I. LOVE. CATS.

On Friday, I had to pick up a sick old tomcat, now named Mr. Ed, at one of the trailer parks where I TNR. The wonderful feral colony caretaker, Regina, found him huddled on her doorstep Wednesday night and brought him in. We were both very anxious and worried about him, but the good news is that he should be ok after some meds and TLC. And hopefully, we can get him neutered in two weeks once he is stronger. So, while I was there chatting outside with Regina, I looked up and saw what has to be the funniest thing EVER!!! Her voluptuous indoor cat, Maggie, had squished herself down between the back of the sofa and the window. I was crying laughing and hooting and hollering like a lunatic over this scene. Regina said that she does it all the time and sometimes falls asleep like that. Absolutely hilarious. It looks like she is levitating. And she just keep blinking at me as if to say, "what is wrong with you lady and why are you laughing at ME?" I can never say it enough. I. LOVE. CATS.

A Purrfect Trio

Here are 3 of my current foster babies helping me cook dinner. The adult tuxedo boy is Freddie Patterson. I bailed him out of animal control twice after a man trapped him while trying to trap raccoons in an area where I had TNRed in the spring. Needless to say, I am so glad he is safe now. Freddie is THE most awesome cat. The big black kitten is Pepe (le Pew). We trapped him at a trailer park where we were TNRing in June. He was sick and tiny and needed some TLC. Pepe is a lovebug and weighs 8 lbs now...whopper kitten!! And the little black and white girl is Minnie Mouse. She was dumped with some other kittens at a Wendy's :(. These cuties are full of purrsonality and joy and ready for adoption!

New Wedding Cake Topper Designs

I have finished a few new wedding cake toppers that can be completely customized with different animals and color schemes. I am totally in love with the bunting banners that I so often see on Etsy these days, so I just HAD to incorporate miniature versions in my cake topper designs. The birch bases are new too. I adore the natural, woodland touch they add. These are all available in my Etsy shop right now. Ok, back to the table to work on new animal clown birthday cake toppers... Happy Wednesday!

Smiling Cat Illustrations now in my shop!

Hip Hip Hooray! I just added 10 new original Smiling Cat illustrations to my Etsy shop! Hope you enjoy them....happy cats for everyone :).

Experimenting with Illustrating

I have been playing around with my illustration skills (or lack thereof). I have wanted to write and illustrate a children's book for years, and I feel like it is the right time to do it. I am a bit burnt out on the sculpting, so I am putting that on hold for the time being to pursue my book dream.

Ideas are swirling in my head, so I am doing a lot of brainstorming on the text while I experiment with different media....

Here is what has transpired on the art table....

Rooney and Boogie in their beds....

Happy New Year!!! Cheers and purrs to all of you!!! Just thought I'd kick off the year with a few fun photos.

Rooney is wishing you a purrrrrrrfectly wonderful 2012!



Grandma and Grandpa gave the cats this fantastic bed made from an antique chair. Roon had to try it out as soon as it was unwrapped. We are ALL in love with it!!



All of the kitties are enjoying the goose sled by the fire...



Boogie girl sharing the tuffet with a mouse....such a considerate lady :).



Poor thing now has to share her bed with two mice!!!

Finally an update on the SOS mobile home TNR project!

I think it has taken me this long to recover from the huge SOS (Spay our Strays) mobile home feral cat TNR project! So sorry for the delay in reporting on what transpired. First and foremost, our efforts were a huge success!! We TNRed 79 cats in 3 mobile home parks in Lexington. That was a major effort for one weekend. I was in charge of one park and trapped 21 cats and kittens. The only bad part was that I could have trapped 100 more. These mobile home parks are literally FILLED with ferals and strays needing to be spayed and neutered. They are often local animal control facilities' largest source of homeless and unwanted kittens and cats. I learned quickly how important it is to for TNR volunteers in every city to tackle these areas in order to bring down the number of cats killed in shelters every year. One woman had taken 5 litters of kittens to our local animal control just this summer. Homeless cats are EVERYWHERE, but mobile home parks are the most fertile breeding grounds in every community. The people there can't afford proper vet care or spaying/neutering and many leave them behind when they move away. Then, there are always kind hearted souls who feed the abandoned kitties and the next thing they know, they've got 50 cats and kittens on their hands. It is a terribly vicious cycle. It is what has kept me preaching about spay/neuter since 2005 when I happened upon my first feral colony.

I can't discuss this project without giving a shout out to Dr. Liz Ubelhor, the amazing veterinarian, who performed all 79 surgeries last weekend!!! Yep, 79 cats in 13 hours. Her skill, tireless dedication and unbelievable generosity is nothing short of phenomenal!! I honestly can't properly describe the awe and gratitude I feel for her. She works as the main vet at the humane society five days a week and then volunteers her time most weekends at various low cost feral cat s/n clinics in our area. She is truly the spay/neuter queen and an angel to animals.

Ok, here are a few photos of my TNR adventure....

I didn't get any action shots during the trapping because it was raining and cold, but here are all the of the cats lined up in their traps in my garage once I got them all home.





