Category Archives: Foster Tales

Two sensational adoption weeks in a row for Tails High felines.  Finding new homes last week were:

Buggy and Shirley
Gabby
Jennifer
Lil P (pictured below with her babies in May)
Lotus
Marcy and Tiger
Scratch and Squiggles
Smokey

I look like my mama, Patches. My daughter Sunlight looks like me. Thanks to Tails High, Sunlight won't be a baby-having-babies like I was.

We’re not resting on our laurels**, though.  The more we rescue cats and kittens and place them into loving homes where they bring joy to their new families makes us even more eager to help more (both kittens and families!).

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** Writing this caused me to wonder, “What the heck is a ‘laurel’?”  I thought it was a tree, but “We’re not resting on a tree” doesn’t mean what I’m trying to convey.  Turns out, a laurel is a kind of a tree — or shrub or bush, which makes it sound even less enticing to rest upon!  I did find this definition of “resting on one’s laurels”:  To rely on one’s past achievements instead of working to maintain or advance one’s status or reputation.  That’s what I’m talking about!

Last week was a spectacular week for Tails High cats and kittens and their loving/lucky new families.  Ten TH felines were adopted.  Listed below are “color points” on a few of these.

I'm Jewel, but feel like Cinderella

*** Jewel came to TH in April.  She had been a stray, so we’re not sure how old she was, but we estimate 4 months old.  She was a beauty, but oh, so shy!  A few potential adopters were drawn to her, but wanted a more outgoing kitten.  No worries!  The worst thing that happens to kittens who stay in the TH system for awhile is that they get to play with other TH kittens, and are housed with loving foster parent(s).  And for shy kittens, this time also helps them become more social.  Jewel’s wait was rewarded when a loving family adopted her.

I 'm Gemini, and I now have a kitty sister and a human brother -- woo-hoo!!

*** No need to go into a lot of detail about our precious Gemini.  Arriving at TH at only 2 ounces, Gemini and his equally small brother, Happy Jack, had a desire to survive and a effervescent spirit that sustained them through their first month, and through the eye problems that they both suffered.  Happy Jack was adopted weeks ago, but because Gemiini’s eye problems required three surgeries, he wasn’t shown until last week.  Everyone who met Gemini (foster parents, TH volunteers, other kittens) fell in love with his unbridled enthusiasm and love of … well, everyone and everything.  Gemini’s kitty sister is Laverne, a 3-month-old brown tabby with white markings, who came to TH less than a month ago.  She and her sister Shirley (black and white tuxedo) were born to a feral mama and lovingly socialized by TH volunteers.

Tiki: "Thank you, Miss Leni, for saving me, my two brothers and sister."

*** Tiki was one of four beautiful gray kittens who found their way into the humane traps of Trapper Extraordinaire and TH Advocate Leni.  They were scared and shy, but not feral.  TH agreed to socialize them and find them loving homes.  Her three siblings found homes before Tiki did.  We wondered why Tiki hadn’t found her people … but the answer came on Saturday at the TH adoption event at Petco Tyson’s Corner.  According to TH Adoption Chair Kelley, who was staffing the event,” Tiki wasn’t interested in approaching any potential adopters.  When they picked her up, she would sit with them, but then go back by herself.  Until, that is, a special person entered the gizmo and saw on the floor.  Tiki walked right over and climbed into the lap of the woman who was to become her new mama.  Tiki looked up, flirted, purred, and showed her precious self.  She had found her home.”

“There are a million stories in the Naked City,” as they used to say at the beginning of an old TV show, and those related above are just a few of what we hope will be a million happy stories in Tail High annals.

And one more tidbit from the Saturday adoption event at Tyson’s:  There were so many people wanting to take TH kittens home, Kelley ran out of FTA agreements.  She had to run next door to the mattress store to make photocopies!

Next weekend we’ll be holding adoption events from 11-3 both Saturday and Sunday at the Petco Annandale where there will be plenty of TH felines as handsome and beautiful and playful and affectionate as the ten adopted last weekend.  Please spread the word among your cat-loving friends!

Several months ago, Tails High took in two bedraggled medium-hair kittens who had been born to a feral mama.  Their ears were dirty and infected; they had upper respiratory infections, which caused massive eye watering; and they were, to use a technical term in the kitten medical lexicon, “pitiful looking.”  Their names were Badger (F) and Honey (M).  For several days, we noticed that Honey’s eyes were constantly dilated.  We initially assumed it was because he was afraid/nervous about being in a new environment. 

Badger healed first, and quickly showed her beautiful, loving self.  She was adopted into a home with a mama and a human brother and sister.  I just heard from the mama today that Badger is getting plump (on a diet of wet food only), and everyone is happy.

Honey’s eyes continued to water and stayed dilated, so we took her to see Dr. Corcoran, the wonderful eye vet at VetVision in Fairfax.  She used this special tool and that, double-checking, and then told us that Honey, at the age of 4 months, had congenital cataracts in both eyes.  Honey could still see, but not well.  Since he was a kitten, nothing could be done but wait.  Surgery to correct cataracts can’t be done until a kitten is at least a year old, and is very costly.  Even with our discount, it would be several thousand dollars.

