Auction for Fiona

I just want to help spread the news about the auctions to help pay Fiona's vet bills. There are new items offered each week and they look great.

I am sorry that I haven't been blogging in so long. I had a bad fall on the evening of December 8th and cracked two ribs. I spent the next week in bed, only able to feed myself and Herman and take care of our bathroom needs. I am getting a little better now and can finally bear to sit in my computer chair again. I will try to get back to the limericks soon.

Salem

This is Salem of The Zoo in one of her many napping spots.  At 13 years old, she has become a champion napper.  She likes all the big beds, the top of the cat tree, the closet shelf and her own pink bed on the floor. Sometimes her Mom even brings her food in bed, so she doesn't have to get up to eat.  Some of the other cats are a bit jealous of this, but as the elder Alpha cat, she deserves it.  It isn't that Salem isn't active.  She still likes to go outside on her harness and leash.  Salem is pretty calm.  The only time she gets a little put out is when one of the woofies steals her pink bed.  Usually she just finds another spot, or gets up somewhere and waits until the woofy gets up, then takes her bed back.

                                                    Salem loves to snooze around.
                                                    Sometimes way above the ground.
                                                             Or she'll sleep in her bed
                                                             On the ground instead.
                                                    Salem just loves napping around.

The Shelter Pet Project

I have been meaning to do this for some time, but I kept putting it off.  I feel that this project is very important to help save the lives of many healthy and treatable pets who are euthanized each year.  If I can help save just a few, that is reason enough to post about it.  Here are a few facts:

Each year approximately 4 million pets are adopted.
Of the 8 million pets that enter animal shelters each year, approximately 3 million healthy and treatable pets are euthanized.
It is estimated that 17 million people will acquire a pet within the next year. 
To save all the healthy and treatable pets that are euthanized, we just need 3 million of these people to adopt.

To find out more about this project go here.  I recently adopted Herman from Friends of the Shelter where he was in a foster home.  He is not what many people would consider a perfect pet, as he has some health issues, but he is the perfect pet for me.  He was sad and lonely and so was I.  Now both of us are much happier and no longer lonely.  If you are going to adopt a pet, please check your local shelter first.  I am sure that there is a cat or dog who there who would be thrilled to go home with you.

Adopt from your shelter, oh, please do.
The cats and dogs are waiting for you.
Each pet girl and boy
Will bring you such joy.
You want to adopt them; you know that you do.

Happy Thanksgiving

I want to wish all my friends a very Happy Thanksgiving. I have much to be thankful for this Thanksgiving. Herman came into my life at just the right time. This was going to be a kind of lonely Thanksgiving without my parents, but now I have Herman to keep me company. My little cold has prevented me from sharing this Thanksgiving with my family, but I won't be alone. I will try to visit as many of you as possible and I will also try to get back to the limericks very soon. I slept all afternoon Wednesday and I am feeling quite a bit better now. Love to you all.

Farewell, Kimiko

I am really getting behind with these. It's been almost a month since Kimiko went to the Rainbow Bridge. Kimiko was one of the older cats in the house. Her Mom found her in a dumpster near her work with four siblings. No one knows how the kittens got in the dumpster. The momcat was hanging around the dumpster and that is what alerted the Mom to look inside. She found the five baby kittens, but could not catch the mother. She took all of them home and socialized, litterbox trained and found homes for all the rest, but kept Kimiko. Kimiko loved her Mom very much and always wanted to be near her. She also loved to hop in the laundry basket as soon as the clothes came out of the dryer. Her favorite treat was fishy flakes and her eyes would get really big when she saw them come out and get put in a bowl. She was very vocal and told her Mom all about everything. She loved to be held and cuddled in her Mom's arms. Kimiko got small cell intestinal cancer. Usually this disease is slow-acting and responds well to chemo. In Kimiko's case it was very aggressive and nothing seemed to slow it down. Kimiko had to be helped to the Rainbow Bridge not long after her diagnosis. Her family is still missing her very much.

                                    Kimiko's cancer came on fast.
                                    She tried her best, but could not last.
                                            Alas, now on Earth
                                            Of her there's a dearth.
                                   She is at the Bridge, having a blast.

Limerick Tomorrow

I will definitely start up the limericks again tomorrow. I already have one written, but I am too tired to post it tonight. I have had a busy day, as you can see on Herman's new blog. It isn't much to look at and it has my profile, but at least it's a start.

Playful Herman

I managed to get a much better picture of Herman this morning. Since I knew that the light level was high enough that the flash wouldn't go off, I got much closer to him. I know now, thanks to your kind advice, that I shouldn't be shooting toward the window, as I still am here, but I was close enough and low enough that the picture came out all right. I took this picture just after our cuddle and play session and he was still making biscuits on the carpet. He loves it when I get down on the floor with him. I think the hopping up on the bed and hopping off was him testing to see whether it was allowed and if he felt comfortable enough with me to join me. He slept on my feet for a few hours Wednesday night. I was expecting him to meow me awake for breakfast Thursday morning, but he didn't. This was probably because I noticed just before I went to bed that he had eaten almost all of his Stinky Goodness, so I gave him some more. I think one of his previous families had punished him for jumping up on the furniture because when I got up early to put out the trash bin, he was sitting on a big pillow I had put on top of some storage boxes in front of the window near the bird feeder. As soon as he noticed me, he jumped down and ran as if he had been caught doing something wrong. He is slowly learning that jumping up on the furniture in this house is allowed, though he still very rarely does it. When I went back to bed after putting out the trash and making sure that he wasn't ready for more food yet, I had just gotten settled in good when I heard a meow from the foot of the bed. I scratched on the covers and told Herman that it was OK and he joined me in bed. He came up to me and I gave him some scritches. Then the most amazing thing happened. I had my hand flat on the bed scritching his cheek when he nestled his head into the palm of my hand, closed his eyes, started purring and went to sleep. Now that is trust and love.

Herman is making great strides in the playing department. At first he would only bite and paw at his toys for a minute or two, then lose interest. After I got him the kicker toy, he started bunnykicking. Today I noticed that he is batting them around. Tomorrow I am going to try out Da Bird on him again. The first time I tried it, he just watched it for a few seconds, then walked away. The second time, I waved it around slowly, then let it stop and he walked up and sniffed the feathers for a bit before walking away. Now that he is batting toys around, maybe he will bat at it. This morning I rolled a ball for him and he chased it. That was the first time that I had seen him show any interest in the ball at all. I found one of his little mousies in the kitchen and scooted it across the floor to him. He batted it around so vigorously that he knocked it under the dishwasher. He was so disappointed when it disappeared. I got down and looked, but couldn't see it and I couldn't feel it, as far as I could reach. I think he must have knocked it over the hose and way to the back and it just might have to stay there. He meowed at me for a long time after I gave up trying to get it out. Of course, I brought him a new toy when I came home from work. It's like a miniature tennis ball with a fuzzy tail. He groomed the tail, but didn't seem much interested in the rest of it. I do notice that most of the toys change position during the night. I think Herman will be completely over his depression very soon. I got his vet papers today and they state that he just turned two in June. The shelter had told me that he was three or four. No wonder he was so depressed, going through two homes in one year and eleven months, with the second one not being much of a home at all. I wonder how long he will sleep with me tonight.