This week's favorite waif

Mom has another favorite waif. Trinity is still available but mom wants to introduce you to another special kitty. 

Meet Tiger:

Tiger is a 6 year 11 month old tabby.

Grrrr! Now that I've got your attention I want you to know I'm one of the sweetest, friendliest, most affectionate cats you will ever meet. I was adopted from Wayside once before, but I was returned because my family felt they weren't right for me because they had young children and a dog, and I was scared of them. So I would prefer that my new family have no dogs and no young children under the age of 12. I like other cats, so if you have a friendly feline who needs a buddy, I might be a good fit. My previous family said I'm a lap kitty and like to snuggle at night. Here at Wayside, I've become known as a love bug. 

There's one more thing you should know about me: I am FIV-positive. That's not as scary as it sounds. It just means that my immune system is slightly compromised, so it's extra important that I have an indoor lifestyle, good food and regular veterinary checkups--the things any great adopter would provide for their furkid.

Want to learn more about me? View my profile at http://www.waysidewaifs.org/. Or better yet, come visit me at Wayside Waifs! 

Featured Waif - Trinity

Mom has been very bad and not posting my blogs! I need to retrain her! I know she's busy but she has slacked off and I have things to say. For example, she fell in love with a new Waif. Actually she fell in love with several but they got adopted this weekend so we are going to tell you about a special girl who hasn't found her forever family yet.

Meet Trinity! 

Trinity is a senior kitty at 10 years, 11 months old but don't let her age fool you. She still has a lot of spunk! Trinity is missing her back right leg but it doesn't get her down at all. She moves quick on her 3 good legs! Take a look at this beautiful dilute torbie girl as she scoots away from mom during playtime at Wayside Waifs last week. 

She is very affectionate too! She didn't mind at all that she could smell my and sisfur Mia's scent on mom's shoes. 

Trinity is an active kitty that likes being talked to, pet, and even playtime! She has very soft fur and loves to purr. Trinity is a Wayside alumni but has been returned due to not doing well with the other cats and dogs in the home so she would do better as a single pet in the home. If you are looking for a mature, loving companion Trinity might be your girl! 

To learn more about Trinity follow this link. There's a write up about her and even a video. Or better yet, go visit her in person at Wayside Waifs! 

Purrs that sweet Trinity finds her forever family this holiday season! 

Featured Waif

Mom has a new love and his name is Aiden. Isn't he a handsome kitty?!? Mom sure thinks so!

He is a 3 year old domestic medium hair mix. Mom doesn't know much about him since she just met him at Wayside Waifs yesterday but she fell in love with him! Of course she can't love any kitty as much as she loves me but... Aiden has certainly gotten her smitten. Good thing we are at our limit of kitty's in our home or she just might adopt him! Since mom can't adopt him she hopes some nice family comes in soon and chooses Aiden to become their fur-kid.

He is such a sweetie. Mom spent about 30 minutes with him yesterday. She likes to volunteer on the holiday's the best because the shelter is closed to the public and volunteers have the animals pretty much to themselves. Although some people might think the animals get lonely on the holidays, rest assured many volunteers and staff visit and play with all the animals! They get plenty of treats, petting, playtime and quiet time. Anyhoo... back to Aiden. He loved the attention he got from mom. He wanted to be pet and brushed and even played a little but petting was the best. He couldn't get enough head scritches. Mom sure hopes he finds his forever home soon! I bet he will! He's been available for adoption for just a few days as he only came to wayside last week.

To learn more about Aiden and other adoptable kitties and pooches visit http://www.waysidewaifs.org/.

Pet Emergency Kit Checklist

Do you have an emergency kit for your furbabies? If not, here's a good list to get you started:

Mom has most of the stuff on the list in a bag she keeps close to the door along with our carrier in case she needs to get us loaded and out to safety quickly. We had a tornado warning a few weeks ago. Mom wasn't home or she would have loaded us up and taken us to a safer location. An upstairs apartment isn't the safest place to be if a tornado were to touch down. Thankfully sever weather season is almost history for this year so hopefully we won't hear those loud scary sirens again anytime soon! It's always good to have a plan in case of emergency. Be safe pals!

