Do the Shuffle

My routine:

Hopefully my next rescue - need to name this little guy!  Must begin with a "C"

I get up at 3:15 each morning, turn on the coffee, wash my face, brush my teeth, get my woollies on, talk to the cats, clean litter boxes, get my coffee, lay on couch for 15 minutes to see whats on the news – by 4:15 I am out starting the car, brushing off the snow – we had at least three inches this morning, then back in to fill four jugs of piping hot water, I get the five large sized yogurt containers out of the oven (I keep in there so that my cats can’t get – cause they will – and I don’t want them refrigerated, it has to be somewhat warm for the homeless cats so that it doesn’t freeze on them before they get to eat it), and I pack six little cans of food (cause I always run out) into the bag that all of this goes into – its about 40 pounds? – and I haul it all out to the waiting car.  Oh, don’t forget, I also have two 2-gallon bags of and a large plastic coffee container filled   with dry food.  That’s about – 20 pounds of food.  So that’s a lot to carry out to the car!  Sometimes I am grabbing folded dry towels from the previous morning.  I use them to lay inside shelters (under the boards that cover the food and water) so that they have something dry and warm to stand on.  All this, every single day.

Then I go to 16 different locations, all not far from each other, and feed hungry cats.  I have a girl that goes along – Nancy – a nice girl, but she often starts to cry as she is walking towards or walking away from the cats.  She feels bad.  I’ve told her a few times now that she mustn't cry, that the kitties are being cared for and that I am doing my best to rescue all of them.  But she still does, and it makes me feel bad.  Nancy is a character.  She is my shadow.  If I turn around to do something, she is right there.  If I tell her not to walk up on certain steps because of the ice, she does it anyway.  She has fallen a few times now, and thank God she said it in her own words – “I’m accident prone”.  I would have called her a klutz.  J I tell her to walk in my footpath through the snow so that there aren’t too many footprints leading to my shelters for others to notice, she forgets, constantly.  When I ask her to shuffle her feet so that it creates a path for the cats because the snow can sometimes be so deep its hard for the cats to get around.  She forgets.  Or she says she used to be in the army and you are never supposed to shuffle your feet!  So she has a hard time remembering.  Yes, she is a character.  But shes a good egg.

This morning Jorge (?) (pronounced HOR HAY) was out shoveling his mother’s footpath on Central and Fifth, where the unnamed kitty is, and he was chatting away with me.  He had a few cocktails, lets put it that way (yes, it was 5:30 am.), and he was very friendly.  I had met him before because he had trashed my stuff once there, and after our talk, all was good.  He had no idea who took the recent shelter, but he told me he admired what I do for the cats.  He is a good man.  He told me he was once commended by the mayor for helping to subdue a man who was beating a police officer.   He said he would watch the shelters, especially for the little kids that egged it last weekend.

That’s enough for now.  Tippy Toes has been adopted, thanks to his foster mom – she has had much success and I am so grateful to her for helping me to get these cats off the streets.  And I am grateful to the adopters.  The only thing about this that is hard for me is that I don’t meet the people who are adopting, but I do trust her judgment so that is all I can ask for. 

Have a great day everyone!

"Don't ask what the meaning of life is.

You define it."

Back in the Saddle Again!

Tigger is feeling better today:

and I am feeling nearly 100% better after this sciatic nerve thing.  I wouldn't wish it upon my worst enemy (then again, any enemy I have are the ones that are cruel to animals, the ones that trash the shelters I build, so maybe I wish it upon them!).  After some muscle relaxants, round the clock ibuprofen, and plenty of bedrest, the pain has diminished greatly.  Thank God.  Its terrible when you are in constant pain, and I know of a lot of people who suffer daily some ache or pain due to a chronic condition.  I must remain strong and healthy to do what I do every day for the animals in the Beechwood section of Rochester.  They depend on me.

To address some comments, first the man that is threatening to remove my shelters on Pennsylvania does speak English well.  He has not threatened yet, but I am sure will as it looks like he has done a lot of work inside the still boarded up house.  When warmer weather arrives, I am sure he will be looking to get rid of my shelters for sure, if not before then.

