Oliver's Sunday Selfies

This week's Sunday Selfie volunteer is our super spectacular senior kitty pal, Oliver. Is he handsome, or what?

Oliver, who happens to be a lapcat, is very friendly and outgoing. He loves to be petted, brushed, get attention from people, and gets along with other nice cats. He will do best in a quiet home where he can get lots of love and attention. Oliver is about 12 years old, which means he qualifies for the PAWS Senior Pension Plan. Whoever is lucky enough to adopt him will get an amazing kitty with no adoption fee, and a free annual wellness exam, vaccinations and blood work analysis for the rest of his life. Oliver is neutered, microchipped, current on his vaccinations, negative for FIV and FeLV, and ready to find his happily ever after. Is it with you?

It's Sunday, which means we're hopping along in the Sunday Selfies Blog Hop, hosted by our pals at The Cat On My Head. Be sure to check it out to see who else is hopping along (or to join in on the fun)!

FURever Home Friday :)

Gucci the kitten has been adopted!  And while that's pretty darned exciting news, we know that in our last post, we promised you some good adult cat news.  So, are you ready? :)

Oliver has found his FOREVER forever home!  We were all sad when Ollie was returned to PAWS in late February (after having been adopted back in 2011).  During his stay, he had some much-needed dental work done, and we were delighted to watch his sweet and silly personality re-emerge.  We know Oliver will do well with his new forever family. :)

Oliver

The other two stars of this edition of Furever Home Friday are Bella and Waldo. You may remember beautiful Bella, who was returned to PAWS when her owner passed away.  After waiting for more than 10 months, she's finally started her new "happily ever after."  But she won't be starting it alone, because she was adopted together with Waldo!  We hadn't yet had the opportunity to blog about Waldo, a super friendly 6-year old special needs cat (his front legs are severely disfigured) who ended up at PAWS after being found next to a dumpster.  Just look at his sweet face! :)

Waldo and Bella

Bella and Waldo were adopted by a fellow shelter volunteer, so we hope to share periodic updates about how they're doing. :)

Finally, here's a picture of Bijoux in her forever home.  Doesn't she look great (and happy)?

Bijoux is in the HER house!

Concatulations to all of the new PAWS graduates and their families!

Have a great day, everybody!

Really Thankful Thursday

And just what are we thankful for? Well ... since our last adoption update, we've had some great adoptions and received really heartwarming follow-up notes from some adoptive families. :)

The adoptions include five kitties we've covered previously on our blog: Babe (pictured above), Chyna, Oliver, Pip and Shaq. Also joining the ranks of official PAWS alumni are: Alexa, Almond, Cap'n Crunch, Cashew, Chester, Cutie Pie & Faith, Earl the Girl, Flower, Graham, Hank (to foster), Itchy & Scratchy, Jax, Jellybean (to live with Frenchie!), Kix & Trix, Ladybug, Lapis, Layla, Leif, Lolita, Ludwig (to foster), Macaroni, Magenta & Joon, Maya & Savannah, Mr. Friendly, Mr. Meow, Petal, Pisces, Polly, Queen Bee & her daughter, Quinn, Sweet Pea & Pesto, Tigor, and Tikka & Charlie.

As for the follow-up notes, here are a couple that we hope make you smile as much as they did us...

"Prince is doing well. He and I were MADE for each other. He is SUCH a lovey-bear! He now sleeps with me every night and lays on the foot of my recliner sometimes (especially if I am not feeling well). He likes to wake me up very early on weekend mornings to feed him by sneaking up next to my face and touching his little nose to mine and purring so loud you'd think a Harley Davidson was in my bedroom ... it's just too cute! He loves tummy-rubs and ear-scritching and if he had his way I would do it 24/7. When I talk to him ... he totally understands what I’m saying and acts on it. He greets me with much kitty-chatter when I come home at night and at bedtime! I just adore him!”

