Big Adoption Weekend

The Worcester cats are so friendly, they are getting adopted quickly. Mojo and Pinky went home together as did Noni and Kit Kit. Ebony went home with a friend of one of our volunteers. Bootsie went home with a friend of his foster mom. Finally, Duke went to live at MIT.

The following cats remain in our adoption center and four more will join them this weekend.


Mia and Gizzy who look a lot alike:

































Daisy who is on hold and should go home on Saturday:





















And Precious. This adorable one-year-old has a lame back leg. His patella is off center but it doesn't seem to slow him down:

Nyx is All Grown Up

Nyx was adopted from Feline Adoption & Rescue Society last autumn and has grown into a big handsome boy! His mom, Dorene, wrote us to say: "He now has a new cousin. A little sheltie puppy. My sister got her for Christmas. Nyx's is so good to her and they get along great."

Overcrowded Kitty Update

We're making progress on helping the 27 cats that were all living in a small apartment. Two of them have already found loving homes. Bootsie has a painful condition called "feline oral resorptive lesions." He had dental surgery and is recovering in a lovely foster home. Unfortunately, we suspect more of the cats have this condition. It's painful for them and it will be very expensive for us to treat.






















Thirteen more cats arrived at the shelter on Monday having just been spayed and neutered last Friday. With all they've been through, these cats are amazingly friendly. Once they've all received the care they need to be healthy, I've no doubt they will find new homes quickly.

Spoiled Kitties

Gizmo & Cream Puff were adopted by one of our volunteers. She's re-named them and shared this story about their new home life:

"Watching Leo and Lucy teaches us about love and the quiet tenderness that should always accompany it. They lick, clean and caress each other with such attentiveness that it gives us pause about ourselves. They bring the same attentiveness to us as well--the sudden visit, the purr, the stretch of a paw, the rolling over and the slight trembling of expectation when your hand gets near, the jumping on your lap when you are otherwise occupied, the welcoming at the door, or the sitting on my purse when they see I am leaving, all these signs that we are at the center of their attention are constant.

They are wild game players as well. Leo comes in the morning and stands on my chest, face to face with me, staring me down as if saying, "well are you up yet, are you ready to play?" If I open one eye, I am done--he settles down with a fat purr to start with, half an inch away from my face, eyes into mine, his whiskers tickling my cheeks. If I close them again, he'll eventually leave but he comes back repeatedly, walking up my body like highway 101 until I am so disturbed I give up and get up. Lucy sits at the foot of the bed, waiting for the stunt to have its effect. If I get up, she squeaks with pleasure and runs to the living room where the furry mice wait--that's the favorite game--I toss one mouse across the entire length of the apartment and they charge after it with amazing speed--I go pick it up and toss it the other way--I always tire before they do. They also like to jump up in the air to catch it. Leo is amazing in the accuracy and height of his leap. He thinks he is a dog. He comes when you whistle. He seems constant and loyal as a dog; Lucy is delicate, subtle, a gentle spirit. They adorn and enrich our lives in a very distinctive way."

Allergy Attack

Poor Azuma, our beautiful Bengal. After the trauma of being separated from his home, he thought he found a wonderful new family and now he's back at the shelter in Cambridge. His new owner developed allergies and couldn't keep him. He's pretty miserable right now and I'm hoping we'll find him a the right permanent home soon.

Update: Azuma is in a foster home with two adults and three children and happily climbing on all the furniture.

Houston, We Have a Family

Sox is one of the first cats to get adopted from the amazingly friendly group of 27 cats that were all living in a small apartment. His son and brother are currently at the Cambridge PetSmart shelter and the rest are going to be spayed/neutered later this week. According to his new family, he is fitting in nicely:

"Sox has a new name: Houston (I name all my cats after places in Texas) because he's got a big personality and is also a touch oversized, goofy, sweet, attention-getting, quick to defend what he thinks is his (namely me), and not afraid to just sprawl in every direction (seriously, at times, he's basically a living puddle of velvet)."

Fitting into the new family

From Mimi's new family:

"For family/sentimental reasons (the name Mimi was already dedicated to the memory of a dear cat we lost many years ago), the Shelter's Mimi became our Mia.

Since her arrival, she has brought our household to life. Our two older, staider, neutered males have -- in the end -- completely taken over the education of their new little sister, and she adores them. She fearlessly coaxes them into play whenever she thinks they aren't paying her enough attention, and she's many times fiercer than they. And when she has worn herself out, she climbs into our laps and cuddles herself into sleep. Here's a picture of her stretched out in utter exhaustion after her first, incredibly busy, Christmas morning.

Many weeks ago, Mia had her first well-kitty visit to Angell Memorial and now has her own portal page! She charmed the socks off the medical staff. We are incredibly grateful for the happy accident that brought us to the shelter program on exactly the right day, and we love our Mia so much. If she ever grows out of the cutest-kitty-on-the-planet stage, I'll let you know, but it doesn't look very likely!"

Happy Homecoming

Jackie has been re-named Bella. She must like her new name because she comes when she's called. Her new family says she's very smart and she rules the house.

Bad Day for Sinatra

The good news today is our Bengal cat got a lovely new home and has already settled in nicely.

The bad news today is our elderly Siamese mix, Sinatra, is very ill. His foster home reported that he'd been vomiting blood and brought him into Banfield. He spent the day at the vet getting fluids and x-rays and then I took him to the emergency vet. They are going to monitor him for the night and let us know tomorrow if he needs surgery. The whole thing is likely to cost us thousands of dollars but we are hopeful that he will make a full recovery.

Update: Sinatra had exploratory surgery and biopsies which all turned out negative. He's on a special diet now and seems to be feeling much better.

House of Cats

We went to a house today in Worcester where a family has 27 cats. They realize that's way too many in a small apartment and want help finding new homes. To my surprise, the cats were all healthier and much more friendly than I anticipated. In about two hours we cataloged, photographed and put collars on all the cats. We also tested three adult neutered males and two kittens for feline leukemia and FIV. Fortunately, they were negative so the three males - a gray cat named Duke, his father who is a black cat named Sox, and an orange tabby named Tikky - came to our adoption center in Cambridge while the kittens went to a foster home so they can be cared for until they are spayed/neutered.

Next week we will start getting some of the other cats neutered. We can't take all the cats ourselves, so we will also be looking for partner organizations to help place these lovely cats.

Cat Wheel

I'm learning that Bengals need a lot more exercise than other house cats. Here's what some people do to exercise their Bengals.