Google is one of many up for adoption and today, I turned down yet another home for her. There have been three families that wish to adopt her- but she is so special and has special needs. I want to be sure that when I leave her at a home, I can pull out of the driveway and look toward Heaven and tell My Father- “God we did good on this one.” Sadly, that hasn’t happened.

I am so glad I insist on pre adoption and post adoption home visits. This last home, the lady was trying to sway me from coming to their home (it was quite far away) and opt instead for a closer location (her mom’s house0. But, as I told her, I want to see the home where the cat might be living so it didn’t matter that she was a bit far away.

When I got there, even before I walked up to the door, something didn’t feel right. For the first time, I left Google in the carrier in the car with Mike and went alone into the apartment.

Ay- yi-yi- the apartment was a mess in so many ways. There was a pug, and two cats already living in the one bedroom along with two adults and two teenagers! The cats were not friendly at all, there was no space for active kitties to even run around and I was appalled that they would even consider bringing another living, breathing creature into their family.

I was nice about it, but I do hate disappointing people but if they can’t even bring themselves to straighten up one room- what type of care would they give to this special needs kitty? Plus they were slovenly in appearance and just overall odd. It was strange and I left quickly.

There is a home for Google out there- I just haven’t found it yet-

Just over a week ago, Marlow dried up and I began to bottle feed her kittens and separated the family. I am happy to say that even Jedi Night no longer wants the bottle. The kittens are eating solid food (wet not dry) at this point. I know it is earlier than it should be for them, but the formula didn’t seem to have what it takes.

I received a gift pack from Merrick Foods of their new food Purrfect Bistro along with some coupons and on a whim, I took the canned food into the kitten room and opened it up. The kittens loved it! They are eating it now instead of the baby food- the food is all natural, no grain. They seem to like the Beef Wellington best but they also took quickly to the dry food.

I asked the local feed store to order this food and found out it is currently out of stock! I have a pending order for it once it becomes available again.

The kittens now have the run of the bedroom. I very cleverly barricaded them in half of the room using our jungle-gym fencing but hey, they are growing which means they are climbing and they were up and over the tallest barricade in a matter of seconds. I threw in the towel and just gave them the whole room. I figured they would dive under the bed and I wouldn’t even be able to see them- but I was wrong. They are all over me when I walk in the room- jumping on the back of my legs and climbing up to “see” me, making me grateful I wear jeans and not shorts!

Here is a current photo of the little ones- they are growing like weeds

more photos

Years ago, Mike and I rescued an abused German Shepherd. Brooke was HUGE over 128 pounds of insecurity and anxiety. When she first arrived here- we tried to put her into a large cage to see how she did. The first time we put her inside a cage it took her 3 nano seconds to bust out of it!

The second time, we braced the cage door closed- went to the store and came home with the kennel in pieces and Brooke chewing on the sofa leg! LOL

The third time, we cable-tied the cage door closed on another larger cage and went out for a few minutes returning to find steel carnage and Brooke eating our carpet!

We figured after that and three purchases of cages, we just best keep her with us.

We kept all the pieces and so a few days ago, I asked Mike to millerize a new cage for the kittens and here is the result. They love it- they have lots to climb up and on and room to run around and the other cats can’t get to them.

ON THE CONTEST NOTE- I did not place 3rd so I did not win- BUT I so appreciate all of you who took time out to vote for my cats. Maybe next time!

Cooper, one of the four Siamese mix kitties is doing well in his new home with his new mom and feline friend. Here is a photo of Coop with Tigger- Coop’s name is now Indy

This morning when I went outside to fetch the paper, I noticed a mound of paper napkins on the lawn. They looked to be strategically placed over an object of some sort?

“How odd-” I said ( I talk to myself a lot lately)

With some trepidation, I went over the object and knelt down. I carefully uncovered the shroud of napkins to discover, my 6 year old barn cat Lincoln beneath! He had been hit on the road last night and whoever hit him either knows he belongs to me, or I don’t know what? There was no way he made it to the middle of our yard after he was hit- so someone placed him there.

In a town where I have seen people purposefully swerve over 3 lanes of traffic to hit baby ducks, this napkined goodbye touched my soul. Did a teenage girl hit him and see that he came from our property or?

I buried him under the apple tree where he liked to sleep and told him I was so sorry he never got along well with the others.

She has grown into a stunning kitty and my hope is this weekend when I participate in Petco’s National Adoption Day is that I will find a home for this special needs kitty. I considered taking my cats and kittens with me to the store, but the stress on them would be a bit much. I also have no intention of adopting them out “on the spot” so instead, I have made up a display of their photos that will be mounted on easels in front of my table.

