Caturday

What's Up

2011-10-07T08:20:00.001-07:00

It's a beautiful fall day with the colors peaking north of us. We're been busy with a number of things. The guys are making camera gear in the workshop and I'm trying to get our web store and our blogs and web sites in shape. Ramona and Harper are running in and out (they have the whole yard fenced in with deer fencing for kitty safety). Yesterday there was an otter in the pond and I hope he didn't get all of my frogs. I like my frogs.

Harper's New Year Revolution

2010-01-02T09:11:00.001-08:00

The Fur and Feather channel is on for the 2010 season. Now showing turkey's, chickadees, tufted titmice, blue jays and gold finches. Not sure where the Fur part is right now, I wonder if they sleep the first part of the winter away. We're in the midst of a long snow storm. Have to get out and get some fuel for the tractor so we can plow ourselves out.

Ramona is sleeping a good part of winter away with a warm belly as close as she can get to the wood stove.

While Mr. H has to go on a diet. He is getting to be a very large boy.
"hey, he says, I'm big boned."
Yup, that's true but that cow like belly is why the vet tech gave you your first nickname.
"Pork Chop"
I know, there's more of him to love and he is a lover, but I better keep a watch on how much I fill that Midnight Munchie Bowl.
Someone has been getting the munchies all night!

I am also writing over at my other blog at zuleme.com Come on over.

BRRRRRR!

2009-12-29T12:37:00.001-08:00

Yeah, it's cold out! Put another log on the fire!
We are gathered inside as the wind whips around the house. It is nine degrees F out. Yup, nine. Add in the wind and you get one of those nights when you feel sorry for any living thing out there. The bears will be dug in fast asleep somewhere. The chickadees team up in a hollow out of the wind. The bird feeders were packed today as they fueled up. The turkeys are probably huddled under our summer gazebo. That's where they spent a lot of last winter. Yes we feed them too.

Harper and Ramona are busy playing with their Fling a String. Someone needs to put a motion detector on off switch on that. As soon as I turn it off they want it on again. We also have one of those mouse under the dome toys and a basket of fussy toys. The biggest attraction right now is the wood stove where everyone gathers.

I meant to get more designs finished for the Etsy shop but video work has caught up with me. And if this cold goes away there is skiing to be done. But I have my bench covered with supplies and a box of gorgeous Czech glass pieces I bought to make jewelry with. And lots of ideas. I am going to do it, really.

I haven't been to the shelter for ages but it's been on my mind. There is a new group taking it over which I hope will work out. It's a long story. They have had some rough times but it is still a decent place for a poor homeless feline. I wish I could win the Megabucks and then I could help Megacats.

I am working on linking the Etsy shop and my blogs together. I'd love to sell a few pairs of earrings a week, not so many that I burn out on it again, but enough for fun and profit. We'll see.

Zuleme on Etsy

2009-12-02T07:32:00.000-08:00

This is what I am busy with these days, adding my jewelry designs to my new shop on Etsy. Caturday readers probably don't know that I have been a jeweler for over thirty years. My mother is a jeweler too. I got really really burned out on it after working really hard with it, making a good living and wholesaling my work across the country, doing trade fairs and craft fairs and having a small retail shop.

Then we started a video business and it was just too much so I was glad to quit. The tools sat in the attic for years. I got them out, set them up, and packed them away again at least three times until, one day, I made a pair of earrings and realized it was fun again. Also, my mother and sister opened a gallery on Cape Cod and I wanted to try to help out by consigning some work. That helped get me going.

It helps that I have a great camera and with Olof's help I can take good photos. Things have changed since the old days of film and slides.

But I don't want to over due it again and lose the fun of it. So no craft fairs and no wholesaling. Just making what I want to make and posting it on line.

Please come visit and see my work.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/Zuleme

And the jewelry blog will be over at Zuleme.com

So winter begins...

2009-11-29T09:11:00.000-08:00

I was rather chagrined to see, when I happened to look at my stats, how many people have still been faithfully stopping by here even though I haven't posted for over a month. Unless it's all robots just adding me to their endless collection of data.

What have we been doing? In October we had a splendid and lively party for a collection of Libra's including my MIL. We harvested plenty of vegetables from the garden and put it to sleep for the winter. We watched the leaves turn and went out to shoot video of the spectacular scenery we enjoy in New England. And just lately we took the Cog Railway to the summit of Mount Washington on a clear and yet warm day to begin collecting video for projects for them.

Olof fixed up the furnace room and put in a small shop in which he is designing pieces for high end video cameras. I started making jewelry again and got some to both my local League of NH Craftsmen shop and to my mother's gallery in Sandwich Ma. And I am getting ready to post pieces to a shop on Etsy.

This winter I have a lot of editing to do and we have some video shooting lined up. Right now we are waiting for snow and eyeing the Big Rock (Mount Washington) which I can see is white with snow though here in the valley we are still brown.

I will also restore some of my tee shirt designs on Cafe Press and I'll be working on printing some of those designs for jewelry.

The photo above is of Harper and Ramona their first winter here, back when they still cuddled together. They are now almost grownup cats, Harper is a hefty fourteen pounds while Ramona, who rules the household, is a svelte ten. They are endlessly entertaining and loving felines and usually I wake up with one of them cuddled up next to me.

It will be another long winter here in the Frozen North.

Thanks for stopping by, all of you. I should have time for more posting and to catch up on photos. There are plenty.

I dream of France

2009-09-27T10:48:00.001-07:00

A few days ago I woke up and Ramona was having a bad dream. Errrrr, Errrrr, Errrrrr, she was moaning with that anxious edge to it.

I reached over and petted her to wake her up gently. Mona, we're here, I said.

"I dreamed you were in France!" she said.

It sure seems like a dream. Funny how time is when you live in a body. On August 27th I knew I'd be going to France the next day. And, unbelievably, we drove to the airport with our French students and we all boarded planes for France. They met us at CDG (we couldn't get on the same plane) and they helped us find our way to the TGV. Three hours after that we were in Avignon, got our rental car and 45 minutes after that we were being greeted at the house by our friends who had rented it.

And we proceeded to have a wonderful week of bicycling and dining and wine drinking. Then we drove north to visit friends in Brittany and then, before we knew it, we were back home. wow.

Harper and Ramona had a full time kitty sitter so they could have their schedule undisturbed. She checked the fence everyday and at 6 PM got them in for dinner. I had recorded myself calling them in and that worked great for the first night but after that Miss R was too smart. She knew I wasn't home and she didn't have to obey anyone other than Big Cat Momma. But all was well. I was greeted with cries of joy from R and a huge purr from H and all is now back to what passes for normal around here.

The beans? Oh yes, that's my harvest of kidney beans from a patch of bad soil which up to now wouldn't grow much. I'm quite pleased with them.

Health Care and the Creative Economy

2009-08-19T19:08:00.000-07:00

I live in northern New Hampshire where there are few good jobs (up here a good job is one that pays more than minimum wage and has benefits), but a large population of what is known as the creative class. Most creative types are self employed. And we are some of the people that any health care reform plan will help because our situation could not be worse. As our insurance agent put it "You're thrown to the sharks."

Go to a craft fair or into any artisan's shop. Potters, glassworkers, jewelers, painters, printmakers, weavers, woodworkers. Or the charming little mom and pop stores that tourists love to see here in New England. And include the creative types writing software or designing web sites. And musicians, actors, photographers, writers, and videographers like myself and my husband. We are the people who have to buy those individual health insurance policies with the sky high deductibles. The policies that don't pay for any preventive care and under which we will still probably go bankrupt if either of us get ill and cannot work.

The last time I was at a major craft fair everyone was looking older. I wonder if any young people are going into arts or if it is just too hard to make a living at it, especially if they want to have children. We don't make a lot of money but we live well by working hard, doing all of our home maintenance and building ourselves and rarely taking vacations. It's a great life, but not a wealthy one. And we don't have children.

We've always carried health insurance and we've been lucky to be healthy. We work at it, we exercise, eat well, we're outdoors working a lot. We can easily bicycle 25 miles and the same on skis. But once we got past fifty our premiums aimed for the sky and we had to keep raising our deductible so that we could afford any insurance at all. Currently we have a policy with a 10,000 dollar deductible that costs us 7,000 a year. With dental and eye care we are spending over 8,000 a year on health and that's while we're healthy. Any insurance agent that thinks they can do better for us doesn't even bother to call back. The situation is the same for many of our friends. Health insurance is now our single biggest expense. And a single root canal (around 800.00) or illness raises the total.

When a doctor recommends something like a colonoscopy (1300.00 each) mammograms ( a couple hundred) , yearly check ups, cholesterol tests or any other kind of expensive screening, well, we're already spending a good chunk of our income just to keep our insurance. The last time I went to the doctor's office with a bad stomach ache, the nurse suggested I have a blood test (400.00) to check my electrolytes. I said couldn't I just go home and drink some Gatorade and she agreed.

And if one of us actually got sick? Who knows how long and how much our insurance would actually pay? The few times I've had a doctor send an invoice to the insurance company (to add to our deductible in case anything happened in that year), I've noticed that the company doesn't allow the whole amount. So I just imagine what would happen if one of us needed cancer treatment or surgery. With an individual policy, we are the ones the company can drop for "pre-existing conditions". If we were lucky we'd get some coverage until renewal time. And who knows what we would have to pay out of pocket as the company refuses to pay the amount billed. And how stressful it would be fighting to get the bills paid. The one time we did file a claim against our (at that time) 5,000 deductible, was when my husband was sent to our regional hospital by ambulance with a life threatening case of pneumonia. He had woken up at 4 AM coughing blood. It was our doctor's decision that he needed to be in the intensive care unit at the larger hospital. Our insurance refused to allow the charge saying he wasn't ill enough to be in the hospital. That's how much you can trust insurance companies.

We did have one time when the insurance company paid their share with a problem and that was when my husband had hand surgery. We paid 5,000 and they paid 8,000. The surgeon had good office people who knew how to deal with the paperwork and everything went through.

I am hoping that health insurance reform will include something that will help us and other artists and self employed across the country. I am hoping for a public plan. One of my fears is that we will simply not be able to afford the premium raises coming along in the years between 60 and 65 and that we will be without insurance and vulnerable to losing everything we have worked so hard for all our lives.

I don't understand the people screaming at meetings about how they don't want health care reform so that everyone has care. I've lived in Canada and Sweden and no one there has to imagine that they could go bankrupt if they get sick. Our system is barbaric and cruel, with some having everything they need and others left to suffer.

Those of us supporting health care reform are posting today August 20th. Check in with www.timegoesby.net for more stories.
And add your own if you can.

Catching up on Cats

2009-07-19T18:18:00.001-07:00

Kitten season is in full swing. These guys should find homes, it's the older ones that I hope will also go. The sociable adult cats can move into the community room, which houses about ten in peaceable comfort with climbing trees and cubby holes to nap in. Of course, I have always gone for kittens but as I get older it is only right that if I adopt any more cats (No!, says Ramona) they should be adults.
Someone dropped fourteen cats and kittens off at the shelter either at night or just without warning. One is a Himalayan I haven't seen yet.

Tootsie

Simon

Raul, an elegant House Panther if I ever saw one.

Oscar, obviously a real character here.

Mai

Leo

Felix

Cameron

In the Garden

2009-07-08T05:39:00.001-07:00

Hello friends who have not given up on me since my lack of posts for over a month. Here for you is a tour of the garden on a rare sunny day in June. It has been raining for over six weeks here and we are all waterlogged and somewhat gloomy but in our Yankee way, resolute. The rain is pouring on the roof this morning and the felines are only opening one eye to say "what a fricking drag and jezzes christ." The garden has been growing, it is on a hill and well drained but what the sun loving tomatoes will do is anyone's guess. We do have onions, garlic greens, lettuce, peas, chard with beautiful stalks of pink and yellow and the last of the strawberries to gather before they rot. We did mulch them with straw but this summer, they should have had more. Any lying on the ground are grey and gone. The strawberry farm down the road is probably a disaster this year and the corn fields by the river are sodden with stalks only a few inches high. But here is a tour on a lovely, hopeful day in June. Everything has grown a lot since these photos.

The raised onion bed. Good thing it's raised and drains well. The purple flowers are Olof's beloved patch of chives.

The potato field with the squash just beginning. The elder's home below with their summer gazebo on the deck. The felines hide in the tall grasses behind the potatoes and keep watch. They also have catnip bushes to lie in and dream away the summer days. When it is not raining.

The path by the onions, well mulched this year. A good thing or the weeds would be knee high. They like lots of rain.

Another view, our house below.

The upper terrace above the terraces for strawberries, raspberries and blueberries. Potatoes can be seen and small broccoli, radishes and chard.

Olof lived in Brussels once and never forgot The Little Pisser.

The Tea House. Below it is a lovely ravine where the brook is rushing waterfalls this year. Olof built this one summer when I was away for a week. I should go away more often, eh?

Our beloved Brendan lies here by the upper pond with his brother Finnegan (known as Innigan Outigan Finnegan) and Silas the Faithful. Fergus is in an urn on the shelf, waiting for when we shall meet again at the Rainbow Bridge.

My favorite room in my home. We have dinner with friends here on summer evenings. When it is not pouring rain.

Hello to all, how's your summer?

Billie the Kid

2009-06-04T06:45:00.000-07:00

This little guy is in the group of four kittens in their own private room. He's not related to them. I don't remember the details of his story but he was injured and he might be deaf. He has a purr loud enough to make your heart vibrate.

He's the first kitten I've come across with a grade A Fergus personality. He climbed up on my shoulders and head while I was trying to get his photo, purring all the time and then he happily wanted to play play play.

He's a funny little thing with those extra toes. I'm sure he won't be at the shelter long, if any cat lover with the eyes to see how wonderful he is meets him.

Yes, I'd take him home in a blink of a kitty eye. And just think of the havoc it would create around here.

They steal your heart and break it into little kitty bits, don't they?

Atlas and Ollie

2009-06-02T09:03:00.001-07:00

These guys are too much. If I remember the story correctly, Ollie is the kitten found at a dumpster who survived being poisoned. A trap was set to catch him and huge Atlas was the surprise catch. It seems these two are bonded buddies and they are currently sharing a nice large condo with a screen porch at the shelter while they wait for someone who connects with them as a pair.

They're pretty darn nice if you ask me.

Instant family!

To the Shelter

2009-06-01T08:37:00.000-07:00

It's been ages since I had any time at all to run down to the shelter and get some photos. Nothing but a long list of video projects to get through. And now it's garden time. Harper and Ramona are seizing every second of the days in their fenced in yard. They wait for us to do boarder patrol in the morning (the bears are coming over the fence almost every night) and they know 6PM is dinner time and they (usually) come when I call them. By then they are ready to eat and run for a sleeping spot. They'll be crashed out until morning when they are ready to do it again.

I really believe cats need to be able to be outdoors in a safe way. They just come alive with the smells and sounds of the outside.

