Until We Cross Rainbow Bridge Together

This week the volunteers and staff at PAWS grieve the heartbreaking losses of two very special kitties, Minnie and Kiki.

Minnie, our diminutive "cow-kitty," came to Paws in April 2009 and entered into a foster home this past May, when she was quickly entering the final stages of renal failure. During her time in foster, our sweet girl "... got to sleep in sunbeams - she had her bed in the window to see the sunrise, a spot on the bed for the afternoon sun and a perch to look out the window at sunset. She got to feel a breeze on her face and watch the birds, squirrels and chipmunks in the yard. And she was loved very much." (as quoted by Matt, her kind-hearted foster parent)

You all celebrated with us when -- in our most recent post -- we shared the happiest of stories regarding the adoption of our dear, sweet Bengal kitty, Kiki, who landed himself a wonderful, loving, and palatial home. How extremely shocked and saddened we were when his adoptive family informed us that Kiki succumbed to old age. We can't help but think back to the picture of him lounging in his courtyard, next to a book, saying, "what a life he had toward the end."

Kevin and I want to thank you, Matt, for opening your heart and home to Minnie, even though you knew her time on this earth was limited. Your strength and compassion are greatly admired and appreciated. Though our hearts broke to hear of Minnie's passing, we are so glad to know she had the opportunity to once again enjoy life outside of a shelter and in a loving home.

We would also like to thank Kiki's adopted family for loving him so much and so well, even though he was a senior cat. You are indeed very special, and we wish there were more people like you.

To our dearest kitty friends Minnie and Kiki, you will both continue to have a special place in our hearts, until the day we are reunited and walk together over Rainbow Bridge. In the meantime, please tell Bitsy, Graphite, Lady Madonna, Pharaoh, and all the other kitties that we've loved and lost that we say "hi" and that we'll never forget them, and that we look forward to that very special day...

XXOO,

Tracey & Kevin

Hooray for Minnie!

Kevin and I are ecstatic about some wonderful breakthroughs that Minnie is now making!

I mentioned in my previous blog entry that this demure little kitty is a bit on the timid side. And even though she's still somewhat shy, she has recently taken a liking to coming out of her cage. Once Minnie's out, she revels in the attention lavished upon her by the volunteers. She loves being pet, and really enjoys it when Kevin and I sit on the floor with her. It's quite clear that she'd do really well in a quiet home, with people who understand her gentle nature.

These remarkable changes in Minnie can be directly attributed to the consistent attention she receives from some volunteers who chose to work with kitties who need some extra special tender loving care. We can't wait until we see those folks at the shelter, so that we can give them a great big "thanks!” from Minnie (and us, too!).

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday - Minnie :)

Our pal Minnie is sweet, playful and ready to find her happily ever after. Just look at her awesome whiskers. Her pink nose with the little beauty mark. And those big round eyes! Is she not precious and adorable? 

Minnie is about 2 years old, spayed, micro-chipped and current on her vaccinations. She is negative for FIV and FeLV. She's still getting used to life at PAWS, and as such, is a little shy around people she doesn't know. But we can tell that this cutie will positively blossom in a forever home. All Minnie needs is a chance. Is it with you?

Friends on Friday - Minnie Mouse

It looks as though pretty Minnie Mouse has made a new friend in the meeting room cat tree.  That really doesn't surprise us, because this super adoptable sweetheart is a friend to everyone she meets.  She loves humans, and gets along well with other cats, too. :)

Come meet (your new BFF) Minnie Mouse today!

Minnie...A Girl Who Needs A Gentle Soul

Every once in a while a cat will come to PAWS that seems to fade into the background amongst the many kitties that reside there. I feel that Minnie is one of those cats. When I approach her cage, I see her sitting in the cat bed, somewhat melancholy. But she's quick to come to the front of the cage when you stand in front of her and say some words in a relaxed tone. Her demeanor is one of a shy cat that has difficulty trusting people. Could it be that because she was de-clawed she lost the ability to trust unconditionally? What Kevin and I have learned is that if we approach her in a slow and quiet way, she responds very well. Minnie needs a gentle and patient soul to give her a quiet home, and in that type of environment, I'm 100% sure she will flourish.

