Make Mine Chocolate

Image courtesy of Ruben the Rex

As someone who used to own rabbits, I have lent my voice and my platform for six years to the "Make Mine Chocolate" campaign which hopes to put an end to impulse purchases of rabbits and chicks as easter gifts. One of this year's memes says "You wouldn't buy a reindeer for your chid at Christmas, so why would you buy a rabbit for your child at Easter"

This is so very true. Rabbits and chicks - in fact, any animal - should never be purchased without a good deal of consideration as to what that animal needs to live and if you are ready or not to provide that.

A lot of people think that rabbits are wild creatures so they can buy them for the holiday and simply release them into the wild when they are 'done' with them. This is completely inaccurate as the rabbits you are able to purchase are domesticated and have about as much chance of surviving in the wild as your child does. To simply put them outside is abandonment - a form of animal abuse.

So many posts about rabbits at this time of year can really turn you off of owning a rabbit, and that makes me sad. Rabbits make wonderful pets and I would have one now if I wasn't quite sure that my youngest cat is a carrier of an upper respiratory disease that is fatal to rabbits. They are adorable, and fun, and they can make you laugh.

However, rabbits are prey animals and as such they aren't as snuggly as cats or dogs. It isn't that they aren't snuggly, but in a different way. They are also fragile and you need to be very careful how you handle them or you risk them breaking their back attempting to get away. Rabbits need to eat continually and have a fairly specific diet of hay and greens and as a result, they poop continually. Lastly, for this article anyway, rabbits chew on everything including baseboards, books, photo albums and electrical cords. They have to because their teeth never stop growing.

If you want a rabbit for Easter, or at any time, please do your research on reputable websites like Hopperhome.com or the House Rabbit Society. Know that you are going to need to provide them a cage/hutch for a home base, a litter box, and lots and lots of hay. Understand that rabbits need to have a vet who understands rabbits and how fragile they really are and they should be neutered. My last rabbit Bri died about 12 hours after I noticed the first symptom of her illness despite my taking her to the emergency vet. My first Rabbit Tobin lived until he was 11.

And if you aren't ready for that kind of commitment, join your voice with ours and say

Adventures in kittensitting

I am absolutely loving having these two here. It has been so interesting to get to know them after they spent time at the shelter and getting handled by so many people there. They are so much more outgoing and inquisitive that I could almost convince myself they are completely different kittens. I am so glad, and I have absolutely no concerns that they will adjust to their new home when the time comes. And they are freakin adorable in their collars.

Wryn and Sprite - adoption story

So yesterday I went to the shelter after work to see Wryn and Sprite at the shelter. I was jonesing for a little kitten love and I hoped they were still there.

I lucked out, they were still there.  When I went to see them, the staff at the adoption counter told me they all thought they were very cute, and that they had been out cuddling them all morning. I love to hear such things because I know the more these girls are handled the better it will be for them.  I went to the cage, and they were both hanging out at the bottom (which is covered with a cage cover to give them some privacy). Sprite came right to me, but I had to pull Wryn out. Both were very friendly though and enjoyed the attention and didn't seem fearful at all. It made my heart sing to see it.

I spent some time with them, and when they realized they could run in opposite directions and drive me crazy, I put Sprite back and took Wryn to the adoption counter so I could stand up and still be with her.

As I stood there a woman and her daughter came into the shelter. They came to see a pair of cats that were noted that would be good to be adopted together. Unfortunately by the time they came one of the cats had been adopted. She was looking for a pair of kitties because she previously had a pair of sisters that lived until they were 17, but they had passed a year and a half ago.  So yes, I put on the hard sell.  Apparently they had been in yesterday and saw them, and they were very interested, but the woman was moving into a new place, and for the next week or so things were going to be chaotic, and she was going out of town for Easter.

So I did what any sane kitten woman would do  - especially when she doesn't have foster kittens - I offered to kitten-sit.

She was not in a position to adopt them right then and there because the water company was coming to turn on the water, and so I confirmed my offer and gave her contact info if she wanted to take me up on it. I warned them that I didn't think the girls would last very long. And then I went home.

I wasn't home very long before I received a message from the shelter asking if it was okay to give out my contact information to the woman from before. I said it absolutely was okay, and a moment later I received a phone call asking me if the offer to kitten-sit was still on the table. I said of course it was, and I jumped up and ran to the shelter.

This time, she was there with her other daughter.

They were both so giddy at the idea of adopting kittens that it was infectious. They kept thanking me, but seeing them so happy over these two girls... well seriously, it felt like they were doing me the favor.

I actually waited around until her other daughter (the one from earlier) showed back up to snuggle the kittens some more. We swapped contact information and Facebook contacts and I told her about the webcams so they can watch them. There was talk of coming to visit, to which I said they were welcome to. And once all the paperwork was complete and all the exchange of info was done, they were afraid they were keeping me. It was so sweet, but I seriously could have stood there and watched them coo over the kittens for hours.

I mean seriously.. they were literally bending over to accommodate these kittens.  I so hope they don't mind my sharing this particular photo, but this moment totally made my day... well that and the little dance of joy they did when they walked out of the shelter.

So we packed them up and I brought them home. It took them about five minutes to relax in the room when they realized they were back and nothing had changed, they started running around and had a little snack.  Then it became apparent they were tired. Sprite climbed up on the back of the couch and started snoozing. Wryn climbed up in my lap and let me pat her. She then proceeded to lay down, and then..

This was a first.They both fell asleep on me. Once again my heart sang.

It was such a good day.

I'm not sure exactly when they will go to their new home, but it will be sometime after Easter. I know I'm in no hurry, but I bet they are.

Former Foster Friday - Belle

At the end of last month, I had completely had it with my kittyblog email.  It is getting so much spam that I was near the end of my rope and was about to delete it when an email came in from Lynn.

