A home for the holidays!

For anyone interested, I thought I'd post an update to my earlier post about my most recent foster cats. I am so happy to say that they have found their forever home which just happens to be a woman a work with. I could hardly believe it when she told me she wanted to adopt them BOTH.

What a great success story and I know they are in a wonderful, loving home. So, no more living on the streets or abuse for these little wonders.

Oh, and I get visitation rights!!!

I get my next set of fosters on the 23rd and will have them over the holidays. It's a set of 3 young, tortoise-shell calicos. I'll post pics once I get them.

How could anyone do this?

A few weeks ago, a got a new foster kitty. Her name is Brenda, but I call her Mama Bear (because I'm also fostering her son). Here's an pic of the 2 of them (Mama Bear on the left, Bruno on the right):

When I got Mama Bear, one of the heads of our rescue, Res-Q-Pets, let me know that she had a limp and a swollen paw that had been injured prior to her being rescued a couple months earlier. She has been to the vet and had her wounds treated and the vet said it looked like something had been wrapped around her paw real tight (like string, wire, or a rubberband). So, we were waiting to see how it healed.

Fast forward about a week, I get home after being away overnight, I pick Mama Bear up and notice something on her nearly black little paw. I could hardly believe my eyes when I realized that she had a rubberband coming out of her paw!!! Well, I immediately was furious and emailed Lisa and asked her what we needed to do. Within a couple days, Mama Bear was taken to the vet, sedated, and the vet removed an ENTIRE RUBBERBAND from inside her paw. It had been wrapped around her paw several times, evidence that it was done by a person and not just something she had tripped into. Here's a pic of her paw after removal of the rubberband.

So, my question is, who in the world would possibly do this to a helpless creature?!? You have to understand, Mama Bear is one of the sweetest cats I've ever had the pleasure to care for. I just really don't understand what goes through a person's mind to think they even have the right to hurt another creature, especially those that are smaller. Do they not realize that God's put His creatures in our care?

Anyways, Mama Bear is only ~1-1/2 years old and spent who knows how long on the streets of Trenton in one of the worst neighborhoods, yet her demeanor is still so gentle and loving. I had a greater part in her rescue than I have with other of my fosters and I feel a great sense of joy to know that I've helped in even the smallest of ways. Now, 2 weeks past her little surgery, Mama Bear has virtually NO limp, her paw is normal size, and she now stands correctly on it. There is evidence of some permanent damage in that she doesn't put out her claws on that paw and it seems to be a little bit twisted, but none of that seems to ever bother her and she no longer seems to have any pain or discomfort. With that, I think this is a true success story!!!

Oh, and there is someone at my work who is thinking of adopting her so double bonus if that all works out!!!

Wordless Wednesday - My boys

Since I can't seem to get in gear with posting to my blog, here's a Wordless Wednesday for you.

For those of you who know about "B", this is an interesting picture since he's ALLERGIC TO CATS!!! The two cats are my current ~6-month-old fosters, named Colby (all black) and Pepperjack (a little white on neck and belly).

If I could keep Colby and Pepperjack, I totally would, but they make "B" sneeze (sniff, sniff). If you know of anyone looking for a couple wonderful, loving, fun, and entertaining cats, please drop me a note.

Join in the fun on this Wordless Wednesday!

How do you kill the time while 10+ hours in the car?

You crochet cat toys, of course (as long as you're not prone to car sickness that is). Well, really I only crocheted during some of the 2 to 3 hour stints when I WASN'T driving:)

So how did I decide this would be a good car riding activity? I've often brought crocheting along when I've been a passenger in lengthy car rides and I've had a project due. But this time I was inspired by the pet rescue that I volunteer with (Res-Q-Pets), which is participating in the Plainsboro Flea Market on September 20th (in Plainsboro, NJ). They will be selling homemade goodies, most of which they want to be usable by pets. So I decided to offer up my services.

I elected to spend my time crocheting stuffed mouse toys with catnip inside. Well, of course I didn't bring the catnip and stuffing along so I crocheted each mouse up to the point of stuffing (which is literally up to its ears). During the trip south and back and between locations (combining to ~28 hours on the road) with me driving about 40% of the time and sleeping or just observing another ~20% of the time, I managed to crank out 23 mice (up to the ears).

I have since finished stuffing them all and have done the last bit of stitching on a few.

This was a great way to make the driving time go by quickly. However, I do caution anyone who tries this...make sure you look up at the scenery every couple minutes and take a break every once in awhile. Otherwise, it gets difficult to focus far off and you might even get a little dizzy.

If you are interested in making your own mouse toys, click here for the free pattern. They only take about 20 minutes or so to make each one, once you get the hang of it.