TGIF!!

 What a week!  Very busy and productive.  My first week back to work and I love it.

Today I will deliver.....  drumroll..... Monroe from Melville!  Monty's twin brother!  Yes, he has been adopted by a great girl who is going to spoil him.  He literally is one of the best cats I've ever rescued.  Besides his brother.  ONE of them.  There are so many ... ha ha ha.

Its getting cold out there.  The bastard that steals my boards on Niagara struck again.  He took a large door I had placed there to cover the food from the rain.  I said to June this morning, these cats have nothing, they suffer so much out there, and here you have some evil human making their suffering even worse.  The food gets soggy from the rain, not to mention the cats having to stand in pouring rain just to eat.  I hope this man gets what's coming to him.  And it will be coming buddy.  Karma.

Thanks to everyone who supported me one way or another this week.  I am ever so grateful.  

Have a great day!

Monday

Another Crazy Weekend.  And today I start my new job.  Its going to be a week.  And then some.  

Many thanks to Elisabeth (1x), Sheryl (1x) and June (2x) for faithfully tagging along with me in the mornings.  I am trying to whittle down to doing this only three times a week.  That will leave most of the cats hungry for two days.  Its just too much.  I've been doing this far too long.  I need a break.  And its getting more and more expensive and labor intensive with the city clearing four BIG colonies.  

I delivered Hudson, one of the NYC kitties to his new home.  He joins a big brother, and has two new awesome parents.  And such a beautiful home!  They are going to give lots of love to him.  I can't wait for an update!

Misty is in the process of being adopted, as well as Bano.  I am excited for them and their new lives ahead.  We also have Marvin and Mini being delivered this coming weekend.  They are ready to fly the coop.  Many thanks to Foster Sue for taking such good care of everyone, and the hardship of the rugs!  You know what I mean Sue!  :)

Its getting cold out there, and I am trying to secure the shelters to be safe and warm for all the homeless cats.  This is their only protection from the storms.  I could use more bricks right now.  

Let's get this gorgeous boy adopted.  He is the perfect cat in every way.  Monroe from Melville!

Thats all I have for today.

Have a great day!

"When you can't control what's happening, 

challenge yourself to control the way you respond. 

                         That's where your power is."

Relief

Just an update.  Many thanks to Walt and Karon Simoni, I was able to get in touch with City of Rochester Director of Operations Karen St. Aubin who assured me the destruction of the shelters at the 10 vacant city lot properties will not be destroyed, even though four of them have been already been destroyed.

It was pretty messy out there this morning.  Lots of mud and puddles.  Still raining when I finished up.  Thanks to Sheryl for the two totes she made into shelters for me at last minute, I was able to place at Ferndale where many cats were displaced on Friday.  I still need camo tarps as the rain soaked the food that I had under a board there.  

A bit of good news, I received update on Titos and Percy from their new mom who is in love:

They love to play together.  Best friends.  :)

Have a great day!

"Kindness is choosing love over hate, light over darkness, compassion over judgment."

Gimme Shelter

 Saturday morning I discovered another colony that had been swept clean by the city crew, displacing at least another six cats.  That included a nursing mother that gave birth sometime the past two weeks, and I believe the babies were in one of the shelters.  The big trucks with the big claws or whatever they are haphazardly just picked up the shelters and threw them in their dump truck or whatever they used.  I was disgusted and sad.  I immediately placed a call (it was 5:30 am.) to a woman that works for the city, as advised by some friends that have connections - and this was a woman that I had meet with in the Mayor's office a few years ago when I met with officials there - and was told that as long as I had my fliers with contact information then I could use those city properties.  

I will place another call this morning because I can't lose anymore shelters.  I am fresh out and Sheryl is doing her best to build a few rickety ones for me.  If anyone can make a few for me I would appreciate it.  They also took all boards, plates, camouflage tarps and pallets.  I am disgusted by this.  I could really use help here.  Thats FOUR colonies these city workers have destroyed.  Displacing many cats just before winter.  I need to rebuild and would love the help.

I delivered Butternut and Acorn this weekend to their new home.  Looking forward to an update today.

Have a great day.

Baylee

 This post is dedicated to Baylee. Except I want to add that the bastards wiped out another shelter and displaced another 5 or so cats that depended on them for shelter during storms.  Not to mention a place to sleep at night.  It makes me sick.  I would love someone to draft a letter for me to the mayor.  Don't think that didn't stop me from replacing two of the three now.  I need more pre-made shelters now though.  Don't have enough.  These were beautiful wood shelters that people have made me over the years.  Sad.

