The Rescued Cats are Getting Famous!

Well, sort of famous. I send their story to a blog called 4 The Love of Animals because she seems to be doing such cool work trying to raise awareness and make connections particularly around issues of animal adoption. She has a store, and a blog, and a database with rescue organizations all over the country. Neat. Readers of this blog already know the story, but in case you want to relive it all over again, it is here.

Cat Update! Happy Tails!

Many of you have followed our cat saga with five cats that were abandoned, and needed substantial medical care. I am happy to say that thanks to many kind individuals - including UFETA members and blog readers who gave to help cover the costs of medical care - and two shelters - Second Chance Shelter in Jamaica Plain and Animal Umbrella in Revere - who gave money, medicine, and living space - four of the five cats are now in happy homes! We managed to adopt the Mama cat and two brothers to one home so that they can stay together (they were very attached!). A volunteer at the shelter fell in love with them and they moved in this weekend (I just found out). They are three very very sweet cats, but a bit older. So adopting three older cats into one home was quite the feat!

And we think we may have found a home for kitty number 5 - Marisol the attack cat. There is a family who will visit her soon that is willing to work with her and is okay with the possibility that she may never like to be touched.

So that is happy news. Thanks for all the help and encouragement, everyone.

All the Cats are Saved

Well, for those of you who follow my cat rescuing adventures, we currently have all five abandoned cats in our extra room (see a few posts ago for the situation - how we got them, where they come from, etc.). Everyone has had shots, dental work (a lot of acute gingivitis), tests, check-ups and so on. A big thank you to some UFETA donors who helped to cover the cost of everyone’s medical care (which, by the way, was not cheap even with a 50% discount) and to Second Chance Shelter in Jamaica Plain who has helped to adopt Abby out and helped pay for the cost of the medical care. Goldie had frostbite, which was sad because it is quite painful. Everyone had fleas and earmites. Poor kitties’ ears are all red and Goldie was also allergic to the fleas he had, so he had sores and scabs from that. It is clear that the little guys are SO content and happy to be in a warm, clean, safe place. They LOVE to be rubbed (except Bigfoot/Marisol who is veerryyy temperamental). Mama Calico threw up today, all yellow looking bile (sorry to be gross) which does concern me a bit. So she may have to go back to the vet. But the point is that everyone is doing well and it was, I think, the most compassionate and caring thing to do to get them treatment and care for them (a few posts back you can see that I was considering whether or not euthanasia would be a more compassionate option since they are quite old and will likely never be adopted). The three older ones are moving to a great shelter where they don’t use cages and they will get medical care and human love and interaction. The two younger ones will be adopted to loving homes. They love to purr and the two younger ones love to chase the ping pong ball. Here are some pictures.

JR sleeping

Mama Calico and Goldie

This is me sleeping next to Goldie on the floor trying to comfort him because he was yowling the whole night and Wolfgang had to work the next day so I went in to try to get him to calm down and fell asleep. Wolfgang found me and took a picture.

Marisol, also known as big foot since she has seven claws and seven paw pads on both front feet.

Goldie greeting his mom Calico after she was caught several days after him. Once his brother and Mom joined him, he stopped yowling all the time. Thank goodness.

Update On The Abandoned Cats

A big big thank you to some very kind and generous folks who have contributed to the health care for the abandoned cats I wrote about a few posts ago. Abby is living with us and happy as can be, and I will pick up the four other cats tomorrow, and they will go to the vet on Thursday for a check-up and then on Sunday they will move into a very nice barn that is warm and where they will have all the food they could want (in fact, they could stand to go on a big of a diet - they are quite round, as you will see when I post pictures soon).

Dealing with their situation has led me to a lot of thinking on animals and how we should care for them. I feel prepared to have any of them euthanized if it is clear that he or she cannot enjoy a good quality of life - but if they are all healthy, I think they will have a very nice time as they live out their remaining years playing in the hay (they are staying in a hay barn) and eating and generally just hanging out. They will also get human interaction from the people who live in the house near the barn. I regret a little bit that they won’t be indoor/outdoor cats (as they were prior to their abandonment), but I still think they can be happy and enjoy life.

Thank you for all of those who have offered feedback and support - moral and financial!

Much peace,
Elizabeth (and Abby, J.R., Goldie, Calico, and Baby)

Abandoned Cats - Ethical Issues

A woman from my church left town rather quickly, for reasons I won’t go into, and left behind five cats. Since I have experience with cats and connections to shelters, I volunteered to help figure out what to do about the situation. They were scheduled to be euthanized last week, an understandable response by some people in the congregation wanting to help. I intervened, however, in order to see if there was another option since the cats could have some more years ahead of them.

The situation is that the cats are aged 5, 6, and three over the age of 10. The six year old is currently living with us, can be an indoor cat, and we’ll find her a permanent home. She is very friendly and the shelter we work with kindly paid for her health care.

I’ve struggled a lot about what to do with the others. At first, I thought that the kindest thing to do would be to euthanize them, given that they cannot be indoor cats and they are older. They’ve always lived outside, and are quite skiddish, although not wild. But, of course, after I saw them, and spoke with someone else who is involved in caring for them, it seemed perhaps easiest to euthanize them, but not really necessary.

