Wonderpurr Cats Looking for Forever Homes

The Stray Cat Family is now seeking adoption. Please take a moment and read their bios. If you know of someone who is in desperate need of a wonderpurr cat, please call the number at the end of this post and reference Susan Huff and Kim Kozlowski.

 

Nikolas Ridikolas

“I don’t want to be your whole life, just your favorite part.”

Day job: Purrfessional belly rub receiver.

Dream job: Loves mewic. Can hit tenor high C and plans to win AmeriCat Idol.

Purrsonality: Natural comedicat known for random acts of silliness. Embraces his inner goofball and completely dorks out for no reason.

Caregiver Notes: This is a fun cat with lots of personality. Impressive that after a year as a stray he invites belly rubs and greets me at the door with dog-like excitement, however he has no experience with dogs. Nik is a good father to his 4 kittens with AdoraBelle.

AdoraBelle

“We can’t all be princesses. Someone has to clap when I go by.”

Day job: Devoted Meowmy of 4 - AdoraPurr, Addie Pray, Kepurr and Kopea

Dream job: Pampurr’d Princess and Full Time Lap Cat

Purrsonality: Grace Kelly regal with a touch of Beyonce cool.

Caregiver Notes: Her approachable friendliness and devotion to her first litter brought her to my attention. Belle is sweet, though reserved due to hard start in life. She puts her family first, allowing them to eat before her. She enjoys cuddles and sweet nothings whispered in her ears. Sincere appreciation for how wonderpurr she is will make a huge impact on her. She needs a home where she never has to worry or be afraid ever again. Has no experience with dogs.

AdoraPurr

“If I was your kitten I’d never let you go. You’ll never be alone. EVER!”

Day job: Manning phones for Itty Bitty Adopt a Kitty Committee

Dream job: Designer for Pampurr’d Princess fashions

Purrsonality: Wonderpurr from ears to tail. Easy going, sweet and unafraid.

Caregiver Notes: Someone forgot to tell “Dori” never-handled, stray kittens are supposed to come with a little wildness. She loves to be cuddled, sits sweetly in laps and is trying so hard to be purrfect in order to find a Forever Home. We assured her she has nothing to worry about.

Addie Pray

“If it’s only a Paper Moon, does that mean I can shred it?”

Day job: Toilet paper destroyer

Dream job: Actually, destroying toilet paper is my dream job. Yay!

Purrsonality: All bark and no bite--or scratch. Enjoys ear rubs and back rubs.

Caregiver Notes: Named for Tatum O’Neil’s character in Paper Moon, Addie’s purrpetual squinty glare disappears when she’s being handled. After spending her first 3 months as outside stray Addie needs reassurance no harm will come to her, but as days go by she displays a stronger trust that her life is changing for the better.

Kepurr

“When you get to know me, every day is Black Cat Appreciation Day.”

Day job: Testing cat toys to determine worthiness for his attention.

Dream job: His natural curiosity would make him a fabulous Investigative Repurrtor for LOL Cats mewsletter.

Purrsonality: Calm, sweet-natured. Enjoys back rubs while eating.

Caregiver Notes: Initial fear of being handled has evaporated and he loves back rubs. He takes after his father, Nikolas Ridikolas, with a zeal for fun. Has loud purr! Kepurr is definitely a keeper.

Kopea

“Basement Cat jokes make me worry no one will love me for the wonderpurr kitteh I am.”

Day job: Exploring caves, showing fur-sibs he’s not afraid of the dark.

Dream job: Climbing mountains, proving to himself he is worthy of a Forever Home.

Purrsonality: Curious, but reserved. Possibly subjected to cruel Basement Cat jokes during his formative weeks. Idolizes his father, Nikolas Ridikolas, and copies him thus his name, Kopea.

Caregiver Notes: Kopea is on his way to becoming a pawsome housecat. His life as a stray kitten left him skeptical that humans won’t scare him, but he shows signs of wanting more from life than watching his fur-sibs interact with me. He clearly adores his father, Nikolas, and mimics his movements, even to the point of joining him in the litter box! Kopea would be ideal in a home with happy Cat Whisperer-type people willing to prove to him he has nothing to fear and was born to be loved.

