Tweeter needs to find a new home!

Without going into too much detail, which would reveal too much personal information, the short story on this sweet cat is that she is being displaced during a hostile divorce, in which her life was literally at great risk. Here is the email I received from her owner, Jean, giving a brief description of Tweeter:

Tweeter is not quite 2 years old yet, her birthday is on March 20, near as we can tell. Born in Camden County, Georgia, she was rescued at the tender age of 4 weeks, and saved from certain death by a parasitic infection - a severe case of coccidia.

Here is a recent photo:

We are looking for any options that will allow this cat to live a happy life. I have offered to take Tweeter in myself, but that will require a transport from southeast Georgia to western Nebraska.

Another (probably preferable) option is to find her a new furever home right there in Georgia, eliminating the need to arrange a long, potentially complicated, transport.

Tweet or email me if you have questions. (@drbert, or rescue.r3j@gishpuppy.com)

Good News - Bad News, but Mostly Good

The bad news is, I'm not getting this kitty now. But the good news is great: She's been adopted along the way. The rescuer who arranged the transport has a friend whose son has been looking for a cat. He was originally going to drive the final transport leg to me, but fell in love with "Skittles" when he met her, and asked if he could keep her. I agreed, since he's been OK'd (pre-approved by rescue anyway), and I'm not in the "collecting" business. Just a last hope sanctuary, basically. Still, if I had not spoken up to guarantee this one a home, she would have been euthanized that day. At least I got her out of the pound! Now I have room for the next emergency. By the way, Skittles is now named Olive, and things are working out very well.

Getting Rid of Ear Mites

Many pets can get ear mites, but it seems to be most common in cats, and to a somewhat lesser extent, in dogs. I don't know what the percentages are, but my dogs seem to be more bothered with yeast infections and the cats suffer more with ear mites.

Either way, I found a great remedy, called Dr. Dogs Ear Oil. All natural ingredients, it can be used on people, too. Not that we get ear mites, but it helps some human ear problems, too.

We have a lot of cats here, so it's a circus rounding them up for their drops. And while some of them have gotten used to it and just endure the "ordeal," others still think I'm trying to kill them and hide when they see the bottle coming their way.

  Notice the looks on these kitties' faces! The first one is Georgia, then Carmen.



  And this is Toledo.

The great thing is, this is something that's finally working. I can't tell you how many cases of ear miticide bottles we've gone through, mostly for nothing. And the cost... good grief.

I'm just grateful to Dr. Dogs for providing a remedy that works, and without side effects.

Georgia is a Sink Cat!

Not only does Georgia love being in all the sinks here, but she also loves the bath tub... even when I'm in it! But the only pictures I have here to share with you are the sink shots. It's hard to take a picture of Georgia sitting on my legs in the bathtub. (Like that's the only reason I don't have one.)



  



It's easy to imagine why she enjoys the bathtub, because she plays in there so often... sort of like a skateboard ramp. And she doesn't even need a toy to create so much fun. But the sink? Not much room to play, though she seems to have fun squirming around in it. I think it's because it's cooler. The weather has been so hot this summer, all the cats have located cooler spots to snooze in all day. There's only one window air conditioning unit here, and the dogs have claimed the floor in front of it, so only the cats who don't mind canine proximity share that premium space.

Georgia likes the dogs OK, but they won't play, so she just sighs and darts back to the bathtub.

Message from Georgia kitty

Yep, I'm still here. I still dart around the house pretty often, but it's getting hot out now and the other cats prefer to lounge around. What wimps they are. So I have to chase the invisible ghost cats most of the time. We have fun, but I like it when mom plays with me and my toys.



Here I am resting by the front door. Don't be fooled by my relaxed look, though. I'm really ready to pounce on something when it's least expected. I do it all the time!

Radar... the Best Cat Ever

Cats like Radar don't come along very often. His extraordinary intelligence must account for his survival as a stray in a very small town in a rural area where strays are usually shot, not gathered up by animal control and impounded. So when neighbors called to tell me he was about to be shot, I knew I had to save him.

Read the rest of Radar's story here...

