Here are three of the calendar pages. Also should anyone be interested there is room for ads on this calendar for $50.00. The ad is one inch high and 5 inches wide (just saying) *G*

Our September kitty Molly, we have decided to make her a resident here at the house and not search for any more homes for her. She sleeps with us nightly, grabs my lap whenever I have one available and follows me around the house like a shadow.  I am not a fan of keeping cats- but she has been out on 4 failed adoptions and enough trauma to last her all her 9 lives. She is officially a core kitty here at the Miller’s Outpost. 🙂

Yay it worked!

I am still a bit shocked that all this has come together, but the planets have aligned and God has smiled and CATS Inc., is about to embark on their latest fundraiser a 2017 Rescue Calendar. This came about in such a way that only one word covers it: miracle. A fellow cat lover has given freely of his time and considerable talent to take the photos that exist of the cats and kittens in our care and turn it into a lovely calendar. Some of the photos are before/after driving home what we are really about but the calendar is rustic and charming at the same time.

One of my past adopters, her and her husband are donating the money to purchase 200 of these calendars and we have secured a spot at a table at the upcoming Jamboree and with some local merchants to sell these around town. I will try to post a photo of one of the calendars months so you can at least see what I am trying to explain. I am still shaking my head in disbelief that this not only came together but there are local merchants interested enough in the project to buy an ad!

Today, Sydney went to live with a goat rancher on 102 acres and Slade has been moved into the gazebo enclosure. I think he will like it so much better as he has more room to roam around there. George put a screen door on it this morning for him so he can catch more air on good days. Slade is talking to me a lot more than he used to but still, he is only eating baby food. He has to have both his canines removed and the funding isn’t there at the moment. Sydney will spend about 3 weeks in a barn stall that has been closed off with pet screen and then she will become a barn kitty. Her bite quarantine is long over, but she just doesn’t wish to socialize with people at all. She is good with other cats and Louise has 4 other barn cats so all should be well.

This morning when I dared to touch Beetle and say good morning, she tolerated being petted for about a half a second and then nailed me good. She bit down into my thumb bed- can you say ouch? It is throbbing but I just took some aspirin and will watch it close for infection. It didn’t hurt when it happened- wish I could say the same now.

I took Juno to puppy class- I think the photo says it all LOL. The trainers were encouraging and told me they don’t see high aggression with her- just high energy. I felt like I owed the other moms in the group a steak dinner because she just wouldn’t let up! Thank God she doesn’t play with the cats this way! We start puppy obedience class on Monday and I will follow the trainers advice and only put her with dominant balanced dogs that I know. I am afraid at the dog park she would get hurt because she has no idea how to be a dog when she meets other dogs. She goes for the ears, front legs and mouth- she is supposed to smell the other end! She is now 4 months old and 30 pounds. This golden boy let her just chew him wherever she wanted and when she did finally stop and go lay down. He walked over and bit her in the head (not hard) and it was on again…sigh…high energy indeed!

She did get spayed this morning and I was right she was pregnant. She isn’t any longer and although I am sad for the loss of life, I know it was the right call to make. She is far to young to have kittens and from what I learned, she has already had a litter where all 5 died. She had eight this time.

Here she was last night  before I put her in the carrier- I can just see her saying: “You ain’t getting me in there lady!” But I did. 🙂

Also, Cagney has finally found a new adoptive home and is doing great being the only kitty there!

Earlier today, I received a call from a really nice man who had just lost his older cat last week. He was looking for two kittens-females but they couldn’t be orange because that was the color of his cat who had just died. He was on the phone with me for quite awhile. He was quite charming and talkative and it turned out he only lives 25 minutes from our place (driving time). When I told him that I had two female kittens 8 months old and they weren’t orange- one black and one tortie, he got so excited and asked me to please bring them up so I could see the house and meet the family.

I was so happy that someone would adopt a black kitty (Ashley) and our lovely Molly girl. I scooped both kitties up and off we went.

It was a beautiful, modest ranch home on a few acres out in a rural area. The dad and his son met me at the truck and helped to carry in the carriers for me. We went into a small utility room and I let both the kittens out to meet and greet. Ashley slid under a small organizer, but Molly hopped right up on the man’s lap and did her charming “will you adopt me” bit. She was selling it for all she was worth. The son had made friends with Ashley and we were just talking about the cats and their history., when the mom came into the room to join us.

She looked around and spotted the cats and said “What are you doing? I told you I wanted a kitten.” No one said anything to her, so I said, “they are kittens.” to which she replied, “no they are NOT!” I want a kitten. No one replied and so I said, “Do you mind if I ask you why you want a kitten?” She said “Because I want one. I am entitled to want one, so if I want one, I want one.” Her voice was going in the mid-hysteria range at the time.

