Playful girl

Margaret went home with one of our volunteers to await transport to her rescue in Ohio. As you can see here, she's settling in well:

Margaret has settled in quite well after only 2 days! It will warm your heart watching her play....❤️ She knows no strangers and will be your bud in nothing flat! This lil rumpy ( what you call the Manx breed w/no tail) got to sit by a open window (yes--in mid December!) and smell the outdoors. Keep your fingers crossed...she may be flying with Sherry Snyder to OH on January 2nd!!!!! Thanks to the staff and volunteers of Great Plains SPCA for taking care of this special cat!
Posted by Cindy Stott Anderson on Friday, December 11, 2015

Information about donating to Margaret's transport fund can be found in the description of this video:

Today Margaret left Great Plains SPCA in Independence to stay with me while we work on her transport to West Side Cats in Ohio. This sweet, petite, laid back cat wasted no time checking out her new room, eating and using the litter box. I hung her Christmas stocking up and she even looked up and noticed it hanging in the window. Don't worry Margaret, Santa will be able to find you! ❤️If you would like to contribute to Margaret's transport expenses, please use Pay Pal via cindy.anderson2014@att.netI will keep you informed as we get her transport set up. It looks like it will probably be a road trip as flights (6 hrs) into Akron/Canton are non-existent for Delta (my contact), expensive and at least 1 layover of 2-3 hrs. I'm open to any suggestions! Thank you!
Posted by Cindy Stott Anderson on Thursday, December 10, 2015

Lady in Red

Beautiful Margaret was modeling her holiday finery this weekend:

December Shelter Cat of the Month

As you may (or may not) have noticed, I completely flubbed this in November. It's not that I wasn't writing that month, it's that I was writing SO MUCH.

My son and I both participated in NaNoWriMo this year. I managed to reach my 50,000 word goal on the 21st (at times I was averaging more than 3k words/day) and he got within a couple thousand words of his Young Writers Program goal; most days were spent furiously tapping away at our stories. Combine that with Thanksgiving preparation and traveling and we were swamped.

Even though I didn't write about our kitties, we were at the shelter visiting them each week, giving them chin scratches and making sure their needs were met. During those weeks, my attention kept returning to this girl. When it came time to decide who to feature in December, there was no contest.

Margaret

UPDATE 12/8: Margaret will be going into rescue once we raise the funds. I will post more details here as I have them.

UPDATE 12/12: Details about Margaret's rescue can be found via this post.

UPDATE 12/17: Margaret will be flying to Ohio on January 2nd. The funds for her care and transport have been raised. Yay! If you want to help out Margaret or other cats like her, you can donate to Great Plains SPCA. Thanks!

UPDATE 1/2: As the world turns...the person coordinating Margaret's journey to the rescue found out some really disturbing information about the organization and is not comfortable sending Margaret there. The donations for her journey and care are being refunded and Margaret will return to Great Plains. I trust this volunteer has Margaret's best interests in mind and has made the right decision, even though none of us want to see the sweet girl back in the shelter.

UPDATE 2/12: MARGARET HAS BEEN ADOPTED!!!!!

This cat is so sweet. She cuddled with me for a quarter of an hour and let me take photo after photo. And she purred the entire time.

After nearly 10 months in the shelter, it's long past time for our beautiful lady here to find a home. She is just under four years old, so she has plenty more years of kitty hugs and head bumps to share with you.

Margaret does have special needs, so she requires some extra love. She suffers from Manx syndrome, which sounds pretty scary, but that's true about most medical conditions. Though she is happy to be held, Margaret is plenty capable of walking around under her own power. Her main symptom is fecal incontinence.

She has been on a special diet for a while that has helped solidify her poo, so the mess is actually rather minimal. I've never seen any evidence of Margaret urinating outside of the litter box and she does try to go #2 in there as well. She just doesn't always make it.

The little pirate here is very patient and loving and would be a very snuggly addition to your home, if you are willing to accept her as she is and provide the extra care she needs. As with any other condition, the stress of being in the shelter is not helpful. We would be overjoyed to see her find people who can love her despite the occasional surprise tootsie roll.

Come by the shelter and meet this sweetheart. Once you've stroked her soft fur and had her curl up against you and purr purr purr, you'll see that she's worth a little work.

Be Margaret's hero: adopt! donate! share!

