April and May Adoptions

Grace O'Malley
Grace went to help a feral kitten learn how to be a house kitten and then headed on to her forever home with her new human, Bev.

Atticus and Scout Finch
Atticus and Scout headed to Leesburg to fill a cat shaped hole in the hearts of Denise and Angel. The pair had lost their cat of many years a few months ago and found themselves ready to open their hearts again, this time to a pair of kittens.

Irene Addler
Irene will be getting picked up by her new human, Chris, this upcoming Friday night. She's made a lot of progress in her months with me. She eats treats from my hand, sits next to me on the couch and even lets me sneak in the occasional petting. She also now loves to play and can amuse herself with a catnip mouse for hours.

Allen Quatermain 
This shy fellow finally found just the right home with Lisa and Daryle and their kitty Thor. Thor is also very shy and needed a kitty that wouldn't bully him. Things are working out nicely as you can see in the picture above. Thor and Allen have found that having a friend can be pretty great.

Spa Day

Ah, "Spa Day".  This is where we tell the kitties they are going as we cram them into carriers and rumple their dignity. Often times, my best friend Jennie helps me with transport since drop off and pickup times occur while I need to be at work. Usually it's just 2 or 3 kittens per trip... but not today.

Today saw the transporting and orchestration of Spa Day for 9 cats and catlings. Jennie spent the night last night and helped me catch and cram wiggly kittens into carriers. See, carriers are fascinating until the moment you want the kitten to go inside. Then they become objects that induce terror.

The image above is seven pet carriers in Jennie's car as she heads to Humane Society of Tampa Bay with seven kitties. This should be an advertisement for the Nissan Versa. Versa: All the Space for All the Cats.

Since we had split locations today, I then took off with Mr Bingley and Mr. Darcy to Hillsborough County Animal Services. (They came from there so they get fixed there.) Of course these locations are on opposite sides of town, so today needed teamwork.

So here's the rundown for what shall forever after be known as "Super Spa Day"

Bingley plays office kitten after being denied service.
It's a hard knock life.

• Belinda Cratchit: Spayed, shots, microchip
• Bob Cratchit: Teasted with possible heart murmur. Needs re-check at another facility.
• Peter Cratchit: Neutered, shots, microchip
• Tiny Tim  Cratchit: Too small at weigh in. Spending the day with Jennie

• Atticus Finch: Neutered, shots, microchip- being adopted on Friday
• Scout Finch: Spayed, shots, microchip- being adopted on Friday

• Mr Darcy: Neutered, shots, microchip
• Mr Bingley: Too small at weigh in. Spending the day with Kristen

• Scully: Fixed, shots, microchip

And at this moment we are both preparing to do it all over again, just in reverse. Tonight will be a lot of dopey kittens wandering around and two tired cat ladies eating leftover pizza.

Atticus and Scout

Atticus Finch and Jean Louise 'Scout' Finch joined me this week. They'd been living with their mom under a decaying mattress and box spring in the side yard of an abandoned home. This wasn't the best place to be with upcoming storms and interested free roaming neighborhood dogs.

Atticus is a short hair black male American bobtail mix with a half length tail. Scout is a black and white bicolor female with medium length fur. Both kittens were of a feral disposition at first, hissing and spitting whenever they were approached.

48 hours has changed their minds about life on the inside. Atticus is fearless. He sees not obstacles, only challenges to conquer. Scout is sweet of disposition but has a lot to say. She's a bit of a talker and if she is not getting what she wants, she will merrily let you know about it. These two should make weight in the next week or two and can then be taken for their vetting and fixing. By then, I imagine they will be champ indoor kitties.

They have already been wooed by the delicacies of turkey goo, the never ending bowl o' kibble, the pillow bed and the wonders of fleece. On demand clean water and the litter box that they don't have to clean also seem to be appreciated.

I'll post more about them soon, including when they will be available for adoption.

Grace O'Malley

Grace O'Malley is a tiny kitten that found herself dumped in a restaurant parking lot. Some nice staff folks took her and her two siblings into the offices for the day. Two were instantly adopted by folks who worked there, but little Grace needed a place to go. As one of my friends works at the restaurant, I was contacted and gave my usual answer: "Sure, why not?"


Grace was an instant sweetheart and it was easy to tell that she had been dumped and had never been feral. She was very clean, free of fleas and loved to be petted. I posted a few photos of her on my Facebook page, and a friend of mine fell in love with her and sent in an adoption request.

Grace went with Duchess Josiana for her "spa day" at Humane Society of Tampa Bay where she was spayed and vetted. She then headed to the home of another foster to see if she could help coax a feral kitten into being more social with people. She'll stay at this foster home until her new house is ready in a week or two and hopefully, she will be an excellent role model for the other kitten until then.

Current Cats: April 2016

Irene Addler

Although she still does not like to be touched, Irene has come a long way from the growling and unseen monster in the back of my closet. She is now a lovely girl cat that has received all of her initial vet work and has been spayed. Regular eating and not being in the shelter have changed her for the better. Irene is a curious girl, ready to follow you around the house, watch over your shoulder and stare balefully at you as you cook and don't give her morsels. She'll hang out and nap next to you on the couch, but pet her at your own risk. You'll likely be shanked in response.

