Catch Me if You Can!

Pregnant Kitty was not at her spot this morning, again.  Two days in a row.  I pray that the person that offered to foster her - through Another Chance Pet Rescue - continues her willingness to do so.  I am not quite sure.  I am hesitant to send her the note that the cat was not there again.  I don't know this person, and don't know how fast she will fill up with other cats to foster, and not knowing me at all, she might not make the exception if I am not able to rescue this sweet girl soon.

On another note, the woman Pat, who adopted Rupert in the fall, and named him Sugar - she wanted companionship for the other kitty she rescued from me - which I feel so bad, I don't remember his original name, but will make it my mission to go back and read through my blog to find it - he was a tabby, I know that for sure (I've rescued SO many, can you blame me for not remembering all?).  I spoke with her on Friday and she told me that "Sugar" had vomited blood.  After total astonishment that she had not taken the cat to the vet (she told me 'it was only once or twice'), I told her I would make the appointment at her vet - Brighton Animal Hospital for early the next week.  I called her today to tell her I had made the appointment for her and that I would pick them both up and take them, and she said 'you need to come get this cat, its eliminating all over my tub.'  I was pissed.  Here this cat vomited blood, and you'd think that with this new behavior, there is nothing wrong with it?  I told her I can't just take the cat back, and that it needed to be seen because something is wrong with it.  I told her that hopefully, with medication, it would be back to normal.  I don't think there is much bonding going on, much to my dismay.  To just say - come and get this cat, after nearly five months?  I am pretty upset about this. 

When I got up this morning, I thought the forecast was for overnight another 3-6 inches.  Nothing.  I thought, GREAT!  Well, when I got out to start my round, the snow started, and its coming down good.  I was a walking snowman at a few spots where I had to linger to change a towel, pat a head, or move some boards around.  I also have two new holes in my arm thanks to one kitty that decided he didn't like me moving the towels around.  It looks like a bite, but I am pretty sure it was two of his claws that got me.

That's it on this end.  It has not started out to be a good week, but I am sure it will get better.  I need to start to find homes for Fraser, Calvin, Lenny and Sweet Teddy, who I need to pay a visit to this week!  At least they are all safe.  I need to get Miss Pregnant Kitty and Candy off the street next.

Have a GREAT day!

"In this life we cannot always do great things. 

But we can do small things with great love."

Monday Blues

It has snowed another 2-3 inches overnight, in the city, making it not quite shoveable at my spots, but shuffable, for sure.



Pregnant Sally

 

 

I've been feeding a cat that runs to me nearly every morning at my shelter on the porch on Chamberlain.  She is a very pretty girl, as you can see in the above picture.  Yesterday, she had a noticeable bump in her midriff - I do believe this young lady is preggers.  I contacted my friend Julie with ACPR, who asked that I contact someone else in her group to see if they had room for this young lady to be fostered, and have her babies, rather than the other alternative, to have her kittens aborted and placed back on the street, which I prefer not to do, but its the only humane thing to do, rather than have the kittens suffer a slow death out there, which they surely would in this weather.  It is not supposed to reach past 20 degrees until next week, maybe.  Its frigid out.  Well, this other girl told me it would be ok, but I would have to get her tested for leukemia first.  So out I went this morning to get her, but she wasn't there.  :(  I will try again tomorrow. 

I've gotten to know the red kitty I've been fostering - Calvin (his name has been changed a few times - but its Calvin for now).  He is just the most sweetest thing around.  He follows me from room to room, but its not annoying because he then finds his comfortable spot and chills there.  He gets along with all the other kitties, and is not frightened easily.  He is a big fluffball, and is ready for adoption.  Here is his latest picture, above.

The rest of the pictures were taken yesterday at some of my shelters, until my camera died.

Candy's Back



Candy's Nose



Candy Pleading for me to Take Her Home!

Please spread the word about these precious animals, and don't forget Teddy, Fraser, Calvin and Lenny!

Have a great day!  Think Spring!

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

I've got some GREAT news!  And here it is!

Gordie - now named BORIS!

"Janine,

Ginny & I would like to adopt Gordie!  He’s a keeper.

