We Got A Climber

From the very first day that Pickles arrived at the camp I noticed that she liked to be high.  As soon as she exited her carrier she went straight to the top shelf in her cabin only coming down to eat or use the litterbox.

Several months later it’s still a rarity to see her on the ground.  A bush dweller she is not!

Miss Pickles

I know what you’re thinking Pickles and it’s not going to work.

The slat wall is not a walkway.

I’m used to seeing her relaxing on the top shelves in the retail area just gazing down on the activities below her.  What I witnessed this morning, though, was something new:  she was scaling the pillars!

The pillar that leads to nowhere.

That’s one way to get away from Schroeder.

Orange Swirl

A month after Schroeder moved from my house to Camp Kitty I called to check in on him.  How was he adjusting?  Did he miss me?  I sure missed him.  I was told that he had made a friend and I wouldn’t believe who it was.  Was it Stella or Nip?  Either of them making friends with a kitten is pretty unbelievable.  Nope, it was Lucas.  That’s even more unbelievable because Lucas doesn’t make friends.  He makes enemies.

Several times a day the boys will wrestle and I’ll see an orange and white swirl moving across the floor like a tumbleweed.  It starts out with an innocent pounce – usually initiated by Schroeder – and then a few rolls.  Almost always their wrestling match gets a little out of hand with both of them erect staring at each other with flattened ears.  Then, it’s a few more rolls with the fun ending when Lucas scampers off.  This happens everyday.

It usually happens on the floor, but sometimes it happens on the counter.

They have their moments, though, when they like to relax together.

Nip: “What the heck is going on here?”

Having Schroeder around has been good for Lucas.  He’s not as ornery as he used to be.  He doesn’t bite as much as he used to.  Having these two boys get adopted together would probably be  a good thing for all involved.

Best Frenemies Forever

Meet Pickles & Frittata

What do you do with six cats you no longer want?  Apparently, some moron in Dekalb County decided to shove them all in a box and duct tape a heavy moving blanket over the box.  The cats were rescued and brought into Dekalb County Animal Services (DCAS).  Now, two of those cats are living at Camp Kitty.

I was debating whether or not to add more felines to the mix at the camp.  But, I kept coming back to this photo of one of the cats that was posted on the Facebook page of a DCAS employee:

CUTE!  I’m a sucker for a long-haired cat and this one looked like Nip!  After days of thinking it over I decided to pull her and one of her box buddies.

Pickles and Frittata have been at Camp Kitty for nearly a month.  It didn’t take them long at all to settle in and make themselves at home.  Both girls are sweet and affectionate.

Pickles

Frittata

Pickles doesn’t really care to be around other cats.  She can take ‘em or leave ‘em.  Which is surprising because she was crammed in a box with five other felines.  Maybe because of that she feels no desire to be close to another cat again.  Pickles loves humans, though.  The only thing she loves more than wet food is a good petting.

Pickles is what cat behaviorist Jackson Galaxy would classify as a tree dweller.  She spends her day on the top shelves in the retail area.  More specifically, she spends it in a tuna can bed on one of the top shelves.

Tuna & sweet Pickles

Frittata…where to start with her….  She thrives on being the center of attention.  If you work from home she probably isn’t the cat for you.  She enjoys rolling in front of the keyboard when I’m typing.  She thinks my hand should be petting her instead of using a pen to write.  One of her favorite activities is greeting customers.  She and Schroeder are the Greeting Kitty Committee.

She and Schroeder enjoy playing with each other, too.  A game of chase, hide n’ pounce seems to be a favorite.

Pickles and Frittata are up for adoption through AARF.  If you are interested in adding a sweet, affectionate kitty to your home then come in to meet these lovely ladies.

From this…

to this.

Let me add that I think the girls are older kittens probably under a year old.  Also, they’re pretty small.  And in case you’re wondering the other four box kitties were either rescued or adopted.

Adoptions Galore!

I may be using the word “galore” loosely.  Very loosely.  Camp Kitty adopted out four AARF foster cats so far this year.  That number may seem teeny tiny, but considering only three of the camp’s AARF foster cats got adopted last year four is pretty darn good.

The first one to find a forever home was Jingles.  No big surprise there.  Even my husband had a slip of the tongue over the holidays and suggested we keep Jingles at our house.  A nice family with two young daughters adopted her.  They wanted two cats so we were hopeful that they would also adopt Schroeder or Holly.  That wasn’t the case.  They were interested in another cat with another rescue cat.

“Got my bags packed. I’m ready to go.”

A week later, though, the family contacted AARF and said that they wanted to adopt Holly.  Yay!  I don’t know exactly what happened with the other kitty.

“I’m going, too.”

Sweet Holly went to join the exuberant Jingles.  I was so happy they got to stay together.  The fact that they’re living with two young girls just gives me the warm n’ fuzzies.