Keeping kitty safe over the Fourth of July

Who's looking forward to the Fourth of July? or better yet, whose kitty is looking forward to the Fourth of July? I know my sisfur is not! Mia doesn't like loud noises which means she will be under the bed most of the weekend. I'm ok with loud noises as long as it's not a fire truck screaming in to the apartment complex with its sirens blaring!

Anyhoo... here are some tips to keep kitty safe this holiday:


1. Turn Down the Volume

Cats and fireworks don’t play well together. If your cat is scared of thunder, she’ll definitely be scared of the nonstop booming on the Fourth of July. Close your windows and turn on a radio — tuned to a station that plays mellow music — to counteract the noise of fireworks.

2. Keep Kitty Inside

If your kitty is normally an indoor-outdoor kitty, don’t let her go outside on July 4 or the surrounding days that fireworks are being shot off in the neighborhood. This will keep her safe from any number of dangers, such as getting lost if she bolts in panic during fireworks displays. 

3. Give Kitty a Place to Hide

Frightened cats will seek shelter, immediately. Many cats will run and hide under a bed or in a closet when the doorbell rings. Imagine what they will do when a bottle rocket goes off nearby. It will help your kitty if you prepare a sanctuary in advance. If you don't have an extra room, try a cat bed inside a closet in an interior room. Another suggestion is to rub a towel or small blanket with her scent and put it in the bed. Show her where it is well in advance of the 4th, so she will know it's her own "safe place." 

4. Make sure kitty has proper, updated ID

If kitty does manage to escape, this will increase the chances of her safe return. If she isn't microchipped, it's a good idea to consider getting it done before the holiday.

5. Get Her a Thundershirt

The Thundershirt, which has been soothing dogs through storms and other anxiety-provoking situations, is now available for cats to provide a sense of safety and well being. Recent reviews show that the device, which is designed to produce a light pressure all around the torso, is working just as well for cats as it has been for the canines.


6. Consider Tranquilizers

No, not for you (although you might want one!), but for your kitty. If your favorite feline is normally the skittish type, you might want to ask your veterinarian about a mild sedative or tranquilizer, just to get the cat through the day. If you're not fond of drugs for cats, there are some natural remedies that have a calming effect. 

7. Spend some time with kitty over the holiday

Try to take time out from the activities of the holiday to spend a few minutes with your cat, every couple of hours, petting her and talking to her. She needs to know you haven't abandoned her during these stressful hours, and the brief break will be good for you, too.

Have a Happy and Healthy Fourth of July pals!

xoxo,

CJ and Mia

 & 

Whisker Stress - What is it?

Whisker Stress - what is it? Well I know I had whisker stress when my whiskers were burned off in our nasty fire a few years ago but I don't think that's what the V E T is talking about.

See? No whiskers....

Do you or have you seen a kitty that doesn’t want to eat their kibble in their bowl, preferring to pull it out one piece at a time with their paw, then eating it off the counter or floor? Or maybe a kitty that only seems to like to eat the top layer of food out of his (or her) bowl, acting like he needs to get a refill, even when there is still plenty of morsels left on the bottom of his dish? You may be witnessing Whisker Stress! Mom always thought I did this because I was afraid brofur Cosmo was going to eat all the food but I still do it. I even did it when I was the only kitty in the house after Cosmo passed away and before mom adopted Mia. Mom isn't particularly fond of my need to drag food all over the floor to eat rather than eat from the dish but I am spoiled so I get to do what I want. 

Anyway, back to the topic at hand. Many cats suffer from whisker stress daily, and your kitty might too. Domesticated cats that live and eat indoors don’t have the luxury of eating their food anywhere they’d like.  A feral cat can hunt down her prey, and consume it wherever she pleases. Circumstances are much different in a domestic environment where the human is in charge of when, where, and how the kitty will eat (we'll pretend the human thinks they are in charge for arguments sake!). So how do a cat’s whiskers play into all of this?

