For those of you who have read Homer's Odyssey about Homer the Blind Wondercat, you may already know this. But, if not, his mom Gwen Cooper and his family let him run to the Rainbow Bridge last Wednesday. She posted to his facebook page on Sunday.

Mom first read Gwen's book a few years ago. She has read it many times since then. While on it's face, it is a book about a woman and her cat, it is more than that. Throughout the book, Gwen comments that she learns from Homer that what people view as a "disability" for Homer, is not a big deal for him. He has no idea that he is different and no idea that he isn't "normal". It is a lesson that we all can learn.

Most recently, mom reread the book last summer. Last summer we had two "special" kittens that we fostered.

Doc was rescued while helping some former adopters found kittens and asked for help with rescuing the kittens and doing some TNR. After some time in the house, mom discovered that Doc was deaf. And he had no idea.

The best part, mom was at an event Friday night and was approached by a mother and daughter. The mom said "you may not remember us but we adopted Doc last summer". OMG!!  They spoke for a while and the daughter found a picture of Doc on her phone. He has grown into a big handsome mancat - they say he is long and lean. And the daughter has to leave her door closed as Doc is a certified thief.


Then came Bourbon. Mom realized right off that there was something different about him. After x-rays, we learned he was born without kneecaps. And like Doc, he was adopted by a wonderful family who doesn't care that he is "different".

So, purrs to Gwen and Lawrence. And THANK YOU for making people more aware that being different shouldn't be a death sentence.  Doc and Bourbon may not have ever been given a chance in some shelters. We are lucky that we are associated with a rescue that is willing to take chances and is no-kill. 

Fly Free Homer.

We hear so many stories about kids being mean to animals or bullying or whatever.....

And then we hear stories about kids giving their allowances to shelters or birthday money or volunteering. Today we are thankful for ALL these kids - and the people who are helping them be animal people

So we wanted to take a minute to say how thankful we are for mom's niece. Mom calls her Fred and she has been sending the summers up here with grandma and grandpa for a few years now. And she goes with mom when she goes to the shelter and LOVES to come over to visit with the fosters here (she moves a little fast for us.....)




She and her mom go to the local humane society near them to pet and love on the animals as well.

We can work as hard as we want to save animals, but if we don't teach the next generation to do good things, then we have still failed. Mom is proud that Fred wants to help animals and is learning about what mom does - and still wants to help even when she sees the bad things. Fred lives with 2 kitties and the polar bear (see below)
   mom: really? we are still on the polar bear thing??




Fred and Grandma (those antlers got around)

It is always an adventure around here.....today, once again, mom is starting on another adventure with Miss Chrystal. Check out Daily dose of dogs for the newest one....
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

We know you love hearing about our adoptions, and thought we would share some updates.

From Whiskey's new mom and dad:
"I thought you would like an update on Whiskey. First of all, thank you for doing such a great job socializing him! He is without a doubt just the sweetest kitten ever! We are amazed at his non-stop purr. He loves to be held and falls asleep in anyone’s lap. He is so busy! We love playing with him and watching him . He is not afraid of anything, even our older cat who so far keeps hissing at him. He just looks at her as if to say “so what’s wrong with you???”. (We think Callie will eventually get tired of the hissing-bit. She is very curious about the kitten and watches everything he does.) Well, just thought you would like to know your kitten is doing fine and we really love him. And I hope you don’t mind, but we changed his name to Marley. It was a big debate between Marley and Moki, but Marley won."
      Concats Whiskey/Marley - you got a great new family. :)


~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Doc update:
"Hi,    We will have to send you some pictures.  He is a awesome addition to our family.  A little on the rotten side but he is my sons best friend.   No concerns at all.    Actually him being Deaf helped, he doesn't seem scared of anything.   We did have a little issue where he jumped on top of my daughters dresser and drug away one of her feather ear rings but it turned up under our bed a little soggy.  :)"
             Concats Doc - keep 'em on their toes!!!
 

We are taking a moment of silence this morning for Ann and the girls. Poppy Vic passed away yesterday. We are very very sad for Ann......  zoolatry 
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



Geez - didn't we just cover this????
Yeah, yeah, the cute white kitten was deaf. Why is that such a big deal???

mom: well, some people just don't want to deal with an animal that is different. And with dogs it is harder since they go outside and can get in more trouble if they can't hear their mom and dad.

But Doc was adopted really quick. Must be they fell for the cute.....

This is Miney from Colony Cats.