This is Marlon aka "Fathead" after being released. He totally stole my heart! He is a HUGE, gorgeous cat with a the chubbiest cheeks you've ever seen (male cats often develop those large cheeks when they are unneutered). His caretaker has been feeding him for 5 years and he has fathered countless litter of kittens. NO MORE of that!!!!



Here he is sniffing out familiar territory...



This is one of Marlon's children, Pegleg. Apparently, Pegleg terrorizes his dad and drives the other kitties crazy, but he is such a sweet boy with people. He lost his back leg at some point...the stories on how it happened vary. He is a heartbreaker...so affectionate and funny. His caretakers are going to try to keep him inside now that he is neutered, but I am not sure how well that will go. He is one of those boys that will probably not like being confined in a small space, but my paws are crossed that it works.



And here is Pegleg with Regina. Regina is WONDERFUL! She is such a lovely person and was very grateful to have lots of kitties on her street TNRed. She is one of the four caretakers I worked with.



One of 5 kitties trapped at Tammy's trailer. She was thrilled to have her mama cats finally spayed.



And here is "Preggo" after I released her. Her caretaker said that she is ALWAYS pregnant hence the obvious name. I trapped several of her boyfriends as well.



So, that pretty much sums up the mobile home project. While we won't be able to do a mass trapping like this for awhile, we will continue to trap a few at a time. It is definitely going to be an ongoing endeavor.

The Auto Body Shop Kitty Crew...

I will post an update about the big mobile home TNR weekend soon! It was a huge success! In the meantime, I just wanted to share a fun photo I took on Sunday while I was feeding the auto body shop colony. They now know my car and all come running when I pull up. Two of them climb up into my lap and the others circle around my door anxiously awaiting their canned food buffet. They are the BEST greeters ever!

The adorable dilute torti is Wendy. She used to never let me near her and now she is one of the boldest! The darker orange one is Speedy. He is a lovebug...purrs and climbs right up onto my legs.

Huge TNR trailer park project!

The TNR group I volunteer with is doing a massive feral cat spay/neuter round up at 3 trailer parks in Lexington. It has been in the works for awhile and tomorrow is the big day! I am in charge of one trailer park...will be the largest trapping project for me yet....daunting but exciting! I just finished prepping our garage. 18 traps, 6 carriers and a whole lotta towels, blankets and tuna. When I visited the park today, one of the kitties was curled up in a baby stroller...he was quite a friendly little greeter. It was rainy so most of the cats were hiding under the trailers. I hope to get some good action shots tomorrow if the weather is nice and sunny...paws crossed for that!

This project is so important not only for the cats but also for the people feeding and caring for them. They have a hard enough time making ends meet, yet they still manage to feed many cats. That is true compassion, kindness and generosity.

The goal is to get 20+ cats at each location. Stay tuned for an update this weekend!

All ready to go...



The recovery area...

Halloween SnipPets to help cats in need!

Last January, some friends of mine and I started TNRing a colony of feral cats at an auto body shop nearby. This colony has really captured my heart (as they always do!), and I am now feeding them on the weekends since the shop is closed and the weekday caretakers aren't there. As winter approaches, I am already feeling anxiety about keeping them as warm and comfortable as possible. Right now, they only have one small shelter and that just isn't adequate for 11 cats. They also don't have a covered area for food and water. So, I want to purchase 2 insulated feral cat villas and 2 feeding stations from www.feralvilla.com. I have two of their villas at my house for our stray crew and they really love them. I also want to get several bales of straw and a few more small shelters to put under a big pine tree that the body shop kitties stay under. Once I get everything purchased, I will spend a day over there cleaning up and creating the coziest, driest environment possible. These kitties are most likely FIV+ (3 have sadly died over the past few months and one tested positive), so it is imperative that they get as much care and comfort as possible. The group of 11 is doing well right now (no sniffling noses or runny eyes) and they have huge appetites.

The sales (100%) of my newest Halloween circus dolls will fund this project. I have completed the giraffe and owl piece and it will be available during the Pfatt Marketplace update this Saturday. I am finishing up the other two and they will be up for grabs for the Spookytime Jingles update at midnight on the 12th.

Jimmy, Calvin, Diesel, Webster, Sarah, Emily, Jenny, Wendy, Speedy, Pete and Lisa thank you for reading about their needs :).

Halloween Giraffe and Owl





Diesel



Speedy



Calvin



Eating in the snow last winter....they now have bowls but they REALLY need the covered feeding stations.



Once I get this project underway, I will post lots of "before" and "after" photos!

Cozy photo on a dreary day....

Some of you may have already seen this photo on Facebook, but I had to share it here too. When I walked by the front door yesterday, I saw my front porch crew all lined up snug as bugs in their beds. Mr. Tubbs, Natasha, Rudy and Ramsey are all strays who have bonded together over the past few years. I love them so much and have always told them that they are welcome to come inside, but they prefer their freedom, I guess. Mr. Tubbs runs in every once in awhile, but he gets nervous after awhile and heads out with his buddies.

As a FB friend commented, they looks like rump roasts! That totally cracked me up.

Ready for Summer!