The role that whiskers play in cats is mainly to augment their short-distance vision.  A kitty has approximately 8 to 12 of these whiskers on each side of their face, arranged in horizontal rows that fan out sideways on each side of the upper lip, plus some tufts of shorter whiskers above their eyes, on their chin, and even on the back of their forelegs, just above the paw!  

It took a couple of months for all my whiskers to grow back. This pic is 3 months post fire and you can easily see my whiskers have returned! 

Whiskers are deeply-rooted, and rich in blood vessels and nerve endings that provide your kitty with information about surrounding objects and even air movement.  This exceptionally sensitive tool assists kitty's in many forms of navigation.  Each whisker functions as a mechanical transmitter, conveying pressure applied along the shaft to receptors in the follicle at the whisker base. So imagine what forcing those delicate instruments into a food dish must feel like. Ouch! The good news is that cat-friendly designers have come up with lots of beautiful flat feline feeding dishes to help your kitty avoid whisker stress. They look like elegant serving platters, wide and shallow, with plenty of room for your kitty to pick up the food with their mouth, without their whiskers touching anything. I am not sure why mom hasn't bought sisfur Mia and I those elegant serving platters, uh mom????

In short, making sure that your cat has an adequately sized food bowl could make a tremendous difference in how comfortable he (or she) is when he’s eating his food. It’s amazing what you will learn when you take the time to OBSERVE your kitty's!

How does your kitty prefer to eat?  Do they behave strangely sometimes when eating?  Do they stop and start again? Do they refuse to eat when they seemed hungry just minutes earlier?  Your kitty just might be trying to tell you that they have whisker stress and a new food bowl is a necessity! I'm wondering when mom will get the hint... to be fair, she has changed how she feeds us our dinner (on a saucer instead of from a bowl). Mom also knows that I prefer to drink water off the floor rather than from a bowl so she will sometimes intentionally spill the water on the floor so I can lap it up. The sink is a good option for water too!

Do my pals have any strange eating or drinking habits I wonder? Is it whisker stress or are they just spoiled like me?

Mom's on a mission!

*Editor's note: Mom had to defer her marathon to next year due to injury. She still plans to raise awareness for suicide prevention, it just won't be associated with the Marine Corps Marathon this year and that's why the widget is no longer on the sidebar. Thank you to everyone who visited the campaign and provided support! 

I know this isn't kitty related but mom's on a mission and I want to help her get the word out. If you know my mom, you know she volunteers at Wayside Waifs helping other kitties and doggies find their forever home. She even adopted sisfur Mia from Wayside. What you may not know about mom is that she also volunteers for the Red Cross to help others affected by disasters. She actually started volunteering at the Red Cross before our devastating fire and because of what we went through will likely be a lifelong Red Cross volunteer. We got a lot of help after our fire and mom believes in paying it forward. Many of you helped us after our fire and we are so grateful! I am glad mom does what she does to pay it forward. And as if she isn't busy enough, she has a new mission!

On October 25, 2015 mom will be running the Marine Corps Marathon to raise awareness and funds for Suicide Prevention for First Responders. The funds will go directly to support the groundbreaking collaboration of The Sweeney Alliance and Rethink The Conversation to develop national programs to educate first responders about suicide prevention and coping with the aftermath of a suicide.

People don’t want to talk about suicide because of the stigma associated with it. It’s time to start a conversation worth having. So many people struggle with depression, anxiety and other mental health issues but because of the stigma associated with mental health many people don't reach out for help. It's even harder for the helpers - those men and women that work in Fire, Emergency Medical Services and Law Enforcement - to ask for help. They are the helpers, who are they supposed to ask for help?

Why does mom want to raise awareness for Suicide Prevention for the helpers? You can go to her GoFundMe page to read the full story. The short answer is because she was deeply affected by the loss of 2 friends last year to suicide. You can read about one of those friends (Nico) on her GoFundMe page. He was a firefighter who lost his wife to suicide nearly a year earlier. He was deeply affected by her loss and the stress may have been too much for him to handle. First Responders see a lot in their careers but they are human too. They feel emotions that can affect them at work and also at home. They need to be able to ask for help and know that help is available. 