To inquire about adopting any of these wonderpurr cats, please contact

DeSoto Animal Rescue Society

Horn Lake, Mississippi

(662) 342-9448

Reference Susan Huff and Kim Kozlowski

Ninja Kittens, Tornados & Unexpected House Guests

I'm FRUSTRATED!!! <--- notice extra exclamation points. This means I'm serious.

This past Tuesday night I had 16 cats inside my house. SIXTEEN! But I'm getting ahead of my story.

Adult Male #1 -- handsome panfur mancat

On Monday I hauled Stray #1 - Male - back to vet. He'd been sneezing with runny eyes which equaled a respiratory infection. Also -- worms. Pretty sure, why not, the kittens do. I also took in the sweetie pie female tabby so my vet could see her. She's 3 months old, 3 lbs, and guess what? Besides worms...she has ear mites. And so did Stray 1. Ack!

I had to buy dewormer for Mom cat and the Ninja kittens plus ear mite liquid.

So after dinner I begged Ray to help me deworm the Ninjas. It’s a topical like Advantage only with a special ingredient (like platinum) to make it super pricey. Whatever! I dewormed Mom Cat and did her ears, bless her she's so nice.

The Ninjas... I had Ray on the ready outside the bathroom door with ear stuff and deworm stuff. I went in carrying a towel and managed to get hold of Feisty aka Mister Congeniality. Compared to the two black kittens, Feisty is a piece of cake. Ray came in, making rude comments about how the bathroom stinks (like I couldn't tell -- rolling eyes here) and he applied the stuff to Feisty and left. I released Feisty, then tried to grab a black kitten. I get one wrapped up like a burrito but apparently my burrito wrapping sucks because he wiggled loose, screaming like a girl at a Bieber concert. I didn't let go, but was way too wary of those back claws. I'm already sporting a lovely gouge in my left palm. Long story short -- didn't happen. Didn’t happen with the other black kitten either who has defied my every attempt to make friends.

Ninja Kittens 5, Kim 0.

THEN!

I Can't Say No to Kryptonite Kittens

"Please don't make me move."

Look at that face. Is that a face you say "No" to?

No, as in no, you can't eat the food I left out for my regular cats. No you can't warm yourself under the heat lamp. No, you can't stay.

I've never been able to say No to an animal in need, and as of this morning I found out just how needy a couple year-old female sisters are when, at 4 this morning my husband woke me up.

"Come see what's sleeping under the porch lamp."

Uh oh. A raccoon? No, that's no big deal. Just last night I was touched to discover a young raccoon had curled into a tight ball on the porch sofa. I took its photo moments before it got up and wandered into the cat house where I had a heat lamp burning. Clearly it had done that before.

baby raccoon

I got up and followed Ray into the living room. We are light sleepers in our house, and tend to roam during the wee hours to discover what exactly goes on both in and outside the house. Ray gestured out the window.

Kittens! Three of them curled into a cozy cluster under the lamp. Two black, one tabby.

4 am -- kittens

 I could see Momcat inside the house. From a prior meeting I knew the Momcat to be relatively tame. I mixed up a can of stinky cat tuna with kibble and took it out to them. YumYum was asleep in the camp chair under the better of the two lamps. For whatever reason (Divine Intervention) I'd whisked her buddy, Jesse, into the laundry room the night before. It was bone-chilling cold, and Yum Yum can be a bit of a heat hog. Perched on the side of the chair, Jesse had looked miserable. With a bed, litter box and food and water, in my laundry room he settled in quite happily. Perhaps with Jesse gone, Momcat felt comfortapurr enough to bring the kittens on to the porch for the night.

As I stepped out, the cold hit me. It was 70 just a day ago, now it was sleeting. Of course the kittens scattered when they saw me, but Momcat came over to say hello. I put down the food, and the smell lured the kittens over. It also lured YumYum, but I had food for her and so everyone ate happily, and I went back to bed, after snapping a few photos.

4:15 am - kitten breakfast

When I awoke at 6, I checked to see if they were still there. Yep. Except now there were four kittens! Two black and two tabbies. Two tabbies? Oh no!

Tiger baby, looks male

All of the food was gone, so I made a huge batch and took it out to them. Momcat came over, kittens zoomed like crazed rockets around us. Then I noticed another black female...Momcat's sister. And man, doesn't she look like she could be... oh no!

