THE  SCRATCHING  POST
~~  Annual Cat Fanciers Show Edition  ~~

  

Issue #27, by Barbara Stanley, home2cats@aol.com
Home 2 Cats, P. O. Box 752671, Memphis, TN  38175-2671

*** Please Note ***
We have changed our website address to
http://www.home2cats.org
 

Our mission is: To provide food, medical care, love and sanctuary for injured, disabled or abused animals. To educate the public in what constitutes responsible cat care and ownership. To engage in other activities related to animal rescue and public education about cat care and responsibilities.

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Mews You Can Use

Lost Pets

I can’t really say that I rescued Sadie; in fact I’m still trying to decide who really picked up whom. I was leaving the drive thru window of the bank; Sadie seemed to come from nowhere and sat by my car door. As I put the car in park and opened the door, Sadie, a beautiful English Setter, instantly jumped in and made herself at home.

Sadie was not wearing a collar with identification and, to make matters even worse was an obvious nursing mother. I drove immediately to the vets to have her scanned for a microchip. Not finding a microchip, I left her at the vets for ‘day care’ while I frantically put up fliers and readied her accommodations at Home 2 Cats.

That was on a Tuesday, and the rest of the week was spent putting up fliers, placing an ad in the papers, calling vet clinics and dog rescue organizations. Sunday, I received a call from the owner and Sadie was reunited with her seven anxious puppies.

I understand that pets sometimes do get separated from their owners. In Sadie’s case, it was due to a storm on the previous Sunday, which damaged the fence around her yard. It should never have taken a week to reunite this dog with her family and seven nursing puppies.

Outdoor pets should have collars with identification and/or micro chipping. If Sadie had been sporting either one of these items, she could have been home that evening.

If you lose a pet, you need to get the ball rolling immediately. Never sit back waiting for your pet to find its way back home. You will have lost precious search time. Post fliers and call veterinary clinics. In addition, check all posted fliers in your area. It turned out that the fliers we posted on Sadie were a block from her house. Her owner passed them everyday without looking.

Most veterinary clinics have bulletin boards and welcome posted fliers. I found that dropping by the clinics with a flier was more effective than simply making phone calls to them. The information that had been phoned to the clinics unfortunately, in most cases, had not been posted or shared with fellow employees.

If you find a lost pet, most news publications will let you place a free found ad in the want ads. If possible, place your ad so that Sunday is one of the days that your ad will run. Some subscribers only receive a Sunday paper, as was the case with Sadie’s owners. If you are the owner of a lost pet, don’t wait until Sunday to look at ads, buy a paper daily.

Be sure to contact rescue groups, as most organizations will cross post the information by email.

 

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Cat Tails

Eddie
aka "Eddie Money"

Capturing cats at Eddie’s colony has always been an interesting challenge for their caretakers, Beth and Dallas. Along with the TLC given to this colony by our dedicated volunteers, this elite group of cats often has gourmet feeding by workers from a posh restaurant.

We had heard that these cats were being supplemented with food by the restaurant workers, but had no idea how elaborate their cuisine was until we assisted Beth and Dallas with trapping one week. We had tried all of our usual tasty cat treats with no luck.

We were trying a different trapping approach one night without any success, when restaurant workers came out on break with a hefty portion of ‘leftovers’ for the cats. We hijacked the platter for the trap and our mouths just dropped as we eyed the grilled fish, plump shrimp and savory scallops. As Dallas so aptly put it, "These cats eat better than we do!" Needless to say, with the gourmet seafood platter, we did accomplish trapping our targeted cat that night.

In the winter of 2002, Eddie was captured under our Friends 2 Feral program. He was subsequently neutered and reunited with his colony. All was well with Eddie until late fall of 2005 when Eddie started missing the nightly feasts. Dallas caught a glimpse of him one evening, and Eddie was extremely thin with large open sores covering half his body. Dallas needed to recapture Eddie and knew he had his work cut out for him!

Evening ‘Eddie sightings’ were becoming less and less frequent and his condition was deteriorating. Dallas never gave up and returned nightly with cage in tow. After several weeks, his diligence paid off and Eddie was humanely trapped.

Even though feral caretakers never physically touch the cats, a bond is nevertheless formed. You learn to respect these animals, admire their courage and their will to survive. Dallas and Eddie had developed such a bond.

Dallas took Eddie to the vets and when they saw his poor condition, the advice was to euthanize him. Dallas’ heart sank as he looked at Eddie and Eddie immediately locked his eyes with Dallas. If a cat could look into your soul, this was it! Dallas knew he couldn’t give up on this extraordinary feline.

The next step was to see if Eddie was Feline Leukemia or FIV (AIDS) positive. If he were positive, his fate would be sealed, as it would be impossible for him to recover from his severe condition with any immune suppressed disease. Those few minutes for the test results were excruciating for Dallas. Eddie was negative and the battle to save Eddie’s life was beginning.

Eddie had such a powerful will to live and overcame one complication after another during his 1 ½ month hospitalization. With the worst part behind him, Eddie then came to Home 2 Cats to finish his recovery.

It’s hard to believe that this cat had likely never been touched by human hands for oh so many years. Through Eddie’s journey to recovery, he has become a lap cat and lover! When you tried to walk out of Eddie’s recovery room, he would wrap and attach himself around your ankles and ride your foot all the way to the door.

Eddie is in his forever home with Dallas and Beth, who never gave up on him. They made endless visits to the vets to shower him with love and support. Through their generosity, all of Eddie’s medical expenses were covered, hence the nickname ‘Eddie Money’!

 

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Animal and People Recognition

While losing a companion is one of life's greatest sorrows, never having one is to miss out on years of loving companionship.

 

In Memory Of Animals

PC
Beloved cat of Nona Miller
--George & Linda Bond

In Honor Of Animals

Elmo, Emily, and Gracie aka Elvira

Phoebe & Holle

Sadie & Katie
--Kimbrough & Susan Gregory

In Memory Of People

Ted Cartledge
--Ruth Blann Cartledge

Ralph Castro
Beloved father of Jim & Lynda Sheppard
--Ellen Lentz

In Honor of People

Dr. Angie McDowell, DVM
--Ruth Blann Cartledge

Mr. Jason Mills
Mr. Ed Shoulta
For their kind favors
--Ralph & Jo Levy

Glen & Rubye Reid
Happy Valentines!
--Bob & Nancy Barrow

Rita Sewell
--Manekinekocollectors Group on Yahoo

Larry & Barbara Stanley
--Ruth Blann Cartledge

Marlene Zack
--Manekinekocollectors Group on Yahoo

 

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Ongoing Projects

Home (2 Cats) On www.petfinder.com

Looking to adopt a cat or kitten? Check out our current pet list and our adoption day calendar on Home 2 Cats home page on www.petfinder.com under shelters/organizations. You may also access our home page directly by http://www.petfinder.org/shelters/TN159.html