This is a cause that has mom's heart. She hopes it will have yours too! Will you visit her fundraising page and help? If you can help financially or even share the campaign with others mom would appreciate it!  Thanks pals! 

Here is the page:  http://www.gofundme.com/suicidehelp  and mom put the widget to the side of this blog for easy access too. 

Fur Ball

Mom's a little late in posting this but she volunteered at Fur Ball again this year. The event was held on May 9, 2015 to benefit the animals at Wayside Waifs.

For the 5th year in a row, mom got the opportunity to volunteer at Wayside Waifs annual fundraiser Fur Ball. This year's Fur Ball theme was "The Wizard of Paws"...

The event was held at the Overland Park Convention Center where the ballroom was transformed into a Land of Oz party. More than 1000 attendees spent the evening bidding on auction items, feasting on dinner and satisfying their thirst with an open bar all to help the animals at Wayside Waifs. Oh and there were kitties too and puppies that attendees could cuddle with! I'm sure the kitties stole the show but the puppies had to get their cuddle time in to.

This year's Emcee was Gary Lezak, Emmy Award Winning Meteorologist for KSHB 41 News. He brought along his pups Stormy and Windy too! Long time supporters David & Dalia Morris and Chris & Susan Wally served as Chairpersons for the event.

Volunteers and Staff spent many hours preparing and helping out on event night. Here are some pics of staff and volunteers in action:

Mom worked the check in station again this year. It's the first point of interaction with the guests who attended. Mom says she always enjoys meeting everyone and wishing them a great time at the event.

Here are some of the staff being silly and skipping down the yellow brick road. When they realized mom had gotten pics of them being silly they asked her to share the pics via facebook and twitter. So if you follow Wayside Waifs via facebook or twitter some of the pics posted from the event were mom's pics that she took.

 

Here are some pics of the entrance in to the event along the yellow brick road...

It was a great time for a great cause! Mom always looks forward to volunteering at it each year. I don't mind that she spends the evening away from Mia and I knowing that she is helping with such a great cause. After all, Mia is a former Waif!

Easy Sunday

There are no sun puddles today so Sisfur Mia and I are hanging out in our second favorite spots.

Greenville, SC Urgent Cat in Need of Foster or Adoption before March 30

Hi pals, if you would hop on over to Brian's Home to help with an urgent need that would be pawesome! www.brianshomeblog.com

Here's the post from Brian's Home:  


Please share her story,  you are her only hope for survival.  If you can help, contact Brian at brian (at) brianshomeblog (dot) com.

HELP – Greenville, SC Urgent Cat in Need of Foster or Adoption before Monday, March 30th

Posted on March 26, 2015 by Brian

Greenville, SC Urgent Cat in Need of Foster or Adoption before Monday, March 30th

No time for photos, no time for much of anything.  We need to help this sweet cat and we need to help her quickly.  You’ve all heard me mention my rescue Jenna, here is the plea I received.

---

“OK, I have spent the entire week thus far doing TNRing on a colony.  I am beyond exhausted.  I had so many really pregnant females and even got a chained dog from off the property, so all was going very well, until God decided to intervene, not that He has not been helping, but decided to make me work a little harder.  Long story short, I was coming back to deliver the kitties to the colony and I missed the road on Brushy Creek in Greer just by a few yards so I decided to turn around in the Kids Planet parking lot which is huge as in as least a third of a football field or more.  There in the middle of the road curled up in a ball is what looks to be a cat.  I stop the car, which is full of ferals in cages just waiting to get out and go over.  I don’t know if it is feral or has been hit by a car or what.  Then slowly she sees me and uncurls herself and drages her belly towards me meowing so sorrowfully.  Then in the cold she goes under my body as I sat there down on the drive.  She was shivering and looks so enormously thin and has abrasions on her face.  I called for a carrier from a friend and stayed with her.  She just was so unbelieveably scared.  But instead of running, as cats do, she just huddled to me like a puppy dog for protection.

My guess is that she was dumped and just froze there unable to move from fear.  She is beyond precious.  Her name is Melba.

