Unbelievable but true, Ethel’s ingenuity was such that they all found eventual homes and placements. Then along came Cosmi.

He was a silver-tipped Persian, born in 1994. By the time we met him he’d lived six years in a cage with a dominant cat who bullied him.  When the owner surrendered him he arrived skinny with mats, a snaggle tooth and a very bad attitude.  He would bat other cats and kittens as he strutted down the center of the room trying desperately to establish a place for himself in the only way he knew. Repeatedy we placed him in a cage for time out.  He was so ugly, people came to take pictures of the ugly cat and nicknamed him “Rat Cat.”

Enter Trudi Remund, one of those teachers — the kind who bakes cookies for her students and leads them out on fabulous field trips to the Chesapeake and sends them on to Harvard, Stanford, Cornell and UCLA — but that’s another story.  When Trudi returned home to Waseca, Minnesota to care for her aging parents, she packed Cosmi in a carrier and flew him home with her. She understood clearly that what this mean little guy needed was patience, love, reassurance and space.

In Minnesota his snaggle tooth was removed, he soon fattened up; and his beautiful coat of fur reappeared along with his loving attitude.  The last twelve years of his life were spent spoiled with love, attention, and a cat buddy named Max. They lay in the sun together on a hammock watching birds fly past their windows. He learned to coo, chirp, yip, yowl and purr at differeing levels.  Trudi writes, “He was the most intelligent of the seven Persians I’ve owned in thirty years.”

Cosmi died last week, at eighteen years. Trudi held a wake, as people do in many cultures. He was that special.  Thirty-two people attended Cosmi’s ceremony, in freezing temperatures in Minnesota.

Blessings on that spirit —  Ethel’s, Trudi’s and Cosmi’s — and to all of you who continue it.

Times change and people move on, and Sigma was recently returned to our fold. Our commitment to him held fast and Kelley yesterday called upon him for Petco DC, along with Louise, Joyce’s foster — a newly-arrived tiny sprightly lass with a plumy gray tail who clearly had her sights on better things than that miserable cage at Petco, this close to St. Valentine’s Day!

Quickly they settled in together. Louise, by Sigma’s side, groomed him as he napped, then nestled in right on top of him! As the snowstorm howled and the winds began, Leslie, Jenny and I watched them sleep with love and acceptance in their hearts. We thought, no adopter will come here today, but it’s okay because these two happy souls and we are all safe and warm. No harm done at least, if no rescue in sight…..

HOW little did we know. Outside, one singularly hearty pair of neighbors, Kate and Stephen, out walking in the storm, noticed our sign at Petco. They laughingly imagined a “bonded pair” of kitties to rescue, to celebrate their own happy marriage and good life! What a lark! Good naturedly they bounded down the stairs of our ancient Petco and walked in upon…..the scene described above. They absolutely froze. It was exactly the scene they had imagined. Two soft, silvery cats entwined in sleep together. As they spent the afternoon holding Sigma and Louise one by one, learning their detailed stories, taking a million photos for the family and “Grandma,” they slowly and eventually came to realize that this was a kind of predestined event for them. No accident at all. These two animals were in fact their little dream come true. These things happen.

Thank you, Betty. Ken and Claudia. Joyce. Kelley. All you good, good doctors.

Happy Valentine,
Sigma and Louise

As I ascend the steps to the entrance of the building I see her gazing out the window wistfully from the third floor. Her eyes slowly scan the world below from right and left as if to say, “who will rescue me?” Other than the sorrowful moans from her broken heart, she is voiceless, and her wordless pleas are ignored. Her window faces an elementary school, so day after day hundreds of people walk by her window, but never sense her presence.

She spies me as I reach the top step of the entryway and for a brief moment our eyes meet. As soon as I make it to the hallway of the third floor I hear her calling out to me. The turning of the key in the top lock amplifies the volume of her cries. Can others hear her? Do they think she’s been kidnapped and being held against her will.

Twisting the doorknob, then I push it open and she runs up and rubs her face against my calves. I bend down to pick her up and proceed to stroke her back the cry softens and turns into a purr. Raising her head to offer her chin to me, her sweet spot, she now has completely calmed down because I am the rescuer.

