Seasons Greetings from Maine

Greetings, all!  Just a quick note to say Happy Holidays!  I’ve left my Pennsylvania post for a bit and am in Maine celebrating with my family. I will be back next week with news from SP#1.  I’m sending the animals of HOKAFI and all our readers and supporters my very best wishes.  See you next week!

Lemony

Sox!

Tags

animal shelter, blind, cats, HOKAFI, Kitties, purr, special needs, volunteer

It was so great to be back with all the kitties in SP#1 today.  I was greeted by someone new, too!  Someone little who raced up to greet me and raced off again and around and up and down.  He has fabulous markings on the bottoms of his feet.  This was actually what I first noticed about him, believe it or not—the little black patterns on the underside of his paws—as I tried to keep track of him as he darted to and fro and back again to say hello.  Here is a picture of one of his feet (he finally wore himself out and took a short rest).

Sox's foot

His name is Sox.  We’re now back up to three males in the room.   When Chris came in and told me a little bit about him, I was stunned to learn that he is over 10 years old!  He had been adopted from the shelter when he was a kitten, and now, sadly, has been returned.  Now that he has at the shelter he is receiving proper care for his right eye, in which he has developed glaucoma and has lost his sight.  Once he has settled in and has had a chance grow a bit stronger, he will have the eye removed.

Sox is such a cutie!

Sox behaves like a real youngster, batting at all the toys in the room, pouncing on streaks in the floor, playfully arching his back at the other cats and lunging, hoping for a sparring partner (you can imagine that doesn’t go over well).

He was all excited when Rascal jumped up to the sink while he was there (yes, we have yet another sink kitty in the bunch—that makes four!) Rascal wanted some private sink time, and so Sox was getting all up in his face doing the “fast blink,” clearly uttering, in kitty-speak, our version of “Bring it on, Pops!”  Rascal wasn’t having ANY of that.  Not one to be taunted, Rascal did not take the bait. In fact, I think I saw Rascal roll his eyes out of sheer boredom (as a cover, of course).  The sink didn’t interest him in the least, nor did this incredibly discourteous creature who had the nerve to hog the damn thing for himself.  I’m convinced that Rascal plays mind games with the others (and very effective ones, too):  he simply looked right through Sox, as if he couldn’t even see him.  Sox sat down, so to speak, and Rascal had his turn at the sink.

Oh, I think Sox is going to fit in nicely.  Except for the showdown at the sink, he was adorably oblivious to everyone’s disdain, including Katarina’s.

Sox sticking his tongue out at Katarina

He really seemed so kitten-like to me, and very good-natured.  He has an air of mischief about him, too.  He was very inquisitive today (his first  real day out of the condo, after being moved into the room two days ago), and not shy at all.  Like sweet Holly, our another recent addition, who is also doing very well, he seems to keep his purr in “idle” and then revs it up at the slightest bit of attention.  You can see from his precious face what a friendly little love he is.

Sox in Bed

Welcome to SP#1, Sox! 

A Kitty Lullaby

Tags

animal shelter, cats, HOKAFI, kitty, lillia, lullaby, volunteer

A sick three year old, a sick self, and very busy final-exam week at the college where I teach have all meant that I have not been able to visit my sweet kitties.  I expected I would be sad, but as I write this I realize how attached I have become to the little gang in SP#1 and their neighbors in SP#2.  I really miss them throughout the week when I’m not there.  My daughter asks about them, too, eager to know what they’re up to, how they’re behaving, who is feeling well, who might be a bit under the weather.  Lately, she has been very curious about Holly, and how she is figuring things out without being able to see or hear. As a little one trying to conquer navigate the world, she finds it fascinating to imagine how other little ones take on the universe.

My partner and I sing a song as part of our bedtime routine with Lillia every night, a lullaby that has been passed down through generations in my family.  We have expanded the song (originally directed just to the child) to allow us to think about the people and animals (and dolls…) in our lives that we love or about others who are out in the world that we know are suffering, and we wish them all a good night of peaceful sleep.  Over the last several months, Lillia has started to include the kitties from the shelter, each by name, into the song.  Maybe, somehow, they can hear her sweet, little voice singing to them in the dark. And maybe… just maybe… they have a sweeter sleep because of it.

Autumn Sleeping

Katarina Sacked-Out

Tiara Sound Asleep

Sweet Repose (Lucky)

A Rascal at Rest

Sweet dreams, precious kitties.