How do I know this.  Well, the Cat Clinic scanned her and she came from Greenville County Animal Care services adopted in 2009.  The people never registered her and she was so unbelieveably dirty.  My hands and pants were filthy.  Carolyn suggested I take her to the shelter because they might have more information on her.  I know she was born on 12/12/2009.

She is beautiful although I do not have a picture of her.  She is white and grey and Dr. Anderson  says she definately has burmese in her for sure because what you see when you look at her are the roundest, yellowest eyes.  Her head little as it is is all eyes and she is beyond a love muffin.

I have siged for Greenville County to call me when her five days are up.  When the men took her back she looked at me with those enormous eyes and just shook.  Then she went into the corner of the carrier peacefully I could see because she was warm and on a blanket in my carrier and she felt safe for now.

What ever am I going to do when they call me on Monday morning to tell me her five days are up?  My husband said don’t even for one second go there, we absolutely are not taking in a cat with our 7 and living in such a tiny home.  She is so fragile and tiny and precious I don’t want her to die.  Please, please, please can you help me?????”

How to Lessen Allergies to Cats

One of the most common reasons a cat is returned to a shelter after adoption is due to allergies humans have to cats (or dogs but this is a kitty blog so we will focus on cats!). Animal dander, a protein mix secreted in animal's skin and saliva, can cause allergic reactions in some people. Allergies to dander may take a long time to develop (over 2 years for some people) and the symptoms (similar to pollen allergy symptoms) may linger for months.

Sneezing is a common symptom of allergies.

Here are some tips to help lessen allergies experienced by humans to their cats:

• Keep the cat completely out of the bedroom at all times. This will help because it will keep from dander gathering on bedding. Humans exposed to cat fur for long periods of time such as when sleeping might experience more frequent symptoms.
• Wash your hands or face immediately after petting the cat, or if it has licked you. Don’t rub your eyes.
• Keep the house vacuumed and dusted at least 2-3 times each week. My human doesn't do this as much as she should and is reminded to do so when she experiences itchy eyes!
• Allergy shots. This is something your human can talk to their doctor about. Allergy shots might relieve symptoms for many allergies including pet allergies.
• Important to note that while one cat may cause an allergic reaction, another one might not. Humans shouldn't automatically assume because one kitty caused symptoms, all kitty's will cause allergies.
• Antihistamines. My human will take an antihistamine if she is experiencing symptoms from me or Mia or from the shelter kitties. Even though she has had cats are her life, she still occasionally will get symptoms from us or the shelter. It has more to do with her seasonal allergies than it does us kitties! Her immune system is under more stress when she is experiencing seasonal allergies and that makes her a little more susceptible to allergies from dander that kitties have.
• Add an air purifier.
• Brush cats regularly. Mia and I love to be brushed as do many kitty's!
• Remove carpeting from the home. 
• Wash bedding weekly – yours and the cats! 
• Use allergy wipes, can be purchased at pet stores. 
• Bathe cats if possible (good luck with that! I don't know too many kitty's that like baths!), at least every few months to decrease shedding and dander. Use either a waterless shampoo or a moisturizing shampoo. In between bathing times, use a damp paper towel. 
• Feed a high quality food. Mom feeds us IAMS. 
• Keep snuggle sessions short, and keep away from your nose.
• Important to note that over time, you may build up an immunity to your own cat, but might still be allergic to other cats. 

So kitty's help your humans reduce their allergies to kitty's by sharing this helpful information with them. And if that doesn't work help blame the dog........

Mancat Monday

For Mancat Monday I'm going back a few years.... Back to when brofur Cosmo and I would spend time watching bird tv together.

3 years ago today brofur Cosmo died in our devastating fire. Still hurts as much today. Miss ya buddy!

Sun puddle Caturday

Look at this sun puddle! And I don't have to share with Sisfur Mia because she's still napping in the bedroom!

Happy Caturday pals!

You're Feeding Your Cat All Wrong!

Uh Oh, mom found this article about free-feeding and she wants to share it! We are free-feeding kitties, but maybe not after mom read this article. Read for yourselves and tell us what you think in the comments below.

