HIYA!! SAVANNAH HERE!!!
As you already know if you visited me on Sunday Selfie, I introduced a new Paw It Forward series of posts that I will be doing between September and December, with my wrap up post in January 2016.
The series is to bring everyone up to speed on the most critical back log in our current foster care system; the Adult Homeless Foster Cats. And the operative word is ‘Adult’.
Let’s get started with my first guests…Chanel and Coco.
Savannah: “Hiya Coco and Channel! I am just tickled gray and white to be able to have a chat with you both about your current circumstances as Adult Homeless Foster cats.”
Chanel: “Well, first, Savannah…we are tickled black (that’s Coco who is an all-black panther girl) and black and white (that’s me, because I am a Tuxedo lady) to get to have this interview with you.
And yes, we are currently in what humans’ refer to as ‘a foster home’. That means, at least to us, that we have a human who will protect us for as long as they can and feed us and give us as much attention as they are able given that they always have other adult cats, even kittens, to care for as well. But this is not our true forever home.”
Savannah: “Ladies, are you telling me that this is just a ‘temp’ place for you? It sounds like you are sort’ a like houseguests.”
Coco: “Exactly Savvy, that’s it. Don’t get us wrong, the lady here is very nice. She brought us and 3 Mom Cats with their kittens to her home. All in all there were 21 of us counting the three litters of kittens.”
Chanel: *interrupts Coco and starts talking* “Let me tell this part Coco…*Coco rolls her eyes*…before we came here, we were kind of ‘camping out’ in the property of a much older human lady. She didn’t know how to care for us really well, but she did try to feed us.
Chanel steps in…
But then two of the Mom Cats had kittens because the older lady didn’t bother to have any of us spayed; you see we were all girl cats…five of us. And then the kittens started arriving. Thankfully Coco and I were trapped and spayed before we ever had kittens. The older lady finally allowed her neighbor, the nice woman who is our foster, to ask a rescue called Community Concern 4 Cats (CC4C) to come on her property and trap all of us…kittens and adults. We all were given our vaccines, wormed, tested for FIV and of course, spayed.”
Savannah: *leans over and gives each a soft paw pat* “I heard you; you have meals and a warm dry place to live. But it isn’t the same as being able to go around and mark everything with your cheek scent to claim it as your very own.”
Coco: *Coco looks at Chanel; both get pink cheeks* “Coco speaks first; “Savvy, we know we are lucky to be in this nice foster home. The lady even built this very nice catio so we can go outdoors and still be safe and get lots of fresh air whiffies and whatnot. But as you said, we are still homeless because we cannot stay here forever.
I know I cannot live here forever
In fact, the lady is going to have some work done so the room we are allowed to live in will be used for her project so we will be moving to another foster home. It makes us really anxious because we have no idea what our new foster place will be like. What if it is smaller? Or we don’t have a way to get outside, safely, for fresh air? It is a worry for us.”
Savannah: “MOUSES! Just the thing that is tough for us adult cats to handle; being moved around and having lots of changes. Tell me what happened to the kittens. I only see the two of you and then the three Mom Cats.”
Chanel: “Oh, *waves a paw of dismissal* heck, those kittens were all adopted into their very own forever castles fast as can be. But you see Savvy, Coco and I were already about seven months old when we were trapped and now we are about 20 months old. And all three of the Mom Cats are about two years old now. All five of us are ‘adult cats’ and most humans want kittens.”
Savannah: “Oh My Cat! You two are caught in the ‘adult cat’ dilemma just like I was. Once we are beyond the ‘squeeee’ kitten stage, the humans seem to become less interested in us even though we have nine lives filled to the brim with cuteness just for them to discover!.” *Savvy takes a deep breath*
Adult Homeless Foster Cat dilemma
I hate to ask, but why do you think the two of you have not been swept up by a family so you can make them happy and feel loved?”
*Coco looks shyly at Savvy, then looks away embarrassed*
Chanel: *Chanel sees Coco and skootches closer to her to put a paw on her sister’s shoulder for comfort* “Savvy, we are both adults as we have been saying and most humans want kittens. But, even though we are still very playful and kitten like and full of energy, we have another drawback.
