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.
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Saturday, March 12, 2011
Things I've Learned Today: A Not So Serious Post
We did our second "shift" at the Pittsburgh Home and Garden Show today, at the Steel City Greyhounds booth. Argos did very, very well (as did Bobbi Jo, his "partner" for the morning.) Crowds were charmed, and at least some of them seemed to be seriously considering adopting one of these noble dogs. As seems to happen every year, this last weekend of the home and garden show coincided with the city's large St. Patrick's Day parade. Which meant that the parade was starting right when we were supposed to start our shift.
Jeff dropped Argos and I off a few blocks away and we walked to the convention center. Of course this took us right along the parade route, where onlookers were starting to stake out their places. We could hear bands and bagpipes in the distance. It was really a very festive atmosphere, and I wish that we could have lingered instead of rushing on!
Here are some of my observations from the day, not just from the show and the parade. Mostly because I am feeling woozy and tired, so my brain is taking some strange neurological pathways.
1. Irish Wolfhounds are freaking enormous! I've read plenty about them online, even follow a blog or two that prominently features one, but there was one all ready to walk in the parade today... he was lying stretched out on the sidewalk, and I thought he was large. Then he saw me approaching with Argos, and stood up... and up... and up. I swear he could look me in the eyes! I'm not a very tall person - just 5' 3", but wow.
2. Sparrows are much more bad-ass than I ever gave them credit for. One landed on Argos's head, much to his consternation and displeasure.
3. Pittsburgh had this bizarre mythical, mystical, whatever, ball of light in the sky today. I hear rumors that other places see more of this ball of light, but it felt very warm and pleasant, and melted all of the snow that seems to keep insisting on falling.
4. Dogs really, really bring out the best in people. I'm pretty sure that some of the people I've encountered out and about with my dog open up to me in ways that they'd never dream of if I was alone.
5. It doesn't matter that my cats really don't want to go outside, that doesn't stop them from REALLY getting excited when I open the windows. I have cat noses smashed against every screen in the house, sucking in the fresh air.
6. I have finally stumbled on the best way to train Argos to obediently lie down in the car as soon as I tell him to, not whenever he feels like it: take him to the home show and make him exhausted first. I've never seen a more sedate car rider.
7. Bagpipes are scary, at least if you ask one specific canine. Though I noticed that the Irish Wolfhound didn't seem to be bothered by them.
8. Cats do not care if you have had an exhausting day and really only want to take a nap. You are there for THEIR pleasure, so wake the heck up and start with the petting.
9. There are some smart, smart kids out there. There was a young boy who informed me that "Argos" in mythology had one thousand eyes. He seemed very pleased that we had actually named him after the dog that belonged to Odysseus, after I explained where he fit into the story (he was familiar with Odysseus and his entire voyage, but had forgotten about the faithful hound. I'm pretty sure that this geek got some "cool points" with the kid for knowing that.)
10. It feels about how you would imagine to be awakened from the sleep of the dead by a raspy kitty tongue on the bottom of your foot.
Jeff dropped Argos and I off a few blocks away and we walked to the convention center. Of course this took us right along the parade route, where onlookers were starting to stake out their places. We could hear bands and bagpipes in the distance. It was really a very festive atmosphere, and I wish that we could have lingered instead of rushing on!
Here are some of my observations from the day, not just from the show and the parade. Mostly because I am feeling woozy and tired, so my brain is taking some strange neurological pathways.
1. Irish Wolfhounds are freaking enormous! I've read plenty about them online, even follow a blog or two that prominently features one, but there was one all ready to walk in the parade today... he was lying stretched out on the sidewalk, and I thought he was large. Then he saw me approaching with Argos, and stood up... and up... and up. I swear he could look me in the eyes! I'm not a very tall person - just 5' 3", but wow.
2. Sparrows are much more bad-ass than I ever gave them credit for. One landed on Argos's head, much to his consternation and displeasure.
3. Pittsburgh had this bizarre mythical, mystical, whatever, ball of light in the sky today. I hear rumors that other places see more of this ball of light, but it felt very warm and pleasant, and melted all of the snow that seems to keep insisting on falling.
4. Dogs really, really bring out the best in people. I'm pretty sure that some of the people I've encountered out and about with my dog open up to me in ways that they'd never dream of if I was alone.
