The Royal Lotus

Good chilly afternoon!

The freezing temps (welcome back, Vermont) last weekend didn't stop a slew of adoptions on Saturday, with seven animals going home that day alone!

Another influx of kittens helped boost our adoption numbers for the week. Congratulations to Auggie, Bridget, Hudson, Alaska & Pacific, Caspian, and Arabian--all of whom emerged from foster care only to immediately find new, loving families to take them home for good. 

Four dogs are no doubt enjoying the heat in their new digs today! Daesyn (Bichon Frise), Ava (Wheaton Terrier mix), Bronx (Boston Terrier mix), and Annie (Chihuahua) are all living the good life.

On to cats! I mistakenly reported Lyndi as adopted in last week's update, but that must have been a moment of prescience--because she went home on Thursday! She and a cat named Merlin--who went home on Tuesday--were two of the 20 animals taken in from the family who'd been evicted.

The third cat adopted last week is our featured adoptee: … LOTUS!

Lotus

Lotus was here for what felt like FOREVER. In fact, he'd been at the shelter since mid-July, relinquished because his owner had to move into housing that did not accept pets. A six-year-old male with a distinctive white ring around his tail and humongous green eyes, Lotus was reported to get along with other animals, but had a history of being fractious with his vet.

We saw a bit of that here, too. Staff found him initially hissy and somewhat wary, but friendly enough when given attention. As he settled in, his spirits seemed to rise, and staff declared him "sweet."  We still weren't quite sure what to make of this cat, but his behavior was deemed safe and predictable enough for a home. The feline supervisor rated him a "black diamond" cat, and he was made available.

I bet many of you are thinking, "What's a black diamond cat?" Though we've used our feline personality rating system for years, it seems to be largely overlooked.

Each available cat is placed into one of three different categories based upon the cat's history and our observations of his or her preferences and temperament.

A "green circle" cat is ideal for a first-time cat owner or families with small children. These cats are usually highly adaptable, laidback, confident, very tolerant, and gentle in their interactions.

Harry

"Blue square" cats are great companions for those with basic experience with typical feline behaviors. These kitties may have mild handling preferences or sensitivies, and they may exhibit shyness or reserve at first; but with patience and encouragement they tend to come out of their shells and prove loyal friends.

Lady

And then there's Lotus' category: black diamond cats. These finicky felines are best suited for those with considerable cat experience and an appreciation for distinct feline personalities. They are quite resolved to live life on their own terms, and unreserved about saying so. If their boundaries are respected, black diamond cats will bond closely with people they trust, and allow interaction they likely wouldn’t with "just anyone." These cats tend to do best in mellow, low activity homes.

Bella

As you can imagine, our green circle cats tend to fly off the kitty shelves, while black diamond cats usually endure much longer stays at the shelter.

Lotus' case was no exception. His daily routine was the same: he darted from the communal cat room every morning when unsuspecting animal care volunteers opened the door, and made a beeline for our potted palm, which he delighted in gnawing on. After being escorted back to the room and served his breakfast, Lotus spent the rest of the day upon his cat tree castle, curled up on the topmost turret oblivious to afternoon visitors.  

In Buddhist theology, the Lotus represents "floating above the muddy waters of attachment and desire; the full blossoming of wholesome deeds in blissful liberation" (Wikipedia).  

For all of his pionted ignorance of potential adopters who stopped in to visit, you could say Lotus was floating above the waters of attachment and desire. He certainly wasn't working on developing any attachments or attracting desire. The months dragged on.

Finally, as the new year approached, our feline supervisor, Kayla, decided something had to be done. It just wouldn't due to let Lotus go on living out his days on top of a cat castle--not when he could find a real home to be his castle. Lotus was moved into our volunteer and events coordinator's office on January 8th--and we hoped he might show better!

Weren't we surprised to find that Lotus bloomed like his namesake! Turned out that in true black diamond cat style, Lotus had no interest in winning the hearts of the masses: he prefered to bond with one or two people. And boy did he bond with Shayla! She reports of her daily love sessions with Lotus, who spent the first ten minutes of every morning saying hello with vigrous head butts to Shayla's face. Who was this new kitty who'd clearly developed an attachment?

It was just three days later that a wonderful couple stopped in specifically to meet Lotus. Seven Days had run a spread on him (they periodically do that for our animals, and it always works wonders!), and the couple had seen it. Shayla worried Lotus might not show interest in new people with her around, so she left. The couple met him ... and he was courteous, but aloof. They decided to look at other cats. Our staff's collective heart sank as they walked away. Shayla returned to her office, disappointed. Lotus hopped right up on her lap to say hello. She sighed as he began his headbutting regimen. "It's all well and good that you're so lovely with me, Lotus," Shayla said, "But how will anyone else ever get to see what a special cat you are if you aren't nice to strangers?" Lotus gazed up at her with his huge green eyes, blinked, then turned his head to the door. Shayla followed his gaze, and saw the couple standing just outside the office. "He wasn't so friendly with us," they remarked thoughtfully. "No," Shayla explained. "He's a one- or two-person cat. We had no idea he was this affectionate until he moved in with me. Now he's like this all the time. He'd certainly bond in the same way with whomever takes him home!" They smiled. "Alright," they said, and asked to fill out the paperwork.

