In praise of the buddy system

I love watching my cats.  To be perfectly honest there is nothing on cable even half as interesting as the way they interact with each other.    In this day and age, where it is the rare pet owner who can still let their cats go "out on tour" safely, I feel pretty sorry for any of the only kitties out there.

No faces to wash.  No one to play / snooze / snuggle with.  Noone of their own kind to communicate with.

Cats who are fostered together after being rescued will often become such good friends that the rescue tries to encourage kind hearts to adopt them both.  

Does that mean that the rescues are trying to fob off an extra cat on an unsuspecting soul?  Of course not!   They have simply spent enough time with kitties to appreciate that there are no mathematical formulas for love.  They have learned that two cats is not twice as much love ...  it is multiplied ever so many more times than that!

They also know that when a new kitty can bring along a friend, that the transition into the new home will be easier on everyone.   This can be a particularly good fit for a home where the humans have to go out to work / school / hockey / etc.  

You can practically hear the cats say ... "Gotta go out?  No sweat!  I'll just hang out with my best bud while you're gone!"

And of course .. if one already has a cat or two .. two new cats will be good company for each other while they are settling into the family circle with the others.  I was always glad that Oscar came into the picture at the same time that Dora did, because it was a while before my three mousecatteers would have anything to do with them, eh?

The good news is that there is no absolutely no shortage of adoptable buddies out there ( scroll down for their pics :)

• Nikko and Zee are waiting in foster with PET Project s.   
• Slate and Shylo are at CAPS ( who also have many more lovelies who are already great pals )
• Cupid and Joy are waiting with TAPA

Is this an exclusive list?  Not even close!   Cats are naturally social creatures and love the company of their own kind.   Every rescue that either fosters or provides play space for their kitties will have pals available to adopt, eh?

At the end of the day, there is nothing wrong with having a busy life.  Nor is there anything wrong about wanting an easy life.   Its just frosting on the cake that in most instances, doubling your fun doesn't mean doubling up the adoption fee.

By and large, people who enjoy teaching animals to roll over will find themselves happier with a dog.   Barbara Holland

Zee

Nikko

Slate

Shylo

Cupid and Joy

You don't need to be an intellectual to play by heart

Making music is a real Maritime tradition.  Mom was from PEI and Dad was from Cape Breton, so it should be no surprise that I've had the piano and voice lessons. 

Although I must confess that when I asked for guitar lessons, I was in for a surprise.  My rock and roll visions ground to an abrupt halt when my teacher came to the house.  Instead of long hair and love beads, he was wearing a proper suit and homburg.

My new teacher was a member of the Baden symphony and taught a little classical guitar on the side.  If he wasn't quite what I had asked for, he turned out to be exactly what I was looking for.

In all the years of moving around with the military, my guitar could follow me anywhere.   It was a great ice breaker in new company and a lovely way to pass precious time on my own.

To this day, there is nothing lovelier that being able to play by the wood stove on chilly days like this .. unless its playing outside on a warm summer evening.

All the cliches tell us that music soothes and heals.  Why?  Because it is true.   When my Dad passed away, my grieving Mom could find a measure of comfort in playing her organ.  She hadn't played for years but judging by the lovely melodies wafting out the window, our fingers remember far longer than we think.

Personally, I think its a tragedy that music has pretty much been cut out of the public school system in this province.  In a world where so much is so passive, our children should have the opportunity to learn how to make music themselves.  With their own hands instead by downloading and mixing, eh?

Very soon, there is going to be an incredible opportunity for anyone interested in making their own music ( or teaching their children to do the same)

A beautiful church organ ...pictured below ... has been donated to Pick of the Litter Society.   It will be available on their next facebook auction which will start on Friday Feb.18 and run until Sunday Feb.27 ending at 9:00 pm.

An intellectual is someone who can listen to the "William Tell Overture" without thinking of the Lone Ranger. John Chesson

Its Feline February!