Little Lady waits for someone. When I entered the kitten room where there were four, the soft sound of purring rose to my ears. These guys are sweet.

And passes the time.
This is Janis, she is five and was found as a stray.

And Ziggy, who is ten.
And Priscilla whol had just arrived with siblings.

Dancer has moved into the community room, which gives him room to move around and be sociable with the other cats in there. When I was there he was sound asleep. It is a good place for him to be at this time.

Ramona

2009-05-05T06:28:00.000-07:00

Fooling around with my Canon this morning

Spring Comes and Everybody Wakes Up

2009-04-01T04:45:00.000-07:00

Spring finally begins to arrive up here in the Frozen North and we emerge into the light. Of course, we've been outside most of the winter skiing but now we can actually sit somedays with our summer chairs embedded in the receding snow. Olof gets out the camera and catches some of the action. There was a flock of turkeys too, to keep things lively, but the bear seems to have chased them off. We've all warned to take in the bird feeders in early spring, because once a bear learns to associate people with food they are in trouble. There's a large campground across the river. So no sympathy for hungry bears.

Cats for Obama Unite!

2009-03-05T06:29:00.000-08:00

Ok so this isn't about cats except it is about someone we think is a pretty cool cat, our President. This morning the NY Times posted two photos, one where his hair is black and one showing it as rapidly turning grey under the job stresses. Below is a link to the story on the Times.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/05/us/politics/05gray.html

Well. Olof knows a bit about photography, yanno. He looked at the two photos and saw that the exposure on the greyish one was way off for the skin tone. So he corrected the grey one and voila, no grey hair.

Above is the NY Times photo showing Obama with grey hair/

This is Olof's corrected photo matching the skin tone, voila, no grey hair.

What do all you cool cats think?

Shelter Photos

2009-02-28T05:41:00.001-08:00

Shooting with my new camera, a Canon 5D MK II. Things are quiet at the shelter before the coming storm of kitten season. Two pregnant moms currently in foster care. I hope the spay/neuter program has made a difference in the numbers this spring. Don't miss the story of Atlas and Ollie posted on the shelter's new blog

Vince

Phinneas

Ollie

Margret

Hemingway (the toes of course)

What February Brought

2009-02-14T14:48:00.000-08:00

This was taken a few days after we all arrived home from the thousand mile journey. Three years ago. They are grown up lovely, loving cats now. Ramona is still sweet and mysterious and wants to be with us. Harper is the huggiest boy cat I ever had. His favorite sleeping place is next to me with my arm around him. You can forgive a cat like that anything. Good thing, since when he is upset he sometimes poops on the rug. Yeah, I caught him doing it so I know it is not Ramona. As if Ramona would ever do anything so undignified.

I am just working my way through a pile of projects. I will be writing a full length video on steam trains. Should be fun. That is after I edit the German and French recordings.

The sun is higher now and it is the good time of winter. The buds on the trees are just starting to swell and the turkeys in the yard and figuring out who gets to keep the ladies. We have light from about 6:45 to after 5. It's nice. I got out the packets of seeds and I am trying to see which ones I think will germinate and which ones I really should buy fresh. I'm being thrifty, well as much as I can be.

We've been slogging through our winter routine here but it will end soon with the first day you can open the windows. That will probably be in March.

And then we'll fix the fence and everyone will stumble out into the sunlight. ahh spring is on the way out there somewhere.

Winter

2009-02-02T07:00:00.001-08:00

Harper and Ramona are raising heck this morning. How can two cats make such thundering paws? And there is a lot of mrrr mrrrs and floofy tails going on. I think it is spring fever since we saw a robin yesterday though the snow is way up over my knees.

Not a whole lot of news here, we're just working away and watching the snow pile up. I'll be editing the translation of my audio tour in German and French and then I have a large writing project that will take me to spring. And we are dealing with those tedious internet issues when you have a bunch of domain names and web sites.

The felines have adjusted fairly well to being indoors, though it drove Harper nuts at first. Sometimes we take him over to visit next door. He likes that.

I'll catch up with blogging when I have something that resembles free time.

Meow to all

Shelter VisitS

2009-01-06T04:49:00.000-08:00

Things are fairly quiet at the shelter right now. Kitten season is over and there are empty cages. Dancer was pretty speakative, he is living in a ground floor condo and was lively when I was there, chirping and chortling. He is still having occasional seizures, sadly, and his urine is too dark. I hope he will get out of the shelter and be able to have some kind of a good life. Remember, he has been in the shelter since he was a young kitten. If any of you out there know how I can get enough money to build a sanctuary, let me know. The organization I work with (The Rozzie May Animal Alliance) really wants to do it. We can probably get land, bought or donated. I would like to have a place where cats like Dancer, who don't have good chances of being adopted, could have a decent life with room to roam and people to spend time with them. This would be a different set up from a shelter, with long term living arrangements for the felines.

Speaking of cats whose adoption chances aren't great, this is Abby, who has been returned. I hate to see cats coming back. Personally, I like cats with attitude, it shows they have pride and self respect. Every cat is an individual and if you want a relationship with them you have to understand them. A cat is not a dog! Abby can come to my sanctuary too.

There is one little room with six orange cats in it, all very scared, since they were rescued from a hoarding situation. Even though I would love to have more cats, it is better to understand how they get along and how they can get stressed if there are too many in a living place. Just like people! So all six of these beautiful cats have those big scared eyes. This is Tootsie.

It is a challenge as a photographer to go into a room (with pink walls) and try to get a decent photo of a frightened cat. You can't really do them justice, you just have to try to get something that shows their beauty and help them get adopted over Petfinder. Her name is Juniper.

This little girl cat should get adopted pretty quickly. Her chances are good. Sweet Josephine.

And another scared cheese kitty named Saffron. (I'm just mad about Saffron) If you know who sang that song then you are my age.

And another. Sage.

The biggest challenge for me is getting decent photos of the black cats. The light isn't good, the cats are in motion and I am not a good enough photographer to deal with it well. I just bought some books on photography and I am going to work at it and maybe redo all my black cat portraits. This one came out the best that day at 1/60 shutter speed. ISO 1600 and f5.6. It did not look good in my camera but looked better when I got it in the computer. I end up using a high ISO because of the lighting but I try to go lower in the shelter when it will work. This is Odessa and she has wonderful soft fur that doesn't translate to this photo.

Another from the cheese group, named Curry.

And Tonka. Boy, if you want a nice big cat this boy is a twenty pounder and its not fat. With personality to boot.

And my favorite and the one in my I'd take you home in a second list. Victor is a kitten, he and his mom were found wild and he is thinking about how he is going to deal with this new situation. Look at those eyes. There is a feline person there.

The Cats of Rockhouse Mountain Farm

2008-12-20T05:23:00.000-08:00

This is a story I wrote about the spay neuter clinic I help with PR. It ran in the local paper. There are lots of photos which follow. These are the folks who do the difficult work of helping lower the number of homeless animals and seeing they get medical care. These barn cats will live out their lives at their farm in peace. They are fed and sheltered. I didn't post the photo of the vet because I wasn't sure if he would want me to. But he is a wonderful guy who loves cats. He has three but would like six (his wife says three is the limit). We talked about how these wild cats are every bit as deserving of care and respect as our spoiled pets. And we agreed that every single one is an individual.
Here's the story. Lots of photos below.

Once there was a farm. It was a large farm, with fields and woods, a bed and breakfast and a barn. In the barn were cows. And cats.

Twice a day the farmer milked the cows and the cats gathered around the pans of milk. The cats lived a wild, free and dangerous life. They caught the mice eating the farmer's grain. They slept in the hay. They roamed the woods. Every spring there were kittens.

People came to stay at the farm in the summer time. They tamed the kittens and took them home, to live safe lives as family pets. And so the number of cats in the barn stayed about the same.

Then the bed and breakfast closed. The cows were sold. There were kittens born with no one to tame and adopt them. Suddenly there were more cats, the cats were growing feral, and some of them were pregnant.

"I've got a gang for you," John Edge said to Roz Manwaring at the Eaton Village Store while they discussed the Rozzie May Animal Alliance and the low cost spay/neuter services it was offering to the community.There were over twenty cats in the barn at Rockhjouse Mountain Farm. By the time the next breeding season came around there would be more kittens. Edge was getting concerned about the expanding population and wanted to do something about it. He trapped eight male cats and brought them to the Rozzie May Animal Alliance clinic for Tom Cat Day in April. But the travel and strange environment of the clinic was very stressful for these wild and semi wild felines, who would hurt themselves frantically trying to get out of their carriers. Edge brought three more to another clinic. But there were still more in the barn.

The RMAA came up with a plan to help the cats and the farm. If it was difficult to bring the cats to the clinic, the RMAA would bring the clinic to the cats. With Edge's willingness to sponsor the clinic and trap the cats, a clinic was planned for on location at the farm.

First, Roz and John met at the farm and looked over spaces where a clinic could be held. They chose the basement of the Inn. Next, Roz had to find a doctor willing to do this kind of clinic. Dr. Steve Caffrey of Fryeburg Veterinary Hospital said he would love to help and December 10th was on the calendar. Then Roz decided on the RMAA team for the clinic. Head RMAA Tech Stephanie Macomber, and experienced vet techs Kim Zulker and Kristy McNulty were available. It was especially important to have a knowledgeable team running this clinic as these were not going to be easy cats to handle, ranging from almost tame, curious kittens, to the queen of the barn, known as the Tasmanian Devil.

Two days before the clinic,(because of approaching bad weather) Roz and Stephanie delivered the RMAA surgical equipment to Rock House Mountain Farm. The next day Roz delivered 11 cat carriers to the barn.

On the day of the clinic the team arrived in the early morning and set up a day surgery. John Edge started even earlier, offering canned food to entice the cats into crates and carriers. After four hours of surgery altering six females and seven males, with all felines safely on the way to recovery, the team packed up and carried everything back out to the van. Roz and Stephanie returned the equipment back to Albany Town Hall, the RMAA's winter "home."

The next day Roz returned to collect the cat carriers from the barn. The surgical laundry had been washed, dried, fluffed and folded by Edge.

A clinic like this could not happen without the veterinarians and others who offer their skills. Dr. Steve Caffrey, Dr. Scott Johnson and Dr. Kate Battenfelder from Fryeburg Vet Hospital, Dr. Julie Dolan of the Sandwich Vet Hospital, Dr. Kjersten Morrison and Dr, Monique Kramer, from Maine, are on board for future planned clinics.

Also crucial was the support from John Edge, who cared about his barn cats at the farm, was instrumental in supporting the clinic, and who spent hours trapping the cats and assisting the vet techs handling them.

And the RMAA team who volunteered their skills and time for no other reason than to help lower the numbers of homeless cats arriving in shelters.

Why it is necessary to spay and neuter cats? Because cats have an incredible capacity for reproduction. A female kitten will be ready to breed sometime between four and nine months of age. The gestation period is around nine weeks and one female can have up to five litters a year with the average number of kittens in a litter being three. A cat can get pregnant while still nursing kittens and can continue to have litters all during her life. Litter mates will then breed with each other. One breeding pair can quickly overwhelm any living situation. And spaying and neutering lowers the chances for diseases such as Feline Leukemia and Feline Immunodeficiency Virus.

What does the future hold for the cats of Rockhouse Mountain Farm? They will continue to live their lives the way they always have, in the barn at the farm. There may still be a litter of kittens next spring. With a total of 24 cats altered there are still a possible three that eluded capture. If a litter of kittens appears in the spring, they can be tamed and adopted, and the mother spayed and returned to the barn. Over the next few years, the numbers will go down because outdoor cats have a much shorter lifespan than family pets. At some point the farm will have the three or four mousers it needs.

And if you are in need of a good barn cat or two or three, call John Edge. He can help you out.

Kim and Kirsty, vet techs.

Kim with a sleepy barn man cat. You couldn't hold him like this if he were awake.

The farmer was thrilled to be taking care of his cats and he was there every minute helping out.

Here they are getting a feline into position for a sleepy shot. Otherwise, you could not handle them.

He trapped all the cats for the clinic. Here he is waiting with a rope attached to a crate door, waiting for a cat to go in for the tuna inside.

Stephanie, the vet tech for the Rozzie May Animal Alliance.

And Roz herself, who got the whole thing started and whose dedication keeps it going. She is organizing the surgical kits in preparation for sterilizing later.

There is a lot of stuff to be moved in and out for these mobile clinics.

I wanted to pack up this little guy and his twin and take them right home. John (the farmer) asked ," So which one is your car?". Sigh. I wish I could take Dancer home too and give him the attention he needs.

I promise more posting on winter activities soon. Today, a new year and a new president in 19 days. It is 0 degrees out and windy so freeeeeeezing. Harper is under the blankets right now and Ramona down by the wood stove. They got a Fling a String for Christmas.

Ramona Sleeps In

2008-12-13T07:57:00.001-08:00

The cats are no fools. They spend most of their day sleeping by the woodstove or under it. And sometimes Ramona doesn't get up for breakfast until 11am. Lazy Girl.

We are amazed and dazed that the huge ice storm passed south of us and left us with power. Southern NH is a disaster with power out to almost half the population of the state. And it's cold. If you don't have some kind of back up heat up here, well, let's just say it is a good idea. In a long power outage we can manage with just the wood stove and I can light my gas stove with a match.

It was about 15F outside this morning and the driveway is a skating rink. Olof put down some of the sand we collected from Town Hall a few days ago, knowing this mess was on the way. One thing about winter here, overnight your secure footing gives way to slippery patches. You develop a new way of walking, place foot, wait, place next foot, wait. I also have crampons that go onto my boots and I often wear them walking to the studio. Especially if I am carrying my new MacBookPro which has my life's work on it.

Today I'll be sorting through the photo shoot of the clinic held in the barn and writing up the story for, hopefully, the local papers. And I'll post it here when I finish. I was thinking of the barn cats last night when the temperature dipped. They have bales of hay to make nests in and I'm sure they did it.

Winter in the North Country is an adjustment. I have learned that daily exercise is important to keep your circulation up and we have winter outfits consisting of polar fleece, lined jeans and smart wool socks. Thank you whoever invented the smart wool sock and cured me of wet winter feet for ever. Dressed right and in good shape, it feels good to be outside in the cold. Otherwise, we'd be huddling by the stove with the cats all winter.

But it's not great snow to get out in yet. Frozen slush. Or what we call New England Hardpack. We take advantage of bad weather to get indoor work done. If we get ahead there will be time to ski when the good stuff arrives.

Changing of the Season

2008-12-07T05:53:00.000-08:00

So it is winter, really and truly. Where have we been? Nowhere but here, busy. Getting as much contented nothingness as possible as the snow begins. It is covered in white outside and on clear mornings we see alpen glow on Mt. Washington, otherwise know as the Rockpile. It can turn a shocking pink with our late sunrises. Everyone who can sleeps in, Miss Ramona has been known to be up for breakfast around 11AM. The human beans are, of course, up long before that, hitting the exercise bike and the computers. Gotta keep the tuna coming in, yanno.

