Reals Rescue Cats Are Talking…
HIYA!! SAVANNAH HERE!!!
LIFE CHANGING INTERVIEWS WITH SAVANNAH
A Bi-Monthly Series Featuring Adult Rescue Dogs and Cats
I have two great cats joining me today. What you are going to be reading is really about TWO RESCUE CAT STORIES AND AN ADDED BONUS:
…how they and there huFamily are managing their lives together…
You will know them right away, so without any more hoopla…let’s give them a warm hearty welcome!
My first 2013 Life Changing Interview with Savannah …
STAR AND LEO from…
APAWS!!! APAWS!!! APAWS!!!
…and the Ladycat of the house…Star…
Savannah: Hiya Leo and Star! I am so purrleased you agreed to come by and have a meow with me.
Leo: Hey, Hi Savannah!! Wow I feel so honored to be included in your rescue cats talking thing! ‘Cause I’m a rescue and I am talking!! Whew!!
Star: Hello Savannah. I’m glad to be here, even though my story is not what you’re looking for.
Savannah: OMC! Star!! (Savvy gives Star a soft paw pat)…I know a bit about you and you are “spot on” for what I am trying to do!!!
Can you meow a bit about your life before you found Mommy Andrea and Daddy for your furrever home???
Leo: Ok…Savvy…let me start…ahem…In October, 2011, I was out in the cold with my mom and five sisters.
It was AWFUL! We didn’t know where we were going to eat or live or even IF we were going to live!
…My Mom…
Then this one lady started to feed us regularly and we got into her garage. That was a little warmer, but still outside in October! This lady knew another lady, Miss Chrystal, who rescues kitties and she came over to see us.
Well, when we first met her, we HATED her! She tried to capture us! On her first try, all she got was me and my sister Glitter. We hissed at her like mad, but all she did was feed us. What’s with that??? Eventually she got all six of us, and our mom, who was TNRed because she HATED people, but is being cared for still.
…me and my sisters…
Anyway, we grew up in Chrystal’s office for a long time. Then she moved us over to the cat house. But I didn’t do well there so she put me and one sister back in the office. My other sisters didn’t have a problem with the cat house, so Chrystal finally decided that it wasn’t fair to take them out of it when I was the scaredy cat. But I kinda got over it and settled in to wait for my forever home.
And wow, it took a long time! My sister Tuxie/Trixie got adopted, but the rest of us…nothing. Until I turned nine months old! Then my furrever Mommy couldn’t take it anymore and talked my daddy into the eight hour drive to meet Miss Chrystal so she could adopt me! You see, my Mom started watching Miss Chrystal’s blog just before I was rescued, and she fell in love with my face *blush* cause she loves grey kitties and because I had a great name that was really meaningful for Mommy. I’m two years old now, so I’ve been in my forever home over a year and a half!
…Leo’s baby pic…
Star: My story is a little different. I was saved just BEFORE I was made homeless. I had a home. I had a sister kitty. I had a family. But that family broke apart. All that was left was the man and he was going to put me, my sister, and our kittens outside. Just…ahem…dump us out before he moved.
Savvy, can you believe that?!
Savannah: Seriously???!! (raises paws to mouth in shock) Of course that is hard to believe …sigh…
Star: I just don’t know Savvy…(shakes head)…My sister and I had kittens because a mancat broke into the house through a screen window. I still have scars on my neck from that eventful day.
The man put up a sign for free kittens and my ‘now’ Mom saw it. She saw a little pretty grey kitty sitting on the front porch, facing away from the house, meowing over and over. She thought, “Wow! I want that kitten!”
She went to see if anyone was home. Nope. She tried several times—until one day, the man was there, throwing his wife’s furniture out the front door. My mom asked if that grey kitten was still there and still looking for a home. He said he didn’t have “no grey kittens”—that’s the Mom cat!—then he said “But you can have her because I’m just going to let her out when I am done moving.”
Again, can you believe that?!
