Savannah's Paw Tracks

Autobiography of a Former Shelter Cat

Archive for the tag “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 ,
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 , , ,
01 Jul 2019
24 Comments

A Happy Tails Ending for Foster/Rescue Penelope!!

HIYA!!   SAVANNAH HERE!!!

Remember the little news I gave you about an abandoned kitty we named Penelope and we helped in our neighborhood about three or four weeks ago?

Penelope was not spayed, was pregnant with three kittens and appeared to have been declawed. She also displayed very aggressive behavior toward Mom L where she lived in a large cage in her office. Both Mom L and Dad P received several bites that went deep enough to draw blood.

If you work with any feline shelter, rescue, public shelter then you know that “biting” that draws blood will end a cat in quarantine and likely euthanasia. And given that we thought Penelope was declawed we knew we ought not to return her to the outdoors where she had been abandoned.

What to do?? Kit Katie still needs a great deal of attention to help her get beyond being so hand shy. Mom L and Dad P could not foster Penelope long term and could not take her to our county animal services. Fortunately we have a very experienced Director at our animal services and we sought her, and other’s, advice and counsel including the shelter  Chief Veterinarian.

Long story short, we determined Penelope deserved an opportunity to live her life within her own abilities and we asked the neighbor who found her if she would allow us to return Penelope to her as an outdoor cat. Miss Debbie agreed quickly.

About this time, we learned that Penelope HAS CLAWS!! All this time, even though she was biting, she never ever used her claws. Mom L observed her using a cardboard scratcher and heard little claws “rip, rip, rip”! Penelope’s claws had been trimmed back past the quick, almost to the sheath!!! How painful!!! No wonder she was biting!!

Mom L and Dad P set Penelope up in a large cage on Miss Debbie’s front porch. We thought she would spend several days here being fed and getting to know the sound and smells so we could release her.

Well Miss Debbie and Penelope had a whole other set of thoughts in mind!! MOL!!!

Miss Debbie found she could open the cage, clean the litter box, give Penelope her wet food and Penelope never moved from her side. Penelope ate outside the cage and gladly returned to it once it was cleaned.

Standing outside the cage

Miss Debbie spent lots of time sitting next to Penelope’s cage and talking with her. And then she decided it was time for Penelope to come inside and meet their resident cat, Frankie and learn whether or not Penelope could be her inside lap cat.

What a change!!! Yes, Penelope is aggressive toward Frankie. Yes, Penelope still tries to bite. Yes Penelope loves a lap. Yes, Penelope has found a patient, loving human, Miss Debbie, who is working with her to bring her inside forever.

You can see that Penelope enjoys being inside. She also enjoys a nice lap and gives paw hugs to show her appreciation for a kind, patient human.

Dad P and Mom L took down the outdoor cage today, and Penelope is living in Miss Debbie’s office for now. They will keep on working to hopefully make Penelope trust that she is safe once again. But, even if she cannot adjust to being inside and cease her aggressive behaviors, she has found her forever home!

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Welcome home Penelope!!

PAW PATS, SAVANNAH

Posted in happy tails endings and tagged , ,

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