Done!

On a personal note, I finished my first year of medical school today :)

I sent an email a few days ago to check in with Diego's family. I of course don't want to bother them, but it had been about a week so I wanted to see how everything was going. Below is the reply I got!

"Diego is still perfect! No behavior issues at all :) After about the third day with him he started chirping and trilling when he comes up to us for petting or while he follows us around to see what we're doing, so he's actually pretty vocal! And he's sooo snuggly, and always curious and entertaining. He's really made our house feel complete. My boyfriend said he doesn't know how we got along so long without him, and I feel the same way. He's really a dream cat! We love him so much and we're so happy we found him!

I've attached my favorite picture of him in his favorite box :)"



I have been emailing back and forth with a woman about my new cat Pen Pal, Bailey, but she hasn't been replying fast enough so maybe she is busy, who knows!

The kittens are still a bit sneezy but they're being placed at a local adoption center (with meds!) tomorrow morning. Horray!!

ET + Lacey Photoshoot

I had a bit of free time (gasp!) this weekend, and the weather was beautiful which means open windows and occupied cats. I was able to snap a few nice shots of them, featured below. I'm interested in photography and definitely would love to take some classes in the future to really learn how to work with light :)











I was finally able to volunteer for a few hours at The Cube yesterday, and it was great to be back. We didn't have a ton of cats (~30 I think) but I imagine that is because there are now several other clinics operating in the city. As long as they are getting spayed/neutered, I don't care where they go! We did have one kitty come in that a local rescuer took in the night before when a house burned down. I'm not sure exactly how she got the cat, but she said that a firefighter pulled her out of the house and brought her to safety. She got a few hours of oxygen at the Cube but was having tremors and he balance was very off. I really hope she recovers... she is a calico like Lacey, and I have a soft spot for sick calicos ;)

There also was a huge (I think record-breaking) adoption event called "With Love- Super Adoption Day" sponsored by Citizens for a No-Kill Philadelphia held in the city yesterday. I didn't attend, but from what I've heard it was a great day with a fabulous turnout. I believe ACCT had 2 dogs adopted from the event and several more with serious interest in them. Hurray!



I had planned to go to an adoption event today at a local park with ACCT, but the weather is crummy so we canceled it :( The last one I was scheduled to go to was canceled as well, so I'm pretty bummed. Guess that just means I have the morning to study now... ugh! I am going to the shelter later this afternoon to walk a few dogs and attend a dog-handling seminar. While I'm pretty comfortable handling dogs, I definitely need to learn some training tips :)

Another Diego Update

I woke up this morning to find another email from Diego's adopter. I'm just so happy for him. I went to the shelter to take the foster kittens in for their sniffles and saw that his cage had been filled. 2 lives saved. It's amazing.

"Diego has been completely charming. He's really a great looking cat, especially now that he's all cleaned up and brushed and relaxed. He looks like a little gray tiger :) We had a few friends over to meet him and he was sociable and sweet, saying hello to everyone. He's just so perfect. He comes whenever we call him, and is such a cuddler! He's exactly what we needed, and my boyfriend is totally thrilled with him which is great since it's his first pet :) He's found a bit more of his voice and has meowed a couple of times, once at the wall (I guess he thought he saw something) and once when we made eye contact from across the room and I said "Hi, Diego" :) And he is very into the laser pointer. He keeps looking for it long after we turn it off.

We are so happy with him. He's everything we wanted in a cat! Thank you so much, without your craigslist ad we wouldn't have found such a wonderful pet. I've attached some pictures of him being cuddly and awesome :)"

Below are some photos from Diego's parents. Sorry they are fuzzy- must be camera phone!





In other news, the Pen Pal who I was assigned is already being pulled by rescue! When I was at the shelter today I went in to take some photos of her and found the "Confirmed Rescue Pickup: PAWS" tag on her door. Yay for Spring! Hopefully I can be assigned another Pen Pal so I can get advertising before I leave!