Lotus went home the next day, to a very fine residence. We can envision this black diamond cat now, the royal Lotus, asleep in his real castle, finally "blossoming in blissful liberation."  

That's the good news this week. Stay warm!

Best,
Megan

20 for '12

The good news is:  What we're lacking in numbers this week we make up in great triumphs.

Most exciting to animal care and adoption staff is the adoption of Salty and Pepper, ten-year-old sisters who'd been waiting for months to find a forever family. The couple who adopted them had been in to visit with all of our cats multiple times. In the end, they felt that this black-and-white duo had exactly the mellow personalities they were looking for. We couldn’t be more grateful!

Top: Pepper, Salty
Bottom: Salty and Pepper sit nicely for a treat from feline supervisor Kayla.

Chocolate Lab Kip went home with an older couple who was super excited about him. Cat Mansfield found his new family in JUST ONE DAY! Lovely feline lady Tofu had been returned by her adoptive family a month ago when the home environment just didn't prove the right match for her. She was adopted by a new family on Saturday, and we hope she's home to stay this time around.

We have multiple featured adoptees this week, because they all came from the same home.

Husky mix Posey, and cats Wendie, Trout, and Adrianna were four of 20 animals who came from a single household. The three cats were adopted before our photographer, Mountain Dog Photography, could even get photos of them!

Posey

Early in December, two town officials arrived at our doors with an emergency situation. A family had been evicted from their home, and the officials entered the premises to find stacks of crates inhabited by animals in the apartment. The animals had ample food and water, but--especially in the case of the cats, who were living, in some cases, three to a crate--not nearly sufficient living space. The town threatened to seize them. Fortunately, the owners agreed to sign the animals over with no cause for legal proceedings.

Under normal circumstances, we accept animals on an appointment-only basis. This helps us avoid overcrowding (and the spread of contagious disease that results), and makes it possible for animals to stay as long as they need to until getting adopted (we don't euthanize for length of stay). However, we're almost always at capacity, so suddenly receiving notice that we need to find room for 20 new animals immediately greatly stresses the system. Fortunately, a local veterinary hospital and dog kennel agreed to house the pets until we were able to make room.

Humane investigator JoAnn Nichols, feline supervisor Kayla Malzac, and shelter manger Allison Stark loaded up the HSCC vehicle with JoAnn's tubs of emergency investigation supplies. They had only two hours available to process the animals--which involved photographing each of them with a specific tag number--and documenting the living conditions they came from. JoAnn, Kayla, and Allie processed two dogs, three rabbits, one rat, two hamsters, and 12 cats that afternoon.

 

The cats had all been exposed to upper respiratory infection--the feline version of a common cold--which can spread like wildfire in a shelter environment. So they were given a single room to themselves at the shelter while we assessed them for adoption. Fortunately, most of the animals have lovely temperaments, which means they were given plenty of attention and affection. Because of their outgoing natures, they've been quick to leave the adoption floor, once made available! Aside from the four animals listed above, Lyndi the cat was adopted two weeks ago, the two hamsters found new homes in record time for smallies, one kitten was snatched up quickly, and one of the rabbits went home.

Lyndi

Hoarding situations are often like this: the owners love the animals, and want to do the best for them. But because they become overtaxed on space and resources, the animals' wellbeing is compromised. A family who can't make rent payments certainly can't afford spay/neuter surgeries. These cats may have been confined to crates simply to prevent breeding, as there's some evidence that small groups of cats were periodically given free time in the home. And in stark contrast to the lack of space, we did find lots and lots of food stored away for the animals. Our hearts go out to this family, who lost their home and companion animals in one fell swoop. But hopefully, just as the 20 animals were given fresh starts in far better circumstances, we hope this occurrence might afford the family the same kind of fresh start.

We currently have three more cats and two rabbits from this household available for adoption--and they're all very sweet. We're confident that each of these animals wil have a happy ending--homes in which they can run and play freely.

That's the good news this week!

Please don't forget to join us tomorrow night at The Scuffer steak and ale house! 15% of food and alcohol proceeds from the evening will be donated to the shelter. We'll see you there!

Best,

Megan

Director, Development & Outreach

A Matter of Timing

This week's report: twenty-two animals adopted from our shelter in one week. With about fifty animals finding new homes just this month, we've had a whirlwind December thus far!

