Savannah's Paw Tracks

Autobiography of a Former Shelter Cat

Archive for the category “happy tails endings”

30 Mar 2020
14 Comments

A Happy Tail ending in the midst of pandemic

HIYA!!   SAVANNAH HERE!!!

Sorry to be late today but Mom L had to get more food for the 140+ colony cats living on public land to which our Project Delta View Cats has committed to feed daily. It’s kind’a hard ‘cuz some of the pet food stores and our Costco are putting limits on how much we can purchase.

Moving on, I thought you would enjoy hearing one of my Happy Tales Tails Ending stories. This is about a five month old kitten we named Priscilla. My pet sitter Miss Kandi feeds about six different small colonies around our city’s waterfront area. She has about five cats she feeds at her work place, Pittsburg Yacht Club. Just before our county closed down on a Monday March 16, Miss Kandi heard a squeaky meow and saw a small face peering at her from behind the dumpster.

The photo is lousy, but I wanted you to see that she is a talker! Right from the start. Mom L got an appointment for a Monday spay if Miss Kandi could pick the kitty up in the next couple of days. And she did!! This kitty was the last one we have been able to get spayed as our low cost clinics and shelter have closed their surgeries to S/N.

Mom L and Dad P intended to get Priscilla into our animal services shelter for adoption but the day she was spayed, they closed to all intake unless sick or injured. We recovered her after her spay surgery, thankfully she wasn’t yet pregnant!

Look at the sweet face and soft green eyes!! What a chatter box she was!

We could not foster her long term so we asked one of our volunteers if they might consider holding her until the virus shut down lifts and we can get her into adoption. Miss Sue said “sure” and she came over to meet Priscilla. After meeting her she was certain she would like to foster her and set up to return the next day to pick up Priscilla and her cage, food, litter etc.

Hey Lady? You gonna be my new friend?

Priscilla greeted Miss Sue with her usual chatty self and as Miss Sue was leaving with Priscilla, she told Dad P that “you don’t have to worry about her being adopted”. Dad P thought “huh?”

And off went Priscilla with Miss Sue. We waited a day, and then called Miss Sue. Yep, foster fail in less than 24 hours!!!

Mom L asked Miss Sue what motivated her to adopt Priscilla? Miss Sue’s reply “she is just so darn cute!”

There you have a wonderful Happy Tail Ending to an abandoned kitten’s story. Even in this national shut down, Mom L and Dad P and our PDVC volunteers are still out there making sure the community cats under our care are being fed and getting whatever medical treatment they need.

PAW PATS, SAVANNAH

PeeEss—if you accepted my paw pat, be sure to go wash your paws for 20 seconds!!

Posted in happy tails endings and tagged ,
24 Feb 2020
13 Comments

A Kitchen Clinic: Beginning and Ending Lives

HIYA!!   SAVANNAH HERE!!!

Mom L volunteers with Community Concern For Cats (CC4C) at the Kitchen Clinics Miss Gemma has, literally, in her kitchen. My former, now retired, feline specialist Vet is the doc who does the examines etc., Miss Josie. More Kitchen Clinic posts are here, here and here. I have been posting about these clinics since 2014! Mom L always enjoys the variety of cases she gets to help with including kittens…

Tiny lives…fostered by a CC4C member

…ferals who have to be sedated to be examined and medicated…

Feral, stray rescue clinic

…to abandoned adults who need a check up before they can be cleared to go up for adoption.

Abandoned at a city park

At a recent clinic Mom L was struck by how these clinics see the full range of a cat’s life from its beginning as a kitten through to the diagnosis that tells the cat will begin its journey across The Bridge soon.

First the precious adult Maine Coon cat a senior couple found in their backyard. Clearly on death’s door. He was emaciated. Starving and could barely walk. The couple fed him, brought him inside and cared for him until they could get him to the Kitchen Clinic.

Initial examination

This brave Maine Coon Cat had feline myocardial disease that had been left untreated far too long. And yet what a gentle giant everyone experienced this day.

The diagnosis was administer diuretics to help with the fluid around his heart and then simply love, pet, care for him until it was time for him to cross to The Bridge. This wonderful senior couple stepped right up to provide this precious cat hospice care. So Mom L experienced the beginning of the end of gentle giants’ life.

And next came a litter of four kittens. All different. All full of life and totally ready for immediate adoption! Such a diverse litter of color. First up the darling tuxedo.

Next up the striped tabby.

What is she doing with that needle???

That tabby was a trouper for sure! He wasn’t sure if that lady was gonna ever let go of his ear!!

Then the calico girl was next.

And last the boy with the most unusual markings!!

Ok, why are you holding me like this??

Look what is hiding under his chin!

What? So my mustache slipped a bit and is now my bow tie!!

These precious kittens were cared for by two men who just adored them. They were so happy that the kittens were all negative for FeLV and were ready for adoption!

And that is why Mom L so enjoys being able to volunteer at Miss Gemma’s Kitchen Clinic since 2014!!

COMMUNITY CAT RESCUE ROCKS OUR SOCKS!!!

Meow your thoughts about this post in comments. I luvluvluv hearing what my readers think.

PAW PATS, SAVANNAH

Posted in Community Cats, Feral Kitten Rescue, foster kitties, happy tails endings, paw it forward, TNR and tagged , , , ,
17 Feb 2020
12 Comments

What happens in kitten season

HIYA!!   SAVANNAH HERE!!!

So just WHAT does happen in a geographical location in the USA when “kitten season” gets going in full bloom so to speak?? My castle is in Northern California and our typical kitten season, when gobs of kittens are born by abandoned community cats, starts about late March or early April. It varies based on what your climate is.

Where is our Mom!

That said, I wanna talk about what happened this last 2019 kitten season and how my Paw It Forward effort, thanks to Mom L and Dad P and others, helped some kittens have a long awaited Happy Tails ending.

Our Project Delta View Cats (PDVC) efforts are very specific to our own city’s zip code and we only do “targeted” TNR (trap, neuter, return). We go door to door to find feeders who we can help by getting all their colony spayed, neutered and vaccinated. And, if they are friendly, we have a few adoption paths to help. That’s what this post is all about.

One of PDVC’s partners is our county animal services. Last year, 2019, they were chock full of kittens, moms with kittens in the shelter and the same but in foster families.

Along came PDVC with a Mom cats and between the two of them, 7 kittens. The shelter was impacted and asked that the feeders “foster and socialize in place”. And that had to be until at least another six to seven months!!!

But our partner, Contra Costa Animal Services, said once our “kitten season” was over, that we could allow our foster to bring those now almost adult kitties, into their adoption process.

And our “foster in place”, Miss Jessica, called PDVC this November searching for an adoption path for her remaining six now juvenile kitties.

This is a Happy Tails Ending!! All six were taken into the adoption path at our partner, CCAS. And everyone one was soon “pulled” by one of the CCAS Transfer Partners aka other rescues in our general location.  All six kitties have been adopted!! Here is their story told in their photos. I hope you will hang around and watch this short slideshow.

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All six have now been adopted. They were very well socialized by their “foster in place” cat Mom but their challenge was getting to be able to be with different people. And that is a HUGE challenge for all cat foster families. The kitties must get socialized BEYOND the foster family to increase their ability for adoption.

Let me know in comments what you think about our “Foster in Place” kittens “Happy Tails” ending.

PAW PATS, SAVANNAH

Posted in Adult Animal Rescue Stories, Community Cats, Feral Kitten Rescue, foster kitties, happy tails endings and tagged , , ,

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