Because there will be competition in the room, I struggled to come up with an innovative way of capturing cat lovers’ attention from the other rescue groups.

I decided after praying about it that I was going to make a foam board of photos and the caption is “If These Cats Could Tweet…”

I did not wish to give the graphic details of these cats and their plights so instead, I did a play on words. For India, the black kitten who was intentionally poisoned by his previous owner- I wrote: “Get me an interview with Jeff Probst! I am a True Survivor.”

For Trump- my older golden kitty, I tweeted “What? You think with the name of Trump that I am NOT neutered?”

For my little golden boy Dixon- I tweeted “What am I a canary? I don’t Tweet!”

and so on and so forth for all the kitties up for adoption.

I will be taking two of the bottle babies with me, a friend will be staying behind and bottle feeding the rest while I am gone.

This is the first time I will participate in an event such as this and my girlfriend Angie has agreed to help me out. I just hope enough interested people will fill out the adoption forms and the home visits will go well and these cats can move on with their lives.

I heard from Amanda who adopted the two Siamese mixes; Sahara and Fawn and I loved her email. The sentence that made me grin was this one:

“Mary Anne, I am having so much fun with these two girls!”

Here is Google in all her glory out in the cat enclosure. She still has her issues with her tummy and unless I get the powder to put on her food, she has major litter pan issues. I am hoping she will go to a home where she is the only kitty and her diet can be strictly monitored. Not sure if I shared this or not- but it was finally determined that she has an intestinal disease that pigs usually get! In researching this further, near where she was found and the other littermates were lying lifeless in the grass is a filthy and I do mean filthy pig farm. I have been back a few times and I have seen little kittens wallowing in the mud with these pigs eating their food! Those kittens later vanished without a trace. 🙁 I tried to get them away from the pig farmer- but he was less than pleasant to deal with so I gave up.

Calling all bottle baby experts! I have more right now- anyone care to help? LOL! Marlow is as dry as the Mojave Desert now and the other night a box of 5 just days old kittens was left on my porch. Thank God we had warm winds blowing that night! I have an SOS our for all the other rescuers in the area- but Jod has 52, Doreen has 60 and Lily’s husband just had surgery so she is tied up.

I need formula, bottles, heating pads and soft towels. Oh, and boy do I need sleep!

Marlow and the kittens are downstairs now in the living room. I am supplement feeding the little ones and Marlow is doing all the other business. She still is rejecting Jedi Night- not sure why- so Jedi is by herself at the moment in her own cage.

Gotta love Kitten Season! NOT!

It’s raining black kitties!

One of my readers asked that I make the ad public that found a home for one of my older cats- so here it is. I am also trying to keep the format readable for phones as most people are accessing the Internet off their phones or Ipads-

Here is the ad:

*(one -and-a-half year old rescued- mackeral tabby)
*Smuggles
*Love to chase mice
*Eat spiders
*Better than a fly-swatter
I know what it is like to feel alone
I could fill that empty spot in your heart or your barn.
If your lap is around, I am available-
If you have a rodent problem, I am your pest control expert.
I can police your barns night and day
I do love to be indoors and close to the fire when it gets cold outside.
I am a friendly barn cat or an indoor pest specialist

Rehoming fee applies (donation-based)
Home visit required
Adoption form requred

Today, I was able to find a home for Smuggles a four-year old Mackeral Tabby. The New Yorker ran an article recently about tips on how to write adoption ads that get attention in order to adopt out senior kitties. Reading the ads inspired me to write my own for CL and PF. Not five minutes after the ad went “live” I received two hits of interest.

I ended up taking Smugs into Springfield where I met a delightful family waiting to adopt her. I had to laugh because we went into the bedroom and shut the door, and I figured that Smugs would bolt under the bed, but she headed in the direction of the master bathroom and adjoining closet. We went looking for her a few minutes later and couldn’t find her anywhere! Then the mom bent down under her lowest shelf where her foot spa is stored- she pulled it out- and lo and behold there was Smugs! LOL

I felt such warmth in this home, it was picture purr-fect for a kitty and Smugs will be the only kitty there. By the time I returned home, I had a message waiting that Smugs had come out of hiding and was eating and drinking and allowing the mom to pick her up! This is the kitty who was inches away from being poisoned and was smuggled out of an apartment complex with her brother before the tenant could be evicted for “saving them.” She hid from us for about a month and then turned into the biggest love-bug here. I did adopt her out before- but she was returned for peeing on the bed.