The Great Kitty Rescue Cats at Finishing School

Revisiting The Cats from MSFS

corinnem — Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:30:11 GMT

Even though Miss Sherry's Finishing School for Felines has closed and the name of the yurt has been changed to "Mustang Ranch", there are still some of the former students residing at Rescue Village.

As most of you know, many of the cats have been moved down to Cat World and integrated throughout the buildings down there. We spent almost an entire day with Andrew, Delilah and Oblio at Cat HQ. We visited with Layla and Sterling in Benton's and Bogart, Delta, Ayesha, Wild Child, Candy, Dancer, Demi, Pacific and Cybil in other buildings.

Ozzy and Puddy acknowledged us, but wouldn’t let us pet them. I was happy to see Lexy looking so good. She was perched up high, but looked right at me when I called her name and talked to her.

Stopping in to say hello to Robin, Polly and Marcus we saw:

Delphi ~ Who is still in love with Bob, but she sniffed my finger and didn’t run. She sat really close and watched us and followed us as we said hello to the other kitties. She never stopped being close to us when we were there.

Guess ~ Who sniffed my finger, said hello and let me pet her.

Zappa ~ He was transfixed as I talked to him & he followed me, but wouldn’t let me touch him.

Joker ~ Robin says that something has changed with him, he is more attentive, follows, and watches. He sat beside Delphi and looked up at Bob with such intention. A couple of weeks after our visit they discovered that Joker is in renal failure…

Our Miss Dice ~ Was just off a dental. She is still a runner. But, she does this thing that she used to do in Pahrump. Robin sees her do it 3 or 4 times a day. And, I saw it myself while we were there. She stands by the divider and “calls” and some of the cats in the other room come running. She rubs her body along the room divider and they rub it and each other and everyone seems so happy.

Snow ~ He is doing so incredibly well and has even gotten chubby. No medical at this point, not even fluids.

Thumper ~ He is doing great and was SO receptive…pet me, pet me!

Bond ~ He is just the best, as loving as ever and doing so well!

Patch ~ My buddy is doing so good; has lost some weight & just needs love.

Jewel ~ Wrapped around us, literally.

Whisper ~ A runner, but really listened from a distance.

Kendra ~ Kendra as always is just perfect.

Ferrari ~ Ditto Kendra comment!

Many of the cats from the Great Kitty Rescue are still at Best Friends. If you get a chance, go on up and see them ~ they would love the attention! And if you know of anyone looking for a cat, they are still looking for their forever homes.

Friendships & Get-Togethers

corinnem — Mon, 06 Oct 2008 08:44:58 GMT

Having to walk away from the cats is the hardest thing.

What also hurts is knowing that you won’t be seeing the people that share your love of these cats as often as you’d like. During our last week there, we all shared those emotions as well as the feeling that we needed to be together, to share our thoughts, to validate our beliefs, to comfort each other and to know that our love and support of these cats will continue.

Usually during our monthly visits, we have a group dinner at least once at the RV and a couple of dinners on our own with Terri.

On special occasions – like the weekend of the Dedication Ceremony, or when the Timberlakes came to town – we have a larger gathering. This time, the entire extended weekend felt like a special occasion.

We only had dinner one night off-site with people with whom we were blessed to include as good friends early on in our Kanab adventures. Every other night, many of us gathered together to share a meal outside of the RV.

There is a special magic to having dinner up at Rescue Village. We move the picnic table so it is right outside of the Wildwood RV and near the grill and tables Devon so thoughtfully made early on, (and okay, close to the ‘blue room’). The others may think me silly, but I always bring a tablecloth. It is plastic with felt backing and has a motif of colorful tropical flowers.

The important thing is that no matter whether we cook or get take-out, whoever is there is there for a united cause – socializing and finding forever homes for the cats from the Nye County Rescue.

We sit and talk about – what else? – the cats! As we sit there, we watch the cats playing in the enclosed yard outside of the Kit Kat yurt, and they watch us back and occassionally call to us and it is too cute!

Of course, the main topic of conversation this past weekend was how it all got to this point…

The thing is, we all met and worked side by side for the cats. And, out of that working and living side by side – no matter for how long or short of a time – we bonded. We grew an extended family; people united in heart, soul and purpose.

We shared the successes of the Finishing School – Angelina, Audrey, Bagara, Bambino, Bubbles, Bunny, Carson, Dazzler, Dolly, Dweezil, Ferrairi, Gus, Jasper, Kermit, Krammer, Layla, Lexy, Milkmouth, Paprika, Persephone, Polo, Snoopy, Sultan , Tazo, Ziplock, ….

And the progress of others half way through their schooling: Aurora, Charisma, Delphi, Dice, Ginseng, Hugo, Isis, Jinx, Joker, Kendra, Sylvester, Whisper…and all of the others.

There was certainly an aura of sadness all weekend long. A feeling that it just wasn’t real. And, there were a few people who made sure that we all knew it was real…but that’s another story.

Our last night there, Vivian brought us a gift – it was a copy of the The Cats of Kittyville. I had no idea about it. And lo and behold, there was a chapter devoted to the Nye County Rescue and…Kermit was the featured cat! I cannot tell you how surprised we were!

