Tag Archives: Sav-R-Cats

Photo Friday: Yoda and Jerry

Shortly after moving to South Carolina in 2009, I started volunteering at a shelter called Sav-R-Cats. It is the shelter where we adopted Chris from but before that, I took photos of cats for their Petfinder page. At the time the shelter had several community rooms and a few large cages. When the volunteers came in, those rooms were mostly emptied and all the cats were allowed to socialize in the main part of the shelter. Some cats stayed outside of the cages, even at night. Two of those cats were best friends Yoda and Jerry, who arrived at the shelter in 2006.

I saw on their Facebook page that Jerry passed away a couple of weeks ago having never been adopted. I believe Yoda is still alive and still at the shelter but I don’t know for sure. I asked about Yoda but have not yet got a response.

I’m not sure why those two were never adopted. Some cats are just not adoptable and end up living out there lives at a no-kill shelter. I don’t know if that was the case with these two. It is possible they could not be separated and needed to go together which can make adoption more difficult. Perhaps, after a while, they just became resident cats, which really isn’t such a bad life considering they had the run of the shelter.

If Yoda is still alive, I am concerned what he will do without Jerry. Perhaps it is time for a loving home.

Chris’s Eighth Gotcha Day and Givaway

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On November 14, 2009, we brought home a cat that would be both the best and worst adoption decision we ever made. Of course, I’m talking about Chris. He turned our house upside down for years but he also has been the most loving and affectionate pet we ever had. The funny thing is, we took more time deciding to adopt Chris than some people take to decide to adopt a human child.

I first encountered Chris on September 24th or 25th of that year when I was a volunteer for a local cat rescue organization. He was up for adoption at Petsmart and I was cleaning the cages there that morning. I let out every cat on the top row and as I was cleaning the cages Chris jumped on my back and proceeded to climb onto my shoulders. Once there, he started licking and biting my ear and my nose.

We already had four cats at the time (Abbey, Alex, Tigger and Flash) and didn’t need another one. There was also another cat at the shelter, Kinsey, who was also a shoulder climber and one my wife and I both liked, but we had a belief at the time that gold cats made exceptionally good pets.

The organization that had Chris was called Sav-R-Cats and they rotated with two other shelters at the Myrtle Beach Petsmart. I think each organization got two weeks there. Chris was back at their shelter on October 3rd when I brought my wife, Rose, to see him.

Chris at adoption center with Rose.

They hit it off very well but we were not ready to adopt another cat at that time, especially since we had to go back to Tampa for a week-long cruise that I booked when we lived there. I picked a Tampa cruise so we wouldn’t have to drive far.

Another six weeks would pass before we would decide to take Chris home. At one point, either before or after my first encounter with him, someone adopted Chris and returned him the next day because he annoyed them all night by biting them. If they hadn’t brought him back, I would probably not be blogging today.

To celebrate Chris’s Gotcha Day, I made his ebook, “Bad Cat Chris; The Baddest Cat You’ll Ever Love” free for three days, starting today. This book is a condensed version of this blog with some added material. It chronicles the ups and downs of our life with Chris from the beginning until the middle of 2013. It was a very difficult and rewarding time for us. Thankfully, or not, Chris has mellowed some since then but we still can’t let him sleep with us because he is still a biter.

If you do read his book, I would love it if you would write a review on Amazon.

And the Winners are… The Shelter Cats

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A couple of weeks ago I got an email from Ellen of the blog 15 and Meowing. She said we won the prize in their Halloween giveaway, The prizes were supposed to be a catnip mat, a catnip ghost, a magnet and a button skull but when I asked that she send the prize to Chris’s old shelter, Sav-R-Cats, in Surfside Beach, South Carolina, Ellen decided to make more catnip toys, 20 in all, so the cats at the shelter could enjoy them. Isn’t she wonderful?

I got the following pictures from Shirley, the shelter manager at Sav-R-Cats, and it looks like the prizes were a hit.