"Miney was part of a litter born outside to a stray cat. She is such a sweet kitty, but she has a permanent head tilt from an ear infection. It was also determined she is totally deaf. It is hard to tell from watching her, but her cry is really exagerated because she can't hear herself. Miney is waiting to meet you at the cage free Colony Cats Adoption Center."

And hey, there is an advantage to being deaf too...... you can be the loudest pirate on the CB and don't care if anyone calls you out on it.  MOL

The chair in our living room is oversized and mom's favorite spot. There is a big pillow on it too. As mom was sitting there over the weekend, Bourbon balanced himself in the crack between the pillow and the arm of the chair.....and fell asleep. Mom couldn't resist taking more pictures of his cute self......
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, we all know that Doc is deaf. Ignores the vaccuum, can sleep through anything (including the cat food cans opening), etc....

But there was a weird event last night. See, mom has seen Doc's ears swivel before - but she wasn't sure if it was habit or whatever. Last night, however, she was watching a special she dvr'd about a month ago. It was about a wolf pack in Washington state (the special was good too). At one point the pack howled.

Now, here is the important part. The TV wasn't overly loud. Doc was about 4 feet away on the floor playing - not facing the TV. And the picture on the screen was just a night shot - the sound was the important part.

An adult howled - a lower sound. And then some pups joined in and their howl had a much higher pitch. And Doc's ears snapped up and his head snapped around to face the TV. And then ran over and was trying to find the noise in the TV.

Mom's jaw hit the floor. So now we suspect he can hear "something" - but it must be above a certain pitch. This is probably the first time mom has truly seen him react to a sound. This won't change his adoption status - he will still be listed as special needs and deaf - with no small kids to startle him. But it is interesting that he must be able to here certain things.....

We know it seems like mom posts a ton of pictures of Doc (probably cause she DOES), but he was being adorable and it is EASY to take his picture when he is asleep.  :)  Have a nice peaceful relaxing day...





Mom has a cold thingie. She is more snotty than she normally is just from her allergies. And she is coughing too.....

Oh, and she screwed up the laptop. All her other online pages are regular size, but her blogger page page now has tiny print. Any idea what she did????  (PS - hehehe....mom figures it out and now can read the page like a normal person)

We do have some news to share. Mom got an update on baby Bear and he didn't make it either. Miss Beckie and us are hanging on to the kitts for another couple of weeks. So far everyone here seems fine.

Mom says it has been a long week. We say she only worked 4 days so what is she complaining about. :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sally is at the v-e-t today getting her ladygardenectomy. Please be thinking about her. (yep - she now FINALLY weighs 2.6 pounds)

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks for all the well wishes and helpin' us with the house trashin'. Mom should be busy most of the weekend cleanin' up. MOL
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The boys from the Army of Four mentioned yesterday that it is strange that it took mom 4 months to decide to keep Tim and Tom. Yeah - she is kinda slow like that. MOL
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Our pictures in the Turbo Track event at up over at Max the quilt cat hosted by Bugsy and Knuckles. And in the Boxing event over at Sasha's.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mom was reading an article on Catster about favorites. Now, she claims she doesn't HAVE a favorite, but we suspect she isn't being very truthful. And we know that some foster monsters get her more than others.

In the house now, it would have to be Doc, Bourbon and Whiskey. Whiskey is just always looking for attention from mom (who would guess his mommy is feral?) and loves to be loved on. Bourbon loves attention as well but his leg issues and his refusal to give up make mom smile.  And then there is Doc. As mom says, that boy is just..... special. MOL




Yeah - he appears to be partly gray. That was new when mom got home. She thinks he may have been playing in the fireplace ashes. sigh....




The alcohol kittens are out and about and having fun. Mom still only lets them out under supervision - unless someone (cough*Tim*cough) moves the gate and they get free. They have discovered the cat tree and everyone climbs like mad - even Bourbon!!

Mom released the foster monsters on Sunday for a little bit. They came storming down the hall and played for quite a bit. It is funny to see them with Doc and Sally who are so much bigger.....

They were very good and spent over an hour running around until mom put them back. They are still pretty little (all right around a pound with Moonshine & Whiskey being the biggest at just over a pound).
Once mom got everyone back, she realized that Bourbon was MIA. She searched and found him sitting on the stairs watching Doc play in the entry way. She called and Bourbon started bouncing back up the stairs. Mom had to get it on video she was so proud. Some might find it hard to watch cause he does struggle a big (mom cut his nails after this since that seemed to be a big part of his problem) but she was so proud to see the little guy make the effort. He does run funny but he gets around and plays just as hard as all his relatives.

