Thursday, May 31, 2012

King Street Cats in their Furrever Homes-Pamuk & Sultan

Pamuk & Sultan

Love hearing about our kitties in their new homes, 
so here's an update on Pamuk & Sultan.


"Hi!  We just wanted to drop you a note from Sultan and Pamuk, who we adopted from KSC earlier this year.  They have settled into their new home over the last couple of months and are doing great.  They are very cuddly and Pamuk is as athletic as ever.  They love to sit in the windows and watch squirrels and birds, and nap together very adorably.  Sultan loves the Furminator and they both enjoy climbing on their new jungle gym.  We're attaching a photo of the guys, who are very grateful for your hospitality while they waited to come live with us!"

Erica




Have you been rescued by a kitty from King Street Cats?
Please send us an update and photos!
Shoot them over to Contact@KingStreetCats.org


Thursday, May 24, 2012

King Street Cats in their Furrever Homes-Chloe

Chloe


Love hearing about our kitties in their new homes, 
so here's an update on Chloe!



"These are a few of our recent favorite pics of Chloe - we got her from KSC in Sept. 2009.  Some of your long-serving volunteers might not remember her well because you only had her for about a week or so...she was a PG County Shelter rescue that you took on the day she 'ran out of time' there with a couple other cats.  We picked her out (er, well, actually, SHE picked US out) at the open house you guys held in the old townhouse on King Street during the Labor Day arts festival that year.  You gave her the name "Chloe" and we thought it was perfect and kept it.  She is the sweetest creature on the planet - very attached to us, always in our lap, at our feet or laying next to us when we are home.  She is very vocal, playful, and incredibly cuddly.  I included a photo of her 'sitting up' because she sits like that all the time and we think it's a riot.  We can't imagine life without her and are grateful that you saved her!"








Have you been rescued by a kitty from King Street Cats?
Please send us an update and photos!
Shoot them over to Contact@KingStreetCats.org


Tuesday, May 22, 2012

Shady's EasterBunny, continued...



For the first couple of days after Shady and the EasterBunny came home with me, I was compulsively checking in on them several times a day and even a few times stumbling in during the night.  Nightmares would wake me up from a sound sleep.  These pests had me thinking Shady was sleeping on one of her babies and would suffocate him or that she was crying in pain from the surgery and I wasn't there to comfort her.  For the first two days, I held her food bowl up to her so she wouldn't have to move to eat.  OMG... I AM one of those crazy cat ladies!  Now the acknowledgement settles into my heart and I roll with the punches.  These three have taken up residence in my heart forever.  Whomever adopts these lovelies will have to send me updates on their progress, otherwise I will be devastated.

So the story continues: A week after they were settled back into my second bedroom, Shady up and moved the biggest and most developed kitten, Easter.  My heart dropped and those scary thoughts creeped in.. "What if she knows something is wrong with Bunny?"  "What if she decides to stop feeding Bunny and hides Easter under the bed on the cold wood floor?"  "What if..."  My consultants suggested that I keep the room warmer (80+ degrees), add in a heating blanket to the nest, and start feeding the smallest baby via bottle.  I went back to Shady's room, sat in front of the nest and just watched.  Hmmm... she came when I picked up Bunny and he chirped.  She still cares.  Tried feeding him with a bottle and he wasn't interested.  Hmmm.  The nest is a small animal carrier that I took her in to the vet to deliver the babies.  EUREKA!  It's too small now!  Off to the shelter I ran to pick up a LARGE animal carrier.  After bleaching the carrier, rinsing it, bleaching it again, rinsing it two more times and drying it, the heated blanket (that shuts off every hour), a soft towel and both kittens went into the new and improved nest.  Shady followed and was happy for another week.

