Saturday, August 17,2013

Hooray!! Winston and Truman went to their forever home yesterday. I remember going to Colorado Springs with Tanessa, Madisyn, and newborn Gabriella to get them along with the other 26 kitties we helped. These 26 were out of the 160+ that were being housed by a woman that was overwhelmed with these kitties. Several rescues showed up to help. Together we were able to take all of them. Almost Home made it a policy that we would only adopt them out in pairs. The reasoning behind this was they had been together for many years. It was hard enough to split them up from the colony. We have had awesome reviews on how well they are doing in their new homes. We only have a few pairs left. It is beyond words how I feel about helping hoarding situations. As I have said many times it is a silent torture for all the hoarded ones we don’t know about. Once they are exposed the cats are usually so scared and unsocial the municipal shelters kill them. It usually takes years of rehabilitation. But these kitties are the lucky ones!!  Oh how we love the Colorado Springs kitties. They are true survivors!

Recently, Almost Home received a huge donation of litter. We filled up the space at the rescue and then we needed a storage unit to store the rest. I found one nearby that is letting a use a space for a small fee but in October I will need to move it. Does anyone have space or know of someone that can help? It is the clear looking litter in a jug. I hear it’s very expensive. The cats are getting used to it; some are not quite so sure about it. I have told them to please use it, it’s like they get to urinate and defecate (pee and poop) in gold. I think they would prefer dirt!!

A sincere thank you:

Dr Elsey’s - litter

Jennifer

David and Mary

Tammy

Micheal

Barb - 3 cases of Friskies

Numerous others that donated food today

It is that time of the year when the cats really need brushed. We are helping an outdoor strayfer (stray/feral) kitty get a shave on Tuesday. He is a mess. It hurts them went they get this matted. He is going to feel like a new kitty!

Sam moved to a suite today! He loves his belly rubs. We took in a 6 month old kitten that had been wandering around a neighborhood for a week or so. We named him Scooby. He tested fine and got his vaccine. Once he is neutered he can join the rest in the kitten room.

More adoptions! Amelia, Baby Bear, Rory, Whiskers, Harrison, Phantom, Apollo and our twins, Jessica and Jordon. These two were stars on the wheel. They had the most fun I think ever on the wheel. I’m sure they will miss it but in exchange they have their very own laps to sleep in.  I tuned in to the kitty cam http://ustre.am/REUt and they are not there running on the wheel. Although this makes me sad I’m very happy forever homes were found for all of you!

Volunteer and foster orientation this Sunday, Aug. 18^th  at noon at our rescue. More details at www.AlmostHomeAdoptions.com See you there!

Kindness to Critters Always,

Kathleen

Rocky (our CH kitty) and Sarah snuggling together

Wednesday, August 14, 2013

More kitten adoptions yesterday and today!  I always remember how very blessed we are to be able to help these kitties. There are many more rescues for animals now than back in 2004 when Almost Home was founded. Very few of these rescues are fortunate enough to have a wonderful adoption center / sanctuary like ours. I am reminded everyday how awesome Almost Home is when I see the “regulars” like Munch. Munch is always one of the first to greet me when I walk in. He makes sure he gets his daily loves. 

I looked in on the kitten room and it was crazy! Two were running in circles around the tunnel while five little ones were running through the tunnel. Then three more joined in by jumping on the tunnel trying to get the five running through it. Wow, it was making me dizzy. While this was going on four all black kitties were sound asleep in front of the wheel and two kittens were taking turns jumping on the wheel and running their legs off! You can watch all this too by tuning in to the webcam at http://ustre.am/REUt. Be prepared to laugh a lot!

Goldie has the sneezes pretty bad again so back on her medication she goes. We are not giving up on finding her a forever home for what ever time she has left. Until then she will be cared for and given as much love as we have to give! Tanessa makes sure this happens.

I have been working on a new logo for Almost Home and I think it is just about ready. We will have T-shirts and different merchandise with the new logo soon.  I think we will try to have some of your favorite resident kitties on the merchandise too. How about Rocky, Bashful, or Gracie girl?

A mom and 7 newborn kittens were brought in last week. We are calling them the Dalmatian babies. Guess why! One little girl only weighed 2.9 ounces. Erica, the foster mom says she is 4.7 ounces today. Yeah!! Thank you, Erica, for helping with these kitties and for helping at the rescue almost everyday lately. I can’t wait to hear their names. I’ll share as soon as I know.

Most of you know we operate solely on the kindness of private donations. It is very important to me to recognize these generous folks. So another avenue this blog will be used for is to thank our donors. I will try real hard not to forget anyone but if I do please fell free to let me know so I can include thanking you.