Gratitude

I have many, many things to be thankful for. I have a roof over my head, plenty to eat, an amazing family, and my own copy of Fallout 4. (Seriously, there would be blood if we had to share. It would not be pretty)

Even as they wake me up in the middle of the night, decide to vomit right in the center of the floor, and get under my feet a thousand times per day (especially when I'm cooking. OMG), I am also so, so grateful for my fur family.

National Black Cat Day

I do love me some black kitties!

300!

Kitty Crush

One of the first things most people say to me when we discuss volunteering at an animal shelter is that they don't think they could do it without wanting to take them all home.

I don't. Or...I do. I mean, I don't do it without wanting to take them home. I do want to take them home. Not all of them all of the time, but I get what I call 'kitty crushes' on a regular basis.

There will be a cat that I feel an instant connection with and it hurts my heart to go home at the end of the night and not take them with me. Each week that they are there when I come in, it gets harder and harder not to bring them home.

October Shelter Cat of the Month

ALL THE BLACK CATS!

Yes, all of them. It's my favorite month of the year: cooler weather kicks in, the leaves are turning, and it all wraps up with my favorite holiday, Halloween!

So in an effort to remove the ridiculous stereotype that black cats are bad luck and in honor of them being sort of a mascot for Halloween, this month we feature the black cats of Great Plains SPCA, Independence.

You'll notice that this includes Dr. Mew, one of our September cats.

Today, tomorrow, and Sunday, you still have the opportunity to nab one of these cool cats for FREE. Yup - all adult cats are fee-waived through October 4th.

ETA: my nails are even getting into the spirit

Hey, Kids!

Here are some baby goats for your Saturday enjoyment.

Pygmy Goat Happy Dance II
goats gone crazy :) <3 how happy they are!!
Posted by Just Eat Real Food on Sunday, May 31, 2015

Now get yourself to Great Plains SPCA  and find a new fur-kid of your own during the Cabin Fever adoption special!

Scratch that

So we've talked about introducing a new cat to the family, about how important it is to spay or neuter your cat, and about FIV. There seems to be one obvious cat issue we haven't touched on. Hmm....I can't quite put my finger on it...

Oh right! Declawing.

Plan B

We had the day all planned out. Strutt with your Mutt in the morning, then spend a couple of hours with friends before stopping in at the Great Plains SPCA alumni celebration on the way home.

Mike Wazowski had other plans.

Other plans that included falling down in the kitchen yesterday and being unable to stand back up. Other plans that absolutely did not include eating anything at all. Other plans that left him unable to walk and not responding to petting or handling.

So I pulled him into my lap last night and dozed for a while sitting up. Then I lay down with him curled up against me, as is his habit, and my spouse watched over him while I managed a bit of sleep. Around 7 AM, we swapped. Honestly, I was surprised he made it through the night. 

This morning he was more aware and we managed to get some food into him. He's wobbly, but able to walk around a bit. And he's drinking. So we'll see. But he's definitely not stable enough that I would be willing to leave him on his own while we took the dogs out for the day.

Keep my poor, sick, one-eyed old man in your thoughts if you would. There's really not much else we can do for him beyond the meds and fluids he's already getting. We know he's living on borrowed time, but we're still not ready for that time to be up.

UPDATE 9/22: Mike seems to be back to his old self. And he's eating more. A LOT more. My goal is to get this guy back up to 8 lbs if possible (he was 7 lb 5 oz at his last vet appt). Pack in those calories, kitty!

Crisis Crossroads

Great Plains SPCA has grown by leaps and bounds in the past few years. Between opening a second location in Independence, Missouri, and increasing the number of pets served by 250%, their resources have become stretched rather thin.

Right now, GPSPCA is at a "Crisis Crossroads"

Without urgent financial support, local Kansas City pets will not receive the medical care and protection from abuse and neglect that they deserve. It's the last thing we want, but demand for our unique services is exceeding our financial resources.

From providing sliding-scale vet care to the public to outreach programs aimed at improving the lives of area seniors, students, and pets, Great Plains is a real asset to the Kansas City community. Not to mention the thousands of animals that come through the shelter and find new homes.

All donations through October 15, 2015, will be fully matched. This is an excellent time to make your money stretch twice as far and do twice as much to help pets in the Kansas City area. Please consider making a donation today.

THANK YOU
My most heartfelt thanks to those who have so generously contributed to my campaign:

The Gies Family

Camera Magic

The company I work for took on a new project this summer that quickly ate all of my time, so I went from churning out 8-12 cat videos/week to one or two per month...then to none. As things slowed down at the office, I found that my duties at the shelter had shifted enough that I wasn't able to get as much footage as I used to. With the increased demands of homeschooling a 5th grader, I honestly don't know that I'll ever be as prolific as I was last spring.