That post-adoption high :)

Well, I've been horrible about updating as I've been sooo busy. Thankfully I have a few more exams behind me and have begun catching up... 2 more days of testing next week and then I'm DONE!

I finished my Gross Anatomy class yesterday after pulling an all-nighter. In fact, during my all-nighter I received an email from a woman interested in adopting my Pen Pal, Diego (see a few posts below). I had been posting on Craigslist and had listed him on Petfinder for several weeks, but got nothing but spam mail as a reply :(

The email I got was a legitimate inquiry, and this couple sounded amazing!

"My name is ____. My boyfriend and I are looking to adopt a cat. I've had cats for most of my life, but he's never lived with a pet, so we think we should get a nice, laid back older cat, someone very affectionate and easygoing. We are both artists and make our livings working from home, so our future cat will not be lonely, although we do occasionally travel we already have a cat-loving friend who has volunteered to cat-sit for us when we are out of town.

If Diego is still available, he sounds like a great fit for us. Would we be able to come and meet him tomorrow (Tuesday)?"

It sounded perfect, and although it was ~3 am we corresponded a few times and made arrangements to meet later that day, after my exam. I took my test, napped for a few hours and then headed off to the shelter. We had agreed to meet around 3pm, but by the time 3:40 had come around they didn't show up. I was worried they would be a no-show but thankfully we exchanged phone numbers before then. I put a call into them and the woman answered and said they were lost. Within a few minutes they showed up.

They had never been to the shelter before and I was concerned they would arrive and be drawn to another cat. I wouldn't have cared, of course, because a cat saved is a cat saved, but as soon as they met Diego their eyes didn't deviate in the least! It's tough to show a cat in the shelter as their isn't a great place, but we found a large storage room and let Diego roam and interact. The woman had said that they would likely "sleep on it" after meeting him, but within about 20 minutes they were in love, adopting him, and even made a donation to the shelter.

A few hours later, I received this email:

"Wow, Diego is amazing. He was very good in the car, and then had absolutely no fear or nervousness at all in our house. He's just walking around, checking things out, stopping for a cuddle break, then on to more exploring. No adjustment time at all, it's his place already! He's fantastic!"

And after another few hours, this one:

"Yep, he's eating his food (he seems to like an audience for that) and drinking water just fine, loves the cardboard scratching thing we got him, and has been walking back and forth between my boyfriend's and my computers to get some scritches, and is already following us from room to room to make sure we're ok :) He did love the brush and it really brought out his gorgeous stripes! And he was totally fine when we went out to buy his food and get dinner, came back and no surprizes, he'd just taken a nap while we were gone, and he did not care at all when I put a collar on him... He's so easygoing this whole process has been unbelievable, I thought it'd take days to get to this point."

I'm ecstatic. What a high to know you've helped a needy shelter kitty hit the jack pot. Diego's "case" exemplified exactly what the Pen Pal program is about... showcasing fabulous cats who would otherwise get overlooked in the shelter setting. I'm so happy, and hope that I continue to receive more updates from Diego's new parents.

I have just been assigned another Pen Pal. Although I'll only be in Philly for... 10 more days (yikes!), hopefully I can get photos and advertisements running for her and then someone can easily step in after I leave.

In other news, my "zoo" is doing well. ET had a nasty cold of sorts for a few days earlier in the week, but he seems to be over that by now. I'm going on vacation for a bit after school is over and I'm in the process of arranging things with a pet sitter so that ET and Lacey don't have to be boarded at the vet. I think it will work out great.

Thanks for reading :)

Litter #3

Here are photos of my third litter of foster kittens. They've been on the verge of getting a cold, so I've held off placing them at an adoption center yet. I'm going to try to give them extra food, be diligent about cleaning, and hope that they feel better quickly so I don't have to put them on medication (which takes time and is hard on their little stomachs).