I kept Jesse in the laundry room all day. He's fit to be tied, absolutely bored out of his mind despite the catnip, treats and toys I gave him. I know if I let him out, not only would he be miserable in the cold, but Momcat would take her babies away for safety. Jesse isn't aggressive, but I don't want to take the chance when its so mean and cold outside.

Kittens! I don't have room in my budget for kittens. I don't have room in my house for kittens. I do not want kittens. And yet... how can I say No?

Little panfur baby soaks under heat lamp

Toys for future hunters

Momcat is tame and sweet

Momcat and 3 kittens enjoy toys

Herman checks out the action

Junior practices for future hunting expedition

YumYum perches on chair while Momcat enjoys house.

I know God doesn't give me more than I can handle, but...  Seriously, Lord? Enough is enough!

The Smell of Success!

As most of you know, my Nicholas passed away on February 20th from complications of a bacterial infection in his head. He gave a good fight, but in the end my new vet and I agreed he would not survive exploratory surgery.

I wrote the below post back on December 1, 2011 to celebrate Nick's 12th anniversary with me. I've shed enough tears over the past week. And so have my beloved friends who knew how much Nicholas meant to me.

My next post will be nothing but photos and fun memories. And laughs!

Today is Nick's 12th anniversary as a member of my family. He's approximately 14 years old, and was found on the property we bought in Kentucky. At the time he was big (#15) aggressive and stunk--the worst I've ever smelled any stray animal. I thought he’d rolled in something, but turns out it came from inside him. His diet of whatever rodent or garbage he could find caused his body odor to keep everyone, human and animal, at a distance.

Except me, of course. I took pity on him, even when my other cats were running in terror from him, and my husband suggested we ship him out of the neighborhood.

I saw something in Nick that wrenched my heart. A homeless soul who didn’t know how to love because no one had ever loved him. Turns out I was right.

On December 1, 1999 I made the decision to officially adopt Nick. Had to come up with a name, of course. I ignored my husband’s suggestions (you can imagine what they were) and finally came up with Nicholas…the Great! Nothing like a good name to start a lost soul on the road to self-worth.

His diet was next. I couldn’t stop him from eating what he hunted; we were living in the country after all. But I fed him quality canned and kibble to get him on the right road to health. He lived outdoors and wasn’t at all an indoor cat. That winter, our first in a snow climate after living in Florida for 18 years, was brutally cold. I set Nick up on our covered back porch with a dog house and blankets and a heat lamp. To this day I recall the night I had a fire going on the hearth, and my home was warm and cozy. And I thought about him outside, smelling to high heaven.

I had never brought him inside, but we had a pretty good relationship because I fussed over him, and loved on him (all the while holding my nose). I’d never picked him up, but that night I did. I brought him inside and we sat on the couch together. And I rubbed his frozen ears and told him how wonderful he was. He stayed that night only a few minutes. He was uncomfortable being indoors. But each night he stayed a little longer. And he loved having his ears rubbed.

It took more than a year for his body odor to wear off. I tried deodorant sprays for animals but they only made his eau de dead carcass aroma smell even worse. The improvement in his smell, however, did nothing to tame his anger. This was one angry cat! He picked fights with my sweet outdoor cats over absolutely nothing. All they had to do was look at him and he’d be ready to punch their lights out. He was big and formidable, and strong. And yet…he let me come between him and his “prey.” Numerous times I stepped in to break up a fight, and every time Nick pulled back, even though he clearly wanted to draw more blood.

One of my most cherished memories is when Nick brought me a live baby mouse…on Mother’s Day! My husband saw Nick enter the porch through the pet door with the mouse in his mouth. He called me, and as I stepped out, Nick placed the mouse on the tile, and then jumped into a chair to watch me appreciate his gift. Of course I fussed over him, while my indoor clueless cats, Buddy and Holly, sat on either side of the mouse looking at it with amazement. I eventually put it in a box, and asked Nick to come with me while I released it. I told him what a great gift he’d given me. I didn’t mean the mouse, of course. After I released it, we walked together back to the house, Nick strutting proudly, tail high in the air.

