Poor little Alice

She's beautiful but she feel lousy. She vomited yesterday - and didn't want to eat. She is a little brighter today but still not the joyful kitten of the photo shoot day.
I hate that. Sick animals are stressful for us - what can we do to make them better? What made them sick in the first place? Is what they have going to prove ot be contagious? How much is it going to cost the rescue? How can I make more time to care for the sick critter properly? Too many unanswered questions. Alice ended up having an xray then a bariuim series of xrays. Nothing overtly apparent but she still isn't right. DARN IT!
As is so typical of rescue land she and her brother have people interested in them. (If they were healthy there would be no leads I'm sure). I can't show or adopt them until I know she's feeling better. Little Simple Simon is thoroughly enjoying life here. Their combined purr could melt the coldest heart. Cross your fingers Alice bounces back.

Some days ...

Are good days ... today I was busy at work in the am and busy with animals in the late afternoon/evening. Pulled 4 mice, a hamster, 3 kittens in one group, 2 kittens in another group and a lovely adult Siamese from the shelter this week. The hamster and mice are in homes. Seems quite sure the Siamese (and Delilah) as well as at least 3 of the kittens will be in homes by the end of tomorrow. An amazing day's work. (Add a Spaniel puppy leaving Monday, and a long haired chihuahua leaving tomorrow (cross your fingers) and it's been an incredible week already. I would be hard pressed to tell you the last time Project Jessie had more than 10 adoptions in one week let alone the last time I facilitated many of them. (Though I suspect it would be the All About Pets Show in March of 2007 or 2008) This is our newest Simple Soul. A flame point Balinese he is about 3 months old and just as cute as can be. He is impaired but it's a pretty mild impairment so I'm hoping he will grow into himself and be able to find a home. He is very friendly.

He has a sibling. She is healthy, happy and full of joy. I suspect she'll have a home by tomorrow.

Two of the baby rabbits we did a Year of The Rabbit photo shoot for. Darling and so well behaved!

Another freebie shot of a gorgeous kitten. On a sad note we pulled a LOVELY sweet Persian from a high kill shelter today. She was riddled with cancer and sores and had to be PTS this afternoon. Poor lady. I'm so glad her last hours were spent in a loving home having her mats groomed and getting scratches and love. My heart aches for Shelly and the cat having to go through that.

Today's beautiful pictures brought to you by the talented Judy Au.

cats cats and then more cats

black cats, baby cats, old cats, happy cats, scared cats
EVERYBODY seems to have a cat they think they NEED to "get rid of" (how I hate that expression) RIGHT NOW

ackkkkkkkkkkkk

2 very cute tiny black kittens will be coming my way Monday - let's hope this is a GOOD THING

Kali cat and her transfusion

Kali had a blood transfusion on Monday - her red blood cell count had dropped to truly alarming levels (6 instead of 24 or more). The miracle worker Dr Au wasn't sure how Kali was walking let alone eating, playing and behaving much as she has for the last year and a half. We had discussed the possibility of a transfusion nearly a year ago (when the blood value was 11) but she was so bright it didn't seem essential.

The transfusion was tough - finding a donor was harder then it should have been - and the amount of blood that had to come out of Kali before anything went back in was scary too. Luckily dear Sherbert ended up being a match and snoozed through having nearly 50 ml of blood drawn. Kali only got about 25 mls of blood as there were some clotting issues but even just that amount of blood seemed to make her feel better. We'll see what tomorrow holds but tonight was a good night!

surgery for coco channel

That funny foster cat Coco had the lump on her nose removed today. We started with x-raying her head and lungs to try to make sure there was nothing cancerous lurking in shadows - all looked good so Dr Au went ahead with the removal ... she did her usual extraordinary job and while Coco has a slightly tilted nostril now and a dramatic star shaped scar it's already looking pretty darn good (much better then the big ugly hairless lump that was there)

she recovered slowly and actually seemed glad to see me as she came in and out of her fog .. I was able to comb her right out and was inspired enough to hunt down her sister when I got home and comb her too ... She seemed to like it and is now happily hanging out on a wing chair in the living room.. YAY for tortie point himis