Reposted from http://www.petsadviser.com/food/free-feeding-cats/.

By T.J. Banks on January 19, 2015 

Free feeding could mean weight gain and possibly diabetes.

I brought Cheshire and Dervie in for their checkups the other day. The brothers are big boys. For the past year, I’ve been trying to get their weight down by putting less food out.

Alas, both boys had gained weight. Apparently, portion control doesn’t work for cats. Cheshire, our former runt, had morphed into a striped barrel with short legs, and we couldn’t figure out how it had happened.

My veterinarian could. Cheshire was a grazer, he said.

The Lowdown on Grazing

For cats, grazing is basically nibbling at their food off and on all day. It’s not exactly normal to them.

“The types of animals that graze are herbivores: goats, cows, horses, sheep and so on,” remarks writer JaneA Kelley. “They graze because their bodies are built to chew, digest, regurgitate, chew again and digest again…. Cats, on the other hand, are carnivores. Their stomachs are not designed for grazing.”

At first, free feeding — another term for grazing — seems like the best answer. If you work all day or have to be away for any length of time, there’s an ever-ready bowl of dry food available, and your feline will be fine until you get home.

It also makes life a little easier in a household with more than one cat. Most of my pet-sitting clients have more than one cat. Some of the cats get canned food, some of them don’t, but all of them have some kibble nearby. At one home, each of the five cats has her own bowl of dry food.

 WHEN A CAT GOES CRAZY FOR FOOD

Getting a never-ending bowl of food is “like a human moving his recliner to a Las Vegas buffet.”

The problem with free feeding, explains Dr. Thomas Morganti, DVM, of the Avon Veterinary Clinic in Connecticut, is that every time your cat goes for that kibble, there’s an insulin spike. The pancreas can’t handle the long-term overload, and eventually you’re looking at a cat with diabetes.

Dr. Debora Lichtenberg, VMD, has explained here at Pets Adviser that offering all-day dry food is especially problematic: “Cats conditioned to the never-ending dry buffet are at risk for developing obesity, urinary problems and kidney failure, to name just a few of the top feline health risks of a dry food diet. It would be like a human moving his recliner to a Las Vegas buffet.”

That said, it really doesn’t matter what you feed your buddy: It’s the frequent feeding, not the type of food, that appears to be the problem.

This video from Jackson Galaxy helps explain the differences in feeding for cats:

Meal Feeding

Meal feeding is the solution, says the Cat Hospital of Chicago. “Start by picking up the food when you leave for the day,” the hospital advises, “and putting it down when you return. The cat(s) start to realize that the food will not always be available.”

With meal feeding, each cat receives “a measured portion of food, usually two or more times a day. He or she eats the food immediately in a meal fashion, as opposed to grazing on food all day. Each cat has his or her own dish, and sometimes his or her own eating area.”

A Counter Story

In February 2014, UPI published an article that seemed to contradict all this. “Fat cats can slim by ‘grazing’ their kibble all day,” claimed the headline.

At the University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Science (ACES), researcher Kelly Swanson and his assistants found that upping “the frequency of meals fed per day, as well as offering meals that contained added dietary water, promoted more physical activity among cats.”

The felines in the four study groups all received the same amount of food; the only variable was thenumber of meals. Activity apparently increased two hours before each meal. “If they know they are going to get fed, that’s when they are really active, if they can anticipate it,” Swanson commented.

The point is, the cats were getting meals. Grazing had nothing to do with it. So, the headline turned out to be totally misleading.

Other Solutions

Cheshire. By: Mette Meyer

• Put your cat’s dry food in “a rolling puzzle ball so he has to work for his meals,” says Kelley. “But just don’t load up a huge bowl of kibble and go about your merry way.”
• Play with your cat. He’ll get a light workout, and you’ll have some quality bonding time.
• No “extreme” diets. News flash: They don’t work for anybody. In fact, they can “produce serious abnormalities that may jeopardize the cat’s life,” according to The Cornell Book of Cats.

I’m taking a moderate approach. The food bowls go down early in the morning and stay down for a few hours; they reappear in the late afternoon, then disappear at bedtime.

