My Baby ~~ Winston

This is Winston. He's my only male among three females ~ all fixed and he's my Baby!

He is also quite a unique character...
 
 






Winston and his mother, Molly...
when she isn't reproving him with a bat to the ear or a whack on the head for some imagined offense or just because its Tuesday.

A winter days slumber on the old rocking chair.

This, I have no explanation for! 


He's just 'Winston'

 
Is it morning yet?  Or... What do you mean its Monday, what happened to my day off, Sunday?

Winter's day nap.

Back in March, we had a nice day and this was as far as Winnie was going to enjoy the great outdoors ~ and that, was that!

So, how many cats to you know who habitually lay like this?

 Winston, inquiring after butter for his morning toast. Where's my Toast??

 Winston strongly suspects someone, who is not a family member, is on top of the fridge...

I have a plastic covering over the window so Winston can't climb up. Instead he's investigating an unusually bright orb in the night sky. Oh, what can it be???

These are only a few reason as to why he's my baby!

Catspaw

How To Write A Kijiji Ad That Gets Immediate Results

Since I write ads to re-home cats and kittens; since 2010 I have re-homed at least 50 animals. Some were my own before my three females were spayed, some were colony cats that I had tamed and socialized, some were strays that were found while others were abandoned here so I tell a mini story about how the animal came to be in my company and sharing our home. I even had Cat Action pick up at least two for re-homing. I always start with an Urgent Title that gets attention!  

 !!! This Baby Needs A Home NOW !!!

I go on to give a mini history of the cat or kitten, then I inform my ad's readers about aspects they would be interested in like temperament, how the animal eats and uses a litter box, if said cat/kitten would be a good match with other animals (dog or cat) and with children and whether its displays signs of becoming a 'one person' cat. I explain about its overall health and age; whether its fixed or not and any cute quirks he/she may possess; for instance, I had one little kitten that was a 'shoulder' cat, that was the place he most wanted to be. 

I should note here that I do not spare the readers of my ads the details when it comes to strays, throw-aways and barn or colony cats. I tell them about the life the animal has had and why they need someone like YOU to email or phone me to adopt, immediately. I give them the reasons then tell them to contact me. Here's an example of the current Kijiji Ad I have up for the little one that, after months of being alone and on her own, finally came in from the cold. 

"Last Winter I posted an ad for two of these kittens, they were this ones siblings. A group of three abandoned, dumped kittens had almost gone feral when my husband managed to catch two last November and I re-homed them, thanks to Cat Action and you. The third, this one, refused all attempts at helping her until just two days ago, she was so desperate that she allowed me to pick her up and bring her indoors and I've had her in since.

She is very small and malnourished for her age, which we put at possibly 9 months and easily startled by loud noises like the tv though she is adjusting well to her change in circumstance. She uses the box, eats well and is very friendly to any other cats, she tries hard to make friends but my cats won't have it so I have to put her, alone, in the porch each night.

She would get along very well with other animals and children as she is timid and has a mild temperament. She is the most affectionate kitten I've had in a while but she's in serious need of nurturing by someone who wants to give her the loving home she deserves and I am hoping to hear from someone out there soon, who is interested in her.

I will be posting pictures of her on my blog later today, so visit and read her story at  http://catsandtheirmews.blogspot.ca/"

I always blog about the animal then I hit them with the pictures!  I always have at least three shots of the animal(s). They are always 'free' to a good home and if I have some to spare, I give a can of wet food. 

The ad above was posted June 16th, there has been 95 views since yesterday and I got a positive response the same day! I like to meet the people taking the animal so I can judge for myself what kind of owners they will be and I have never been disappointed ~ all the people have been cat lovers and sincere about giving them loving homes. I didn't start out with the intention for being a rescue person but I could not leave the situation as it was either. Food for thought if you have animals in your neighborhood that need help.

Something to consider with your next Kijiji Ad whether its about animals or items, it can be written in the same format.

Catspaw

PS:  I re-homed the cat yesterday.

More On Feral Cats

The caption on the website reads: 'She Deserves To Live

Feral cats are the descendants of our domesticated cats that have  returned to their wild state. They are distinguished from the local stray cat population ... pet cats that have been lost, abandoned or simply thrown on the side of the road and survive the fling from the car window. Most ferals are born in the wild while the offspring of a stray can also be considered feral by virtue of also being born in the wild. What constitutes wild? The brush at the back of your yard, the small forest across the road in a rural area; the city park is home to more than just pigeons!