After yesterday's sneak preview of spring, it was a rude shock to wake up to more snow.  The sort of cold and blowing cut right through you stuff that is perfectly normal for February .. just more of a jolt after jeans and sneakers yesterday, eh?

Seeing a branch board president having to resign under a cloud was more than a bit of a bombshell too ... especially after the breath of fresh air we've been seeing with this new board.   I've been married a time or two, so I understand how easy it is to be long on suspicion and short on trust.

Before the keyboards catch on fire .. in no way shape or form am I making any excuses for the individual under investigation.  Mind you .. although I don't believe that the results of said investigation should be swept under the rug, given our currently inadequate animal welfare legislation, I don't see any meaningful penalties coming out of the whole thing ...sigh.

But I am wandering afield here .... the point I am trying to make in my meandering way is that the director, staff and volunteers at the Yarmouth SPCA seem to have taken things in stride.  They still have a shelter to run and are trying to do so in an area off the beaten adopter path.   ( In fact I actually think they are doing better... as you will see below .. but that might be a bit catty ...even for me ..lol )

Which is why I was very pleased to see this new bit they are doing for the kitties  ... Feline February ... which started yesterday.

Every day .. they are featuring a cat like Milo on the front door of their website.  Even better, they are putting these pics on their facebook group so that people can share the lovely pics with their friends..

And .... they have a contest going on where adopters could win five, ten or twenty five dollars off the adoption fee... AND they even have a shot at winning the entire adoption fee!  Almost frosting on the cake that they could also win a few other goodies  ( see poster below )

Best of all ... they are using this lovely bit to launch their spin on Year of the Cat ... they set a goal of reaching 250 cat adoptions to celebrate their 250th birthday.

What time is it?  It is always time to celebrate when someone is willing to go the extra mile for the kitties!

One small cat changes coming home to an empty house to coming home. Pam Brown

My Funny Valentine

I love my morning routine.  One of the best bits about being retired is being able to ease into the day with purrs and tailwags instead of Big Ben's rude jangle.  Its nice not to have to rush our first 'out' of the morning, at least when the mercury isn't minus many :)
And it still seems deliciously decadent to be able to leisurely read the news and check my mail.  Do I sound like a stick in the mud?  I probably am .. but I can guarantee you that everyone here on four paws appreciates that there is a measure of predictability in the day.
Three years ago this morning, I was crying into my coffee cup when I opened my mail.   ARC ... along with all the other rescues ... had been looking for an adult girl dog for me. 
We had come very close a couple of times.  There was a lovely five year old chocolate lab with Lab Rescue ... but the evening before the home visit/ meet and greet, the foster "failed".  There was another non starter who was reclaimed just in the nick of time.
No harm .. no foul .. in each case it was good for the dogs involved, eh?   And even back then, I knew that 2008 wasn't going to be the year there would be No More Homeless Dogs in NS.  At the time I was doing the research needed in order to build the homeless pet site, eh?
Three years ago today, there were three pics waiting for me of a starving dog.  She was an adult shep hound mix and had only weighed 20 kgs when Elsie had taken her to the vets.  But her eyes were still bright and alert and I could swear that she knew that life had just taken an abrupt 180 degree turn.
At the time we had no idea she would become such a beauty.  In fact, her fosters asked me to wait a few days to meet her as they wanted her to have a chance to get back on her feet so that she would make a good impression.
It was weeks before she gained enough weight to be safely spayed.   That weekend, my brother and my nephew picked her up in the city and brought her home to me.
To this day ... when my brother comes to visit on his Harley, Miss Ruby will run to meet him.  But if he shows up on four wheels, she snubs him and keeps a gimlet eye on him for the whole visit :)
At her last vet visit,  Miss Ruby weighed 86 pounds without being fat .. which really puts the whole 20 kg thing into perspective, eh?  My vet calls her the Queen of Sheba ... but really she is my Queen of Hearts.
I'm a middle aged grandmother, so I have long ago lost track of how many boxes of chocolates and bouquets of roses I've received over the years.  But I've always known that these are simply tokens of affection.
Real love doesn't come from a thing.  It comes from the heart.  I know I say it all the time on the pet blogs, but rescued pets really DO have more love than anyone can possibly imagine for the kind heart who adopts them.
To paraphrase a little thing I have on my personal website
If you want to be happy for a day, get drunk
If you want to be happy for a week, go on holiday
If you want to be happy for a month, get married
If you want to be happy for life ... Adopt a Pet