Easy SUNday and an Award :)

Beautiful (but very shy) Violet is enjoying some Father's Day sun puddles.

And while we're on the subjects of SUN and light, we got an award!  Our pal Mica Minnie Moo over at the totally pawsome Twinkletoe Tails and sweet Ana at the wonderful Mewsings of Garden Cottage Cats gave Moosey the Illuminating Blogger Award.  The rules for this award are really simple: the recipients have to share something about themselves that others might not know. Take it away, Moosey!

Hi everybuddy, and fanks Mica Minnie Moo!  Okay, so here's the thing.  I love smelling stuff.  Mom and Dad say they can understand why I sniff stuff that comes from outside our house (like groceries, shoes, boxes, and work bags).  I'm pretty sure they greatly appreciate my attention to safety and quality control.  What they don't seem to understand, however, is why I feel the need to sniff my brother Sammy every single time I see him.  Hey, I know he's an indoor-only cat (like me).  And I know I've lived here for four whole years.   But a mancat just can't be too careful, you know?  I mean, how do I really know where Sammy's been, or what he's been up to?  Just saying.  :)          

Now comes the hard part ... passing the award along to JUST five other bloggers.  Moosey chose:

Minnie at Fraidy Cats

Jimmy at Cat's Cats

Miles Meezer at Meezer Tails

Levon at Critters in the Cottage

Two Two at Marg's Pets

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY, EVERYBODY!

Snuggly (Kitten) on Sunday

Like shelters everywhere, PAWS ends up with lots and lots of kittens during the warmer months.  Even though we wish there weren't so many of them, they sure are adorable.  Check out this little cutie enjoying some snuggle time on my arm:

And taking a nap afterwards:

Have a sweet weekend, everybody. :)

ON SUNDAY, JULY 13th, PLEASE stop by the Tabby Cat Club for our sweet pal Oui Oui's Gotcha Day Post-a-Thon to benefit the PAWS cats!  Oh, and please be sure to ALSO visit and leave a comment at Oui Oui's blog, Twinkletoe Tails, because she, her sister Mica Minnie Moo, and Mom Paula are having a Gotcha Day Comment-a-Thon, also to benefit the PAWS cats!  How awesome and generous is that? (Thank you Mom Paula, Oui Oui, Mica Minnie Moo, Carl and Julie.  We love you guys!)

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday - Minnie

Beautiful and floofy Minnie is new at PAWS. Even though she's still getting used to the place, we can already tell that she's very, very sweet. I spent some time with her on Sunday afternoon, and learned that she likes when people talk with her, and loves being pet. She also gives head bonks. :)

Easy Like Sunday - Minnie

Beautiful, floofy and adoptable Minnie is taking it easy.  We hope you are, too. :)

FURever Home Friday :)

Guess what today is?  It's time for the latest edition of FURever Home Friday! Since our last adoption update, 22 PAWS cats of all ages found homes of their very own.  And even with kitten season in full swing, it was exciting that so many of the adoptees - like brothers Buster and Brian, sisters Amy and Amanda, Ewan, brothers Milo and Simba, Minnie Mouse, brothers Charlie and Marshall and the always irrepressible Elmer - were adult cats!  We're also happy to say that a number of them were gotcha'd during last month's "Nine Dollars for Nine Lives" event. :)

Here's the full list of recent graduates.  We love you, kitties!  ConCATulations to you and your new families!

Amy and Amanda (together)

Argon (from foster)

Beatrix

Buster and Brian (together)

Charlie and Marshall (together)

Elmer

Ewan

James

Kendall and Klondike

Kip

Milo and Simba (together)

Minnie Mouse

Neville

Pepsi

Pocahontas and Dakota (together)

Simba 2

Rounding things out, check out these pictures of two of our PAWS alumni living the high life in their very own homes.

  Clover (adopted March 2009)

Edith (adopted December 2012)

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We're a finalist in the "Best Cause Blog" category of the 2013 Petties! PLEASE VOTE DAILY for us (and your other favorite pet blogs) now through July 31 (and invite anyone and everyone you know to do the same).  Especially since PAWS will benefit! You can VOTE HERE (or click the Petties link in our sidebar). Thank you! :)

  

(Thank you to our friends Ann, Maggy and Zoey from Zoolatry for

creating this wonderful badge for us!)