A Shout-Out to Pedro

Tags

animal shelter, cats, HOKAFI, special needs, video, volunteer

Holly was sound asleep when I arrived today.  She was actually purring in her sleep!  I hope she was having a very happy dream.  When she woke up I spent lots of time holding her on my lap and petting her.  She explored the room a little bit, but seemed more interested in taking it easy today, as did all the cats.  I think the rain makes everyone feel like napping.  Below are a few Flip clips featuring Holly.  You’ll see Billy Bob loyally standing guard in one.  Although I didn’t include them all in what I’ve featured here, a lot of my clips show several of the cats sneaking into Holly’s condo while she was out (and even when she was IN) to eat her food and drink her water.  She didn’t mind at all, even when Dixie, who takes up a LOT of space (she’s rather on the chubby side), was practically squashing her in order to squeeze herself in to the condo to help herself to Holly’s food. (NB: Cassidy is the one you’ll actually see slip into Holly’s condo in the video.)    Holly is clearly very easy going, and an incredible little purr box.

Sweet, Sweet Holly

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I have to include at least two other Flip video collections today.  Rascal was in especially good form, living up to his name.  Somehow he managed to get on top of the supply cabinet in the room. The video doesn’t capture  the height at which he is towering above me, but he was quite pleased with himself, and I’m sure he has a smirk on his face.  At the same time, he looks perfectly nonchalant: “Of course, I can sit up here.  I sit up here all the time.”

Rascal Conquers the Supply Cabinet

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Finally, I had a chance to capture one of Katarina’s best moments.  There is a spot on the floor that she just loves.  In fact, she falls head over heels in love with it from time to time when I pull the supply cabinet away from the wall (yes, Racal was still on top at this point) so that I can vacuum and mop behind it.  She goes to sniff that spot behind the cabinet and well, the video shows the rest:

Gettin’ My Groove On To Pedro from [Cat]arina

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The dedication to Pedro at the start of that video is to the handsome cat and author of a blog I’ve been following for a while now: “Maru Can Kiss My Furry…” Pedro has had some very sweet and generous words for the kitties of SP#1, including Holly and [Cat]arina (as he insists is the proper spelling of Katarina’s name.)  Pedro also nominated me for the Kreativ Blogger Award, for which I was very humbled and honored, and something to which I will be devoting an entire post in the very near future.  In the meantime, please check out Pedro’s blog:  http://pedrothecat.com/

Holly

Tags

animal shelter, blind, cats, deaf, HOKAFI, Kitties, special needs, volunteer

In SP#1 we have welcomed a new resident. A beautiful cat named Holly.  Her fur is soft and thick, and she has a wonderful purr.  She is both blind and deaf, and so needs some time to acquaint herself with the room.

Holly on the Move

She came out of her condo to explore the room a little while I was there.  I was impressed with how adventurous she was.  I was expecting her to be somewhat timid, and while she did have her tail down as she walked around (which to me was a demonstration of her caution) she appeared to be quite eager to check things out.   She investigated every corner of the room, smelling her away around and finding her way back a few times to the condo to check in.

I found myself wanting to intervene, everytime she came too close to one of the other more combative cats, but I held back to see how she would handle herself.  She completely lucked out.  She just skiiiiiiimmed by Nutmeg, who needs A LOT of space and has no qualms about letting the other cats know they need to back off.  She was millimeters from Rascal’s nose, completely oblivious to his pugnacious glare (he doesn’t really hiss to give warning like the others do—he just attacks. He restrained himself, however.)   Katarina hissed at Holly several times from across the room, just staring at her (something she does with all the cats to remind them how much she loathes their presence), but, of course, this had no effect whatsoever on Holly, since she cannot see or hear.

I was curious to see how Autumn, who is also blind, would react to Holly, if she bumped into her.  Autumn is very feisty when she needs to be (I love that about her), and usually strikes if she collides with someone and that someone doesn’t retreat.   Fortunately, when Holly ran into her, Holly immediately drew back and headed in the other direction, avoiding the clash.  GOOD INSTINCTS Holly!!

I’ll look forward to getting to know Holly better and hope that she will make a rapid transition into the room.  Billy Bob was already doing his part to welcome her (standing close to her, letting her smell him, drinking water next to her, etc.).   Let’s hope the others will do the same.

Holly