Speaking of sad, I had Baylee scheduled for euth on Monday, today, as he was not acting right on Friday.  Very quiet.  Saturday morning he was not at the bottom of the stairs waiting for me as I came down.  He ALWAYS is there for his morning wet food meal.  I fed the few others I have, and did a quick look around before Sheryl arrived and we went out and did out thing at 5 am.  After, she came into the house with me to look for him, and I found him in the little hut in the spare bedroom just laying there.  He was still breathing, but not moving.  I decided to let him be.  I didn't want to traumatize him by bringing him into emergency for euth, I thought, this is perfect.  Sort of like hospice.  I covered him with a blanket, gave him a little water by syringe, and let him be.  

I went to check on him every hour, and by 1 am., I went down to see him and he was gone.  I already miss my baby boy.  The sounds he made because he could only breathe through his nose because of a defect in his throat.  I am very glad I spotted him on Bay Street many years ago and stopped to feed him and each day he would get a little closer to me, so I was able to scoop him up.  He was so sick back then.  

Thanks Lynne for sending me this beautiful poem.

“My dear human,

I see that you are crying, for it was my time to leave. Don't cry, please. I need to explain some things to you. You're sad because I left, but I'm so glad I met you. How many cats like me die daily without meeting someone special like you?

I know my departure saddens you, but I had to go when I did. I want to tell you not to blame yourself for anything. Without you I would have known nothing of the love and beauty I carry with me today.

You must know that we animals live intensely in the present and we are very wise; we enjoy every little thing every day, and forget the bad in our past quickly. Our lives really begin when we know love, that same love that you, my angel without wings, gave me.

Know that if you find an animal that is seriously injured, and that it only has a little bit of time in this world, you provide a huge service by accompanying it in its final transition. None of us likes to be alone, even when we realize it's time to leave. Maybe for you it's not so important that one of you is next to us caressing us and holding our paw, helping us to go in peace; but it is for us.

No more crying, please. I'll be happy. I have the name you gave me, the warmth of your house that, in our time together, became mine. I take the sound of your voice talking to me, even though I didn't always understand what you were saying to me. I carry in my heart every caress you ever gave me.

Everything you did was very valuable to me and I thank you endlessly. I don't know how to tell you, because I don't speak your language, but hopefully you saw the gratitude in my eyes.

I'm going to ask for some favors from you.

Wash your face and start smiling.

Remember how well we lived together in our time together, and the antics I made to cheer you up.

Relive all the good we shared in our time together.

And do not say you will not adopt another because you have suffered a lot from my departure.

Please don't do this!

There are many like me waiting for someone like you.

Give them what you gave me, they need it just like I needed your gifts of love and caring.

Don't keep the love you have to give, for fear of suffering; share it with those who have never known real love.

Follow my advice; cherish the good with each of us, recognizing that you are an angel to us animals, and that without people like you, our lives would be so much harder than they sometimes are.

Follow your noble task, as now it's up to me to be your angel. I will accompany you in your path and help you help others like me.

I will talk to the other animals that are here with me, I will tell them everything you have done for me, and I will point and say proudly; "That's my family".

Tonight, when you look at the sky and see a blinking star, I want you to know that it's me winking at you; letting you know that I arrived just fine, and telling you "Thank you for the love you gave me".

I say goodbye now, but not a final “Goodbye", more of a “See you later ".

There is a special place in heaven for people like you, where we go, and where life rewards us by letting us meet again.

I'll be waiting for you!”

<authored by Stan Skatvedt>

It Just Ain't Easy

 The Lovely Mayor Warren and her Henchmen are at it.  They have now destroyed two of my larger shelters.  They completely wiped out any trace of having these beautiful shelters - took everything, lock stock and barrel.  There was nothing wrong with these large empty lots - they were free from debris, I made sure of it.  They displaced an average of five cats at each of these locations.  I remember meeting with the Mayor's people at City Hall, along with various other 'luminaries' (she had 'something come up' when she was supposed to be meeting with me).  We left that meeting with an unspoken agreement that I would post my information at each location and they would leave alone.  

If anyone knows me, I said the hell with that and built a temporary shelter again and see if they take that.  And if they do, I will do it again.  These cats need a place to get out of during storms and cold.  I'm just not sure how these city workers can sleep at night.  No compassion whatsover, although I have seen a few times where you could see someone had some.  

I just made an appointment for Monday for my old guy Baylee.  Its time.  Its going to be very sad.  He is my special boy that I rescued from Bay Street many years ago.  He has to be at least 10 years old.  His skeletal body can't take it anymore.  I just watched him fall to the floor after trying to get down from a chair.  And he is not eating like he was.  Voraciously.  I think we all know when its that time.  It won't be easy.