In praise of the road less travelled

Its no secret that I love my cats.  What's not to love?  They are friendly and affectionate... at least to me :)  Even better, they are very interesting to share space with.  Best of all, it is a joy to see them so happy and confident after everything that they have each been through.
Mind you, visitors to my house rarely get to see the whole crew.  My eldercat  slips off to a solitary spot where she can nap undisturbed when the doggy doorbells start chiming.   Dora has an extremely short list of acceptable humans she will deign to spend time with.   Then there is Oscar ...sigh.  Poor bud has never quite gotten over the heartbreak of being abandoned.  If company 'sneaks in' before he has a chance to hide, it would break your heart to hear him cry and skittle off doing his best dachshund impression :(
So it was a treat the other day to visit Laurie at HART, which is also her lovely home.   No vanishing acts ... only happy and curious kitties politely taking their turn to meet me.

To be perfectly honest, if George wasn't such a funnyhead about new cats coming in the door, I very likely likely would have tucked Kenya in my pocket and brought her home.

I was only forty when my eldercat landed in the yard ... and at the time my vet thought she was threeish. ( before you go dashing off to read old posts to see how old I am .. that means she is nineteenish now :)  Bear is very petite these days ... but continues to defy any unhappy expectations about her crf with grace and real style.

I never had the pleasure of knowing Bear as a kitten, but Kenya looks exactly like a little mini Bear.  

Until she became ill, Bear used to patrol the yard diligently every day.  Unlike the dogs, she knows to the inch where the property lines are and to this day will still puff up and growl if any of the neighbours kitties wander anywhere through the yard.  Back in the day, when she still insisted on going outside, Kitty Bear was quite capable of chasing big dogs off the property.

After which of course, she would preen, wash her paws and snuggle back up on my lap :)

This winter has been a precious gift we did not dare to hope for and all paws are crossed here that she isn't done with defying all the predictions :)

Kenya reminds me so much of my true elderbeauty.   She loves the company of other cats .. when I was there she was all snuggled up cozy in a basket with one of Laurie's beauties.  She was friendly and confident and purring up a storm.    I also suspect that, like Bear, she will neither suffer fools gladly nor waste her valuable time on people she doesn't actually like.

But like Bear, I think she is going to be one of those once in a lifetime cats ... and I envy the person who will prove worthy of her trust.  Like Frost's road less travelled, some cats are simply more suited to someone less ordinary.  And that can make all the difference.

I shall be telling this with a sigh

Somewhere ages and ages hence:
Two roads diverged in a wood, and I--
I took the one less traveled by,
And that has made all the difference.  Robert Frost

Urgent ... Soon to be Homeless Senior needs a Safe Berth!

The seeds are out on display at Avery's ... and that means that its time to start pruning my own fantasy order down to manageable size.  Time to remember that this is a one woman show ... and that this particular woman also likes to go hiking with the dogs every day.

Time to choose the vegies and herbs that will realistically fit in the freezer and pantry.  Time to remember that the kids no longer live close enough to 'raid' Mom's garden.   Time to decide how much time is actually available for watering.  For weeding.  For harvesting / blanching/ canning / etc.

To be perfectly honest, I'm grateful that this is the harshest reality that I currently have to deal with.   Believe me ... I know how darned lucky I am.  