The second week, she up and moved Easter AGAIN!  Sigh.  What now?  The towel needed to be changed.  She sure was picky.  At least this time, I kept my cool.  This week, I started handling the babies to get them used to being picked up, loved on and handled by humans.  Shady took me woman handling her babies with grace and dignity.  In fact, she rolled over for me to carefully rub her scarred, swollen belly.  The babies even started to explore their nest a little.  Such sweet babies.

Third week, they creeped to the edge of their nest and peered over the lip.  Uh-oh... almost time for them to spill out onto the floor and start exploring the entire room.   I'd better clean up the clothes that were left there and the shoes hanging out in the corner and the... maybe not say more about my internal mess.  :)

Week four brought about their biggest changes.  Their eyes are wide open and they tumble out of the carrier almost on purpose!  Such big blue eyes they have.

More to follow!


Thursday, May 17, 2012

King Street Cats Theater Night-July 31, 2012


Save the Date!
July 31, 2012

Sweeney Todd,
performed at
The Little Theater of Old Town
600 Wolfe Street
Alexandria, VA  22314

King Street Cats'
6th Annual Theater Night.
This is our main fundraising event for the year.

Purchase your tickets now
and plan for a purrrrfect evening!



Tuesday, May 15, 2012

Hazel the Pudders


 
King Street Cats has a special cat with special attention needs.  Her name is Hazel and she holds a special place in the volunteers' hearts here at KSC.  Please consider adopting her with patience and love because she sure needs both.  The following is a shortened version of a write up from an amazing animal behaviorist, Janet Velenovsky, owner of Kaizen Pet Training & Behavior, who took the time to help us with this amazing cat.

Hazel is a very athletic adult female cat with stunning black fur and luminous yellow-green eyes. She is spayed, all claws intact and in good health with an estimated age of 8 years.  She is very intelligent and confident, and can be insistent. From a behavior standpoint, Hazel can be considered a special needs girl. An appropriate adopter for Hazel needs to have experience with cats, the ability to give her focused attention several times throughout each day, and willingness to learn and solicit help as needed to manage her behaviors.

Hazel enjoys human companionship and interacts freely. She is not a cat who wants to be picked up, but she will tolerate it once you develop trust with her, and in certain situations. Allowing her to walk and stand on her own is a good default position wherever possible. If we need to handle her, put her harness on, or crate her, food incentives are helpful.  Hazel actively solicits attention by rubbing, chirping vocalizations, and head-butting. While being petted, Hazel often exhibits arousal by turning her head and lightly putting teeth on the handler’s hands or arms.

It is essential that a foster or adopter for Hazel learn how to respond to this action appropriately. To decrease her tendency to escalate to biting, it is best to redirect her to another activity. Scolding, yelling and physical reprimand will result in an aggressive response on her part. Calm interruption and redirection are called for.



Hazel enjoys chasing strings and small toys. She requires at least a couple of good workouts per day. (She’ll do 15 “figure eight” laps in a row while chasing the string, and still ask for more.) She is capable of jumping to 3 and 4 foot heights, and enjoys perching on high viewpoints. This cat will require enrichment in the forms of window views, forays outside (she is trained to walk on a harness), catnip fests, food puzzles, play sessions, and possibly clicker training.

Hazel will also use nipping and biting to indicate her frustration at not getting what she wants. If Hazel is excessively hungry, or is bored and wanting interaction, she uses this tactic to get a response from humans. The key to dealing with Hazel is to understand the motivation behind her actions, rather than responding in anger ourselves.  Appropriate responses – which will decrease her unwanted behavior over time – are to disengage from her and redirect her to a toy or food, or get her engaged in some other activity.

She is cautious when interacting with dogs, avoiding them if possible, and will swat to increase the distance between her and the dogs. Once space has been established, she will sit or lie nearby.  A relationship could be developed between Hazel and one or two well-behaved canines.  As for fellow felines, it is possible she could be introduced to one or two cats very slowly (potentially taking 2 to 3 months to accomplish the process) and learn to co-exist. However, a role as an only cat would be fine with Hazel.