Thats it!

Have a great day!

"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard." Winnie The Pooh

Fluffy

 

Sad start to the morning.    At least three years ago I rescued this beauty off the street.  At the same time, the man on Second Street who used to allow me to feed and place shelters behind his house had called me telling me his beloved cat had died, and he would like another.  I didn't have a home for Fluffy so I delivered her to him and it was love at first sight.  About a year ago, this man had invited a homeless friend to move in temporarily into his home.  The friend wouldn't leave.  This man stayed with his girlfriend most times but would go back occasionally to check on Fluffy.  This man also has been trying to get this homeless friend evicted to no avail.  He won't budge.  A few days ago this man called to tell me Fluffy wasn't eating or drinking, for days.  I made a vet appointment and went to get her two mornings ago, Tuesday.  She looked terrible.  I walked into this dank dark small house and she walked right up to me crying.  I placed her in the carrier and drove her to the vet appointment.  $500 later, with tests and ultrasound, she was diagnosed with severe jaundice (her eyes, belly, ears - all were so yellow).  She surely had something going on with her liver.  Her belly was huge. She was matted terribly, and she was covered in fleas.  Rather than putting her to sleep right then, we decided to give meds a try, and appetite stimulant, and my cousin had offered to foster her to see if she would get better.  By yesterday evening, she still hadn't eaten or drunk anything and was urinating on the bed.  I decided to make another appointment for her.

I picked her up for her 9 am. appointment.  She was just laying on the floor, not moving.  My cousin said she hadn't moved all night, and kept checking on her to see if she was still breathing.

I know I made the right decision for her, she was suffering so much.  She lay on the exam table and just stared off into space.  She began to cry loudly for a few minutes, and then stopped.  The doctor came in very late and called her a different name. I was a little offended.  But he was gentle, and I said my goodbye.

This was purely a case of neglect.  I know this man didn't mean to neglect her - he checked on her occasionally - he loves cats but its most likely a case of ignorance as well - but the homeless man did nothing to help her.  I am sure he paid no attention to her declining health, nor even acknowledged her. 

We must all work together to protect animals from abuse and cruelty.

ADDENDUM: The FBI has reclassified animal abuse as a felony. This began in 2016, and it means that the worst cat abuse cases will be prosecuted the same as murder, burglary, and arson. This is a great step forward in the fight against cat abuse and, by extension, domestic violence. See this link for more information: ppnnow.com/fbi-makes-animal-abuse-a-f

Have a great day.

 

Hump Day

What a wild trip its been!  I've been working temporary assignments through the Webster School District and find that I don't have much time during the week to do this blog.  I took the above picture at one of the schools.  Nearly stepped on it.  I shooed it away.  Didn't want it to be killed.  Spiders lives matter too!  I miss you blog!  Its good to be working a bit though, so that is a plus.  On top of that, I am in the midst of accepting a new full time position.   Not thrilled to be going back to work after having all summer off.   Where living is easy...  But I am grateful nevertheless.

Thanks to Lori Whipple, the kittens on Fourth Street and Central have been rescued.  They are little spitfires - hissing and such, but they will come around.  Their father, the black and white kitty that is very sweet but very food aggressive had an appointment for neuter last Tuesday, but thanks again to Lori, she didn't think he deserved to be out on the street any longer, so she decided to find a shelter for him and thanks to PAN - Pet Adoption Network, they were able to bring him in for adoption. He is such a good boy.

I delivered Titos and Percy to their new home, and what a great home it is.  The toys!  The food!  The fun!  They are having a blast at last report.  Waiting for their surgery dates now.

George and Tiny are doing much better and went to their new home last week. 

Here is a picture of the two newbies, Butternut and Acorn.  Thanks to Saturday Sheryl for fostering them.  They already have a family who wants to adopt them! 

I am also waiting for pictures of the NYC kittens!  They are adorable.  I had to bring Mini into the vet last week as he is so tiny and having tummy issues.  Actually all of them are and poor Foster Sue has to clean up their mess.  We are hoping with the deworming medicine this will clear up quickly!

Here are pictures of them.  Thanks so much Foster Sue!

This new format for this blog is a pain.  Its taken me over an hour to download these pictures, and I still  have so much more to report here in Cat World.  Maybe tomorrow.

Have a great day!

“When you are sorrowful look again in your heart, and you shall see that in truth you are weeping for that which has been your delight.”
― Kahlil Gibran