Savannah: Yes, Star…(Savvy reaches over and hold Star’s paw)…of course I believe you…and they are the ones who lost…Go on…meow some more when you are ready…(Savvy purrrrrrrs softly for Star)
Star: So Mom took me right that minute, no carrier, nothing ready at home, and three other kitties at home who were NOT expecting company! She looked over her shoulder and asked what my name was. “Star” he said. Then he shut the door. I was two years old then. I’m thirteen now.
…Star having an upside down moment…
And I’m happy that I was saved from being tossed aside like an old shoe. I quickly let the other cats know that I was top cat. They accepted it. I was not going to be in the position of getting attacked again, and that’s that!
And I’m happy that I was saved from being tossed aside like an old shoe. I also have a fused bone or two in the end of my tail. It looks like someone slammed it in a door. When I was new here, I would spin in circles; like something was wrong. They thought it was my leg but nothing was wrong with my leg. By the time anyone realized it was my tail, it was already fused.
Savannah: If it is not too hard, can you meow some more about some of the toughest things you had to learn or overcome so you could trust Miss Andrea?
Star: I was already used to humans. But I still hid under the couch for days. Once my Mom got me out from under there, she put me in the cat room and spent time with me, petting me and showing me that I could trust her. I don’t know what caused it, but I cannot be picked up. If my mom tries to pick me up, I splay out all my claws and flail for maximum scratches. With my Dad, I protest, but I don’t splay out my claws.
Only on occasion, with recent arthritis, have I let Mom pick me up to the bathroom counter to drink from my special glass without attempting to rip her arm apart.
Leo: Well, I had issues…still do, I guess. At first, I couldn’t be out of the cat room without knowing where my new Mommy was. I’d call her if I couldn’t see her and she’d answer me and I’d come running! Just knowing that she was always going to be there helped me stop being scared of not having her in sight.
I was scared of lots of stuff. TV was a big one! I had never seen one before! The first time it got turned on, I crouched down low and slunk out of the room! Mommy thought it was funny, but she showed me that the talking box was ok by holding me and petting me when she turned it on. And she always made sure the volume was down when she shut if off so next time she turned it on, it wouldn’t be a big loud noise!
I do not like belly rubs! Not at all! Sometimes I try to bite Mommy because she says my tummy is irresistible. Daddy and she are trying to teach me that it’s ok by catching me when I’m sleeping or just about asleep. I’m almost always sleeping on my back so they lightly touch my tummy and rub it. It might actually be working because they, I mean mostly Daddy, can rub my belly for quite a while now before I wake up. Mommy can pick me up, but I don’t like to stay there if it’s not my idea
I guess I still have feral issues…but Mommy and Daddy are patient.
Savannah: You have both had many challenges—and Leo you were less than a year old, but you already had memories of bad times that you are still trying to manage. And my gurl furriend Star, you had kittens when you were so young and then you were tossed aside…I am so sorry.
If you can, meow a bit about some of the ways you both worked with Mommy and Daddy to try to overcome your issues or challenges so you could show them more and more of your REAL SELF?
Star: Eleven years ago, Mom didn’t really know anything about introducing cats to each other or integrating different personalities. She’d always just kind of brought in the new kitty and let them work it out. But with me, she did have to win my trust first, so she used the separate kitty room. I could see the other kitties; we got to know each other through the door.
Leo: Mommy had been reading cat blogs for a while before she got me. So she kinda had an idea of how to introduce me and Star. Still…it didn’t really work because my biggest problem here…’IS’ Star! (Leo looks over at Star nervously)
She hates me! Mommy separates us at night now. It keeps us from fighting and keeps me from jumping in the middle of her back while she’s sleeping when Star chases me back to the bedroom.
I admit it, I am a scaredy cat. The doorbell scares me. Visitors scare me (even the loud girl who lives here when she’s in town scares me!) But Mommy and Daddy have patience with me; they make sure I can get away from the door and visitors and the girl. If they think it will still be too much, they block off the upstairs so I KNOW no one can get to me and I don’t have to go near them.
…this is me hugging Mommy’s shoulder…sigh…
Savannah: Do you show your REAL SELF now?
Star: I don’t think “I” have any challenges now, other than having to deal with the barbarian…”Leo” I mean. I think I totally express my REAL SELF, and if “certain cats” don’t like it…well he can lump it!
