What’s new at Wee Paws

It’s been ages since I’ve written anything about Wee Paws in general, so here’s a little update about all our residents, temporary and permanent.

The fat fosters are going home!  I was honestly a bit worried that these two might never get picked up by their family, and they have been here a couple of weeks longer than we originally anticipated.  However, a couple of days ago we received a nice PayPal donation from their owners, who are coming to get them today.  The owners promise to switch the cats to wet food (from freely-fed kibble), and will keep them on their diet until they get down to a better weight.  I’ll come back and edit this with specific weights, but I know they’ve each lost 3+ lbs. since their arrival, and Wilbur (the smaller of the two cats), now looks more “big-boned” than obese.  It was good to be able to do something really proactive to help pets affected by foreclosures, even if it was only these two.

Kevin, the sexy stray we took in off the streets over the winter has not one, but two, potential homes.  Kevin loves dogs, so some friends in Seattle who are looking for a dog-friendly cat are interested in adopting him.  If that doesn’t work out, the doctor who runs our clinical trial is also interested in adoption.  The only problem with the doctor is that she works a lot, and I think Kevin would be lonely as an only cat.  In her case, she might be better off adopting a couple of older sibling cats (I just had a lightbulb go on and I know where there is a pair of adoptable sibling cats, so maybe I can make a love match without ever needing the cats to be under our roof).

Skylar is still here, and I’m not sure if he’ll end up going anywhere.  He’d like to find an older owner with a nice lap and live as a solitary cat, but he’s almost 15 years old and it’s tough to find someone willing to take a cat whose best years are probably behind him.  You’d never know how old he was to look at him, and he’s very active, so maybe someone will eventually turn up.

Once the fat fosters have vacated the guest bedroom, we potentially have room to provide more help if it’s needed.  There are so many cat candidates to choose from, though.  I’ve had one panicked email this week from a person who’s been taking in cats abandoned in her neighbourhood of foreclosures, but she’s hit some maximum ppi (paws per square inch) and the cats are starting to fight amongst themselves.  She needs to remove one specific cat to fix the issue.  Our local dog rescue Yahoo group posted about a cat who needs a foster family—yet another foreclosure victim.  The cat is an orange male tabby like my little Liam, and I’ll admit I fell a bit in love with him when I saw his photo.  He’s a possibility.  The bulletin board at our vet’s office contains no fewer than half a dozen cats looking for new homes, and it’s already kitten season, so I’m sure we’ll stay busy.  What I’m really hoping for are some bottle-babies, because we haven’t had any in two years and I’ve got empty nest syndrome.

All the cats who live here permanently as pets are doing well, even Bunny, who seems completely recovered from her accident.  With the exception of one specific grumpy cat (Jackson Monroe), all the cats are remarkably good about adapting to new cats and barely blink when I plop a stranger down in their midst.  We still feed raw, although I’ve been supplementing with bits of T/D Prescription Diet in an attempt to ward off dental problems.  I’m skeptical that it will truly make a difference, even though it was suggested it would still do its job if only fed as a snack, but it’s fine to have a “kibble hunt” with the cats.  I go from room to room and toss small handfuls of kibble around, hiding pieces in cat furniture along the way, and the resulting pandemonium is like a frenzied Easter Egg quest, but with a lot more feet.  It’s good exercise for the cats, and it gives them a chance to “hunt”.  No matter how little they actually end up getting (maybe a tablespoon of kibble each), the hunt exhausts them and it’s a great way to create a few hours of silence.  When you’re hiding eggs for your kids this year, don’t forget to hide some kibble for your cats!

This should probably be its own blog entry, but until I expand on it, here’s a link to a new raw cat food recipe I’ve been trying, created by Dr. Lisa Pierson, DVM.  The food is surprisingly easy to make, the ingredients are inexpensive if you purchase from the correct sources, and you haven’t lived until you’ve filled your blender with raw chicken livers and raw eggs.  I like that I can vary the recipe a bit, too… although not needed, I can add a bit of brown rice or oatmeal or some other fiber source, and I can toss in clams or leftover cooked meat bits if I have any to get rid of.  The cats seems to love it, although these guys will eat almost anything... TJ ate a bunch of sauerkraut last week.  I dared him to do it by putting a spoonful of it on the counter for him, but he doesn’t know what a dare is, and he ate it anyway.

I’ve been cheating on you by posting book reviews at Goodreads.com, but I’m going to copy them over here in the next few days.  Lots of good books available about animal care and people who love animals, so maybe you’ll find something you’ll want to read.  It’s been so great having a brand new library open near us—I haven’t read so much in years!

Posted by Leigh-Ann on 03/15 at 09:21 PM

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  1. I’m gonna try that kibble hunt! That sounds like fun!

    Thanks for the link to that raw food recipe, the ingredients are accessible except for that psyllium (not sure where to get that, but I’m gonna read on to see if she suggests some substitutes). I still can’t get Sasha to switch. Every time I try with her, I keep losing to her mind games.

    Posted by Celine  on  03/16  at  10:01 AM

  2. I tried to add you on Goodreads, but you didn’t come up when I searched….

    Posted by Helena  on  03/17  at  01:05 AM

  3. Yet another mystery, Helena!  I found you, and sent you a Friend request, so hopefully you’ll receive that.

    I figured out the GoodSearch problem—apparently they tried to mail us a check and it was returned to them, so they suspended our account.  I have no idea why it would have been returned, so I had to write to them to verify the mailing address.  They’re now supposed to reopen our account and resend our check.  Once I know that’s done, I’ll post about it.  Thanks again for letting me know about this, because I would have had no idea otherwise!  They definitely didn’t make any attempt to contact us via email to tell us about the issue.

    Posted by Leigh-Ann  on  03/17  at  06:10 AM

  4. Keep up the amazing work!

    Posted by Calamity Jen  on  03/20  at  03:38 AM

  5. I’m glad you were able to sort out the GoodSearch mystery, and equally glad they are sending you a check—I like knowing the money does eventually get to you! I still haven’t been able to bring up Wee Paws as my designated charity, so I’m wondering if they haven’t opened your account back up yet….

    Posted by Helena  on  04/01  at  03:32 PM
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