I had been counting the days until it was time to decorate our porch for the summer. The time finally arrived this weekend!!! The weather cooperated for a few hours on Saturday so I took full advantage of it. I scrubbed the concrete, hosed down the furniture, planted flowers in my pots and pulled out the pillows and fun accents. My stray babies were very helpful. They were truly excited to have some activity and entertainment going on. And they are quite pleased with their fluffed up, summery home :).

Mr. Tubbs surveying his view...



"I am king of the porch, hear me roar!!!"



Ramsey napping on his perch...

Cozy Kitties....

I am always posting cat photos straight from my phone to Facebook and realized that I rarely share them here! I will start doing that more often because I sure do have some precious furbabies if I do say so myself :)!

My lovebug, Punkamunk, sunning herself...pure and purr-fect contentment.



Invasion of bedbugs all (almost) on my side of the bed. Thank goodness they let me sleep there too!



The view after I put my book down for a minute...

Body Shop Cats Update

My dear cat lady friends, Jane and Carla, and I headed out to the body shop on Tuesday for a big trapping. It was quite an afternoon. The snow was swirling and temps were in the 20s. We would set the traps and put hot roasted chicken in them and within 15 minutes, the chicken was frozen. Not the best conditions for trapping, but we we really wanted to get these kitties not only spayed and neutered but also treated with antibiotics and steroids because many of them were clearly suffering from upper respiratiory infections. AND we had hoped to get the queen mama but she was nowhere to be found. Not surprisingly, she is going to be a challenge! We toughed it out for 2 hours and managed to get 7 kitties so it was a successful day.

They were fully vetted on Wednesday and we found out that 5 were boys and 2 were girls. Jeff, one of the fluffy orange ones, had some major mouth issues, so the vet pulled some of his teeth. I am sure he is going to feel so much better now. Our vet is an ANGEL...she always thoroughly examines each cat and does whatever needs to be done ($15 for spay/neuter, vaccinations, flea and ear mite treatment, antibiotics, etc etc.!!).

We tried to trap again on Wed morning but it was a futile attempt...waaay too cold. Also, we found out from the business next to the body shop that there are 20+ cats instead of the 12-15 like we had thought. So, this will be a long term project. We are hoping to pick up where we left off later next week.

We released the boys yesterday afternoon and they were SOOOO happy to be back in their territory and their "dad", the caretaker, was thrilled to have them home safe and sound. The females will be released this weekend when the weather is a little warmer.

I wanted to get more photos but it was hard to juggle everything. I hope to get more good ones next week!

Jane setting traps....



The kitties all warm and cozy in the car with us....

TNR 2011: The Body Shop Cats

Our first TNR project for the year is supposed to start today. It is snowing, so I am not sure if we will postpone until tomorrow....but the plan is to begin trapping this afternoon. I was informed about a colony of cats living at a body shop a few miles from our house. I have been going there on Saturdays for about a month to assess the situation and then my cat lady friends and I finally went to meet the owner yesterday. Thankfully, he was extremely receptive to the idea of TNR and was really grateful to know they will FINALLY be spayed/neutered and fully vetted. You could tell he was exhausted from worrying about them and trying to rescue and find homes for all of the kittens. It all started with one stray torti girl 4 years ago. There are currently at least 12 adults. They are very well fed and have shelters but several of them are quite matted and a few are very sniffly and congested. It is certainly time for them to get proper vet care. I love seeing TNRed kitties blossom into healthy, hearty cats once they are snipped! Our main target is the torti queen mama...she is obviously already pregnant so we gotta work fast!

Paws crossed that we can get them all taken care of this week!

Back to Cat Chat! Chanel and Versace....

Last September, these two beauties were abandoned at the back of our neighborhood. They were living in the storm drains for weeks :(. A kind neighbor alerted me about them, so I asked her to start putting food out nightly for them by one of the drain openings so that they wouldn't starve but also to keep them coming back to one place. They were terrified and would only appear after dark. We were able to trap Chanel on our first try, but Versace wasn't ready to fall for our tricks. Fortunately, a week later, he couldn't resist the temptation of McDonald's Chicken McNuggets. THANK goodness! I was so happy to have them both safe and sound in our house.

I took them to our vet to be snipped, vaccinated and combo tested. They had already been spayed and neutered (at least their former owner had done that!!). Then I contacted Good Mews in Atlanta to see if they had room for them. They were willing to take them, but they had a rough fall with numerous door dumps and returns and slow adoptions, so we fostered Chanel and Versace until this week. Adoptions picked up at Good Mews so they were able to take them on Thursday. My husband had meetings in Atlanta so he was able to transport them. We were both SO sad about saying goodbye and we felt awful for them since we know they thought they were staying with us. It would be so much easier if we could explain things to them!

Well, this story already has a WONDERFUL ending! One of the volunteers who was there when my husband was checking Chanel and Versace in, fell in love with them and is adopting them both tomorrow!!!! I spoke with her on the phone last night and she is fantastic! They are going to be SO loved and well cared for. I can't believe how quickly this happened and how lucky they are! It makes all the tears and worry WELL worth it!