paw it forward | Savannah's Paw Tracks

Archive for the category “paw it forward”

29 Oct 2018

Friendly Community Cat Rescue—Joy and Worry

HIYA!! SAVANNAH HERE!!!

Let me get to my apology for missing my Friday Memes post right at the get go of this post. Mom L totally messed up her back at some stuppy gym class and she could not even work that compute mouse with me helpin’ her! But we are back (pun!) on track this week!

Now for my sharing about my latest Paw It Forward project with Mom L and Dad P. You do remember our foster kitten, Katie, right? Dad P pulled her from an overwhelming situation the first of July when Katie refused to leave her carrier to be returned to her original caretaker. Katie lived in Mom L’s office for almost 4 months. Eventually we brought in a younger kitten named Lilly to see if she could get Katie to come out of her fear. And it worked! Katie grew confident and became the most darling, lovable kitty.

Do I have to go?

This photo was taken the morning Mom L and Dad P transported Katie and Lilly to Contra Costa Humane Society’s Kitty Corner free roaming shelter. My long time readers know this is my former shelter where Dad P found me and brought me to Mom L’s attention. The staff at Kitty Corner were open to accepting dear Katie, and Lilly and on other youngster, found dying in a friend’s back yard—Duchess. Duchess is a Lilac Point Siamese.

This is so scary!

The morning Katie was to leave, Mom L played with her and tried to make sure she knew how much she is loved and how special she is.

Ohhhh…thanks for the tummy rubs Mom L

And then whoosh!! Off Katie went to Kitty Corner. Little did she know that her former roomie, Lilly, would be joining her. Lilly was recently spayed and so returned to her first foster for her recovery care so she and Katie had not been together for about ten days.

Lilly when she lived with Katie in my castle

What a reunion Lilly had with Katie! When Mom L opened up the carriers little Lilly bounced out of her own carrier and went straight to welcome her Auntie Katie!

Auntie Katie!!! *rubs, purrs* So happy to be with you!!

Katie was afraid and timid. Mom L and Dad P were holding back tears because they are learning the joy and now comes the “worry” of rescuing friendly community cats and kittens.

Dad P reaching in to comfort scared Katie

Finally Katie was willing to peer over the top of her carrier with her buddy Lilly cheering her on.

Come on Auntie Katie, let’s play!

Eventually Lilly helped her Auntie Katie get brave enough to venture out of her carrier.

See!!! I told you Auntie would come out and play with me!

And this is the joy and worry of rescuing friendly community cats and kittens. Where do you find a path for their adoption? Who will want a youngster like Katie who is about nine months old, with a permanent limp, and needing lots of patience and understanding? The concerns for their futures are real. Humans return kittens and cats for reasons that are mind numbing—too needy, not affectionate, timid, won’t get in my lap, etc. etc.

Time, patience, love and understanding are required for anyone who ever takes a friendly community cat or kitten into their home and life. Mom L and Dad P will stay on top of what happens with Katie, and of course, Lilly and Duchess as well. After all, there are four more following in their paw steps this coming week. More about that later.

PAW PATS, SAVANNAH

Posted in Community Cats, Feral Kitten Rescue, paw it forward and tagged Community Cats, contra costa humane society

22 Oct 2018

16 Comments

What a difference time can make

HIYA!! SAVANNAH HERE!!!

Hey guys, how many of you remember our foster kitten named Andi? Mom L trapped her and her Mom Mandi last October 2017 where they were living at an Elk’s Lodge near my castle. Well Mom L received notice from my cat Vet that Andi’s annual checkup is due next month! That made us all remember sweet Andi and miss her all over again.

Thanks to Face Book, Mom L was able to find Andi’s new Mom and ask for an update. Here you go—Andi one year later!!!

She is just as cute as ever and still a bit shy but always progressing and loved very much by her family.

I am learning in my own recovery from trauma that time and patience make such a difference. Now I can see that happening with our current foster kitten, Katie. She is about eight to nine months old and recovering from a traumatic early kittenhood including being a mom cat at age five months!! We have also learned that she has a permanent limp, likely due to a trauma at birth which has made one of her front elbows not function quite right.

