Saturday, September 13, 2014

Saturday, Sept. 13

We are cat and kitten over-runneth. Somehow we've had a bit of a cat population explosion here this week. Here's an explanation:
Holiday--long hair gold torti/tiger. Some folks driving to Colorado was at a Holiday Inn near Bryan. . Holiday had been there for a week and was hungry. A real nice cat! She arrived 9/7.

Annette--a short hair black female, 3 years old. She has a big white splotch on her tummy. She was left in a crate by our dumpster on 9/12.  Her crate had a message on it that her owners died, the family put her out and neighbors brought her here. She weighs 11.04.

Mudjie--a gold/buff female, about 1 year old.  She only weighs 5.05 and was completely covered in fleas to the point that she probably only has 50% of her fur. She was on the hood of Peggy S's car, trying to stay warm. She's now flea free and cannot get enough pettings. 

Caleb--a grey tiger/white kitten, about 5 weeks old. Arrived 9/12. My daughter in law, Dina was at Verizon when she kept hearing a lion size meow. After some searching, she realized it was coming from inside the motor of a car parked there. Beth came upon the scene too and helped. When the hood was opened, it was realized they needed help. A fella with long arms came along and was able to extract Caleb. He has a very sore front left leg that we will be keeping track of. He weighs 1.03.

Cita--a muted calico, about 4 weeks old. She was found along some woods, by a road by 2 men who were very worried that she may be eaten by coyotes. She only weighs 14 ounces. She is gorgeous and has become friends with Caleb. She was meowing so so loud, that's how the guys found her. She has a bit of a raspy throat.                                                                                                                                 
CathyKay--a grey tiger/white cat about 11 months old, arrived very pregnant on 9/6. Yesterday she weighed 9.06. It was noted that her abdomen was a bit hard and babies were asquirmin'. This morning at 2;00 am, Mary H from Arch knocked on the door to tell me we had kittens! I moved her to a pen where she is quite content. We have 4 babies and they are big! They weigh 4 ounces each and appear to have some fuzzy fur. One is grey tiger/white and three are black with white toes/feet, chins and tummies. CathyKay and babies are doing great. 
                                                                                                                                                                    Our Lina Precious cat is now with our Toledo friend who is babying Lina up big time! Lina needs lots of TLC and self-confidence building. She's not happy with the other cats here at all so it was hard to convince her that she was ok. I'm keeping in touch with the situation. This is the cat that our friend Xenomolina asked us to take. Rita from Wisconsin brought her with her when she came for Catstock. 

Zertyle is still visiting in the house with my other Z's.  See the real story is.....she was lonesome for some naked cats and found out that I have some in the house. She had a need to cuddle with them. So, when she's done cuddling, she'll probably make her way out here to the Rescue Center! 

Slick is doing awesome. Oh my goodness, there couldn't be very many cats nicer than him. He's symptom free of FIV right now, is eating good, his fur is growing and I swear he knows how to smile! 

The 3 kittens that came in close together are doing wonderful. They are Joanne Ellen, Esmee and Mathias. They seem to find each other for play and nap time. They are up in main area during the day but still go in the back Thumper's Room for night time. I had a talk with Joanne Ellen and she's quite happy with her full name being used---so Joanne Ellen it is! 

Gusti--our little sweetie girl is in the main area also during the day. Her bad eye has shrunk a little bit. I weighed her this morning and she weighs 2.01. I am hoping that she will gain a few more ounces before Weds. when her eye removal is scheduled.  If not, then her surgery will be postponed. 

