Home Zookeeper

While most of us will be celebrating this 4th of July with BBQs, hotdogs, fireworks, and a cold drink or two…animals at our local shelter will be facing off with the clock. Don’t wait until after the holiday if you have plans to adopt.

Go visit today or tomorrow and bring a new family member home.

Herd County animal shelter in Georgia has the most beautiful little Siamese kitty. I wish I could bring her home! Trooper would enjoy her as a snack. She would make a wonderful companion, as would the other sweet kitties and doggies in danger of being put down this Friday.

And Saving Shelter Pets needs your help!!! They have 52 - FIFTY TWO - puppies to rescue and transport. That is a lot of sweet, adorable, and adoptable puppies to save.

Look at that face!!! My heart melts. If you can spare it, please make a special Puppy Promises donation. I donated $25 yesterday and wish it could be $2,500! So far, most of the sales from my Etsy shop have gone directly to SSP. Don’t tell my hubby!

Thank you Hounds Good for your hard work to find these animals homes or rescue. You have inspired me so much in the last few months and I put in my application yesterday to be a foster mom. =) I’m nervous but excited and hope that I can make a difference and save lives! The minute I get approved I am going to start blogging about our experience.

Oh and I’ll also be asking for help and advice!!! =D LOL You can be sure of that.

I talk a lot about dogs here but I have a secret…I used to be terrified of dogs! I grew up with cats.

My mom tells a story about my dad, who did not want a pet, coming home and tossing a new kitten on the table and saying “here.” What a sweetie. LoL But I of course was in heaven. I’ve always loved cats. My mom brought one home once from the grocery store where someone was giving them away. I named him Izzy and he’s still alive 18 years later…though last I saw of him he was looking pretty ragged. Once I moved out he became an outdoor cat (much to my dismay) and the neighborhood Tom cat. He was a tough kid.

We had several other cats as I grew up but they didn’t survive long. One disappeared and mom told us that he probably crawled away and died…but who knows if another animal got him.

And of course my favorite kitty in the whole wide world was Sherbert. I was volunteering at the pound and he jumped from his cage onto my leg and it was instant love. He was the cutest little kitten and full of spunk. Of course my other two cats hated him but he grew up to be the boss. He had long orange hair and even won an award at a cat show as a kitten (though we didn’t make it a career…two shows was enough for us). Sadly, my sweet Sherbert snuck out of the house one night - he was too smart for his own good. He never came home. We found some fur and that’s it. I walked the neighborhood for hours and passed out fliers. I was desperate and sobbing.

I mention this just to show that I’m not all about the dogs…well, I am now, but I haven’t always.

So when I see kitties in need I get that longing to adopt again…though with our current Zoo it isn’t a good idea unless that cat is a Puma. =D I think Sherbert would have put Trooper in his place but Mischief and Jazmyn were too passive. They’re enjoying themselves at their grandma’s new home.

Then I found this amazing Home for cats and my heart just soared! An entire home just for kitties!!! I wish every unwanted kitty could live in their own home in peace and comfort. Old cats, sick cats, feral cats - cats that people don’t want or can’t take care of can live their lives.

If you’d like to donate to Caroline’s Kids your donation is tax deductible. They have some amazing expenses - they go through 2,400 pounds of liter a month!!!! WOW!

I wish I could do something amazing like this. My dream is to have a special farm where unwanted doggies can be safe and happy. Maybe one day.

I get so sad when I think about puppies or kitties being put down just because there isn’t enough room at the shelter. Like not enough room at the inn. It’s just so sad. There’s even a 5 month old puppy at risk if not adopted by Friday.

Kittens should never be euthanized. And they have SEVEN litters! SEVEN!!! Wow. Kitty season is definitely in swing.

If you can help please contact Houndsgood or directly to Heard County Shelter:

Heard County Animal Control Center
11818 Ga Hwy 100
Franklin, GA 30217
Phone: 706-675-3570

They are willing to work with out of town rescues. If I could take them all I could!

We now only have one cat since we haven’t seen Calisto for a week, so it’s likely it was her that got hit by a car. Anyway, Fade has bee adjusting to be the only pet. She is not the only cat as we have two neighborhood cats as well as my mom’s cat that are always around somewhere. But for the most part, Fade stays on the porch or under my truck.

She does seem to be more playful with us. She has started following us around when we walk around the yard and pouncing on make believe opponents. Well maybe some aren’t make believe but are much smaller than she is.

I had mentioned to my husband about the idea of bringing Fade back into the house. I don’t think he’s on board with that idea, but I hate to think of her bored outside and alone. I’ve been trying to spend more time with her and do more things with her. But with cats there is only so much they are interested in doing like eating and napping.

I did brush her hair and she seemed to enjoy that. She really needs a bath but I don’t think she will think of that as quality time.