Together forever and never to part. Together forever we two. You just got Rickrolled.

Just this last week both Floyd and Roman went to their forever homes.

Floyd waited nearly 18 months for someone to finally adopt him.  Everyone who has ever met Floyd thought he was one awesome cat.  Camp Kitty customers were amused by the way he would greet them by placing his front paws on their shoulders or the way he would inspect purses on the counter.  When people found out that Floyd was up for adoption I heard many sentences that began with “I wish I could adopt him, but….”  But.  Always with the “but”.  The truth is that Floyd is better off as an only cat who gets all the attention.  If he were to enter a multi-cat household he would certainly change the dynamic amongst the felines.  Seriously, all hell would break loose.

Floyd’s last day at Camp Kitty.

Floyd’s new mom, who is just tickled by him, sent us some photos of him quickly acclimating to his new digs:

Ceiling cat?

“I make this red couch look so good.”

He knows he’s home.

Roman was pulled from Dekalb County Animal Services last February along with Nina, Sig, and Lucas.  He was part of the Class of 2012, which only yielded two graduates.  When he first arrived we quickly realized that he did not get along with other cats.  Because of that, during his entire stay at Camp Kitty he lived alone in the kitty camper.  I hated that he couldn’t come out to run with others.  As much as he disliked cats he loved humans especially kids.  Odd huh?  Most cats run from children.

The other big problem with Roman is that he tended to play rough.  Friendly play would escalate to him grabbing an arm and biting.  The biting didn’t hurt as much as his claws digging into your skin.  He wasn’t being malicious, though (trust me, I know when a cat is out to murder me).

I started to feel like Roman would never get adopted.  Generally speaking, the only people who would understand his behavior and accept him and willing to work with him are genuine cat people who usually have more than one cat.  That is until Roman’s new mom met him.  She totally ‘got’ him and was looking for just one cat.

Roman’s first day at Camp Kitty over a year ago.

Someone finally gave this cross-eyed cutie a forever home.

Congratulations to Jingles, Holly, Roman and Floyd, and their new lucky families.  Here’s hoping for more happy tails in 2013.

2013 Thus Far

Where to start?

This happened:

Yep, I had a baby.  I gave birth to my son, Little E, in January.  Since newborn babies are pretty time consuming this blog was placed on the back burner.

I have three dogs and one precocious cat who followers of this blog probably are quite familiar with.  Before Little E was born family, friends, my husband and myself tried to guess which pet would care for or show the most interest in the baby.  It turns out I was right about one of them.

I correctly predicted my 10-year-old pit bull mix Madison (who is often referred to as my first baby) would not care for the baby at all.  She’s beyond not caring.  She is absolutely offended by his presence.  When I sit next to her while holding the little guy she gets up in disgust and finds another spot to lay down.  She’ll probably like him when he starts dropping food from his high chair.

My male dog, Linus, whom we all thought would take great interest in the baby is truly indifferent towards him.  Linus just seems more confused by all that has been happening.

Then there’s Tiggy.  I call her our “cat dog” because she does not like change.  All things considered Tiggy is doing quite well.  Sure, it takes her eight hours to finish her breakfast, but she doesn’t seem as affected as the other two.

So, what about our cat, the infamous Birdie?  The biggest surprise of all is that Birdie is the one who has taken an interest in Little E.  She was so curious about him when he first came home.

What was really unexpected was how concerned she was when he cried, like seriously cried with a red face and tears.  The first time she heard him wail she frantically meowed and pawed at our legs like she wanted us to make it stop.  She still gets like that when he cries intensely particularly when he’s getting a bath (“Oh my gosh!  You all are pouring water all over him!” she seems to say).

I think what she likes more than Little E is all the goodies that came along with him such as the travel nest, which is now her new bed, and the rocking chair, which is a favorite daytime napping spot.

There is one major con to Little E’s arrival:  dirty litterbox.  I’m such a bad cat mom because I forget to clean Birdie’s litterbox daily.  There are times when she goes for three days without a clean box.  To her credit she deals with it.  I know the box is on the filthy side when Birdie darts out of it after doing her business without even trying to cover it up.  It reminds me of me using a port-a-potty.  I hold my breath when I enter, do things as quickly as possible and then bolt.  Oh the guilt I feel when I see her shoot across the living room after exiting her litterbox.

* * * * *

Shortly after New Year’s Holly and Jingles returned to Camp Kitty and Schroeder joined them.  It tore me up to send Schroeder away.  I really bonded with that little guy.  My home isn’t the right home for him.  He was use to getting so much attention from me that a new baby would have made him feel neglected.  The objective is to get him adopted and the best place for him to get exposure is at the camp.  He’s thriving there and making friends.