I've got projects, good ones. I am finishing up a marketing video for our local scenic railroad and starting on a full length video for them about their winter operations. There's a 1921 steam locomotive and it is spectacular when it comes out of the engine house in clouds of steam. There will be a spay/neuter mission to a barn full of, well, barn cats, next week which I hope to get some photos of. Spay/neuter clinics are going on but I don't need to get photos of all of them. However the barn cat story will illustrate how the group (rozziemay.org) is willing to go out and help people with expanding cat populations. This farm for years managed the cat numbers because it was a bed and breakfast. Guests would come, see the kittens and take them home. That kept the numbers to a suitable level. Once the b and b shut down, well, you can imagine how a few breeding pairs can take over. It's going to be a challenging day. We'll see if the farmer manages to catch them all for us.

This little guy was at the shelter on my last visit. The kitten season seems to have slowed down and as many kittens as possible stay in foster care so I don't always know if the ones listed on Petfinder will be there if I go in to take photos. Foster care is better for the young ones. But I will have to make a visit soon since they have a cat listed named Tonka and he is the first one I've ever seen marked XL for extra large. I'll report back after my visit!

Yes, Dancer is still there as far as I know right now. I am sorry that he has not been adopted yet and I check PF all the time, hoping he has been found by someone who will care for him. He needs a special person, he needs attention and understanding, and he needs to get out and play. I have not been able to spend time with him to gauge his personality now but I will try to talk with someone there about him. He was napping during my last visit.

I also have Rosetta Stone for learning French and if I get any free time I can disappear into that quite happily for hours. And I picked up Libba Bray's trilogy, the one that start with A Great and Terrible Beauty. I just love young adult fantasy books and this one is really delicious so I am gliding through the last, huge volume in the series and believe me, I could spend today in front of the wood stove and never look up except for the other things I plan to do today. I can't believe I never picked her books up because I thought they were historical romances. It's the cover with a photo of a young girl in white lace and the title. Because of the title I thought the books were about the Irish revolution in 1920, yanno, Yeats and the Post Office and all that. Or the potato famine. That's it, I really thought the book was about the potato famine, not a wonderful gothic Victorian fantasy complete with a magic country and plots thickening everywhere.

Winter is a lovely peaceful time for us. Everything slows down in the North Country because it has to. You can't go at such a fast pace because the days are shorter, there is no gardening to do and you've got to consider staying warm. We have a lot of indoor computer work to do and the days stick to a plan of get up, drink coffee, exercise, work, lunch, work,dinner, movie, sleep with cats. And as soon as the snow is skiiable, which it is already in some places, we'll be outside in between the work hours on our skis.

So that's it and there isn't much to write about most days except that. Harper and Ramona have adjusted to winter, they sleep more though they still want the door open and they entertain themselves running in and out and yelling that their paws are cold. Olof carried Harper over next door so he could visit Grampa and he liked that, so I will try to do it more often and keep him amused.

If there is anything interesting to write about, I will, but otherwise, stay in touch ya'll. And please excuse me if by the winter fire I lie dreaming.

Winter Morning

2008-11-11T07:27:00.001-08:00

New Mac powerbook, new software (Aperature), new camera card and new stuff to get used to. I can actually work on editing video on this lovely machine, though currently I have to have two hard drives hooked up to it to get my media files. Still, why does it feel more like a game than work if you can do it on a lap top? The touch pad on this is kind of slippery and does things I don't intend but the keyboard is lovely and the screen is fantastic, illuminated and clear. It's one of those one piece Mac's carved out of aluminum. Olof decided I should have it. Another thing I love is that it doesn't cook my legs if I am lying down.

As I was this chilly morning with tiny bits of white floating down. You couldn't call it snow, not really. Looked more like hail. I was guarded on either side by my feline protectors....

Resting on their wonderful heat pads, no electric, these things just reflect their body heat and as soon as I offered them they were happily adopted. Now we wake up most mornings, as the house gets colder, with a feline to each. I had bought one of these for Brendan to ease his elder bones and at that time neither kitten ever dared to trespass. But now they each have their own. I recommend these for any northern cats to make a long winter cozy. Harper and Ramona agree.

Here we are

2008-10-30T05:22:00.001-07:00

Where have we been? Oh,not far. A couple of days at a lovely inn by the sea with the Finnish cousins and the end of autumn around here. Putting the garden to bed, drying apples. I have a new powerbook which means figuring out new things like how the heck do I get my photos from the camera to this one and do I have to use Aperture now and why isn't Photoshop working and why can't I email out a photo from iPhoto. Olof is on a video shoot in Texas which shows you how far I would get with computers on my own.

Roz has run a very successful pet food drive up here and I will post about that too. She came up with a great way to help people keep their pets when they are having a hard time. I think this would work for animal groups everywhere.

For today I will show you some of the latest residences at the shelter and promise to go back to our regular programming.

BTW, Dancer is still at the shelter. He is not happy about it and yes, this complicated and wonderful feline really needs a home with someone who wants to give him attention. He still chirps but you out there, he needs you. You can check the CAHS Petfinder page to see who is in. I will try to get down there today and fill in those missing pages.

Teddy (I have to go back and get a better photo of him if he is still there. A moving target!)

Rascal

Pishi (she is a senior and had to be surrendered. Along with Celia, below)

Ping

Gandolf

Fitz

Essence (she was found wandering around downtown)

Celia

Alice (she has a cold and I will take another photo if her eyes have cleared up)

Aden

Border Patrol

2008-09-30T08:16:00.001-07:00

Every morning someone has to do border patrol. The felines have learned to wait and watch until the first quadrant is secure.

Olof does the back yard in front of the house and then makes his way around the fence while they watch him.

He's heading up the hill and at this point they go out, knowing the back section of the yard is safe for cats.

In hunting news, Harper brought in a poor little chipmunk one day and I rescued it. The next day he caught it again and sorry, killed it. I guess it didn't learn the lesson to stay on the other side of the fence like many of them do. Ramona then brought in another which she managed to get up to the bedroom and let it go. I still haven't found it so I think it got out, since we still have the door to the yard open most days. The cats are out from about 8 AM to 5 PM when they come running in to my whistle for dinner and crash out. It's a busy day here at Caturday.

September

2008-09-28T04:44:00.000-07:00

September is my favorite month. Before global warming September was beautiful even though we would have had a killing frost by now and the garden would have been over. But now it's like a gift of another month of summer. The tourists are gone, the kids are back in school and the days are filled with golden light. Except for today when we're getting rain from the storm. The grey sky only makes the brillant reds and yellows stand out more. July was rain soaked this year (maybe another warming trend change) August went by too quickly with work but September has been a month to savor.

I stopped by the shelter but things are calming down a bit there and the six kittens I thought I needed to photograph are already spoken for. I took a few shots because they are the most beautiful family I have seen since the Cheddars but I didn't want to spend a lot of time in the room with them since they have all had URI's and were getting more medication that day. The little grey one is the smallest kitten I have ever seen for that age. You can judge her size by her littermate cuddled up to her. And her eyes are a bit mucky from the cold. But she is a feisty little creature and should do well as she grows.

I should go back and get more photos of this gang just because they are so gorgeous. They were playful and curious, rolling around their room like a gang of kids. These photos were taken through a glass door and I was surprised at how well they turned out. This guy is staring at me through the door with his paws resting on the frame.

And this one stopped for a second before running off to join the games.

If you're a kitten anything will do for a cave or a fort or a castle to climb on.

This is a photo of Little One when the family first arrived. Her eyes are half closed because of her cold. But she is as spunky as the rest. I wish I had a matchbox to put next to her so you could see how tiny she is. About the size of a chipmunk at that time. She is bigger now and has filled out some. Then she was just the scrawniest thing.

This handsome fellow is Starsky. He has been waiting at the shelter for quite a while for a special person because he is FIV positive. He is a sweet friendly fellow who has been feeling a bit low because of a problem in one ear. That seems to be healing up and he's been more chipper lately. He badly needs someone to come take him home. He loves attention and cuddling, even though he looks a bit stern in this photo.

Some good shelter news: the wonderful Hercules, who is also FIV positive, has found a home with a kind elder man near me. This man had adopted another FIV positive cat who died. He was a bit concerned about Hercules being so young (2) and himself being 80 but it is a good situation for the amiable Herc who really just wanted someone to care for.

I have been reading an excellent book on being a vet. It's called Tell Me Where It Hurts and is written by Dr. Nick Trout who is a vet at Angell Memorial in Boston, Mass. It's hard for me to tell you how good it is, but I highly recommend it because of how he writes about our relationships with our beloved animal companions. My favorite line was when he called the communication between an old man and his dog "contented nothingness". That is so perfect a description of how I feel cuddled up to Harper and Ramona. As soon as I touch them a soft rumble begins and either one of them just exudes happiness and peacefulness when we are close together. Dr. Trout understands how much animals give us.

Words do fail me here so again, get this book if you can. Ask your local library to get it.

Patient Mona

2008-09-14T05:43:00.001-07:00

Ramona has been spending hours and hours sitting in one small area of the yard just behind the house. We thought maybe it was just a nice place for a cat to sit, protected, shady. But no, there is more on her mind....

It is probably hard to see but there is a snug little home dug out of the stone wall. And on further examination, there are quite a few more.

This explains the Patient Ones endless vigil. These photos were taken starting at 9 AM and the last ones at 6 PM. In the same spot.

I know you're in there. I can hear you.

Sigh, time for a bath.

Whattsat?

I am listening.

I get into attack position.

Gosh, where'd you go?

Sonar down.

Sigh, no banana.

There it is! I hear it! I'm gonna getcha.

Or was it over there?

No, it is in that direction.

Really really this time.

Focus, Mona, focus. Move slow. Silent.

Don't make a noise.

Ready position.

Closer, closer.

Hmmm, think I'm losing it.

Ah well, tomorrow is another day. Time for dinner.

Shelter News

2008-08-30T18:06:00.001-07:00

This is Penny, isn't she sweet? She just arrived, all on her own but she isn't afraid.

This little girl came in with a family group of about seven cheddars. They were still rather shy when I came in for photos.

This is Ike, one of Whimsey's seven kits. She is a very calm, laid back momcat and all the kittens take their cues from her.

Tammy. She had been at the shelter a long time when I first started there. She was adopted out and was gone for a year. A few days ago she was found abandoned. She is pretty confused about things. I thought they loved me, she says.

Another one of Whimsey's litter of seven.

Sweet Tucker has been adopted and will be going home on Tuesday. This time we hope the people don't have any silly dogs. Tucker is a love of a big boy and just wants to be with someone.

Buddy, one of the cheddar group.

Julie, who is very very pregnant and will have kits soon. I bet they will be beautiful.

Another one of the cheese family. These are two litters of different ages.

And Mandy, in a thoughtful pose.

Dancer

2008-08-28T04:37:00.000-07:00

I had mentioned a while ago that Dancer seemed to be in a bad mood sometimes and I was concerned about him. Turns out he had some kind of infection in his mouth and that is what he was complaining about.

Nowadays he is doing just fine. He is eager to get out and roam around when possible and he is in the adoption room looking for a home. His eyes are still that extraordinary copper color and I hope his human will come along soon. He is a handsome, lively boycat.

Rosey's Story

2008-08-26T06:55:00.000-07:00

I couldn't remember the last time I'd eaten. I was weak, dirty and oh so tired. And things hurt but I couldn't tell where. I was lying by the side of the road and my mind was drifting way away from my poor, thin, frail body.

Then I felt hands picking me up. I was back inside my fur but I couldn't move. I knew I was being put inside one of those monsters that thunder down the road. I was dizzy. And I was so thirsty my tongue was stuck to the inside of my mouth.

Then I was in a room with bright lights on a cold hard table. I could hear voices then.

"She's barely alive, if she is alive. The kindest thing would be to put her to sleep."

"NO!" I said inside myself. But I was deep deep inside. It was like a nightmare. I needed to yell and I couldn't!

I realized I had a chance. I had a chance to live. I wanted to live so much. I wanted to have a full belly and see the sun and smell things and feel the warm breeze. If I could only do something to let these humans know I was alive. So I struggled and struggled inside myself. What could I do? I could hear the humans preparing a needle fo me. It would take me to the Rainbow Bridge. But I wasn't ready to go. I struggled and struggled.

I moved my paw. Just a little.

"She's alive!" someone said.

From that moment on things have gotten better and better for me.

I got food and water. I've been resting in a warm place on a soft bed. I feel safe. Some things aren't right with me and probably never will be. But I have a chance.

And I've learned from the other cats around me that this place is safe. Humans come in here to meet you. They are looking for companionship. Feline companionship.

I think I had a human once. I don't remember what happened. But it sounds nice to be with someone and sit on a lap and be talked to nice and purr a lot. Yes, that does sound good to me. I would like to never be lonely again.

So I wait here and I have hope and I am not afraid.

Note: Rosey is at the shelter in Conway and she is patiently waiting and hoping for someone to love and be loved by. She has some neurological issues (she can't walk perfectly) but she is a lovely lady cat and we hope the future will be kind to her.

Ramona's Modeling Career

2008-08-18T07:20:00.001-07:00

The Rozzie May Animal Alliance is starting a pet food pantry for our area and Miss Ramona graciously agreed to pose for the press release. Then Harper was jealous that he wasn't asked to pose so he did, twice, hoping I would get out the camera. But PH looks a little too, hmmm, well fed, to pose for a pet food pantry. However, if he poses again today before I take the display down I will take his photo. Just so he feels ok about it.

Yesterday we did Day Two of a three day video shoot planned for this summer. It had been put off for weeks because of weather. (I had planned to have the three days done by August 11th). Everything went perfectly and the team of eight worked together to pull it all off. I was stressed out worrying about things I could not control e.g. how many tourists would be in the areas we needed to shoot in, so we started at 8 AM on our main street, which was beautifully quiet and then we went on to a riverside spot that is a zoo by midday. We got gorgeous shots at every location and our new HD tapeless camera worked like a charm.

so, whew, I have one day to take it a bit easy and then tomorrow I need to be organized for Wednesday's shoot which will be on top of a mountain in Franconia Notch. I need clear skies and will pack a picnic for eight.

After that we will resume our regular programming on Caturday.

Three Itty Bittys

2008-08-12T14:38:00.000-07:00

Three itty bittys found in a closet when some folks moved in. No momcat.

I'm Duke! And yes my eyes are green and blue.

Daisy!

Flower!

Hey, way cool!

Look look! It's Mommy! It's Mommy!

Mommy it's us! Don't you remember us?

Mommy?

HISSSSSSS! Go away little ragamuffins!

Not Mommy, Duke. Come on, we play.

Our Brillante Choices

2008-08-12T09:54:00.000-07:00

First of all, we want to join the rest of the Cat Blogosphere in sending our condolences to the family of little Violette.

Here are my choices to receive the Brillante Blog Award

First of all Artsy Catsy.

