Another Cat Catching Attempt

I don't know how you like to spend your New Year's Eve and your time off work, but I decided to use mine to head back up to the abandoned cabin for another attempt to catch the remaining black kitty there. Since she'd been allowing "L" to pet her, and she seemed to be from the same litter as Miss Sass and Blaze, my thought was she could be next on the list to add to the cat menagerie that is now my spare bedroom in my basement. 

"L" met me there this time since the black kitty would know her and maybe she would have better luck in getting her in the cat carrier. Black kitty was having none of it. She was totally on to us! Mind you, when I had come up on Wednesday and was actually able to get my hands on her, in a very bad scruff, and got scratched for my efforts, the black kitty ended up sitting on a log behind the cabin watching me and meowing at me. Tempting me to try again. Little brat! 😸 I will get you, just you wait! 

But, we now had this new and unexpected visitor in a black and white longhaired kitty who suddenly had shown up. 

"L" assured me that no one nearby had cats and we were both suspicious that someone most likely had dumped this cat here. They may have seen the cat feeding station that had been set up. They may have read the posts we'd been putting on the neighborhood NextDoor app. Whatever it was, this sweet kitty definitely looked like it had been dumped and it was going to take everything in my power to not leave it behind. 

"L" knew of someone who had expressed an interest in maybe fostering a cat or perhaps adopting one of the cabin cats. She gave the lady a call and said that we had the ideal cat for her. She was a bit on the fence so we said "hey, you can foster!" And we scooped the kitty up. 

So, this lovely kitty is now with her. Our hope is that is turns into a "foster failure" and she decides to adopt him. If she changes her mind, we'll take him, no questions asked. Granted, now that we know that he is actually a he, and he has not been neutered, he can't be here with Fiona. Not looking to add to our group of cats that need homes! 

Fiona the Tortie is in Heat

So, along with the million other reasons to spay your cat, a female cat being super annoying while in heat should also go down on the list. 😹 

I am realizing that I've never actually been around a cat in heat before so it took me awhile to recognize what was going on with Fiona when she started being super affectionate and much more vocal. 

I honestly just thought she was feeling better as she got over her upper respiratory infection and now being indoors with plenty of food and shelter. 

Girl, no! 

I had to google it! And yep, Fiona was ticking all the boxes except for spraying (thank god!) and loss of appetite (girl loves to eat!).

She desperately wants to escape the spare bedroom that's been turned into catlandia. She digs at the carpet (bad kitty!) and I now have a broom to literally shoo her away from the door when I go in so she doesn't try to sneak by me. 

She did make it past me once and it was dash across the house by my husband and me to catch her and put her back in the room.

I'd been worried about Samwise being cryptorchid but given that he's not been interested in her (thank god!) it's helping confirm that he's neutered. 

I don't have as many posts yet about Fiona as she's on the mend and we're working on her issues. She's got corneal scarring on her eyes from an untreated FHV infection and she walks with her head cocked to the right which is from an inner ear infection. Honestly, none of this gets her down! She loves to play and run around and unless you closely looked at her eyes, you'd be none the wiser that she's special needs. 

Initially, she didn't seem to like men and would only let me interact with her but she's since let my husband and son play with her and pet her. She doesn't like to be picked up and held so she's not a love bug like Blaze but she's otherwise sweet and lovely. She enjoys the other kitties, too, even before she got all crazy in heat! 

Blaze Gets Spayed & a New Cat Back at the Abandoned Cabin

Today was the day for Blaze to get spayed! And not unlike Miss Sass, she rebounded really quickly and without any problems. So good, in fact, that she didn't need the "cone of shame" e-collar as she wasn't interested in her stitches whatsoever. This was the last step in getting her ready to go to her forever home. 

So, if you are looking for a lovebug who loves to play, Blaze is definitely your girl! 

Feeling good! Look at meh bellay! 

After dropping her off first thing in the morning at the Montgomery County Humane Society - who have been great to work with in getting these kitties sterilized -  I decided to take a trip back up to the abandoned cabin to try to snatch up the remaining black kitty. 

There are three remaining kitties at the cabin: a gray male cat who is missing an eye/has a serious eye infection, an orange tabby male and a female black cat. My plan was to try to get the black cat as it has seemed the most friendly as she was allowing "L", the nice neighbor who's been feeding them, to pet her. 

Gray and white male with infected eye (poor guy!) and the female black kitty share a lunch

Imagine my surprise when I saw yet another cat in the mix! 

While this lovely black and white long haired kitty was absolutely as friendly as could be and let me pick it up and give it love, I hesitated in taking it because I wasn't sure if it was someone's pet. 

And then I struck out in getting the black kitty into the carrier. 😟 She did give me a few scratches on my hand when trying to snatch her. So I left today empty handed and a bit bloody and scratched up for my troubles. 