5. It doesn't matter that my cats really don't want to go outside, that doesn't stop them from REALLY getting excited when I open the windows. I have cat noses smashed against every screen in the house, sucking in the fresh air.
6. I have finally stumbled on the best way to train Argos to obediently lie down in the car as soon as I tell him to, not whenever he feels like it: take him to the home show and make him exhausted first. I've never seen a more sedate car rider.
7. Bagpipes are scary, at least if you ask one specific canine. Though I noticed that the Irish Wolfhound didn't seem to be bothered by them.
8. Cats do not care if you have had an exhausting day and really only want to take a nap. You are there for THEIR pleasure, so wake the heck up and start with the petting.
9. There are some smart, smart kids out there. There was a young boy who informed me that "Argos" in mythology had one thousand eyes. He seemed very pleased that we had actually named him after the dog that belonged to Odysseus, after I explained where he fit into the story (he was familiar with Odysseus and his entire voyage, but had forgotten about the faithful hound. I'm pretty sure that this geek got some "cool points" with the kid for knowing that.)
10. It feels about how you would imagine to be awakened from the sleep of the dead by a raspy kitty tongue on the bottom of your foot.
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Two Very Special Dogs
I am writing this blog post to tell about two very special dogs that both need homes. Ideally, together, but not completely necessary. But first, some background on where they come from.
Many of you may already know Chrystal, who writes the blog Daily Dose of Dogs (aka Cats with Your Coffee.) She is a private rescuer, who rescues dogs and cats and cares for them out of her own home while trying to find them permanent "forever homes." She is one of those people who was born to do animal rescue, and she does it without the resources that the bigger rescue organizations have. Over the course of the year, she has gotten more and more attention in the blogosphere, and they have placed several well-deserving kitties in loving homes, and have raised funds to build a shelter area for those that are still waiting for their forever homes.
She has two dogs that need to go to homes, both girls, named Muffin and Mandy. Chrystal's daughters rescued these abandoned pups in the woods right before a snow storm - SIX years ago! Mandy temporarily went to a home of her own, but when the owner passed away, was brought back to Chrystal.
Muffin has never been adopted, despite being a very sweet, loving dog.
If you've read Chrystal's blog, you know that these girls have a place with them for as long as is needed - but they can't be "house dogs." And oh, do these girls really want to be someone's pets. Though they are treated as lovingly as possible, and Chrystal and her family go out of their way to provide everything that these girls need - they just can't give them that. They need for someone ELSE to step up.
At six years old, these girls are "over" the obnoxious puppy phase, but are not considered elderly by any stretch of the imagination. They are very eager to please, and joyful at any attention that they receive from humans.
Why should we as fellow pet lovers and bloggers let their joy and their eagerness go unrewarded? If you can offer one or both of them a home, you will be their best friend! If you are like me, and cannot personally offer them a home - please, blog about them, tweet about them - help put the word out!
They are located in the Midwest. But I do believe that they could work with you if you lived elsewhere - they certainly have transported kitties to other places to be adopted!
But don't just take my word for it - Chrystal herself has posted about them today. Visit her blog for more details, at http://dogsandcats.typepad.com/blog/2011/03/how-to-celebrate-dogs.html (With apologies to Chrystal for blatantly stealing her photos.)
For the story of TRIPLE rescue of these girls (first from the snowstorm, also from starvation, then from mange) see the following:
http://dogsandcats.typepad.com/blog/2010/03/sylvia-part-iii.html. The story begins here, but keep reading the posts immediately afterward to see more.
Many of you may already know Chrystal, who writes the blog Daily Dose of Dogs (aka Cats with Your Coffee.) She is a private rescuer, who rescues dogs and cats and cares for them out of her own home while trying to find them permanent "forever homes." She is one of those people who was born to do animal rescue, and she does it without the resources that the bigger rescue organizations have. Over the course of the year, she has gotten more and more attention in the blogosphere, and they have placed several well-deserving kitties in loving homes, and have raised funds to build a shelter area for those that are still waiting for their forever homes.
She has two dogs that need to go to homes, both girls, named Muffin and Mandy. Chrystal's daughters rescued these abandoned pups in the woods right before a snow storm - SIX years ago! Mandy temporarily went to a home of her own, but when the owner passed away, was brought back to Chrystal.