Anyone who takes in fifteen formerly feral felines and then finds Mr. Milky on their doorstep and takes him in too, well, brillant might not be quite the word for that, but their artwork certainly is. And the fact that they plan to travel around in an RV with the cats doing artwork, hey you guys can park here at Caturday anytime you're rolling through the White Mountains.

Next And then there were four...eh!

Because he hasn't posted for a long time and we miss hearing about Dolce, Baci, Magoo and Bella. So maybe getting an award will encourage some more of his good stories.

Then there is Wildrun

Because she is out there doing the hard work looking after the welfare of feral felines.

Next, Gandalf and Grayson

Their Story Game looks really cool and I will have to add in some thoughts as soon as I catch up on the 128 shelter photos I took yesterday!

And last, but certainly not least (not at all least) Fat Eric

How could we not love the good natured and so British man cat?

I did have some runners up, but I could only give out five awards!

We're Brillante and PH does the Full Monty

2008-08-10T05:36:00.001-07:00

Hey did you hear? We're Brillante! And we do the full Monty with style! Thanks very much to Alasandra and the Cats.
Tomorrow we'll make our choices for Brillante Blogging!

Ever since I was a wee one I have done the Full Monty with my very own sense of style, don'tchaknow?

Me and my sister, me doing my Monty.

I gets tired.

We is Royalty. Me Prince Harper, her is Queen Ramona. That's why we have red velvet throne.

Here I is as a Young Feline with Royal style. Whaddya think? Am I not a Prince of felines?

Mission Improbable

2008-08-08T07:31:00.001-07:00

Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is enter a small confinement with four small wild animals, shy and fearful, bouncing off the walls, in a room painted salmon pink. Get said tiny creatures to relax and pose in charming ways so photos can be posted on the internet resulting in loving homes. This catnip mouse will self destruct in five minutes......

I'm outta here

Just relax, keep your eye on the bouncing ball.

That's it!

I'm not sure about that big black thing.

Is this the I'm so adoptable head tilt you want?
Yes, fanks!

Can I see that bouncy ball again?

I'm shy.

Well, not so shy.

aaaahhhh, nice pose boyo.

And another after a game of catch the mousie.

This one is aiming for a full time modeling job.

I am not coming out from under this chair and you can't make me.

Except if you wave a rattly toy around. (Note, photographers trick, waving fingers to get them to look at you works too.)

This relaxed pose lasted all of one second.

Hey, this is yummy!

And finally, Mr. Shy Guy comes around.
In other news, Tucker was not in his regular spot in the shelter yesterday and things were so busy I forgot to ask. I'll check today and keep my fingers crossed he got adopted. Will let you know.

The Many Faces of Ramona

2008-08-07T04:20:00.000-07:00

With her adored husband, Brendan. The romance that surprised and delighted us during Brendan's last years.

A kitty girls gets tired sometimes.

Showing her flirting technique that won the old fella over. How could anyone resist?

And she grew up to be Queen. And to sing about it.

That look.

The sleepy face look. Dreaming deep tiger girl dreams.

The face that launched an appeal for the shelter.

This one is by my computer. Forever Mona.

Her ballet steps, This finished with that lovely stretch. First the right leg, then the left.

Loves her brother too.

And with Brendan.

Two tiny kits in their kitten room. Ramona was very ill during this time and we were afraid she would lose her eye.

But she is a Tiger Girl and keeps Prince Harper in line.

My sweetheart, my Tiger Girl.

Weather Rant

2008-08-06T04:32:00.000-07:00

That is little India, who was briefly in residence at the shelter. You can see from the photo why her stay was brief. She had three siblings, China, Cairo,and Morocco. I think they have all moved on.

And someone got beautifully creative about names and we had a Swiftwind, Braveheart and Littlecreek. I'm all in favor of poetic cat names.

And this is Echo.

Here the weather is driving us nuts. It is raining enough for us to be thinking about building an ark. For days and days it has been either pouring or thunderstorming. My potato plants are pathetic and the tomatoes struggling with their meager crop. The zukes and cukes are expanding to major, waterhappy porportions. I think sadly of last year when I had tomatoe plants at least four feet tall and a bounty of riches.

We have been trying to do a three day outdoor video shoot with eight people and have managed one day so far and we didn't go to the mountain summit we planned on because it was socked in. Where we were going to do a on the river picnic shot a man fell in and drowned, swept away by the rain swollen river. We weren't about to take a family there for video and of course, it is such a sad story with search teams scouring the river for his body. People are staying off the rivers here right now, they are at spring levels.

The cats hear the rain and sleep in and then go out during the only humid spells (when rainballs are not dropping on their heads). Today I woke to Harper cuddled up next to me and Ramona at my feet. As I read on the powerbook, PH (Prince Harper), comes up next to me, snuggles up and puts his head on my lap.

What a bargain they are! How much love we get for a little tuna and a grooming session every morning. I don't know a better investment. eh Harp? (He is right here) Purr, purr, purr. Snorkle, snorkle, snorkle.

Rain, rain, rain.

It is not music to my ears, let me tell you.

Kindness

2008-08-02T06:14:00.000-07:00

Harper and Ramona share a peaceful breakfast before Walkabout.

Harper's new favorite spot, in the window with a blankie.

This is Tucker, who lives at the shelter in a large cage. He is FELV positive though I have been told he will be tested again and might be ok at that time. I don't know much about FELV but I guess it means he is positive for Feline Leukimia but might not get it.

Anyway, he is a very very sweet guy cat looking for a person to love. He wakes up when you come by and puts his paws through his bars longing for a human touch. Walking by all the cats in the shelter, some of whom have been there for a long time, I was struck by how alive they are, conscious beings sitting in a small confined place and yet communicating with the people who come by. I wonder what they think, how they feel and what they are hoping for.

Harper and Ramona are happy cats. They have security (which I think is big on any cat's list) and they have affection, comfort and a stable food source. They also have Territory (or in Ramona's case, a Queendom) which is theirs and protected from outsiders.

What do the cats waiting patiently in the shelter hope for?

I was reading Fraise in Nice a while ago. She has just lost her beloved Malo to a vehicle accident and then immediately had a kitten walk into her life. She talks about meeting a woman at the vet's who had a kitten that had been found in a dumpster in a tightly tied plasic bag. She also mentions how many people in France will go off on vacation and just abandon their animals rather than arrange for someone to care for them.

The kitten in a plastic bag scene is so awful it is hard to imagine what kind of heart a person has who would do this. I imagine it as rather a small,dark, cold, shriveled thing. Who could do this to a living, feeling creature and walk away without a care for its panicked suffering? And yet, stories of abandoned animals are everywhere. I see them all the time coming through the shelter and New Hampshire is actually a remarkably good state for animal welfare.

You can't walk through a shelter without being aware of the emotions and personalities of the animals.

I don't see any reason that human lives should be considered more valuable than animals. And I really believe that until we have learned to be kind to other living things we are never going to have a society that is kind to people, let alone animals. I live in a huge tourist destination. Every spring the peacefulness of winter gives way to the frantic sounds of more and more people relentlessly chasing their desires. Shopping, entertainment, more shopping, pretty views, happiness, more stuff, more shopping. The valley sounds like a hive of angry bees, especially when it rains! And then September comes and everyone goes home. Whew.

The animals have very simple desires we could all learn from. Kindness, simple security, a warm spot by the fire, something to eat. And they pay you back a million times over.

This morning I woke to find Ramona snuggled up to my shoulder with a paw thrown over my arm. We got up together and walked down stairs for my coffee and her breakfast. She loves to walk down the stairs with someone. "It's a new day!" she says. Then she came back up to read the news with us. She is such a sweet happy creature. Harper was sleeping on a footstool near by. I said "Good morning, Harper." He rolled over to invite me to pat his lovely floofy belly. Cuddling up to Harper you can feel his contentment, his joy at your nearness.

I often wonder why humans are so hard on ourselves. Especially in the US we have built a society in which no one is secure unless you are very rich. So everyone is anxious and many people are lonely. Why do we make it so complicated? Why do we make it that everyone has to work like crazy to have a place to live and health care and some kind of security for their elder years? Why have we taken such a beautiful planet and torn it to bits? Why do we build such ugly buildings?

Anyway, enough ranting for a lovely Caturday morning. Please Celebrate Caturday. Hug your cats. And support your local shelters.

Fanks,
Zuleme

Mysterious Ramona

2008-08-01T10:32:00.001-07:00

She walks in beauty with the light, our Ramona.

The Cheddar parents,Ryan and Sandie (their shelter names) have been adopted together and will be moving to another state sometime next month. I dropped by to see them. I am sad I couldn't have them, they are lovely, sweet and beautiful cats, two of the most beautiful I have seen come through the shelter. But I am happy for them and I am sure their people will love them and they will be together.

Hey Mona, Wake Up!

2008-07-27T09:13:00.001-07:00

Hey Mona, wake up! It's not raining!
Go away, Brother. Let me sleep.

Hmmm. what's a Boy Cat to do?

I know! Hey there, lick lick lick.

Lick lick lick, wake up sleepy heaf, wake up!

This will get her. lick lick lick.

Go way, I said. I sleepy!

Now, where was I? zzzzzzzzzzzzz

hmmmph. Brave Boy Cat must go out on patrol.

Lot to do out there, yanno.
Here I go.

What is Harper Growing?

2008-07-16T04:02:00.000-07:00

Here is Harper in his garden. What do you think he is growing and why does he look so happy?

Dancer is Singing

2008-07-15T04:35:00.001-07:00

Two weeks ago I visited Dancer and I was a little worried about him. He wouldn't let anyone touch him and if you did he broke out into a long story about everything that had happened to him and he was quite cantankerous about it. I was concerned that he was feeling pain from the operation.

But last week when I saw him he was running around the shelter singing his wonderful chirpy songs and dancing over the floor. He is still quite thin and what he needs now is a home with someone who will give him time and attention. Someone who understands what he has been through and will be patient with him. Someone willing to take time to connect with him.

His eyes are still that wonderful eerie color. His ammonia levels are normal now and he has every chance of living a long happy kitty life. He is in the main adoption room now so I hope it won't be long for him. I know there were some people interested in him and his story and I will let you know what happens.

The Cheddar kittens are being adopted, two have already gone home. Mom and Dad are together, Mom will have surgery when her milk dries up. Ryan misses his kittens but the kittens were cheerful in their front room condo where they will not stay long as they are all gorgeous.

Mom's shelter name is Sandie. But I think she should be a Ginger. I visited them last week and they are both sweet, loving felines. If I had a million and a large cat ranch I would have taken the whole family for the chance to observe them and their relationships.

Shelter Visit

2008-07-13T14:21:00.001-07:00

Here are some current residents. Tomorrow, Dancer Update.

Fawn, recovering from a car encounter

Fiona

Misty

Thumbelina

Ace

Albi

Bo's Tail

Carmella

Dahlia

He Knows Where I Work

2008-07-08T04:47:00.001-07:00

Harper has learned how to get to the office, much to his delight. After morning Border Patrol (done by humans), we go to our studio on the second floor of the inlaws home next door. The cat fence encompasses both buildings but there is no cat door access to the building. So Harper, knowing that my FIL is up as early as we are, goes over to the house, yells to get in and then yells to be let through the doors leading to the office.

Yesterday he was delighted with himself, yelling and purring in alternate bursts while we hugged him. Then he was in and out of the air conditioned studio room exploring and claiming all the new territory. Uncle Sid also likes to explore the office at night so there is a positioning campaign going on.

Harper is very much a people cat. While Ramona is quite happy to stay in the area around the house's back door and garden, Harper wants to be with somebody. So after leaving us (being kicked out by me because he wouldn't settle down) he spent the afternoon at my FIL's feet in the screen porch.

Clever Boy Cat!

Ryan's Story

2008-07-06T09:05:00.001-07:00

People seem to be surprised at me being a loving Daddy Cat to my kits here at this place my family has landed. I'm not sure why they are so surprised, I mean, they are my kits too and single parenthood is a huge job for a Lady Cat. My wife feeds them and does most of the washing up but there is nothing like Daddy to snuggle up to to feel safe and secure. I guess most of the families here are single parenthood but we're a team, me and Her.
I love my little kits and it's a nice feeling when they cuddle up and let me know they love me.

(Ryan came out of this box to see me when I arrived, the three kits were sleeping)

At first I was kind of nervous when we moved here. I mean, there are dogs all over the place and lots of people. We weren't too secure in the place we came from either so I didn't know what was going on. But days passed, the kits grew and the people were kind and the food was good and lots of it for the kits and us. At first I hid out protecting my kits in a dark box but nowadays I know it is safe to come out and get a pet or two from a human.

This woman person came in yesterday with a big black clicky thing. It went click a few times and then I climbed on her lap. Hey, she smelled nice, a bit of nip and a bit of cat. She wasn't a grabber or anything. I liked her and I could tell she liked me.

I know things are gonna change for us and I haven't wanted to talk to Lady about it. The kits are growing and people have been coming in and admiring them. Of course they will, my kits are beautiful, real stunners and smart too. I'm not sure what will happen to me and my Lady but all I can do is have hope for a good life together.

Ryan, Daddy Cat

A Visit with the Cheddar Family

2008-06-26T14:01:00.001-07:00

Would you guys mind posing?
No?
Fanks!

Ooohhh stretch!

I love my daddy.

oh, hai!

Mom

Dad with two kits cuddled up

You need a bath, boyo.

Do me! Do me!

I admit it, I am in love with this sweet girl.

Really really.

Walkabout

2008-06-26T08:27:00.001-07:00

Every morning someone has to do walkabout and check the border. I see small squash and flowers.

The view from the back yard.

The tea house.

Tomatoes in pots for the patio.

Breakfast.

Hey, where's the sun? I got it! Over here!

View from the hill.

Vegetable garden.

Studio and parents deck. This is where Uncle Sid lives. He's a cat.

Back yard and putting green.

More vegetables.

And of course, a cat! Harper on patrol.

Oh Hai! Whaddya we doin?

Five Little Cheddars and How They Grew

2008-06-22T09:06:00.000-07:00

First, here is Dancer recuperating at the shelter after his surgery. Right now he is mostly interested in food (he is quite thin) and sleep. He did have another seizure but in two weeks he will have his ammonina levels tested and hopefully can then be well on medication. He is in good form, just taking time to recover. He has been through a lot.

And here is the Cheddar Family. Most of the Momcats who arrive at the shelter are sadly,alone and unwed. This lovely lady comes complete with adoring husband who also loves his children as they all try to sleep on top of him. I have never seen this in the years I have been volunteering there. Wouldn't it be wonderful to bring this whole family home and watch them live together. Momcat would be happy limiting her family to five though and she will get some help with that. If you want this remarkable opportunity to have an entire family, do let us know.

Bath time with Mom.

Here is Mom. I don't know her name yet.

Dinner time, much appreciated! I don't know where this family came from but this was their first day at the shelter so they are unsure of things.

