Why I love fostering....

One of the best parts of being a pet foster parent is hearing back from the new owners after the pets are adopted, and learning how well they're doing.  It reminds me why I do this.  Thanks to some previous adopters for sharing your stories!

"I just wanted to check in and let you know how Cooper (Rowdy) is doing. He is doing wonderful, he loves to play with his brother Toby and they go non-stop, but when he crashes.....he crashes and there is no moving him. He loves our Select Comfort bed...he is a 50. He really adjusted well and never seemed scared or uneasy about being here, he loves the grass in the yard...but not on hot days, he likes it cool."

"We love this dog! He has immediately become the baby in our family. Thank you very much for helping make this happen. We have renamed him Sherman. He and our beagle, Sadie, get along fine. Also so you know he got a clean bill of health from our vet at North Main Animal Hospital. Lisa wanted me to attach some pictures for you so there should be an attachment. Thank you once again,"

"Here are some pics of Puffin. She has really settled in at our house. Just wanted you to see how well she is doing."

"I just wanted to send you a quick note and let you know that your Bear is doing so great! I apologize for not sending this until tonight. I have to say how impressed I am with his obedience. He did have a couple accidents the first night, which was expected, but we now know his signal - he goes to the door, sits down and just stares at it (really cute). He knows how to sit and lay. He enjoys sleeping under my bed when he has had enough play time and needs a nap. I was also astonished that he doesn't mind going into his crate at night and when I go to work. When we got our other dog 3 years ago, I recall him crying, crying, crying for about a week straight when we put him in his crate for bedtime. So I owe you a big THANK YOU for potty and crate training him so well."

I thought now is a very appropriate time for this reminder of why I love fostering, in light of some recent happenings at my house.  I'll share all about it soon. 

Penguin and Puffin were adopted!

Two of my three tuxedo kittens have now been adopted!  There were some other happy endings at PetSmart today as well.  Fancy, a cute hound mix dog, went home with this very nice lady. 

And remember Champ?  He went with me to the JDRF walk this year.  He's now been adopted!   Obviously his bandana worked for him.  I think the adorable look on his face might have had something to do with it too. 

I also spoke with some nice people who had found a puppy that someone dumped on the side of the road.  They took the puppy home and have been caring for him, and now they're going to foster him through All Paws Rescue until he finds a permanent home.  They stopped by today and I took these adorable pictures of Joker and his girl.  He should be ready for adoption in a few weeks, so if you're interested in adopting him, you can fill out an online application here. 

 

Update on my fosters - Part 2

As promised, here is the update on the cats currently living in my house. 

Merlin - My orange tabby cat - I still think he's the best cat in the world. Sometimes he comes in my room at night and sleeps on my pillow, and sometimes he doesn't, and I really miss him on the nights that he finds better things to do. I found out he's afraid of children. So he has something in common with Lizzy. The only difference is when he sees children, he runs away and hides, whereas Lizzy, well, Lizzy doesn't.

Gandalf - Another orange tabby cat. He looks like Merlin, but he's not Merlin. He's very affectionate though, and he likes to stand on my keyboard and nudge my face so I can't breathe, until I pet him. If you ever get an e-mail with something like this in the text: ae;oq12a f, that was most likely Gandalf's fault.

Artemis - A gorgeous black cat. Artie is doing very well - he's finally used to all the dogs, and comes upstairs to hang out all the time. He still likes to sleep in his "cat area" downstairs though. He is the only cat I've had that my husband actually likes. I caught my husband Dave petting Artie the other day, and Dave said "Why couldn't you adopt this one instead of that other one." And it was obvious from the tone of his voice what he thought of "that other one" (Merlin).

Scribbles - My crabby cat has been getting braver lately. I feel so sorry for her in solitary confinement that I've started leaving her door open recently. So she comes out and hisses at the puppies, and then runs back to the safety of her room. The puppies are safe from her in their ex-pen - lucky for them. I never heard from the people who inquired about her, so I guess she's still waiting for someone to want her.