Cheshire’s still looking anxious, but I assure him it’s worth it. Stay tuned for the before and after pictures.

Do you let your cat graze all day? In the comments below, tell us if you plan to change your cat’s feeding ritual. Why or why not? Also, if you enjoyed this article, you’ll love Pets Adviser’s email newsletter. It’s free to sign up, and you’ll be among the first to get alerts about major pet food recalls. New subscribers get instant access to our 40-page ebook — which has “secrets every cat and dog lover should know.” Learn more here.

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So... what do you think? Should kitties be allowed to graze (free-feeders)? or should they have scheduled feeding times? Mom works full-time and volunteers quite a bit on top of work so she thinks she will probably stick with free-feeding since it would be hard to be consistent with a feeding schedule. We kitties are happy about that! What do you kitties think? Will your humans allow you to free-feed or do they feed you on a schedule?

Mancat Monday

From fires to flood... Can't a kitty catch a break?

So mom got the call yesterday that nobody wants to get... "Come home, there's an emergency!" Um... deja vu! At least this time it wasn't a fire! (That awful anniversary is coming up next month.) This time it was a flood. 

See the temps have been brutally cold the last few days with highs only in the single digits and teens. The temps have been so cold us kitties haven't gotten any deck time lately! But worse, it's been so cold that apparently a pipe in the kitchen froze. So... when the temps got up in to the 30s yesterday that pipe decided to thaw out. And thaw out it did.... it burst and rushed water right in to the wall and in to our home! Here's a pic of some of the damage.

Kitchen where the pipe burst from behind the washer.

And because the pipe decided to burst while mom was at work, Mia and I got scared. Mia ran to the bedroom to hide while I tried to escape out the front door when management & maintenance came in to try to stop the water leak. That's when management called mom and said come home. Because the water was all over the kitchen floor and spreading to the living room as well as down the wall to the neighbors apartment, maintenance needed to enter right away to try and stop the leak (by turning off the water and containing the water from the burst pipe). They grabbed me as I tried to escape out the front door and put me in the bedroom with Mia. They made sure our food and water got put in there too. It didn't take mom too long to get home once she received the call. I am pretty sure probably broke some speed limits but I won't tell! When she got home she wouldn't let us out of the bedroom but she did feed us our nightly dinner of wet food and made sure we had toys to play with while she talked with management to determine if we could stay in the apartment that night or if we would have to go somewhere for a few days. It turns out the damage wasn't so bad that we would have to leave but us kitties will be confined to the bedroom for a few days until the damage to the wall and floor is repaired. I hope they fix it quick, I don't like being cooped up in the bedroom! I'm thankful that the emergency wasn't worse. I still have nightmares from the fire and don't need any more emergencies. I'm getting to be an old kitty (I am 13!). Can't a kitty catch a break? No more emergencies please! I am pretty sure sisfur Mia agrees! 

Paying it forward...

Mom learned of a woman who recently lost her husband and 4 kitties in a house fire on Christmas Eve. While mom doesn't know this person she knows of her through a Facebook group she participates in called Cat Addicts Anonymous. Mom remembers how much support we got after our fire and wanted to help. While mom doesn't have a lot to give she still felt it was important to pay it forward. Mom knows she can never repay all the people who helped us (including complete strangers!) but she thought paying it forward would be a good way to thank all those that helped us!

The devastating fire happened in Decatur Illinois on the night of Christmas Eve. The story can be read here: http://www.foxillinois.com/news/features/top-swordtories/stories/decatur-man-dies-tuesday-night-fire-2385.shtml. Linda Henderson lost her husband William in the fire. The funeral for William is being held today. Perhaps pals could include Linda in #pawcircle today?

There is a GoFundme account set up for Linda here: http://www.gofundme.com/jjlmcc. If you feel compelled to help please do. It looks like she doesn't have a lot of support. Even a little bit might be a big help to her. If nothing else, say a prayer for her that she is able to remain strong during such a difficult time in her life.

Thanks pals!

Mom, Mia and I want to wish everyone a Happy and Healthy New Year!