 I am so happy when someone has a question about a cat or kitten of FFRC's and they ask me! I would rather be asked, then to speculate or to wonder about it or to get wrong information.  The question was: is it really necessary to amputate Trucker's rear legs?  Please know that this is always a last resort. If we can save a leg, we are happy to do so. But, in Trucker's case, those legs are truly a hindrance to him. As his body grows, so do the legs. They are completely stiff and now project clear up to his ears when he lays them up over his body. His legs cannot go behind him. This makes it hard to get up on things and to get around and over things. Those stiff sticks push against him many times a day. The other real concern is the thinness of the skin on the legs where he rubs on the floor. His skin is thinner and thinner and has had a few red marks at times. We do not want a lesion to form. When he has his surgery, the tiny tiny bit of muscle that he has on his legs will be used to build a pad. His surgery will be similar to Coralie's--midshaft femur. I have a feeling that as fast as he can go now, he will be flying later! We will do one leg, wait a couple weeks and then do the other. That is the tentative plan right now. He weighs 3.01 this morning. We'd love to get him closer to 4 pounds if his skin holds up on his legs. Thank you for caring about this amazing boy. 

We have thanks to give! We had BOXES Thursday evening!
SVCathy and Scott--Trader Joe's products, so the yumminess factor is high! 4 bags popcorn, 1 bag Africa chips, 6 chocolate covered pretzels, 4 bags Cowgirl Bark, 8 bags Chocolate Potato Chips, Chocolate Chip Dunkers, 2 boxes Kona Coffee Shortbread, 24 bags trail mix, 4 bags salted peanuts, 2 JoJo's chocolate vanilla cream cookies, Reeses PB cups, 2 dozen jars babyfood, 2 boxes Kurig, 6 bags gummie goodies, 6 boxes cookie things, lemon & buttered almond, 28 bags kitty snackers
Pat, our Thursday volunteer--white afghan with yellow flowers, 2 sets handwarmers
Conii--2 boxes purrfectly chicken, bag of Royal Canin dry food
Andrea F from CA--48 skeins of yarn--blues, purples, yellows, pinks, beiges to be given to people who help make yarn items for us!
Nona--a veteran, a 3 x 5 US flag (thank you)
Wanda--2 garden Memorial stones of Magenta & Putter--just beautiful
Kelly R--coffee, coffee cups, paper plates, 2 bags Purina One dry food
Linda C from Iowa--7 cases  of Wellness large can cat food (the cats love this!)
Margaret/eartheyes & Shamballie--4 cases Fancy Feast, 1 bag Purina One, 1 bag Precious kitty litter
Arden & CHarmaine--7 cases Fancy Feast kitten food
Trudy S from Bryan--card & donation
Ann S from NJ--card and donation
Carolyn B from Defiance--card and donation
Melissa L from NY--card and donation
Hannah, Jennifer & Andy from IN--card, newspaper article about Hannah & donation
Independence Education Center/Dr. Joel S--letter and school newspaper about ffrc project
Mike G from MI--coupons
Montana & crew from Canada (!)--a card and an Air iPad for raffle--what an awesome gift! All you kitties get an extra big hug from your mom and dad!
Catlvr14/Gina--4 beautiful handmade Shawls that we will use for a raffle or day sale
Alison B from NY--donation in memory of Payton's Aunt Maryann from her friend Elsa on Payton's birthday
Wanda, our portrait maker--donation thru PayPal for orders she has done!

I'd also like to say a special thanks to Lisa K who provided FFRC with some really nice deserts for our Catstock. She brought over a good supply of colorful cakes and also brownies. Thanks, Lisa. 

Also thanks to the following for their donations to FFRC: Judy & Phil L, Ju-in-ji, SKcatmomma, Wobblybobsmamma, Andrea F, Yarnlover, Aunty Fi. 

Please remember, in the hub-bub of busy-iness that happens here, sometimes I may forget to put in a thank you or I may have an error. Please never hesitate to send an email to let me know! 

Want to smile? Just think about Alma. She is sheer pleasure, the way she gets around now and thoroughly enjoys her life! Think about Camvi--as soon as the dogs come out of their room, she's at their side! Think about Derecho--how he is friends with all his little buddies. Think about Joey--he's out and about now! Life is great--enjoy each day and have a wonderful weekend.