Mom and three of the kits.

Dad is a handsome fellow.

And he is not sure of their new living situation. They have their own large room but they can hear the dogs barking.

And here are some portraits of the baby Cheddars. I'll have to go back to sort them out and get their names for Petfinder.

So, who wants a Crazy Cat Lady Starter Kit? Wouldn't they be lovely to have around? And how about names? Colby, Cheddar, Muenster, Mozzarella,etc?

Fawn's Story

2008-06-21T04:17:00.001-07:00

I say it was that chipmunk's fault. Really. I was minding my own business, ok so I admit I was a bit too close to the Thunderpath, but I was ok, yanno, when that chipper came running by. Oh he smelled tasty,yanno? So I forgot to be cautious and leaped after him onto the Path, just a bit though, just a bit!

And the next thing I knew I was lying by the side of the road in the dirt in a terrible state. My eye, I thought, what has happened to my eye? And my mouth felt just horrible, I couldn't close it. My tongue had no feeling. I've bitten it off, I thought.

I closed my eyes and prepared myself to go to the Bridge. I saw my mother waiting for me.

And then there were hands gently picking me up and I was at the v-e-t-s. Bright lights, stainless steel table, you know the routine. And the vet said, her injuries are not life threatening, but her jaw is broken and her tongue needs to be sewn back together. ohmagod, I thought and I blacked out.

When I woke up I didn't feel too good and I didn't look too good. I had tubes in me and I was kinda woozy. The gentle hand person took me to a house where there were other cats and the cats were gentle. One let me cuddle up to her. My mother? I said. I'm not your mother, the other cat said. But she let me cuddle up.

And now I am getting better. I still have a tube in me because I have to learn I can use my tongue to feed myself. I go to this place during the day where there are lots of cats and at night I go home to the house with lots of cats. I climb up on the one that will let me and I fall asleep.

I'm going to live, they say. But I worry, will I still be beautiful with only one eye? Where will I live? Will I have a person who will love me?

Tomorrow: Dancer Update and the Cheese Family, Mom, Dad and kits.

Ramona Plays a Trick

2008-06-18T17:21:00.001-07:00

Yes, I did. I am very clever yanno. And Brother sometime chomps on me and I don't like it. So today we were over next door and he wanted to chase me, yanno? So I ran ran ran towards the gate and then I swerved in a fast circle.

And Brother kept going and he ran right into the gate post and boinked his head.

Yes, he did. And he had a big bumpy on it too. And a headache. And Herself picked him up and he went wahwahwah cuddle me. But he was ok.

And then he tried to chase me again and he ran reaaaaal slow when he got near to that post!

Note: new Caturday readers should note: Harper is her brother, he is a CAT!

Doing the hard job

2008-06-18T05:31:00.000-07:00

I hate it that we have to surgically alter the animals in our care. But it must be done. Cats especially have amazing reproductive powers. That's a good thing where they are wild and only live a couple of years and need to keep their populations up.(I remember being told by someone that the average life span of a feral cat was 2 years). Now, with good health care and good food, our cats live into their teens and twenties. With the potential for a couple of litters every year starting when they are as young as six months, well, you'd have a housefull. And so would your neighbors. And your town.

At this time, surgery is the only option until the day there is some sort of safe non-surgical alternative. You won't find a cat taking birth control pills.

In my area we have a new group working hard to lower the number of homeless pets. I'm adding the press release we sent out about the last clinic. There is one scheduled for next month and I will be taking our neighbor's lovely orange tiger girl to it. Her name is Cricket and she is about seven months old. She was found in a parking lot.

Rozzie May Animal Alliance Holds Clinic in Berlin, NH

The Rozzie May Animal Alliance held a low cost spay neuter clinic for cats in Berlin, NH this past Friday. May 30th. Thanks to help from two foundations, Profile Motors and Gemini Sign and Design, the organization now has a citical piece of equipment: a new van tlarge enough to transport all the necessary equipment to set up a day surgery..The van is a big step forward in the long term plans of the organization. The van's first trip was to the much needed clinic in Berlin.

The day started at 6:00 AM when Roz Manwaring, RMAA Executive Director and Diana Knox, surgical assistant headed north to 225 Main Street, Berlin. From Fryeburg Veterinary Hospital, Steve Caffrey, D.V.M, and Mary Evens, veterinary technician, were en route to the same location. By 7:30 equipment was being unloaded to set up a surgery room and a recovery room.

By 8:00 AM volunteers Marie Albee and Karen Nelson were registering patients and completing paperwork. Gus Owen, videographer, arrived to record the day’s events. Sarah Mohla, another veterinary technician arrived. The surgical team was now in place and began physical check ups on waiting feline patients.
Then the recovery nurses, Margarete Stevens and Jean Basile arrived. They would see to the cats comfort after surgery, clean ears, clip nails, do flea checks and monitor everyone’s recovery progress.

Carol Bryans, RMAA President and Terri Conlon, Treasurer, arrived with a home made lunch of a fresh salad bar. Diana Knox’s wonderful desserts topped off the meal.

The 32 feline surgeries, 12 females and 20 males were completed by 2:30 and patients were collected by their families when ready to head home. The van was loaded up and arrived at home base at 7:00 PM after a very long day.

Thanks to the sponsorship of Omar and Wanda Deaderick, two cats who know the advantages of spay/neuter, 22 people were given financial assistance for their pet’s surgery. This clinic was totally booked in two days of its announcement, and there is a waiting list of animals for the next clinic.

This clinic brings the RMAA total to 151 animals surgically altered in five clinic days, including cats, dogs and rabbits. The Alliance’s goal is no more homeless pets in our area and these clinics will directly impact the number of animals entering local shelters. As the RMAA team and it’s coalition of compassionate veterinarians grows, monthly clinics will be scheduled from Berlin to Wolfeboro. If you want to join a winning team or financially support the RMAA, please visit rozziemay.org or call 603-447-3477.

At the Shelter

2008-06-17T03:58:00.001-07:00

Meeka

Max

Monty

Olivia

Pumpkin

Hannah

Holly

Manny

Marie

Baby

Cooper

Gloria and family, newly arrived and shy, rescued from a hoarder

Gloria

Harper Talks

2008-06-16T13:10:00.001-07:00

Last night Olof and I came in from having dinner next door with his folks. We sat down by the fireplace downstairs. We were talking, looking at books, when we heard a loud "Merraagh!"" from the stairs.
There was Harper looking straight at us.
"Get up here and turn on the Noisy Box right now!" he said. "I want some attention!""
So of course we did.
And this morning Miss R got a little impatient while I was getting coffee.
"Breakfast!" she said. "Now!"

Gosh, I guess they're growing up. They're getting us trained.

I stopped by to see Dancer and he was sound asleep, all curled up in a little basket. The news is he is doing great, running around and happy. I'll go back soon for some new photos and updates.

Under the Paw

2008-06-15T07:17:00.001-07:00

I received a copy of Under the Paw to review from the publishers in London. That's only the second time I have gotten anything for all my writing on Caturday, the first being some free kitty litter, which was also appreciated.

Under the Paw is really funny. There are some other books by men about their cats but this is the first one I know of where a man admits to being so obsessed with cats that he has seven of them. I like the idea of the crazy cat man. And I really like his story telling, about his folks putting a cat to sleep because baby Tom was on the way and how he still regrets it. I also really like hearing about his rambles with cat Monty and how close he felt to him. It reminded me of how I felt close to Fergus. With some cats you just seem to understand how they feel about things.

Tom has a way of writing about cats that shows you how much he loves and tries to understand them. It's that sense of closeness and love of cats that makes the book special.

I love Tom's sense of sympathy for the suffering Bear and his attempts to understand Bear and take care of him. It is always wrenching to read of a litter of kittens found in a plastic bag along the highway. Bear's rough start in life seemed to set his personality, making him complicated and moody.

The book goes on to describe Tom's meeting with his cat loving wife Dee and how they moved to the country changing houses and looking for a place that would suit their feline family. Any cat lover is going to feel close to Tom when he says that when he has to travel the question is "how long will I be away from my cats?"

The other chapter where I really appreciated Tom's feelings for cats is when he goes to a cat show and wants to set them all free. This book is not for people who love pure breed cats. This book is for people who love cats as they are.

There are some things that will strike US readers as different in the way we keep the cats we love. ( and a regular non pure breed cat is a "moggy" in England, a term that sounds friendly and affectionate to me) While Tom was searching for a home where his cats would be relatively safe going outside, they are still out roaming. I think in the US most of us are either keeping our cats in or we have enclosures. I know how much peace of mind my cat fence gives me and our cats. Yesterday Olof said that he was doing something with one of the large gates to the fence open and Harper came and sat on his side of the fence and watched him, not even trying to walk through to the outside. I believe the cats see the fence as their safe boundary against the rest of the world and it makes them feel secure. Now that it is summer, there are people coming to the vacation house up the hill and the cats hear voices coming from there. They also hear the cars on the road. So I'm surprised if Tom hasn't figured out he could just fence in the back yard and be safe from losing another feline to either a car, dog, poison or cruel human. For us, it was losing Silas on the road that made us build the fence. These days Harper and Ramona love it that they can walk over to Olof's parents, yell at the door, and go in to visit. Then they yell to get out and walk home. They go out in the morning, after we do border patrol (bears have been known to knock some fencing down) and around 6 in the evening I whistle and they are happy to come in and eat and collapse. During the day they run in and out the cat door and if we are gardening, they come and see what we're doing. But we may not see them for hours, yet we know they are safe.

I agree cats need to be outside. Our two find so much to be interested in. I see them watching bugs, trying to chase chipmunks, eyeing frogs and toads and just lying around enjoying the sun. But I don't want the misery of losing one on the road.

Last night Olof and I watched a show on a scientist looking for the first place in the world to domesticate cats. duh, it was Egypt. One segment in the show was about cat breeding and it turned our stomachs. I'm sorry but those poor furless cats just look sad and alien. One woman with a little furless, short legged cat she had proudly bred herself, took it to Las Vegas to meet another furless cat she wanted to breed it with. And then they had a wedding in a chapel. And soon after, a litter of three sad little furless kittens were born.

We looked at each other and said "give me a break."

So what I really like about Tom's book is his love of cats as they are and his appreciation of them as they are. To me, there is nothing crazy about that.

Right now you can't get the book in the US, except there was one second hand copy on Amazon. However, you can just order it from Amazon.co.uk. No, you can't buy my copy. I'm keeping it to read again.

Rainbow and Storm

2008-06-13T07:12:00.000-07:00

How is it possible, I ask myself, to feel so sad over the end of a cat I have never met? Somehow Ramona seems to know, she came in and cried a few lonely sounding cries. I will go give her a hug.

I guess it is because we all know how it feels to say goodby to a lovely feline soul and to hope we will all meet again at the Rainbow Bridge.

He's home and needs a nap

2008-06-11T11:39:00.000-07:00

He's home and recuperating. Needs a nap in this photo but otherwise is doing great.

Dancer gets a Prezzie

2008-06-11T06:57:00.001-07:00

Dancer received a get well package from a Secret Admirer. As you can see, it was a big hit. This was the day before he went to Portland for his surgery. Today he is coming back and will recuperate with Sandy since the shelter is closed. Tomorrow he should be back at the shelter in Conway. All went well and he has a great prospect for a normal, happy cat life, thanks to the kind cats and people of the blogosphere and his caretakers at CAHS.

"What is this? For me?"

"Oboyoboyoboyoboyoboy."

Since he is a kind hearted kitty I bet he will want to share some a these. A few anyway.

I Dream of Ramona

2008-06-06T06:36:00.000-07:00

Do you ever have dreams where your cats are with you? I had an amazing dream a couple of nights ago. I was in my home town of Falmouth, MA and yet, of course, it was a dream town with some great twists and turns. I was in a small post office getting a box and a strange little key so that I could receive a letter from a friend in Ireland. Ramona was with me. She ran out into the street among the cars and then back to me. I picked her up and held her for the rest of the dream.

Olof was there somewhere but I don't know where Harper was, probably with Olof.
Ramona and I headed downtown and to get there we walked along the tracks of a small train going uphill, rather like a cog railroad (we have one of those here, going up Mount Washington). This was a miniature version following the sidewalk. When we got to the top, we got on the train and rode down.
There was a boy across the aisle also holding a young cat.

If you were lucky enough to grow up in a wonderful place then you can understand some of my feelings when I dream about this town. The population was smaller when I was young, there was much less traffic, and it had a great, cozy small town feel. It still has some of that because the main street is narrow. But back then it had a J.J. Newberrys with crooked wooden floors and a soda fountain, a small drug store with a bow window and a soda fountain,two shops I loved called Buttner's and Mrs. Weeks. Side by side, I think they sold the same kind of things, fabric and yarn and patterns. Women sewed a lot then and my grandmother and mother made a lot of clothes for us. There was a small clothing store in the same grouping, all had beautiful bow windows like something English. And there was a salt water taffy store making the candy in the window and a bakery and a bookstore.

So in this dream I was very happy to be back in my childhood home. I had a wonderful feeling of having a visit to a place I love traveling with my girl kiity.

When I woke up she was cuddled under my chin.

Dancer News

2008-06-04T09:26:00.000-07:00

Dancer has received the funds for his surgery and the shelter will be calling tomorrow to make an appointment for him. He's not out of the woods yet but he will have a chance thanks to all of you who donated and the shelter.
Extra special thanks to the person (you know who you are) who made this possible for this special little guy.
We're all rooting for him!

Hooray Hooray Hooray!

2008-05-30T05:54:00.001-07:00

Update: Dawn asked how the money gets to Dancer and I couldn't find your email address so here is the answer for everyone. There are two ways to get money to Dancer. One is to donate directly to the shelter and say it is for him. Their website is Conwayshelter.org and they have a Paypal button on their How to Help page

The Cafe Press shop is something I set up with designs I have been working on using vintage images I have collected. I thought it would great for the beginning of this new project to donate the profits to a good cause. Everything that is sold gives me a commission which I am going to donate for Dancer. There is a different amount for each item. I lowered the prices on the tee shirts and totes so it is something like 9.00 on each of those and 2.00 on the smaller things. It will take quite a while for that money to come to me but I will pay the shelter whatever comes in as soon as the sales add up to something. When Dancer is safely on his way to health and a good home, then I can continue with the business and I am going to add some designs from my shelter photos as items that will always go to help my animal groups. I hope that answers any questions!

I don't want anyone to donate who can't afford it. And if you just want to donate a small amount then go right to the shelter. His story is in the paper this week and I bet that is going to help him but I will keep you posted. I will find out how he is doing and let the cat blogosphere know.

Thanks! He really is a lovely little guy and I wish I oculd bring him home here. Next thing will be a great home for him, after he is well.

