Pearl the Pocket Persian

What the...!?

I work with cats.  Lots of cats.  I have worked with cats 5 days a week for the past 4 years...but I love coming home to MY cats!  They are the best.  They truly are.


Every day when I come home from work and open the front door, Pearl is right there.  Cam says that around 4:30pm she gets up from her nap and waits for me.  You would think I would be sick of cats, but when I walk in and see her I can't help but squeal "She's so cute!"!




I'm glad we gave Pearl a "second chance".  It's hard to say what her life was like before us, but when we first got her she would eat like there was no tomorrow and pretty much just do her own thing.  Even though it blows my mind, I think she was living on the streets hustling for food.  She liked us, but she preferred her independence.  At bedtime Slim and Stan would snuggle under the covers, and Blue would assume his spot on the pillow by my head, but Pearl would be nowhere to be found.  We wanted to make a mock video of Kurt Cobain's song "Where did you sleep last night" because we could never find her.  Now she enjoys being a part of the family and even started sleeping with us at the foot of the bed. Occasionally she'll cozy up under the covers!

Pearl's a great cat!  She's a typical persian who's easy going and aloof, but she's so much fun!  She tolerates her weekly tubby time, is a trooper about being dressed up in clothes, and even takes bike rides with us to grab a pint at the bar.  Pearl don't care! She needs help eating, needs help grooming (thanks Blue!), and doesn't cover her poop but we love her.  She's the perfect addition to our weird little clan and I'm impressed with how well they all get along.   It was hard at first (see earlier ringworm post), but she was worth it.  She is worth  it.  All creatures deserve the chance to be pampered and loved, and in return they make us SMILE and realize that even though we weren't the ones rescued, we are the lucky ones.

P.S.  Pearl has an instagram account.  You should follow her at pearl_the_pocket_persian  She's not a professional photographer but her dad is...so sometimes you get a decent picture!

pretty girl

Size Comparison!!!

Pearl don't care.

cleaned up and purrrty

Chillin' at the bar

Tubby Time

Where to next?

Dirty Girl Pearl

Gained a pound since we adopted her!

Soldier in her pocket!

Trimming down!

TBT to when we first brought her home.  Ringworm and all..

Pearl the Persian

I've been working in the Cattery at the Oregon Humane Society for just under 4 years - and I've seen a LOT of cats.  Big ones, small ones, fat ones, skinny ones, cute ones and ugly ones.  But I'd never seen any thing like Pearl the Persian before!  She came to us as a transfer from another shelter, and naturally everyone was super excited that we were getting a fancy Persian!  I've never been a fan of the siamese or persian kitties so I just went about my day and didn't join in the fuss.

When the transfer arrived everyone was looking in the Persians carrier (her name was Dumpling!) but I just sat at the computer typing up some paperwork.  Finally a coworker said "Melissa, look at this!" and handed me one of the cutest things I've ever seen.   Dumpling was a full grown, 2 year old cat that weighed in at 4lbs!  She had been found as a stray severely matted and covered in fleas, so not only was she tiny and grumpy looking but she was shaved and had a lion cut! And she was being sooooo nice, purring and being so sweet                                                            that my eyes welled up with tears.  

The pictures of this cat don't do her justice...you HAVE to see her in real life to fully understand what she is!  I sent a picture of her to my husband Cameron and he was cracking up, but I just had to show her him in real life. Lucky for everyone she needed foster for a week so she came home with us, and after a day we knew we weren't bringing her back. Within 2 hours of bringing her home Cam had set up all of his camera equipment and did a photo shoot with her.  Check out his blog: Cat and Gremlin Photography

It's not easy picking out a name for a critter, especially not for us!  I mean, we have an Italian Greyhound named Slim, a blue cat named Blue, and hen named Baby Bird.  After tossing a couple ideas around, the obvious ones just weren't sticking (Gizmo, Smalls, Biggie).  Cam called her a blue oyster the first night, and as we were watching TV I heard the word "oyster" and thought of the name Pearl.  It was purrrrr-fect for her, She looks roughed up on the outside, but she's a sweet little treasure.  The official dictionary definition is "a precious thing; the finest example of something". 

Ultimately it was Slim, Stan and Blue who had the final say on adding her to the family, and they think she's pretty rad too!  We don't think that Slim has ever seen anything smaller than him so she's been an ego boost for him and he's been a great big brother by sharing the fireplace warmth with her!

