Harper Talks

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

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

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

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

Dancer gets a Prezzie

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

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

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!

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

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

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

"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

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

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

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

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

"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

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

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.