Trapped feral for spay or neuter

Feral cats are a growing problem in Australia where they prey on a wide variety of the local wildlife; bird populations of cockatoos and other species suffer at their paws but they are just trying to survive like any other animal. In the arid and semi-arid areas of the country their primary food sources are mostly the introduced European rabbits and house mice that some genius figured was a good idea to bring over. In the forests and urbanized environs they feed mostly on the native marsupial prey that's available, this is based on the 22 studies that were done and summarized in the Dickman report in 1996. Unfortunately, in many of the arid parts of Australia where rabbits don't thrive, the cats take the native rodents which includes bird and reptile populations that form the smaller portion of the cats diets.

Cat with no home, no one to look after him but himself and he's punished for it

Feral cats have become the apex predators in some local ecosystems but in others they are preyed on by feral dogs, dingoes and coyotes. They have become the food sources of much larger animals like wolves, bears, cougars and leopards. Bobcats, the lynx, hyenas, even fishers have taken feral cats as a meal. As have local crocodiles, snakes, foxes and other birds of prey. The overall effects on wildlife vary but the impact of our domestic and feral cats on local wildlife is still a centuries old debate.

Feral Dogs

Australian Dingo

 

Coyote taking refuge in empty bus, as much a victim as the feral cats

 

 

More victims of human inhumanity

 

 

These are the predators of the feral cats that we humans have created in colonies round the globe over the past century. 


No animal deserves this treatment from a humane, civilized society and yet...

In1916 a report was done for the Massachusetts State Board of Agriculture entitled The Domestic Cat: Bird Killer, Mouser and Destroyer of Wildlife. In this report, noted Ornithologist Edward Howe Forbush stated in the preface:
"Questions regarding the value or in-utility of the domestic cat and problems connected with limiting its more or less unwelcome outdoor activities are causing much dissension. The discussion has reached an acute stage. Medical men, game protectors and bird lovers call on legislators to enact restrictive laws. Then ardent cat lovers rouse themselves for combat. In the excitement of partisanship many loose and ill-considered statements are made."


This report actually cited Extinct Birds, a book published in 1905 by zoologist Walter Rothschild who stated, "man and his satellites, cats, rats, dogs and pigs are the worst and in fact the only important agents of destruction of the native avifaunas wherever they go."

Stephens Island Wren, extinct bird species

Rothschild went on to give several examples of cats in general causing the extermination of some bird species on islands.

Apparently the man gave equally no thought to how these feral and domesticated cats got there in the first place and that it took some brilliant 'human' to come up with the idiotic idea of populating already populated islands with rabbits and cats in the first place! Really, some people ought to try 'thinking' before they talk out loud!!


Even today there are farmers and gamekeepers that see feral cats as absolute vermin to be exterminated at all cost. Because the feral cat populations catch and eat ground nesting birds like pheasants and partridge that are protected, for no better reason than for people to kill them in flight when they go on their hypocritical bird hunts ~ not unlike the excuses they give for local fox hunting. To protect their birds some gamekeepers have resorted to setting traps and shooting any feral cats they find, on sight, as part of their ongoing, so-called pest control campaigns. Does this sound like a charmed life of freedom to you?


Please, think twice before dumping your unwanted cats on some farm or dairy or by the side of the road, your actions have direct consequences for these animals. Do the more humane thing and at least take the unwanted animal to a shelter or SPCA. Lets not forget that these animals actually 'trust' us to have their best interests at heart. No animal, pet or otherwise, is expendable. If they do become expendable in our world view, which animal is next? Will it be an animal or perhaps an unwanted child. Ask yourself.

