Did you know....

... that PAWS (the shelter at which we volunteer) in Norwalk, CT houses not just lots of kitties available for adoption, but doggies, too? Our friend Cindy (who is also a volunteer) has a blog about the many wonderful woofies available for adoption at the shelter. Please check out her site ("Scratch My Belly") here.

Bark in the Park
PAWS has a number of unique fundraising events throughout the year, and on September 19th will hold its 3rd annual "Bark in the Park" fundraiser, at beautiful Cranbury Park in Norwalk, CT. You can check out details about the event here.

PAWS Photo Contest (for doggies) - Winner to be announced at Bark in the Park
Have an adorable picture of one of your pooches? Think it's worthy of an award? Then submit your photo in the PAWS Photo Contest! Submit a photo for a chance to win at a cool prize AND have your dog appear as the PAWS Facebook Fan Page Photo for 2 weeks! The winner will be announced at the Bark in the Park event. Click Here for full contest details & entry form! Deadline for entries is Sept. 10, 2010.

[Oh, and just in case you're wondering ... the handsome little woofie in the picture above is former PAWS resident Taco. :) ]

(Almost) Wordless Wednesday - Bella

Bella is a silly girl.

Maggie is Home! :) (updated 08/23/10 @ 10:06PM)

Great news! We're happy to report that after a 2 1/2 day stay at the v-e-t ... Maggie is home!

Her appetite isn't exactly back to normal, but she did begin eating at the V-E-T's office earlier today (from yummy selections that included tuna and chicken). She even ate (a little) of her regular cat food. She is still on an appetite stimulator, but her doctors are hoping we'll be able to wean her off as the days progress. Even though we'll have to monitor her eating habits and behavior closely this weekend, all of us are over the moon to have our girl home where she belongs. :)

It seems like we're getting there, but we're definitely not "out of the woods" just yet. Until we are, we hope you'll please keep purring and purraying for Maggie to get back to tip-top form. :)

Purrs, headbonks and great thanks to you all,

Kevin, Tracey, Sammy, Moosey and Maggie :)

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UPDATE 08/23/10 @ 7:35AM

Maggie seems to be doing well, and her appetite steadily improved over the weekend -- even after we weaned her off the appetite stimulant. She still isn’t eating with the same gusto as before, but she IS cleaning her bowl pretty well. Oh, and she hasn’t thrown up, and she’s going to the bathroom regularly (knock on wood).

For the most part, she’s been acting normally, though she seems to lack some of her normal feistiness. When she is feeling up to it, we’ll have some good old-fashioned playtime. In the meantime, however, our girl has been enjoying lots of petting, brushing and snuggling.

We will be speaking to the V-E-T today to find out what our next steps are. FYI -- they seem to think this was NOT related to Maggie’s hyperthyroid meds, but we are a little nervous since she got sick so soon after she started taking them. We’ll be sure to ask again when we speak to the V-E-T.

All in all, things are looking really good. Thank you all for your purrs and prayers, and for your continued friendship!

Love,

Kevin, Tracey, Sammy, Moosey and Maggie

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*** UPDATE 08/23/10 @ 10:06PM ***

Maggie is laying here next to me, purring and looking sweet as I type this update. I spoke this afternoon with the V-E-T, who was pleased to hear that our good girl is recovering nicely. She continues to eat well, and we are starting to see flashes of her normal behavior. Once she’s pretty much back to normal, the V-E-T says we’ll try her on the Methimazole (for hyperthyroidism) again, but that we will take it slow – and at a smaller dose. As we said before, they do not think this was Methimazole-related, but they would rather err on the side of caution. And for that, we are glad! :)

Thanks, purrs and nosetaps to you all,

Maggie and her family

Please Purr and Pray for Maggie (updated 08/19 @ 9:51pm)

Please purr and pray for our own beautiful and silly tabby cat Maggie (that's her on the bottom left of our blog header), one of the three kitties who own us people at Animal Shelter Volunteer Life (i.e. she is NOT a PAWS shelter cat).

Poor Maggie is pretty sick ... she's been throwing up quite a bit and not eating for the last three days (which is totally out of character for our girl, who is normally a member of the "clean bowl club"). She has to stay over at the vet hospital tonight, and her doctors -- please purr and pray for them, too -- are hard at work to figure out what's ailing her. Tracey and I (and her kitty brothers Sammy and Moose) love Maggie so much, and are worried sick to see her this way. :(

- Maggie's dad Kevin (aka "meowmeowmans")

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*** UPDATE 08/19/10 10:30 AM ***

Thank you all for your positive thoughts, purrs and prayers ... please keep them coming. Your friendship and messages are great sources of encouragement and comfort to us, and we are truly grateful. :)

This morning, we received an encouraging update from the vet, who said that Maggie did fine with the IV drip … did not throw up all day yesterday or overnight … ate (a little) wet food … pooped and peed ... and does NOT have any obstructions in her digestive tract. Her test results are showing mostly good things … no parasites in her stool sample, liver values are okay, and she is negative for pancreatitis. Her CBC *does* show some mild changes, and according to the vet, this is where they sometimes see problems from thyroid meds (Maggie recently started taking methimazole for hyperthyroidism). The vet will be speaking with a consultant today about this. And if Maggie’s eating does not improve, the vet is going to give her an intravenous Valium, which should help her appetite.

We will get another update later today, and are hopeful that we can bring her home. We will keep you posted with any updates. Thanks again. :)

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*** UPDATE 08/19/10 @ 9:51 PM ***

Please keep purring and praying. The vet felt it was best if Maggie remained there for at least one more night. At this point, the biggest concern is that she still isn’t showing a lot of interest in food. Not even when her mom (Tracey) showed up after work with some tuna and chicken! They’ve given her another appetite stimulant, and the hope is that she’ll eat overnight, when the hustle and bustle of the vet hospital has subsided for the day. We certainly hope she gets her appetite back soon, because not eating can lead to a whole lot of other secondary health issues. And there is even talk of a temporary feeding tube if this continues ... we don’t want that to happen. What we DO want is to have Maggie all better and back at home where she belongs. We miss her dearly.

Thank you, everyone.

Kevin and Tracey, and Maggie’s brofurs Sammy and Moosey

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. :)

PAWS Contest: Best Cat to Watch TV With

It's PAWS kitty contest time again! This month's CATegory is "Best Cat to Watch TV With." :)

There are actually quite a few PAWS kitties who show some interest with the what goes on inside "the box with the moving pictures," which made it difficult to whittle the list down to just three finalists. But by selecting the cats who are TRUE TV ADDICTS, we were able to do it. So without further adieu, here are your finalists:

Bootz: this master of floof and whiskers -- and avid watcher of "Cat TV" -- has made tremendous strides since coming to PAWS. Though he's still a little wary of strangers, he'll plop right down on the couch next to people he knows for snuggles and pets. Here he is demonstrating the proper technique for whapping a bird on TV...

Sheila is another cat who has come out of her shell with the love and care she's received from the volunteers and staff at PAWS. She's even learned that it's possible for multiple kitties to live together in relative harmony in one of the shelter's "open" rooms. Throughout it all, one thing's been clear ... this girl lives for watching (and interacting with the) TV. And as seen in the her screen capture (below, right), she isn't afraid to take on a bird that appears to be bigger than her!

Sasha and Reeses: TV-watching is just one of the things these relative newcomers enjoy. Besides stalking birds and squirrels on the television screen, they also show great affinity for their volunteer friends offering pets, laps, belly rubs and toys.

It's always tough picking a winner, but the judges were swayed by Sheila's unbridled enthusiasm and the fact that she has her own workout video. So the winner of "Best Cat to Watch TV With" is Sheila!

ConCATulations, Sheila! And kudos to the other finalists, too. You are ALL stars to us, and we're working hard to find your PURRfect forever homes (with televisions, of course!). :)