Italian Greyhounds

Best moment ever <3

I love Italian Greyhounds.  They are beautiful, elegant, delicate and extremely loyal little creatures!  You can imagine my delight when an overwhelmed breeder surrendered 23 to the shelter that I work at!  They were well taken care of for the most part, she just had too many and turned to us for help. Included in the group were a pregnant momma IG, and a mom with her seven 5-week old babies.  A coworker called dibs on fostering the mom, and although I really wanted to foster the mom and puppies I just knew it would be way too much work and decided to pass.  I did take my picture with a couple of the teeny tiny iggy pups before they went to foster though!

The next morning the foster parent brought 2 of the puppies in for a check up because one was not eating and seemed unthrifty, and the other had had multiple seizures in the middle of the night.  The prognosis was poor for the one that was seizing so she was humanely euthanized, and I was asked if I wanted to foster the other.  How could I say no!?  A fellow Italian Greyhound fanatic that works in the hospital found a food that the puppy gobbled up, and took care of him until I could take him home that night - she named him Ithaca.  

Ithaca was such a little teeny tiny guy weighing in at about 2lbs...the size of a kitten!  He had wound in his right eye, and my job was to give him eye medication, make him eat, and most importantly keep him warm and loved.   When I walked in the front door from work that evening, Cameron asked if I need any help bringing any bags inside, and when I said "Yes, please.  Oh and I brought home a puppy!" I could tell he was excited, and a little nervous that we'd have another IG in the house and that I might want to keep it!  As soon as the carrier came through the front door Stan was SO EXCITED!  He was wagging his tail so hard and barking and sniffing!  It was adorable.  I set the puppy up in his room and warmed up his blankets and some food and I just couldn't get over how cute he was.  All he wanted to do pretty much was sleep, which was understandable considering the couple of days he had.  I set my alarm twice that night to check on him but he was only up and about once and had pooped and peed on his puppy pad and then ran through it like a maniac!  I cleaned him up then held him while I warmed his heating bottle up in the microwave, and before the 2 minutes was up he passed out in my arms.  I've honestly never had such a motherly moment!  Ithaca was the smallest, youngest being I had ever cared for and it just warmed my heart that he fell asleep comfy in my arms. 

 Cameron had to work the next day, but he hung out with Ithaca before I left and sent me the most adorable photo of him in front of the fire place - IG Heaven!  After less than 24 hours his eye was already open and looking better.  I loved the picture so much!  Not wanting the puppy to be alone for too long, I went home over lunch.  As soon as I walked in the room he started twitching and foaming at the mouth.  Slim has had seizures before but this looked a little different.  Just to be on the safe side I decided to bring him back to work with me so a doctor could examine him.  Then when I was done thinking my thought he had a full on seizure - there was no mistaking it.  It was traumatic because he's so teeny tiny.  My friend Megan lives a block away and she had driven me home for lunch and was on her way over to meet the puppy.  Less than 5 minutes after she got there he had another seizure.  When he was done we got in the car to head back to work quickly, and in the car he had another seizure...4 seizures in less than an hour :(  I knew it wasn't looking good for my little friend.  We got to work and when the veterinarian came in to examine him he had another one.  She gave him diazepam to stop it, but after talking it over we decided it would be in his best interest to help him along peacefully.  I said my good-byes and they took him from the room.  I found out later that he had another seizure, even with the diazepam, when they left. 

Another FOSTER FAIL

Stan and Blue

And this time I mean "Foster Fail" in a good way!  We officially adopted our foster 'Big Blue', formerly known as Wren on August 27th!  We considered keeping Xen too but unfortunately he didn't know how to use his potty box :(  I've been in contact with his new owner and she said that things are going well and she doesn't mind his accidents (well if it were up to me I would call them his "intentionals"!).

Blue fits in so well here with us.  We didn't realize how much we've missed having a feline friend in the house!  He loves being near us and enjoys being pet and loved.  He watches TV with us on the back of the couch, and when it's time for bed he runs into the bedroom before we get there and sleeps in his basket beneath the window.  Lately he's been skipping the basket part and just sleeping right on my pillow with me.  He just got a beautiful new cat tree from a local artist at The Royal Meow that he climbs up and he loves playing with string.  He's extremely talkative and handsome, and every day he makes me laugh.  I am so happy that our home is his forever home!

His fancy tree from The Royal Meow