Garth and Valerie ... a Love Story

Well maybe not a love story but certainly a "really like" story!

Garth, who is new to this blog, is a 2 1/2 year-old domestic long-haired black & white kitty. He's quite handsome, but is a little shy and would do really well in a quieter home with dogs or other cats. Found as a stray and brought to PAWS in early May 2009, Garth has quickly made friends with Valerie, a kitty previously covered in our blog. Kev and I often find them sleeping together on the stuffed chair in their room, sitting and rubbing their heads together, or walking side by side.

It would be a wonderful story if they could be adopted together ... or maybe they can be adopted together with Cherry, who also gets along with other kitties - especially Garth and Valerie...(:

Hanging With the Room 5 Cats

Today was another great day at PAWS. As always, we had a terrific time hanging out with all of our kitty friends. Here's a video of Tracey with some of the cats in one of the shelter's "open" rooms. Oh ... in case you're wondering, that's Beauty who jumps onto my lap to let me know she's ready for her close up! :)

Oh, Happy (World Cat) Day!

Happy World Cat Day to kitties and their friends everywhere!

For you humans with cats ... please be sure to give them some extra love and attention today. :)

If by chance you don't have a cat, but are thinking of getting one ... please consider adopting one from your local animal shelter or rescue organization.

You (and the kitty you save) will be glad you did.

... and Thurman lived happily ever after

PAWS recently received an e-mail from the folks who adopted Thurman. From his humans' report, it seems that Thurman loves his new family and has made himself right at home. Here's what they wrote:

"Thurman is a great cat, enjoying the larger house and is running around. He gets along very well with his new brother—it only took them two days! Thurman sleeps on his dad's bed and both kitties sleep on the couch together."

Good for you, Thurman! We love you, buddy!

It Was Spay & Neuter Day Today!

Approximately one day a month, PAWS donates areas of its facility to a local organization by the name of FeralCare - an all-volunteer group dedicated to spay and neuter efforts to help control cat overpopulation. Volunteers capture these kitties and bring them to PAWS, where veterinarians volunteer their time to spay and neuter them.

Today a total of 49 cats were spayed/neutered. FeralCare had planned to do a lot more, but a caravan carrying 20+ cats had car trouble and did not make it to the event.

This month's event was not without its scary moment ... one of the kittens spayed at the clinic was not waking up, even several hours after her surgery. Our shelter director brought her to an emergency clinic where she received IV fluids and supportive care. Happily, though, she was up and about the very next day. And what, you may be asking, happened to the kitten? Well ... she's now a PAWS kitty, and has been newly named "Miracle." (:

Thank you, FeralCare, for all of the wonderful work you do!

If you or anyone else would like more info on FeralCare please visit www.feralcare.com.

Hey ... is that cat winking at me?

It's pretty safe to say Sammy has already used up at least a few of his nine lives. But there have also been times that he's qualified for the title of "luckiest cat in town."

Sammy, who is 12 years young, was abandoned some years ago by his owners. A compassionate neighbor noticed this super-friendly (and hungry) fellow wandering around and began feeding him on a regular basis. She would even let him in the house when the weather turned foul. Everything seemed to be going well, but over time, the woman noticed Sammy's eye was severely swollen and rapidly getting worse. She couldn't stand the thought of him suffering, but not having much money, the well-meaning woman took Sammy to a vet to be euthanized. As luck would have it, a local animal rescuer just happened to be at the vet office when Sammy came in, and to make a long story short ... our lucky boy ended up at PAWS.

Sammy was diagnosed with severe glaucoma, and it became clear that his right eye would need to be removed. This resilient feline came through the operation with flying colors. But his road to recovery was interrupted by repeated gastrointestinal upset and frequent vomiting. The folks at PAWS had him examined by a vet, and numerous tests determined that Sammy had an esophageal stricture (a narrowing of the esophagus that makes swallowing difficult). A procedure was performed to correct this, and we're happy to report that he's doing well.

If you're wondering how life's trials and travails have affected Sammy, just take a look at his photo (taken as he purred and snuggled up in the lap of yours truly!). It almost looks as if he's winking at the camera, which I think is a pretty good summation of this kitty's wonderful disposition. It's amazing, but this cat who has been through so much is still the embodiment of sweetness and love. I have no doubt that Sammy is going to be an incredible friend and companion to the person (or people) lucky enough to adopt him. :)

Psst...

Kev and I have a "best kept secret" we need to share with you, straight from the cats' mouths at PAWS...

"The Scratch Lounge is awesome ... I chase other cats off of it just so that I can have it all to myself."

- Houdini the Cat, PAWS

"From what I can tell, the Scratch Lounge is really nice ... if only Houdini would give me more than 10 seconds on it."

- Reggie the Cat, PAWS

The Scratch Lounge is what we feel is the best cat scratcher on the market today. It's the first 3-sided scratcher- a "one-of-a-kind design" that allows cats to satisfy their instinctual need to nest. It can even help prevent cats from damaging furniture!

You might want to check it out ... I did a Google search and found their Website ... it's located at http://scratchlounge.com/index.html. And when surfing their site I found out that portion of the proceeds of each sale goes to animal rescue and spay/neuter programs ... (: