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. 

Holiday Card and Outtakes

Every year for the holidays my photographer husband comes up with a creative way to include the entire family in our Christmas card.  Since our newest addition to the "Smith Farm" is our kitty that we fostered, then adopted, he became this years highlight!  When we first brought Blue home his name was Wren, but it just wasn't sticking.  "Blue" is such a great name because we get to use it so many ways!  "You're my boy, Blue!" (for those who don't know it's from the movie Old School) or "Big Blue" because we are avid NYG fans and he happens to be big...and blue!  And now "We're having a BLUE Christmas without you" (c'mon everyone knows Elvis)! 

Resolutions

It's crazy to think that it's been only, and already, 2 years that I decided to make a change for the better and eat a more plant based (vegan) diet.  I actually had to go back through my facebook time-line and find a picture to confirm.  At first I though it was only a year ago, but at the same time I'm thinking "what took me so long!".  It's too bad that the word "vegan" has such a negative connotation.  I remember thinking being vegan was not only weird (okay well I am!) but also so far out there.  I mean, how could you live without eating meat or cheese!!

I started seeing things so much differently when I started working at the Oregon Humane Society.  Here I was devoting over 40 hours a week to a cause that I passionately believed in, but did my love for animals stop at dogs and cats?  And chickens just because I had them as pets?  A couple of weeks after I started we rescued a group of cats from a hoarder.  I remember being appalled at the conditions that these furry friends came from, but I also left thinking "how about the animals we eat every day".  How can I be so dedicated to bettering the lives of cats and dogs, only to clock out and eat a dead pig or cow that came from comparable (if not worse) conditions?  It's a very touchy subject for most because nobody wants to face the truth..it hurts, I know :(  I had a few vegan coworkers that I started talking with, and one of them gave me a book to borrow called The China Study.  My husband hadn't read a book from start to finish in years, but he really enjoyed it!  A few documentaries and books later, and we were both sold on the vegan lifestyle.  We balance each other out perfectly because I do it for the animals, and he does it for the health benefits.  As a bonus, the both of us are in the best shape of our lives!  My husband ran his first triathalon in 2015 and I ran two full marathons in addition to 4 other road races!
 

Thanksgiving without Turkey? Oh My!

The holiday season is upon us and my personal favorite is Thanksgiving!  It's the only holiday where you just get together to be thankful for each other, and nobody expects anything from you. But if you happen to be a turkey, it could be the worst day of your life!

Portland has done many wonderful things for me, but I'm most thankful to it for opening my eyeballs to a more compassionate lifestyle.  In true Portland Thanksgiving tradition, we're heading over to our best friends house for the big feast.  Cam and I are in charge of apps and sides, so it looks like we'll all be eating a lot of lettuce and almonds on Thursday....JUST KIDDING!  We have a few tasty dishes up our sleeves, my favorite being the Nutter Butter Ice Cream Pie by The Tolerant Vegan for dessert!  For an appetizer we're bringing over a dish we just discovered at Kirbie's Cravings called Bang Bang Cauliflower!  We did a test run of it this weekend and it's very addicting, but also very light so as not to fill us up for the main feast! We made it vegan by using vegenaise instead of mayo, but we did use a freshly laid egg from EggBerta for the batter.  I plan on slipping a vegan cheese I purchased at New Seasons onto the cheese plattter when we get there just to see what happens!  I've always had a hard time justifying paying $13 for a cheeseless cheese, but it's a holiday so I'm going for it!  But if I say that it's vegan nobody will try it.  After a couple of glasses of wine or a few cocktails, I bet everyone will gobble it up.  We're also making homemade cranberry sauce and a Sweet Potato Casserole.

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

Foster Fail!

Blue and Weazy

We're currently fostering 2 cats from a large rescue in Klamath Falls that we received at work.  A woman was caring for 98 cats and became overwhelmed and reached out for help.  Many of the cats from the rescue need dental work done and I have Wren and Xen (whom I've renamed Blue and Weazy) until July 22nd when they can go in for their cleanings.  They are great cats!  Blue is a big, medium hair 12 year old blue (grey) male, and Weazy is a 6 year old seal point male who is only 5lbs!  The siamese cat reminds me of a ferret so I wanted to call him Vin Weasle but it wasn't sticking...so I'd just been calling him "Wease" then "Weazy"!  They were understandably a little shy at first, but are now really enjoying all of the one on one play time and pet sessions.

The great escape!

I've been keeping them in the "Foster Room" with supervised outings into the rest of the house.  They really enjoy exploring and playing, but for the most part stick right by my side.  On Friday night we had a big sleepover - me, Cam, Slim, Stan, Weazy and Blue all watched Wayward Pines (the cats seriously watched the whole thing) and I decided not to put them back in their room.  Saturday was Independance Day and I was excited for my three day weekend so I woke up at 5am, let the chickens out, opened the blinds and kitchen window, gave Slim his pill, made coffee and went back to lay down and read.  Around 8am Cam asks where Weazy is but I figured he was sleeping somewhere. Next thing you know it's 10am and I'm walking around the neighborhood hanging "Lost Cat!" signs and talking to every neighbor I see.  I looked EVERYWHERE.  I thought (was hoping!) I was being dramatic and that he was still hiding in the house.  The only way he could've escaped was the kitchen window that was only open 3 inches (I measured it!) and didn't think he could have even if he wanted to get out.  But I was wrong :(

not my cat!

I was pretty down the rest of the day, and was getting especially nervous because it was the 4th of July, and Cameron and I had planned an anniversary trip to Crater Lake the following morning.  Nighttime came and Weazy wasn't back and the fireworks had started.  I set 2 alarms after midnight after reading that cats come out to feed between 1am and 5am.  Around 2am I went out side shaking his dry food (he won't touch wet, not even with his rotten teeth!) and I heard a meow!!!  I followed the meow to the front of the house and I was SO excited, only to find it was my neighbors cat who had climed out of the 2nd story bedroom window onto the roof because he wanted the food! Bummer :(  Before we left on Sunday morning I walked around the block a few more times, and found cats, but not MY cat.


We contemplated not taking our road trip, but we had done everything we could and staying at home wasn't going to help anything so we left.  Cell reception was spotty driving through the forest, but at one point I looked down at my phone and saw a text: "i think i found your cat..."!  I couldn't believe it!  And I couldn't call or text back because we were in the middle of nowhere!  When we hit a small town I gave the number a call and it was my neighbor whom I had met the day before while she was looking for a friends dog who had gotten out!  And she's a pet sitter for a living.  She had heard meowing on the side of her house, and it was him!  I got her in touch with my dad and she reunited Weazy with the farm.  I am so happy and grateful that he found his way home.  This poor guy has had a rough start in his life, and I want to make sure he is safe, comfortable and loved.  No more windows open around here!  So what if it's 100 degrees!

He loves me.

He gives hugs and PURRRRRS!

When I first got him he had a bad kitty cold.