"Sherwood (who is now named Massimo) is doing great and has fully acclimated into our family. My older cat Bella has finally accepted him. It took close to 6 months, but it looks like we are there. They are now feeding together, and just the other day, Massimo had finished eating and as he turned the corner to leave the room he was face to face with Bella. They stopped and looked at each other. He then proceeded to lick her neck/chest area and nuzzled his head into her neck. It was the first time I witnessed a display of affection between them and frankly cutest thing I've ever seen them do! He's great with our kids - still a little skittish as they are a little loud for his taste and he keeps a low profile when we have guests (especially children). He kills all of the bugs too! He loves to get groomed and have his nails trimmed. Thanks again for helping us pick out and rescue the perfect addition to our family! We could not be happier. He truly is a gentle giant!"

Have a great day, everyone! :)

FURever Home Friday! :)

Can you believe the end of August is upon us?  It feels like this summer has absolutely flown by.  And when we looked back at our posts, we realized that it's been two months (YIKES!) since we last shared a PAWS adoption update.  So, without further delay, it's time for another edition of FURever Home Friday!

We're very excited to report that LOTS of PAWS kitties found forever homes in July and August.  The adoption rate for August has been one kitty per day!  And July wasn't far behind, in case you're wondering.  And even though summer is the height of "kitten season," there were also more than a few adult cat adoptions included the mix, including Mercury and Gizmo!

Here's the long, long list of graduates for July and August (in alphabetical order):

Alice

Anora

Baron Von Gutenkatze

Bastet

Berta and Theo (together)

Bullseye

Cheezit

Chino

Chip

Cleo

Czar and Khan

Dame Edna

Dani (from Foster)

Dorian and Jennifer (together)

Eva

Gizmo

Jax and Noggin (together)

Julia

Kanga and Winnie (from foster)

Kiddo and Squirt (together)

Lady Tubbington

Lentil

Leyla

Lilith
Lucille

Mercury
Merlot

Mr. Stubbs, Butterfly and Popcorn (together)
Nefertiti

Nemo

Oliver and Twist (together)

Opie
Princess

Quinn (from foster)

Quinoa and Amaranth (together)

Rotini

Stromboli

Sweetie Pie (from foster)

Twerk and Kiwi (together)

Weasley

And finally, here's a "happy tail" (with pictures!) from PAWS alum Jasper's mom.

"Jasper is doing great! He has been a perfect addition to our family and he has the most wonderful personality. The children adore him and he gets along well with our pets."

"He is very playful, sometimes tackling our other cat while she sleeps. He has lost his extra weight and looks great! No problems with the liter box or food. Thank you for everything!!! We love him!!"

Have a great weekend, everybody!

Happiest New Year (FURever Home Style)!

Happy New Year, indeed! That's what it is for a whole bunch of PAWS kitties who were adopted in late-November and December. There wasn't a dry eye in the house when long timers Pumpkin and Miss Piggy found their forever homes.

Pumpkin

Miss Piggy

That's not to discount the rejoicing that happens every time a PAWS cat gets adopted. Here are some more friends you may remember. They, too, are now official alumni!

Top, from left: Chatham, Letterman, Merceline, Morita and Peek-a-Boo; Bottom, from left: Ratatouille, Mork, Tramper, Puritan and Yoda

Here's the full roster of new graduates, since our last FURever Home Friday post on Thanksgiving:

Abigail (from foster); Amber; Autumn; Azriel; Canary and Starling (together); Chatham; Cleo; Cummings (from foster); Dallas; Daniel; Dee Dee; Do-Hickey; Fidget, Squim and Wiggle (together); Flower; Fluffy; Heathcliff; Jayna and Zan (barn cats); Jaws (from foster); Letterman (permanent foster); Mac; Merceline; Miss Piggy; Moo Too; Morita; Mork; Mr. Meowgi and The Karate Kitty (together); Mrs. Norris; Oliver; Peek-a-Boo; Polly (from foster); Pumpkin; Puritan; Ratatouille; Rudolph; Seamus, Colin and Liam (together); Skye; Smokey; Stella (from foster); Sweeney; Theta; Thurston; Tramper; Trevor; and Yoda

Congratulations to all the graduates, and their new families! We wish all of them, and all of YOU, a new year (and many, many more to come) filled with happiness, good health, and love.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

 ===

Oh, and here's a Happy Tail Tale to give you another reason to smile as we start 2017...

