Rescue Journal

the quick news and one story

Carol  ·  Feb. 16, 2010

i am picking up the new cats from the shelter tomorrow...i know they are all quite shy and i know they all have sore mouths....oh yay, three more geriatric dentals! i hope they do well with us and i hope they all feel happy here.

new incoming dog....perdy is one of the old incontinents with uncontrolled pain that i did not expect to hear back from after i said "no more contact following surrender"....well i did hear back and she is coming on thursday. i will try to get her into the vets right away and see if we can't help her find some comfort again.

esther is without a doubt the absolute best dog in the world...this dog has no real long term issues except hypothyroidism and the hair loss..but she is rock solid goodness and politeness and kindness and calmness in every single way and she is absolutely adorable whenever she looks at you and tries to communicate.

mandy is still tilting...i am pretty sure it was a stroke. she goes into the vets on thursday for a full check up. she is getting around ok and eating and drinking on her own..and max is finally doing awesome.../his sore neck is much improved.
diablo (our three legged cat that for some reason has not yet been scooped out of here) is busy playing with winter (our one eyed cat who for some reason is still here too.) he is on the middle shelf playing upwards with her and she is on the top shelf playing downwards with diablo...very cute!

kodi did better today...we kept him shut in the big dog room away from 4lane. once my bedroom settled for the night and 4lane the wobble headed evil one was finally asleep, i let him back in and he grabbed his favorite spot, sleeping right beside the bed. it worked perfectly and i did not get bit.

cali..the old lumpy lab from animal control who's mammary mass removal and dental we covered...went off to her new adoptive home yesterday. this is why i like working with mission animal control so well...we can help to make them more adoptable and they will keep trying to find them a home. it is a good partnership and it stops animals who have a chance but just need a medical tune up from taking up space here.

that is the news...here is the story....

The Room Mates

Stripe has lived in the cupboard above our fridge for more than 3 years. At 22 years of age, she doesn't come down much any more unless she falls off. Everything that she wants or needs is within easy reach...dry food, canned food, water and litter box plus her very own soft bed.
Occasionally one of those fruitloop boys will pop up to bug her....they want to try out her suite and it really pisses her off. You can hear the screaming that comes out of that very old cat even outside the house...nothing makes her madder than someone trying to barge into her house.

Our Cali is a 14 yr old cat that was not doing very well at the SPCA last year..she was traumatized, she was beyond shy, she was having an emotional meltdown. We set her up in the medical room and she stayed hidden away for a very long time. It was months before she would come out of her bed, let alone step foot out of her pen. But eventually she started wandering around the medical room and looking pretty comfortable. Then I moved her over to the house. I fully expected her to revert back into her fearful world but she actually did pretty well. She stayed in the back cat rooms and did ok. A few weeks ago, she started venturing out in the kitchen...she was getting impatient waiting for dinner to be served. She decided she liked the stove bed and moved her home onto there.

And then last week she made the big leap of faith and moved in with Stripe in the cupboard above the fridge. Stripe surprisingly did not protest, but for a couple of days she seemed a bit discombobulated with suddenly finding herself a room mate. But now they are very comfortable together and we now have 2 cats living in the cupboard above the fridge.

It has taken Cali a very long year to finally choose her place to live and I am very grateful that Stripe is ok with sharing her house and did not try to kick her out.

The moral of this story is....in rescue you have absolutely no idea what they will decide to do with the rest of their life....but you can almost always bet, it is not what you think they will do....they may be old, but they are not dead and they like to have choices available to map out their own journey in life.

it is fine with me.....given enough time and patience they usually choose pretty well.

Comments

laura

Yey for Cali the lab....when I picked her up wandering the streets of Mission I knew I found a very sweet girl that just needed someone to care about her. Thanks to Saints & Mission Animal Control Cali has now been given that second chance for a better life...thanks Carol..one more life saved!

Roff

How very nice to read of these developments. It's been a tough couple of weeks for us in the blogosdphere and the happy news is welcome. Welcome to the newcomers, all species, and the new co-habitants. Thank you.