Seven Things and Stars

Me

Hi everybody.  It's me, Moosey!  Guess what?  I got an award!  Our sweet friends at Twinkletoe Tails gave ME the "7 Things About Me" award.  Thank you Oui Oui, Mica Minnie Moo, Julie and Carlos! The rules for this award are pretty simple: I'm supposed to tell seven things about ME. But I'm going to be creative, and tell you TWO things about me, TWO things about my brother Sammy, and about THREE of the adoptable cats at PAWS (my and Sammy's alma mater). :)

ABOUT ME

1. One of my most favorite treats is plain lettuce!  Oh, and by the way ... for all of you kittehs who just read that with horror and disbelief, I also like more traditional treats like tuna, chick-hen, Temptations, cheese and cereal milk. :)

2. I sleep between the mom and the dad every night.  Right after I go on patrol to make sure everything is locked down and secure in our house!

ABOUT SAMMY

Sammy and me

3. Sammy loves being brushed, BUT he thinks he knows how to do it better than the mom and the dad.  He takes the brush from them, holds it down with his front paws, and tries to brush his own face!

4. Sammy is a great older brother, and a very good boy (and so am I).  We do NOT climb the Christmas tree, and we do NOT try to play with the ornaments.  (Sammy and I sure hope Santa Claws is reading this, by the way.)

ABOUT THREE ADOPTABLE PAWS CATS

5. Our friend Patch is a sweet and gentle mancat in search of a forever home.  He loves treats and gentle pets, and would do great in a quieter home.

6. Allie is a super-nice house panther, and she is a total lapcat! She has the softest furs ever, and is waiting at PAWS for a home of her very own.

7. Tessa is gentle and beautiful, and she is a the most graceful jumper ever!  She loves catnip and the laser toy.  Oh, and she is looking for a forever home, too!

I'm having a hard time choosing just seven friends with whom to share this award, so I'm giving it with hugs and headbonks to anyone who does not have it yet! :)

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In other award news ... THANKS to our wonderful blogging pals, we now have ALL of the STARS for our Blog of the Year Award!  We got them from Dawn (Shubunkin) of the Pond Fish (who are now blogging at our angel friend Diamond's blog), Nellie and Kozmo from the Cat From Hell's blog (who made us the special star below, which we LOVE), Gorogoro and Nikoniko, Pip, Smidgen, Minnie and Hollie at Fraidy Cats, da tabbies of trout towne, Katie Isabella, Spitty-the-Kitty, the Twinkletoe Tails gang, and Sherlock, Ash and Traveler at Feline Purr-Spective.  We sure hope we didn't leave anybody off!

Thanks, Nellie and Kozmo!

 Have a great day, everybuddy!

We Won an Award!

We're so excited!  Some of our wonderful blogging friends have given us an award! *

Thank you to our pals Oui Oui, Mica Minnie Moo, Julie and Carlos at Twinkletoe Tails and Sherlock, Ash and Traveler at Sherlock's Feline Purr-spective for the 2012 Blog of the Year Award!  To learn the rules about how the six stars on this unique award work, go here.  In short, this award is for blogs "you love to read" and that "you bookmark and follow."  We love ALL of our blogging friends so much, so this is really and truly an honor for us! :)

Here's our favorite part of the award: we get to pass it along to blogs WE love!  It's so difficult to choose less than, like, 250 of you.  So we'll cap our list of honorees at 16.  Otherwise we're never going to finish this post! :)  So, without further ado, we'd like to give the 2012 Blog of the Year Award to...

Katie Isabella

Spitty Speaks

A Tonk's Tail (er... Tale...)

Cat's Cats

Cat Chat with Caren and Cody

My Dogs Love Me

Gorogoro and Nikoniko

The Creek Cats

Whisker Messages from a Church Cat

Jan's Funny Farm

Marg's Animals

Trout Talkin' Tabbies

Cat from Hell's Blog

Glogirly and Katie

Goodness Gracie

Critters in the Cottage

Have a great weekend, everybody!