However, I was finally able to edit and upload some of the vids I had taken earlier this summer. I put up Samuel L. Catson's and he was adopted within a day or two. Last night I got Wade's uploaded and he found his forever home today. (I'd like to believe my work has magic powers, but I'm sure this was a coincidence.)

While I'm beyond thrilled that these cats found homes (seriously, over the moon), the timing makes me grit my teeth about the time spent editing their videos. I enjoy the work, but it does take a not-insignificant chunk of my day, and there are always other projects clamoring for those resources. We'll see, though...if Kali is adopted in the next few days, I may go with the magic claim. (update 9/21: Kali is still there...but I put up River's video last night and he went today. So maybe it's selective magic)

The real point of this post, however, is to celebrate a couple of things:

1) the breakage of the video drought. It's nice to be putting those little "Watch My Video!" bars on the bottom of photos again, and

2) that Wade's adopter, upon finding out his adoption fee was sponsored, paid it forward and sponsored the adoption fee of one of our September SCotM, Felix Thunder Paws!

Thanks, awesome adopter! You rock!

September Shelter Cat of the Month

Whew! August was an extremely busy month for us. While we didn't have the back-to-school madness a lot of people dealt with (because we homeschool for the full year & don't take a summer break), we did have post surgery stuff for the spouse, birthday party prep for the kid, our trip to see the Perseids, and a corporate volunteer day that required more up-front work than one would have expected. Or at least more than I expected.

Anyway - because of all of that and the minor stuff that still manages to steal away time, there weren't as many posts as I'd like last month. Which I'm using as a (pretty weak) excuse to cheat again and feature T W O cats this month. Also, the shelter has been super full and with all of the kittens, it's easy for these older guys to get overlooked.

Without further ado, I present to you Dr. Mew & Felix Thunder Paws!

Lover girl

We've been out of town - hence the lack of posts. Took the kid to middle-of-nowhere Oklahoma to get a good view of the Perseids. Unfortunately, great star-gazing meant no internet.

But...the night before we left, we had a class at the shelter and I managed to get in some great Jovi snuggles. Love love love this girl.

August Shelter Cat of the Month

There was no question about this month's kitty. It's my Jovi girl, and you really, really need to come check her out.

Kittens! Kittens Everywhere!

The KC Star visited the shelter last week to report on the kitten explosion. The article features photos of adorably sweet Minion & super-cutie tripod Lina, but it also includes a photo of Felix Thunder Paws, a seven-year-old FIV+ cat.

In some states (like our neighbor, Kansas), shelters cannot adopt out FIV+ cats. It's a law that is based on fear, not science, and the Great Plains SPCA CEO has worked with legislators to repeal it multiple times. As is typical with governing bodies in the US, however, they always tack the repeal onto another bill and it ends up not passing.

This post has gone to the dogs!

I know I post about cat stuff a LOT. Strangely enough, I mainly consider myself a dog person (while my spouse & son are major cat people). But because we volunteer with the cats at the shelter, that's where my focus is most days. Today, though, is all about the barkies. First, I want to give a huge

HAPPY BARKDAY!!!

to my pupper, Starbuck. She's a whole 2 years old today. 

Whee!

Compassion Fatigue

I have a habit of throwing myself 100% into any project I take on. This sounds great in theory, but it's not a healthy or sustainable practice. So when we started volunteering at Great Plains last fall, I had to set some hard limits for myself. Without them, I would have found myself fostering animals while volunteering multiple days per week and attending every possible event. And my life would be in shambles and I would quickly burn out.

So...I've already pushed against my limits by spending hours at home editing video footage, but what we do right now is manageable. As long as I keep my urge to DO MORE in check.

All of this is to explain why I am only at the shelter once per week. And why I barely touch on the world of animal rescue in my physical space. And even with that pretty minor time commitment and the few actual hours I spend in the shelter itself, I have brushed against the edges of what this article discusses.

I can only imagine what it's like to be fully immersed in it. How hard it must be and the toll it takes.

“Animal care professionals are some of the most pain-saturated people I have ever worked with. The very thing that makes them great at their work, their empathy and dedication and love for animals, makes them vulnerable.”

Many animal shelters operate on a shoestring budget. They rely on volunteers to get much of the day-to-day animal care work done because there just aren't enough hands. They are desperately in need of fosters to care for kittens and puppies or adult animals that are experiencing shelter stress, are in need of behavioral work, or just need a place to wait/recover before and after surgery.