Help me, don't hurt me ~ the choice is yours, not mine

Catspaw

Sailor and the Ruined Castle, Con't

Sailor awoke to a harsh reality. His mind was fogged by the unconsciousness he'd lapsed into while his body throbbed with cold and pain, he could not seem to clear his head. With great effort he pulled himself to his feet and leaned against the door-frame not having the strength to hold himself forward. Sailor felt confused, his mind was fuzzy and strange images merged with familiar ones in his clouded brain; but he couldn't sort them out into what was real and what was not. Questions, always questions. Sailor tried to shake his head - The castle. It held the answers and he had to reach it. Although Sailor had tried to settle in this village and call it home, in fact it was the castle that was most familiar to him and it was in its presence that he really felt like he was home. If he could only muster enough fortitude, he would take to his paws again and revisit the castle. A powerful sense of urgency now washed over Sailor forcing him to move toward the entrance of the alcove and out into the rain and fog. He advanced stiffly forward, willing his legs to move; his body was so unyielding that he feared trying to walk lest his legs broke! A cry of agonizing pain escaped his throat as his legs buckled and he collapsed forward; his head hitting the rough cobblestone while shooting pain raced up his legs and reverberated through his already wracked body. Utterly exhausted and crippled with affliction, Sailor braced himself against the wall and struggled to stand again. He waited until he could sense his paws under him, then gingerly shook himself. The heaviness of the rain weighing down his fur fell away. Feeling lighter and a little more mobile with constant forced movement Sailor stared out into the rain sodden village. Everything was saturated and the intense cold was returning to his body.

Catspaw

Sailor and the Ruined Castle, Con't

The day was awash with sunlight resting on the trees and grass that grew bountifully around thick castle turrets and walls. The path leading to the main drawbridge was surrounded with green of every kind and warmth. Lazy bugs flew as if drunk on sunshine! The strong scent of the nearby woods was on the wind as Sailor paused to sniffed the air. The extreme coldness had finally left his body and with it the stiffness was also gone; he felt warm again. He also felt a strange sense of 'right', like he belonged here. But... where was here? Every time he concentrated and thought he recognized something in this place, he had a kind of 'falling' sensation. As though everything he was looking at was moving backwards, away from him and receding. Sailor decided against trying to remember, he was tired and need rest; he would simply explore this place and see what came of it.

It seemed like he'd had been walking for hours... He watched birds flying and listened to the chatter of insects and there were fish in the moat that encompassed the castle, so this had to be a real place and it was alive. Sailor was weary and wanting to rest on his paws when he rounded a corner and found a small side entrance into the castle that was accessed by walking over a small bridge. There was an inviting patch of warm sunshine just beside the fence of the walkway above ; Sailor was drawn to the place and laid down comfortably in the taller grass, relaxing his fatigued body. As he lay prostrate Sailor gazed up at the castle walls, to his left the walls were covered in ivy that had climbed straight up the wall and was spreading to the one beside it. The palisade facing him was relatively narrow and had several stone windows carved into it, four up high and four below with several niches in between. There was a turret to the far right of Sailor's position. Eventually the sound of the water streaming in the moat, the enticing warmth of the day and the crickets all conspired together to lull Sailor into a deep, contented sleep. He was finally home.

Catspaw 

Quick Update On Sassy

On February 24th Sassy and Winston were spayed and neutered. Sassy hasn't been feeling good over these past 5 days, she's been experiencing some pain and discomfort, though no infection. She also had a adverse reaction to coming out of the anesthetic; the after affects stayed with her longer. 

The whole rest of the day and night of the 24th she was so dopey she couldn't walk straight and kept falling over then laying there until I came and picked her up. I put her back in her carrier to keep her from trying to wander the house. Her ears where too cold and the instructions said to keep her warm because she was unable to regulate her body temperature until the drug wore off completely. I still had to keep her warm over these past few days.

Now its exactly a week later and she has improved enough to play and is resting comfortably. 

Treat time

Her appetite suffered a little but she always was a small and delicate eater. She seems somewhat confused about her treats and usually eats only half of them; its almost like she is losing her taste for these special morsels. She eats them because the other three do so she follows their lead.

Incision in Sassy's tummy

This is the incision area and its clean with no infection and healing well. 
I am glad the pain has passed for her and she is starting to feel better. 
This same operation did not affect Molly or Emerald the same way, I believe its because Sassy is such a tiny cat and has never had much weight to her that she suffered more from the post-surgery than they did. 

nap attack!

So just to let my readers know that Sassy is steadily improving from her surgery and is feeling much better. 