Much progress in last two days; Gordie (now named Boris based on his presumed Russian blue background) is out and about quite a bit . Rolling, looking for his belly to be scratched.  Likes the perch in office. 

More face time with our two cats. 

Hoping he spends more time on first floor, but that will come."

 

Many thanks to my friend Carol, for spreading the word about the kitties that need homes to her co-workers.  That's all it takes to get these needy creatures off the streets and into good homes.  With your help, we CAN save them!

 

 

Lenny!!

 

More great news!

 

Lenny, the black kitty (with white) that I rescued from the freezing winter that he has endured outdoors thus far tested negative for both FIV and Leukemia, and was neutered, and is up to date with his shots. His foster mom tells me, and I witnessed it myself on Tuesday, he is the most loving kitty.  He just wanted attention and kisses.  Donna is going to let him out amongst the general population (her other kitties and dog) and see how he goes.  He is ready for a FOREVER home!

 

I am also hoping to see how Teddy is doing with his foster mom Gail.  She tells me he is looking great, and getting along with her dog Gracie, and is good to go also.

 

Please spread the word about these fantastic creatures that need good homes, especially the ones still on the street.  Hoping to get some pics of them this weekend. 

 

In the meantime, enjoy your weekend - Think Spring!

 

My Flowers from Last Summer

 

Brrrr...sday!

3:45 am. – Up and at em.  Put warmies on, turn on coffee, greet kitties, do litter boxes, put make up on, sit and sip coffee for a minute and contemplate 1.5 feet of new snow outside.

4:50 am. – out the door – shovel path to vehicle, use broom to clear off, start up, and off I go!  Wheeeeeeee!  (NOT).

5:00 – 6:45 am. – Drive to each of my 16 locations to get in and out of vehicle, shovel paths, shake out snow covered towels, place dry towels, dry food, wet food, water. 

Each of my spots took me between 5-10 minutes.  Normally, I can do it in under 2 minutes most spots.  Still, it only took me an extra half hour, which I was surprised by. 

At each of my spots, some were there, some not.  You can  see the paths the cats have made – to and from the shelters – from wherever they went in the blizzard we had yesterday.  (the pictures posted here are from years past)  Some might not call it a blizzard, but it sure was north of the thruway.  We had whipping winds, so the snow wasn’t just coming from one direction, it was coming from all directions.  Not one area untouched by the snow.  I shoveled, and I shoveled, every single hour since work let us go at 1 pm. and by the time I got home.  My heart was filled with sadness at how the cats were faring, with no where to escape the ferocious winds and snow pelting down.

I realize now that cats are very resilient, they can get through most of this weather that we have here in Rochester.  I am just glad my kitties don’t live in the Antartica, or anywhere in the upper midwest for that matter.   I can’t imagine what that 50 below zero weather is like for them.

So be assured, those of you that have a hard time reading my blog sometimes.  All of ‘our’ kitties are doing well.  They are yours also.  Anyone who has ever donated food, money, towels, shelters, food containers, bowls, tarps, boards, concrete slabs, adopting, and most importantly fostering a cat here or there… they are your kitties also, and I am their caretaker.  I am making sure they are safe, sound, and fed.  Thank you all for everything you’ve done to help me.

PS, Say a prayer today for Lenny, the kitty I rescued from Central last week, who will be going in for his neutering, but first his testing for Leukemia.  Lets pray he is negative for that.  (UPDATE:  They just advised, Lenny is NEGATIVE for BOTH!!! - He is good to go and ready for adoption, YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!) (PS, so is Niles, Fraser, and Teddy!)

Thanks for reading, and have a safe and warm day!

GUESS What Day It Is!!

Its hump day!  HAHAHHAA.  Love that camel.

I don't have a lot to report today.  The snow is falling, maybe an inch an hour, glad I wore my hoodie to protect my straight, long, luxurious silky hair (ha), and glad there is no water out there because I would have it go through my boot after stepping on that nail yesterday, with it tearing through the thermal boot into my foot.  And yes, I do believe I've had my tetanus shot, but it looks ok today, so no worries!