Honey had made a special friend during his time in our kitten room.  Maureen, the lovely woman who had an FTA on William, had also fallen in love with Honey.  She wanted to foster him during the time we waited to see what would happen with Honey; she understood that he might lose his sight.  The two orange boys and the resident tortie girl made a very special threesome in the Maureen’s home.  It was a regular love fest.  Maureen decided to adopt Honey as well.

Yesterday, Maureen, Honey and I went to see Dr. Corcoran for the 4-month recheck.  We hoped and prayed for the best news, that the cataracts hadn’t grown.  Dr. Corcoran couldn’t believe her eyes, and Maureen and I couldn’t believe our ears:  “I don’t see anything.  The cataracts are gone.”  We asked:  “What?  How?”  And she couldn’t say exactly, maybe it was high-qualtiy food.  And, of course, Honey had always gotten good food since coming to Tails High.  But I know in my heart there was another very powerful reason:  He was happy and safe and loved, and when those conditions come together, miracles can happen.

Last week, two of our three smoke detectors went off one morning.  Scared the heck out of both humans and felines in our house.  It was a false alarm, and taking the alarms off and putting them back on stopped the shrieking.  Then yesterday, when Ken was at VetVision for Gemini’s followup eye surgery, they went off again.  Thankfully, they stopped after about 30 seconds, but the damage to my heart and the kittens’ psyches had been done.  This could not keep happening.

I found an electrician through Google (www/creagerelectrical.com; 703-698-7654), and he said he could come today and would replace all three smoke alarms for $225.  He arrived on time, and as his two workers set about replacing the smoke alarms, he saw the kittens who are in cages in our living room being treated for various kitten things (diarrhea, slow weight gain, URI, etc.).  He asked if any were well enough for him to hold, and after I said “sure,” he went around picking up and cuddling four or five of them. 

I said I’d write him a check.  “$225, right?”  “Make it for $200,” he said, “and put the $25 toward taking care of these kittens.”  And that’s exactly what I did.  I wrote him a check for $200, and a check to Tails High for $25.  He’ll get a TH thank-you letter for the $25.  Mark Creager’s generosity has made my day.

Oh, and one other thing:  Mark told me that current fire safety standards recommend that smoke alarms be replaced every 10 years.  I’m sure ours are the ones put in when the house was built nearly 25 years ago.  I had no idea they needed to be replaced.

On September 24th, the volunteers and supporters of Tails High, Inc. will celebrate our Two-Year Anniversary with a party/fundraiser at Hilton Alexandria Old Town from 6:00 to 10:00 p.m. We’d love for you to join us.

To help raise funds for veterinary costs, food and other supplies, we will be holding a Silent Auction at our Anniversary Party from 6:00 to 9:00 p.m.

Please consider donating an item or a gift certificate for the silent auction. Must be new items and in original wrapping and in excellent condition. Nothing used is acceptable other than fine jewelry or items that look brand new. Most popular items tend to be:

• Jewelry – fine/expensive
• Custom made jewelry– NOT the everyday beaded kind but unique cool designs
• Designer items – new or never used and look new (scarves, purses, jewelry)
• Spa items- gift cards/baskets
• Gift cards to restaurants, stores
• Hotel stays
• Sports events
• Unique Glassware/stemware, etc.
• Vacations
• Fine Art
• Greenery/Floral in beautiful unique vases
• Wine/Champagne/Liquor baskets

(If you have an item and you have a question on whether it would be good for the silent auction please email me at tooiedc@gmail.com and put Tails High Silent Auction in the subject line.)

Please submit any items along with this form.

Your tax-deductible donation to help us continue our work.

We appreciate your support,

Veronica Lombardi,
Fundraising Chairperson

August 14 was the hottest day in the hottest, swampiest city in America (do you agree?). Congress had gone home and everybody else was at the beach. Thunderstorms were predicted ALL DAY. Why, I [Eileen] wondered as I drove across town to Kelley’s, am I doing this Maybe because, back at Hallmark, where Sara had been so many times and not found a home, I’d promised her I’d keep on bringing her until she did. It was just a question of time….. but then time ran out. Hallmark closed.

So when Kelley suggested we showcase Sara on this Sunday and I agreed, it was with a “what-can-we- lose” attitude. Neither of expected, to be very honest, that there was much chance of ANYONE being at Petco DC that day, let alone THE RIGHT PERSON.

And indeed Petco was empty —- so empty. My co-worker Leslie and I kibbitzed all afternoon with the salespeople and put Sara in her basket with treats and listened to her tell the story of her life. A nice lady came in to buy food for her pet rabbit. A very nice lady, with a nice smile and long brown hair. She walked by us, to the rabbit section. Then, she walked back. She looked at Sara and Sara looked at her with that little Picasso-face. The lady walked on toward the check-out. She paid for her rabbit food. Goodbye lady!

