A Good Cleaning and A New Batch!

Mia was adopted by one of our volunteers!!  She is going to have a great life!  Thank you, Joanne, for taking Mia home!  And Abraham and Mushu were adopted by volunteers! Thank you, Deb and Warren, for bringing these two home!  Meeko was adopted from the Shelter today!

After seeing what may be ringworm and out of an abundance of caution we decided to bring all the cats back to the Shelter and to do a thorough cleaning.  The cats that were at the store will be isolated and observed.  So far they all seem fine.

Below are the new cats that are arriving today:

Cupcake and Bunny came into the Shelter in late May at about five weeks old.  Sadly their mom had been hit by a car.  Bunny can be a tad shy at first but she will be fine!  It would be wonderful to see them go together.

Star and Luna came into the Shelter in early July.  Someone dropped them off in the parking lot of Beacon Animal Rescue in Upper Township and said they had been adopted from us in the past. The owner stated they were moving and could not take the cats with them. We subsequently discovered that was not true.  They had not been adopted from us. Star is three years old and Luna is six.  These two cats are lovely!  They will make great companions.

Lentil came into the Shelter in early July at four months old.  She is sweet and playful!!

Jasper came into the Shelter in early July.  He has a microchip.  Jasper's owner told us that he ran from the house in April and they could not locate him.  Then they moved to Florida.  Poor Jasper!  The owners were not inclined to come and get him.  The owners did say that Jasper would acclimate to a home with cats, kids and dogs.   He is a good boy!!

Jasper

Please take a look at the schedule and let me know if you can cover any of the available days!  Thank you all for your help!

Adoptions and Arrivals

Brooklyn was adopted and left the store on Saturday.  She will be living with another kitten adopted from the shelter as well as gaining two canine siblings - a Lab and a Schnoodle! 

Nike was brought back to the Shelter for an illness.

Four cats were brought to the store today: Richard (Ms Richie), Pooh, Penny and Mia.  Please give them the time they need to settle in.

Richard, also known as Ms Richie, is eight year old female who was surrendered because her owner could no longer care for her.  Sadly she lived in the same home for almost her entire life.  She did live with a dog for a few years, as well as cats and kids.  She is a big girl - weighing in at 14 pounds - and will make a lovely pet.

Ms Richie

Penny is four months old kitten found in an oil pan!  While at the Shelter she lived with Pooh who is about the same age.  Pooh was born to a feral mom who was subsequently TNRed.  If someone is looking for two kittens this is a good match!

Pooh

Penny

Mia showed up on someone's doorstep basically asking to be their pet!  The kind family took her for first shots and an examination however due to allergies sadly could not keep her.   She is about six months old.  She did very well with the resident children during her stay with this family.

Mia

We have two new volunteers who have joined our ranks - Blanche and Stayce.  Both have volunteered for other animal shelters so bring experience and proven love of cats to our program!  Stayce will become a regular on Friday mornings and Blanche will fill in as needed.  Welcome!!!!!

Please take a look at the calendar and let me know if there are any dates you can cover.  A couple of our regulars are taking vacation so you will see additional open spots.

Great News!

On July 5 a senior woman adopted the two senior cats (mother and daughter) Zelda and Momma!  Best news of the week!!  Princess was adopted on July 2 and is living in the Philadelphia area now with two dogs, mom and dad and two teenage boys.  Hampton and York were transferred to Animal Adoption Center in Lindenwald.  This helps us to send additional cats to the store!

The below three boys and one girl were brought to the store today - Thursday. they are a lovely bunch!

As you are aware the Shelter received forty cats from a hoarding situation in Lower Township.  Abraham and Mushu are from that home.  Fortunately the cats are all domesticated and sweet!  Several have already been adopted and others transferred to a sanctuary. Mushu is young - 18 months old.  Abraham is older - seven years old.  They will both easily acclimate to a home with other cats and small dogs.  After a rough start they certainly deserve a break!

Mushu and Abraham

Abraham

Mushu

Brooklyn was surrendered after her owner died. She is only six months old and is very sweet.  

Brooklyn

Dorito tried his hardest to become part of a family! He was forcibly trying to get into someone's home! This little boy needs a home!

Dorito

Special thanks to Deb and Warren, Angel and Julia, Barb, and Celesta for helping out at the Shelter as we dealt with the influx of the cats from Lower!  

Let's' Get Caught Up!!

It's time to get caught up on recent adoptions and new arrivals! Lots going on!  

Flip Flop and Salsa went home together two weeks ago.  They are joining a nice little family that is a mom, an eight year old girl, two young cats and two dogs.  Looks like a lot going on in this house!  The more the merrier, right?