I never received a call from Bob, the guy that owns the properties on Parsells.  I am disappointed, but at least he had the decency to move my stuff to the ground, and placed so that the kitties could get in and out of the two tote shelters I have there.  I have a large lean to board to cover the food.  Yesterday I had to chase a big fat raccoon away.  I must look like a nutcase running around at 5:10 am. like that after a critter.  Chased it right up a tree.

 

Tuffy was waiting at Second for me.  He would have been the perfect cat to rescue years ago, he was so willing, just so distrustful of people.  He must be around 6-9 years old I would guess.  He's seen a lot in his years, you can tell.  I would still like to rescue him, he is not looking good these days.

Candy, the beautiful calico on Hayward, is there to greet me each morning, to be held for a minute, and then to be fed.  She is a real sweetheart, and anyone looking for a beautiful, gentle calico, this is the girl for you.  Its been hard for me with this weather to get pictures lately, but I will soon.

Last but not least, I went to a ZUMBA class last night.  Now, I am not in the best shape of my life, but I was pretty proud of myself to be able to mostly keep up with the moves.  Boy, can they move!  It was fun, but I am a bit sore today.  That was my prompt to make this a healthier year.  I must, for the kitties that depend on me out there!

Have a GREAT day everyone!

Love Stories

An update on Sargent/Teddy from his foster...  he still needs his forever home, please spread the word!

Sargent the day I rescued him

SARGENT/TEDDY BEFORE

SARGENT/TEDDY AFTER

Gracie - referred to below - is Gail, Teddy's foster mom's, Dog.  She is a little itty bitty cutie pie. Here is what Gail has to say:

"I think this whole thing is a good experience for Gracie.  Even though I still feel a little bit sorry for Gracie because she is used to being an only "child", she is learning to share.  Teddy is a perfect gentleman with her.  He rolls over on his back next to her, as if to say "I won't hurt you; you can play with me".

They eat together in the kitchen, and there's no aggression with either of them over food.  They're very good at sharing time on my lap.  They both greet me at the door when I come home.  Teddy comes when I call him.  He's really pretty perfect if you like a low-key, quiet, affectionate cat.  

Teddy's ears are improving.  There's still some gunk in them, but he's not shaking his head anymore.  He doesn't like all the drops or my poking around in there, but he's so good about it.  He never hisses, scrathes or bites.

Come over any time to see how beautiful he is becoming.  Any evening is fine, or if you want to stop after work.  His lip has healed, his coat is getting softer and shiny from being indoors and he's very good about grooming himself." 

LOVE to hear this stuff!!!

Another update on GORDIE!!!
 

"Yes, we would love to have Gordie join our family.

Ginny and I would like to wait till  this Friday of this week to be certain though.  Now that Gordie is more out and about, I want to make sure of no allergy flare up.  Up to this point, I have been fine.

Let’s finalize everything at weeks end, OK?"

 

:)  Happy Dance.  Now, we just need to get Fraser, Niles, Lenny and Larry adopted!  And THEN, there are so many more!  My next sight is on Candy, the sweet girl on Hayward.  She is a very beautiful colored calico, and she lets me hold her!  She was spayed last year, and is good to go, once I can get these others adopted.  There are so many out there, waiting.  I supposed its a little like adoption agencies, there are so many children to be placed, just not enough parents!

 

 

Tomorrow is going to be a *itch.  They are forecasting 2-4 inches beginning at 2 am. tonight, and then another 3-6 during the day tomorrow.  It will not be fun for me, nor the kitties.  Of all days, I pulled up to my first Parsells stop and saw that my shelters had been moved to the ground, next to the porch.  Now this guy Bob is really a nice guy, and I am sure he is showing this apartment that he recently renovated to be rented out.  I need to contact him because he promised I could set up station on the other side of the house.  He just needs to move stuff off the covered porch that he told me about when I last spoke to him.  So I left him a note to call me.  I also stepped on a nail that went right though my thermal boots, into my foot.  Joy.

 

Have a great day, and spread the word, we (me and the homeless cats) need more fosters!!!

 

"The distance between who I am and who I want to be is separated only by my actions and words."

 

 

Crunch! Crunch! Crunch!