Catspaw

Best Way to Adopt Your Next Pet

Considering pet adoption, I take my hat off to you! There are a few insights of note for you to reflect on while you are choosing both the place to adopt from and the pet you want to accept into your home.

Depending where you go to make your selection of a new cat, dog or bird some places start you off with a meet and greet program where you literally meet different animals and interact with them at the store, shelter or facility. The staff helps you decide using an application for adoption which includes a section that takes into account your lifestyle, current residence and experience with pets. Through this medium, they assist you in finding the best fit for you or you and your family. Understandably, they want 'forever' homes for the animals they allow to go to different people.

These new pets are either already spayed and neutered, including being given their shots or you can request it if the surgery has not already been preformed. Check with each place you visit as to their fees as they can range from $50 to $150; usually the cost is included on the animals paperwork. Its a good idea to phone ahead and get some information so you can choose which ones to pay a call to.

Inquire if the animal you are considering is sponsored through a program they offer like Furry Friends, it may be that the adoption fee has been pre-paid. The adoption of two pets can net you a discount for some 'bonded' pairs that the facility or store does not want to separate. Some pairs of animals are designated as bonded because they have already lived much of their lives together and therefore, must be adopted together at a special discount.

Ask also about what medical services are included in the adoption fee. Usually the spay/neuter is done prior to being taken by the new owner(s) but it might also include microchip registration, a preliminary vet check, vaccinations – some places provide at least one booster shot, a DA2PP for dogs and an RCP for cats. Request information about rabies vaccine and if they perform this or if you need your vet to administer it under your name. Other items that may be included are internal parasite treatment, a heartworm test for dogs at six months of age and FeLV/FIV tests for cats, flea medications.

A complete medial history of your new found friend with an itemized list of the regimen they have had is yours to take to your vet for a post adoptive exam and some shelters may provide a 30 day gift of insurance as well. Not a bad deal for them and for you, as the new master or mistress of a healthy animal and a happier home.

Catspaw

Bereavement and Loss

It was a warm day in early October of 2010 when we prepared to set out on our cross Canada road trip to Prince Edward Island, where we were to live with Merrill’s ninety something mother. I had been packing for a month when we finally got everything we were taking crammed in. We said our goodbye’s to our friends and loaded the two cat cages in my van. 

We set out from Penhold, Alberta this fine, sunny morning with two overloaded vehicles and an almost bursting trailer with a handmade box hitched to Merrill’s van. The three noisy and complaining cats; Boo, Molly and Sassy, were none too pleased to be locked inside their carriers; Molly and Sassy were small enough to share. Actually it started out ok but then Boo decided he did want to play road trip anymore he started with a yowly complaint which got his companions doing the same. Have you ever been cooped up with three caterwauling, wailing cats that just want to go back home?  For a week no less! 

We stopped in Hannah, Alberta where little Molly got away on us and we had to gain the assistance of a kind gentlemen in a local lumber yard to use her leash to pull her out from under a huge lumber pile that look as though it could have collapsed on her, otherwise she would have become a permanent resident of that little town!  The whole scary scene was not lost on Sassy or Boo and after that, all three of them balked at the very notion of leaving the sanctity of their carriers; for the rest of the six days we were on the road they had to pulled out just to clean their confines. 

It was a blessing that the rest of the trip was largely and in seven days, we arrived. It was like another planet to them as they cautiously crept out of the carriers and into the room we were to call our own; they didn’t know what to make of the change. 

During the next two years they learned where home was when they were outside and usually stayed close other than investigating the only neighbor we had who lived across the road from us in large home with its expansive yard or the massive field behind the house where the owners grew potatoes. Sometimes I’d see them out in the small cemetery next to the house, catching mice. I could always call them in and when they hesitated, a shake of their treat bag never failed. They got used to being outside again and I never had any real problem with getting them in but lately Merrill’s mother was getting very forgetful and letting Boo out at night. Usually all my cats were indoors before the sun went down but I was working nights and Merrill usually got home late. He had absolutely refused to come in when called. 

The phone was for me that morning. Through a fog the neighbor was telling me she saw a black cat that she thought was dead just outside her yard… this sent me flying out the door and running across the road. It was Boo. 