As for the gift card, of course I would try to reason with him before the bribe.  And I will still get cats fixed if its my last dollar, when the better weather arrives, but for now, my main concern is to keep these cats safely sheltered and warm.  I will do nearly anything to make sure this location is secure.

Its  11 degrees out.  I didn't see a lot of cats this morning, particularly the Pennsylvania shelter.  The kitten is still there, it gets closer and closer to me as I pour the food, but won't come near me for a pet, I am sure.  These cats are for sure semi-feral, and none have begun to trust me yet.  There are usually 8 cats of all colors here, but only the little one, and a red with whiter were there this morning.  Its so cold for them, my heart bleeds.

Thats it in a nutshell.

Have a great day!

Some Nerve you Have!

Definition

Sciatica is pain, tingling, or numbness produced by an irritation of the nerve roots that lead to the sciatic nerve. The sciatic nerve is formed by the nerve roots coming out of the spinal cord into the lower back. It goes down through the buttock, then its branches extend down the back of the leg to the ankle and foot.

Hi All!

I have sciatica - or whatever it is that is causing my hip and thigh area this much pain.  Can hardly walk - or sit - or lie - but still went out on my rounds this morning!  A very painful condition indeed.

Trash day for the city, and my stuff - the shelters on Pennsylvania - was not out on the curb along with the debris from the house that Julio has been working on. So phew, dodged another bullet.  But it won't be for long.  and I  have NO WHERE to rehome all eight feral semi feral cats that call this their home.  And yes, I will do anything to bribe this man for now, to not trash it.  I didn't receive any offers of gift cards, so I will use my own money to do this.  I am pretty sure I can reason with him with this.  Come nicer weather I will be continuing my trap neuter return to reduce the population in this part of the city.  There are just too many reproducing.  The city really does need to address this problem soon.  I wish I could make a difference in that respect.

In the meantime, back to nursing myself, and wishing you a good day!

Don't forget all the babies that need adopting!  :)

Bribery

Very cold out there today.  We got about three inches of snow overnight.  Thank God we did not get the magnitude of the storm that the east coast got overnight and is getting today.  We have been spared so far this year for a blizzard.  Blizzards are tough because you have the winds whipping every which way, blowing the snow around, so the shelters are never safe, not matter how good they are - there is snow getting in somewhere, usually through the opening.

There have been some kids that have been egging the bowls in a shelter on 5th and Central the past several days.  Must be very bored kids - you can tell they are because of the footprints in the snow, and there was a little football left in the vacant lot.  I swear, if I catch these kids, I will.... no, I would talk to them kindly and explain to them how sad these cats are that are trying to keep warm, and eat the food that I provide them here.  That this is their only home, and they don't have a nice warm bed to lie in like they do.  I am very gentle with kids in these areas, because I know they don't have enough, of anything.  Most likely good parenting to begin with.  It worked on a group of boys that I actually did catch playing in a vacant lot on 7th. I explained to them about the kitties there, and they've never bothered trashing my shelter since.

But speaking of bribery, I am putting this out there to anyone who may have an extra $50 or $100 to spare. A friend of mine suggested we get a gift card to a nice restaurant and offer it to Julio, the man on Pennsylvania who is fixing up a house that I feed EIGHT cats at.  These cats, and this includes an eight month old kitten, LIVE here.  Behind the house in the shelter I have built.  At least I pray they use it.  But this man doesn't want them around. He has not trashed the shelter YET, but he will come the nicer weather.  I would like to be able to speak with him, reason with him, and bribe him, yes.  I think this is the only way to do this - he obviously does not feel for these animals out there.  So I need to bribe him with his stomach.  So, if anyone is interested in helping, a gift card to a nice restaurant would be so nice to have.  I do need to meet with this man soon though, which means I will have to leave work at lunch and hope that he is there working on the house.  I thank you in advance!

Look at my girl, Buster in a box!  :)

I have left a box in my living room for the cats for about a month now.  They LOVE this box. Each of them takes turns in it.  They play in it, they rest in it, they stalk each other from it.  They love boxes!

This is a video of a cat that I rescued as a kitten, and my friend adopted.  This is Montego, with his canine pal Savannah.  Its amazing how these animals can come from the street, and learn to love everyone!  They are so adaptable.  Don't ever hesitate to get a cat just because you have dogs!  Living proof!