We'll have to try again! 

Below is a video of the cats still at the cabin and are still on the list for rescuing. 

Time for a Vet Visit!

After our not-so-great previous vet visit, I'd been on the hunt for a new vet. Fortunately, "V", who adopted the Tabby Twins, knew of a vet that does at home visits and got me set up with an appointment. 

First item on the agenda was looking at Samwise's teeth. The other vet thought they may need to be extracted because of the tartar build up and his inflamed gums. To the new vet's credit, he actually scaled Sam's teeth and took off the tartar. He also said that he felt that Sam was most likely already neutered and going through the process of having him undergo ultrasound was not necessary, as Sam wasn't display typical un-neutered tomcat behaviors like spraying or having smelly urine. We actually quickly tested this hypothesis a few days later, not on purpose, when Fiona started displaying signs that she is in heat, and Sam couldn't care less. 

Whew! Bullet (and many kittens!) dodged! 

Next up was Fiona. I do need to do a write up on her but she is the one with the most medical needs. Her head cocks to the right as she walks, which is most likely caused by a long untreated ear infection. The vet gave me drops to put in her ears twice daily. And her eyes look a bit glassy, which the vet's diagnosis was a long untreated eye infection caused by FHV. Her eyes were not actively inflamed or infected, but she does have scar tissue build up and that will never go away. That said, she is such an active kitty and loves to play and chase. She doesn't let any of these disabilities get her down. 

We're feeling good about the vet visit and the prognoses. 👍 

To celebrate, here's Sam and Blaze watching their favorite tv show, which is hard to see but it's a video of birds. 

These Cats Love Catnip!

You never really know if a cat is going to go crazy for catnip. I think some cats are not genetically-predisposed to being catnip crazy. 

So, today was an experiment in catnip loving? Thumbs up or thumbs down? Looks like a "yes!". 

Of the three, Blaze (black kitty) was less enthused. Her favorite thing is the feather wand. For Fiona and Samwise, they were smitten. 

Sam loves this fish toy! When he gets adopted, it'll need to go with him to his new home. 

You can always check out their antics at their YouTube channel as well. 

Meet Samwise - Male Orange Tabby - Adopted!

Name: Samwise (Nicknames includes Sammy, the Samster, Sammy Sammy Bo Bammy)
Sex: Male, Neutered
Age: Around 1 Year
FIV and FLV Negative

UPDATE: Sam found his new home on Sunday, January 16! Yay! 

My foster mom took one look at me after I was wrangled and scooped up, and decided that I looked like the most wise and serious of a cat that you would ever want having your back. That on an adventure, I would stick by your side no matter what. And while she isn't a devoted LOTR fan, the name "Samwise" immediately sprang to mind and stuck. So, that is who I am! 

I am getting over my upper respiratory infection and starting to feel better. I am even starting to play. Probably something I never got a chance to do at that place where I was rescued from before being abandoned. 

A little bit about me: I'm probably around a year old. I am taking some antibiotics to get over this cold I have, but I am going to go back to the vet to make sure that I am on the mend. My rescuer will require a home check visit in advance of my adoption just to make sure that I am in good hands, and will ask that you attest that I will be an indoor-only kitty. She’s taking care of my needed vaccinations and neuter; I will be microchipped and I am FIV/FLV negative. The only thing I need now is a new home. I will be available sometime in mid-January.  

Fun fact: did you know that most orange tabbies are males? Yep! 80 percent of orange tabbies are male. The ginger gene in cats is on the X chromosome. Did you also know that Vikings took a liking to orange kitties and purchased them from vendors during the travels to the Mediterranean? Many think the Vikings are the reason why the orange tabby gene is so prolific today; so perhaps my original Samwise Viking-adventuring ancestor is why I am here with you today!

I can live in either a half hour to 45-minute radius of The Woods Resort in Hedgesville, West Virginia or a similar radius to Kensington, Maryland. If everything above sounds good, you can reach out to my rescuer at westvirginiacats@yahoo.com and we can see if you’re the right fit for me.

Meet Blaze - Female, Black Domestic Shorthair - Still Available for Adoption!

Name: Blaze (nicknames: Flip Flop, Bat Cat, Batty Bo Fatty)
Sex: Female, Spayed
Age: Around 6-8 months
FIV and FLV Negative

Well, hello, everyone! I am Blaze, a young, female black domestic shorthair, who is looking for someone who can appreciate what a beautiful little lady I am. My fosterer is calling me Blaze because of the patch of white that I have emblazoned on my chest like a superhero. I was rescued from some deplorable conditions in West Virginia where people abandoned me and the rest of their animals, leaving behind 10 cats and 3 dogs to fend for themselves. But that bad start in life hasn’t dimmed my spirit and I’m really happy to be out of that place and with my rescuer. Now, I’m ready to show off what a total love bug I am, find someone who will love me forever, and treat me well. Ideally, I would be adopted with Fiona, my rescue pal, as she needs a buddy to keep her socialized. 