Engaging the help of a certified behavior consultant is recommend for introducing Hazel to any other pet in a household, and for any arising behavior problems. Kaizen Pet Training & Behavior will provide an initial behavior phone consult at no charge for an approved adoptive family.

Here is Janet's company information:
Janet Velenovsky, CPDT-KA, CDBC, KPA CTP, ACCBC
Owner, Kaizen Pet Training & Behavior
"Improve Your Pet, Improve Your Life" (TM)
804-883-1014 (home office) :: 804-241-8405 :: (cell phone)
janet@velenovsky.com :: velenovsky.com
facebook.com/kaizenpets :: twitter.com/kaizenpets

Monday, May 14, 2012

Chip In Campaign-Shady and the EasterBunny

Shady and her babies at 4 weeks old

I am blessed to be the foster mom to a black kitten (just now 9 months old) with the sweetest temperament known to the cat species.  This little sweetheart was thrust at me at 10pm on one of my cleaning shifts at the cat room because we needed her cage for a snuffling cat.  I barely had the words out of my mouth, "Sure, I can put her in my sec..." when she rolled over to present her very pregnant belly to be rubbed.  Gasp, she's so young and tiny to be pregnant.  My heart melted.  We all remember my failed fostering experience, right???  Crud... here I go again.


At home, I rush past my two 6 yr old cats, my failed foster, feisty Arcadia, and my boyfriend's prying inquisitive eyes.  Yep, that's 4 sets of eyes asking me what that was rustling in the carrier.  I just quipped, "Don't ask, its not staying very long," and ran upstairs to put her in the second bedroom.  Whew!  She's safely tucked in the house. She came out of the carrier and wolfed down an entire can of cat food in 2 minutes flat.  I gave her more.  That too was gone in milliseconds.  Noting that she is all belly and a kitten herself, she ended up consuming on average five cans of food a day for a week with room to spare.  All this time, she would roll over to show me her belly to get belly rubs until her heart was content.  This is rare for a cat to want its belly rubbed, let alone a pregnant momma cat!  Such a sweet girl!


A week went past and she was set to be relocated to another foster home... secretly, I was praying for the birth of her litter so she'd have to stay another week so not to disrupt the kittens.  My prayer was granted!  After doing my usual pet sitting jobs on Saturday before Easter Sunday, I came home and did my round of fuzzy baby greetings.  Nightshade (aka Shady) was the final destination.  As I walked into her room, she chirped her usual greeting but from the birthing box I set up in the corner.  Is it??  Could it be??  She got to her feet and wobbled a bit... I got nervous... she then waddled over to show me her progress.  The baby was lodged and was not moving.  NOOOOO... I sped to the vet (we won't discuss how fast I was driving).  Sadly, the lodged baby did not survive due to malformation.  They recommended an emergency C-section to save the other baby.  The vet said there was only one baby but the vet tech and I said there were two more!  We were right!  So when they presented them to me to take home, they were named Easter and Bunny.  WHAT???  I spent HOURS picking the right names to go with their momma's and they ended up with Easter and Bunny!  Sigh.


A few weeks later, I overheard that her surgery was a whopping $2,500!  The Chip-In campaign is a must have.  Please consider donating to support King Street Cats and all they do.  In exchange, I will continue writing about the crazy antics that is happening in my house with two cats, two kittens and two super baby kittens.


Your help is needed in helping KSC with these unexpected vet bills.  
Our typical monthly vet bill is ~$7,000.00, but with situations like Shady's, and other emergencies we've undertaken,
 we incurred an additional $10,000.00 over the past few weeks.

If you would like to donate, click here.








So, the story of Shady and the EasterBunny continues. 

Thursday, May 10, 2012

ChipIn Campaign for KSC's Vet Bills



Important News About Our Chip-in Campaign!
Your every dollar counts...we have a very generous donor who has pledged to match dollar for dollar up to $5,000!
If you would like to donate, please click here.