Hugo was adopted two days later by an older single woman who could not wait to bring him home.  She has a great support system of cat loving friends that helped her welcome Hugo home.

Cindy Lou was adopted at the end of last week.  She is joining an older couple and a thirteen year old cat.  They were so excited to adopt her!

Zelda and Momma are senior cats.  Zelda is Momma's daughter.  Momma is 14 and Zelda is thirteen.  Their owner, an elderly woman, was unable to continue to care for them.  Cats this age are always overlooked at the Shelter.  Hopefully a kind soul sees them at PetSmart and is ready to open their home to a couple of seniors. 

Mama

Zelda

York and Hampton came into the Shelter this month after their owner died.  This bonded pair really need to be adopted together.  They are about six months old.

York & Hampton

Princess was surrendered by her owner at the beginning of this month because she was not playing well with the children in the house.  They said she was too rough. She is reportedly good with other cats but not dogs.  Sounds like she needs a quiet household! 

Pretty Princess

Nike has the age old story - cat stuck in a tree and saved by firemen!!  Last month he was brought down from a tree by responding firemen.  This little adventure seeker is just under a year old.

We continue to need help with the evening cleanings on weekend.  Please let me know if you are available to cover any of them.

Today is the first day of summer! 

Enjoy the longest day of the year!

The Boys Got A Home!!

Dallas and Driscoll were adopted together!  They left the store on Saturday and will be the only pets under the care of an adult couple.  The adopter has recently bought a house and was ready for a couple of cats.  This is great news!

Bullseye left on Monday and was headed straight for Alexandria, Virginia where he will live with another cat and one human.  He sure did not last long!

Two cats arrived at the store on Tuesday: Jedi and Meeko. 

Meeko is a three year old sweet boy who came into the Shelter in January as a stray. He was trapped under a house with another cat. They were snuggling together for warmth.  The other cat had a microchip and was reclaimed by the owner.  Sadly the owners did not want another cat so did not also take Meeko.  He was neutered at intake and has a small eartip so someone was taking care of him at one point.  He may be shy at first but warms up quickly and becomes quite affectionate.   He would do well in a home with other pets and older children. 

Jedi is a one year old, very playful, smart boy! He came into the Shelter in November of last year at about six months old. He is from a feral cat colony where the caretaker was no longer available to feed. He has been domesticated by the Shelter staff. He loves other cats!  A new home may be a bit scary for him at first but with patience he will be a great companion. 

Jedi

Hugo is back at the Shelter.  He was continually rubbing his eye against the cage door and it became quite irritated.  He is fine!

Please take a look at the schedule and let me know if you can cover any of the available days in June.

Good news for Jingle!  He went home on Sunday and is gaining a BIG family!  He will be living with three dogs, two cats and five adults.  There will be a lot for him to get used to and lots of people to help him along the way!

Hugo and Bullseye were brought to Petsmart yesterday.  Do not be alarmed by Hugo's eye.  It is scarring and does not need any long term medical attention.  Hugo came into the Shelter in October of 2021 at eight weeks old.  He may a tad shy when you first meet him but he is a good boy! He interacts better when he gets to be out of his cage.

Hugo

Bullseye came into the Shelter in November of 2021 at three months old.  He came from a colony caretaker who cooperates sporadically with us and animal control.  Unfortunately she has some unfixed cats that continue to have litters. Poor guy has been in a cage a long time!  You can reach in and pick him up but he is a tad shy too.

 

A meet and greet is scheduled for next weekend for Dallas and Driscoll or Salsa and Flip Flop.  The applicant is approved and looking for a pair.  Paws crossed that one of these pairs gets to go home!! gets to go home!

 

Qiuck Adoption For Stassi!

Hope you all survived the nor'easter with little or no damage.  That wind was tough!!

Time to catch everyone up on the latest adoptions and arrivals!  As you know Venus was skittish and a little afraid.  She left with two other cats from the Shelter to become a barn buddy.  She will be living in a nice heated barn interacting with people every day -  it is a good place for her!  Her new owner is kind and patient and will give Venus the time and space she needs to feel safe.

Sugar Plum left a couple weeks ago and is living with three young adults.  She will be getting a lot of attention.

Stassi arrived last week at the store and left over this weekend. .  It did not take long for us to get an application for her!  Look at the face - it is no wonder!

Sweet Stassi

Melon arrived at the store and did not last long at all.  Many of you may not even have met her.  She went home to live with three adults and two dogs.  She is going to have a nice life!

 

So that leaves those cats we all know...Flip Flop, Salsa, Jingle, Dallas and Driscoll. I wish Dallas and Driscoll would get an application! Salsa just may be adopted by the people who adopted her littermates last year.  I'll keep you posted on that!