(not looking forward to Coco's recovery much I must say though)

vanishing cats

having lived with cats for many years now you'd think I'd be over being shocked when a foster cat finds a hiding place I can't find...

well not so much

the more friendly of the two himis has found a hidey hole that defies me - she is around - she was yowling at Julia at 5 am this morning (nice to know she's here but honestly it could have waited an hour or two)

she's eating it seems - cause the food is going down a LOT faster then just grumpy girl eats but yikes - for a BIG PUFFY cat she sure is stealthy!

newest fosterlings ...

boy do I hate people sometimes

2 lovely and scared himilayans have arrived one is seal point and the other is a torti seal point (not that I'd know that - I can barely tell they are himi calling them the right colour is really impossible for me but one of the wonderful vets we work with knows her cat colours inside out!)

we were told they were 7 - they are 10

we were told they were well loved- they arrived without food, a blanket - NOTHING

we were told they were healthy - UGLY lump on the seal points face that will require work up

if ever there were cats in need of new names for a new life these girls are it - the names aren't coming easily tho ... but I'm sure as they get happier we'll figure something out

what do cats bring to me?

what an interesting question from Liisa

cats give a great deal to relationships and have taught me so much ...

specific cats have taught or brought me unique things

from Dumont I learned that cats can give you a little piece of their heart when there is a hole that needs to be filled..

Jinx and her kittens brought us laughter - gales of laughter

Elsa taught us that it is possible to give and give and then give a little more

On Naming Cats

Naming cats is tough - really tough sometimes - the dude pictured was Bruce - a dear sweet wise cat who reminded me a boss I had once

like when you don't know the cat very well at all and you have a 40 minute drive to the vets and the cat needs a name by the time it gets there... days like that tend to result in names like Ginger for the orange cat, Lady for the dignified middle aged cat, Lucky, Fluffy, Princess and so on

I used to have fun if I had noisy cats on the drive - they'd get named after the songs or singers on the radio (or from my memory): BTO, Boston, Dylan, and so on

I wish I had kept a list of names we have used ...
some that stick out in my mind

Irvine - had been dunked in oil
Jinx - tiny little female who arrived so pregnant she actuallly gave birth on the way to the foster home (then all her kittens got J names too - Joy, Jack, Jingo, and Jolly if memory serves me right)
Holey Moley Mary and Flopsy Moe - the two cerebelar hyperplastic kitties that we have lived with
Lindy - the feral beauty who couldn't be sexed for months (named for a beautiful Linda I knew but I was worried she'd be a he)
Mrs Bates - who lived in the rafters between our basement and first floor for a cou-ple of months til she got acclimated to the house - she had kittens up there! her kittens Hogan and Dundee as they were adventerous boys from day one
Midi - Mrs Bates daughter or sister - she was the middle cat, not friendly but not nasty either
Kendra - also a daughter or sister of Mrs B and Midi - she was actually quiet social and was adopted into a flower store
Major - a cat of great dignity who had to have a toe amputated
Lexi - named when she gave birth to kittens when I was away in Lexington on a very rare weekend away- all her kittens ended up named after places too

thematic names work well for me and rescue - that way my failing memory is triggered to think - oh he was the cat covered in oil, she came in with this cat and so on

I have worked my through the alphabet too but I find I can recall the cats better with my odd naming system :)

Gemma and Jerry

went and did a walk through at a shelter I work with quite a bit today

they were swamped with kittens and needing to make some tough calls..two little feral grey siblings were looking like unlikely candidates to get adoptable so they were "printed up" (that is to say being considered for euthanasia)

ummm they are now in a guinea pig cage on the dining room table

Tom named them and already they are coming around - Jerry actually solicits attention already - Gem is a little slower but thats ok - she'll come round too

the dogs are fascinated - the adult cats are pretending they don't exsist