Three years ago Lynn adopted one of my fosters "Anubis" a very sweet little black and white kitten who I could not get a good photo of because she constantly wanted to be up under my chin.

When Lynn adopted Anubis, she renamed her Belle.

and Belle went to live with Lynn and Princess

Lynn's email was very kind and much needed as I was facing returning Wryn and Sprite:

Wanted to give you an update on Little Belle. You knew her as Anubis (you called her Newie). She is about 3 years old now. She black with a white tummy, socks and a lighting bolt down the side of her nose. LOVED to cuddle and snuggle and needed a thousand kisses a day.

Still have her picture of you and her. Look at it often.

She has grown into her ears. Still a small cat. A pretty girl and still very sweet. Still loves to snuggle. We have time in front of the wood stove snuggling and rocking. Sleeps next to me most nights. Sometimes between the two of. She is a good mouse hunter and likes to eat what she catches. Yuk. Good at getting birds also. Eats them too. Loves to climb trees. She goes quite high and so far always gets down. Thank goodness. Doesn't eat as many dust bunnies as she used to. Likes me to watch her eat her dry food. And has to eat her wet food at the same time and right next to us. (Need to watch her cause Princess will eat her food.) Belle likes to attack Princess. Princess is not crazy about it, but can still take Belle down. (Princess is part coon and about 8 years old. Mostly tolerates Belle. And yet they will sleep next to each other.). They play chase through the house. Sounds like a herd of elephants. She will attack the toilet paper when in one of her wild moods. Fun to watch.

Little Belle is such a joy and I am lucky to have her pick me. Thank you for taking care of her when she needed someone. You did a wonderful thing for her. Thank you again. Lynn

Apparently she is still a neck snuggler.. that so made me smile to hear. It is so nice to see her doing so well, and it was so very kind of Lynn to send me these photos, just when I really needed it.   Guess this means I will just have to deal with the spam.. I would hate to think any of the other hundreds of kitties out there not being able to reach me if I delete it.

The pain of fostering is so very much worth it.

"You cannot protect yourself from sadness without protecting yourself from happiness." Jonathan Safran Foer

I went into the shelter the other day. I didn't really have a need other than to just be there. It is funny how sometimes I'm drawn there even when I have kittens, even when I know my cats would love it if I were at home for them to climb on and have me pat them.

This particular day there wasn't much going on. There were a few cute kitties up for adoption, but nothing that really called to me until I found my way into one of the community cat rooms. This shelter has two cage-free rooms (that are able to be opened up into one big room) where the cats have access to places to climb and places to lounge and places to hide. they also have two big windows to look out onto the parking lot and the woods beyond. This particular day they had placed a handful of semi-socialized kittens in one of the rooms. The poor kittens were quite frightened and were all hiding. I spent a little time with them, but I had the feeling that they needed a little space, so I wandered off to do something else.

As I was walking back through I saw the shelter worker who takes photos of the animals for the website. He had his camera and he was in the room with the kittens, so I thought I would stop in and see if I could help. There were also some people in there looking at kittens, so we had to work around them, and also answer questions they had. In the end, he was able to get the photos we wanted, and I was able to be helpful, but I ended up with a scratch for my efforts..

Being scratched hurt, but no so more than the other countless times I have been scratched over the years. Surprisingly I am not usually covered with scratch marks, considering that a good part of the year I have kittens in the home who have absolutely no manners and don't realize that human skin is frailer than a furred up kitty.

The scratch was fairly minor. I think it drew a drop or two of blood. I cleaned myself up and when I got home I put a little coconut oil on it for its antibacterial properties and because it is quite soothing. I forgot about it until it started to heal up, at which point it itched. I put a little more coconut oil on it and in time it healed up so you wouldn't even know I had been scratched.

This incident took place a while ago, but something struck me when it happened. The pain of fostering is a bit like the pain of a kitten scratch.

The pain of fostering?

Yes, you know, when asked why you don't foster kittens, what do you say? 'Oh I could never do that, it would hurt too much to give them back'. Or when you hear of a foster kitten dying, and you wonder how someone who fosters could sign themselves back up for another litter after that.

I will admit, it took a lot to take home another litter after my first fostering loss. I did it more so I could heal than to help out. I figured there was no way on earth I was ever going to be of help ever again if I didn't 'get back on the horse'. I ached. I cried. I ugly cried. Even when the new kittens finally arrived I was so sure that it would go horribly wrong. I knew so little back then. I was so green. I also didn't have the support network of other foster homes and cat people that I do today.

It hurt.

It hurts when I let go of every single kitten, most of the times when I give back the mothers too. I have to fall in love with them in order to do them justice. Each time. Every time.

But I subscribe to the "it is better to have loved and lost" philosophy, especially considering the fact that if I do not open myself up to that pain, there is a darn good chance that kittens will die.

Okay, maybe not so much today, since the shelter's incoming rate has dropped dramatically and their foster program is very robust and people are generally scrambling to find kittens to foster.  But by continuing to foster, I provide a place that the shelter can put incoming kittens who aren't ready for adoption and thus freeing up space to bring in other animals. Maybe they can grab a pregnant cat from another shelter knowing they have access to someone who will care for her. I am lucky enough that the shelter I volunteer for isn't putting kittens down because there is nowhere for them to go, but I know that a vast majority of the shelters don't have that luxury.

I would rather cry because they were adopted, then cry because they were killed for lack of space. I would rather cry over a foster kitten who didn't make it then know that if I hadn't tried, they probably would have never known love and the joy of a human slave. That is the gift I give them. The gift they give me is immeasurable.

and so very much worth it.

Don't cry because it's over, smile because it happened