My foster lady has nicknamed me Bat Cat because my delicate features and prominent canines make me look like a little bat. I love to play, play, play and play some more. I'm a active little explorer who loves to chase toys and bat at strings and feather toys. 

I am around 6-8 months old, black with pretty yellow eyes, with a spot of white on my chest and belly. I love people, am very curious and want to be near you and see what’s going on. I love to explore and check things out. I love to talk to you and let you know what I think. I like the other rescued cats I am currently hanging out with so I may do well with yours. I haven't had a chance to be around dogs yet. And because I am small, my rescuer wants me in a home without children under five.

If all of these conditions work for you, I’d love to meet you and see if we are a match. My rescuer will require a home check visit in advance of my adoption just to make sure and will ask you attest I will be an indoor-only kitty. She’s taking care of my needed vaccinations and spay; I will be microchipped and I am FIV/FLV negative. The only thing I need now is a new home. I will be available just after the holidays.  

I can live in either a half hour to 45-minute radius of The Woods Resort in Hedgesville, West Virginia or a similar radius to Kensington, Maryland. If everything above sounds good, you can reach out to my rescuer at westvirginiacats@yahoo.com and we can see if you’re the right fit for me.

We Has A Cat Tree!

 

What I initially imagined to be a temporary, quick turnaround situation (scoop up cats, get to vet, get neutered/spayed, get homes) is now starting to look like a longer term initiative. With sick cats...lack of vet availability...the holidays...well, time to just admit that the basement spare bedroom that doubles as the workout room needs to now triple time as a cat foster room as well. 

And, while it's got plenty of room, windows and natural light are at a premium. I can also tell that some of the cats prefer to be up high. Jackson Galaxy, who's made a name for himself as a "cat whisperer" with shows like "Cat From Hell", calls these tree dweller cats. 

So, it was time to do some catifying of the cat foster room, which included getting a cat tree. Funny to think that my own, actual cats don't have one and that's primarily because they just never took to any that I've had. And maybe that's because they have a bay window, the back of a couch and other places around the house to perch and sit. 

With my son home from college, we tag teamed on putting together the cat tree that I purchased. It was an easy assemble and fit the space as I'd imagined, with the possibility of getting all the way to the top perch and into the window well to peer outside. 

I was surprised at how quickly all three kitties - Samwise, Fiona and Blaze - all took to it and started exploring. 

At a premium are the two nesting boxes. Everyone loves the nesting boxes!

So, yeah, cat tree is a big hit! 

Poo is a Constant Theme Over Here!

So, again I will state that I am a total novice to this whole cat rescue thing. I thought I had my sea legs because I did this once before, a few years back, at my in-laws with some female feral cats that had taken up residence under their deck and we did both a trap-neuter-release and adopted out the kittens.

When you are a bit more down in the belly of beast - transporting cats across state lines like they are bootleg liquor - the reality hits you in the face.

Or more so, the olfactory senses. 

Not unlike the first three pack, the next group of three defecated in their cat carriers on the hour and a half drive from my cabin in The Woods to my house in Maryland. Within the first five minutes of the drive. Okay, to his credit, Samwise did not. But Fiona and Blaze made up for it! I did actually feel terrible for them because who wants to sit in their poo for an hour+? 

Granted, this all needed to happen because I had vet appointments for all three on the 14th. They needed to get back to my house with me and get seen by the vet. 

While I initially felt grateful that I was able to find a vet practice close to home, which also had openings relatively soon, I have subsequently decided that I can't go back to this vet practice again. 

Why? Because this vet gave off a sense of...I don't know precisely the right word but I would try to encapsulate it as...repulsion.

There was a big part of me that felt like she couldn't get us out of there fast enough. Case in point: they forgot to put the "oti-pack" in Fiona's ears and I had to ask about it, and go back out to the car and get her and bring her back in, despite how stressed out she was, just as we were about to leave. 

I just got the overwhelming sense that the vet found these cats to be somewhat vermin-like.

And her diagnoses were all so bad: 

• Samwise: needs his teeth pulled (second vet: no he doesn't) and she couldn't definitely tell me if he was neutered (second vet: don't get him sedated and ultrasounded to find out if he is cryptorchid (again, new word for me!) because if he's not spraying or if his urine isn't stinky, he's probably been neutered),
• Fiona: she never explained why her eyes are glassy (second vet: she has corneal scarring from FHV) and just prescribed an oti pack for her head tilt, Blaze: she's pregnant (she wasn't). 