Muffin has never been adopted, despite being a very sweet, loving dog.
If you've read Chrystal's blog, you know that these girls have a place with them for as long as is needed - but they can't be "house dogs." And oh, do these girls really want to be someone's pets. Though they are treated as lovingly as possible, and Chrystal and her family go out of their way to provide everything that these girls need - they just can't give them that. They need for someone ELSE to step up.
 |
| Beautiful Mandy, with the soulful eyes. |
 |
| Loyal, faithful Muffin, eager for attention. |
Why should we as fellow pet lovers and bloggers let their joy and their eagerness go unrewarded? If you can offer one or both of them a home, you will be their best friend! If you are like me, and cannot personally offer them a home - please, blog about them, tweet about them - help put the word out!
They are located in the Midwest. But I do believe that they could work with you if you lived elsewhere - they certainly have transported kitties to other places to be adopted!
But don't just take my word for it - Chrystal herself has posted about them today. Visit her blog for more details, at http://dogsandcats.typepad.com/blog/2011/03/how-to-celebrate-dogs.html (With apologies to Chrystal for blatantly stealing her photos.)
For the story of TRIPLE rescue of these girls (first from the snowstorm, also from starvation, then from mange) see the following:
http://dogsandcats.typepad.com/blog/2010/03/sylvia-part-iii.html. The story begins here, but keep reading the posts immediately afterward to see more.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Quirks
We all have quirks/faults. My blood sugar tends to run low, and as a result, I can get extremely irritable if someone gets between me and a meal. I also snore, and under the right circumstances, usually if I learn that an animal or child has been harmed, have a hair-trigger temper. (No, I don't beat people with bricks or anything. I'm much more civilized than that. But oh can I rant.)
Our animals are no exception, and anyone who has an animal could probably list a TON of quirks... hopefully mostly benign, but probably some less so. I don't mind my animals' quirks for the most part. It's just part of who they are.
1. Charlotte will flip over onto her back while using the upright scratching post, showing me her round belly.
2. Bit tries to sharpen her claws on my leg. (This one less benign than others.)
3. Bit is the only cat I've ever had that lets you hold her on her back, cradled in your arms like a baby.
4. Annie tries to lick Vicks Vaporub off of you if you've recently applied it. If you prevent her, she will just wait until you go to sleep before making her move. I'm serious. She's relentless.
5. Argos would seriously rather be with us than eating his meals. I think that he would happily starve himself into a skeleton if we didn't intervene. He makes me play a game, in which I scoop up a handful of his food and pretend like I'm eating it. Then he'll become more interested in eating.
6. Charlotte likes plastic bags. She will roll on them, stick her head inside of them, and lick them, purring like a crazy lady the entire time. (No, I don't leave her unattended with them.)
7. Bit comes to tell me whenever there's something strange going on in the house. Now, this is Bit's definition of strange, so she might just be telling me about a fat stinkbug lying on the floor in the hall. But she did come to "tell" me that my husband had left in the middle of the night once. (The IDEA was that he would sleep on the couch and quietly leave so that I wouldn't have to wake up. Bit had other ideas.)
8. Argos will stand and stare at someone, even a guest, if they're sitting on "his" spot on the couch.
9. Romeo doesn't suffer an empty food dish gladly - and if you do not move quickly enough, will start shredding and eating paper products instead.
10. Bit hordes things in little stashes throughout the house. Usually these stashes contain my slipper socks.
Our animals are no exception, and anyone who has an animal could probably list a TON of quirks... hopefully mostly benign, but probably some less so. I don't mind my animals' quirks for the most part. It's just part of who they are.
1. Charlotte will flip over onto her back while using the upright scratching post, showing me her round belly.
2. Bit tries to sharpen her claws on my leg. (This one less benign than others.)
3. Bit is the only cat I've ever had that lets you hold her on her back, cradled in your arms like a baby.
4. Annie tries to lick Vicks Vaporub off of you if you've recently applied it. If you prevent her, she will just wait until you go to sleep before making her move. I'm serious. She's relentless.