The Cafe Press shop has started selling stuff! I can't tell you how pleased I am to be able to help get Dancer the surgery he needs. I have other ideas in mind. This tee shirt thing has been an idea and a dream for years! My sister has been the inspiration since she is a skilled silk screener. I can assure you the Cafe Press shirts are wonderful, they use the latest print method which is too expensive for me to get into at this time but I am seriously considering it. I will tell you the saga of the tee shirts in the next few days. Today I have way too much to do, but please, visit the shop and let me know if there are other itmes you would like the designs on, different shirts, mouse pads etc. I will be working on it. I hope I can go visit Dancer later today. He is in our newspaper this week and we hope there will be more donations for him locally.

Cafe Press Shop Opens

2008-05-28T08:01:00.000-07:00

Teeography.com

The first sales from this shop will go to help Dancer get the surgery he needs!
Click on the link above (which I fixed this morning) or any of the images to get to the shop.

Hooray it''s Caturday!

There are two means of refuge from the miseries of life, music and cats. A quote from Alfred Schweitzer.

Books. Cats. Life is Good.
My motto.

Update on Dancer

2008-05-24T03:59:00.001-07:00

I stopped by the shelter to visit Dancer and see if there was any new information on his condition. He was hanging out in the back office where he had a cozy bed and space to walk around. He is a bit weak and needs to get up and move whenever he can. He understood I needed a nice photo or two for his cat friends and he posed nicely for me.

The surgery and tests won't be as high as 4,000 but more like 2500. I have received offers of help if I want to run an auction and at this time I am working on getting everything on my new cafe press shop. There are 28 designs of horses, cats and dogs and I will offer to put all of the profit from the sales towards Dancer. I will have to figure out a time frame. Also, the shelter is still receiving money for a dog that has the same condition and they will be able to put some towards Dancer's care.

He chirped a bit and he was calm. Everyone at the shelter agrees he is exceptional and should have a chance. If you wish to donate directly to the shelter, this is the link to their paypal button and say it is for Dancer, or wait a day or so and you can have a neat tee shirt or tote bag while helping him.

The Heart As Cheese

2008-05-20T07:02:00.001-07:00

"I agree hearts don't break, but I think they get holes in them. And eventually may look like swiss cheese." Amy Kane

I found the above quote at a blog I like written by and Englishwoman living in France, A Mouse in France and the quote comes from a fellow Granite Stater, Amy Kane. Mouse's post made me think about how many of us who love cats have cat shaped holes in our hearts. And there are cats that you just know will give you another one. Fergus was one of those.

hmmmm, I was trying to post that photo and another all day yesterday and thought I was going to have to redo the entire blog on blogspot. I will try to finish this post interrupted. If I can, I will tell you the rest of the story!

Here comes the rest of the story, which is about a small cat named Dancer.He is about eight months old, grey and thin with strange copper colored eyes. When he is free to get some exercise in the shelter he runs around chirping and singing.

He has a serious medical issue that will probably kill him by the time he is a year old.It's called a liver shunt and I don't understand much about it except that his liver doesn't function and the ammonia levels climb too high in his blood. It accounts for the strange and beautiful eye color. He is on special food and a drug that neutraiizes the bile acids that cause the high ammonia levels.He has had two seizures already. The shelter is looking into what can be done for him but the cost is very high, maybe up to four thousand dollars.

The last time I was at the shelter I met this little cat. He was running around after we tried to take his photo. He was very vocal, very curious, commenting on everything.A very lively and aware little creature. Then I heard squeals of terror and ran to find him, along with Sandy from the shelter.

We found him cowering and shaking in an open closet he had been exploring happily. He was having a seizure. His bladder and bowels were emptying and he was very frightened. Sandy took him off to take care of him and later I heard he was ok.

But I can still hear those terrified cries.

I don't know what can be done for him. The shelter can't jusitfy spending maybe four thousand dollars to save one little cat when there are seventy in residence and more arriving all the time. And the surgery as far as we know at this time, has an 85% chance of saving him. What do you do?

At the same time, the little creature wants to live. He was scared when he felt what was happening to him. In an ideal world there would be help for all who needed it.

Most likely, Dancer will die. At the shelter. And we'll all have another cat shaped hole in our hearts.

If anyone who reads this has an idea on how to help him please let me know. I don't know if it is right to ask people to donate when your local shelters all need your help. If we come up with a fundraiser I will let you know. And if you do want to donate that is the link to the shelters page with the paypal button. Be sure to say it is for Dancer.

Sunday in the Yard with Ramona

2008-05-19T06:33:00.001-07:00

There's so much to see Outside.

And it's awfully nice to just lie around and look at things.

Herself spends a lot of time doing things to these green things. Don't know why. The world is full of green things.

This is my apple tree. It smells funny right now.

This is my Outside. It has a Safety Fence all around it and I can be Outside all day long and go Inside whenever I want! I have to go Inside when I have dinner. There are big scary visous things that are Outside at night here.

I am hiding. Isn't Outside wonderful?

How to Tell Your Cat You Are Going Away

2008-05-18T04:25:00.000-07:00

Boo makes herself comfy as she awaits her person's return.

This is my mother's feline companion, Boo. Boo is quite shy and spends her days in my mom's room. Recently my mom went to London for a week and we were talking about how Boo really misses her human when she is away and how sometimes she exhibits that stress in unladylike behavior.

I told mom to try something that I read in one of my Holistic Cat books. It seemed to help Brendan the last time we went to Europe for two weeks. Brendan used to get up in the middle of the night and howl sometimes. He was with my in-laws during that trip and they said he howled every night except for the one when we were getting on the plane in Zurich. He was calm that night as he waited for our return.

So. Sit with your cat and tell her you have to go away. Imagine how sad you are to be leaving her and how you don't want to leave her but you must. Imagine a picture of your return and how happy the two of you will be. Imagine an image of each night you will be away. Imagine the nights one by one. Beam these thoughts into your furry ones little head and send comforting thoughts of your return.

Mom did this and said Book was much better while she was away and happy at her return.

So give it a try and let me know if it works for you next time you have to be parted from your loved ones.

The Cat Lady Went to Heaven

2008-05-17T14:48:00.001-07:00

She was a small woman who volunteered at the shelter coming in early and doing the tedious work of cleaning cages. I am sure she gave the cats a lot of TLC and sympathy. She passed away quietly at home and the family is now at the shelter.
Some, you can tell from the photos, are scared. Some are wide eyed, unsure of their situation. Some are bold and friendly, open to whatever happens next. Five of them are in a family group, others are in spearate places waiting for their chance to go up front and seek new homes.

Here they are, Ten Left Behind.

Handsome Taz with amazing green eyes.

Tippie. She was anxious to see everything outside her condo.

Lively Samatha is a real character.

Precious was sitting shyly on a bed in the family room.

Princess has beautiful huge eyes, a little large from anxiety. She is already up front in the adoption room.

Piper is still so scared I only took one photo and left him hiding in his crate.

Beautiful Pippin.

Baby Huey is a charming and huge lapful of a friendly guy. He protects Piper, they might be father and son.

Shy Toby.

and Maw Maw, also very outgoing and handsome.

I know I haven''t been posting as much as usual, as much as I like to. There is so much to do here in the spring. The garden is being planted and we have TV commercials to get out in the next few weeks. But I do have some more shelter stories to catch up on. There is one special cat I want to tell you about but I need some more information on his condtion.

And, there are Caturday tee shirts in the works. I'll tell you about that soon also.

A note on Tucker, he is FELV positive, not FIV. And I have been told he could be clear of that in about six months. Then I am sure he will be adopted quickly, he is a wonderful cat.

Shelter Visit and News

2008-05-09T15:48:00.001-07:00

Why is it that the sweetest guys in the shelter are FIV postiive? This is Starsky who is a major Cat of Character. He''s a wonderful guy full of purrsonality with those ownderful Bucky type eyes (remember Bucky?) He has been at the shelter since sometime in 07 and even though he gets lots of attention and as much exercise as possible, well, he needs a home.

And then this fellow I met for the first time yesterday. Tucker. He is a cuddle bug and also just a great cat with loads of purrsonality and FELV postive. sigh.

(Update on Tucker, he should be ok in about six months, I guess his test was barely positive. I don't really understand all this except that his prognosis is good). If you are looking for an exceptional and handsome feline let me of the shelter know. Their info is on my sideroll.

I think that those of us who love cats go along kind of a cat love curve. You start out with kittens, perfect beautiful kittens. Ok, so I still just adore kittens, who doesn't? But then if you are involved at all in animal welfare you start to notice the cats that are often overlooked. I like the feisty ones, the cranky ones and the shy ones who need some confidence. Then there are the ones who need medical care or who are disabled. Or they are seniors who have lost their people. I can see as I get older I will adopt older cats. I could see just adopting FIV postive cats if I didn't have the brother sister team now.

This is the very beautiful and recently bereaved Simone. She is part Siamese (I love that) and she seems very calm as she watches the goings on from a second floor condo.

This is Ebony who was at the shelter since sometime in 2006 and has just found a home. It is always nice to hear that a long timer has been adopted. I think it is a good thing, if you have room for a new cat, to ask who has been in the shelter the longest.

And this is Matty who was also at the shelter for a long time and has just been adopted.

A shelter volunteer just died, leaving her family of ten cats. They are all at the shelter and I will get to know them on my next visit and I will tell you about them.

In other cat news, the Rozzie May Animal Alliance had a Boy Cat clinic that was vey sucessful and has scheduled a clinic for both sexes in a town north of here where many shelter cats and kittens come from. I'll be up there taking photos May 30th.

And finally, remember Marty who won the election to become the cat on top of Mount Washington? He is having a great time in his new job. I can see the summit from my house and often this winter I would look up at the frozen heights and wonder how he was doing. He has an important job providing feline companionship to the meteorologists up there. Now that it is spring he has been able to do some outside exploring with supervision.

Ramona, Big Game Hunter

2008-04-25T04:14:00.000-07:00

"If I aim for that silly little head I can take this one down. Yeah"

It's been a while since I've posted but things have been busy. Just a few days and the valley has bolted into spring and for all the residents the long winter is just a memory. The trees are getting ready to burst into bloom and you can see a faint fuzz of green and red across the valley. The cats are out in the yard all day long and collapsing after dinner.

"It's so wonderful, isn't it? Just wonderful." They tell us.

Harper is trying to dig up moles from their holes scattered across the lawn. Frogs appeared, frozen and still under the snow. Now the frog pond is bustling with chatter. I would follow the cats and each time they found a shocked frog I would rescue it and put it in the water and watch as it swam away.

"Long winter!" the frogs are saying. "Omagod, it's spring at last! Have you seen Fred, Tom, Ethel, Betty?" Oh there you are! Is there anything to eat?"

And on and on. The symphony develops as spring advances until we have a full orchestra of bass, mid section and trillers (tree frogs). It is one of the huge joys of the season.

My mom was here for a week and we had a lovely time shopping and cooking. Then I got a horrible bout of either food poisoning or flu and was laid low (real low) for a week. Now all is well and I have been working in the garden, planting peas.

We have a Boy Cat Only clinic this week. 30 Boy Cats taking the pledge for No More Homeless Kittens. And before that, an auction that raised lots of money for the new clinic.

So what do you think? Can Ramona take down a turkey>

Pas de Deux

2008-04-05T07:01:00.000-07:00

It's not always harmony around here. Remember, they both have to go to the vet when one has to go to avoid the snafu of the visit when Harper did not recognize her smell. But in general, I would say always try to adopt two littermates for a happy family.

I'd love to be able to adopt a mom and her kittens and keep them all together. I don't think we have any idea how they feel when the kittens are suddenly taken away.

Mom Cat

2008-04-02T13:34:00.000-07:00

This is Sally, a very very thin MomCat who was rescued from a hoarder and brought to the shelter. She is a lovely, world weary ladycat whose attitude is somewhat like"another litter of kittens? No problem." This will be her last litter though and hopefully, she will go on to a good life with someone who will love her. She has the most amazing eyes.

There are five kittens and I need to go back and get better photos of them. They are Basil, Clover, Ginger, Juniper and Mulberry. Tigers and Butlers.

Abby Goes Home

2008-04-01T09:29:00.001-07:00

You may remember sad Abby. She arrived at the shelter last July after her beloved person died. She was depressed and confused, not understanding what had happened. She also unfortunately couldn't stand the company of other cats, which stopped her family from offering her a home.

So she languished and I was sorry to see her each time I went in, knowing she needed a special human.

Well, even in this crazy often unhappy world, good things do happen.

One day a man came in to the shelter. He didn't have a cat. He didn't have a dog.

He was allowed to open Abby's cage (the same one she had been sitting in since July, a small two roomer) and he stuck his whole head in there. The shelter staff thought "this won't last long". Abby has a strong sense of her personal space.

But minutes later he was still there and something wonderful happened.

They bonded.

And Abby went home.

In other good adoption news, Clyde and Maia went home for the second time. Clyde had demostrated his confusion at his first adoption attempt (after this pair had lost their person), by peeing on the human bed.

Not a good idea, Clyde.

This second attempt seems to have worked out so either Clyde learned his lesson or he liked this home better.

The very personable Solar has also found a home after only being at the shelter since January.

In sadder news a lovely cat named Angel was returned after one and a half years with an adopter. It was said that she did not get along with the other cats. I don't know what I would do in a situation like that, however I would try to provide more cat spaces (high cat tree spots and special bedroom hiding spots) I would also separate feeding and provide separate litter boxes. If it was really impossible then one cat would become the studio cat. I will be posting Angel's photo on Petfinder in the next couple of days. There was another cat returned and I will find her photo too.

I visited with Kylie who is our beautiful Mom cat. She has one kitten left who will be picked up soon. I really feel for this sweet feline who was rescued from a hoarder. She is very shy and afraid of being touched. It will take some time for a person to make friends with her but I think this is one who would be a very special companion for the person willing to be kind and take the time to let her feel secure. She has beautiful soulfull eyes which show there is a conscious being there.

I wish I could take Kylie home but I will have to hope for the right person who will be blessed with this girl.

There is also a family of new Babycats and Mom. I will post their photos too.

Spring Fling

2008-03-28T07:30:00.000-07:00

This is quite the sight to have outside your back door. The four women have been coming round for hand outs for a couple of weeks now but then this dude showed up waving his tail and poofing out his feathers. He makes me think of the Blue Meany in Yellow Submarine. When I throw out some food the women run right for it (there are few things funnier than a running turkey). Some days when the snow is frozen the grils have slid on their butts down the hill.

Hey, turkeys have to eat too. I have heard that these wild birds aren't much good for eating so I hope I am not fattening them up just so they can get shot next fall. With a winter like the one we are STILL HAVING, we need all the entertainment we can get.

Oh yeah, we also got four more inches of snow this morning. At least the skiing is still fantastic. Cross country. This is going to end up being a major record breaker snow year here. We only have two more years to beat to be the all time since the 1800's champion snow year.

But everyone is tired of it and anyone who can is heading south for a break. Three hours south of here the flowers are blooming.

And someone is really tired of it...