Let us all never lose sight of the friendships and relationships we’ve made along this path – they will continue to support us and the cats!

Our Last Days at Miss Sherry’s Finishing School - Part 1

corinnem — Wed, 01 Oct 2008 20:33:17 GMT

We got back home last night from our last trip to volunteer at the Finishing School. This is the first in a series of posts about the last days of the Finishing School.

On September 15th, I wrote a letter to Paul Berry posted here in its entirety:

Dear Paul,

It was with great distress that I read the news on the Nye County Network site –“Pahrump pussycats start migration from yurts to Cat World”

However before I tell you the reasons why this is such terrible news, let me introduce myself. My name is Corinne Mitchell and I first began working with the cats from the Nye County Rescue last December. Since then, my husband Bob and I have been traveling up to Kanab every month for a week to work with these amazing cats. In fact, we were up there at the end of last month and met you at Ross’s birthday party.

We are privileged to stay on site in the Wildwood RV doing sleepovers with the cats getting ready to graduate from the Finishing School, socializing cats in the Finishing School, cleaning, feeding, watering, playing and pitching in wherever we are needed.

We also volunteer at as many of the adoption events that we can make it to, knowing that we can best represent the cats that we have worked with and show their potential adopters that their personalities tend to be somewhat hidden at these events.

Some of the truths of the article… remarkable feat saving the lives of over 800 cats; some help with social skills in order to be successful finding a new and forever home; socializing these remarkable survivors; many students were enrolled in Miss Sherry’s and there were many graduates who have gone on to fulfilling lives in wonderful new homes.

While I understand the purpose of trying to post this news article in a positive light, I have been in the trenches and have seen first hand the different factions disagreeing and fighting, the undermining of the school and the political positioning of the participants – all resulting in a dis-service to the cats.

When the school first opened and was staffed properly, it was a wonderfully positive environment where cats were taught to trust, to enjoy pets, to play and to get ready to move to their new homes.

Adoption rates were high and we have numerous success stories, like Miss Milkmouth’s as cited in the news release: Our full-figured glamour gal, Milkmouth, who is now a happy girl in San Diego and was a kitty who was so terrified when she came into school that it was like she wanted to be invisible.

In truth, there are too many successes to recount here; but to get an idea look at the blogs, the news stories and the adoption lists. The Finishing School is successful when given the resources necessary to run it properly.

That is from an animal activist point of view. Now, from a financial point of view –

The Nye County Rescue and the cats have a tremendous following. Russ Mead said that that site had more traffic than any other project in the history of Best Friends. These people follow the paths of the cats closely, give their time and donate money and supplies. I personally correspond with a large group of them and they are passionate about these particular cats. I have had more than one volunteer tell me that the cats from the Nye County Rescue have gotten into their hearts and have forever changed their lives for the better.

What has baffled many of us from the beginning is the lack of marketing surrounding the Nye County Rescue. It is a miraculous story that sheds additional good light on Best Friends, highlights the importance of people reporting hoarding situations, and showcases animal rescue and the road to finding these animals forever homes. It is a marketers dream.

Best Friends was given custody and accepted responsibility for these cats and by the admission of many I have spoken with, this has led to intense over crowding of the cat population at Best Friends.

You had a perfect solution – The Finishing School was socializing the cats and they were being adopted. Best Friends no longer had the cost of the care of these animals and they were receiving adoption fees and the school was fulfilling the vision of Best Friends to find a quality home for each animal.

I know that not everyone is comfortable with the techniques employed at Miss Sherry’s Finishing School. Though I still don’t understand why it is okay to crate train a dog, but not cage train a cat. However, I digress; these techniques were developed over a period of time and have been proven to work as outlined in the Cat Socialization Manual. They have had a 100% success rate and I have seen it and participated in it first hand.

As we all know, change can be difficult. Leading the way to new horizons can be an onerous task and it can be an uphill battle to help people set in their ways to see that new doesn’t mean bad. Vivian was telling us a story one night about how upset and nervous people were when they were all designing what is now the “norm” for the cat enclosures down at Kittyville. It was all different and new and cutting edge back then…but you know what, back then it worked.

The Finishing School techniques are different, but not bad. They are new and they work. I really believe that Best Friends should be a strong leader in developing, introducing and sharing methods that clearly benefit any animal – in this case cats.

There are thousands of cats languishing their lives away in shelters across the country. As two volunteers who came to Rescue Village back in March found out, learning and using these techniques can change the course of the lives of these “unadoptable” cats. These two women had volunteered at Katrina and decided to come to Best Friends to see it up close and personal. They spent a day with Terri at the school and learned the techniques. They both worked at a shelter that did not have a no-kill policy where two cats were marked as “unadoptable” and scheduled to be euthanized. They went back and asked permission to try the techniques on these two cats. The results? The cats were socialized in two weeks and went on to be adopted! Two cats that had been incorrectly labeled because of their fear found their forever homes.

It is my understanding that the socialization of cats will continue, but on an entirely different and unproven basis. You cannot pick and choose some of the steps from the Finishing School and expect success. Of course you can work with some cats in an open room and eventually get them to allow you to pet them. However, they certainly won’t be socialized to the level that they are when they graduate from the Finishing School.