5. Argos would seriously rather be with us than eating his meals. I think that he would happily starve himself into a skeleton if we didn't intervene. He makes me play a game, in which I scoop up a handful of his food and pretend like I'm eating it. Then he'll become more interested in eating.
6. Charlotte likes plastic bags. She will roll on them, stick her head inside of them, and lick them, purring like a crazy lady the entire time. (No, I don't leave her unattended with them.)
7. Bit comes to tell me whenever there's something strange going on in the house. Now, this is Bit's definition of strange, so she might just be telling me about a fat stinkbug lying on the floor in the hall. But she did come to "tell" me that my husband had left in the middle of the night once. (The IDEA was that he would sleep on the couch and quietly leave so that I wouldn't have to wake up. Bit had other ideas.)
8. Argos will stand and stare at someone, even a guest, if they're sitting on "his" spot on the couch.
9. Romeo doesn't suffer an empty food dish gladly - and if you do not move quickly enough, will start shredding and eating paper products instead.
10. Bit hordes things in little stashes throughout the house. Usually these stashes contain my slipper socks.
Update on Sprite
For those who read my previous post about Sprite the Kerfluffled Kitty and her troubles in finding a home, I have good news! She was adopted over the weekend. If all goes well, she's in her forever home, and her people will work to help her get over her trust issues.
Yay, Sprite!
Yay, Sprite!
Sunday, March 6, 2011
Like Dark Chocolate
I just found a blog entry made about a cat in need of a home, at the Animal Rescue League here in Western Pennsylvania. Her name is Sprite. http://arlcatlady.wordpress.com/2011/03/05/sprite-the-kerfluffled-kitty-behind-bars-again/. And I think that she is gorgeous. Her eyes - I have a weakness for expressive kitty eyes.
But if you read that blog post about Sprite, you'll see that she has some issues that make her a "special case" and as most of us know, special cases have a difficult time getting adopted sometimes. It's heart-breaking but true. But my guess is that most of her issues could be dealt with over time - as long as she was out of the shelter and into someone's home, that is.
It's natural to want a "turn-key" pet, that you just have to bring home, and immediately settles in and makes friends with everyone. And it IS refreshing when that happens. This happened to us with Argos, and really with Bit, since she was a kitten at the time that we got her.
But my Annie and Romeo were both "diamonds in the rough" and needed a little patience before they could be good pets. They were like dark chocolate, something a little bitter in the beginning, perhaps not as sweet as you might like... (and you wondered where I was going with that title, didn't you?)
But that changes with time. Sprite nipping and taking swings at people? Romeo did that a lot when we first got him. There was about a month that I was extremely leery about approaching him for any reason. He's gotten much better about it. He may nip gently, without breaking skin, VERY occasionally, and it's usually when he's been petted for a long time, or if he doesn't know what you're doing to him. Most of the time, he's a gentle, loving cat.
Being afraid to be held? Annie was like that. Little street cat that she was, she had little opportunity to see the kindness in humans, and was TERRIFIED to be held. She'd claw and scratch and wail until you put her back down. Two years later... Annie is my best lap cat.
Sprite needs someone to adopt her and give her time. Not many people are adept at savoring the taste of dark chocolate when so many sweeter varieties are out there. But it's so very rewarding when you can learn to do so. Every time that Annie jumps into my lap, I can feel an enormous sense of satisfaction that the little spooky cat that we adopted has become the perfect family cat. Every time Romeo leans into my hand as I scratch his neck, while purring and making "happy feets" on the chair cushion, I can know that not everyone would have tolerated his stroppy ways in the beginning, but that he is now a happy cat.
It does sound like she would need to be an only cat - but that's fantastic that she is at least "neutral" about dogs. Does a household with a dog want to add a single cat? My prediction is, if you are able to be patient and let her deal with the household on her own terms, that Sprite will adapt just fine.
But if you read that blog post about Sprite, you'll see that she has some issues that make her a "special case" and as most of us know, special cases have a difficult time getting adopted sometimes. It's heart-breaking but true. But my guess is that most of her issues could be dealt with over time - as long as she was out of the shelter and into someone's home, that is.
It's natural to want a "turn-key" pet, that you just have to bring home, and immediately settles in and makes friends with everyone. And it IS refreshing when that happens. This happened to us with Argos, and really with Bit, since she was a kitten at the time that we got her.