BUT—Katie is progressing lots with the four months we have had her and with love and patience. Katie adores being brushed and loves having her full tummy rubbed and brushed. She throws herself down and stretches out from the tip of her front paws to the tip of her hind paws!

She flips over when she expects some more attention and she always gets it!

More please!!

And last but far from least, a look at what the passing of a few weeks can mean to some new born kittens Mom L and a pal rescued using the kittens as bait for the mom cat.

Remember how tiny they were when reunited with their mom?

Just take a look at them now! You can see five of the six kittens in the first photo. They are all so much like their beautiful Russian Blue mom cat. Only one gray tabby and the others are like mom.

And here is the one cute tuxedo kitten.

They will start being weaned soon. Mom cat will be spayed and released in her favorite neighborhood as she has shown she is very much a feral cat. But all the kittens will be going to adoptions in another four to six weeks.

So I say APAWS APAWS for how much progress can be made when we give rescue kitties some time, love and patience. Don’t you agree?

PAW PATS, SAVANNAH

Posted in Community Cats, Feral Kitten Rescue, paw it forward and tagged Community Cats, feral cat rescue, paw it forward

04 Oct 2018

25 Comments

Thankful Thursday Indeed—There are SIX!

HIYA!! SAVANNAH HERE!!!

You guys are sooooo observant! I thought there were only FIVE babies in that photo when Mom L showed me. And then I realized that one of those little heads could NOT be connected to the body I thought unless that kitten was a contortionist!! MOL!!

For those of you in the USA who have access to and use the app called Nextdoor.com, you will recognize this message Mom L and I saw as a common one.

Kittens in my backyard

While watering my backyard tonight a adult cat jumped on the fence out of the bushes I kept watering I didn’t think much of it and then I heard the little screeching of young kittens they are probably no more than a week old I hope momma comes back does anybody have any advice on what I should do they are soaking wet because I sprayed my plants I put a little blanket on them.

This compassionate person checked through the night to make sure the kittens were safe from raccoons. When he checked at first light there were only two! He then cared for them until someone contacted him at night saying they were with a cat rescue and would take the two kittens to bottle feed.

Dad P and Mom L reached out to our neighbor who lives just across the water from us, and let him know we would try to find the kittens Momma moved and Momma herself. Mom L wrote up a flyer and she, Dad P and the neighbor distributed it around his part of our community to let residents know we were searching for a mom cat and babies.

Next day Mom L received a call and the person had heard kittens mewing at night. The next day same thing and Mom L hopped in her car and there they were!!

All tucked in nice and safe. Now what to do to trap Mom cat? Mom L tried for a three days to catch the mom cat, but she knew what a trap was all about. And then the dreaded news that rain was in the forecast for Tuesday this week. We had to get those babies out of that dirt trench before the rain. Mom L reached out to several trapper pals and one was able to come to our assistance.

Miss Jeanne and Mom L had neither one ever tried to trap a mom cat using her kittens as the “bait” by themselves, but they had expert coaches and they set up this trap.

Kittens in the carrier in back and set trap in front

Miss Jeanne stayed watching that trap set-up while Mom L dashed off to a doctor’s appointment. And then the MIRACLE CALL!!

WE HAVE MOMMA CAT!!!

Mom L rushed over and sure enough, there was Mom Cat, trying to get as close as she could to her six kittens.

Beautiful, isn’t she? So Mom Cat and her remaining six kittens have been reunited as of Tuesday this week. And that’s enough for a Thankful Thursday post for sure, don’t ya think??!!! Follow this link to join lots of other wonderful Thankful Thursday posts over at my pals’ Brian’s Home blog hop.

I am so very very thankful that we had another successful Paw It Forward project! The first two kittens who were taken in by a rescue person have not been reunited with their siblings. That is another story for another blog post as to why. For now, we believe they are safe and cared for, but we do worry a bit.

Let me know in comments if you enjoyed learning about our most recent cat rescue work.