Brothers and sisters

This past year brought additions to Nicki and Sandi's family of 3 new brothers, largely unwelcomed.

 Joe was the first to arrive as snow fell and temperatures dropped in Feb. of 2016.

Joe had appeared on my parents back porch the past summer and once he met us, he refused to leave . He was vocal and loving and ate and drank voraciously. As winter hit, I researched housing and built him an insulated home but once the temperatures fell below freezing, we knew we had to take him in or risk his death. 

A trip to the vet sealed his fate with us:we learned that he was a boy, had already been fixed, had lost  teeth at some point and was, happily, not dumped because he was ill. He seemed run of the mill so we named him Joe but I did tell folks that his namesake was Joe Torre. 

Next to follow were Inky and Toughie, seen in much better days on Long Island where they lived for many years as stray cats. 

That all changed in December of 2009 when Inky was shot at and required amputation of his hind leg. As the vet predicted , Inky adapted beautifully to life as a tripod but his outdoor days were over.

By 2016, both cats were relegated to my parents basement and each was doing poorly. I made nightly visits to care for them but soon feared that Toughie was near the end . We took both in and brought them to the vet. 

On July 23rd, 2016, they came home to our apartment for good but 5 cats in a small apartment has not been easy and is still a work in progress. 

An overdue update!

Happily, Nicki and Sandi are doing well! The just got a clean bill of health from their vet-always a relief!

https://casanctuary.org/

Fall is here...

Fall is here. Its has been a mild one so far-this the flowers.  

Halloween has come & gone. 

And the cats have taken to their beds (or our bed) in the cold of night. 

Billy & Rufus & Parallel Lions

In the past few days a rather wonderful film has appeared on You Tube and it has captured my heart. Rather than say it is any one element that makes this film wonderful, I think it is the compilation of wonderful story, amazing images, fantastic music , great characters & sweet message that makes it perfect, inevitable & something I can watch over and over again. See for yourself: 

Life, lately

Life , lately , has been rather wonderful. There is still a great fascination with all things cardboard and box-like.

Halloween was fun for Nicki as she blends in with the decor perfectly.

And Sandi was a huge help when it came to selecting new curtains for the bedroom. Her only concern was that they be out of the way during prime bird viewing hours. 

express mail delivery

This arrived in the mail last night.

Japan's animals

With all of the tragic news and photos coming in from Japan -it was nice to get the ray of hope that this story provided: Yahoo's coverage is here and the blog "Pound Dogs" includes it here along with some links for how to help-go to the comments section to learn where to go to click for free kibble for Japan's animals. I imagine any little bit helps-in the same way that the slightest bit of hope ...heals.

lost & found dogs

Please call if you can help:

petition regarding sled dogs

If you have heard about the 100 sled dogs that were killed & would like to do something , in hopes of making sure this type of tragedy never happens again you can go HERE to the care2.com site and sign a petition regarding this story.

cat in tree

A heart warming story in the local news-who hasn't done this for some furry stranger at one time or another!?!

Though I might not go with the menu suggested, the cat does indeed look very happy with it.

Show dogs some LOVE

"Care2" is a site where one can find petitions, news and information. We first found out about CARE2 when we signed a petition aimed at NFL player Michael Vick regarding his abuse of dogs.

The site recently posted a story on a movement against chained dogs asking folks to show their love for dogs by creating Valentines . You can go here to find out more & show some dogs the love they deserve.

cats & computers

Nicki & Sandi often like to visit the computer. (They seem most drawn to it when someone is working on it with great concentration) They seem to be attracted to it much the same way some cats love pianos. There are keys and that seems to be an invitation for walking upon aimlessly, creating mysterious and poetic sentences like :

asdanm,cvoier8towhnqhbsh gbyvitg9p;438j90c3-0ejwomxcdniu.

Then there is the "stand still , for as long as your paws can stand it" on a single key , resulting in the more simplistic: xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Recently, there seems to be a new attempt at computer fun going on here: this image of Nicki appeared on photo booth. It is a close-up and as I did not take it, it looks like Nicki is dabbling in the age old art of self portraiture. Not bad for a first try at photography. I have a feeling it is currently beyond both cats to figure out how to post things on "you tube" & flicker but this does prove that they are a force to be reckoned with.

P.S. Did you know today is "Squirrel Appreciation Day"? Get out there and give a squirrel some love! And fresh nuts!

LOST

The weather has gotten cold this past week so it's not a good time to be finding new signs up around the neighborhood.