(* We also received two other awards this week.  We promise we'll share about those in future posts.)

Thankful for Our Friends

We are so thankful for our amazing friends.

A couple of weeks ago, our pals over at Twinkletoe Tails celebrated Oui Oui and Mica Minnie Moo’s gotcha days by holding a commentathon (at their blog) and post-a-thon (at the Tabby Cat Club) to benefit the PAWS cats. Well, the events were a huge success, raising $100 to benefit the volunteer-initiated and -implemented “Habitat for Cats” catification project at the shelter. And THEN, another one of our close blogging buddies, Brian (of Brian’s Home) and his dad, matched that $100, turning it into $200 for PAWS! Is that cool, or what?

Big thanks to the Twinkletoe Tails gang (Oui Oui, MMM, Julie and Carlos, and their mom) and the crew at Brian’s Home (Brian, Sascha, Gracie, Zoe, Dolly, Kit, and Precious, and their dad and mom). We love you all, and are so grateful for your friendship, thoughtfulness and generosity. You’ll be excited to know that your generous gifts are the very first donations for “Habitat for Cats” at PAWS!

But our thank you train doesn’t stop there. Check out what some of our other blogging buddies did…

Recently, our close friend Sparkle the Designer Cat (and her human) held a highly successful commentathon to celebrate her birthday and World Cat Domination Day. With the $75 she raised, Sparkle chose to sponsor three cats – Patch, Sweet Pea and Oreo – who are waiting at PAWS for their forever homes! Pretty awesome, huh?

And THEN, our dear friends at The Cat on My Head, inspired by Sparkle and her human’s kindness, decided to sponsor a PAWS kitty, too! The Kitties Blue and their mom are sponsoring Swizzle. And they want to keep sponsoring her until she is adopted! They even made Swizzle an honorary Kitty Blue!

Thank you so much for sponsoring these amazing adoptable cats, Sparkle and the Kitties Blue. We appreciate and love you, and will do our best to keep you posted about how “your” kitties are doing.

And finally … thank you to everyone who took the time to post and comment to help make all of the events such a success. All of this wouldn’t have been possible without you.  Thank you all for your friendship, and for being YOU!

Have a great weekend. :)

So Very Grateful

Most of you know that our friends over at Twinkletoe Tails celebrated sweet Oui Oui's sixth birthday over the weekend with a commentathon party to benefit PAWS.  Those of you who attended know the gathering was of the "party-of-the-century" variety!  What fun, and how exciting to see so many of you there.  And NOW, we've been informed by Oui Oui and her family that the commentathon raised a whopping $101 for PAWS!*  (*We're going to designate the money for the Cosmo Fund, which helps pay for medical expenses for very sick or injured pets in the shelter's care.)

We are so very grateful.  Grateful to Oui Oui, Mica Minnie Moo, Carlos, Julie, Angel Leia, Mom Paula, and "the Girl" for their kindness, thoughtfulness and generosity.  And grateful for all of you who took the time to comment and help Oui Oui celebrate her special day.  Big hugs and thanks to you all.

And while we're on the topic of things for which we're GRATEFUL ... please be sure to come back Friday for some very exciting adoption news!  Here are just a couple of hints to hold you over...

Have a great week, everybody! :)

Mo' Cats Day 2012, and Thank You

Hooray!  It's MO' CATS DAY on the Internet!  As we did last year, we're celebrating this special day by posting some MO' pictures of some amazing and adoptable PAWS kittehs! :)

Minnie

Maggie

Woogie

Sarah

DiMaggio

Oracle

Happy Mo' Cats Day, everybody! :) 

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Thank you all for your purrs, prayers and beautiful, caring comments about our Auntie Kathy's passing.  We are truly blessed by your love and friendship.

Thank you to our friends at Zoolatry for this wonderful memorial badge.

A Really Beautiful Award :)

A few weeks ago, our friends at Tekorin the Neko gave us a really cool "Beautiful Blogger" award. Thank you to Tekorin, Beat Sensei and Ku-suke Chan, and their mommy ... we are truly honored! Volunteering at PAWS is incredibly rewarding for us, and we love sharing with all of you about our cat friends who live there. So to receive an award for this is, well ... beautiful. :)

The rules for the award say we're supposed to share seven things about ourselves. But since this is a blog about the cats at PAWS, we'll include some things about them, too! Here we go...