My baby Boo and his brother Greymalk; I had found them both one winter in a freezing barn on a farm we were living on in Alberta. The mother was skin and bones and all her other kittens had died, their little wasted bodies strewn around the snow crusted yard. A visitor to the farm took the mother cat to a cattle and horse auction where she apparently found a home and did well. Her two tiny kittens, one completely grey with a little white mark on his head; the other black with a little white under his chin, were left screaming in the barn. The tiny black kitten, whose eyes were sealed shut from neglect, came screaming towards any source of noise hoping to find his mother and survival. That day he found me. 

I bundled them up and took them home, nursed them back to health and they became our first pets in Alberta. Some years before our move to the island and before Sassy’s time I lost Greymalk, now I had lost Boo as well. There was little to console me. Boo was a very special animal and I missed him dearly. It turned out that Sassy had a surprise in store for us that would honor her friend and companion Boo and help heal the wounds of losing him.

Catspaw

Molly's Introduction

Cat Friend One

There’s this noise that becomes a scratching, then a weight against my back; my cats are up before I am again this morning and are unobtrusively demanding that I rise to greet the day with them. What does it mean when Emerald sits on top of me, batting my nose at 6 am? Is it a ‘get up already and feed me!’ or a ‘good morning, I clicked the button and the coffee is on.’ You can almost hear the sing-song in her meow, almost.

I’m up. Sassy wants outside, Molly wants to be left alone, Emerald is demanding her treat and laid back Winston is just waiting for something to happen; another typical day in the Stewart household. All four have completely different personalities that clash, rather loudly and dramatically at times. Molly is my drama queen, Emerald is a very moody princess; if there was a cat click, she’d be the one dominating it!  Sassy is the ever practical wise mother/matron and Winston, my schoolboy, just seems confused most of the time about what the big deal is between these three girls. So that’s our warm and fuzzy family. 

I will introduce Molly first. Merrill surprised me with this little bundle of delight just after we lost one of our beloved males one night to a car on the dirt road outside our trailer in Alberta. She was a tiny black and white kitten that grew up with Boo, our remaining male. Boo looked over his whiskers at an over- enthusiastic, bouncy kitten who had moved in just when he’d just lost his brother Greymalk but by the time she was half grown they were inseparable; buddies to the end!  Molly turned out to be rather too clever for her own good at times, even as a baby she’d get herself into trouble with her escapades. Oh the tribulations! 

She was originally raised to be an indoor cat; safety, longer life, health issues and all that. But she would jealously watch whenever Boo was let outside then she’d send up a pitiful wail all full of ‘Life’s just not fair!’ and hammer at the door until it was showing signs of being shredded, after that she dashed from window to window trying to see where Boo was outside. I remember her silently and resolutely plotting my downfall as she sat and scornfully glared at me; seeing I was unmoved by this expression of harrumph she adopted another scheme and would follow me from room to room as I opened the windows early on hot days to cool the trailer. Somewhere in her mind’s eye a strategy was forming.  

Maybe, just maybe if she pushed hard enough on the mesh that covered the open window, she could tear a hole in it and get outside. I became suspicious of her designs on my window screens too late when I realized she was suddenly and unusually too quiet, I went to check on her. Yep, that’s exactly what she did. Now a lovely cool breeze was coming through the flapping mesh along with every flying bug in the neighborhood to take up residence in my spare room. Arrrg!

One Saturday morning when Merrill was working on adjusting the pipes from the hot water heater to the underground tubing under the trailer, Molly found this a fascinating occupation to watch. She also found that she could just squeeze her little body through the opening and the great outdoors awaited. Unfortunately, it was later in the evening while I was wondering where she’d gotten herself to that I realized she might have gotten outside again. That sent hubby out the door, at my express command to crawl under the trailer with a flash light to find her, sitting rather uncertainly, on the end of the pipe at 10 o’clock at night and mount a rescue operation.

Eventually I just gave up and let her go out on supervised excursions when I was working in the garden. She quickly improved her techniques for avoiding capture when it was time to come in but Boo usually knew where she was and kept an eye on her. How she loved being outdoors exploring every nook and cranny of her environment.  

Thus started many an adventure with our new companion and family member that would eventually take us all on a cross Canada road trip from Penhold, AB to Prince Edward Island and to new, more bizarre adventures. 

Catspaw