The real kicker was when they brought Fiona back into the exam room in her carrier after taking her into the back and she had poo'ed in it. Now maybe I am used to the stinkiness of a wormy kitty but the vet?!? She actually left the exam room! She couldn't handle it and left the vet tech and me to extract Fiona and clean up. I picked up the obviously distressed little tortie and hugged her to my chest. Her heart was racing and yeah, she was getting poo all over my (white!) shirt but really...?!? Who cares! That is what bleach if for. 

Then, windows had to be flung open and everything aired out before the vet would come back into the exam room. What?!? I mean, you are vet...you work with animals. Are you not used to vomit, poo, blood, pus...?!? 

So, anyway, eyes on the prize! We got them vaccinated, we got the lab tests that showed all three were FIV and FLV negative. We got amoxicillin for their upper respiratory infections. 

Now, we're on the hunt for a new vet! 

Operation Cat Rescue #2: Let's Go Scoop Up Some More Kitties!

I gotta be honest, it was weird not having a bevy of cats in the spare bedroom downstairs for a week. With the Tabby Twins and Miss Sass now at their forever homes, it was time to head back up to The Woods and scoop up a few more. 

Fortunately, these three proved just as easy to finagle into a cat carrier as the last three. I had L help me out by meeting me at the abandoned cabin and coaxing everyone out with food. While distracted by the delicious morsels, I was able to scoop up the orange tabby (aka Samwise), the tortie (aka Fiona) and another black kitty (aka Blaze). 

Off to my own cabin they went, where I fed them and started getting them settled. 

While they almost immediately took to life in my cabin - and were very appreciative of being out of the elements and with an unlimited supply of food and affection - not unlike the first group of fosters, these guys initially had a rough patch with using the litter box. 

I guess I always presumed that cats naturally gravitate to using a litter box. To find poo on the carpet (in multiple places) was kind of freaking me out, to be honest. Would they be adoptable? Would my carpet survive this onslaught?

Answer: yes and yes. 

Fortunately, when I got them back to my home in Maryland, once they had access to clean litter boxes and settled down a bit, they all started using the litter boxes on the regular. Granted, I feel like my full time job these days is cleaning litter boxes but the good news is that pooing outside the box came to an end pretty fast. 

I think the main culprit was this cutie: 

I even went so far as to buy a black light to inspect for any mystery pees and luckily, I found none. But a tip if you are totally a clean freak like me, it will highlight all the places in your bathroom where you missed a spot...or twenty! 

Fiona and Samwise were regular poo-in-the-box'ers. Blaze took a bit longer to come around. I also had to keep reminding myself that they were all full of parasites and worms and such (bleh!) so even if they wanted to be good kitties, their back ends might now allow for it. 

The good news is that this three pack all got along great! While Miss Sass tolerated the Tabby Twins, she wasn't a huge fan of them, and I felt like the twin girls actively avoided her because of it. 

These three were all complacent after their rescue and enjoy each other company. 

Miss Sass Finds a Home!

So, I gotta admit, the black kitty, whom I named Miss Sass because of her personality, won me over pretty fast. She came with a bit of an attitude, would grumble at the other cats, and while she never bit or scratched, she was feisty and let you know your place. She's packing a lot of personality in her pint-sized frame. And given where she came from and what she endured, being feisty served her well. 

I was rather surprised that black cats are the last to get adopted at shelters and many times get looked over. There is the persistent superstition that black cats are bad luck. And when you think of how a normal shelter is set up, the holding pens are dark and a black cat who might be timid and sitting in the back would be hard to see. Black cat syndrome is a challenge for many black cats looking to be adopted. 

I even recognized this with Miss Sass because when taking pictures of her in our dark basement spare bedroom that I've turned into the cat rescue room, she would show up as just a black blob. I brought her upstairs to my office and an upstairs bedroom with natural light to conduct a photo shoot with her to get some pictures of just how pretty she is. 

On Tuesday, Dec. 1, Miss Sass got her spay and I was thankful to hear from the vet technician that no, she was not preggo, which had been a fear. 

She bounced back super fast from her surgery and I think she was also happy to have the entire cat foster room to herself. I could tell that she had only mildly tolerated the tabby twins and that she was much more a people-oriented kitty who'd be best suited in a home where she would get all the attention she so richly deserved.

Through the power of social media, "V", who'd adopted the tabby twins, shared Miss Sass's adoption information and his cousin reached out with an interest as she and her teenage son specifically had been looking for a black cat to adopt. 

On Saturday, Dec. 4, they came to meet her and away she went with them. She made herself right at home and they renamed her "Lucky", which she most definitely is! 

Three down, seven more to go!