Please consider supporting your local animal shelter by donating, fostering, or volunteering. Just a few dollars a month or a few hours a week can make a big difference in the lives of the animals and their human caregivers.

And adopt, don't shop!

Fancy girl

The very welcome news that Link went home last night means that three of our five SCotMs have been adopted. YAYYYY!

*happy dance*

Since Mr. Key got his own photo post earlier this week, here are a couple of shots of the beautiful Miss Sofie with her fancy new collar on.

Mr. Key!

Our July SCotM, Mr. Key, sure does love exploring these tunnels!

July Shelter Cat of the Month

This month's featured kitty was selected by my partner in crime. I figured it was only fair since I demand that he proof each post before it goes out (so if you ever find a typo - blame him! bwahahahahahaha *ahem*).

We're obviously big on the black cats in my family because the spouse's choice for July is Mr. Key.

UPDATE 7/21: Mr. Key has been transferred to Lawrence Humane Society. I'll post a link to his bio once I have one.

UPDATE 7/24: Mr. Key is finally up on the LHS website. I hope lots of people come by and see him in person because his online presence is...unimpressive.

UPDATE 8/25:  MR. KEY HAS BEEN ADOPTED! WOOHOO!

When Positive Is Negative

Let's talk FIV.

First, the basics:

What it is - 
FIV is the Feline Immunodeficiency Virus. It is currently incurable. It does weaken a cat's immune system so they are more susceptible to secondary infections.

What it's not - 
It's not "kitty AIDS." It's not transmissible to humans. And it's not transmissible from cat to cat with casual contact. In other words, your cat will not get FIV from sharing a litter box, food bowl, water source, or furniture with an FIV+ cat.

World Pet Memorial Day (belated)

This was actually yesterday, but I spent the morning cleaning out an old swimming pool that had become my dogs' mud wrestling pit and the afternoon in an extended meeting at work, so...I will use today instead.

In Memory

Angel

For only being in our lives a couple of months in 2014, this sweet bird left a pretty big hole when she died. My son had planned for her for months - getting the cage and toys all set up, cleaning up his room - and he was dedicated to caring for her. 

She was rather shy around us, but we could often hear her chattering away at him while he played games in his room. He was working hard on perch training her and trying to get her to talk to him. She was fine when he went to sleep one night and extremely sick when he got up the next morning. She died hours later.

We'll never know what happened - budgies are such fragile creatures, it could have been anything. But the house was very quiet once she was gone.

National Hug A Cat Day

My little tortie isn't so fond of hugs...

but she obliged me for a picture anyway.

This guy is getting hugs in his new home tonight.

June Shelter Cat of the Month

Because I'm such a cheater, I let my 10-year-old pick out this month's SCotM. Please keep sharing May's post, however, because both of those cats are still in the shelter *sad face.*

I heartily endorse my son's choice of Sofie as K&B's June Shelter Cat of the Month. She has a couple of strikes against her in the shelter:

1. She is a black cat. For various reasons, black cats have trouble getting adopted.
2. She's a bit shy. The noisy shelter environment makes her a bit nervous, so she isn't quite as outgoing as some of the other cats.

UPDATE 8/9: SOFIE HAS BEEN ADOPTED! YAY! She even got to go home with another cat from her colony, so that should help her adjust.

Saving lives, one snip at a time

Quick - guess how many animals are euthanized each year in the United States.

...
...
...

2.7 million. Yes, each year nearly 3 million cats and dogs lose their lives because of pet overpopulation. For perspective, that's the population of Chicago. It's twice that of San Diego.

Dead.

Each. Year.

Here's an easy one - what is the single most effective way to reduce that number?

Happy Birthday, Mike Wazowski!

On an uncharacteristically warm day in the winter of 2006, I was playing with my 18-month-old in the little grassy space in the middle of our cul-de-sac. This area held a wooden gazebo thing that had some ornamental grasses growing along one side. On this day, our little hangout also held a cat.

We couldn't see this cat. But oh, could we hear him! "Meow...meOW...MEEOW...murrROWWW!"

Finally managing to catch a glimpse of the purveyor of this fine feline vocal artistry, we discovered that it was an orange tabby that appeared to be blind in one eye. He was clearly wary of humans, so we gave him his space, but he continued to serenade us over the next few afternoons.

May Shelter Cat of the Month

Well, it's only the second month and I'm already cheating. It's just so difficult to pick one! Perhaps I should move this to weekly...