Also, they will not be cage trained to go to adoption events. Although I did hear a scary comment from one of the staff last month, “There’s nothing wrong with netting a cat to get them into a cage for an adoption event.”

I’m sorry, but if you have to net a cat to bring them to an adoption event, how well do you think they will do at that event? I can tell you from my own experience, they do not do well.

On the other hand, the cats that graduate from the Finishing School are easily scruffed, go into and come out of the cage readily and show well at the events because they have been entirely socialized.

On behalf of all of the supporters of the cats from the Nye County Rescue and the cats themselves, I implore you to reconsider the closing of Miss Sherry’s Finishing School.

Thank you for your time and attention.

Respectfully,

On September 17th, his answer to me was:

Thanks for your note, Connie. Very thoughtfully done.

Could I have your permission to forward this to Patty Hegwood, our Animal Care director, so I can get her response to all this? Thanks..pb

On the morning of September 29th, I received a reply from Colleen, Patty Hegwood’s assistant. The same letter was posted in the News section later that day.

I have seen copies of other letters sent to Paul and Patty in support of the Finishing School and everyone is receiving the same pat, fluffy reply.

During our time up there, it was amazing how many people didn’t know that the school was closing: people in the Adoption Department, people in the Media Department, people in the Welcome Center, even Dr. Mike.

Until next time…keep the cats left behind in your thoughts.

I Have a Question

corinnem — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 09:11:34 GMT

With all of the difficulties that the Miss Sherry’s Finishing School has been facing, one strong opposition has been voiced by the people working to shut it down.

They are opposed to cats being in cages.

My question, which I have posed numerous times and to date remains unanswered is – what is the difference between crate training a dog and cage training a cat?

And, we never muzzle a cat at the Finishing School.

It’s funny, I have heard that the best volunteers at the school have been “dog” people… and you know what I mean. Even though we may each love all animals, we tend to ‘favor’ one species over another. Here, I’ll lead the way, I love all animals but cats just have their way with me.

“Dog people” seemingly accept that the cats will progress better and faster if they complete the Finishing School guidelines, which includes some limited time in a cage.

I have seen first hand that the cats do not mind the cages. In fact, they appreciate the safety of the cage. They have their own space, their own food, their own water, and even their own potty – such a relief after sharing too close and unsavory accommodations with 790 other cats. And, they know that we will not overstep our bounds in their safe place. We allow them the space and time they need to learn to trust people and they understand and appreciate that.

I remember early on going up to Rescue Village and there was an occasion when some of the cats had to be netted. Linda Gage said, “You know, it’s traumatic, but it’s better to traumatize them for the short time it takes to net them then to chase them around trying to catch them.”

Well, it’s better to cage train them for a short time then to chase after them in an open room/run – if you can even get to them.

Plus, the advantage to cage training them is that they actually are socialized and become adoptable and we find them their forever homes.

I thought that was one of the goals…

This is Astro who was doing great in the school, but who is going to be dismissed soon because the school is closing - please keep her in your thoughts - she deserves so much more

Bittersweet Journey

corinnem — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 07:09:46 GMT

I realize that I have been terribly inattentive to this blog. The problem has been that there has been too much turmoil whirling around the Finishing School for many months now. And I just didn’t know what to say.

As you all know, the dust has settled and the verdict has come down. The Finishing School is sadly closing its doors at the end of this month. For those of you that have seen the accomplishments up close and personal, you know this is a tragedy and a dis-service to the cats..

Bob and I leave for Kanab early Thursday morning to go spend one last week socializing the cats, doing sleepovers in the RV and thoroughly enjoying our time up there with the cats and the people.

This will be a bittersweet journey for us. There is a lot to applaud: all of the cats that have graduated and gone on to find their forever homes; all of the friends we’ve made, who as Peter pointed out have become extended family; the socialization will continue; and of course, we are bringing Sylvester home with us.

The bitter is hard to take. I cannot even begin to tell you how much we will miss working at the Finishing School and staying on site. We had a wonderful conversation with Vivian one night about the early days at Best Friends and how fulfilling it was to live and work with the animals 24/7. It has been a pleasure and a privilege to be able to stay in the RV and do over nighters with the cats..

It hasn’t quite sunk in how our lives are going to change because of the closing of the Finishing School. It did a little today and all I could do was shed tears.

I will post entries as to how our journey is going. Please keep the cats in your thoughts and prayers. And remember, there are still so many wonderful cats that need permanent or foster homes. The resilience and special characters of the cats from the Great Kitty Rescue are truly beautiful to behold.

Here's to Our Beloved Mags

corinnem — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 01:58:59 GMT

Upon my monthly visit to the Yurts in June, I had the good fortune to have Mags join my brother and me for a sleepover. We brought Dolly along to keep him company, show him the ropes and help calm him in a new environment.

He was scared at first, but Miss Dolly's charm worked its magic and he settled in with her on the bed.

Dolly Snuggles with Mags

As the evening progressed, he decided that we weren’t so bad and scary after all and that we gave pretty good pets! He even started to nuzzle my hand and purr.