I’m grateful to Ellen and her crew and happy that these homeless cats have something to brighten their days a little. I know that they are well taken care of there, but I still hope all will find a loving home soon.

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.

I Missed Chris’s Birthday

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I don’t know exactly how old Chris is but I wanted to set a date to celebrate his fifth birthday. I decided that since he was about six months old when we adopted him I would celebrate his birthday on the date six months from his adoption date. Unfortunately I had it in my head that it was near the end of November but it was on the 14th. Oops!

Happy Birthday Chris! Forgive my lateness. Maybe I’ll let you run around outside today.

Chris at adoption center with Rose.

December Royalties to Chris’s Shelter

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I decided to do a little extra good this Christmas and donate all royalties earned in December from my Kindle book, Bad Cat Chris, to the shelter where I found Chris. It is a no-kill shelter located near Myrtle Beach, South Carolina called Sav-R-Cats.

I was inspired by Gwen Cooper, author of Homer’s odyssey. When her new book, Love Saves the Day, came out in paperback, she donated 200% of the royalties earned for a specific time to Blind Cat Rescue & Sanctuary, Inc. I’m not sure I can afford 200% right after Christmas but I can surely give 100% to the shelter that gave Chris the opportunity to find a loving home.

The book sells for only $2.99 and my royalty for each book sold is about $2.07, in most cases. Any help that you can give, by either buying the book or spreading the word, will be appreciated by myself and by the kitties that you help.

Please note: The links in this article are for Amazon.com. If you live outside the United States, you may need to look for it on your country’s Amazon site.

Decisions, decisions, Chris Comes Home

Decisions, decisions

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Volunteering at the Sav-R-Cats shelter was nice because I finally felt like I could be useful and help get cats adopted. My primary job was to photograph the cats and put them on petfinder.com. That was difficult at first because it had been awhile since anyone had done it and nobody knew the username, password and other important information. Eventually I got that working and I also revamped their website, sav-r-cats.com.

Rose came to visit the shelter a couple times and took interest in a cat named Kinsey. He was a very friendly cat that would jump onto the shoulders of visitors to the shelter. It was as if he was saying “adopt me” to anyone who would listen. We would have taken him in but we were not ready for another cat.

Kinsey

Eventually I started filling in at the Myrtle Beach Petsmart in the morning when they needed someone to clean the cages. They had cats in there on a rotating basis with two other shelters in the area. The cages at Petsmart have small openings between each “cubicle” on the same row. These opening can be shut so the cats are separated from one another or they can be opened to allow multiple cats to visit with each other and share the space. The later is how it was set up one morning when I let all the cats from one row out while I was cleaning.

Not much time had passed when I suddenly felt sharp claws digging into my back. It was a gold kitten who had jumped straight up from the floor to get on my shoulders. He was purring and licking my ear. He then started biting my ear and rubbing his face on my cheek. He then moved around to my nose and started biting my nose. I later found out his name was Chris and told my wife about him when I got home. I thought she would be interested because since getting Tigger, we had discovered that gold cats seemed to be friendlier than average.

Not long after that, around the beginning of October, Rose came to the shelter to visit Chris. He did not disappoint and showered her with attention like he did to me that first meeting. Alas, we still were not ready for another cat, partially because we had a cruise coming up.

Chris meets Rose

Not long after we returned from the cruise, Rose had to go to Alabama to attend a meeting. While she was there, I was at the shelter for another reason and was again warmly greeted by Chris, who seemed at the time like he was a relatively good cat. If only I knew then what I know now… Who am I kidding? I would still adopt him but I not so sure Rose would. Anyway, while I was there, someone used my phone to photograph Chris and I, which I sent to Rose with the message “Can we keep him?”

Can we keep him?

I believe the response was in the affirmative but I wanted to wait for her to see him once again and share in the decision, just in case it was a bad one.

Rose got home from her trip on Friday, November 13 and the next day we went to the shelter to make the final decision. Next time I’ll talk about the big day. I hope you will join me again.