Tag Archives: adopt

Maybe Some Cats Shouldn’t be “Rescued”

If you have ever looked for a cat to adopt on Petfinder or the website of your local shelter, you may have noticed that a fair amount of them have been ear-tipped. If you don’t know what that is, when a stray or feral cat is captured and fixed, the vet will remove the tip of one ear or put a notch in one ear to show that the cat has already been fixed.

Ear “tipping” or “notching” is usually done for the Trap, Neuter, Release (TNR) programs but sometimes a well-meaning person will trap a cat that is friendly to humans and not release it but put it up for adoption. I believe that is what happened to Frankie, although we know nothing about his history. We do know he has a notch in his ear indicating he was probably captured as a feral, perhaps at a young age.

We know the history of Puck, who was a bottle-fed kitten. Puck will go outside if given the opportunity but he gets nervous easy and then wants to go back inside.

I found Chris in the shelter when he was around five months old. I know he came from another shelter but I don’t know his history before that. I do know Chris loves going outside but he also stays close to home.

Frankie is not like either one of them. He is constantly crying at the door to go out and, while he is not as good about slipping out the door as Chris is, he will get past me sometimes. When that happens, he immediately starts exploring the neighborhood. If I get close enough to catch him, he runs or he finds a car to hide under.

When I put a harness on Frankie and walk him, he tends to travel in one direction. I know most cats have a territory that is smaller than the area that Frankie takes me through. I usually have to coax him to travel in a direction toward home instead of away. The last few outings I stayed out with him a long time to see if he would eventually make his way back home. He didn’t.

I can’t help but wonder if he would ever want to come home if he escaped and I lost track of him. He might also travel too far and get lost. Frankie has too much of a wild cat in him and I wonder if he wouldn’t have been happier if he was allowed to stay outside in a TNR colony.

Something happened Tuesday night that showed just how wild Frankie still is. We ordered take-out from a nearby Italian restaurant. When the driver arrived, I shut the slider between the house and Florida room, locking the cats in the house and allowing me to open the door without worrying about Frankie or Chris running out.

Unknown to me, Frankie was in the Florida room with me and ran outside when I opened the door. It was dark outside and I had no shoes on. Our grass is loaded with little stickers called sand spurs. They are painful to step on so I quickly paid the delivery driver and ran inside to get my shoes. When I got out, the driver had followed Frankie behind the house to our left and managed to herd him back toward me. Frankie ran right up to our door and I thought the driver scared him enough to want to go back inside but that was not the case.

He continued around to the other side of our house and ran under Rose’s car. The two of us looked for him under the car but it was too dark so I pulled my little key-chain flashlight out of my pocket and looked under our vehicles. He was not there. That is when the driver noticed him near the front door of the house to our right.

I looked over in that direction and saw him standing there with something hanging from his mouth. It took me a couple of seconds to realize what I was seeing and then said, “Oh my God! He has a rabbit!”

I tried to grab Frankie and get him to release his catch but he eluded me and ended up back under Rose’s car. The two of us worked at him from opposite sides of the car, at which point he let go of the bunny and crawled out from under the car. That was when I grabbed Frankie and picked him up while the driver grabbed the rabbit and checked out his injuries.

He seemed uninjured except for a small gash on the back of his neck but he was having trouble breathing. The driver tried to stroke his neck to stimulate breathing but it was soon too late for the rabbit.

After that incident, on Friday, Rose decided to take Frankie for a walk. I hurt my back Thanksgiving morning and was not up to the task so Rose decided that Frankie needed to get out more. She was out with him for a long time and when she returned she said “Never again!” Frankie managed to force his way out of the harness and led her on a chase around the neighborhood.

Those incidents made me wonder whether Frankie’s cushy lifestyle in our home is really what’s best for him. Don’t worry. I’m not going to release Frankie into the wild. In fact, I am watching him now lying upside-down on a soft blanket on the sofa.

He seems to enjoy the good life as much as the wild life but I can’t help wonder how many other cats have been “rescued” that may have been better off left alone. I also wonder how many cats were never adopted because a “wild” cat was adopted in their place. What do you think? Is it wrong to leave a feral outside even if it is friendly towards humans?

Miss Luis the Kitten’s Last Day Before Adoption

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Back on the 26th of June, Rose and I were involved in rescuing a newborn kitten (read here if you missed it). We brought her to my sister-in-law, Felice, who is an experienced kitten rescuer. She worked hard to keep the kitten alive and now she is doing well.

Rose said she wanted to name the kitten Luis, if it was a boy, after her maintenence supervisor who found the kitten and called Rose for help. It was a girl and she ended up with the Name Lulu (see here and here) but that didn’t stick so now she is called Miss Luis, which we pronounce “Louie.”

We were at Felice’s house on Saturday to celebrate the birthday of Rose and Felice’s mother. While I was there I was able to get a few good pictures of Miss Luis along with two male kittens that Felice took in shortly after Miss Luis arrived.

Miss Luis

Makeshift kitten sanctuary.