We got mom motivated and made a few entries into the Blogville/Cat-O-lympics....

And now we have finally got her motivated to get our entries posted here.

Balance Beam hosted by Cory Cat Blog featuring Ivy & Maestro

Boxing hosted by Sasha featuring Doc & Tim


Counter Surfing hosted by Katnip Lounge featuring Utah (our foster from 2010)



Turbo Track hosted by Bugsy & Knuckles featuring Tim & Tom and Doc


Hiding hosted by Quill at Housecat Confidential featuring Tim
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Amaretto is doing well. She is out and walking around some under supervision. Mom thinks the vet is going to have to clean her wounds out better than mom can do. We thought she was eating again on her own, but she is just messing with mom. So, still on KMR by syringe. Even tried baby food and she ignored it. V-e-t visit tonight..... paws crossed.

Quick Amaretto update: she isn't eating much, but still walking around some when mom lets her out. Mom has taken to syringe feeding her KMR and NutriCal in the hopes that it will help some. At least we know she is getting something into her. Mom did get more worried and just for her peace of mind took her to the v-e-t for a quick check (under the term better safe than sorry). It appears the Clavamox is working as the vet checked all the abscesses (even the liver ones - mom likes it when the vets are curious cause they check things but don't charge her) and all of them appear to be smaller. But, Amaretto is anemic and we aren't sure what to do about that. They did get a preliminary report from the lab - something is growing. Really - they typed up a report and faxed it for that??? Mom hopes they can be more definitive today. Oh- and someone asked if the abscesses were lanced - they were on Friday night at the vet and left open so mom can clean them. That being said, the vet last night said that it may required divine intervention in this case - Amaretto is just so tiny. We appreciate your prayers and purrs - please keep sending them!!
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
In other news, we just heard that K and Alex both ran for the Bridge. We have been purring for them and their families for a while and we have some serious leaky eyes here. We are sending our purrs for them and know that both K and Alex are healthy and running free now.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mom put Doc on a leash.....

The kid had a lemonade stand on Friday and part of the proceeds went to buy supplies for the shelter. Mom went over and took Doc. Cause he wiggles, she put a harness and leash on him. He didn't seem to mind and actually had a great time outside.



And then Sunday, Mom took Doc, Whiskey and Gin to Petco. Doc got bored and LAUNCHED himself at baby gate....and got over (which he hasn't done since at home - goofy boy). Great - so much for that. Mom put him back in and yet once he figured it out, it was all over, so he got to wear the harness and leash at Petco as well.

Let's see - the triple threat boys from the bathroom got dropped off this morning for their neuter surgery. Not sure if they are staying at the shelter or not. Normally kittens come back to recover for a few days, but there is a big adoption event on Saturday, so they may stay. They have come out of their shells a whole lot more, but mom is concerned that taking them back to the shelter is going to spook them again. Poor boys....


Breaking news: there was almost an escape!!!! Mom had the boys in their carrier and was about 3 feet from the door to the shelter when.....the carrier broke. She had the handle and the bottom part hit the ground. One kitten shot out the back, one out the front and mom dropped the lid on third. She grabbed him and ran inside for help. The big gray one (red ball in his mouth) was the one in the carrier. The smaller gray had shot around the side of the building and was under a bench. Mom baby talked him and he came to her so she could grab him. She headed back inside and Miss Kelsey from the shelter went the other direction for the brown tabby. Seems he shot under a bush and was yelling that he didn't like it outside. sigh... After this, neutering will be easy for them. :)

However, they are staying since there is an adoption event on Saturday so mom is a little thankful. She put the alcohol kittens back in the bathroom this morning so they can have access to food all day and Tim can stay out of time-out when they are eating. :) Which will make Tim pretty thankful as well. MOL


Mom got the idea for the tray from Robyn at love-and-hisses.
Works like a charm..... best investment of $1 ever....

There were a couple of questions about Doc from yesterday:
   1. What color are his eyes? He is actually bi-colored - one blue and one green.
   2. Aren't white cats normally deaf? Not always - but it is normally tied to blue eyes in white cats. So mom had presumed he might not be able to hear on that side. However, after some observation (that boy can sleep through anything), she is pretty convinced he is completely deaf and not just ignoring her. Miss Beckie though says she has some white cats with blue eyes that can hear and some with gold eyes that can't. So it may be more tied to the gene that makes cats white.
   3. LP - we already have a Maestro - and he isn't very interested in the blinds. :)

Mom says it is supposed to be a little cooler in the evenings and we might even get some much needed rain this weekend....maybe we will get some window whiffin in at night again!!