's DogTipper Cat Of the Day!  I'm very proud of him.  Regardless of the fact that he did nothing to earn this honor, and regardless of the fact that they have so few submissions of cats right now that I believe anyone who submits their cat will quickly see their cat become Cat of the Day as well.  I'll pretend he would have won in spite of the competition from thousands hundreds dozens of other cats.   

From Remi, me and Noelle - Happy Thanksgiving!

Merlin

I adopted Merlin a little over a year ago.  He was just a kitten, sitting in a cage at a shelter, surrounded by many other kittens and cats.  He chose me, and I chose him, and even though I am a "dog person", Merlin has captured my heart like no one else ever has. 



Due to pet restrictions, Merlin is temporarily living at my parents' house.  To make things easier on them, I bought some nail caps for Merlin's front paws.  This would prevent him from scratching up any furniture, without causing him any distress.  I was impressed at how well the nail caps work.  They also make him look quite stylish, don't you think?

I was a bit worried about how Merlin would adjust.  He was used to living with a lot of other animals and only two adult humans.  At my house he'd run and hide from guests.  So then he went to live in a house with no other pets, two adult humans and several young children.  I did what I could to help him adjust - gave him a safe place to hide in an empty bedroom, used Feliway to lower his stress, brought his favorite items from home and purchased several more items that I thought he would like.  It didn't take long before he settled in and then quickly took over.  Now he thinks he owns the house, and probably will hate to come back to a house filled with other dogs and cats and with no children to entertain him. 

That's how he sees it, you know. The kids are there just to play with him. They make the magic laser light appear to give him something to chase. They also run through the house carrying his favorite ribbon, and throw cat toys throughout the house for him to pick up and carry around in his mouth.

He's not going to like coming back home to just me and a bunch of other pets.  Sure, the dogs keep him busy by chasing him now and then, but it's not the same.  I won't be able to live up to Merlin's expectations, and he won't be able to continue to live the lifestyle that he has become accustomed to.  I just hope that he can forgive me someday. 

Losing

After the recent house offer fell through, I received some more bad news. The subdivision will not allow me any more time to keep the foster animals, so they all must go. Only Remi and Noelle can stay. I am losing all of my fosters as well as my own cat. Rudy and Tripoli will go back to the original foster homes they came from. My cat Merlin will go to live with my parents. Ziggy may be going to a temporary foster home. And Gretchen loses the most. She has been at a shelter for almost a month now, and can't stay much longer since she is having trouble in the shelter environment. Since I have no idea when I'll be able to take her, and we haven't been able to find another foster home for her, she will lose her life. 

I am also worried about Ziggy. There is one person who offered a temporary foster home for him, but it may be several months before I am able to move and take him back, and if he doesn't work out at that foster home, he will have limited options. He is not an easy dog, and he would probably not do well in a shelter or boarding situation long-term. Long-term foster homes are in high demand and the few people I know who are willing to take on a deaf chewy pit bull are already full or have other pets that make it a bad fit. I am not giving up on him, and hopefully he will work out in his termporary foster home, but I admit I am concerned. One of my rescue friends already offered to help with boarding costs if needed. I live in the metro St. Louis area, and there are a lot of boarding facilities here. I am thinking perhaps he can just stay at one boarding facility until he is kicked out, and then sent on to the next one. Kind of like a rich kid who continually gets kicked out of all the boarding schools he attends. It's an option. If it comes to that I may be taking up a collection to pay for his tuition boarding fees. For now I will hope he is on his best behavior in his temporary foster home! The house search continues, and in the meantime I am blessed to have so many friends who are willing to step in and help however they can. Special thank yous to Bev, Chuck, Heather, Linda, Mom and Dad, for all you've done and all you've offered to do to help in this awful situation!

Outnumbered

Noelle and I are outnumbered. We're just two girls, having to live with seven boys. It's tough, I tell you. Here's a quick summary of who we have to put up with:

Dave - Male - Adult Human - Entertains himself with violent video games, violent movies, and cleaning his multiple guns after target practice. He claims he's trying to keep his "Expert" status as a sniper in the Army. I think he just has too much testosterone.

Remi - Male - Adult Great Dane - Barks at everyone and everything. Claims he is doing his duty as a watchdog and protecting the females of the house. I think he just has too much testosterone.

Ziggy - Male - Juvenile Dog - Enjoys wrestling matches, chewing on everything in sight, and creating large messes for the females in the house to clean up. Claims he's just a guy trying to have a good time. I think he just has too much testosterone.

Bosco - Male - Juvenile Dog - Enjoys wrestling matches, and humping other dogs. Claims he's got too much testosterone. Even though he's been neutered, I agree.

Tripoli - Male - Adult Shepherd Mix - Enjoys shedding. Okay, maybe he doesn't enjoy it, but he does a lot of it. Perhaps its caused by too much testosterone.

Rudy - Male - Adult Cat - Constantly complains of feeling trapped. Wants freedom to go outside and flirt with the female cats. Definitely caused by too much testosterone.

Merlin - Male - Juvenile Cat - Eats everything in sight, much like a teenage boy. Never seems to be full. Claims he needs more canned cat food. I think he is lying.