Latest From Georgia

[Dictated by Georgia the cat:]

Purrs to all my furiends out there. Life is good here at Dr.Bert's house. She lets me have anything I want... most of the time. She doesn't like it when I scratch the woodwork by the front door though. But I don't think much of the scratching post. The other cats have left their scents all over it. She promised me a new one, so we'll see how that goes.

Meanwhile, she's always taking pictures of me. I'm so tired of that flash thingie... makes me blink a lot.

Here I am relaxing in the living room, tolerating yet another photo session. And take note, my one white whisker has finally fallen out. I've also grown a lot in the last 6 months. I'm bigger than Ebony now, so we don't play much anymore. And my hair has become quite long, so I have to put up with being brushed all the time. Oh well... it's "mommy time" and I can manage it for a few minutes.



Purrs, y'all!

Stamps to the Rescue!

I've been hoping for more pet related stamps from the post office, ever since those Spay-Neuter stamps a few years ago. And now... here they are!

The U.S. Postal Service has partnered with Ellen DeGeneres and Halo: Purely For Pets to provide a million meals for pets in shelters around the U.S. by selling Adopt a Shelter Pet stamps.

The stamps go on sale April 28, but can be preordered now at http://stampstotherescue.com. The goal of this campaign is to raise awareness of the plight of millions of animals in shelters that need good homes. About half of all animals that end up in shelters are euthanized every year.

Most of them would have made great pets, if only they'd been given a chance. We all can make a difference by participating in this effort.

You can help by volunteering at a shelter, donating to one, adopting a pet, or just getting the word out by buying these new stamps.

These stamps feature photos of 5 cats (shown above) and 5 dogs, who all came from shelters and were adopted by caring new owners. The adopted pets featured on the stamps were discovered in New Milford, CT by photographer Sally Anderson-Bruce. All had been homeless but now have wonderful new homes.

Updates on Georgia kitty

Here she is again, still playing her heart out. Georgia has lit up our lives here and gotten some of the old-timer kitties off the couch to play with her.


   


Georgia uses the bathtub like a skateboard ramp, then relaxes on the dogs' blanket in the living room. And, if you can make it out in the photo, you can see she still has that one white whisker!

Playful Georgia is at it again!

This playful kitty is all about making every day as much fun as possible. While not all cats are sensitive to catnip, Georgia seems to be especially so. It's her favorite thing to do, although chasing other cats is high on her list as well. Some of them return the attention, and others just run to another room and wait until she's "calmed down."


Here she is rolling in it!

She loves everyone and will play with anybody and anything. What a nut. A truly loveable cat!

In Memory of Miss Tiffany

Tiffany was a gorgeous orange Persian mix I rescued in 2003 from a hoarding house. I got 40 cats out of there that day and Tiff was probably one of the many mama kitties. Half of the cats had to be put down immediately due to disease, deformities and suffering. Of the 20 I took home, about 5 died somewhat soon afterward, over the next couple of weeks.


Tiffany, in her prime

The rest were adopted or simply stayed with me. Then the older ones passed on, one by one, leaving only two: Tiffany and Rufus. You can see Rufus on my rescue site, here: http://www.hipaws.com/aboutcats2.html. He's the pale orange one with 6 toes on front. He's quite the cat, and so was Tiffany.

Sadly, she showed up positive for FIV two years ago. Not sure why, as none of the others did. So she ended up getting her own room, but she was lonely in there. So I agreed to take in others like her so she would have roommates, and soon she was living with another FIV cat, and two with leukemia. All of them died, too, of course, but Tiffany was the ultimate survivor.

I'm not sure how old she was, but she was not a young cat when I got her. My best guess is that she was close to 15 but it wouldn't be a surprise if she were 20. She was always a good eater, and because she had lost all but a few teeth, she had mostly canned food, with occasional meat morsels, cut small. She couldn't do dry kibble toward the end.

Yesterday she had not touched her dinner from the night before, and did not show any interest in eating her breakfast now. I knew her time was close, then. And later in the day, when I went to check on her, there she lay, by her bowls. I just wish I had checked sooner. There was nothing I could have done, except to soothe her and say goodbye as she exited this life...

Thanks to everyone who sent sympathies. Yes, she will be missed for quite some time. She was a gorgeous girl, and so sweet.