Here's to hoping they find their way home soon.

$ for a good cause

(Nicki keeps her eye out for her morning dove and pigeon friends)
I received an email from One lucky Duck today . Attached was an offer:10% of proceeds from all pet product sales would be going to several animals related causes. The motivating factor behind this offer is a rather wonderful adoption story -along with lovely photos of lucky Leon Quinn . Sweet.

Happy, happy holidays!

New news

There is a new member in our family:meet Maxx. He is 6 years old, rescued from a shelter , loves women (and is learning to love men), and looks like a horse when he trots here and there.

Also: Inky the wonder cat's brother "Toughie" has had surgery on the lumps on his head . Happily they were just cysts . Things got briefly complicated when Toughie decided to rip out all of his stitches - risking infection. A second surgery was done to clean his wound and stitch him up again and he is healing well-with the help of a radar dish collar.

(Photos of Toughie to come)

Perhaps the best news of today came from Fred of "One Bark At A Time": his photos of wonderful dogs can again be found online in his newest blog "Pound Dogs" . It was such a nice surprise to see this good friend of animals had come back to life, so to speak.

On a down note, Fred's dog Rocky is doing poorly. What a year 2010 has been.

With all that has gone on this year, personally, professionally and globally, we are chomping at the bit to get out of 2010 and into a better 2011 ASAP. The happy holidays and New Year can not come fast enough!

tornado 2010

Sandi has watched the clean up action from the bedroom window and I can tell you-neither she nor Nicki is a fan of the load noises made by all the machinery required to turn decades old trees into inch sized pieces of mulch.

the negotiation

Sandi thinks the kitchen should be open 24-7. The vet has warned her that her weight IS an issue but she has yet to associate her love of eating with increased inactivity and weight gain. She covets her sister's food and this has made Nicki somewhat frantic around food. I have tired to find ways to feed them to avoid this -with little luck.

Lately Sandi has taken to chasing Nicki whenever she gets the chance but Nicki is nimble and has found that jumping to high places ends things quickly. Her favorite new spot is on the VERY top of my desk.

Sandi then retreats to the kitchen and if I happen to be there she does all she can to try and get my attention so that I may understand just how much she really wants to be fed. Again.If it appears that I am not caving in to her demands Sandi stands up and hangs on my clothes with all of her weight. She has ruined quiet a few pants and skirts that way. She is lucky I love her...

Lola, lost & found

Lola's owners did an amazing job of blanketing the neighborhood with signs when she went missing. The signs are in color and there was a reward offered. Queens Crap did it's usual great job of getting the word out about Lola. And telling the story of how she was "found". The store in question is rather new to the neighborhood and you get a funny feeling when you walk by it-day or night. They have their dogs in baby cribs...I thought this was strange until my sister-in-law told me other stores do this too.

Here is the interesting thing:Lola's signs are still up, weeks after the fact-all over the place-on every corner's lamp post. I kind of like to think they are there as a reminder to whoever took Lola/sold Lola/ bought Lola/returned Lola/pocketed the reward.

This is not the first time someone has put up signs saying someone has taken their dog & as a life long resident of this area I have begun to wonder what has become of the lovely neighborhood I grew up in...

talking

Both Nicki & Sandi love to chit chat. Usually this happens when they are left in a room alone and I am elsewhere, working . Suddenly a plaintive cry can be heard. Usually, I go in search of them,as, in theory, I want them to know I hear them and care about what might be going on. Both cats have a habit of reacting with surprise when I approach-as if they had no idea I was home and are really happy to see me. The interaction often ends with a kiss(which they hate-see Sandi's reaction from earlier today-not her happy face!) or a scratch behind the ears or a toss of their favorite toy.

Ever since they were kittens they have also done this sort of thing right after bed time and the lights are out . Too often it happens just as I am about to fall off to sleep-just as I have hit that edge of blissful semi consciousness. I think they are "saying" :Where have you gone? Why are the lights out? Aren't we getting fed again? Can't we play? The particular meow they make sounds so sad & lonely that I have always pulled myself out of the nice, warm bed to see what was up. I figure it is part of the responsive agreement we have.

Can you do this?

Maggie joined the family for Mother's Day and Jean taught her to "find the treat". It reminded me of those guys one used to see all over the seedier parts of the city, years ago. They would set themselves up on cardboard boxes and lure in passers by with the chance of making a few bucks. I always knew to pass quickly as rumor had it pick pockets worked the crowds that gathered. NO chance of that here. Just lots of fun to be had!