The Mags and Dolly Train

As the night wound down, he and Dolly closed their eyes for a good night’s sleep.

Mags and Dolly Sleep

But, as anyone who has done one of these “sleepovers” knows, there is actually very little sleep going on by any of the parties included! (I’ve put in a request to change the name of these little adventures)

Mags and Dolly had a pretty good time that night tearing around the RV, chasing the mouse and hopping from bed to couch to table to counter to floor … you get the idea.

The next day when it was time for them to go back to the Finishing School, Dolly wasn’t particularly pleased about leaving the big cushy bed, but went easily into the carrier.

Mags on the other hand got really angry and let me know in no uncertain terms, yowling the entire walk back to the yurt. Once released into the playroom, he wouldn’t even give me the time of day. Since we had made such progress in our friendship during the “sleepover”, I wasn’t going to let him off the hook that easily.

I crawled over to him, (yes, crawled), and I reached out my hand imploringly, talking sweet to him the whole time. And you know what? He forgave me and nuzzled my hand and we had a wonderful petting session.

And that’s how I choose to remember Mags, nuzzling my hand, purring, being loved unconditionally.

I will miss you sweet boy.

Opening photo courtesy of volunteer Peter Wolf

The Beautiful, Aloof Miss Ginseng

corinnem — Tue, 29 Jul 2008 04:20:18 GMT

In answer to Peter’s question – yes, Ginseng does like Greenies and of course you’re wondering how we found that out.

During our monthly trip up to Rescue Village last week, Ginseng became a topic of conversation. She is not food motivated and never takes baby food or turkey from us. She just doesn’t seem to care. Everyone that works with Ginseng tries a different approach to compensate for this, (it is much easier to gain the trust of a food-motivated cat).

Terri gently but firmly works with her, Kris reads to her, Vivian sings to her, Barbara tries feathers and wands. I have had good sessions with Ginseng in the past; however, some changes to her routine in the past couple of months have her a little unsettled so I knew she was going to resist my charms.

I talked to her and petted her, but just didn’t feel that the connection was strong enough.

“Ginseng, you need a toy.”

You see, they found that Paprika is totally attached, loves and is calmed by her stuffed penguins. Yes, that’s right, stuffed penguins. She just loves those two little guys. I was thinking that maybe Ginseng would like a toy of her own.

I tried a small pink mouse – no interest.

I tried a life size soft brown and tan mouse. She sniffed it and seemed interested, so I gave it to her.

I tried catnip. “Hisssss!”

“Okay, you don’t like catnip.”

“How about a ball?” I asked as I showed her a small cloth ball. That seemed to pass her judgment.

So, I left her that session with two new toys.

The next day I sat talking with her before Bob sat down to do some classroom time with her.

“There has to be something that she likes,” I said aloud to no one in particular.

“CC, have you tried cat treats with Ginseng?”

“Yes, she doesn’t care about them.”

At this point, I started rummaging through the drawers and boxes of supplies. In the next room I found an abandoned, unopened bag of Greenies.

“Have you tried Greenies with her?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Here Bob, try the Greenies.”

Bob sat down with Ginseng and I moved on to work with Astro.

“She loves them!”

“Really?”

“Yup, she just took her third one.”

Finally, something that motivated Ginseng! And after eating the Greenies, she also licked baby food from Bob’s finger. A small triumph in some people’s minds perhaps, but a major break though for we cat socializers.

Ginseng had many people working with her over the weekend: Terri, CC, Bob and I, Barbara, Vivian and the Timberlake sisters.

That combined with the new toys and the Greenies seemed to have had a positive influence on Ginseng.

As we were getting ready to leave on Saturday morning, Bob called to me, “Look at Ginseng.”

“Why, what is she doing?” She had seemed more relaxed that morning than I had seen her in a long time, but I wondered why Bob sounded so quietly amazed.

“Ginseng is playing.”

And sure enough, there she was alternately tossing the ball and mouse around. She was playing, acting like a cat, happy, and relaxed. She can do it!

San Diego Adoption Event - Day 2

corinnem — Tue, 20 May 2008 03:32:52 GMT

The second day is always easier since there is less to set up. We arrived at 9:30am and went straight in to see how the cats were doing and they were doing great! Good morning meows from every direction. Their continued resiliency will never cease to amaze me.

Cages out to the tables, cleaning, and of course a treat for being so good! The cats seemed to remember this place and were more relaxed than yesterday. They were putting forward their best paw in anticipation of the crowds.

First Charles came with his golden retriever, Daisy, to find a feline friend. They had scoped it out on Saturday and had thought long and hard overnight to come to the decision to adopt Francesca. After making sure that the three got along, Francesca went home with them.

Then it got hot, and hotter and the foot traffic crawled to a stop. The cats slept in an effort to avoid the heat. Some, like Kramer had their own fan.

Pacific seemed to think her litter box was a pool and she was just going to lay there and wait for the sun to set.

It was quiet and I was going from cage to cage “furminating’ cats when two very nicely dressed gentlemen came up. They carefully looked into every cage, commenting on each cat and asking questions about each. They were charming and I enjoyed talking with them. After a time, they settled in front of the beautiful little Roxy’s cage and I introduced them to each other. Sydney just fell in love with her, looking long and depp into her eyes. “She talks with her eyes.”

