The Stargazer Girls

Some of you may remember that back in January, I posted A Plea For Help, describing two female kitties, Galileo and Copernicus, that needed a new home ASAP.  Many of you tweeted about them, and forwarded their names on, but we all know just how hard it is to place adult cats.  Adult cats that come as a pair, even.  We were trying to keep them out of traditional shelters, because I knew that the shelters are bursting with cats right now, and it is not going to get better.  (Kitten season, anyone?)

It took awhile... I kept thinking and thinking and thinking in circles, trying to come up with a solution for these babies.  I knew that I couldn't take them - our four are in a constant state of warfare as it is.  We keep them partitioned away from one another, but if we get one more animal that doesn't get along with any of the others... there's no place to put them!  And so many cat lovers that I know are full-up, with no hope of being able to add not one, but TWO extra mouths to feed.

Well, to make a long story short, I found a place that was willing to take them.  Not a home, though I tried so very hard to do that, but a rescue.  Not only a rescue, but one that will treat them like family.

Last Sunday was the day that a friend of mine and I delivered them to this rescue, a little over an hour away from us.  They're called Rembier Farms.  They rescue large and small animals - and they have so many more than are on their Petfinder listing!  And let me tell you this much about the couple that owns this farm... they are awesome, and have tremendous hearts for animals!  They believe in caging and penning up animals as little as possible, believing that animals that are allowed to socialize with them in their house and on their farm make better, more well-adjusted pets when someone adopts an animal from them.

Just about every kind of animal that someone can cast off was represented there.   Many kinds of chickens were enjoying the bugs in the fields - it was the first day that they'd been allowed to range freely since winter started, and they were thrilled!  There were peacocks, turkeys, bunnies, grown-up pot bellied pigs, llamas, alpacas, sheep, goats...  yaks, cows, horses, donkeys,  ponies, Great Pyrenees, and of course, cats.  There were a couple of greyhounds as well, though I believe she said that they were in the house.

They were kind enough to give us a tour of the place, and we walked freely amongst the animals, which was fantastic - at one point, I had an alpaca nuzzling my hair, a yearling cow kissing me on the face, while I was holding a lamb, and had a pig staring up at me demanding to be petted.

One thing that I noticed, and I saw demonstrated over and over again - these animals were well taken care of, well-fed, and well LOVED.  There were no stand-offish animals there.  Everyone was bright-eyed, curious, and obviously felt secure in their surroundings with these people  -whether it was the goats following our hosts around, demanding food and attention, or the cat that rode on shoulders or the cows that came up to the fence and had long, lowing conversations with us, or the alpacas that walked amongst us with wide-eyed, tilting head curiosity, as if asking "Hey, who are the new kids?"

It was sad to leave the stargazer girls behind, knowing that they were scared and outside of their home for the first time in years, but I felt so much better that they were with good people.  They were given a guest room in the house, immediate bowls of food and water, and a litter box all of their own.

So Galileo and Copernicus, I did my best for you...  Godspeed, and may someone adopt you quickly.

And as for Rembier Farms... I'm so glad that I found them!  Not just because they took the cats, though for that I am so incredibly grateful, but because it's good to know that a place like that exists so close to Pittsburgh.

Might I recommend them if you ever want to adopt an animal from a rural rescue?  I know that if I'm EVER in a position to adopt a livestock type animal  (that would be, if I ever decided to make a lifestyle change and move OUT of Squirrel Hill and into the country, in case you were curious) I will call them first.  But they are a good source for cats and dogs and fowl as well.