Orca, Penguin and Puffin - The little tuxedo kittens just don't want to grow. They have to be two pounds before they can get spayed/neutered at the vet, and last night I weighed Puffin and she was 1.91 pounds. She's so close! I've been giving them canned food every day, and they always have dry food out, so I don't know what else I can do. Well, someone suggested tying little fishing weights to their collars - but I thought that might be cheating.

 
So that's the story on my animals.  For now.  I have plenty of cats, a few too many dogs, and no space for emergency returns.  But Artemis and Dodger should be moving on to other foster homes soon, and hopefully the puppies will be ready for adoption by next week, so that will help.  I will be taking Lizzy, Dodger, Gandalf and Artemis to adoptions this weekend.  I don't have high hopes for any of them getting adopted, but stranger things have happened, and it's worth a try to find them their very own homes.

Trey and Keisha were adopted!!

Trey and Keisha each found wonderful new homes yesterday.  They of course got a lot of attention at PetSmart, but I was holding them for two people who had seen them on the All Paws website and each put in an application online.   The families were both able to come meet them at PetSmart yesterday and decided to adopt them.  Not a surprise considering how sweet they both are! 

Kitten Update
My foster kittens went to the vet on Friday but they're still too little to be spayed/neutered, so they have to wait another couple of weeks before they're ready for adoption.  I'm going to have to start giving them treats to fatten them up!  Even though they're nine weeks old, the girls only weigh 1.5 pounds and the boy only weighs 1.8 pounds - these guys are tiny!  They're doing well though.  Orca is the demanding one - she reminds me of Anastasia (previous foster kitten) because she likes to make her desires known by meowing loudly until I do what she wants.  She has me well trained.  Puffin is the quiet one - she kind of hangs back and watches the others before she tries anything new.  Penguin is the explorer of the group.  He's always the first to climb the highest or jump the farthest or explore strange new worlds (like the living room). 

Introducing Orca, Penguin and Puffin

I know, the names are silly.  But I like having a kitten named Penguin.  And this way all three kittens have names of sea creatures that are black and white, just like them.  At least until they're adopted, when their new families will no doubt rename them!

This is Penguin.  He's the only boy of the group.  I can tell him apart from the others because he has a little black "mustache" right under his nose.  I got these kittens from a nice lady who saved them after they were born to a feral momma cat.  Now hopefully she can get the momma cat trapped and spayed so she won't have any more babies in the future. 

This is Orca.  She has more black on her face than the other two, so it's easy to tell her apart.  Her and her littermates are very sweet and affectionate.  They're only about 7 weeks old, so I'll have to wait another week or so until they're old enough to be spayed/neutered. Right now they're very tiny!

This is Puffin.  She's my favorite of the litter (don't tell the other two!)    A friend of mine made some wonderful cat and dog bed covers for me.  They are great especially for kittens and puppies, because I can cover a dog or cat bed to give them somewhere comfortable to sleep, and then easily remove the cover for washing without having to wash the entire bed every time.  Puppies and kittens can find danger in the most innocuous things though.  Puffin somehow managed to get under the elastic edge of the cover and got stuck between the cat bed and the cover.  Poor kitten - I think she was stuck there for quite awhile before I found and untangled her. 

These three black/white kittens fit right in with most of the rest of my animals.  Do you notice a theme?

Remi - my Great Dane

Delta - my foster Lab/Boxer puppy

Noelle - my pit bull mix

Lizzy - my foster Border Collie mix

Artemis - my foster cat

 It's hard to tell from the pictures, but Noelle has some black spots on her, and even Artemis has a small patch of white on his chest.  Okay, it's probably too small to be called a patch of white.  Maybe a few stray white hairs would be more accurate.  Nonetheless, all of the above pets at my house are black and white! 

Okay fine, I admit I have a few that aren't black and white.  Non-black and white pets need love too.  So Merlin (my cat) and Gandalf and Scribbles (foster cats) are very much loved even though they aren't pictured above.  And tonight I'm picking up two more dogs that I agreed to take sight unseen, so I'm pretty sure they're going to ruin my black and white theme as well.  That's okay - I'll love them anyway.