Tuesday, April 28, 2020

Precious Metal Prints Nose Print Necklace of Muffin's Nose


A silver pendant with a nose print  in a box

Way too long ago I purchased a kit to make a nose print necklace from a promotion Precious Metal Prints did. I bought it with the intention of making a noseprint of Jack, but when the kit arrived we were attempting to sell a home and it sat in a pile of "these aren't bills" mail that got stuck in a box and I didn't uncover it until long after we moved and Jack was gone.

I was heartbroken and I wasn't sure what to do with it and then one day Muffin came up and stuck her nose in my ear for the millionth time and it seemed most appropriate to use her nose instead.

The kit came with what looked a bit like a contact lens case with a two-part white and blue silicone epoxy. You mix it together with your fingers until it is a uniform color and then "smoosh" your cat's nose in it (or dog, or whatever you would like)

I was least comfortable with that part, as Muffin wasn't feeling well at the time and the last thing I wanted to do was make her more so. The first time I tried I got a decent impression but she moved unexpectedly and I ruined the impression.

They warn you that the silicone sets up quickly, and I was able to try a second time which came out poorly so I tried a third. By that third time, it was becoming less pliable and so I decided to go with it, which is why the print isn't quite as defined as I would have liked.

I packed it back up in the packaging they sent along with it and sent it off. They returned it pretty promptly and I was thrilled with it.

the backside of a silver nose print pendant  from Precious Metals Prints
The back of the pendant
a close up of my cat's nose print necklace
a close up of the nose print pendant


I wore it for a few days after Muffin passed, but I remembered what happened to Susan Willett at a conference we went to a few years ago when a pendant she had for her blog Life with Dogs and Cats fell off and she lost it. I could not bear the idea of losing this and she was gone and I could not get another, so I have stored it away with her other keepsakes.


I am posting now because they have a 25% off sale currently going on if you use the discount code PETS that I found on their Facebook page. As of today, the price for a silver pendant is $79.99 with the code bringing it down to $60. They also have a gold option which is $109.99.

This is not a sponsored post. I bought the necklace and I thought it was something you would enjoy learning about and possibly buying for your own nose print. They also do fingerprints if you have a loved one you would like a keepsake of.

Saturday, April 25, 2020

The unannounced foster - Suri


Last month I saw a post by a kind of local rescue group on Facebook asking if anyone was willing to foster a kitty with chronic diarrhea. She was a nine-year-old kitty and the owners took the kitty to the vet multiple times trying to fix the problem and couldn't so they elected to rehome the kitty instead.

One look at that face on that post, and you KNEW I was a gonner..

*Not the actual FB photo

I mean, seriously..

Since I have a history of "curing" uncontrollable diarrhea with diet change alone, I literally didn't think twice about it. I saw that someone else had reached out to foster, so I figured it was superfluous, but still, I raised my hand and said I was available, even though I totally wasn't (my foster room was full)

Not sure how it all worked out, but I found myself driving nearly an hour and a half to pick her up at the vet. Not that I minded one little bit


When I met Suri, she climbed right up on my shoulder and snuggled in. Whenever I would hold her that is where she wanted to be. She had been suffering from diarrhea for over a year and was down to just under five and a half pounds. She was obviously tired and not feeling well but she was an absolute love. She had also been shaved due to some pretty severe matting. She still had some on the bits that were left long and we worked on those in the weeks that I had her.

The vet recommended food they didn't have on hand and medications they didn't have on hand, so I packed her up and brought her home and got her what she needed. Unfortunately, the food that was recommended she could not eat. I don't know why, as I was told she was kibble fed prior, but when she put it in her mouth it simply fell out (the vet said her teeth were fine). I offered her a can of food to see if it was the kibble that was the issue or if she just wasn't hungry and she scarfed the can down so fast she threw it right back up. It was then that I started her on the "Connie's protocol for diarrhea of unknown reasons" aka raw food. I was very fortunate that she loved it and took to it right away since she was nine years old and had a history of eating kibble and older kitties have a well-earned reputation of being "picky*" when it comes to food.

*they aren't being picky, it is a long complex set of survival skills, often combined with foods sprayed with flavorings that have actually been shown to be addicting. It is very complicated and picky is just too simple of a word, but this is a whole 'nother post, so "picky" will do.


Unfortunately, my homemade raw chicken diet didn't seem to help. She did put on a little weight, but the litter box was still far from good. Years ago, I had another kitty with gross stools and the holistic vet I worked with at the time recommended food with either pork or white fish because they were better for this sort of thing. (Honestly, I don't remember exactly what she said, if it was better digestible, or if they were "cooling" foods, etc.. she was awesome but it was a VERY long time ago) so I thought I would try a raw pork diet. Suri took to this as well.

In a few short days, there was marked improvement. Not great, but no longer puddles and the obnoxious amounts of gas in her digestive tract, that you could hear rolling through, were gone. She thrived on the diet, producing a solid looking stool pretty quickly after starting it and getting up over six and a half pounds*. I think she has a bit more healing to do and in time will put on a little more weight, but she was healthy enough to put up for adoption.

*The actual story is a little more complicated than this with a few more twists and turns and detecting to come to the conclusion I did, but this post is getting long enough and it really doesn't change things in the end


Suri continues to be a love.. I mean a "I have to have half an hour of snuggles before I will even consider eating" love. I mean a "you seriously have nothing better to do than to snuggle me so get down here now" love.