It has raised issues for me about how much energy can/should be put into caring for abandoned animals, and what is a reasonable cost for health care for animals that are abandoned and older. Given that so many humans lack in basic needs, how much is justifiable to spend on non-human animals? But, this argument carried to its logical conclusion would mean that we would spend no money on animals because ALL the money spent on animals could be used to meet unmet human needs - food, health care, shelter.

I posted to the UFETA (Unitarian Universalists for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and it sparked quite a debate about the best thing to do in such a situation - some claiming that the most compassionate thing to do is to euthanize them, and others insisting that just because an animal is older and abandoned doesn’t diminish the worth of his or her life and that I should take pains to make sure they are cared for. Many suggested getting in touch with shelters for help and funding, not realizing that every single shelter is overburdened with animals and underfunded. It isn’t like you can just call people up and - viola! - you get the resources you need. This has been a huge effort thus far and it isn’t like I can just dedicate days to caring for abandoned cats.

I’m still not sure it is the best answer, but someone from church volunteered their barn as a place where the kitties can live out their remaining years. Our shelter will provide a little insulated kitty hut and food for them. However, they all need check-ups to make sure they are not in pain or carrying disease. I don’t want people to feel at all pressured, but if you feel so inclined to help the little guys out, you can make a paypal donation to my paypal account (email elizabeth199 at gmail dot com if you want the paypal email). Although I can’t imagine getting more than what the cost is to get basic shots and check-ups for four cats, if that would happen, I would just donate the rest to the shelter we voluneer for.

I welcome feedback/wisdom on how to proceed with the kitties, and also thoughts on the broader ethical issue of how to use scarce resources of time and money. I know I could dedicate my whole life to caring for abandoned cats in just the Boston area - as many volunteers from our shelter do - and only make a dent. There seems to be such a black hole of need for time and resources for all causes. I suppose we can all just do all we can do…

Much peace, Elizabeth

For those who like cat pictures…

This is Abby (formally known as Friskey) who is the kitty that we are fostering. I tried to get her to smile, but since she only has one fang tooth left, she refused.

Still Available to Loving, Indoor Homes

Olivia and Phineas would like to go together and Theo and Emerson. Adoption fee applies - adoption through Second Chance Shelter in Jamaica Plain. (Note that when I imported my blog from Blogger to WordPress somehow the captions and pictures did not line up correctly and I don’t have the time/expertise to fix them.  Sorry about that.)

All the kittens together

Phineas after rolling in some catnip

Olivia the princess

Theo and Emerson taking a nap

Emerson Upclose

Phineas is sick :(

Our little foster kitten Phineas was sick when we got him - eye problems and his whiskers had fallen out and littler than his brothers and lethargic. We treated him with antibiotics and eye drops and his eye got a little better, but it is not all the way better and the situation is not looking good. He needs to see an cat ophthalmologist but even the diagnostics seem to be amazingly expensive and the shelter we foster Phineas through is running low on money. The doctor said that the worst case scenario is that he might have to have his eye removed, and it is questionable whether or not he can actually even see out of it, or if he will be able to in the future. Poor little guy. I was thinking about what to do about it, but it seems difficult to have a fundraiser or people donate money for ONE kitten, while lots of people go without essential healthcare. But he is just one of the sweetest cats ever. Ever. Say a little prayer for him…

By Popular Demand: Kittens

A loyal reader requested more pictures of our little foster kittens, so here they are. If you are in the Greater Boston area and want two very sweet kittens, we have six for you to choose from… They were all found on the streets in Boston and our shelter is currently quite overun with late-summer kittens thus the reason we have so many. And just the right timing, too, as school and work starts for both W. and I. But duty calls. They said that the little guys would have to be put back out on the street if we couldn’t take them because so many of the foster homes are full…. Now for introductions…..

(Note that when this blog was imported from Blogger to WordPress the picture captions and pictures didn’t/don’t line up correctly and I’m not sure how to fix it. Sorry about that.)

This is Olivia - Long haired and very very sweet.

These are the three brothers - Phineas, Emerson (as in Ralph Waldo Emerson), and Theo. Theo is also the one looking up at the camera. Phineas is by far the smallest and might be a little sick. He’ll go to the vet this week to find out why most of his whiskers have fallen out and why he is more tired than the others.

This is Emerson and Phineas hanging out on some nice freshly folded pants. Right before I took this, Emerson was cleaning Phineas like a good big brother.

This is Edgar - Olivia’s brother - sleeping next to his litter box after a long day of playing. They have a sister named Quinn, but she is not a fan of pictures. More to come soon after she relaxes a little bit.

Meet Ralph Waldo Emerson

This is him. He moved in with us yesterday with his brothers Theo and Finnius who are both black too. But Emerson, as we call him, is the biggest and scaredest and tries to be the most ferocious. More pictures to come. They were found as strays in Newton. The woman who we got them from portrayed them as wild monsters and we were afraid they were going to be bad biters, but they aren’t at all. Emerson scratches, but Finnius mostly shivers and looks scared and his two bigger brothers cuddle him and protect him. We got a little light that gives off heat and put it over a little kitten bed - that’s where they slept last night. Finnius may already have a potential home, but Theo and Emerson will go as a pair if you are thinking of adopting two beautiful black kittens. They will probably be ready in a few weeks. Finnius needs to to go the doctor - he has no eye whiskers and it looks like his face whiskers have fallen out and are growing back in. And one eye is not looking good. We hope he will be just fine, but not clear at this point….