This tremendous success was dominated by the feline faction. Only one dog--Border collie mix Piper--found a forever home last week.

Even the smallie sector has the dogs beat! Gerbils Peanut & Pumpernickel went home together, as did hamsters Cayenne & Paprika. And we must acknowledge Fiona the bunny, who was fortunate enough to be a failed foster case (staff member Susie DiDonato took this bunny home the first day she arrived, named her Fiona, and refused to return her).

But the felines … You know, when we've got a lobby full of adorable kittens tumbling over each other and mewing piteously, it's truly remarkable that we adopted out an equal number of adult cats.

Fortunately, we found new homes for all but one of our nine kittens last week! Congrats to Magic (one of the ferals I wrote about last week), Helo, Nora, Orion, Athena, Moxy, Chief, and Starbuck! We've now got plenty of room for this week's deluge of cuteness.

And the adult cats? Gabby, Katie, Lucy, Chopper, Kenadie, Bailey, and Salem all went home.

That's only seven. The eighth cat is our featureed adoptee this week: Sammy!

Sammy arrived in mid-September, relinquished because his owner had to move to a new home that didn't allow pets. A three-year-old, long-haired, solid black, fiesty guy, Sammy is the type of kitty who's not reserved about his feelings. He let us know right away that he prefered not to socialize with his own kind … but he didn't feel much better about having to live by himself in a Tokyo cage, either.

                                                                              (Tokyo cage)

                 

Sammy also did not like to be picked up. He wanted to come out of the cage during play time, but as soon as the solicited person lifted him out, he promptly protested with his teeth.

He's a kitty who knows what he likes (and doesn't). And there's nothing wrong with that, by us--because Sammy's preferences were always clear and consistent, allowing us to understand and predict his behavior (it's only when an animal's reactions seem totally inconsistent and unpredictable that we start to feel less safe around them).

Though discriminating, Sammy was also ever charming. He was always perky in his cage and engaged visitors, and when out of the cage, he loved meeting new people, running right up to them with fluffy tail lifted like a high-flying banner. (Unfortunately, this often encouraged said people to stoop and sweep him up--which they soon regretted).

As our Halloween black cat promotion came and went, and Sammy was one of the few remaining sable felines in our care, it started to look like he was going to be a tough adoption case. Especially when November had passed, too. What's more, his disapproval of Tokyo life was only increasing, and feline supervisor Kayla sent out a special call to staff and volunteers asking them to give Sammy extra time out of his cage. The last thing a fiesty guy needs is to become irritable on top of it.

Ironically (serendipitously?), his new companion person was spending time with him all along.

Claudia Walsh has volunteered at HSCC for five or so years now. An expert in morning animal care--cleaning, feeding, socializing, and tastefully refurbishing the living spaces of our available cats--Claudia shows up every single week to (above all) give the kitties moral support. She is an excellent interpreter of feline communication, has a special fondness for the "hairy" cats, and is adept at choosing the perfect color of blanket to best show off a kitty's coat. Because after all, the cats must be "ready for showtime"!

Claudia has volunteered in other ways, too. For example, last year, we decided it was about time to replace the lumpy, wrinkled, mismatched sheets we draped each Tokyo cage with (to give the cats privacy and a barrier from sneezed germs) with something fitted. Not only did the old system look sloppy and unprofessional, it was a pain in the neck to have to constantly clip and reclip the sheets in place as they inevitably slid off the cages. Claudia took the matter into her own hands. She raided our enormous store of shelter sheets, and came in the next week with a prototype that was simple and effective.

 

The following week, she organized a group of volunteers to help her cut sheets into "kits" to make construction of each cover more efficient. After that, week by week, she brought in more and more perfectly constructed, attractive, and FREE (aside from her time) cage covers. Not only has staff time been drastically reduced in awkward cage draping, our lobby now looks a lot more neat and tidy, and our cats have better health and privacy with perfectly-fitted covers.

Claudia is also a master quilter, and generously agreed to donate one of her creations to our recent Black Cat Soiree fundraising auction. Claudia made an absolutely beautiful piece for us--fittingly, a quilt with a cat pattern!--and her quilt attracted the most bids in the Soiree silent auction of any other item. In fact, it was the only item to go for MORE than its retail price!

Last Monday, Claudia arrived for morning animal care in tears. Her beloved Miss Lydia, faithful feline companion, had succumbed to chronic ailments over the weekend. We all felt like we knew Miss Lydia personally, as Claudia had aptly described her antics in colorful detail each week. It was easy to see that the thought of returning to an empty house was more than Claudia could bear.

Some people need time after a pet's death to decompress before adopting a new companion. Not Claudia. Where she recognized an opportunity to reach out to another animal in need, she took it immediately. That very day, Claudia scooped up Sammy (very carefully) and brought him home.

