rescue

Shiloh is Brook’s companion. She was rescued from the same property. She is FELV/FIV negative and very sweet and friendly. She knows what a brush is and loves to be brushed. I’m hoping to go meet her at her foster mom’s tomorrow.

The vet approximates her age at 2-4 years. Like all our kitties, she will receive all vaccinations, be spayed, and be microchipped before being made available for adoption, but you could inquire about her now!

We are still waiting for the biopsy results on Brook.

Tofu is a tuxedo kitty we found outside.  She was so friendly and sweet, we were sure we would find an owner, but we listed her with official animal control as found (something you should always do when you find an animal!) and placed ads for her to no avail.  Our vet thinks she is about one year old and she had not been spayed, so of course we took her to get spayed.  We also had her tested for the common feline diseases Feline Leukemia and Feline Immunodeficiency Virus and to our regret, she was positive for both.  For many shelters and rescues, this would have been it - Tofu would have been killed because, although she is healthy now, she may or may not be sick at some point in the future - but we at Rescuties believe that every animal, other than those irredeemably suffering or a true risk to the public - deserves a chance at life.  We got a confirmatory IFA test, which is a more accurate feline leukemia test (the blood is drawn at your vet’s office and gets sent off to a lab).  Unfortunately, the IFA test was positive as well.

We started to search for a new home for Tofu.  Fortunately we found one for her with one of the wonderful members of the Feline Leukemia discussion list .  Here’s what her new mom, Emily, has to say about her:

Just wanted to let you know that Tofu and I made it back to Waco and she is settling in well. She’s staying in the bathroom while we work on getting her acquainted with her new feline siblings, but she’s at least gotten a look at most of them now. She really is a sweet girl

We are so happy for Tofu!

Here is an individual picture of the (as yet unnamed) blue tabby boy.

When we got Taylor home we noticed she was lactating, so we put a harness on her and took her back to look for kittens.  She led us right to them like a good girl.  We scooped them up and brought them back.  We have one brown tabby and white, one blue tabby, and one blue tabby and white - all to be named after “Friday Night Lights” cast members when we decide on names.

I was on the set of the “Friday Night Lights” TV show, where I sometimes works as an extra.  I was hanging around waiting for the shooting to start when I noticed one of the principals, Taylor Kitsch,  petting a cat and feeding her ice cream off the catering truck.   I asked him if he knew anything about the cat and he said, “No, but she’s friendly!”  I went and got the kitty some cat food, bowls, and water out of my truck.  One of the other principals, Minka Kelly, seemed amazed that I had produced a 20 pound bag of cat food in the middle of the night.  I explained to her that I did cat rescue and I always carried these items, and gave her my card in case they ran into any more kitties in need at any of the other shooting locations.

We had to wait to come back and get the kitty until we had the property owner’s permission.   So Sunday night we went back and obtained permission.  Seems the property owner also has an unaltered male cat on the property named “Hot Sauce.”  We shared our dinner with Hot Sauce and found him to be a very lovable kitty.  We got permission from the property owner to have him neutered and then return him.  We also found that our new kitty (we named her Taylor)  had 3 adorable little kittens.  One brown tabby and white, one blue tabby, and one blue tabby and white.  They are all safe and warm and fed at one of our great foster parents’ homes now.    We do not have pictures of the kittens yet, but will soon!  They would not hold still long enough for me to take a picture:)

We are seeking donations to help with this little family’s care.  The kittens should be altered and ready for adoption in about 2 months, along with their mom, if you are interested in a “Friday Night Lights” kitten!

You can earn certificates in Basic, Intermediate or Advanced Rescue Technician.

Study, pass the online test, and a certificate will be mailed to your home.

For training click here.

Bessie and her brother Georgie came to Rescuties from a local good Samaritan. We met in one of the vets offices we frequent (all too often!) and the owner explained that she had found a stray cat, who had a litter of kittens. She had already had the momcat spayed (yay!) but the kittens were in trouble. A neighborhood bully had already killed one and she was afraid more would die. We are full, always, but had to find a place for these guys. Another of our vets stepped up and offered space in his office for the kittens until they could be adopted. It took less than a week! (Actually they are on a foster to adopt placement until they are old enough to be spayed and neutered, but they are home!)