Then Richard said, “Did you see Boston?”

Boston came out of his cage to meet Sidney and nestled in his arms, head butting his chin.

Long story short, after a walk to discuss it, they came back and adopted them both!

Kramer perked up later in the day when Anthony stopped by his cage. Anthony and he had a long conversation and Anthony and his girl friend took turns petting him and sure enough, he won them over!

And as I have been quoted as saying elsewhere, “Last but never least. . . our beautiful Miss Milk Mouth!” I know I don’t need to go into detail here – have you ever seen so many posts about a cat? I told Jennifer and Victor that they were adopting quite a feline celebrity in the BF circles. And I see that Jennifer jumped right on the suggestion to start a blog for us all to watch Milk Mouth’s progress.

Then it was time to break it all down and pack everything into the vans. And here I must give an extra special accolade to all the members of the mobile adoption team – doing an adoption event start to finish is HARD work, physically, mentally and emotionally. You are the best and I can never thank you enough for all that you do. It was an honor and pleasure to work with you.

San Diego Adoption Event - Day 1

corinnem — Tue, 20 May 2008 01:12:16 GMT

We spoke to Mark when arrived in San Diego with the cats about 6:00pm Friday evening and arranged to meet him at the motel the next morning at 8:30am. Talk about a pet friendly motel – all 17 cats spent the night in the motel room with him!

The next morning dawned heavy with fog that unfortunately did nothing to dispel the heat wave that settled in for the entire weekend.

Upon arrival, we said our hellos (to Mark and the cats!) and set about cleaning cages and getting the cats ready for their trip to South Bark Dog Wash. With plenty of time to spare, we went from cage to cage giving loving to the cats.

We found out that we had our first adoption before the event even started. The night before, Mark had delivered Toulouse to one of our favorite cat whisperers Gale and her husband Roy.

Mark and Bob then left with the van loaded with supplies to drop them off at South Bark. I blissfully was left to continue socializing with the cats. They were all so good. The only one a little upset about the while situation was Ozzy, but he was purrfectly fine accepting pets.

Wondering what time it was I searched out the clock and saw that it was 10:30am. Hmm, the event starts at 11:00am. 10:40am, who should I call to see what’s up? 10:45am, okay a little worried now. Suddenly a knock on the door and there they were. We went from all the time in the world to running late, just like that.

We quickly loaded up four cages on the luggage pull cart, Mark carried two and I carried one. The maid happened to be cleaning the room next door; you should have seen the scowl on her face when we emerged! I don’t think this is what she had in mind when they told her she would be cleaning pet friendly rooms. Her disposition didn’t improve when we came back for rounds two and three. I would have loved to see her reaction when she walked into Mark’s room after we left!

The set up went smoothly and there were people starting to look at the cats and dogs.

As it got hotter, towels were draped to block sunshine and fans were set up to cool the cats. We brought out the Furminator and began grooming the cats. Mark gave Lauren a manicure. Foot traffic slowed – where is everyone?!

In the afternoon, Chris came around to look at the cats. He took one look at Lexy and fell in love with her. We told him Lexy’s history and that she was still a little shy with new people. He wanted to work with her on her social skills and he has a lot of friends willing to help, including Margaret who organized the event on the San Diego side. The paperwork was completed and Bob and I went over for the home inspection. Lexy’s new home is a cute one-bedroom cottage off the busy street with many windows for her to sit in. She hopped out of the carrier and immediately went exploring.

The update on Lexy the next morning was that she was spending a little too much time under the bed, but did come out to eat and use the litter box. She was sitting in the window when Chris went home , but is still a little shy with him, so went for the bedroom. Margaret is going to go help him coax her out and block off that particularly hiding spot. We’ll keep you posted on Lexy’s development.

Poor Lauren had a disappointment when her adoption fell through – she was already wearing her go home collar! Sad as it is, she needs the right home and this one wasn’t it.

The cats on the bottom row were inadvertently dog tested, as there were many dogs walking by their cages! At one point, Boston was nose to nose to a very handsome Australian Shepherd and both seemed okay with it.

Then it was 7:00pm and time to close down for the night. Supplies were stored and the cat ages were brought into the store for the night. Fresh food, water, litter, and we said our good nights. Tomorrow is another day!

Sometimes It’s So Bittersweet

corinnem — Thu, 15 May 2008 05:57:01 GMT

04/17/08 - There’s always many changes every time we come up here, some wonderful and some sad.

On of the first things we noticed was that our boy Kermit wasn’t in his tree. Turns out, he was in Tempe at the adoption event! Bob became philosophical and said, “Well, if he finds a good home down there, that’s great. But, if he comes back, he’s meant to be ours.” (Sneak preview: Kermit’s coming home with us!)

It was great to see our FIV buddies. We walked into their room and Andy Bartholomew, Eclipse and Dexter came running over to say hi. Handsome Devil stayed on his perch, but gave a welcoming meow. Patch, Pacific and Snow all solicited pets.

It was terribly depressing to see Ziggy so frail. But boy, he sure doesn’t let his illness affect his endearing personality. He is walking around soliciting pets and head nudging everyone.