“I thought you would love to see Letterman at the window this morning! He has been sitting there watching it snow and watching the birds since we got up! He is doing really well! We are at the point where all three cats sleep on the bed! He takes his medicine in his food with no problem and he seems to be setting in to the daily routines here and the other kitties are being accepting of their new friend.” (Ed: LOVE!)

FURever Home Friday - Bootz Edition :)

Hi, I’m Bootz. My volunteer pals Tracey and Kevin said it would be okay if I wrote today’s post. Those of you who’ve been following Animal Shelter Volunteer Life for a while probably remember me for my nice long furs, floofy belly, and my fondness for watching TV. You might also recall I WAS one of the longest-tenured cats at the shelter, and that I HAD BEEN waiting for my forever home for more than two years. Hey, did you notice how I made that last sentence PAST tense? That's because I’VE BEEN ADOPTED, and am doing really well in my new forever home! (I hid under the bureau the first night, but decided pretty quickly that my new home is awesome. I love my new people, and even get along well with my new siblings (a dog and a cat))! :)

Oh, and guess what else? Lots of other PAWS kitties also found their forever homes since Tracey and Kevin's last adoption update! Check out this list of other recent PAWS graduates:

Beans, Beignet and Dumonde (together), Bubble and Squash (together), Bufo, Carmen, Cary, Cutie Pie and Faith, Duncan, Jade and Pearl (together), Kiet, Louie, Marbles, Oliver, Onyx and Topaz (together), Paula, Sammi, Sandy and Shirley (together), Soda and Farrow (together), Squeak, Vincent, and Zircon.

Well, I've gotta go now. Have a great weekend, everybuddy!

(Note from Tracey and Kevin: We love you, Bootz! Thank you for trusting us and your other friends at PAWS, and bringing so much joy to our lives. We’ll miss you -- and all the other graduates -- but are overjoyed that you’ve found your very own forever families.)

FINALLY FURever Home Friday :)

Have you heard the mind-boggling statistic about black cats being only half as likely to be adopted than cats of other colors? And that on average, their stays in shelters are several months longer than those of other cats? We've certainly seen this time and again at PAWS with cats like super sweet Allie, who had been here since October of 2010. Allie had come very close to being adopted a few times, but until recently was still waiting and hoping for her very own happily-ever after.  Well, guess what?

BEAUTIFUL HOUSE PANTHER ALLIE HAS FINALLY FOUND HER FOREVER HOME! :)

Her new mommy (PAWS volunteer Laura) says: "Allie is doing well. She is a sweetie pie. We are so happy we got her! and so happy we are able to give her a loving home. She was introduced to the upstairs, next it will be our other 2 black kitties we have."

Much love to you and your forever family, Allie.  We are over the moon for you all!

Big congratulations are also in order for Crazy Horse, Gus, Oliver (from foster), and Peanut, who were also adopted!

=========

Please take a minute every day to help the PAWS animals!  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 win $1000 (which will go a long way in helping the cats and dogs who are there)! You can VOTE HERE (or click the Petties link in our sidebar). Thank you!

Wow! We Won an Award :)

Holy cat! Our friends at Furbaby Chat! have given us the pawsome Versatile Blogger Award. Thank you Sharky, ET, Duchess and Lauren for being our friends, and for choosing us for this honor. We've said it before, but it bears repeating ... we love sharing about all of our kitty friends at PAWS, so we're extremely flattered whenever animals and their humans derive enjoyment from the stories and images here on our blog. :)

According to the rules that accompany the award, we're supposed to share seven things about ourselves. But since this is a blog about the cats at PAWS, we hope it's okay if we share about seven of them instead! And in case you're wondering, all these kitties are still looking for their forever homes.