Tigger a few weeks ago - sick

Tigger today - better:

His mom says:

"Tigger is doing 80 to 85 percent better. I think in another week or 2 we will be 100 percent. He still is a little hissy with some of the others but coming along. He comes downstairs on his own all the time now and mingles. As you can see in my pics he loves my daughter Callaway she is his favorite. He now sleeps in her room a lot and hangs with her on the couch. He is a total sweety and purrs like a chainsaw. We are thrilled he is feeling better. Will bring back to vet to check the heart murmur but for other issues he has turned a corner. :)"

Now we need to get our other little darlings adopted!  Jelly, Elvis, Gemma and Tippy Toes!

“A simple act of kindness the size 

of a rice grain can weigh

as heavy as a mountain"

Brrrrrrrr.........

It was 11 degrees out this morning.  Terribly bitter cold air - my heart breaks when I go out each day.  I can only pray that these homeless animals out there are using the shelters I have for them.  And that the straw keeps them warm.  They say it does, but I've never lain in straw before, so I don't know it for a fact!

So life is (not always) good.  I got a call from "Julio" on Friday after leaving a note with my number on the porch at 4th and Penn, after noticing my plates and towel had been placed in the front of the house a few days ago.  This is where EIGHT cats LIVE, and have lived for years now.  He said 'I cannot allow this - the home will be renovated soon, and I cannot allow this' - he said is the manager of a management property, and said the owner will not allow it.  He did not mention the shelters I have set up in the back against the garage.  I feel like driving over there right now to be sure those are safe, but I can't.  I will get into an argument, I am sure, because he will be a prick and will not be compassionate about the situation.  I have to trust that he will not destroy the shelters.  For now, hopefully, he only wants the feeding on the porch stopped.  I feed on the porch, and in back where the shelters are, because all eight cats that are there, starving, cannot fit into the shelter in back, and also some are territorial, and scared of the others.  I am absolutely sick over this.  Maybe I need to get in touch with this man and find out if he is the one that trashed the shelter I tried to set up in the vacant lot and threw all the stuff in the open window of the garage last fall.  I need someone to help me talk to this man.  I am not good at this stuff because I get very emotional.

I go from high - rescuing Garson - to low - getting this call, all within the hour.  I hate people.  (update since Friday, the shelters in back have not been touched - yet)

Tigger Update:

So glad you got Garson he is a adorable as they all are!

I usually have that special spot for the Black ones they always draw me right in to me they are still the smartest of them all.

Our Tigger is doing great. I did not have time this am to snap some pics will get some this weekend.

He is talking away and getting tougher each day

Purrs like a beast and is coming around more and more I just love seeing him get his confidence and courage back.  

I tell him if the cowardly lion can find courage so can he! Looking more like the Regal tiger he should be each day

Monday Morning:  

"Sorry for the pic mess had to send them to work, Tigger is doing 80 to 85 percent better. I think in another week or 2 we will be 100 percent. He still is a little hissy with some of the others but coming along. He comes downstairs on his own all the time now and mingles. As you can see in my pics he loves my daughter Callaway she is his favorite. He now sleeps in her room a lot and hangs with her on the couch. He is a total sweety and purrs like a chainsaw. We are thrilled he is feeling better. Will bring back to vet to check the heart murmer but for other issues he has turned a corner. :)  Also he no longer eats alone upstairs he eats in kitchen with all the others :)"

J

Above is Fraser - a before (left) and after picture.  He was rescued last winter, in that horrible winter we had, and boy did he get lucky!  Sunday Sheryl took him to foster, and fell in love in no time and adopted him.  He is such a beautiful boy!

GARSON - what a love SHE is!  Its a girl.  Yep, I messed up again, but I think its because there is a twin out there.  As I left Hayward, which is just the street over from Garson, I saw another black cat with white on it.  Almost similar, but hard to see from the car.  I will have to monitor this situation.  I renamed Garson GEMMA.  Not only is Gemma a girl, but she is a true GEM, so the name suits her.  She is the most lovingest girl I've come across lately.  She never wants you to stop petting her, or holding her. She is ready for adoption!