* * * * *

Near the end of 2012 sweet, tiny Nina got adopted.  We were absolutely ecstatic that she went to a home where she’s the only cat.  She’ll no longer have to worry about getting bullied by cats like Floyd and Lucas.

Nina’s adoption was the beginning of a tidal wave of adoptions in early 2013.

A Return to Camp

A few days ago Jingles and Holly (aka “the girls”) returned to Camp Kitty.  Joining them was Schroeder.  I debated sending Schroeder to Camp Kitty, but I figured the exposure he would get at the camp would increase his chance at finding a forever home.  Also, he had lived with only me, my husband, our three dogs and one cat.  He had turned into a mama’s boy (not that I minded).  He needed to be around more people.  Since he had become besties with Jingles and Holly sending him to camp with them would lessen his anxiety – and my anxiety.

In addition to them celebrating Christmas and New Year’s during their time with us the girls also took a trip to Lifeline Animal Project to get spayed.  I dreaded bringing them home and keeping them calm.  I kept an eye on them, but they and Schroeder still played like kittens.  Much credit goes to Lifeline for doing a great job on their spays.  I have never seen such precise incisions and clean glue sutures.

The other wonderful thing the girls and Schroeder experienced:  dogs!  It was great seeing the kittens interact with the dogs and not be scared.  Schroeder received his fair share of growling and snaps, but he still continued to pounce on wagging tails.  He gradually outgrew that habit as he got older.  The girls never developed an obsession with tails.  Holly, though, fell in love with my pit bull mix Madison.  It seemed like every opportunity she had to nap next to Madison she took advantage of it.  The funny thing is that Madison is the least cat-tolerant of all my dogs, but she was fine with Holly.

If you’re ready for awesome kitties in your life then submit an application for one or more of these precious little felines.

Holiday House Guests

Like most people I hosted some guests over Christmas.  My guests are small, active, hungry and extremely cute.  My guests are still here, but they in no way have overstayed their welcome.

Many of you have been introduced to Schroeder, the yellow tabby kitten I found in October under a tree while walking my dog.  You all have not had the pleasure of meeting Camp Kitty’s newest kittens:  Jingle Belle and Holly Day.  It’s quite obvious how they got their names.  I also would like to add that their names are in honor of James Bond’s 50th anniversary and some of the Bond girls’ names minus the sexual overtones.  Yeah, I’m layered like that.

Jingles and Holly were dumped at Camp Kitty’s doorstep on the last day of November.  When I arrived to work I turned the corner only to see a cardboard carrier sitting by the front door.  Blurg!  There was a note attached informing me of the kittens’ ages (Jingles was  18-weeks and Holly was 14-weeks-old) and the reason the person dumped them.

Ta dah!

I brought them in and put them in a cabin and thought: “Thanks for abandoning them right in the middle of the hectic holiday season.  What am I going to do with them in two weeks when the first of my Christmas boarders arrive?”

Holly Day

Jingle Belle

Holly

Jingles

Fast forward to December 19th when I decided to bring the girls home.  I called my husband and let him know that I’d be coming home with two kitties.  I was ready for him to protest because Schroeder was already at the house.  But, he was totally cool with it.

Birdie: “Maybe you should’ve asked me instead?”

The two kittens have been an absolute delight.  They’re funny, playful, outgoing and snuggly.  Jingles is crazy – like party crazy.  She tried to scale the trunk of our Christmas tree.  Soon afterward she had a boxing match with a few of the sparkly ornaments.  Jingles is curious and smart.  She quickly figured out that food is prepared on kitchen counters and that she could easily leap up from the ground to see for herself what was creating such wonderful smells.  For her safety we have to shut her in a bedroom while we cook supper because I once caught her walking on the stove while it was on.  Not cool little tabby kitty!

Holly really surprised us.  The first week she slept on our bed all day and would hide under the bed when she was startled.  Then, out of nowhere, on the 7th day she came out of the room like a little Tasmanian devil wrestling with Schroeder and chasing Jingles.  Who was this cat?  She smacked around a few ornaments on the tree.  She batted at anything that was on the floor.  When she was done doing her active kitten thing she turned into a big snuggler.  She loves to be petted and cuddled.  She’s a well-rounded cat who is probably just perfect.

Schroeder has thoroughly enjoyed having the girls here.  He finally has friends to play with. I thought he initially played too rough with Holly, but she quickly proved that she could hold her own against him.  Overall, all three of them play really well together.

My cat, Birdie, has zero desire to wrestle with any of the little ones.  She does act on her desire to smack and hiss at them.

Birdie trying to intimidate Schroeder.

Once the bulk of the holiday boarders check out the kittens will be back at Camp Kitty.  Feel free to stop by to meet them.

“We’re ready for adoption!”