And okay, all of these cats and dogs have been neutered, but still. They're boys, they act like boys, and Noelle and I are outnumbered. I have a right to complain about it. Especially since I have another male cat coming back tomorrow. Where are all the girl dogs and cats? How did I end up with all male fosters?

I think tonight Noelle and I are going to have to have a Girl's Night Out. We'll put on makeup, and watch a movie where nothing blows up, and put up a big sign that says "No Boys Allowed!!"

Nap Time

Sunday afternoon naps are the best.

That's Ziggy sleeping at the end of the couch with his head hanging off the side. 
Since Ziggy and I were taking up the whole couch, Bosco decided to sleep on top of me.

Then Merlin decided he needed some attention also.

At that point the couch exceeded its total allowed weight limit, and collapsed. 

No not really.  Actually I thanked the photographer for documenting this exciting portion of my life, and then we all went back to sleep. 

I love Sunday afternoon nap time.  I think I'm going to make it a weekly event. 

About Me: Merlin

THE BASICS

1) Name and Age
My name is Merlin and I am one year old. I had my very first birthday last month. No one remembered. I ignored everyone for a week to let them know how upset I was. No one noticed. On the plus side, my human just looked up my records to find out how old I was and now she feels really guilty about missing my birthday. I bet I get lots of extra treats tonight!

2) Breed
No breeding for me – I’m neutered.

3) Nickname(s)
My human calls me Murray more often than she calls me Merlin. I don’t know why she just didn’t name me Murray to begin with. Sometimes she also calls me Meerlyn and Merthyn. She’s kind of strange.

4) Where'd ya come from?
I came from the same animal control facility that my sister Noelle came from. I was there for a very long time before my human finally came and took me to foster. She fostered Noelle for 9 months before she finally broke down and adopted her. But it only took her 9 days of fostering me before she adopted me. She says I’m very special. But she still forgot my birthday.


FAVORITES

1) Toy
Anything that moves – I am excellent at catching my prey and carrying it around in my mouth. Merlin the Great Hunter is what they should call me.

2) Snack
I like people food the most. Especially corn, chicken, steak, pasta, fish, potatoes, bread, milk, and really almost anything that my human is putting into her mouth.



3) Human
Favorite human? I only have one human. All other humanoids are dangerous! I am a one-human cat and will not remain in the same room as any humanoid except my human.


FUNNY STUFF

1) Worst habit
My human thinks it is trying to eat whatever it is she is eating or drinking. I think that’s not a habit, it’s a pastime.

2) Most embarrassing moment
I got my head stuck in a paper bag yesterday. My human was going to take my picture but she was afraid I would fall off the counter and get hurt so she rescued me instead. Those paper bags are evil.



3) Family dynamic
I am in charge. My human is there to do my bidding. Dogs and other humanoid creatures are dangerous and should be avoided whenever possible.

4) Your human's FAVORITE thing about you
She likes it when I cuddle with her. And her other favorite thing is that I always am waiting at the door to greet her when she gets home from work. I love my human.

Second Class Citizens (Guest Post by Rudy the Foster Cat)

The female warden has relinquished her blog post to me, captive #65. She calls me Rudy, but of course that's not my real name. I explained to the female warden that my full name, Sir Percyvale Rudolph Katar Sparhawk Oreo von Reuss, was what I preferred to be called, but as usual she ignored me. The other 64 feline captives that have been in this prison before me have left behind notes, so I realize that the cruel and unusual punishment that is carried out by the wardens here is directed at all feline prisoners. While the dogs here are waited on hand and foot, the felines are left to fend for themselves.  We're usually fed only dry bland kibble, and some of the other prisioners have become so desperate for something better that they have broken into the puppy food just for variety! 

 We either have to stay in one small bedroom, or risk being chased by one of the many dogs here. Even the high places where the dogs cannot reach us aren't safe.  If the male warden sees us on the countertops - a place we have every right to be - he yells loudly and threatens us with bodily harm. I try every day to escape from this horrible place, but so far all attempts have been unsuccessful.

My only hope is that someday I will be freed like many of the previous captives have been. My friend Merlin has been told he is doomed to live out his life in this prison, but the rest of us are scheduled to be released as soon as we can find some servants to provide for our every need. I must survive until that happens. 

It's 4 a.m…. do you know where your pets are?

I thought Casey was ready to stay loose in the house by himself. Unsupervised. All night. Sure, it’s only been five days since he came here. But for those five days he has been given incrementally more freedom each day and he hasn’t had any problems. So last night I left his crate door open when I went to bed. And then I was woken up at 4 a.m. by a lick to the face, and when I opened my eyes, I saw him looking something like this.

I was worried at first, but I quickly figured out he was just waking me up because he wanted to go outside.  Nothing was destroyed, and he didn't do anything wrong.  Whew.  However, the events that transpired after I let him outside at 4 a.m. have made me regret not crating him last night.