She is extremely food driven and wet food and all kinds of human foods are of interest to her. Including cookies. Seriously, she will swipe a cookie from you with hilarious alacrity. She may even helpfully open the package for you. The one way she will merrily approach a human is is the have a handful of treats and are seated on the floor. In this case she comes skidding to a halt in front of you the moment she hears the treat bag and will delicately take the treats from your hand. She's quite the dainty lady when she wants something.

It's a long way she has come, but she still has a way to go. She'd make a great companion for someone who isn't too interested with having a cat that wants your attention all of the time but doesn't want to be entirely alone.

Allen Quatermain

This kitten has gone from skittish to sweet. Each morning he waits for me to wake so that I may pet him. Quatermain is deferential to all other cats and is certainly not an alpha cat. He enjoys sleeping in baskets, watching television, squishy food and being petting in two minute increments. Q is a sweet, soft and beautiful boy who has all his initial vetting done and is fixed. Although we had a few people interested in him, they seem to have wandered off in favor of other cats.

Quatermain started life as a feral street cat, but has become a happy house cat. He is a bit shy with new people, but once they settle down and are quiet, he will begin to explore the new humans. Q does have an upcoming meet and greet date this Saturday. I'm really hoping it will go well. He's such a good boy and I want him to have a great life.

Duchess Josiana, the odd-eyed cat

Duchess Josiana was a stray living in a local park. She and her already weaned kittens were all rather friendly, so they were trapped and have been taken to foster homes. I knew with the first sight of her, Duchess Josiana would find a home very, very soon.

Duchess Josiana has a lot going on genetically and health wise so this will be a somewhat long post with a lot of topics.

Odd Eyes

Duchess Josiana is an odd-eyed cat. Her most outstanding feature are her mismatched eyes, one blue and one gold. This eye color difference is a genetic mutation referred to as Heterochromia iridis. This mutation is most often seen in cats that are entirely white but can also be found in cats with the gene for white spotting.

Odd Eyes and a Name

In the case of this kitty, her name was entirely inspired by her eyes. She is named for Duchess Josiana, a character from the Victor Hugo novel L'Homme qui rit or The Man Who Laughs. In the novel, the character of the Duchess is described as having one brown and one blue eye. To be honest, I could only think of just one female character from literature that is described as having heterochromia. So, that nicely helped to limit my literary naming pool.

White Coat

White cats have a particular set of genes that creates their spotless coat: namely the white masking gene. The W gene, when found in cats, prevents the production of pigment-producing cells during embryologic development. No matter what other color genes the cat may have, if they are W/W (white masking dominant / white masking dominant) or W/w (white masking dominant / white masking recessive), they will have a lack of melanin producing cells and thus have a white coat. Some cats with the W allele are also deaf. In odd eyed cats, they may be deaf in one or both ears.

FIV+

Duchess Josiana tested positive for FIV. Feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) is found in about 2.5 to 4.4 percent of cats world wide. The virus is a retrovirus that causes immunodeficiency in cats, meaning that cats with the virus can be more susceptible to secondary infections, especially respiratory infections. Each infected cat is unique. Based on their overall health and the care they receive, they may live very long lives relatively free from trouble. If they are street cats exposed to more diseases and prone to more fighting/aggression they will be more likely to become ill due to their reduced immune system being less able to fight off various bacteria and infections.

FIV+ kitties are those who have tested positive for the FIV antibody. Cats who have had an FIV immunization will forever test as FIV+, so if your cat is immunized, make sure they have a microchip and that their chip file explains their immunization. Many shelters will immediately euthanize cats that test positive with FIV even though the disease has a fairly mild transmission rate. FIV is generally passed through one cat biting another and the FIV+ cat's saliva entering the wound of the other cat. Transmission is most common in unaltered male cats that are fighting for territory, resources and mating rights.

A Home for Her Grace

Because Duchess Josiana tested positive for FIV, we try to find her a home where she will be the only cat or where the family may have another cat with FIV. We found a winner! Leana and her family have one cat who is FIV+ and is 16. They know how to take care of FIV+ kitties and live in a nice rural place where Duchess Josiana can enjoy life and be well loved, especially by a little girl who is very anxiously waiting for her to arrived. The Duchess will be spayed tomorrow and goes to her new home on Friday

Learn more:

• Basics of Genetics (Wikipedia)
• Deafness is Cats
• Odd Eyed Cats
• Cats and FIV
• The Man Who Laughs by Victor Hugo (Project Gutenberg)

Irene Unwinds

She started coiled like a tight spring, full of fear and anger. Now, Irene has begun to slowly uncoil and show some personality. She likes to sprawl and roll. She likes comfy places and is quick to steal the warm spot on the couch as soon as you vacate a seat. Irene is enamored of squishy food and comfy places.