Please look at the May schedule and let me know what you can do.  Deb and Warren are back for the summer and will begin picking up Sunday mornings on May 15.  Welcome back, guys!

Barb is out recovering from surgery for the next six weeks or so.  She does a lot of mornings - every Wednesday morning and every other Tuesday morning - so you are going to see a lot of empty days.  Grace took many of them in May. Let me know if you can help cover her spots.  (Speedy recovery, Barb! Take it easy!)

 

Bodhi Adopted! Three New Arrivals!

Bodhi went home on Saturday.  He will be the only pet living with two young men.  They are both firemen!  Bodhi is a first responder cat!!  

Three cats arrived at the store today.  They are Gino and pseudo-siblings Flip Flop and Salsa.  

Gino is a total love bug and will be all over you!!  He came into the Shelter in September of last year with a ruptured eye.  The eye was subsequently removed.  He does not even notice!  He walks right out of the kennel and into your lap and onto your shoulder!  He is about one year old.

Gino

Flip Flop and Salsa came into the Shelter last year two weeks apart (late May and early June) and from two different towns.  As often happens they were put in a cage together to keep one another company.  They are now fast friends and act like siblings!  They were born outside and then came to the Shelter so neither have ever lived in a home.  At the shelter they were permitted to get exercise time and ran around the room loving the freedom.  Although they may start out shy they will come around! Flip Flop is a boy and Salsa is a girl.

Flip Flop

Salsa

Help is needed for the mornings on the following days this week: Friday, Saturday, Sunday and Tuesday (April 1, 2, 3 and 5).  Please let me know if you can cover any of those dates.  In addition look ahead to the rest of the month and let me know if you can cover any of the days!

Here comes the Easter Bunny!!

Happy Tails, Virgo!! Hope for Venus!

Virgo left the store yesterday and will be living with a fourteen year old cat named Frank.  They have had multiple cats in their home in the past and hopefully will be adopting Venus as well.

Venus was brought to the Shelter yesterday with an injured paw.  It is not known exactly what happened however she has a significant slice in the pad of one of her feet.  Dallas, Driscoll, Venus and Virgo were out at the same time yesterday while the volunteer was cleaning.  A fight broke out between the cats.  Somehow Venus was injured.  She subsequently ran up the front of the cages and hid in the rear of one of the top shelves.  Initially we thought she hurt herself on a piece of metal running up the cages.  However there was blood on the floor and the front of the cages indicating she was hurt before she ran up.  She will be fine however needs cage rest for now.

We are processing a good application for Dallas and Driscoll.  Hopefully I will have good news for them in a day or two.

Please be very careful when letting the cats out to exercise and socialize.  We caution adopters not to allow new cats to immediately socialize with their resident cat when they go home.   The same applies to Petsmart.  If cats are caged together and interacting together than allow them to have exercise time together outside of the cage.  If they are not caged together please use caution when putting them together.    It is a confined space and cats cornered will feel stressed and that will lead to fights.  Also, once a cat is upset you have a good chance of being bitten or scratched trying to return the cat to a cage.  Some volunteers note: ..."everyone got out to play..."  This does not necessarily mean they were all out together.  Please err on the side of caution and have separate play and exercise time and allow the cats freedom in small groups.

Gentle reminder....  Refill the water, litter and food for the next volunteer if it is needed.

The schedule is complete for the rest of this month.  Thank you all for everything!

You all did a wonderful job holding down the fort while I was gone!  I was so happy to see that Oscar and Serena left together.  They will be the only pets in their new home.  They gained a young mom and dad along with two human siblings - an eight year old and a six year old.  Also, Miss Piggy and Fozzie left together as well.  That is awesome! They are joining a twelve year old terrier mix, mom and dad and two kids, ages thirteen and three.  

Three new cats were brought to the store while I was gone so most of you probably already know them.  Venus and Virgo - sister and brother duo - are litter mates that came into the Shelter in May of last year at about six weeks old.  They were born to a feral mom at a location where the feeder sporadically cooperates with trapping.  Sadly we never seem to get every cat fixed there. They were in a foster home with kids this summer.  Virgo is the outgoing of the two.  The foster mom said Venus would shyly watch Virgo playing with the humans.  It was like she wanted so badly to play but was too shy and timid.  These two are bonded and need to go home together! One adoption fee covers both of them.

Venus

 

Virgo

Bodhi came from the same home as Venus and Vogel but is not their sibling.  He is a friendly little guy!  He may be shy at first but he'll come around.

Bodhi

I would like to welcome a new volunteer, Hillary, to our ranks!  Hillary started by doing evenings last weekend.  Welcome, Hillary!!   We love new volunteers!

Please take a look at the schedule and let me know if you are available to cover any of the remaining days in March.

We made it through the winter!! Happy Spring!! Yay!! 