He’s lost so much weight and it is too sad to think he won’t be with us much longer. I tried not to cry in front of him, he was being such a little trooper; but sometimes I just couldn’t help myself.

Luckily, he doesn’t have to be in a cage. There are so few cages needed in the Medical Yurt now that a large portion of it has been given over to an open room for the cats, including Ziggy.

On other fronts: Milk Mouth had her dental and had 12 teeth extracted. She’s in a cage in the Medical Yurt and is being SO sweet. Butt in the air for pets – her sweet spot! Mags is below her and is feeling so much better after his dental – but all of his teeth are gone! From the Pussy Cat Lounge, Bogart and Apollo are recovering from their dentals.

Gus is depressed again – he just wants to go home! They’re just waiting for a date for transport, so in the meantime we just need to make him feel loved.

Well, we’ll give as much love and pets as we can and do the best we can.

On One of Our Monthly Trips to Kanab

corinnem — Tue, 06 May 2008 03:44:13 GMT

04/17/08 – On the road again, and really it’s not so bad. . . 6am. . .8 hours to Kanab. The worst part is going through Riverside and San Bernardino and luckily, we get that over with early on in the trip. After that, we mark our progress by town: Barstow, Primm, Las Vegas, Mesquite, St. George, Hurricane, Colorado City, Fredonia and finally Kanab!

Upon arrival, we go straight to work, no time for leisurely hellos. As happens too often, they are short-handed again with not even one worker per yurt. (Read: Volunteers Needed!)

First order of business: Clean the cages – litter boxes, bedding, fresh water and food. At least that gives us a chance to say hello and give a few pets. We must also get the cages ready for the incoming class.

Second order of business: Move Jinx to a new cage. “Really?”

You see, Jinx had been given a penthouse of a cage, double the size of the other cages because someone has a soft spot for him and his condition. However, the extra room was making it more difficult for him to study and he was falling behind in class.

It took some coaxing, (okay, a lot of coaxing), and he wasn’t pleased, but mission accomplished! And he only stayed mad at us until the next day.

Third order of business: Go get Treat and bring him to the Play Room. Treat has been chosen to act as a role model since he is already so social and doesn’t need to go through school. What a sweetheart of a cat! He is even-tempered, easy going and solicits pets from everyone and those pets jump-start his motor. He starts purring before you even touch him!

Last, but not least: Collect the new students and introduce them to their new dormitory and fellow students – Charisma, Dazzler, Juniper, Kendra, Krammer and Thumper. This is a mellower crowd than the last entering class; we didn’t need a single net to convince them to join us. Not even for Paprika. . .

We now have a full classroom and schoolyard!

Sleepovers – What Fun!

corinnem — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 00:38:19 GMT

Sunday, 03/30/08 our first sleepover in the Wildwood RV with cats! Perfect timing since we were still a little melancholy about saying goodbye to Snoopy, Carson, Dweezil, Angelina and Bagara that morning.

We had been anticipating this night for weeks, discussing which cats we would like to join us. In the end, we had to consider not just who we favored. (Did I say that? Okay, so maybe we do have a favorite or two or three or. . .) We discussed it with Terri to see who she thought would best benefit from a sleepover. We all sat and looked from room to room and discussed each student, where they were in their studies and how we thought they would react to this new experience.

Finally, we all agreed that Milk Mouth and Kermit should join us for a feline slumber party. We borrowed two carriers from the medical yurt and headed into the Play Room to collect Kermit and the Ready to Adopt Room to collect Milk Mouth. Halfway through the short walk to the RV, Kermit began to cry; while Milk Mouth stayed perfectly composed.

Once inside, we placed Milk Mouth’s carrier on the bench of the dining table and opened the door. She immediately jumped out and headed for the shelf under the table. Kermit’s carrier was perched on the couch and when we opened his carrier, he stayed inside. Gentle coaxing brought him out, but it was clear that he wasn’t quite sure what we were up to. He looked to his buddy Milk Mouth for direction and headed to the bench of the dining table.

We spent some time making sure they were okay and then decided to check our e-mails, make dinner and do all the “normal” things that people do so they could get used to the different movements and sounds.

All was well until Milk Mouth discovered the space behind the couch and Kermit quickly found her new hiding place. I explained to each of them that the one place that was off limits was the space behind the couch. After bringing them out a number of times, they settled down and actually took a nap while we ate dinner.

After dinner, Milk Mouth went exploring and Kermit thought it was just a fine idea to finish his nap.

As a nervous “parent”, I was up and down a lot that first night checking on our wards. Twice I had to explain again about the no behind the couch rule. Throughout the collecting of cats from behind the couch, I discovered that the quickest way to calm Milk Mouth was to run my fingers down her back to the base of her tail. This always results in her extending her rear in the air while she puts her nose to the floor with a contented purr.

My buddy Kermit seems to like pets of all kinds, but is particularly fond of scratches behind his ears and under his chin.

Overall, they did great on their first sleep over. And it was really fun and rewarding to get to interact with them on a more intimate, one-on-one basis. Milk Mouth is regal, calm, and I see that with time, in her forever home, her great personality will bloom.