Anyway, May is the month of the gray tabby here at K&B. The shelter cat(s) of the month are Blanket & Link.

Blanket

UPDATE: Blanket now has her own Facebook page! Check out Blanket for your soul

UPDATE THE 2ND: BLANKET HAS BEEN ADOPTED! YAY!

This lovely old gal is looking for a home in which to spend her golden years. Adopting a senior cat can be very rewarding and it makes you an extra super hero in my eyes. 

All you need is love...

Sounds too simple to be true, right? Well it is, somewhat. I mean, obviously cats need shelter and food and clean water as well. But while they get all of that at the shelter (and as much love as we can give them), the difference a home makes is amazing.

As I've mentioned before, cats in shelters are under constant stress. This can lead to behavioral issues as well as health problems (respiratory infections spread like wildfire!). Shelter staff and volunteers can only do so much; cats just aren't made to live in kennels.

The image above is from a post titled "29 Before And After Photos Show What Love Does To Cats" and the differences in these animals is striking. Truly, love can transform a cranky, sick shelter cat into a happy, healthy companion.

One-eyed, orange-furred meowing little people eater

There's definitely a loss of trust when an animal you care for uses its teeth against you.

In all of the years since we rescued him from the street, Mike Wazowski had never done this. No matter what I put him through - baths, teeth brushings, ear washes, eye drops, washing litter (and worse) from his paws, butt wipings, giving pills, giving injections - he has never intentionally bit me.

But there I was at 3:00 this morning with his teeth on my arm.

I woke up just before it happened, so all I saw was his head going back and snapping forward. And then he just sat there, not biting down or letting go. Just holding his teeth on either side of my bicep.

It wasn't a real bite - he didn't get through my t-shirt, let alone break the skin - but it was unsettling because it was completely out of character.

Cali the Easter Kitty

No candy at our house today. The kid will eat a bit and then it will sit around for months, so we like to explore non-food alternatives for the Easter basket.

Yes, yes. I *am* the limerick master. How kind of you to notice. (What? you've never heard of an Easter limerick before?)

Cali has declared herself the official assistant to the Easter Bunny. She's aiming for a promotion by showing off her superior egg-hiding skills. Often Mr. Bunny himself can't find them when she's through.

Though she did have an unfortunate run-in with the Easter basket, so it may be a while before she goes egg hunting again.

This Face

Just look at it!

Can't you just see yourself snuggling up to this guy? Dr. Cumulonimbus here is quite the cuddler, too. His purr motor starts up as soon as he sees you and it only gets louder when you pick him up. 

April Shelter Cat of the Month

K&B's very first shelter cat of the month is PeeWee!

UPDATE: PEEWEE HAS BEEN ADOPTED!

PeeWee is a handsome 11-year-old orange tabby with a motor that doesn't quit. Listen to that purrbox go!

He is a relaxed cat who gets along with kids and other cats and is looking for a loving home in which to spend his retirement.

PeeWee can be found at Great Plains SPCA in Independence, Missouri. He enjoys being held and cuddled, but he especially loves sitting on your lap and purring away while you rub his ears. 

Adopting a senior cat can be very rewarding and it makes you an extra super hero in my eyes. Come by the shelter and visit this guy - you won't regret it!

Meet the Family!

It's very important to introduce a new animal into your home in such a way as to cause the least stress and disruption for the new pet as well as your existing fur family. Sounds like a no-brainer, right? You'd be surprised how often people don't follow the instructions given by their adoption counselor. And then we see the animal returned because it "couldn't get along" with their other pets.







**disclaimer: this is my opinion/based on personal experience. I'm in no way speaking for or on behalf of the shelter**

Home Sweet Home...or not

I volunteer at an animal shelter and sad faces abound when one of our animals is returned. While we want all of the animals to find homes, we especially want them to find the *right* homes; even though it gives us a sad when the critters come back, sometimes it's for the best. But other times it's because people's expectations when adopting don't match the reality of introducing a shelter animal into their homes.

**disclaimer: this is my opinion/based on personal experience. I'm in no way speaking for or on behalf of the shelter**

The first and most important fact to keep in mind is that your new pet is seriously stressed. 

No matter how well we treat the animals at the shelter, the shelter itself is a stressful environment. There are new sounds and smells all over the place and the animals are prevented from doing many of their natural behaviors in response. Cats often want to hide while they adjust and figure things out, but there's really nowhere for them to go in a kennel. Dogs like to thoroughly smell things to gather information, but they are separated from everything by doors.