No, that isn't the type of exercise I SHOULD be doing, its the sound underneath my feet when I was walking out there this morning, into vacant lots, behind abandoned houses, and up onto boarded up house porches.  And there are a lot of kitties waiting for breakfast.

 

I feed so many cats out there, in the Beachwood section of Rochester, NY.  They know the schedule, and seem to be in anticipation when I pull up to their spots.  They come out, they look around, they sit and wait.  When I get to their feeding spot, I first take off the gloves, feel the towel or blanket I've set down, either change, or go ahead and start pouring the food - the dishes and bowls are always empty - and then remove the ice from the prior day's water dish and fill with the warm water in the OJ, or iced tea jugs I carry.  If I am lucky enough, I get to pat a head or two.  At my Hayward location, there is a sweet little calico kitty that allows me to pick her up and hold her for a minute or two.  She is very sweet, but homeless.  She is eartipped, I did her sometime early last year - had her TNR'd (trap, neuter and return).  She's an angel, and just one of the little kitties waiting to be rescued, and adopted.  Her name is Candy.

On Saturday, I pulled up to my Short Street/Sixth Street shelter - where I had to move all my stuff from the garage on Sixth due to Nathaniel moving into the house, asking me to move my stuff due to the inspector coming over, and now he still doesn't use the dilapidated garage it - its been nearly two months now.  When I pulled up I could see in the dark, between the two boarded up houses, that there was something that wasn't right.  Sure enough, some punk trashed my stuff.  He didn't break anything, thank God, but the shelters were pulled out and strewn around.  So, in the dark, I returned everything to its original spot, shook the blankets, replaced the tarp, and filled the bowls with food and water, all the while the kitties sat watching, waiting.  I can't tell you how upsetting this was for me, let alone the cats.  They have no place to seriously REST.  They must be frightened to crawl into these wonderful wooden huts and just relax.  How can they when scum come along and want to mess with it.  I need to call Nate and ask him if I can move my stuff back in the garage.  Its much safer for me there also.

Fraser

 

Calvin - who will soon be named Niles - Sunday Sheryl will be taking him to foster this week, and would like these names for both brothers.  For now.  We understand that names change often, so its all good!  Calvin/Niles had his tip of tail removed on Friday.  He had it wrapped, and will have the bandage removed today.  He also tested negative for disease, and was neutered.  He is a REALLY nice kitty, and they estimate him to be around 5 years old, if you can believe that.  He was once someone's kitty, but has been out on the street for a very long time.  He was a mess when I got him, but has slowly healed, and is such a lover boy now.  What a trusting, sweet boy.  I've now exposed him to a few others in my house, and he gets along great with other kitties.  That's a great plus too.  He is READY for adoption!

As of Friday evening, Gordie was not faring as well as I had hoped after nearly two weeks at his potential adopters house.  He has been in hiding.  Until I explained to them, they didn't realize that these cats need to have a small room, and time from the humans, to sit, and talk and pet and slowly earn their trust.  Gordie has been through a lot, and I should have explained that he would need to go into a small room and they would both need to interact with him as long as it took for his true personality to come out with them.  Loving and sweet.  Instead, he has been in hiding.   I am hoping to hear better news today after giving them the rest of the weekend to work it out.

Lenny is another case.  Donna and her husband brought him to their shed and he's been in hiding since.  They both work so don't have enough time to spend with him, but they are also trying to get him to bring him into their basement and try to work with him.  He was a love for me, frightened, but you have to have that interaction with them immediately, or its tough to gain that trust if they are allowed freedom to hide somewhere.  That is why a small bathroom is perfect for a new cat - to sit and talk and hold for a day or so.  They begin to trust you then.  And then you can introduce to other felines or canines in the house.  (UPDATE:  they have since moved him into a crate into their house and will begin the trust building this way.  This was on Sunday, I look forward to an update today).  I am trying to get Lenny in for neutering this week also.

So, there you have it.  Another day, just like any other day, in the hood.  And updates on recent rescues.  Its all good!

I wish you all a great day!

"Your talent is God's gift to you.  What you do with it

is your gift back to God."