Kermit, I learned really likes routine, it gives him comfort. When we brought them back the next morning, Milk Mouth settled in without a hiccup. After discussing it with Terri, we put Kermit with Milk Mouth in the Ready to Adopt Room. Although he had graduated to the Play Room, he spent his time in there sitting in the cat tree. In the afternoons, he would cry at the divider door to go to his cage for his afternoon nap. He had established his routine and had settled into his “rut”;’ we thought it would be a good idea to expand his horizons.

Well, after 30 minutes of Kermit finding his voice, Terri relented and let him into the Play Room where he immediately jumped to “his” tree. At the end of the day, after he had been crying for his cage, I picked him up and brought him to his cage. Unfortunately, we had re-arranged the cages and he was terribly displeased that his cage wasn’t in its old location. Kermit is quite bright and knows what he wants and doesn’t want.

A very positive step in his education and socialization was that he was looking to us for comfort and answers. He looked directly at each of us when he voiced his displeasure and when he wanted comforting. As many of you know, that is a break-through.

Kermit will be a love bug, no doubt about it. He loves other cats, enjoys his pets, and needs a stable routine to give him comfort. Last correspondence with Terri indicated that Kermit spends time daily in the Ready to Adopt Room, but cries for his cat tree. And after some time, Kermit goes back into the playroom and climbs up onto the cat tree. Kermit may be a bit spoiled, but he deserves it.

The Dedication Ceremony

corinnem — Thu, 10 Apr 2008 02:41:14 GMT

It started out as a cloudy afternoon at Angel’s Rest. I heard someone behind me say, “You watch, the weather will change drastically, one way or another.” As was fitting for the spirits of the departed animals, the sun broke through the clouds and bathed us all in sunlight for the entire ceremony.

The dreaded rain came with the shedding of tears for the Pahrump Angels – the 79 (80 including Lollipop) cats, 2 chinchillas, the degu and the fish.

We arrived early with many others to say goodbye to Lollipop, the latest casualty of the horrible situation in Pahrump. Lollipop fought long and hard, but just didn’t have the strength to continue. As each one of us dropped a spade full of dirt onto her physical body with a prayer, the chimes rang as she called to us from the rainbow bridge.

The dedication ceremony started after Lollipop’s service. We gathered facing the Pahrump lion statue guarding the graves. The post behind him held a lantern on one side and a wind chime on the other.

Everyone held a flower and a glove – the reason to soon become clear. The ceremony started with a beautifully flowing musical serenade. Russ Mead led us in an opening prayer. Leslie Sage then introduced the Flower Communion. The Flower Communion service was created by Norbert Capek who founded the Unitarian Church in Czechoslovakia as a symbolic ritual that would bind people more closely together. He felt that the format had to be one that would not alienate any who had forsaken other religious traditions and so he turned to nature. One by one, we walked up to the container and placed our flower beside the flowers of everyone else – a symbol of our unity at this time, in this place, for these wonderful animals.

Beamer, (James Bermant), made the opening remarks and Jeff Popowich recited Gone from My Sight –

I am standing upon the seashore. A ship at my side spreads her white sails to the morning breeze and starts for the blue ocean. She is an object of beauty and strength. I stand and watch her until at length she hangs like a speck of white cloud just where the sea and sky come to mingle with each other.

Then someone at my side says: "There, she is gone!"

"Gone where?"

Gone from my sight. That is all. She is just as large in mast and hull and spar as she was when she left my side and she is just as able to bear her load of living freight to her destined port.

Her diminished size is in me, not in her. And just at the moment when someone at my side says: "There, she is gone!" there are other eyes watching her coming, and other voices ready to take up the glad shout: "Here she comes!"

And that is dying.

At the appointed time, we put on our gloves and chose a grave behind which to stand. I stood with Ambrosia and Bob stood with Confetti. Each gravestone had a gold stone on it representing the lamp beside the golden door and each was temporarily marked with a wooden stake. Row by row, we pulled out the wooden stake and replaced it with the permanent metal name marker.

Standing around the mighty lion, many people then shared their memories of Pahrump – their experiences, feelings, and always - the cats.

Before we observed a moment of silence, Beamer read from The New Colossus –

Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.

Victor Gutschalk strummed his guitar and sang a moving rendition of On Holy Ground. Sherry Woodard shared some final thoughts and Beamer made the closing remarks.

The ceremony ended with the Flower Communion Prayer and the invitation for all to go up and take a flower from the container overflowing with flowers. Leslie suggested taking a flower that ‘called’ to us. I chose a fuchsia and white carnation and Bob a yellow and red tulip. We were also invited to take a golden agate stone home with us as a memorial of the ceremony. Beside the basket of golden stones were glass stones of varied color and shape that we were invited to use to mark a grave or leave with the lion. I chose a bright blue crescent and placed in on Ambrosia’s grave so she knows that we do and will always remember her.

Playtime Wildfire

corinnem — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 05:13:46 GMT

Friday, 03/28/08

One of the biggest, most exciting changes I’ve seen today since the last time we were here is the way so many of the cats are now playing! They are well, acting like cats. Anyone who has interacted with the Pahrump cats knows what a milestone this is.