But my Annie and Romeo were both "diamonds in the rough" and needed a little patience before they could be good pets. They were like dark chocolate, something a little bitter in the beginning, perhaps not as sweet as you might like... (and you wondered where I was going with that title, didn't you?)
But that changes with time. Sprite nipping and taking swings at people? Romeo did that a lot when we first got him. There was about a month that I was extremely leery about approaching him for any reason. He's gotten much better about it. He may nip gently, without breaking skin, VERY occasionally, and it's usually when he's been petted for a long time, or if he doesn't know what you're doing to him. Most of the time, he's a gentle, loving cat.
Being afraid to be held? Annie was like that. Little street cat that she was, she had little opportunity to see the kindness in humans, and was TERRIFIED to be held. She'd claw and scratch and wail until you put her back down. Two years later... Annie is my best lap cat.
Sprite needs someone to adopt her and give her time. Not many people are adept at savoring the taste of dark chocolate when so many sweeter varieties are out there. But it's so very rewarding when you can learn to do so. Every time that Annie jumps into my lap, I can feel an enormous sense of satisfaction that the little spooky cat that we adopted has become the perfect family cat. Every time Romeo leans into my hand as I scratch his neck, while purring and making "happy feets" on the chair cushion, I can know that not everyone would have tolerated his stroppy ways in the beginning, but that he is now a happy cat.
It does sound like she would need to be an only cat - but that's fantastic that she is at least "neutral" about dogs. Does a household with a dog want to add a single cat? My prediction is, if you are able to be patient and let her deal with the household on her own terms, that Sprite will adapt just fine.
Thursday, March 3, 2011
Rescuers at Heart
Dear Mom and Dad,
There is a cat in the utility room. I found him begging
for food in the McDonald's parking lot, and decided to bring
him home. I hope that you don't mind! He's really nice and
has a loud purr, so I'm calling him Harley.
I'll be back at midnight!
Love, Mel
This was the note taped to the front door when my parents got home one Saturday evening. I was sixteen years old, and already showing the signs of being a rescuer at heart. Granted, it was not MY largesse that I was being generous with. Though my parents owned 30 acres of land in Missouri farm country: if anyone could take on an extra cat, we could.
Only... about six months earlier, I had rescued a kitten. A classmate told us sadly that her father, a farmer, was going to kill a litter of kittens if they didn't find homes; they had far too many cats already. Well, I of course agreed to rid them of one of those kittens, so drove to her farm after school with my brother, and picked out a little black fluffball that we named Suki. Only to find out the week after that they had managed to find homes for all but one, who was going to die that night. Back I went to her farm, and took away Wendy, a little tabby.
Two years before that, I spent some time working at my aunt's Colorado ranch for a summer, with the idea that for my help, I would get to keep one of her surplus horses. I did come back with that horse... a lovely quarter horse mare, PLUS a pregnant Appaloosa for my brother, twenty ducks, a bird dog, and two survivor kittens. (The kittens were the only survivors of an entire feral litter that was attacked by an enraged tomcat. They were inexplicably white long-hairs with blue eyes.)
I'm not telling these stories to illustrate that I am a great and wonderful rescuer (because I'm not) - but to make a little bit of fun of myself - I have the willpower of a noodle when it comes to little (and big) furry faces. This is why it would be a bad idea for me to work at a shelter. I KNOW what would happen. All someone has to do to reduce me to tears is to mention that an animal's time in the shelter is "running out," or that poor Fido or Leo has been in a cage for months and months. Yeah, I would have a houseful of animals in no time flat. You know, a houseful being more than my current houseful.
I was fortunate; as a young teenager, that my parents had the space to keep these animals, and really, the desire to let them stay on even if I did have to endure some teasing about my err... tendencies to bring them home. We had the means to take care of them, and we did. (Though life in the country was and is a whole lot rougher on the animals than what my current pampered pets are used to.) Now I live in the city, and while I can do a lot for the animals that I take in, I am limited to 5. I try to focus my rescue efforts into finding animals OTHER homes besides my own now.
Many, many of you are true animal rescuers, some of us are more "concerned amateurs," but it is a labor of love for all of us, and we all have our stories about how we got started. And I love hearing the stories! Let me know how you got interested in rescue!
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