Meet Jingle and Sugar Plum!  As their names imply - they came into the Shelter in December of last year.  They were born outside and fortunately were brought to us at about 4 to 5 months old.  They are not littermates.  They came from the same address as Peppermint and Patti.  Hopefully the situation there has now been resolved.  They do not need to go together. Jingle has a round face.  Sugar Plum has more angular features.

Jingle

Sugar Plum

We have a good application for Serene and Oscar and will be scheduling a time for the family to meet them.  If all goes well more cats will be brought to the store by the end of the week.

Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Patty and Peppermint were brought to the store last week.  Sadly Peppermint somehow injured one of his rear legs.  He was brought back to the Shelter for observation and cage rest.  We thought he would find comfort staying with his sister so brought them both back to the shelter. He is doing better but the issue has not resolved.

Fozzie and Miss Piggy look like they could be siblings but they are not.  They came into the Shelter in mid-November.  They came in about the same time and at the same age.  Being short on cages they were put together and became fast friends!

  

We were told that Dallas and Driscoll are making a mess of the big cage!  On Saturday we will have a staff member bring a bigger litter box and hopefully that rectifies the problem.

Toni picked up another roll of brown paper to cut so we are doing well in that department!  Thank you, Toni!

Please take a look at the schedule and let me know if you can cover any of the open dates.

The Calm AFTER the Storm!

Now to catch up after Winter Storm Kenan!  PetSmart had notified us requesting the cats be brought to the Shelter prior to the storm last week.  So Driscoll and Dallas, Serena and Oscar came back.  They were brought to the store on Wednesday along with five others - two sets of litter mates and one single polydactyl.

The poly's name is Dominick and he already may have an approved application!  The applicant is meeting him this afternoon. We will see how that goes!  The applicant is meeting other cats as well. 

Rolls and Royce are six month old brothers.  They are wonderful!  And they are going to be BIG boys!! They came into the Shelter at the end of January.  Rolls is a silver tabby and Royce is solid gray.  We definitely prefer that they be adopted together.  They will do fine in a home with cats, kids and dogs.

Rolls

Royce

Yoshi and Mario are another set of brothers that will make wonderful pets!!  They came into the Shelter the first week of November last year at about 8 weeks.  They are accustomed to people as they have been interacting with the staff since they were babies!  This is another pair we would like to see go together.

Mario

Yoshi

Toni is back from her hiatus which included a trip across the country to California to visit family.   The Thursday morning regular spot is covered again. Yay!  In addition - Toni will be cutting the rolls of brown paper.  Welcome back, Toni!  We missed you!

Please take a look at the February schedule and let me know if you are available to cover any of the open dates.  All open dates are in the evening and are Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays - with the exception of one - the evening of Thursday, February 17.

Winding Down One Year and Starting a New One!

Happy New Year, All!   The end of 2021 was good for our PetSmart cats! Lots of litter mates went home together.  At the end of November Mufasa, Sarabi and Kiara went home together.  In December Tater Tot and Russett went home together,  Rogue, Phoenix and Mystique left together and Finn and Haddie left together.  That's a lot of litters staying a family!

Oreo and Chess left today and are joining an older Chihuahua and younger cat, mom and day and a nine year old child.  It is so nice when bonded litter mates go together. 

Four cats arrived today at PetSmart - two sets of litter mates.  They are Oscar and Serena, and Driscoll and Dallas.  Let's hope the trend continues and they get to go home together.  Please let potential adopters know that the fee is waived for the second cat when you adopt litter mates.

Driscoll and Dallas arrived at the Shelter in mid-June last summer. At that time we estimated their age to be eight weeks.  They were scared little boys however have come around.  They have been living in a cage for the last six months so remember that is their "safe" space.  They do not like to be picked up and will struggle and be wiggle worms if you try.  They love wet food!!  Whoever adopts them will quickly win them over with it!  (In the picture below Dallas is the kitten on top and Driscoll is in the litter box.)

Oscar and Serena are brother and sister and came into the Shelter in June of last summer as well at about eight weeks old.  They are left from an initial litter of five.  The person who found them fostered all five so they are sweet and social!  You can tell them apart by their eyes.  Serena has yellow eyes and Oscar has copper colored eyes.  

Serena & Oscar

The calendar for 2022 has been completed.  Take a look at it and let me know if I made any mistakes on your dates.  Please let me know if you are available to cover any of the open dates. We continue to have difficulty getting the evening cleanings covered on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. 

Thank you all very much for your help throughout 2021.  Petsmart is so important to the Shelter!  The Shelter needs to place nine cats for every dog.  It is a challenge and every year we meet that challenge because all of you help us by volunteering at the adoption center.   Here's to a good year!!