My heart both ached and rejoiced at the time I got to spend with her. Some of you might be wondering why I didn't share her with you while she was here. The truth of the matter is I simply could not bear to hear people tell me "oh, you should adopt her" or "Oh look at how much she loves you!! You can't give her up"

See, not only am I trying to not adopt right now - for several personal reasons - but because of her obvious food restrictions (we accidentally fed her chicken a couple of times and her gut had serious problems with it) she simply would not have worked out at Casa de Gato. I loved her, I love her still, I enjoyed every single solitary second with her and when time came to give her up it hurt.. badly.. (she went home with a few too many things so she would have a small bit of me for at least a little while)


Her new family reports she is loving on them as quickly as she loved on me. She was unimpressed with the family dog and found a nice sun puddle to lay in for a while. I am absolutely thrilled for her and am very glad she spent a small part of her life with me.

Saturday, April 18, 2020

Sometimes adoptions don't work out - and that is okay



Hibiscus and Rooibos are back.  They are safe, happy, and adjusted back to the room after just a few minutes. I'm glad they are here.

I know a lot of people get really emotional when cats (or pets) are adopted and then returned, but I really think those people are doing a great disservice when they attack people for doing this. Not every match is a love match, not every energy is right for every home, and no matter how you think you know a kitten, cat, puppy or dog is going to act in their new home, it doesn't always go as planned.

Being adult enough to say "this isn't working and we want what is best for us AND the pet" and taking those steps to return the animal and give it a shot at home where it will be a much better fit. Owning a pet is at least a decade long commitment and it should be a complete and utter love match.

I look at this an excellent socialization "boot camp" for these two. I hated that I could not bring other people into my home to get them used to others. I also could not really take them out to "stress" them out to give them that

So not one negative word that they are back with me.  I am sure that they will find their right home quickly and in the end, everyone will be happy. Yes, there are times that "returning a pet" will put the life of the pet in danger, but I do believe that even then it is in the pet's best interest to have that shot at another home than staying in one where it becomes an obligation and not a member of the family.

Wednesday, April 15, 2020

Interview with a fosterer - fostering in the time of a pandemic




One of my followers on Facebook, Holly, reached out to share with me that she is fostering her first set of kittens during her stay-at-home time thanks to the COVID-19. It has been so long since I have done an Interview With a Fosterer interview and I thought getting the perspective of a first time fosterer would be really interesting.

***

Introduce yourself and where do you hail from?
Hi, my name is Holly and I currently live in New York City.

What rescue group, shelter or sanctuary do you foster for and was this your first time?
I am fostering 2 adorable kittens from Bronx Tails Cat Rescue, and this is my first time as a foster mom



What prompted you to reach out to foster?
My youngest daughter and I had gone to Jackson Galaxy’s cat camp last year and we ended up adopting a sweet little tortoiseshell kitten from Bronx Tails Cat Rescue. Sadly Pidgeon passed away in September from FIP Complications and we decided that we were going to wait till kitten Season hit before possibly adopting again. When my mom saw on the news that local area shelters were in desperate need of fosters I got in touch with Bronx Tails again and asked if they needed some fosters and they said yes! I reached out to foster because I am pretty much out of work due to Covid-19. I walk dogs and cat sit for a living which is part of the reason why I love animals so much lol
About 2 weeks after the initial call we were able to bring Sully and Casey home!



How was your experience signing up to foster?
My experience reaching out to the rescue has been great. If I have any questions I can always text or call and any questions I have will be answered right away.

Are you taking any measures to help you from being too attached to the fosters?
I am trying to keep myself from becoming a “foster failure” by telling myself that goodbye is the goal and so far I am failing miserably as we have all grown very attached to the kittens.



What is most frustrating for you as a foster?
The only frustrating thing for me with fostering right now would be keeping my other cats from eating the kittens' food lol

What is most rewarding?
The most rewarding thing is definitely the love that Casey and Sully give us back on a daily basis they are literally the sweetest kittens I’ve ever met!

Do you have pets of your own? How do they respond to the foster animals?
I have 3 cats of my own currently! Siggy who is 10 and my cranky old man. Peyton who is my mini house panther she will be 5 next month! We adopted her from the ASPCA a few years ago and she is the queen of the castle And Maddox who is the baby of the three who is 2 years old and also a rescue. Maddox LOVES the kittens but can be a little too rough when he tries to clean them, Peyton will walk by the room give a hiss and walk away, Siggy is very very patient with them and will let them know gently that he has had enough of their biting his tail by a gentle hiss and running away.

From the left: Siggy, Maddox, Peyton

What advice can you give to someone who might be wanting to become a foster?
I’m trying to follow my own advice Right now but the only thing I can say is goodbye is the goal and if you keep that mentality then you should be good!

When you are not saving animals what do you like to do?
When I am not fostering I am working as a dog walker/pet sitter. When I’m not working I'm spending as much time with my teenage daughters as I can as they are hitting that phase where they think I am not cool anymore haha!


Update, it seems Holly failed in her "goodbye is the goal" and now has two new kitties in her life.



Are you a foster parent? Or have you signed on to help during the pandemic when the world is closed and you are interested in sharing your story on my blog, let me know..
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