Leaving Me

Finally, the torti tux teen from the dumpster, is leaving.  Not til Thursday.

She's not going to OCO (Odd Cat Out Sanctuary) but rather to CATS (Cat Alliance Team Sanctuary) where cats free roam under no pressure to adjust on anyone's time schedule but their own.  No caging.  And high adoption rates.

CATS has taken in five cats from me previously.  They took in the big FIV positive boy, Dandy, who no local shelters would touch, injured as he was, sick as he was, with face swollen badly from infection.  He got well and got a home.

They took in Tink too, from the farm colony, when she showed up.  She got a home.

And they took in three wildish teens I trapped on highway 34 near the freeway.  Two got homes right away while Winter refused to tame.  Until now, months later, he is tame and awaiting adoption, not as a wild teen, but as a tame boy.

So they have a great record.   And I am happy they have accepted Jazz.  But not just Jazz.  They offered to take in a couple of the cats here who might want homes but are not typical shelter material.  None of the cats here are typical shelter material.

So I'm taking up Smolder and Angel.  Smolder was one of four teens and their mom, brought from Lebanon in one carrier, soaking wet, two inches of water in the carrier.   The guy had kept them in there, to get fixed, then planned to drop them at a farm.  They pooped of course, jammed in that carrier, waiting, so he hosed them off and brought them, wet and flea ridden.  I told him they would be staying with me.

One of Smolder's brothers died suddenly of a heart event.  The other two got homes.  Sage, his mom, and Smolder went to a home together but two days later, I was asked to come get them as they were hiding in a hole in the wall.  Sage later went to the best home ever, to a very bright young woman.  Sage herself was so darn smart and wonderful so it was a great match for her.  But Smolder, a.k.a. Boulder, never got a home.

He mainly stays out in the garage room and cat yard, afraid of some of the house bullies.  So he's going, moving on, getting a chance at something more.  I've always wanted that for Smolder, but he was never suitable for a traditional shelter.

Then Angel's going, the little girl dumped at a cemetery, whom I encountered by chance, driving home late, down a rural road.  To see her there, in a parking lot, Halloween Eve, so pitiful.  You think I left her there?  NO WAY.

She's got this fine undercoat that mats horribly. So she's a bit on the high maintenance side and must be clipped at least 3 times a year.  She's very good about the clipping.  Shy too, but only because I am one person and can't give each lots of attention.   She'd love her own home and I think she can adjust to CATS until she does.

If not, both or either can come back.  They're safe at CATS, no pressure on them to perform, be the perfect lovable house cat, immediately, or ever.

I'm not a hoarder.   If I can find a great place for any of the cats here, where they will be safe, can mentally handle it, not killed because they're shy or if they get a slight health issue, or can't manage in a cage 24/7, they go.  Most of the cats left in my care are not candidates for traditional shelters.  But CATS is no traditional shelter.  So the offer to take a couple blew my socks off!

I am so grateful for this offer!!!!  Happy!  And if Angel and/or Smolder end up in   great homes of their own as a result---magnificent!

Angel up in the cat run

Smolder, Son of Sage

Jazz, who has waited so patiently for somewhere to go.  From her cage, not a trap as seen in the photo, she watched with great interest the influx and now outgo, of the complex cats and tried to interact with them. It was so darn cute.  She is something.
Smoothie (below) is doing very well in her new home.  She's already had a trip to the vet and is reportedly happy and thriving.  What a change for her, to full food bowls, clean water and comfy cat beds all over the place.  Makes me very very happy!