We also need to get our sweet Jelly and Elvis adopted.  They are doing well in their foster home, but they deserve their own home.  Please spread the word about these angels. 

Another One Bites the Dust!

Got him!  Meet Garson!  WHAT A LOVE HE IS!!!

Selfie!

Selfie!

Yes, another successful rescue.  Its been a pretty good month!  I think I've rescued four or five cats so far, I need to go back and check out this blog.  This boy I've been feeding for quite a while.  Ever since those evil people around the corner kicked me off the porch of the boarded up house on Chamberlain and I had to find a new location around there due to the four cats that depended on shelter and food by me for years there.  If you recall, I was first booted from the boarded up house on Garson, where I fed for years, but the owner who was fixing the place up a year ago or so didn't want me or the cats there and booted me from there, and by the way, its still boarded up!  I found the vacant house kitty corner on Chamberlain, and after months and months of sheltering, feeding and rescuing more kitties, I wound up face to face with the evil wife threatening bodily harm if I continued to feed there, so I had to move.  Garson has been running to me each morning, even on the coldest mornings we've had so far, from the end of the field where the shelters are, to my car.  And he does the roll over trick, on his back, so excited to see me.  So he was on 'the list' and I am thankful that my friend Mylene has partnered with me, for now, to take a few kitties and get them either fostered or adopted straight away.  She has had some great luck in finding fosters and adopters, so I am really grateful for this dynamo in the cat world to friend me!

Garson will be going to the vet tomorrow for leukemia testing, fingers crossed.  Today, he will spend the day in my warm cozy bathroom where he has soft blankets to lay on, a window to watch the birds at the feeder, and as much food and water as he wants!  And cuddles galore!  He will be ready for adoption anytime!

Not so great news about Blackie, the little guy I fed for years inside a garage, and then under the porch after the city decided to board the garage up, with my shelters and all inside.  No matter that this was 'home' to at least three regular cats - but we found alternative homing under the porch, with straw, and tote shelters placed under there.  Then the evil people came and after confrontation, involving the police, I had to relocate these animals.  I could only do Blackie, who had an offer to live in the country, Branchport to be exact.  A co-worker had a barn situation and was looking for kitties.  I was hesitant after a few bad situations with barn rehoming, but I brought him out there anyway.  He escaped after a day and I thought I had lost him forever.  He wound up comiing out of whereever he was hiding, and being so comfortable there that he began  peering through their windows, like he wanted to come inside!  They fell in love with Blackie, and wanted to make him an indoor baby, and took him to the vet yesterday for shots, and testing for leukemia.  Poor baby, tested positive.  Here is our exchange:   

Caught our boy this morning but bad news. FeLV +. I'm sick about it.

FIV or Leukemia?

Leukemia

oh no. so, what do we do?

Nothing. Just take good care of him. I have to keep him away from my other cats

She said he could live to be 15

yes,ok Sandra, I agree with you.

I'm heartbroken

yes, it is very sad. in my world, if I had rescued him, and found this out, knowing no one would take him, i would have had to euthanize him. I would never put him back on the street, nor could he be around healthy cats. so sad.

you are giving him an alternative, life. Thank you. Please watch him for sickness.

18 hours ago

he still got all his shots today and his first monthly dose of flea meds. he goes back in a couple of weeks dose his distemper booster.

oh wonderful, how did he do?

He was wonderful! You would never know it was the same cat! He acted like a total gentleman!

no biting, growling...nothing!

omg, i am just .... sick over not rescuing him sooner..

Janine, this is NOT a death sentence. We will watch him and take care of him if he is sick. We are committed to him for life.

no, i know, I've had positive cats - i am just saying I wish I had known his true colors a long time ago, i just never gave him a chance besides feeding him and sheltering him, and rehoming him - when I could have rescued him and seen how sweet he did turn out to be.

My first positive kitty lived for nearly two years after being diagnosed - in a home where he was kept separate - a wonderful house with separate living quarters for him. I named him Homey.

LOL He can still be a little pisser! He bit me in the hand the other day!

So there you have it. Blackie will live out his days in comfort, and loved. It couldn't have turned out better.