Now he’s 14 and winding down. He’s asthmatic, and has tiny topical tumor bumps throughout his body. He’s still Alpha though in semi-retirement. The things he used to get angry over now don’t bother him much. He wants his dinner when he’s hungry and will yowl like the Siamese-Tabby he is. And he wants the best seat in the house…usually in my lap. He’s up around 20# now, and yet considers himself a lap cat. He’s also made friends with Ray, though that took about 11 of the 12 years he’s been with us. I think Ray was more than intimidated by Nick’s size. He’s pretty impressive. And I think Nick thought Ray didn’t like him, so they had a mutual disinterest in each other until Ray started petting Nick and saying hello. This morning Nick walked across Ray’s lap (to get to me) but that’s something that wouldn’t have happened years ago. 

The only thing Nick won’t let me do is clip his nails. He tells me no by gently placing his teeth against my hand. He has never bitten me, scratched me, or turned on me, and so I respect his wishes and don’t clip his nails. I let my vet be the bad guy.

Nick and I mutually love and respect each other. He’s a prime example of what love can do: Literally tame a beast.

3 Little Blessings

Last Thanksgiving my neighbor told me she and her husband have a family tradition of gifting someone who had done something extra special for them over the past year. Her husband had had a severe injury and my husband did something for them in their time of need that went beyond the average neighborly help. They selected him to be that year's recipient. My husband's reaction was, 'Why? I didn't do anything special.' But to them, what he did was huge.

How often do we take the little things in life for granted, thinking they're no big deal. And yet, to someone else they're huge. And so, here are 3 of what I considered to be huge personal blessings from 2011:

1. Author, cat lover and best buddy Linda Rettstatt has given her time and infinite patience to me, not only in 2011, but since 2006. We started out as writer buddies, but for me Linda turned out to be so much more: The foot in my back when I allow Life to stand in the way of my writing. Plot thread unraveler when my love for complex layers tangles to the point where I need someone with creative vision to cut through the BS and get to the meat of the story. And warm-hearted cat lover, who assures me my brats will be taken care of if I'm called out of town. She's my conference buddy, my navigator when GPS and MapQuest lets me down. And she has a wicked sense of humor that appeals to my skewed take on life.

I am so blessed to have found her shortly after I moved to the Mid-South. I'm certain a Divine Hand had a lot to do with us being friends.

2. I'm blessed to have a great family. Not just immediate, but also extended through my husband's family. In fact, I had to marry Ray in order to get Carolyn for a sister.

Car, along with my blood sisters, Julie and Janice and Sandy, are with me daily through emails and texts. What we share to someone else might seem mundane, but to me those messages are Home, and make me part of their lives despite being so far away.

I'm very blessed to have those women in my life, not only as sisters, but as friends...something I never would have believed growing up with them!

3. My 3rd blessing comes in the form of the man who said "I do" to me back when I was a child bride and had no idea what true love or even marriage really meant.

We left Michigan shortly after marrying and moved to Florida to open our own business. We never thought we'd be gone as long as we have, but circumstances led us down paths that didn't lead back home. We had to learn how to be independent from family, and rely on each other for everything.

Many holidays were spent just the two of us. I tell you it's character building when you leave home and are so broke you can't afford a Christmas tree, so you decorate your planted yucca with lights and tinsel.

The road we traveled has had more than a few bumps, and some pretty deep pot holes, yet through it all we knew we could face anything as long as we had each other. When I say Ray is wonderful, I'm not just throwing any word out. He has always been driven to give us a better life, and sacrificed endlessly so that I can now pursue my writing career.

He has given generously not only to me, but also to the wayward strays that always seem to find me. I know he dreams of a life with maybe one cat. Just this morning he said to Opie, 'You are the last one.' And I'm thinking, yeah, but what about Peaches and Jack and Chauncie and Gidget and Jesse and Yum Yum and...

My greatest blessing is finding Ray as a teenager and knowing right then I'd found Mr. Right. We've evolved over the years, from clueless, dreamy-eyed youths in quest of adventure in the land of Mickey Mouse, to adults who understand the key to happiness is to never forget to laugh. Or say I'm sorry. Or let the other see you roll your eyes.

Happy Thanksgiving! Be safe in your travels, and don't forget to put the Alka Seltzer and Beano in your pockets!