We’re always looking for great foster homes so we can save more animals. Also, if you know of a business in the Austin area who would allow us to use them as an offsite adoption location, please let us know!

You can reach us at rescuties@gmail.com

Although Georgie and Bessie are now safely in foster care, we are still accepting donations for their and the other kitties’ medical expenses.

After picking up the very generous donation from Suzanne last night (Thank you so much Suzanne - it is so heartwarming when people have a kitty pass away and are so generous as to donate the kitty’s belongings).

Here is a picture of one of our rescued kitties inspecting the new cat tree!

First, I went to Wal-Mart and bought some Fancy Feast (I searched through the flavors to find one without wheat gluten) for Missy to see if it would make her more amenable to taking her Benazepril. She really does not like capsules (she’s fine about taking her chicken flavored Baytril) and I don’t want her getting upset and putting an additional load on her heart. I shook all the powder out of the capsule, added some Fortiflora, the contents of a CoQ10 capsule, and mixed it all into the Fancy Feast. She did eat it, but can’t eat a whole can at once. I just have to make sure the other cats don’t get ahold of what she leaves over since it has heart medication in it.

While I was there I couldn’t resist buying them a new toy - come to find out it cost a dime. I am going to go back to see if there are any left tomorrow.

When I got back, there was an email from a very nice lady whose beloved kitty just recently lost her struggle with renal failure and the lady wants to give us a large in-kind donation, including a cat tree, lots of food, some litter boxes, etc. Thanks so much!:)

Brutus came to us as a 5 week old kitten from the local high kill pound.  His foster mom saved him and an 8 week old calico kitten we called Margerine (now named Margarita by her adopter).  Even though Brutus was younger, he was the one to tell Margarita everything was ok!

Brutus has now been neutered, had all his vaccinations and been combo tested, and is ready to go home to his new family!

To apply for Brutus or see our other adoptable kitties, please see our webpage.

Missy has been with us since she was 8 weeks old.  She came from the local high kill pound with her brother and sister.  Her brother was adopted long ago, and her sister, Toodles, is still with us.  (See Toodles’ webpage on our main site)

Someone went to get the kittens from the pound for me because I had a cat who had had a mastectomy and was having to get her dressing changed at the vet every day.  I still remember the first time we saw each other, Missy and I.  She knew I was her mom, and so did I!

Unfortunately, Missy has a congenital heart defect.  The particular defect she has is a complete endocardial cushion defect, which is rare in cats.  She sees the cardiologist at Texas A&M University, and only a few have been seen there.    Feline cardiology isn’t as advanced as human cardiology, or even canine cardiology, and surgical repair is not possible.  She takes heart meds every day and gets lots and lots and lots of love - we’re trying to pack a lifetime into a few years.

Missy is the queen of the house, and she knows it!  She likes to sit on my shoulder, be held upside down like a baby, and sleep on my head or curled around my neck.  She loves company, because of course they all come to see her.

Missy does not like medicine - she says yuck!  She does love kitty treats.  She is very smart and has a quizzical look that always makes me laugh.

She recently got upper respiratory infection and went to the vet.  She had her nasal passages flushed - the vet said she did really well and I did moderately well:).  She’s on antibiotics and feeling much better.

Every day she’s with us is a good day.  Love her so much.

It makes me understand why many people say “I just want a healthy kitten.”  Missy wasn’t diagnosed until about 6 months, though.  You just never know what might happen.   And I wouldn’t have missed loving Missy for anything.

Our Tuffy, who came to us from a shelter in Ohio, had to go to the vet Saturday. She was having a rather indelicate problem with her intestinal flora.

Tuffy was supposed to be a handicapped kitten. Her eye had never opened before she came to us and the shelter thought the eye had died and would need to be removed. Fortunately, when she got here she was treated and her eye is almost normal. She has a very slight loss of vision in it, perhaps 5%, and runs a slightly increased risk of developing glaucoma as she ages. Tuffy has a pet - a stuffed lion she adores.:)

The vet sold us some Diarsanyl
which we haven’t used before. I will say she doesn’t seem to like it, but we are hoping it works. If it does we will keep it in our medicine chest. We also got Panacur in granules and Fortiflora, which we mix up in canned food for her daily, and she doesn’t mind those at all.