The three kittens had fun playing together for awhile and then one fell asleep on the couch while Miss Luis hid behind the pillows. The third cat disappeared into the bathroom where he napped in a carrier that has become their bedroom.

Miss Luis eventually fell asleep with one of the boy kittens.

Later, the third kitten came out and joined Miss Luis in some play while his brother tried to nap.

Of course there are more than kittens at Felice’s house and I got plenty of attention from some of the locals.

The next day, Miss Luis went to her new home. A man adopted her so another female kitten he recently adopted could have company. I was told she cried all the way to her new home but then quickly became friends with resident kitten.

A Gift Arrives

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We adopted Chris in late 2009 from a shelter named Sav-R-Cats in Surfside, South Carolina (near Myrtle Beach). I met Chris while I was volunteering for Sav-R-Cats and worked with Shirley and Linda who are not only still there, but still keep up with Chris and his shenanigans. They decided to send Chris, Frankie and Puck a gift which arrived the other day.

Frankie and Puck were interested right away, Chris was off doing his own thing and was not aware something new was in the house. As soon as I opened it, the two of them were inspecting the contents.

Soon Chris sensed something was up and was there in an instant to lend a paw in the inspection process.

Even the box itself was thoroughly checked out.

Inside the box were some lovely, handmade blankets, two with a gold cat and one with a black cat. One each for Chris, Frankie and Puck.

But there was something else in the box.

The blankets were already a great gift but there were also toys in the box.

Some of the toys were labeled “Loony Loops” and “Springs.” There was a toy called a “Hexbug,” which looked interesting but I decided to save that for later. The first one I took out was a spring which Chris immediately started chasing around the house.

They loved the blankets too.

There was also an envelope.Inside was a nice card and note from Shirley, Linda and the cats at the shelter.

Sadly, many of the cats on the note were Chris’s shelter mates in 2009 and are still there. There is Ace, Ralph, Jack, Jerry and Yoda, Cole, Carter, Sarah and Alinda. I took Pictures back then for Petfinder and remember some of those names, like Jerry and Yoda.

Yoda and Jerry at Sav-r-Cats, dated October 3, 2009.

These two cats are best friends and must be adopted together, which may have made it more difficult for them. They have lived a good part of their lives in a shelter (Jerry since 2006) and could possibly die there without ever knowing a good home. Of course, they are treated well at the shelter but I would love to see these two and the other “old timers” find a loving home to live out their remaining days.

Another cat that I remember on the card is Sarah. It seems the males are more likely to be long-timers at a shelter but not always.

Sarah, dated November 11, 2009

There is also Jack, who reminds me of our departed cat Tigger.

Jack, photo taken October 3, 2009.

Not on the card is Hope, who I photographed in early 2010.

Hope, dated February 11, 2010.

If anyone lives near Myrtle Beach, or know someone who does, and would like to help a cat or two that have been in a shelter too long, please contact Sav-R.Cats.com or check out their Petfinder page.

Update: It turns out that Hope was adopted so that is good news.

Kittens! Need I Say More?

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Yesterday we visited my sister-in-law. I like going there, in part because I like her and her husband, but also because she has a house full of cats that are a great opportunity for photographs. This day was even better because she is fostering three seven-week-old kittens that are almost ready for adoption.

Felice works for a vet and has taken in many cats that others rejected. She has experience with bottle feeding infant kittens and has brought several back from the brink of death. She has also lost some, but fortunately these three survived and are now happy and playful. The kittens were found by a client at around four days old and brought to the vet. Their umbilical cords were still attached. Felice took them home and bottle fed them every two to three hours for several weeks. She has a method and I hope to get her to share the details.

I noticed that a couple of the kittens backed away slightly when I tried to pet them but then were okay with it. Felice told me that the mother’s milk has natural antibodies that keep the kittens healthy but bottle fed kittens are subject to a variety of ailments. These ailments lead to a lot of necessary but unpleasant human contact, which explains the hesitation, but now that they are well, I’m sure they will get over it soon.

The black and white female kitten (without the mustache) is spoken for but the two males are looking for a good home. If you, or anyone you know, are near Tampa Bay Florida and would be willing to adopt one, or both, of these cute kittens, please email me at: me (at) charleshuss dot com.

Photo Friday: Cute Kitten

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I was going through my pictures and noticed a couple from two months ago. My son and his wife adopted a cute little kitten. It seems the apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.

Photo Friday: Young Puck

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This is a picture of Puck as a kitten in his foster home looking out the door with his big foster brother. We felt bad taking him away from his foster family but he couldn’t stay there forever and I think he is pretty lucky to have us now.

Puck as a kitten.

Adopt a Shelter Cat Month

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Frankie at Petsmart Adoption Center

June is Adopt a Shelter Cat Month. I assume it is because most kittens are born in the spring so shelters become overwhelmed with kitties that need homes. I would love to help by adopting another cat but Frankie put us over our limit so all I can do is remind people that there are so many cats out there that need a home right now.

If you or anyone you know could use a great companion, please check out your local shelter… and don’t forget that in addition to the kittens, there are many older cats that have been behind bars for too long.

Bad Cat Chris

The Baddest Cat You'll Ever Love