citykitties.org

Today we got a very special note in the mail from former celebrity kitten, Meatball Sung!

Inside was a generous donation from Meatball and her mom. Thanks from CK!!

momcat2 has … well, she’s sort of turned into a housecat. far from the hissing, biting feral she was when we brought her in, she’s often affectionate (but only on her own terms) and will tolerate hours of petting. big breakthrough last week — i was able to pick her up and give her some luvin. this has been a daily occurance since then. she usually gets tired of it after about a minute, but she’s a tamed tiger.

I often hear people argue that outdoor cats can “fend for themselves” or can “out-fox” humans, cars, and dogs to stay safe on the streets. If you’ve ever met someone who thinks it’s perfectly acceptable to keep their pet cat outdoors on the streets of Philly, please share this story with them.

One of our dedicated foster parents wrote to me about a horrific experience she had Friday night. As a professional petsitter, the holidays are a busy time for her. That night she was walking two dogs when they spotted a cat. Before she could even react, the unthinkable happened: “A cat was hiding in the shadows of stairs to a house and I didn’t see him, but the dogs did. The cat was cornered….By the time I figured out what was going on one of the dogs had the cat in its mouth. After a struggle and much screaming to let go, the cat was killed.”

This story is from a seasoned petsitter and animal lover, and naturally she felt horrible about what had happened. But in the end, it was no one’s fault but the “owner” who put that cat outside, or put one of its parents outside, letting them breed and produce more city strays. Whoever that person was, they couldn’t be bothered to care about the safety of their pet.

Animal abandonment and neglect happens everyday in neighborhoods around the city, as demonstrated by our motley crew of formerly homeless foster cats. This story is just a taste of what many stray and feral cats have to deal with everyday: humans with nasty intentions, cars, territorial cats, disease, hunger, and severe temperatures.

As a holiday gift to all the strays still out there on the streets, please remind your friends and family to keep their cats indoors, and to always spay and neuter their pets. It saves lives!

For more information on the plight of feral cats in Philadelphia, please check out the Philadelphia Community Cats Council.

Have a safe and happy holiday,
Louisa

Every morning now when I come downstairs, Momcat2 is waiting by the door. She runs in, I put some food in a bowl for her, despite her having a huge one in the front room, she seems to want me to get her some. Then I scratch her head and pet her while she eats. Usually it takes about four seconds for Roswell to come tearing into the room and try and usurp the food — despite the fact that she has access to TWO other robot feeders (tatty won’t let momcat2 upstairs). So I’m pulling Roswell back with one hand and scritching momcat2 with the other. After she eats, she won’t let me pet her much. She alwasy gives this “aaaa! aaaa! why are you doing this to me! aaaaah!” but she’s come such a long way from the screeching feral who bit me on the leg.

Hi everyone, I had to change the blog options so that you have to be registered and logged in to comment. We were getting spammed. It’s free and only takes a minute to set up a name/password, so by all means do!

-Louisa

she’s going to get spayed next week, then her adoption application will be processed. my heart breaks a little everytime i think about her leaving.

Momcat2 came with Roswell and N00t0n. Since we’ve never had any luck adopting out momcat1, I figure we’re stuck together. After about four or five months in the house though, she’s made a breakthrough that momcat1 never has — she’s letting me pet her while she eats. Once I figure out the “upload photo” thing I’ll post pix.

Well, she isn’t old. But this is a new chapter in her life.

I’m not blog savvy, so I don’t know how this will turn out. But let me start by explaining why we foster:

a) the husband and I are not permanent residents in the U.S, so we can’t commit to adopting

b) we love animals, and their company

c) we can help save lives by providing safe comfortable homes while we wait for society in general to realise how wonderful these kitties are to have in their lives!

But I digress….

Whenever we get a new foster, I want to pick them up and smother them in hugs and kisses, invaribly leading to a bite or scratch because they don’t trust the crazy woman holding them. Reluctantly I restrain myself and work on developing a win-win situation. We feed them, keep their kitty litter clean, and give them time to adjust to their new abode. In return, given time, they’ll come and sit on my lap, purr loudly, and talk to me. It is by trial and error to find out what annoys them (ie sides or ears being touched), and what they love.

So I recently worked out that Moo just loves having her nose rubbed. Who would have guessed? I am actually really pleased with this finding. And, after 2 months of doing slow blinking at her to forge bonding, she started blinking and winking back at us. Smiles all round here at Pine st b&b here, as another rescued kitty is primed for her new family (or single parent).

Just out of interest, do you think she looks like a Fresian or Holstein cow? Or are they the same?

You can’t do it. It’s impossible! So adopt one now before they’re gone…

Photos by the amazing Kyle Cassidy

Cap’n Agnes says all she wants to do is purr and bat toys with her gimpy leg.

Alfred and his twin brother, Phinneas, just want to cuddle with you. They don’t need two eyes to do that.

C’mon. You know you want to adopt them all.

I know I haven’t updated you about my latest news for a while now. But what can I say, I am totally busy, life is difficult. It takes a lot of kitty energy to play, eat, nap and…well and nap.
Lately I have been helping my person too. She is always busy and I feel sorry for her. All she does is sits and clicks on a black something. I call it the magic box. It has cool stuff living in it! there is a little white arrow that moves everywhere! its fun to watch!…
Anyway, I decided to help my person with her work. So yesterday when she went to take a break from the magic box I went to cover for her and complete her work….when she woke up and came to the magic box, she freaked out, she thought I am not capable of doing her work!! (she seriously underestimates my intellectual capacity!!)..
but then she discovered that whatever I did was great!. Infact she thanked me with a happy face and said “thank you for saving your crap on a different file” and i dont know what that means…but it sounded good”

anyway…. I got tired of helping her all the time, so I decided to give myself a break. So today I woke my person up at 3:30 and she thought it is time to feed me, am lucky she was too sleepy to know its too early… so i got a late dinner!! (my friend kitties, you should try this..its a cool trick i tell you) .

gotta go now, my person is calling me to play with her!! …life is fun!

Yours Truly
Priss Jones