Many thanks to:

James and Dora

Melanie

Ruth

Sandra

Marjorie

Larry

Jennifer

Barbara

Marlene

Denise

James

Suzanne- adopted Tex 2 years ago

Pamela

Cynthia- Diego and Sasha

Ernie

Elisa and Betty- in memory of Michelle

Bernadette

Nancy
Becky
Kathy

Don’t forget about our Caturday Boutique Sale, Saturday August 24th, starting at noon. We have lots of really nice gifts for great prices and all the proceeds all go to the kitties!

Kindness to Critters Always,

Kathleen




Sweet Mom and Dalmation Babies

Monday, August 12, 2013

Even though the rescue is closed on Monday's our kitties still get the love and attention they need from our volunteer, Eric. He also goes in on Thursday morning when we are closed to freshen up the messes from the all night partying our kitties do every night. Little rascals just wait for us to leave then it is party, party, party. Thank you Eric for all your help!

Tanessa took Taylor early this morning to get a much needed dental. He has been having trouble swallowing lately and we hope this dental will help him. His sister Swift is next as she has also developed some respiratory problems that could very well be related to her needing a dental too. We hope they both feel much better real soon. As many of you know we have several kitties that are residents at Almost Home. Most of them came from different hoarding situations. And unfortunately, most of them need dentals. They all had such poor nutrition and because of the inbreeding this is often the result, very bad teeth and gums that can lead to kidney disease and a painful mouth. This is a luxury for a rescue cat to have this done because of the cost. We rate them on a scale of 1-5. Five being the worst and then when you, our wonderful supporters send an extra donation just for a dental we are quick to get the next kitty in to the vet. So thank you so much for helping these sweeties.

I will be blogging several times a week to help our followers get to know more about Almost Home and keep you informed on what happens daily. I think it will be a fun way to review the day with you and let you in on how this rescue work works. I will try to keep this a positive experience, however, I want you to know not only the joy about working with the kitties but also the not so happy times we face. I think this is important. For one reason we need to honor all the kitties we are helping here and another reason is to have you put the positive energy out there for all of us at Almost Home to continue this work even through the bad times. We need that and then we pass it on to our kitties!

Because we are a family here,( not only through blood but through friendships), you will hear silly things, stories about volunteers, adoptions, family, etc. but mostly I want you to get to know the kitties. I will be referring you to a kitty guide site that will have all our permanent and semi-permanent kitties on that site so you can see a picture of the kitty I may be talking about. This blog will also let you know the outcome of a sick or injured kitty in our care. I'm always asked by the volunteers about kitties we help and if you come to help us once a week I may forget to let you know so I really think this will help. I will probably write after our day is over at the rescue and I have settled in before I go to sleep. This is often pretty late so please forgive my improper grammar,spelling, etc. Remember this is just for fun!

Yesterday a very special boy, Cooper, was adopted to a nice family. He was always the bigger kitten in his litter and a very handsome black tabby. He is a little shy especially with all the commotion that goes on when we are open so he kinda slipped under the radar. Before we knew it he was approaching a year old. He still looked like an over-sized kitten. We love you Cooper and wish you the very best with your new family. It is always bitter sweet to see the kitties that have been with us for awhile leave.

There were also kitten adoptions. Wow!!, do we have kittens. Every year Tanessa has to remind me we are always overflowing this time of year. Please spread the word!!!

Sam, the adult male cat that was surrendered and needed a tail amputation last week is healing nicely. I'm so happy we were able to help him with such a horrific injury. I will let you know when he will be able to join the others in the community and is ready for a loving home.

Celeste, a volunteer foster mom brought her brand new newborn baby boy, Kruz, to see us. He is adorable!! She fostered kittens all through her pregnancy. Thank you Celeste for sharing your special little one with us.

A reminder to tune in to our kitty webcam. This is an anytime,anywhere way to watch the cats and kittens waiting for their forever home. I will soon be posting a schedule of events that take place daily on the cam so you don't miss anything. Let us know by chatting with each other and us if you want us to show you a kitty or talk to you about anything at Almost Home. An easy way to find the streaming is from our website almosthomeadoptions.com, scroll down until you see the button to click on or it is also found at http://ustre.am/REUt.
 As always we had to turn away several adult cats last week. If you know anyone that needs help spaying or neutering their cat, PLEASE help them if you can. It breaks our hearts when we can't help because we know the probable outcome when they are taken to the municipal shelters.

I am surrounded by all my napping cats. Wish I could join them.

Smiles and Kindness to Critters Always,

Kathleen
                                          
                                         


Get Well, Sam!