The longhaired black female and the "classic" thick-striped tabby male are littermates. The tabby female was a singleton surrendered by her owners. They were put together after their surgeries and although the singleton was left out for a few days, now they are all best friends :)

Argggg

Things have been very busy. Yesterday I arrived home from my reunion out of state (huge thanks to Laura and Alex for watching my crew!) to an email saying that my 4 kittens had found placement! I had the option to take them to the shop right then or to wait until today. I opted to bring them right away. I had never been to this pet shop before, but they had about 5 adult cats (some from ACCT, others rescued by neighbors from the streets) and 2 cute crates set up for my kittens. We put Male #1 and Female #2 together and then the remaining 2 together. They settled right in, eating and drinking and playing with their adult cat neighbors across the bars. Male #2 was doing quite a bit of meowing, as usual!

So not being able to stand the bathroom empty, I picked up 3 post-op kittens this afternoon. 2 are littermates, the third was a singleton. They are now sleeping soundly and working off the anesthesia in my bathroom!

I emailed the woman who coordinated Ruby and Lilly's placement as it has been a few weeks and I hadn't heard anything. I guess she called the vet's office and received word that they all (meaning Ruby and Lilly and the other 2 kittens that were placed with them) had ringworm. Sigh. I guess they didn't know who brought it as they were all housed together. I doubt it came from my girls, but who knows. Very frustrating... they are now well out of that "cute" stage and I fear it will make it more difficult for them to be adopted. Thankfully the vet is willing to treat them and keep them there, so I guess they are being the sweethearts I know they are.

Back to studying. Ugh.

Foster Litter #2 has arrived!!

The babies are doing great. They were a little off and grumbly yesterday when I brought them home, but after a night here they are getting settled. I let them out of the crate after kitten re-kitten-proofing the bathroom as having 4 in that crate really was too much.

I'm exhausted, so I will just post some pictures and let the little ones speak for themselves :)

First night, curled up in the litter box!!



Female 1



Male 1



Male 2 - a mini-ET!



Female 2



Giving Boy 1 some snuggles :)

I've got a disease

It goes way beyond kitten fever.

Lilly and Ruby left Saturday to go to a vet's office about 30 min away where they will be adopted :) . The vet's office is in a very nice area so hopefully they will find a loving, forever home. The woman who helped arrange their placement keeps in regular contact with the office and will let me know as soon as she hears an update. While it is unlikely they will be adopted together now, I have my fingers crossed that they will at least go to multi-cat homes so they will remain well socialized!

I disinfected my whole bathroom today, the crate, litter boxes, etc. Then I went to the shelter... I'm only in Philly for 3 more weeks so I asked if they needed <3 week foster. The director said "how about 1 week?" which of course would be perfect. She then showed me 4 little gray and white fluffballs, 2 males and 2 females. They are going to be spayed and neutered tomorrow, and I will pick them up in the evening. Basically I will just help with their socialization and make sure they recover in a healthy environment. She said that often times kittens get sick if they remain in the shelter after surgery which makes total sense as the surgery depresses their immune system.

I will keep them for about 7 days and then they will go to an AMAZING pet supply shop/adoption center called Buzzy's Bow Wow Meow. It's actually one of my favorite places to go as they have amazing, high quality supplies and the owner strongly believes in adoption and is always hosting adoption fairs and rescue groups in addition to keeping 2 rooms of kittens, who they say they can barely keep "in stock"! So these little ones will make a quick stopover in my place (I've become a bit of a halfway house apparently!) to ensure a healthy recovery... then I will clean the bathroom again, still have 2 more weeks left, and maybe I can squeeze in a few more rescues!!

The shelters truly are overflowing, and getting these guys out not only means they will recover quickly, but it means that they free up another cage which they desperately need. I was very overwhelmed with sadness and stress the last time I went to the shelter, but this time it was much more positive. I walked about 10 dogs and one that I was walking was spotted by a family, who then adopted him! YAY!! I am relatively new to rescue compared to many people who volunteer and work at the shelter, but it's little moments like those (and like rescuing a sick cat like Lacey or these little kittens) that show a light at the end of a tunnel, a reason why we do what we do and put so much into it.