1. Tracey (aka "PAWSvolunteer") and Kevin (aka "meowmeowmans") used to work at the same company many years ago. Our paths crossed again when Tracey began volunteering at PAWS about seven years ago (I had already been volunteering for a number of years). To make a long story short, love blossomed. We are now happily married and still volunteer together every weekend. :)

2. Some of our very best human friends are fellow PAWS volunteers.

3. Growing up, all of our families' pets were rescues, or came from shelters.

4. Our furry kids are Sammy, Moosey and Maggie (that's them in our blog header!).

5. Our angel cats -- Bitsy, Graphite and Lady Madonna -- were all adopted from shelters.

6. PAWS cats Gadget, Claire, Chyna (who, unfortunately was returned to PAWS through no fault of her own), Minnie, Sweetheart, and Shaq are all lapcats.

7. PAWS cats Pip and Jasmine love to have their tummies rubbed. :)

We're supposed to give this award to seven other bloggers, but we're going to "color outside the lines" this time, and give this award to ALL of our blogging friends. After all, we think you're ALL beautiful!

Easy Like Mother's Day - Ladycats Lounging

Penelope

Minnie Mouse

Tessa

We hope YOUR Sunday is as easy as the one these three adoptable kitties are having.

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY! :)

FURever Home Friday :)

We love Fridays.  Especially when they're FURever Home Fridays!

Do you remember our big, gentle, and oh-so-handsome friend, Goldie?

Goldie

And our sweet, talkative and head-bonky pal, Gulliver?

Gulliver

These two adult mancats were adopted TOGETHER!  How cool is that?!

Here's the full list of PAWS cat graduates since our last FURever Friday post:

Aggy
Cinder
Frankie and Paul (together)
Gulliver and Goldie (together)
Honeycrisp and Nalina (together)
Louie
Luna
Melissa
Minnie (the Disney kitten)
Skylar
Sprout and Martha (together)
Three

Walter We're so happy for you, kitty friends, and love you always. Enjoy your new forever homes! :)

Have a great weekend, everybody!

FURever Home Weekend, and an Award! :)

As most of you know, we usually post our adoption updates on Fridays.  And we had planned one for this week.  The week, however, was extra crazy, and I (meowmeowmans) was feeling under the weather on Thursday and Friday.  But we do have some very exciting adoption news to share with you all.  And we just can't bring ourselves to wait until next week.  So we'll bend the rules a little, and dub this FURever Home Weekend. :)

Do you remember sweet, gorgeous and floofy Minnie?  She's been adopted!  So has beautiful Mora!

So have Belle, Daisy and Oliver (together), Dior and Hermes (together), Ferragamo and Vuitton (together), Sierra, Tink and Vea.  We love you all, sweet kittehs.  Congratulations to you and your new families!

We also won an award!  Thank you to our sweet friends Miro, Alanis and Sherry at Animalia and Sherlock, Traveler and Ash at Feline Purr-spective for giving us the "One Sweet Blog" award.  Thank you, friends, we appreciate you! :)

Okay, if you're not already smiling, here are some happy tales of some kittehs adopted from PAWS. Don't you just love happily ever afters?

Lola

I just wanted to follow up with you and let you know that Miss Lola is very happy living with me after a year and a half. I recently moved to a smaller apartment that has a full wall of desk space with built-in bookcases and cubby-holes up above. It didn't take Lola long to find her own cubby (see picture).

Needless to say, I have left that empty and that is now Lola's little spot. She is often in there and when I can't locate her I can usually find her there. I want to thank PAWS for giving me such a loving companion. Her purr was one of the things that attracted me to her, and she continues to purr loudly to this day. And, like most cats, she rules my household! - Ann H.

Skyler

Hi, this is Skyler, I was adopted about a month ago, by Justin and his Mom from Milford! It took a couple of days, but I'm happy, and healthy and love playing with my new family! I like to cuddle with Justin while he plays video games, and I sleep with his Mom at night. I like looking out the window and playing with my toys! 

Have a great weekend, everybody! :)