Feral Kittens

Almost four weeks ago, two of our volunteers (Caley and Mary) found out that a feral mom was raising her kittens behind the Starbucks on Howell Mill Road. Basically, connecting the stores was a small drain about half a foot wide and 2 feet deep. Mom is a huge long haired black cat with bright piercing orange eyes. In order to get to the kittens, Mary and Caley had to reach in and "scruff" the kittens and quickly pull them out before they ran and hid back underneath the store and before Mommy kitty got mad. They couldn't see really what they are doing and we are all very impressed that these girls made such an effort to rescue these kitties! The kittens were about 5 weeks old and just starting to play so they were pretty oblivious to the girls. They were able to get three out of the four kittens. The mother has since been guarding kitten number four and has taught it to be very alert and avoident of humans. Caley and Mary continue to check on them, feed them, and we hope to get the mother spayed. The other three, however, have now found themselves in foster care with me. They started out scared, hissing, spitting, and pretty wild. With four weeks of patience, love, wet food, and nurturing they have become 100 percent domesticated. As I write this, Xena is curled up on my shoulder kissing my neck. Zeus and Electra are curled up in my lap. It's amazing to see them start off so vulnerable and scared and then transform into happy, confident, and playful kittens. These kittens were weaned in less than a day, and mastered the litter box without any accidents. At first, I wasn't able to tell them apart. Now, they all have such different personalities!

• Xena: She is like a puppy. She rolls over on her back when she wants you to rub her belly, and meows at you when she wants attention.
• Electra: She is extremely laid back and likes to sleep on my pillow with me. She likes to watch her siblings play and loves the laser pointer.
• Zeus: I thought Zeus was a boy until yesterday. He is the shyest, but has the loudest purr which he uses non stop whenever you touch him or scratch his head. He is also extremely handsome and has gorgeous eyes.
  

Working with these feral kittens has taught me to be patient, to slow down, and to realize that a little love can go a long way. I am going to be so happy when these guys find their new forever homes, knowing that they probably wouldn't have made it if left in the wild. But, I am also going to be sad seeing my new friends go. Luckily, I can fill that void with a new litter of kittens who desperately need rescuing.

***Do not attempt to domesticate feral kittens unless you research it and have the time...please contact a rescue group for help. For more information on feral kittens please click HERE!

Poor little Emily! She's such a good girl and so tolerant of all I have to do to her for her treatment. She hates the dress but it helps to keep her from digging her nails into her skin when she's scratching. She seems a little better today but she's got miles to go before we have her completely well. She's eating good and has finally learned to use the potty pads (thankfully). All of the stuff you can see on her bed is from the skin flaking off. So, sad that she was allowed to get in this condition. Just wanted to update those who are following her progress. I'll write more later in the week.

Hero Mamma

I finally got to meet our "hero momma." Jolie is an 8 month old tabby/manx mix who is as gorgeous as they come. Seven weeks ago, she found herself living outside with her two new born boys. GHS was able to rescue them all and even hoped that Jolie would serve as a surrogate mommy to four kittens we found in the woods. Instantly, Jolie was raising 6 kittens which is definitely not an easy job. After many many weeks in foster care, Jolie was ready to be spayed and put up for adoption. Normally, when we get mothers who have just had kittens and been spayed they are pretty stressed. It usually takes them a couple days to warm up to the adoption center. On Saturday afternoon, I was planning on opening her travel kennel and letting her take her time getting familiar with our adoption center. To my surprise, I was greeted warmly by a bright eyed Momma who wanted to be picked up and held. She gave me some happy purrs and snuggled into my arms. Today, as I was working with her and the kittens, she head butted me a few times before cuddling against me and gently licking her kittens as they walked by. When I thought she was asleep, I went into the other room to start cleaning. She followed me and gave me a few happy chirps and weaved in between my legs. She's a great conversationalist! Jolie, as it turns out, is a very happy girl who loves people and loves her kittens dearly. I forget that she is really a teenage kitten herself and you would never know she hasn't had the easiest of lives so far. I already feel so connected to this little girl who is loving, playful, sweet, talkative, and our hero. I know Jolie will find her forever home soon, and then she can spend the rest of her life being loved and pampered like she deserves!

Emily

Emily was rescued by Laura Fields on the day Laura and her husband Chad were to become foster's for GHS. She was sitting on the side of the road, covered in what Laura knew was most likely mange. Laura knew she had to pick her up or she would be hit by a car or starve to death living on the streets.

We took her to the vet on Saturday and they confirmed she had sarcoptic mange with a secondary skin infection due to scratching and biting herself from the itching. Mange can be deadly if it's left untreated so Emily was very lucky that Laura found her when she did.

Emily is an extremely good puppy! She didn't cry at all her first night with us even though she was alone in our bathroom and miserable from the itching. I gave her a bath with medicated shampoo (which she hated) when we arrived home and gave her three different kinds of medication. She took it all in stride but I knew she was depressed. When I got up this morning I could see that she hadn't eaten any of her food last night so I pulled out a can of good puppy food. She perked right up when she smelled the food and ate every last bite of it. She took her meds. and laid back down on her bed for a rest. Hopefully, by tomorrow she will be feeling a lot better since it will be her third day of treatment. I'll keep updating on her progress.....

Hollis the Beagle gets a home!

It was a Saturday, almost 3 weeks ago that Hollis came into my life. I was whizzing down a busy highway, taking my own sick cat to an emergency Vet. and there she was! A scared and confused girl -less than 3 feet from the road! All kind of thoughts ran through my head...I had a sick cat I had to get to the Vet and I already have a foster dog at home and 9 foster cats! It only took me a split second to swing the car around. I held my breath wondering if she would even come to me. I threw open the car door and Hollis hopped in! It was obvious that Hollis had recently been pregnant and that's why someone had dumped her. The fact that I share this earth with someone that could throw away a loving and good companion like Hollis, makes me sick! Like a miracle Hollis was a young and healthy girl. She was heartworm negative and came through all her "Vetting" with flying colors! Undaunted by the way the world had treated her to this point, she was a dear! She loved every child, cat, and other dog she has met over the last 3 weeks. Just a few hours ago, I delivered Hollis to her new WONDERFUL home! She will be a very spoiled and loved companion. Her new Dad even stayed home from work today to meet and greet her! Hollis, you've come a long way baby! I am better for having had you come into my life!

P.S. The cat is fine too!

Asher's Story

On Sunday 6/11 one of our volunteers was doing a cleaning and socializing shift at our adoption center when the Petsmart Manager told her a kitten was trapped under someones car. She went outside to find about 20 people hovered around a car, some with boxes, some with blankets, some wearing gloves all trying to get this kitten. Our volunteer asked the car owner to open her hood, and within seconds she had scruffed this little kitten and quickly tried to calm the visibly upset little guy. He was covered in oil, his fur seeming to be a dark gray color, and he was covered in fleas. He seemed to be somewhat in shock and was desperately trying to free himself from her grip. After giving him an hour to relax, we gave him a bath. The sink was FULL of dirty brown water. After a good meal and a nice grooming, the little kitten turned out to be a beautiful Blue Point Siamese kitten around 10 weeks. He was very sweet, and gave excellent snuggles. We were relieved he wasn't feral as we have 8 feral kittens we are domesticating. We named him Asher. He was in foster care with Amy, who said he was very talkative. Within a day of putting him online, he was adopted by a great new family!

-Mary