We've since heard about Sammy's transition in his new home. True to his discriminating nature, Sammy held his bladder for nearly 24 hours because he refused to use the type of litter Claudia prefers. (Obviously, this relationship will not be about what Claudia prefers!) Claudia, in fact, was forced to race out early the next morning to find exactly the same kind of litter Sammy had used here (plus a new litter box, of course). As soon as she poured the new litter, didn't Sammy run right in and relieve himself! Crisis averted. She also reported an initial snobbiness about food selection, but fortunately, that seems to be wearing off.

Thus we have a case of person and animal mutually meeting each others' needs. It's so often like that, isn't it? In the long two and a half months he was here, waiting optimistically in a little cage, Sammy's answer was right there all along, feeding, cleaning, and brushing him every Monday morning, practicing a bestowal of love that neither party yet realized was destined for a lifetime. It was simply a matter of timing. It's comforting to extend that concept to those animals who are still patiently waiting in small cages, glancing hopefully at those who pass by. It's just a matter of timing.

                                                    (Lucky waiting for her new home.)

Best,
Megan

Serendipitous Siamese

Happy November!

We've started the month off with a bang, placing no less than 17 animals in new homes last week.

Let's start with the smallies. Louise and Patch, guinea pig life partners, went home with a VERY excited nine-year-old girl who had been told that she was now deemed responsible enough to adopt.

In dog land, Zoey (terrier mix) and Buster (Jack Russel mix) united with new forever families.

And six kittens went home!: Taurus, Orion, Polaris, Aurora, and orange tigers Sunny & Cloudy together.

But the cats take the fishcake for adoptions this week:

Burly & Hazen together

Tilly

Bubble

Winter

and the featured adoptees: Cleo and Cassanova!

You know, from an outside perspective, it's easy to condemn those who relinquish their animals to a shelter. If we can't imagine doing it ourselves, we might assume that the motivations of those who do so are less than loving. But the truth is, the majority of our relinquishers are in extremely difficult situations. For many of them, this is a last resort. And those owners are absolutely heartbroken to have to say goodbye.

Cleo and Cassanova's relinquishment was one of those cases.

A pair of purebred seal point Siamese, Cleo and Cass are astounding beauties. They sport matching tawny coats with dark chocolate faces, ears, paws, and tails--and brilliant blue eyes. The owner had purchased them separately a year apart, each at a very young age, and had taken impeccable care of them for four years. The cats were insperably bonded. Life would have blissfully continued like this--cats and owner all lovingly attached--except that this woman suffered a devastating stroke, and found herself unable to care for them. With tears and a palpable sadness that made our adoption counselor's heart ache, she turned them over to us.   

If only we could have told her then that she need not worry. The cats did have a tough time at first; Cassanova, especially, was very shy, and didn't want to come out of his hidey bed. But feline supervisor Kayla housed them together in one of our larger cages, and this certainly helped them adjust. Both kitties proved to be just as affectionate as they are graceful, and they arrived on the adoption floor last Tuesday.

Where they didn't remain for long. One of our volunteers had heard about the pair, and was ready and waiting to pounce as soon as they became available. She did! They went home on Wednesday--not here long enough to even make it to our website.

What's so incredible about this adoption, though, is that Cleo and Cass must have been fated from birth to receive royal treatment. The volunteer who adopted them has a very special job here: every Thursday morning, Carol comes in and assesses our most difficult feline cases. Using a thorough checklist of "tests," she selects our shyest, most mal-adjusted cats, and gets to know them. One at a time, she pulls these tricky cases from their cages or rooms, brings them into a small and quiet space, and sits silently with them until they're ready to engage. Sometimes they never do become ready, and Carol has to return to them the next week. But by the end of each completed session, she has a full profile on what makes these cats tick. I have long admired Carol's unending patience, gentleness, and quiet intuitiveness about these animals, and her assessments have played a large role in helping us find the right matches for our cats. No doubt Cleo and Cassanova are basking in the same standard of loving care that they enjoyed in their last home. Their previous owner could not have asked for her loves to wind up in better hands.

I received an update from Carol the other day:

I wish the previous owner could know that her dynamic duo is doing well, and will be loved and cared for no matter what. Amazing how this all worked out for us.

When our new cats are out free in the condo it's like having double vision--every time I turn around there are two cats--two cats jump up on the toilet after I raise the seat, two cats jump up on the counter when I'm at the sink, two cats go into the kitchen when I do, two cats go for every door that is opened and every drawer that is opened. Wow, they are a curious duo! Their names are now Tango, the male, and Jazz, the female. ~ Carol

Don't you just love perfect matches?

That's the good news here. To view our animals who are still waiting for forever homes, or to support the work we do, please visit our website: www.chittendenhumane.org. Thank you!