Then she turned around and came back. She asked us to tell her about Sara. Then she put her bags down and sat in the chair and we placed Sara in her arms. Luckily we remembered the old West Indian superstition about tortoise-shell cats bringing good luck (I’ve used that line so many times and it’s true!) Nice lady understood everything. She’s a biologist who works with kids with learning disabilities and is earning her PhD in education. She has several animals at home (and laughingly assured me, “No it’s not a hoarder situation!”) The issue of meds didn’t bother this lady at all. As she listened and held our patient, quiet Sara, we could tell that she “got” her–her personality, her gentleness, her need for a peaceful spot of her own to bask in the sunlight just for these remaining years. She got it all.

I drove her and Sara to her home outside of Georgetown and when we walked into her neat, tidy living room with windows open onto shady trees and birds singing, I knew there was an angel somewhere guiding us through days like this. There’s a reason for it all.

I called Kelley, who drove across town to bring Sara’s meds and “Easy Cheese,” the canned stuff she likes with her daily pills. By that time Sara had found her spot–ensconced in a huge soft armchair looking at Becky’s two male cats (her brothers now!) and the birds outside her window. It has become “her chair” in this very easygoing, pleasant household. Becky has now adopted Sara and Sara has at long last found her place in the sun.

Here she is growing comfortable in her new home.

Eileen

I'm Benjamin ... almost old enough to be adopted

My name is Streak ... it's not because of the line on my nose ... it's because I'm sooo fast!!

 

This is Tiki, pretty as a picture

These kittens pictured above have nothing to with this post.  But they’re gorgeous pictures of three of TH’s current kitten population I wanted to share.

This post is easy to write … in fact, it was written by three adopters.  Within the past two days, we’ve received three testimonials from previous Tails High kitten adopters.  And since it’s kitten season, and since the kittens TH is currently raising are as cuddly, playful and downright exceptional as those mentioned below, I thought I’d excerpt the emails we received:

Goofey

Back in September my husband and I adopted Goofey from you guys.  He has been an amazing addition to our family.  He and Gravey (his sister) love each other and are like Bonnie and Clyde.  If there is one, the other is sure to be there too.  They are the best of friends.  They each take turns playing with a ball or string and neither care if the other comes and takes something away.  Goofey is just a gentleman is all aspects.  He will let his sister eat first and once she has finished he will go eat.  When it is time for them to get their greenies, he always sits back while Gravey tries to climb in the bag to get hers first. 

He simply loves, every morning, he will sit in my lap and spend about 10 minutes butting heads with me.  Thank you Tails High for bringing such a perfect cat into our lives. 

Kendra and Holly

It has been almost four months since we adopted Kendra and Holly, now renamed Tiger Lily and Samantha, and I had to write and tell you that we are totally smitten by them. What special little girls they are!!! They have added so much to our lives!!! Our nickname for Samantha (formerly Kendra) is “Pants on Fire”. She races around the house like a rocket ship. One of her very favorite things to do is to race after small peanuts in the shell that we throw for both of them to play with. We happen to have two large parrots who insist on eating peanuts in the shell, which is why we have plenty of peanuts for them to play with. When Samantha, or Sammy as we call her, sees me heading up the stairs, she comes racing and flops down in front of me, expecting me to throw a peanut partly up the stairs for her to catch. She also likes to play “fetch kitty” by bringing the peanut back so that I will throw the peanut a second time. Tiger Lily, or Lily as we call her, also loved to play catch with the peanuts. Lily’s favorite sport is having me play with her, using a wand. She loves to race around in circles, trying to catch the wand. If I walk into our bedroom, where I keep her favorite wand, Lily comes running over and flops down on top of the wand and looks up at me with a look on her face that says “Please come play with me, Mom”.

Both girls are fascinated, in a friendly way, by the parrots and the parrots are fascinated by them. For example, this morning I gave one of the parrots a shower, and both girls sat right outside the shower door (clear glass) the entire time I was bathing the parrot.

We can’t thank you enough for all you do rescuing and rehabilitating cats and kittens. They are the sweetest little things.

Thank you so much!!!!

Nellie Plum and Heidi Ho

(Email after two days)   The girls are getting along famously with each  other and with us!  They brighten our home considerably, and my guess is  that my wife and I will be able to decide sooner than later that they will  be permanent residents!

Winston Churchihll is a beautiful young orange male cat. He made a space for himself among my two cats. He often comes over to be petted, and he’s very talkative, explaining exactly what he wants.

Winston spends a great deal of time time by the windows and in the highest spots in the apartment. He is a gorgeous cat, both for his bright orange coat and for his sweet and strong personality.

He’s come so far socially in the past two months.  He used to be terrified of everything. It is hard to believe that he has been only been on foster care for a few months. I can’t wait to meet his forever family, I know he’s going to make them very happy..

Tails High has given me a new lease on life

Now, a week later, after five days of twice-daily painkillers and halfway through a two-week course of antibiotics, Sterling is beginning to see the life that is ahead of him … a life free of pain from his teeth and matted coat, and hopefully a life with a new family to love. 

We have started a Chip-in campaign to help pay Sterling’s medical expenses.  On the righthand side of the TH home page is a Chip-In widget.  If you have an extra $10 or so, please consider donating to help pay for Sterling’s medical expenses.  Sterling says, “Meow” (thank you)!