Thank you all for reading, and have a great day!

 "In the end, we only regret the chances we didn't take."

Animal Love

It was quiet out this morning.  I had to be very careful stepping around because of the ice buildup under the snow.   A friend of mine, she does the same thing I do but out in the country - Livonia Lima area, and on a much smaller scale, she broke her leg two weeks ago.  God forbid that happens to me.

We had warmer weather over the weekend and it caused the snow to melt a bit, and then the freezing temps came back to ice it all over.  I had to leave a note at one location this morning because someone had come along, removed a towel, two plates and a water dish from the porch of a vacant house, placed them neatly on the side of the house, and it looks like they were doing some work around there.


At least they didn't trash and remove the shelters I have in the back on the side of the garage.  This, if you will recall, is where last summer, whoever owns the house or property came along and removed the beautiful safe, warm shelter that Kristin and her husband had made out of a dresser, and several plastic totes - it looked like a little cat town inside, and placed everything, tarp and all, on the side of the road.  Threw it on the side of the road for trash pickup.  It was heartbreaking to find, but I've since rebuilt, and so far so good, fingers crossed.

We then tried to rebuild in the corner of the vacant lot next to it but someone cruel was throwing everything into the vacant house' s garage, so Sunday Sheryl was able to crawl in, hand me the stuff through the open window, and we rebuilt.  There are EIGHT cats at this location, every single day.  They depend on me to provide them food and shelter here.  I don't know what I would do without this location, I've tried to find other space near here due to people trashing my stuff, but there is nothing.  I pray they don't bother this. My note stated that this is the only 'home' these cats have.

Animals are so precious.  I don't know how people can hurt them.  I don't know how people in the food industry can take a chicken, or a pig, or a cow, and slaughter it.  I try to be as vegetarian as I can in my life, really I try, and I know I would be if I was there, first hand, to see or hear an animal being murdered, for human consumption or for any reason other than sickness and its done humanely, such a waste of life.  If slaughterhouses had glass walls, we would all be vegetarian.  Every animal has just as much right to life as humans do.  They have the right to have shelter, and love, and sustenance, just like we do.

We need to work twice as hard to help people understand that the animals are fellow creatures, that we must protect them and love them as we love ourselves.

I love this quote - it makes you think - and thinking first about what we put in our mouths is a good thing:  To protest about bullfighting in Spain, the eating of dogs in South Korea, or the slaughter of baby seals in Canada while continuing to eat eggs from hens who have spent their lives crammed into cages, or veal from calves who have been deprived of their mothers, their proper diet, and the freedom to lie down with their legs extended, is like denouncing apartheid in South Africa while asking your neighbors not to sell their houses to blacks.” 
― Peter Singer, Animal Liberation
Have a great day!

“If we cut up beasts simply because they cannot prevent us and because we are backing our own side in the struggle for existence, it is only logical to cut up imbeciles, criminals, enemies, or capitalists for the same reasons.” 

It Is What It Is

I often think about what I am doing.  What I am doing every single day of my life.  The 'golden years' of my life.  This is how I am spending them.  I travelled quite a bit, met a lot of people when I was 'younger', so maybe this is how the last half/quarter will be - getting up each day at 3:15, getting myself ready to start the day, be alert enough to drive to my first spot five minutes away and feed the teenage kitten and a few adults that are waiting for me each morning at a vacant house porch.  I then move on to another 16 locations, all within an hour and a half in the wintertime, where there is an average of three cats that I can see per spot, waiting for some warm water to replace the frozen, and some dry and wet food to eat.  I often change the towel or blanket I've left for them to stand on under the shelters or boards that I place the food under to protect against the weather, so that they are not standing on cold snow, or cold cement, whatever the case may be.  I medicate some here and there, and I rescue who I can.