But what if one gets dealt a different hand?  I bet when you looked at the picture of this sweet senior dog, you were wondering when he last had his nails trimmed.  Even me and my trifocals can see that its been a while.

Why?  Doesn't his owner love him?  Of course he is loved!  But sometimes love isn't all we need, eh?  After all, his owner wouldn't be going into a home if he was able to manage everything on his own, eh?

But his owner IS going into a home, and so East Coast German Shepherd Rescue is desperately trying to find a safe berth for this good dog. 

This good boy is a healthy thirteen .... other than the normal bits of arthritis that everyone (on four paws or two) gets if they live long enough.

He gets along well with other dogs, but cats might be a different kettle of fish:)

Experience is such a gift.   I don't have to reinvent the wheel when I'm planning my garden, starting a sewing project or any other familiar task I want to tackle.

It is exactly the same with senior pets.  From the first moment Andy's feet hit the floor here, he settled in like the seasoned old pro that he is.   As I am always saying on the senior pet site, we could embrace the love without the sleepless nights.

Sadly, it often takes time for senior pets to find the kind heart willing to adopt.  Sadly, time is not on this good dog's side, because his owner is going into the home very very soon.

Yet for anyone who has lost a senior pet of their own in the past while, adopting this good boy could be a Very Good Fit.  After living with a lovely settled senior, it might just be too much of a jolt to adopt a young pup. 

But a lovely settled fellow like this .... gosh trim his nails, give him a good brushing and he would be happy to settle right in!

What time is it?  Its time to put your thinking cap on to help this good boy find a home .. because time is not something that he has to spare.

The Heart Won't Lie

I love listening to country music when I'm driving anywhere in my little car.  Does that mean I've never listened to rock and roll?  That somehow the Beatles and the Stones passed me by?

Of course not!   But, I don't live in a 'hood' .. I live in rural Nova Scotia.   Country music just cuts to the chase and so is closer to my heart than disco,  pop or rap.  

As we used to say in the sixties .. I can "relate" to country music .  Its real and authentic and makes no false promises or claims.

This is the same reason that I have such a special affection for ARC.  Yes, I admit that Miss Ruby ( and later Andy) came to me from ARC ... and for that I will be forever grateful.  But the respect that I have for them as a group stems from the fact that they are EXACTLY who they say they are. 

They are No Kill ... in the most real and genuine sense of the word.   That means that the term, healthy and treatable,is never defined by the dollar sign.   I have seen them spend many many times over the adoption fee to treat and train dogs in their care.

This handsome little fellow, Little Golden, is the latest in a long line of good dogs who might not have made the grade with other, supposedly No Kill, groups.   Why?  Is he not utterly adorable?  Of course he is.  Everyone who meets this grreat little lad agrees that he is Mr Personality Plus

He is also needs eye surgery. He has absolutely no tear production in either eye, even after hourly drops.  So ... on Tuesday, while we are all recuperating from our 'chocolate hangovers', Dr Don and the great team at Westwood Hill Vet, are going to perform “Parotid Duct Transposition” in hopes of saving his eyes.   Each eye will be done as a separate operation to minimize stress on the little lad.

Is it a sure thing?  No surgery ever comes with a guarantee.  But it IS a sure thing that this little fellow will soon be blind without the surgery.  Even worse, without it this little trooper is actually in what the medical people refer to as a fair bit of "discomfort".

The surgery won't be cheap.  Many other groups would simply opt for the ever so much more affordable Premature Unhappy Tail... glossing it over with the phrase Unhealthy and Untreatable.

But ... like the music I like so well .. ARC has more heart than that.  Anyone who would like to help with this could either contact ARC or call in a donation directly to the Westwood Hills Clinic.

'Cause the heart won't lie

Sometimes life gets in the way
But there's one thing that won't change
I know I've tried
The heart won't lie
You can live your alibi
Who can see you're lost inside a foolish disguise
The heart won't lie
Reba McEntire ... from The Heart Won't Lie, with Vince Gill