1. Gadget is one of the smartest cats we know. He has a great memory, so we can never use the same trick twice to get him back into his cage.

2. Susie loves living in the volunteer lounge. As you can see, this also means there is one less locker available for us to use. ;)

3. Gizmo is a gentle giant. His roommates and volunteers alike love this big, sweet orange boy.

4. Keesa’s favorite activity is licking volunteers’ hands. Remember to rotate your hand, or you’ll have a red spot from her sandpapery tongue.

5. Beautiful Augusta is the queen of the “silent” meow. She is a great jumper, too ... she can leap up onto things with the greatest of ease.

6. Oliver really likes dogs. In fact, he helps the PAWS staff test woofies to make sure they can safely live in a home with cats.

7. Babe is a total sweetheart. She loves people and cats alike.

The rules also state that we have to pass along the award to 15 blogging friends. How can we choose just 15, when we have so many friends with amazing blogs? Talk about difficult. In any case, here's our list, but know that it could've easily been twice as long! Please check out these blogs when you have a chance. You'll be happy you did.

Adventures of Admiral Hestorb

Alley Cats and Angels of North Carolina

Brian's Home

Cat's Cats

Cats of Wildcat Woods

Daisy the Curly Cat (Harley, too!)

House of Cats

Jacqueline's Cat House

Jan's Funny Farm

Margs Pets

Scratch My Belly

Sundays at the Shelter

The Cat's Meow!

The Monkeys

The Whiskeratti

And finally, we're supposed to notify the award recipients, so off we go!

Have a great weekend, everyone. :)

FURever Home Friday :)

Hooray, it's finally Friday!  And better than that, it's FURever Home Friday!  We're excited to report that since our last adoption update, LOTS of PAWS kitties have found families of their very own.  Do you remember house panther Jet (who had been here since he was a kitten)?  And how about senior ladycat Penelope, sensitive Rupert, and silly Trina?  They've all been adopted! :)

Check out the full list of recent PAWS graduates!

Amelia

Bailey

Bashful

Daisy and Oliver (together)

Doc

Dopey

Duke

Fiver

George

Grumpy

Happy and Sleepy (together)

Harvey

Jane and Annie (together)

Jet

Neeva

Penelope

Pipken

Rocky

Ron and Harry (together)

Rupert

Santana

Sneezy

Solomon

Sydney

Trina

Trudy and Peter (together)

Look at this picture of sweet lapcat Bailey in his new forever home!  Doesn't he look fantastic?  Bailey was adopted by our fellow volunteer Suzanne's daughter, and is doing great (and becoming MUCH more self-confident).

And finally, check out this happy tale from Roxy (formerly Caru):

She's doing great. Can't believe she's turning 1 year old next month! I actually renamed her Roxy. She's adapted really well to my house. From the first day I brought her home, she's clearly shown that she loves to eat and she's never had an issue with her new litter box. And when I adopted her, she had a slight heart murmur, which has become almost nonexistent now. I have hundreds of pictures of her, but here's one of her just hanging out by the kitchen window. When she's not busy playing with her toys, she loves to just sit on the window sills and look outside for hours at a time. Really appreciate everything that PAWS is doing. I couldn't imagine my life without her now! - Brian

Congratulations to all of the graduates and their forever families! :)

FURever Home Friday! :)

Hooray! It's time for the latest edition of FURever Home Friday, our periodic post about the lucky PAWS kitties who've found their forever homes. There's no sense delaying the deluge of happiness ... let's get this party started! :)

Do you remember our talkative and snuggly senior pal, Sophia? She was one of the shelter's longest (and most beloved) residents. She had been waiting patiently to be discovered by some lucky humans for almost 4 years. Well...