Leo: My biggest problem in showing my REAL SELF is…”No, no…I can’t say it…she’ll kill me..!!!
Star: “Oh say it you baby!”
Leo: “It’s Star!” She scares me! She chases me and tries to whap me! Ok, so sometimes when I know she doesn’t see me, I will quietly poke her in the butt…but come on! She wants to have me and her kibble too!
…”sigh” That’s my biggest issue…and the “scared of new people” thing. Mommy and Daddy are always trying to figure out how to get us to tolerate each other and get along. Mommy says she’s given up on her dream of having two grey kitties snuggled up together…so, so not gonna happen, nope. Not unless “you know who” suddenly chills out…(Leo points his paw toward Star)
Star: “Right–Never! They protect me too, from your sneak butt attacks!”
Leo: “Well…I wanna play!”
Star: “Haaruumpfff…”
Savannah: Awwww…you two!! Come on…I know you are starting to play a bit together, right?
Anyways…just one last question, can you offer any advice to our readers to help them support their adult rescue cat, or one they may be thinking about bringing into their home, through its recovery process?
Star: Don’t just dump them into the general population! Even if there aren’t other cats, give them a safe, smallish place to claim at first.
Leo: Be patient! Sometimes it takes a long time for a kitty to come out of its shell. Sometimes he needs someone on his side, be “that” someone. Love your new buddy, even if he or she may not be very lovable… while he or she is settling into his or her new home. Ya’ gotta give them time to blossom!
Savannah: Oh My Cat!!! You two have such incredible stories; you make really good points about the joy, as well as challenges, introducing the new feline. Any last thought or words of wisdom you want to meow about?
Leo: I got a last thought!…wait for it, wait for it…OK..HERE IT IS…
Three, count them THREE, of my sisters got adopted!! They got forever homes just before Christmas! How totally awesome is that?!?! Woo Hoo!!! That means only my sister Spritz is still in the cat house waiting on her forever family. Spritz is sweet, a bit shy, she needs a family to give her time to show how great she can be!
There are lots of younger kittens there now. They all need homes, so please, please look at them, share their story and help find perfect homes…just like the one I got! Then they’ll be as lucky as me…and Princess Hissy Face. Thank you!! Click here to visit Miss Chrystal of “Dogs and Cats blog and Winnie’s Wish”.
Star: “Oh yeah, like begging is the way to go…”
Leo: “How would you get people to look at the adoptable kitties, Miss Star???”
Star: Like this—“Alright! Listen up, you human people! There are kitties over there in need! YOU can do something about it! YOU NEED to do something about it! No one should be homeless!
Leo: Thank you, Savannah, for letting us tell our stories!
Star: Yes, thank you. We love you, Savvy!
Savannah: Oh Cat! You two are the best to come by and spend so much time with me. And Star, your rescue story is really impawtant and I am so purrleased you agreed to join Leo in this meow session with me!
(Savvy reaches over and gives Star a reassuring little paw hug)
That’s my first 2013 Life Changing Interviews with Savannah: Real Rescue Cats Are Talking. And I think Leo and Star got us off to a great start!!
One more round of APAWS!!!
Now I have an URGENT request…I will not be able to continue this series for Real Rescue Dogs Are Talking after January. I do not have any other dogs who have stepped forward to woof to me that they want to share their rescue story. I was kind’a hoping I could do 7 more dogs and cats so I would have 12 of each.
Mom and I want to make a booklet from a year of interviews and then donate it to shelters to hand out to families adopting adult cats and dogs.
I have lots of cats that I will continue to interview, but if you know of any dog out there who will woof with me…please send them my way. It makes me sad to think I can’t meow with the dogs to share their stories too.
Another reminder—don’t forget to hop over to Sammy’s today…it’s his 13th birthday pawty!!
And finally…purrlease stop by my blog again on January 3rd for my first GOTCHA DAY pawty…Mom said I could do a commentathon…$.50 for each comment will be donated to Contra Costa Humane Society (they run my former cat shelter) for their vet care budget for adult dogs and cats they rescue from the local county kill shelter. So make Mom write a great big check!
Savannah's Paw Tracks 