I suppose there might be one or two people that say - we got them spayed and neutered  and now you are taking them and getting them adopted - when they should be left on the street to live their lives out, but I see it as having the chance to get them off the street that is the real bonus.  I am always waiting for the day when someone says 'I'll take a kitty.'  And with each person that says that, one cat is saved.  I look at some of my spots now, and there are hardly any cats anymore, that I can see in the few minutes I am there.  Second Street used to be overrun with cats!  Now I see one.  Central Park was overrun with cats!  Now I see just a few or three.  Its a good thing, but there are so many more out there, and I will continue to get them spayed and neutered and rescued as long as I am able to walk and breathe.  I think I got off track with what I was saying above, but that's for another day.  I must finish up here and get ready for work!

Little Tippy Toes didn't move much during the day yesterday after he was rescued and held captive in my bathroom until his foster mom came to get him.  But he is a sweetheart.  He will let you pull him out from behind the toilet, and will sit sweetly on your lap, but has had not eaten or used the litter box.  Lets hope we have better luck at his new foster house.   Update - he tested negative for leukemia and is a sweetheart - he will hopefully be adopted TODAY!  Fingers crossed!

Tigger is doing a fraction better each day!  Update from his mom:  "He seems to be more comfortable coming around now and stands straight up where he has been slinking before, I think he just did not trust us and was used to be shooed away rather than held and hugged. I always get down to his level so he is more comfortable and I do not tower over him or stand behind him to spook him.  It has been where he would slink into things like the wall or things on floor almost to hide into them. I am thinking maybe he did this while living on the streets and under houses. He seems to be trusting us more and more each day he is great with the kids."

Jelly and Elvis update from their foster Debbi:  "they are doing well - Jelly isn't hissing at me when I give her her food in the morning, but still is hiding - very slow going as I thought.   Elvis is doing well - good appetite, doing ok with other  cats, not a fan of dogs at this point but this is still a new situation for him.  He's really a nice cat."

I still have a lot of regret that I did not keep Jelly and socialize her more.  She was good with me, and then went from house to house in a period of time that was critical to her socialization.  She got lost in a big house first, and then retreated to her fright after she was put back in a room.  I should have kept her, and stayed with her, while she learned to trust humans.  I pray that her foster mom is giving her time and attention enough that she will learn to trust a human again.

Here is an update on the cat we traded for her - Peanut Butter, who was renamed Ben:

"Hi Janine: Thought you deserve an update on Ben. He is a very active cat and his favorite toy is a bit of string that he loves to chase when I run with it. he takes it in his mouth & walks around with it. he follows us every where, loves to look at the squirrels, & also, Smokey. they look at each other through the glass, and seem to like what they see! He is a very good boy, and is a real pleasure to have living with us. We will have to get him some kind of scratching post, soon. So thank you again for our little Ben.  How is Jelly with her foster Mum? I so hope she is feeling happier than when she was in our house. and hope she and Elvis are adopted soon!  Hope the milder weather sticks around for you and the cats. And do you hear the rooster anymore?"

So there you have it.  The cat world.  The crazy crazy cat world.  Thanks for joining me.   :)

Have a great day!


Free Gifts!

1) THE GIFT OF LISTENING . . .But you must REALLY listen. No interrupting, no daydreaming, no planning your response. Just listening.
2) THE GIFT OF AFFECTION . . .Be generous with appropriate hugs, kisses, pats on the back and handholds. Let these small actions demonstrate the love you have for family and friends.
3) THE GIFT OF LAUGHTER . . .Clip cartoons. Share articles and funny stories. Your gift will say, "I love to laugh with you."
4) THE GIFT OF A WRITTEN NOTE . . .It can be a simple "Thanks for the help" note or a full sonnet. A brief, handwritten note may be remembered for a lifetime, and may even change a life.
5) THE GIFT OF A COMPLIMENT . . .A simple and sincere, "You look great in red," "You did a super job" or "That was a wonderful meal" can make someone's day.
6) THE GIFT OF A FAVOR . . .Every day, go out of your way to do something kind.
7) THE GIFT OF SOLITUDE . . .There are times when we want nothing better than to be left alone. Be sensitive to those times and give the gift of solitude to others.
8) THE GIFT OF A CHEERFUL DISPOSITION . . .The easiest way to feel good is to extend a kind word to someone, really it's not that hard to say, Hello or Thank You. Friends are a very rare jewel, indeed. They make you smile and encourage you to succeed. They lend an ear, they share a word of praise, and they always want to open their hearts to us.