...Sophia's now in a permanent foster home, which is as close as a kitty can get to being adopted without actually being adopted. She'll live permanently in a real home, with her loving foster parents, and only come back to PAWS for checkups. We already miss her immensely, but are over the moon to hear she's already made herself right at home (and that she is a big fan of bird shows on her parents' iPad). :)

Look who else found their happily ever afters!

Here's the full list of the most recent PAWS graduates:

Archie, Asia, Bengali, Buttercup and Blossom (together), C-Lo, Eenie and Miney (together), Diamond, DJ, Erica, Frodo and Graycie (together), Little Caesar, Martina, Mindy, Olga, Oliver, Poblano and Cayenne (together), Salt and Pepa (together), Sophia (* - to permanent foster), and T-Bone

==========

Of course, no FURever Home Friday would be complete without some Happy Tails (um, Tales), so here are some awesome follow-up reports from some PAWS cat alumni and their families...

"These are my fur babies, Frankie and Johnny, they were adopted from PAWS, and will be 9 years old in November. They are Domestic Short Hair [although they shed like long hair kitties:)] Their favorite thing to do is talk to the birds and squirrels outside our windows (and snuggling with their Mommy)."

"Thank you PAWS for letting Itty into our family. He's such a great boy and fits right in. We were lucky he picked us."

Happy 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! :)

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday

A few photos of some of the kitties currently living at PAWS...

Susie

Gerdy

Tee-Ma

Oliver

FURever Home Friday! :)

We don't know about you, but it's been a long week for all of us at Animal Shelter Volunteer Life, and we're glad it's finally Friday.  What makes it even better is that it's time for another installment of FURever Friday, when we celebrate the lucky PAWS cats who have recently found their very own happily ever afters!

Do you remember handsome, playful Igor?  How about beautiful calico Kit-E?  And who could forget pretty Pewter?  They've all been adopted!

Clockwise from upper left: Pewter, Igor and Kit-E

And that's not all.  Here's the full list of PAWS cat graduates since our last adoption update:

Gladys

Gordon

Igor

Inga

Justin

Kit-E

Oliver

Oona and Kip (together)

Ooshie Ooshie

Oui Oui

Patrick and Bunny (together)

Pewter

Seth

Simba II

Willow

ConCATulations to all of these kitties and their new forever families!

=====

And just to make you smile even more, here's a terrific "happy tail" from PAWS alumni Peanut and her family:

Peanut has adjusted extremely well and we could not have chosen a more loving cat. Below is a photo of her right now curled up on a blanket snoozing the day away! She uses the kitty litter with no problem. Although she loves to eat and she tends to be my alarm clock in the am! Thanks for checking in on her. She is loved by all who enters our home.

Have a great weekend, everybody! :)

FURever Home Friday!

Want some great news to start your weekend?  Well, you've definitely come to the right place, because it's time for another edition of FURever Home Friday!  It actually hasn't been very long since our last adoption update, but some really special placements have taken place this week, and we just couldn't wait to share them. :)

Remember our beautiful, playful and super-sweet friend Tai?  She first came to us as a mommy in March 2012.  Her babies were all adopted pretty quickly, but Tai waited patiently at PAWS until Wednesday, when she went to her very own forever home.  It seems this was simply meant to be ... the adoption counselor said it was a mutual love-fest from the moment that Tai met her new family. :)

You might also recall our recent post about adorable siblings Jordan and Jordana.  Well, these cuties have been adopted together!

Also "graduating" were Oliver and Delilah (together), and Bugsy!

And just when we thought it couldn't get any better ... we learned tonight that snuggly senior tabby Sparkle is being permanently fostered by our friend and PAWS volunteer Ginny.  Sparkle is a gentle lap cat who was found as a stray, and who happens to be blind with a number of age-related issues.  We hear through the grapevine that within two hours of being home, she settled in quite comfortably to her new room. :)

Finally, check out this picture of Sandy, who is in permanent foster with another fellow volunteer, Sian.  According to Sian, "Sandy is doing great.  She's enjoying three solid meals a day, bird watching out the window and loving her new office job!"

Have a great weekend, everybody!