Well actually, *Chanel hugs Coco*, Coco has a bigger drawback than even me; you see she is an all-black panther girl and humans tend to look past black cats almost as if they don’t notice them.
Yes, I am right in front of you…and I am a black panfur girl
I at least have some white markings and cute white paws so I was actually adopted a few months ago.”
Cats other than my Sister Coco are a bit scary
Savannah: “Really??!! How exciting. But here you are so what happened?”
Chanel: “Savvy, I just was afraid of the resident cats and I kind of, sort of, acted a bit snooty toward them…*cough, ahem*…actually I was aggressive toward them so the humans brought me back.
I didn’t mean to be like that; but with Coco I am really comfy and I know I can trust her to not hurt me. I did not know those other cats so I defended myself even when I probably didn’t need to.”
Savannah: “Oh Chanel, I am so sorry. But tell me more about the challenge with Coco having all-black furs. I think she is gorgeous and black is totally the most slimming color, right?”
See, I am totally your most slimming affect
Chanel: “You are so right Savvy. I mean look at me, I am black but with lots of white markings…*Chanel looks over her shoulder as her backside, then back to look down at the front of her body* ummm…Savvy?”
Savannah: “Yes Chanel?”
Chanel: “Do you think my white markings make me look fat?”
Do I look fat?
Savannah *giggling* “No, no Chanel, not one bit. But what about Coco, I see she is still a little removed from this conversation.”
Chanel *glancing sideways at Coco* “Well, she is, as I said, embarrassed to be all-black because even if it isn’t true that black cats get overlooked the most, it still feels that way to her.
You know Savvy, when Coco and I snuggle together for naptime and at night…I try to rub against her really hard hoping some of my white furs will rub off permanently on her…*sigh*…so far no luck.”
*Savannah sees a tiny tear leak from Coco’s golden eyes and reaches over to gently wipe it off*
Savannah: “Alrighty girls, please, each of you, describe what you hope for in your real human family and what you dream your forever castle will look like.
Coco, will you go first?”
Coco: “Oh Savvy, I am delighted to describe my hopes for a human family and my dreams of my forever castle. First, of course, I want my sister Chanel to go with me. I pray to Ceiling Cat every day that we can be together.
We love and adore each other…best furriends
As for my forever family, I adore talking to humans so I hope they don’t mind me being so chatty. And of course, I like to have humans play with me so I hope they will spend time playing with me each day and brushing me and letting me sleep in their lap. And as for my forever castle…I hope to have access to outdoor whiffies! I cannot live outside; I have become a comfortable indoor ladycat. But I so love having the catio to visit every day; but, an open window with a screen would be great too.”
Chanel: “My turn! First, ditto on being in the same forever castle as my sister Coco. If I cannot go with her, then I really want my very OWN forever castle and family and not have to share with other cats.
I like to be picked up and cuddled and laps are a great place for taking naps. And climbing is literally the ‘cat’s meow’ as far as I am concerned. And the higher the better so a nice tall cat tree will be great.
Oh yeah, and I also like to have interactive time with humans so I simply must have a family that enjoys waving my wand toys.
Do you think we are asking for too much Savvy?”
Are we asking for too much?
Savannah: “No Coco and Chanel, you are hoping and dreaming of all that you both deserve. I will do my best to help bring your hopes and dreams into reality for each of you.
Thank you for sharing your story and your hopes and dreams of your forever family and a castle that you can call HOME!”
Chanel steps in…
See, I am totally your most slimming affect
I know I cannot live here forever
Cats other than my Sister Coco are a bit scary
Yes, I am right in front of you…and I am a black panfur girl
And to my readers, thank you for coming to visit us today. If you would please SHARE SHARE SHARE Coco and Chanel’s story and help them make their hopes and dreams come true, I will be forever grateful.
Both can be found on the following links:
Community Concern 4 Cats: search using their names:click HERE…
Coco: https://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/33217007
Chanel: https://www.petfinder.com/petdetail/33217008
If you missed my introduction to this series, click here: Introduction: We Are Adult Homeless Foster Cats…Revealing Hopes and Dreams with Savannah. This post was Part One of a six part series. Part Two will be posted October 26th, 2015.
PAW PATS. SAVANNAH
Savannah's Paw Tracks 