"Me no likey this white stuff!! What's going on here!! Where's my garden!! Why can;t you fix it!! I want out now!!"

Harper is very Speakative.

"And get rid of those big birds!! No bird should be that big!! Me no likey!!"

In Search of Home

2008-03-14T14:26:00.000-07:00

This momma cat and her kits were rescued from a hoarder and are now living in the family room at the shelter. Two kittens are already spoken for and that leaves three and Momma. Momma Kylie is still very shy and will need a patient and loving person to let her take her time coming out of her fear. She is a lovely Lady Cat with wonderful green eyes.

Little Sasha is, I think, already adopted.

And here is Simba, of course. If you need a House Lion.

That leaves Jack, who is the orange short haired fellow,

Kaylee,

Lilac,

and shy, beautiful Momma.

Ramona Plays a Game

2008-03-12T09:09:00.000-07:00

Ramona has a basket full of lovely kitty toys. Balls, fuzzy things, a tunnel and all sorts of stuff a kitty should adore. But what does she choose for her favorite game?

A little plastic top off some bottle.

I realized she was fond of this so I put it where I could find it instead of throwing it out and this morning she found it herself on the kitchen counter. Soon she was rolling it around the floor and chasing it and just being so darn cute I had to grab the camera.

Now that Ramona has been with us for almost two years (April something was their gotcha day), we see what a lovely feline being we had been lucky to find on the internet. She is sweet, gracious to her brother even when he is being an idiot, loving and as these photos show, beautiful in her every gesture. And those sweet green eyes we were so fortunate to be able to save!

I love the way so many things she does reminds me of Fergus. Rolling the toy across the floor, the way her chin juts out when she is asleep, the way her ears go back and she looks like a little owl when she is listening to something behind her, the way her eyes look like a wise old oriental sage when she makes faces. She is far more agile than her brother, who is, as we know, a bit of a Pork Chop. It makes me feel like Fergie's playful, wild thing spirit is not far from me. I find that comforting.

Squirrel Street has just started on the Fur and Feather Channel. Ramona is entralled. Harper is asleep in his rocking chair by the woodstove.

Ramona Goes to the Vet....

2008-03-11T06:45:00.000-07:00

and is grateful afterwards. I didn''t know that she had fallen (probably from one of her leaps off the second tier of the cat tree), and had hurt her back. Ramona flies down the stairs here like a bird every morning and dashes up and down the cat trees. I think she enjoys doing things her heavier brother can't.

Our vet is also a chiropracter and acupuncturist and the reason we had come in was to attempt to heal Ramona's gums. They are still red from her kittenhood illness. When Dr. Kramer ran her hands along Miss R's back our girl hissed with pain. Acupuncture hurt her too, and then she relaxed.

I don't know how we had missed the signs of trouble. Cats hide pain very well, their instincts tell them they have to be strong and appear strong. But we're always petting Ramona and when she sits on my lap I run my hands along her back. But I guess it is a good idea to check out your cat's back with a harder massage.

Once we got home (I brought both cats after last time's excitement), Ramona walked around happy just to be back and then told me she was hungry. And then she stretched out her left leg in that beautiful ballet stretch. And then the other leg. I suddenly realized that for quite a while I had only seen her stretch out one side. Duh. Then she started kissing my legs and purring and purring.

I really think she understood what had happened. We went to vet, got needles stuck in, bones moved around and the pain was gone.

Ramona is a very smart little girl.

I had taken Harper too and he got a big hug from the vet and a check up (his gums are slightly red too). It was mostly so we could avoid having Ramona come home and smell different. Harper needs to smell her to know she''s his sister. Last time he thought we had brought a strange kitty girl home and lost his sister.

Then there was some serious washing up to do.

In time for their favorite show..

Turkey World.

as we all wait for three feet of ice to melt. Hey, the tomatoes are up in their flats, spring must be coming someday.

The Fur and Feather Channel

2008-03-02T11:00:00.000-08:00

With five feet of snow on the ground now there isn't much for the felines to do but wrassle, climb the cat trees and watch TV. Luckily a new show started on the F and F channel this morning. Turkey World is an in depth look at the lives of American Turkeys and it is now playing in a forest near you.

We woke to the sounds of Thunder Paws running up and down the stairs and then suddenly, slience. The TV show was on and the kits were glued to the screen. Means we get a little morning peace around here while everyone has cabin fever. Works for me.

I think Harper looks more like a Squillon every day, or is he just a real Pork Chop? We just got our Squillon and I will try to put him up. And if you don't believe me about the snow, looky here. I have the latest Warrior book and I am trying to read it very slowly so it will last. That way I can dream about being in the forest in greenleaf with Firestar and the rest of Thunder Clan while the world is white outside our windows.

Here's my new Squillon. Now I will see if I can get him in the sidebar without ruining my CSS.

We Interrupt This Broadcast

2008-02-27T12:46:00.000-08:00

To bring you a weather report from the Frozen North. Yes, that is looking out the back door and yes it is as high as it looks. I crawled out on top of it to refill the bird feeder, to happy chickedees singing around my head.

Snow today, snow yesterday and more snow coming your way soon.

Storm warnings for the mountains of northern New Hampshire.

Yeah yeah yeah. It was fun at first and it will still be fun but hey, it's kind of wild here at the moment. I came in to find Harper staring at the wall of snow at the back door. When I came over to see what was getting his fixed attention, I saw a tiny little white creature staring back. It was some kind of ermine, very small and pure white with black, intelligent eyes.

I guess we'll get spring someday. I hear there are crocuses blooming in Sweden after one of the warmest winters ever.

Tomorrow we'll be back to our regularly scheduled programming.

Winter Cats

2008-02-25T05:39:00.000-08:00

There hasn't been a whole lot to write about these last couple of weeks and I haven't wanted to waste your time with stories like "I forgot to clean Harper's bathroom and he reminded me by pooping on the rug exactly where I walk to the exercise bike in the morning."

We have all felt like we are living in an igloo. The snow is still piled high against the sun room windows and Olof got out there and shoveled so we'd get some sun. There is another storm projected for tomorrow and then one for Friday. Yet the basil plants on my windowsill are saying spring is here by suddenly starting to grow after doing nothing since December when I bought them. There is at least a month of great cross country skiing left and yesterday we did over 20 k. Today we are paying for it.

At two years old, the kittens have become wonderful cats, both sweet natured and loving. Harper can be a rascal, he insisted on wrassling his sister off the bed a few times early this morning. When I got up at 6:30 she just opened one eye and said "too early" and didn't get up with me. But by 8 am (after I finished reading the news and emails) she was ready for her morning Ritoiley when she runs downs the stairs before me proclaining "Yippe! It's a New Day!"

Harper yells at the bathroom door when he hears the water shut off, he wants to be brushed. He purrs and trills while I do every inch of him and gives me kisses. Sometimes Ramona comes in and hops in the sink for a touch up.

One of the nicest things about these two is they have not divided us up. They both love both of us. Sometimes Harper will run for Olof's lap no matter how I am trying to sweet talk him over and sometimes he runs for me and Ramona goes to Olof.

This is a couple named Cylde and Maia. They are at the shelter because their person died. Another reminder to all of us to be sure we have plans for our felines and canines if something happens to us. You don't see a lot of Meezers in the shelter so I really, really hope someone will come and take them as a pair. They are still unsure and shocked by their loss and clinging to each other.

Over at the Cat Blogoshpere I found the story of this guy, currently named Little Kit. He is at the Purrageous PIrates, somewhere on a sail boat.

The Purrageous Pirates hop over and send him some purrs.

And I said "ohmagosh, has Brendan been reborn? We always said he was a reincarnation of Saint Brendan the Navigator. It would be just like him to choose an ocean going life. Since Brendan was a Perfect Being, I don't know if he would choose to be reborn, but if he wanted to he certainly could manage it.

Vishus Squirrel

2008-02-14T07:39:00.000-08:00

Do you see that Brother?

I do, Sister.

We gots to get out of here and chasey him.

Yeah, vishus squirrel. I'd like to chomp on his toes.

Yeah, and bitey his fluffy tail.

Where'd he go?

Heard us talking.

Squirrels are winps.

Yeah. Wimps.

Ramona: This wall of snow stuff gets old pretty fast, if you ask me.

Sigh.

Be Careful What You Wish For

2008-02-13T08:06:00.000-08:00

Harper:
I never wished for snow. Never never never. It's you guys who are out sliding around the yard on long sticks acting like it's fun. I want my garden and I WANT IT NOW! I am tired of the Fur and Feather Channel. It's the same show with re runs. Make the snow go away. NOW!

Yes we are getting buried in the stuff so if you don't hear from us send every cat out with shovels. Caturday will be here somewhere. This is looking like a record year for snow in the White Mountains. We had a crew of younger people shoveling the roofs before the last two storms and they didn't look where they were pushing the snow so we won't be getting out the back door until spring. It set up like concrete.

Olof asked me why I didn't just go and shovel it out and then he tried it. You can see the top of the shovel sticking out of the snow. I will have to get out there and refill the bird feeder and probably move it higher up in the tree. Right now we just finished cleaning the driveway of about eight inches and now we are getting hail and rain on top of it. I will post some photos when the sky clears.

H and R race around the house like wild things and then sub dork somewhere under a pile of blankets. We have to be careful around any bedding that looks cat shaped. Their Super Twosday really wore them out, all the cats stopping by and then the Giant Purrade in New York. And all the news about Democats around the country was just too much for a couple of simple country cats, I think they slept for the next three days.

Thank you to all who sent cards and greeting. I need to catch up with my blog roll. It's wonderful to be part of the Cat Blogosphere. We sit here as the snow piles up around our igloo and keep up with the news from cats all around the world and feel like you are all our friends.

My seed order will arrive this week and spring will be on it's way. At least in our windows.

Super Twosday!

2008-02-05T04:27:00.001-08:00

It's Super Twosday! The snow is coming down and the trees are covered in white. Harper is here purring away. Ramona is always happy in the morning "Another Day!" she says as I walk down the stairs and she leaps, "How Wonderful!"

Above is the card we got from Thank you Anna for the lovely card

She does amazing art pieces with cats.

Thank you Jasper Jasper McKitten-Cat

Fat Eric has sent Purrday greetings! Hi Eric, remember going to the Cat Olympics? Brendan has a great time taking the kittens, they were so small then!

Thank you Beezer for the beautiful animated card! I wish I could post it here, I’ll see if I can manage something. Ramona breally liked the cute girl kitty.

Hi Cheysuli and Gemini We are part Meezer too, yanno (the best part). You can hear Harper is a Meezer, he is very speakative! And he has the crook in his tail.

And what would a Purrday be without Sammy and Miles You gotta have Meezers for a good time! Thank you guys for doing so much for the Catosphere.

And Derby You are such a handsome guy Ramona says she loves you and wants your picture to put up by her throne.

And hi and Thank you toMeeko and Kiara The Lone Star Purrs down there in Oklyhoma.

This is a linky to Beezers card

I am going to start listing all our thank yous but I'll put this card up right away! Anyone who wants to can teleport over for squirrel vision, The Bird Channel will be on soon and you can climb on the cat trees with Ramona. We'll put out some Fancy Feast and bowls of Evo and sprink fresh Nip on the scratchy board. So come over and say hi while I dig up baby photos of the Two.
I'll get to work on some linkys here.

That is one of my favorite kitten photos of Harper. Those thumbs are just too much, don't you think?

They still love each other, though we don't see much of this anymore, now they are Two.

Harper is Surprised...

2008-02-04T05:51:00.001-08:00

at all the attention his and Ramona's birthday is getting. Yes, Super Twosday is tomorrow and the kittens will officially be two years old. wow. I've shown them the map of the twenty four states that are participating in the celebrations and they are really impressed. At night when we are sitting in front of the Noisy Box they hear so much about their purrday they were getting a little nervous until we assured them it was going to be A Beautiful Normal Day, just the way they like it.

They are still kittens somehow, maybe it's because they have each other to play with. Last night we were trying to sleep while the games were going on. Some mornings I wake up early because there's a wrassling match happening on my feet.

I don't often let Prince Harper play Tiger with the blankets (that could lead to diasaster if someone left a toe out one night) but with winter still in progress and entertainment options limited to Inside and the Fur and Feather Channel (squirrel vision at the bird feeder), one day as I was making the bed I let him Let It All Out.

And Ramona came along to say "what are you doing?"

I have one lovely Purrday card to post tomorrow from Ann of Zoolatry.blogspot.com I wanted to get a cake of some sort but I am scheduled to spend two hours in the dentist's chair tomorrow and might not feel up to cake. Thank you to Fat Eric and the Meezers for already sending Purrday wishes. Anybody else who wishes to say hi, tomorrow is the Big Day and you are welcome to stop by for some Squirrel Vision.

Tom's Story

2008-01-26T05:38:00.001-08:00

If you have been reading Caturday for a while you will remember the shelter blog The Secondhand Dog and some of the characters there, Snickers, Bucky and Tom.

The first two have been adopted and live happily in loving homes. Bucky moved in with Ben, the mailman, and Snickers underwent a personality change when she finally found staff that respected her royalty.

Tom is a VVW, Veteran of Vehicle Wars, and he had lost a leg in the battle. He had survived but he was living in a shed in his family's back yard and sadly, no one seemed to understand what a kind, sweet fellow he was. They brought him to the shelter.

Tom found a job at the shelter working as Greeter, kind of like at Wal Mart. When you arrived and walked down the Dog Hall, Tom would come out to greet you and lift his head for a scritch and a kiss if he could get it. He could hop up and down the hall and spent a lot of time managing the Pantry. He and Bucky were good buds and could often be found shooting the breeze together.

I liked Tom quite a bit and would have loved to offer him a home. But this place has a lot of up and down and his movement would have been limited.

But then, as we say at Caturday, Every Cat Has His Day. A kind woman saw Tom's story on the web and knew he was meant for her. She arrived from hours away and took the old fellow home. He has a low couch of his own and a few housemates he is getting to know.

I will miss his friendly greeting but I am happy to think of him warm, cozy and well looked after in his elder years.

Bucky and Tom hanging out.

Spay Neuter Clinic

2008-01-21T07:03:00.000-08:00

One of the animal projects I have been working with is called the Rozzie May Animal Alliance and after posting yesterday's video clip I thought I would post the press release I sent out after the group held their second low cost spay neuter clinic. Above is a photo of Dr. Sara White of Spay ASAP of Vermont who brings her traveling MASH unit wherever she can to help lower the numbers of homeless animals. That photo was taken at the first clinic, held in a small fire station in Tamworth.

Janurary 4th, 2008 Chocorua, New Hampshire

How much of an impact can one devoted veterinarian have on pet overpopulation? Dr. Sara White of Vermont started her low cost, high volume, high quality spay neuter project in 2006. In that first, partial year, she altered 1,200 animals. For 2007 the number is over 4,000.