I let Casey outside, so Noelle and Remi also wanted outside. Then in my sleep-deprived state, while I was trying to get Remi to go outside without my foster cat Rudy getting out, Merlin came out of nowhere (it’s his best trick) and darted out the door. So there I was, standing in the doorway, with three dogs and a cat in the backyard. I tried to decide if I would be able to run out and grab Merlin without anyone seeing me. After all, it was 4 a.m. But there was a full moon, and it was very bright. And Merlin was about 10 feet off of the patio, right in the middle of a big mud puddle. So since I wasn’t really wearing enough clothing, not to mention any shoes, I elected to go back in and find some sweatpants and shoes, hoping all the while that Merlin remained in the middle of the mud puddle until I returned. Of course he didn’t. When I got back, Merlin was long gone, and Remi and Casey were barking at something on the other side of the fence (possibly the rogue Merlin). I got the three dogs back inside and went out looking for Merlin – no luck. So by this time Ziggy has woken up and also wants to go out. I figure maybe he’ll help me find Merlin, so I take him out too. Instead, after taking care of doggie business, he proceeds to “help” by continually jumping up and trying to get me to play bitey face. By this time I was very ready to “bitey-face” him! But I restrained myself, and put him back inside to continue the search for the missing cat.

We never let our cats or foster cats outside. It’s just too dangerous. In addition to the obvious risks like traffic, there are predators like coyotes, foxes and birds of prey, risks of poisoning by pesticides, and risks from dogs or feral cats. The average life span for indoor cats is 15 to 18 years, compared to only 3 years for free-roaming cats. So as much as Merlin loves to be outside, I just don’t like to take the risk. That is why I was walking around my backyard at 4 a.m., whispering “Merrrlinnnnn” and feeling rather foolish. And by the way, even with moonlight that makes the whole landscape bright, it’s still too dark to avoid stepping in any dog piles. So my whispering actually went something more like “Merrrlinnn….. where are you?.... ewww, what’s that smell?....oh no…. darnit!”. If Merlin was still within hearing by that time, he probably figured he’d be safer not answering me! Eventually I called off the search and decided to wait for daylight. But even once daylight came and I resumed my search, there was no sign of Merlin. So I went inside and fed the dogs.

Noelle is a food guarder. She doesn’t guard it from people, but she does like to make sure no other dogs or cats get too close to her food bowl. So after I fed her, I was standing in the kitchen and I saw Noelle go running across the room, barking at the front door, then running back to her food bowl to eat. That was her typical guarding behavior, but there were no dogs or cats by the front door. My hopes rose and I ran to the front door and looked out the window, and there he was. Merlin. Just sitting there patiently waiting for me to open the door. So I did, and he came in.  He didn’t apologize; didn’t say thank you; just pretended that running away from home and then showing up at the front door the next morning was an everyday occurrence for him. Cats these days.  They just have no idea what they put their parents through. 

Foster Cats Plus One

Dogs make sense to me.  Cats, not so much.  But I like cats anyway, and I somehow always seem to have two or three foster cats.  Or four...five...  Okay fine, right now I have seven foster cats.  But in my defense, I only have one cat of my own.  The rest I am doing my best to get rid of.  I mean, to adopt out.  Into loving, permanent homes of course.  But in the meantime, they're living in my house, and they seem to have plotted together to take over.  They now outnumber the dogs and humans combined, and they're taking advantage of it.  One will jump into the pantry while I'm pulling another one out.  Or one will sneak into the closet while another one is distracting me elsewhere.  Two of them pretend to fight so I walk away from my dinner and a third one steals food from my plate.  One of them terrorizes a dog (guess which cat?) while another one drinks the milk in my glass.  They are seriously plotting against me, I know it.  But I love them anyway. 

Simon pretended to be blind so I would feel sorry for him and take him and his seeing eye cat brother Sampson home.  The longer he's at my house, the more I realize that he can see just fine.  He runs all over the house, chasing the other cats around furniture and over couches - even when the furniture was recently moved!  He doesn't even bother pretending to be blind anymore.  . 

This guy is my own cat Merlin.  He's the worst of the group.  He pretends to be all sweet and affectionate, and sleeps on my pillow next to me every night, to lull me into complacency.  But he is the worst food thief I've ever met.  Even when I'm sitting there eating, he will try to steal the food right from my plate.  Not only does he blatantly take things that he knows he is not allowed, but then he acts all nonchalant about it - at least dogs will look guilty when they steal food they know they shouldn't have.  Not Merlin.

This is one of my newest foster cats.  Her name is Victoria, and she's the only good cat in the group.  But even she has her own way of tormenting me.  She is a little bit feral (wild) and doesn't quite trust people yet.  So most of the time she just keeps her distance from me.  We're working on this, and I've gotten to where I can take her picture without her hiding under furniture (see below).  But she manages to find the best hiding places in the house when it comes time to go to the vet.  I haven't been able to find her hiding places yet, but she's made me spend hours looking for her - truly a great way to drive me crazy. 

This is Victoria and Sampson, the seeing eye cat.  I tried to use Sampson as a detective to help me find Victoria's hiding spot.  I figured since he's a well-trained, official seeing eye cat (not really), he should have skills in tracking and search and rescue as well.  But no luck - he refused to locate his friend.  The dogs were no help either, but that didn't surprise me.  You just can't count on animals to help you out when it comes to vet visits. 

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!