Her son and husband finally spoke up and expressed how much they wanted both of these kittens, and I  tried to explain that they are kittens until they reach three years old, then they are considered teenagers, at five they are adults and seven they enter the senior range. But she wants a kitten.  I told them that I don’t adopt any kitten until they are neutered and they get neutered at 2 months old. The look she gave me when I said that brought one word to my mind- withering.

I gathered up the girls put them back in their carriers, thanked the man for his time. The son helped to carry the cats back to the truck apologizing for his mom and saying he didn’t understand why she wanted a baby kitten.

I don’t know why she wants a baby kitten, but what I do know, even though the son and the husband asked me to call them if I do get young kittens in- she won’t get a baby kitten from me even after the neuter. She was quite abrupt and abrasive in her comments and it was crystal clear to me who wears the pants in that family. I would not feel comfortable knowing we had left a kitten of any age with her in the house.

Ash and Molly are asleep at my feet at the moment and I know there is another home for them, one better suited for their needs.

Kitten season started two months earlier this year and today we got in a young black female who is very pregnant. The gentleman and his wife told me that they saw at least 19 tomcats going after this girl!  So she is safe and will be spayed next week (hopefully). She needs a name though- right now she is BC13 as she is our 13th black cat here at the sanctuary. She is not feral but she is skittish and shy and growls and curses at me. She has spent to much time in a professional trap that smelled highly of skunk so a bath will be in order tomorrow. A bath in Nature’s Remedy will kill her odor quickly.

I was getting a bit worried because as of a few hours ago, Slade had not eaten anything at all since his captivity. So I took some chicken baby food and nuked it for a few seconds to bring out the flavors and lo and behold- he ate it! I am so glad and if I have to supply him with baby food for a few days until he decompresses- so be it. I can handle him with thick gloves on. He hisses and swears at me but doesn’t try to bite. After dealing with Twirl. he is a breath of fresh air.

Also, I recently signed up for the Fresh Step Paw Points Program. If you buy this product either online or at your local store and go to their website and want to donate the points to CATS Inc., our shelter code is SHELTERBONUS914  Once enough points are accumulated, we can turn them into kitty products that typically never get donated- kitty beds, kitty toys etc..

Here he is decompressing from being three days in a trap except for his neuter. vet debt now $812.45 but at least he is safe and won’t be spreading more kittens in this world-

I got the call on him about three weeks ago. He was previously owed by a family who got evicted over a year ago. They “forgot” him in their move and haven’t been back. One of the women who adopted Sterling called me about him and said he was sneaking into her house and stealing food-so I suggested she trap him and when he was caught to call me. She called me this morning, she trapped him yesterday and he is now with my vet getting tested/neutered vaccinated deflead de-wormed. He is a big tomcat at least 20 pounds of aggressive mack tabbiness that over time will slow down. He will live in the big cage and catio off the back porch when he gets his procedures done. I felt so sorry for him- he had smashed his face against the trap and broke a front tooth- the vet will likely have to pull it during the neuter. So much for once being a beloved family pet!

I also heard from the woman who dumped her three cats on me in December. Seems they are no longer homeless and she wanted to come and get her cats next week. One problem with that- her cats were readopted out when there was no contact from her for two months. They were aggressive among each other and with the other cats so it was determined to break them up and get them adopted. They are all happy in their own homes now. I found it odd when she went off on me and told me that I didn’t contact her before the adoptions. I am not obligated to keep in touch with people who dump their cats at my door- it is their obligation to keep in contact with me and when I emailed her and told her that her one cat Cagney had attacked me- she never responded and that was only two days after the cats were dumped here. Legally, if they are left here after 30 days of no contact, they become our responsibility. They are all doing fine in their new homes as it should be.

So far in 2016 we have placed 29 cats/kittens in homes- 6 went to the Bridge and we have accepted 7 cats into the sanctuaries.

This morning, I moved Sydney from the cage on the back porch to the gazebo enclosure. This cat is just a kitten! He’s a big kitten, but he can’t be more than 8 months old if that. He was terrified when I let him out of the carrier and immediately went and scaled the walls to come to rest on the ledges that George provided for cats near the ceiling. He didn’t stalk me, scare me or try to bite me. Bottom line is, he is just a scared kitty and when whoever reached for him- he bit them to defend himself. He looks like there is a sweet boy lurking inside. Now, he has room to roam and an outdoor catio to enjoy when the weather gets nice. His bite quarantine ends tomorrow and as I expected, this cat is NOT rabid.