Snoopy leads the pack – he wants to play ALL the time. And he wants someone to play with him and it must be a human, not another cat. Snoopy, as you may recall, is the primary resident of the Real Life Room. He stands by the door and calls for someone to come play with him; and he calls a lot.

Jasper stood on the other side of the partition and watched Snoopy play, and suddenly he wanted in on the action. He started pawing at the partition trying to catch the feather wand. And so the play moved to the Ready to be Adopted Room where Dweezil and Milk Mouth got the bug. A side note: Milk Mouth only likes to play in the morning – only she knows why and she’s not telling.

Bunny was in the hallway between the Ready to be Adopted Room and the Play Room and she caught sight of the action and decided to start playing with the toys in her area by herself. Very self-sufficient at times, our Miss Bunny. When you do go to play with her, you must first go through a very thorough petting session. Bunny has decided that she dearly loves pets and solicits them from everyone whenever she can.

It was all quiet in the Play Room until Carson saw Bunny playing with the feather wand and he came over to the divider to watch.

Standing in that hallway is the perfect spot to get everyone interested. Cat heads are moving from side to side in every direction you look. Snoopy watches and calls from the Real Life Room. Dweezil jumps up on the partition trying to reach the feathers while Jasper watches intently from the doorway. Bunny swats at the feathers while Carson stretches up and reaches out to catch the passing feathers.

We moved into the Play Room to give Carson some play time and Angelina jumped down from her bed and flew at the feathers capturing the tip of the wand. We just couldn’t spend enough time playing with these two in their estimation.

Seeing that Gus and Kermit were interested, Bob moved over to the cat tree to play with them. Out of the corner of his eye he saw that Lexy and Audrey were watching intently from their cages so he moved over to them and began playing with them. I saw that Hugo was reaching his paw out, so I took my wand and began to play with him with great success. Hugo’s cage sits under Joker’s cage and suddenly Joker wanted in on the action. Of course given Joker’s current punk personality, he tried to downplay his interest, but it was there. He followed the movement of the feather and swatted at it. I didn’t dare tell him he was acting like a cat.

And then one of the most amazing things happened. Jinx took interest in the feather wand. Jinx has a double cage that sits under Lexy and Audrey. In that moment, he lost all of his angry look, relaxed his body and watched intently, his head snapping back and forth. It was such a wonderful time, watching Jinx with that look on his face, knowing that he wanted to play too.

It’s been like that ever since. All you need to do is pick up a feather wand and start to run it up and down the partition walls and you get a lot of attention. So much that it’s hard to give each of them the play time they want.

I believe that this break through is a good indication of just how well this program is working. From a distrustful hissing, swatting, sometimes biting ball of angry fur to a delightful playful kitty – quite an accomplishment, don’t you think?

Return to the Yurts

corinnem — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 08:18:08 GMT

Thursday, 03/27/08 – We’re heading back to Kanab to spend time with the Pahrump kitties; and of course to attend the dedication ceremony Friday evening. It seems like such a long time since our last visit, I can’t wait to see our feline friends.

We headed straight to the yurts upon arrival after an eight hour road trip. Let me show you our path into the Finishing School:

Walking towards the Finishing School Yurt:

The Second Door:

The Hallway In: With Zappa and Sylvester looking up

There have been a lot of changes both in physical arrangement and more importantly in feline temperament. The FIV kitties were moved to the second yurt after they moved the medical unit to the third yurt. This made room for an adoption ready room. This is the final room for the cats. They stay in the room overnight and are only put in their cages a few times a week to keep them cage friendly for when they are adopted.

When we arrived, Milk Mouth, Dweezil and Jasper were in the adoption ready room.

Jasper said I needed to feature him!

Bunny, whom I wrote a post about previously, has her own area since she is ready to be out of the cage, but doesn’t get along with other cats. She lives in the hallway between the playroom and the ready for adoption room. And she loves it! Her sparkling personality has really blossomed. She solicits pets and attention from all who enter the yurt. The only issue left is that she baits the cats to come over to her and then swats at them through the bars.

The playroom looks pretty much the same except for the addition of a wonderful cat tree made with extra special care by one of the maintenance crew (I’m sorry, I don’t know who). The playroom bunch consisted of Kermit, Carson, Ziplock, Gus and Angelina.

We walked into the classroom and were so happy to not be greeted by a single hiss. Not even from Sylvester, Jinks or Bambino! I think Sylvester was even a little happy to see us. The only change there was that Jinx had a double cage to help with his socialization – a well deserved housing choice for his special needs a handsome physique. And did I already mention that Jinx didn’t hiss when we walked in? Not only that, he was nonchalant when I approached his cage.

You may be wondering about the Real Life Room. Well, Snoopy loves the Real Life Room, but doesn’t so much get along with other cats. But he LOVES attention, playing, pets. So, if you are not in the room with him, he lets you know that it is about time you joined him and please bring a toy. So there he was, waiting for someone to play with him. Well, waiting albeit very noisily. He is quite the vocal cat.

We spent the afternoon visiting with everyone in the Finishing School, the FIV kitties in their new spot and the Pussy Cat Lounge. Quite a full and fulfilling afternoon!