I’m sad to report that it appears our calico, Calisto, was killed this weekend. She might have been run over. I say ‘might’ because my dad saw a calico that had been killed close to our house. When I went to check on it, the cat wasn’t there. So someone must have taken care of her. So, I’m not 100% sure it was her. She has gotten to be quite the roamer, so, even though she has been missing for a few days, she may show up.

It breaks my heart that my two-year-old still calls for her. It’s hard to explain that she might not be coming back. I’m a little sad because she was a good cat and hate to think that she is gone.

This is the face that greets me each morning when I leave the house. When she hears the door open, she bounces onto the porch and lands next to the empty food bowl. This is why I keep the cat food close to the door.

It’s amazing. In the morning, Fade is the only cat that comes to eat. Calisto usually eats at lunch. Then at supper they are both ready to eat.

It is interesting that they have their own different eating habits. I have to have breakfast but my husband doesn’t care for it. It looks like one cat takes after me while the other takes after my husband.

Usually we feed our cats just enough to keep them satisfied since there are several neighborhood cats who will gladly finish off their food for them. They have been eating less this past week since the weather has been warmer. Fade is always ready to eat, though, which explains why she is always ready to start the day with food.

I love taking photos of the cats. Usually I don’t get very good shots since cats do what they want, when they want. That means that the perfect shot will be gone in a blink of an eye. I was able to take a few of Calisto this past week that I thought turned out pretty good.

I was taking pictures of shadows as part of a weekly assigning for a digital photography forum. I didn’t take any I wanted to submit but wanted to share this one. Usually if Calisto is just sitting somewhere, she will come to me especially if I’m still for longer than two seconds. But surprise. She actually stayed seated for a minute or so, allowing me to snap a few pictures of her.

It’s nearly impossible to pose the cats, so I just have to work around however she is seated. Luckily with Calisto, she will follow me when I’m in the yard, so I can get her to come and be in the general area where I want her to be. For this shot, I just needed her out of the shadows and in the sunlight. I also didn’t want the house or anything else in the picture.

It is seldom I get such a good pose from either one of our cats. It’s fun to take their pictures especially when they are cooperative about the whole process.

My Mom’s cat is female and never has had a name. She’s always been called cat or something else that isn’t suitable to post here. My Mom has had her for years but just never thought of her a name. Sometimes naming a cat is futile anyway since my cats never answer to their name but to “kitty kitty.”

My Mom’s cat is gray and so is the male cat in Caillou, a cartoon about a four-year-old and his family. My two-year-old has made the connection and now calls my Mom’s cat “Gilbert,” since that is the name of the cat on the cartoon.
I love this age and seeing her put things together. So, now my Mom’s female cat has the name “Gilbert.” She still doesn’t respond to it, though.

I just posted a few days ago how I never share those forwarded emails as I posted a heart warming dog story I had read on a forum I visit. Well my husband sent me the following, which I find too funny not to share. Reading the cat’s diary I can’t help but to think Stewie from Family Guy. Cat owners, or should I say those who have cats at their house since cats seldom act like they belong to somebody, will find this quite amusing.

Excerpts from a Dog’s Diary:

8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!
9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!
9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!
10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted ! My favorite thing!
12:00 pm - Lunch! My favorite thing!
1:00 pm - Played in the yard, My favorite thing!
3:00 pm - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!
5:00 pm - Milk bones! My favorite thing!
7:00 pm - Got to eat popcorn! My favorite thing!
8:00 pm - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!
11:00 pm - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

Excerpts from a Cat’s Diary

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That small chance of snow accumulated to a few inches falling this morning. Our cats are freaking out and are not sure what to think of it since this is their first snow.

Calisto bolted into the house this morning. I let her eat inside since placing her food in its normal place didn’t entice her enough to go back outside.

I did put her back outside and she quickly ran under the truck. My truck is their refuge from everything as they like to climb in the wheel well. Soon the snow will be gone, so our cats won’t have to deal with this strange white stuff for very long.

Ok, maybe the picture doesn’t truly capture the intense moments as my Mom’s cat(gray) sits on our porch much to Fade’s displeasure. The standoff didn’t last for very long as my Mom’s cat hopped down off the porch. Fade did growl a lot. At least she is defending her spot. My cats are going to have to “step it up” and defend their territory as it is getting old feeding all the cats in a 20 mile radius.

Brr…it’s been really cold at times this January. While there are plenty of spots for our cats to hang out and take shelter from the cold weather, my husband has made them their own house. Take a look.

It’s an altered storage box. My husband cut out an opening on the side. He then took some old bedding and cut it down to make the door and bedding for inside. He then took some screws and attached the door. I’m not sure the cats have actually used it. I doubt that Fade can even fit through the door!

Now all we need is a light to place inside. Well, we might need a bigger box since both cats have been putting on the pounds this winter.