The Joy of Se.... no not that... Senior kitty adoptions!

I've been an advocate of adopting senior kitties for a long time. I learned that joy from my sister and from my soul mate kitty Tucker. My little man was about 13 when I adopted him.  After Tucker, we were lucky enough to adopt 16-year-old Henry, and later 13-year-old Mr. Darcy, and so many more.

Of course it's not all glitz and glamour. There's the ever-present knowledge that I don't have a long time with these sweet kitties, but one thing I do have is the chance to give happiness. No matter how brief, these loving souls can revel in the love and security of a home, not disappear behind some cold cage somewhere alone and frightened.

Mikey says...

A very special letter from DCIN's FUNraising Spokescat Mikey.

Six months ago I was traveling in a car away from the one person I ever knew and called "Mom" and my future with her that included traveling back and forth between apartments in her car. We had many good times and some not so good times as you would expect in the nine years you are with someone. When my diabetes fell upon me, my future seemed to be bleak with time running short. I pretty much accepted this was it for me until a kind stranger came upon a posting on Facebook about a cat in need of an immediate loving home. The response was quick and before I knew it I was put into a temporary foster home. The transition was scary at first and not just for me but for my new foster family also. This new family which included fifteen other furry family members from all paws of life. I wasn't thrilled with the new digs but I gave it a chance to grow on my fur.

Threats from the Outside--One Reason to Keep Vaccinations Current

Special thank you to Beth Pasek for writing this guest post. It's an important topic that sadly we are learning about because of sweet Atlas, her beautiful kitty. ~Jennifer Jasensky

Beth Pasek
Owner The Finicky Feline and Fido, LLC
Cat Rescue Foster Home Volunteer

Oh...a while back I was starting to write a Cat On My Sleeve post about being in rescue and was going to use the story of an owner-surrendered Siamese cat. I started that story and never got to finish it. As the days passed since that cat was euthanized, life took an odd twist for this cat foster person. You see, that little Siamese cat was surrendered for boarding at a local clinic. As he was to be boarded, he needed to be vaccinated. The owner’s health failed to improve and the Siamese cat was surrendered to the shelter. Shortly after that, he got sick while being sheltered and then went to be treated at a leading clinic in our area where he stayed for 2 weeks of hospitalization. After several weeks of treatment for a bloody nose, sneezing, and not eating, they thought him well enough to go to foster care to finish his recovery. Unfortunately within a few days he died of unknown causes.

This Week Sucked

A very heartfelt post from Director and Founder of DCIN, Venita Wood.  I share with you, our DCIN friends, fans and supporters and hope that she knows how deeply and truly we do care about DCIN but more importantly about her.  ~Jennifer J.


It is 7:30 am and I have been working on DCIN since 4am. I haven't made a dent in today's "to do" list. DCIN's accounting is only updated through mid-December. I have 940 emails in my inbox, 296 of them are unread.

I have a burr under my saddle from a DCIN client who emailed me that I was not showing enough concern for her cat's health condition. I agree that I likely wasn't, but I received that email the day I made an appointment with my vet to come to the house to euthanize Ennis. So I never responded to it.

I spent the past weekend holding and helping Ennis physically move from Point A to Point B. Ennis could not walk without falling. Most of the time, Point A was the seat of my recliner, where I was holding and petting him. Sometimes Point B was the litter box. Sometimes, Point B was my bed where Ennis was accustomed to having his food. Going up to and down off the bed, Ennis had steps at the end--steps that I built from a footstool and two different heights of Rubbermaid containers. I put child rails on the sides of the bed so that Ennis could not jump down from the sides. The past couple weeks, when Ennis had tried to jump from the sides of the bed he would "thump" to the floor and look at me as though I had betrayed him.

On Monday, I held Ennis gently on my lap while his vet caringly sent him to the Rainbow Bridge. I had a padded box ready for his body, and Dr. R took Ennis away in that.

On Wednesday when I returned to DCIN work, there were two cats with emergent medical conditions that I took on as cases. They both died--Kale from plural effusion and Puma from DKA. There was another communication from the burr-under-the-saddle client. DCIN friends Ann, Gayle, and Steve lost Gustav, Shadoe, and Rorschach. This week has been a major train wreck for me.

There have been times that I have asked myself and asked others whether I should shut DCIN down. DCIN has awesome case managers and significant support from its friends. But this week I received criticism from someone saying that DCIN is not appropriately managing its mission and wasting its precious resources in various ways (with details given). When critical commentary comes from those who help DCIN with projects or money, I respond with reasoning or corrective action. But when it comes from a person who stands at the border and casts stones, I wonder why her ego and the ego of her friends who stand behind her and shout "YES!" are so threatened by DCIN's work.

It has been a suck-ass week. My life would have been so much better off if I hadn't experienced the past seven days. I would gladly give them back to the universe as a mulligan. Just strike the third week of March, 2012, off my life calendar.

~Venita, the sometimes reluctant Founder and Director of DCIN.

In sickness and in health???

Fluffy

There should be a clause on all adoption contracts, as well as for those animals purchased through stores or from breeders. It should be similar to a marriage clause. Do you promise to love and cherish ... even in sickness? Many adoption contracts I've seen ask how much would you be willing to spend if your pet got sick. The best answer - "whatever it takes."

But a sick cat is more than just a price tag. Maybe the question should be "would you be willing to treat your pet if they get sick even if that means administering medication daily and devoting more time to ensure your pet's well being?" I wonder if there would be so many surrendered diabetic kitties if people knew in advance that yes, some cats do get sick and not the type of sick where you can drop Fluffy off at the vet and pick him up when he's all better. Here's a lollipop, a bandage and a bill for my time.

Not all heroes get the glory

Last night, very quietly and without a lot of fanfare, a hero in my life passed away. She was someone whom I'd always hoped I could be more like. She was the nicest person I've known, a woman who always saw only the good in people, never the bad. She was smart as a whip, a world traveler, a photographer, a quilter, a lover of tennis, an avid reader who worked in publishing long before it was the norm to have women in roles like that. She was a loyal and devoted wife, even after her soul mate passed away. No one in her family or her large circle of friends ever found fault in her. Neighbors weren't neighbors, they were family and they were loved. She looked upon strangers as friends she hadn't made yet. She was also a conversationalist, if someone can actually be called that. Anyone could sit and talk with her for hours and never be bored. The stories she had to share and the way she listened to everything that was spoken, you could get wrapped up in that for hours.

Me, my Aunt and Topsy - one of many kitty parties

Who Came First?

This post is written by DCIN's fantastic transport coordinator, Claudia Keating and I can't thank her enough for such an honest piece about something that is heart breaking in rescue.

I have an amazing job.  It doesn't pay the bills, or put food on the table (aside from the fact that I am the one cooking it), but it is a job that nourishes my heart.  I am a mama.  I am raising empathic, compassionate, loving children.  My cats are helping me do that.

Charlie and Lorelei 

I have 2 beautiful babies and 2 wonderful cats.  The cats came first.  My husband adopted Charlie when we started dating 11 years ago.  Darla came along the following year.  For 9 years it was just us and the cats, and then we began adding humans to the brood.  While I was pregnant with my daughter I worried about how the transition would be for the cats.  They already disliked each other, how would they feel about a baby?  Many mainstream parenting books touch on the topic of bringing babies into a home with pets, and boy was I shocked to learn that apparently people still believe the old wives’ tale that “cats steal the breath from babies”!  People actually think that a cat will want to sleep on top of a baby for their warmth….never mind the fact that babies cry, snort, flail, and fuss!  I’ve met very few loyal dogs who were tolerant enough to willingly spend time close to a newborn, much less cats!