On Friday, January 4th, Dr. White’s traveling MASH unit set up at Runnell’s Hall in Chocoura. With the help of a crew of volunteer vet techs and assistants she altered 31 cats, 4 dogs and Clover, the rabbit.

The Hall was bright and clean and the mood calm, friendly and well organized. Each animal went through a pre-surgery check from Dr. White and volunteer vet tech Linda Warner from Lakes Region Humane Society. They received shots for rabies and distemper if needed, plus an inspection for ear mites and fleas. For many animals, this was their first visit to a vet. After surgery each dog spent time with a “recovery nurse” who watched, petted and talked to their charges as they awoke. Volunteers were treated to a lunch of home made soup, breads, cookies and brownies and tired shoulders received a massage from Gretchen Loeffler.

This was the second clinic for the Rozzie May Animal Alliance, a new organization based in Tamworth which is dedicated to easing the problem of homeless pets, especially cats, in our area. The clinic was filled within a few days of announcement with people bringing animals from Moultonboro to Berlin. The response was such that enough cats are lined up to fill another clinic.

The Rozzie May Animal Alliance is working towards building a dedicated clinic facility to offer low cost spay neuter services and an animal sanctuary. A one vet stationary clinic could alter at least 4,000 animals a year and lower the number of homeless pets entering shelters in a wide area of northern NH. For more information see the web site at www. rozziemay.org

Help Me!

2008-01-20T14:20:00.001-08:00

I got this from Susan at Wildrun and it is just too good not to pass on.

Ramona Says No

2008-01-19T13:08:00.001-08:00

Derby told us about the contest Hallmark was having for photos so Ramona and I checked it out.

Ok, so first prize is one thousand dollars and get this: an all expense paid trip to Kansas City with your pet for a shoot with a professional photographer. The value of the trip is four thousand dollars and you have to pay the taxes on your winnings. With capital gains being I think, 15 percent, that means you'd pay 750.00 on your prize money and trip. And Hallmark owns all the rights for ever and ever to your photo (and I'm sure the ones they get at the photo shoot). So you'd get 250.00 and a working trip to KC. And that means traveling on a plane with Ramona in a box. Hmmm. I don't think she'd go for that too much.

I guess it's suposed to be a big thrill but we'll pass.

I asked The Divine Miss R what she thought about the chance to have a career as a supermodel (we all know she'd win)

"Well, she said, It doesn't seem like a lot of money. How many boxes of Fancy Feast is that? And really, why would I want to go to Kansas City? Is it nice?"

We discussed it a bit more and decided that if Hallmark really wants her they can contact her agent and send a photographer here. Hanging around the Secret Garden in the summer and playing with Brother in the winter is much more fun. Miss Ramona is very family orientated, as you all know.

And, as the commercial tells us, this photo:

Priceless.

Ramona Poses and Reposes

2008-01-18T05:49:00.000-08:00

The snow is piling up here making the world white and peaceful. The cats find ways to entertain themselves and Ramona loves the cat tree in our room. Some mornings she hops up there and plays games by herself, chasing her tail, batting a few toys and getting to the third platform where her less graceful brother is not likely to reach her.

Sometimes I think she is angling for a modeling career.

And then of course, Brother shows up.

"Hey, Gimme that!"

Top Cat

2008-01-09T09:58:00.000-08:00

Marty has won the election and will be the new Top Cat at the Mount Washington Observatory. It looks like he will be making the long journey to the summit (by Snow Cat, no less) next Wednesday. I'll find some photos of the summit to let you see his new home.
Over eight thousand votes were cast and Marty took 53% of the vote.

He'd like to say thanks for your support and he looks foward to his new job from the home of the world's worst weather. Don't worry, the observatory is quite cozy inside and he will be very comfortable.

Vote!

2008-01-08T05:31:00.001-08:00

I live in New Hampshire so we are all out to the polls today. And here are the candidates and their platforms. Please give each a fair hearing and send your vote by comment or by email to ZulemeATZulemeDotCom.

The voiceover is Virginia of the Conway Area Humane Society.

And Who Will It Be?

2008-01-05T04:42:00.000-08:00

Job Description.

Be the Highest Cat in New England and for many miles around! Live in the cozy Mount Washington Observatory at 6,288 feet. Splendid Views! All the mice you can catch! 24/7 staff on call. Gourmet meals.

Must be super friendly and willing to give attention and comfort to feline starved humans. A good listener. A hearty purr is a plus. Experience not necessary. A modest attitude to fame will help the successful applicant.

Must have the wits not to go outside when the wind is strong enough for a feline to fly.

All benefits provided, health care and secure retirement.

Below are the top three contenders for this challenging job. Vote by comments!

Wilson. I am friendly, lively and will provide lots of entertainment for weather researchers. Eager to please! Personable and handsome.

Sarah. I am calm, kindhearted and love people. I would be a peaceful calming presence and I am adaptable. Eager for new experiences.

Marty. I am wise, benevolent and charming and greet all humans with a purr. I have been at the shelter for quite a while so I am experienced with many different humans and the bustle of a lively environment.

Kitten Therapy

2008-01-04T12:18:00.001-08:00

I was feeling kind of low after a few days of a vishus cold and I stopped by the shelter to take a few photos. I saw this little guy just wanting to play so I stepped inside the kitten room for a few minutes.

The kittens got real happy to have company and they climbed all over me and ran around and wrassled and showed off how unbearably cute they are.

This lilttle rascal wanted to be on my shoulder or clinging to my back.

After about ten minutes my spirits had brightened considerably and I went on my way. These guys all have adoptions filed on them. I heartily recommend a little kitten therapy for anyone needing a lift on a cold winter day. Just stop into your local shelter. Bring some food or whatever is on their needs list. There's usually adults cats who can use some cuddling too.

Today I just got back from the spay/neuter clinic. I did my duty as media person, taking photos and making notes. Then I got to be a Canine Recovery Nurse. When I left, all four dogs were on their way out, felines were awake and waiting for their people and the rest of the felines were anxiously waiting their turn with Dr. White of Spay ASAP.

The two clinics held up here have so far totaled about 100 cats that will not be having litters next spring. That should lower the burden on area shelters when kitten season comes around. I'll post some clinic photos tomorrow.

Winter Pace

2008-01-03T07:54:00.000-08:00

We have received over four feet of snow here. It has set a record as, I think, the third snowiest December in 40 years. Or something like that. I haven't been out skiing once even though the conditions are excellent. Over Christmas we helped Olof's folks move and then Olof came down with a cold and then I got it. Still have it so feeling not at all like my usual self. And I have some kind of repetitive stress injury to my left wrist which I'm not sure is going to handle gripping a ski pole. As soon as the cold leaves me feeling normal, I will get out and see.

Winter in New England, especially this far north, can be quite harsh. It's also beautiful, but if you don't get outside cabin fever will set in. Ramona has been known to spend cold mornings playing with her tail on the kitty tree. The two of them will play a furious game of hide and seek and I have seen a few brother sister spats. They have given up on wanting to go outside, even onto the porch. There's four feet of snow outside the back door anyway.

Evening finds the family curled up in front of the noisy box, looking for a good movie. Ramona likes anything with a lot of hacking and hewing, she really enjoyed 300.

Tomorrow is the low cost spay neuter clinic where I will be taking photos. I might go down to the shelter today and catch up on cat photos. Nin, the observatory cat, is retiring and there are a few candidates aiming for the spot of Top Cat (the summit observatory is at 6,220 feet or so). Applicants must be friendly and smart enough not to sneak out into a hundred mile an hour wind. Benefits include well trained staff, good meals and a great view. And all the mice you can catch.

Mr. Chin

2007-12-23T09:01:00.000-08:00

I have begun helping another rescue operation and a new group that is running low cost spay neuter clinics and planning on building a sanctuary. The sanctuary plan is very exciting and I will tell you more about it as it progresses. You may go to the site on the top left of the blog for more about The Rozzie May Animal Alliance. And if you are interested in supporting a new sanctuary, you may contact them through the site. I can vouch for the fact that the folks running it are quite capable of doing what they say they will do, so I am looking forward to being part of the project.

I will add the rescue group's site to my links as soon as I have done the work on it.

About this fellow whose charming photo is featured here. This is the wonderful Mr. Chin. He is a rescue dog in search of the human who will love him. As you can see, he is a major personality. I have so far found that taking photos of cats is a cinch and dogs were difficult. But now I am going to have more dog photos to do. Mr. Chin has given me my first really good dog portrait. He sat for it, as you can see.

If you are interested in meeting Mr. Chin, drop me a line and I will put you in contact with the rescue group. It's zuleme AT zuleme Dot com

Working Class Cats

2007-12-22T05:10:00.001-08:00

The New York Times has a neat story today on working cats abd how valuable they are for keeping rodents down. Since it is now free on line, hop over there and check it out.

Here in the Frozen North we have our own famous working cat. His name is Nin and he works on top of Mount Washington, at the Observatory. Nin is pretty famous around here and you can get a coffee mug with his photo on it. See the Oberservatory's web site at www.mountwashington.org for more on Nin. Olof and I have done a lot of work for them including exhibits at their Discovery Center and videos. Olof has been up there shooting in the winter when the wind was so strong he needed help holding the camera down.

And there is a cool website called workingclasscats.com If you have any working cat stories to tell.

Adopted!

2007-12-21T06:56:00.000-08:00

Yup, she has been adopted! I thought she would go quickly, especially since she had become comfortable with being at the shelter and she was connecting with people who were paying attention to her.

The shelter will do a follow up call in two weeks. But she is such a sweet girl I don't think there will be any problems.

I am glad she has gone to a good home and is not out wandering in the snow. Next time I go in for photos I will ask who adopted her.

I will add her to my list of the ones I wish I could have had. But it is better for her to be with someone else. We are doing well as a brother sister team right now.

Little White Kitty Girl Update

2007-12-18T07:08:00.000-08:00

I stopped by the shelter and took a few cat photos yesterday. Little White Kitty Girl is doing quite well. She looked calm and cozy in her two room condo. She had adjusted to the sounds and smells of the shelter and came up to greet me. She is very sweet and they say there is a nice woman interested in adopting her. I am sure she will be adopted soon, she is such a pretty girl with a sweet nature. I was glad to see how calm and content she looked. She does have a slight cold at the moment so I hope she will be adopted soon. I didn't hug her because of the cold but I felt like she was quite comfortable while she waits for that special person who will love her.

Ramona in Motion

2007-12-12T14:21:00.000-08:00

Yes, somebody caught the mouse. There wasn't much left of it when Olof found it. Did you know that the food highest in taurine (which cats need) is mouse?
It is good to know we have a ready supply of cat food if the world runs out of Fancy Feast. Just set up a little mouse farm. Each night now as soon as we turn off the lights, herself goes to work to rid the den of rodents. I appreciate her efforts.

I think she is the better hunter, but I guess it could be Harper.

Most of the time Queen Ramona is elegant and poised. But sometimes she gets a little flirty when she wants a belly rub or a cuddle.

The wind is whipping around here tonight. It will be a cuddly cat under the blanket night here in the Frozen North.

Ruckus

2007-12-06T05:07:00.000-08:00

I awoke around 5 AM to the sound of angry voices. Feline voices. Ramona was growling. I knew what she was saying.

"I have the mouse, it's my mouse. I am Tiger GUUURRRRRLLL and it is MY MOUSE."

Harper was pissed. But Ramona was determined to hold on to that mouse.

I fell asleep again and woke at 6 AM to floofy tails and Harper doing the Long John thing. You know, he is really pissed off now.

"Oh Long John, oh oh oh wrorw wrow wrow"

Ramona was under the bed.

When I got up I pieced the story together from what they told me.

There was a mouse. Ramona caught it and Harper said it was his since he heard it first. Ramona was not going to let him have it. Then she lost it and Harper was really upset because he didn't get it at all.

Down in the kitchen I saw Harper on mouse duty.

"It''s here and I am GOING TO GET IT""

Then I heard the mouse's side of things. Imagine this two octaves up.

"You HUGE MONSTER OUT THERE! GO AWAY! I am a FIERCE WARRIOR MOUSE and I will GET YOU!"

At this time, a little past 8 AM, they appear to have made up and are teaming up.

That mouse doesn't have a chance if he sticks his nose out.

Harper Behaving Badly

2007-12-05T08:26:00.000-08:00

This happened Monday night and Harper has not been happy about it.

"I am very concerned about this white stuff all over my Outside."

"So why the heck don't you fix it! Fix it for me! I wanna go OUT! Now!!"

"Please? Fix it so I can go out?"

"OK, then if you won't fix it, let me play with the clicky thing."

"Sigh."

You may think that my cats are always perfectly behaved and I know everything this is to know about feline behavior.

Haha.

Monday morning while we were watching (but he was quick about it) Mr. H walked into the kitchen and took a big stinky POOP on the kitchen rug. The litter box being an uncomfortable foot and a half away.

I quickly went and put some baking soda kitty litter on it and whaddya know, the dainty Miss R came along and said "oh, new bathroom? How conveinent!" and she peed a dainty little pee on top of the mess.

This happened once when we were away overnight and my neighbor who was looking in on them informed me she was leaving it for me as cleaning up kitty poop was beyond the call of neighborly duty. At that time I figured they were stressed out by our absence.

But this one has really got me puzzled.

Harper will also invade the Queen's boudoir for a wrassle every evening around 9 PM. I guess he gets lonely. She puts up with it and we know she can lick his butt if she wants to. He also will hop on the bed when she is peacefully sleeping and start doing competitive licking which escalates to wrassling. So I woke around 4 AM to a commotion on my belly.

So as they grow and their personalities develop we can see that Harper is going to be the Big Lug and Ramona is going to be the Peacemaker. Harper always wants to play more and Ramona likes to cuddle up and contemplate the world.

A couple of kittens would keep him on his toes, dontcha think?

Cats Sleep Anywhere

2007-12-01T06:52:00.000-08:00

They run around like the wild things they are, up and down the cat trees, through the alley behind the stairs, tearing up the rugs and hopping up and down on the bed. Then a switch goes off and perfect repose happens. It is about 16 degrees out and the wind is howling as winter circles around to slap us hard and make us think we only imagined the too hot days of summer picking an endless harvest of tomatoes. We'll all be dreaming by our winter fires soon as the apartment next door will be finished today complete with a gas fireplace for the elders, done up in stone. Uncle Sid should appreciate it too, as he is getting on seven.

The Harpster does this unbearably cute move where he reaches his paws out and then crosses them over his head as he stretches luxuriously.

Ramona curls up into a perfect zen circle on one of her favorite spots. The first photo I took didn't happen when the camera battery died, so this time, when I came back, she is well aware that I am pointing the clicky thing at her.

But she doesn't mind. It is to be expected that I need to take many photos of her royal beauty.

And this of course, as long time Caturday readers will remember, is Fergus the Beloved at about eight weeks old, sleeping in the tiny basket I carried him around in because he couldn't bear to be left alone. I adored the way his lower jaw would jut out as he slept, giving hin a charming profile, like a wise oriental sage.