She was acquired a few months ago from Tails High after being abandoned in an apartment, but over the last few months she has been there for me in more ways than one. After a rough day at work, she’s always there to greet me with love. When I feel homesick for my family back home she makes me smile when I throw her toys that she gladly loves to wrestle. Sometimes she will dart across room to chase down imaginary prey and this is hysterical. Even though she will sometimes try to sit on my lap top while I am working, I don’t mind. I even envy her openness about wanting affection.

For the price of warm, safe, shelter, food, water, and daily playtime, she brings me endless hours of joy and the truth is that the damsel in distress that was rescued was me.

Thanks Tabitha Mabel!

And two weeks ago, we adopted out a handsome black cat, aptly named Dapper. We figure he’s about one to two years old, but has the playful heart of a kitten, and the resilience of a lion since he came to us abandoned by his previous owners. He has a new home in the vibrant DC neighborhood of Adams Morgan with his new father, Tom who is finalizing his adoption as we speak.

We also recently adopted out a princely boy cat named Gaby. Gaby has a bit of a Cinderella story: we found him living outside in the bushes of a row house. He initially had trouble adjusting to indoor life and was fearful of other cats, perhaps due to a scary street encounter in his past stray life. He found a new mom in Kristy, whose father just built Gaby a wooden cat “palace” in which to play and preside over his new indoor kingdom. What a heartwarming rags to riches story!

Vote for us at http://www.theanimalrescuesite.com and we could win grants ranging from $1,000 to $5,000 each to help pets in need.

The Animal Rescue Site is hosting a special challenge for eligible Petfinder.com member shelter and rescue groups. The grand prize is a $5,000 grant, and they will be awarding many other grants to rescue groups with the most votes — a total of $300,000 in grants for animal welfare organizations in 2012.

Think how many animals we could help with $5,000!

Help us win! All you have to do is click to help rescued animals, and then vote in The Animal Rescue Site $300,000 Shelter⁺ Challenge of 2012 – with Petfinder.com. Both of these actions are absolutely free! You can vote once a day, every day during the voting period. Every time you vote, or tell a friend to vote, you are making a huge difference for us.

Vote today!

At our Petco DC event, Adoption Advocate Eileen found a wonderful family willing to take the time to nurture shy, sweet Sunny.

Third time’s a charm for Luke and Lacey, two identical black kittens, who after their third adoption event, found a home with together with a wonderful couple. Congrats to this new family of four.

Laverne, a brown tabby kitten, crawled into the lap of Lisa, a Tails High regular, and insisted on cuddling for hours, so Lisa and her husband had no other choice but to take her home.

Buddy went home with a new mom and dad this past weekend as well. Adoption Chair Kelley knew it was a match made in heaven when she dropped him off and he was having so much fun chasing a laser light toy he didn’t even notice Kelley leaving.

Italiano found a new forever home when he snuggled up to a young boy and his parents and insisted they make room for him in their hearts.

And Blacktip, a brown tabby we rescued in December, is slated to go home this weekend with a Fairfax family, who are also interested in adopting a Tails High sibling for him.

Be sure to visit our adoption events at Annandale Petco this blustery weekend to warm up with some cuddly kitties!

At Petco Bailey’s Crossroads, Danny, a black and white tuxedo kitten, went home with a black kitten, Mistletoe. The new brother and sister won the hearts of a young couple by lap cuddling and general adorableness.

This weekend we’ve taken in two new kittens who will be featured at our Mindful Hands event this Saturday: Lacy and Luke are identical black kittens looking for a home. They came to us as strays, and we hope they’ll find their forever families at Mindful Hands this weekend.

Curly, a 4 month-old black cat, was adopted by a couple whose last cat had recently passed away. Bright Heart, a female tabby went home to a full house: she was claimed by a young couple with two young girls, a baby, and another 4 year-old cat at home! April, a brown tabby, who is close to a year old, went home happy with her new mom. We’re sure these three adopting families are thrilled with their new holiday “purr-chases.”

Tails High adoption events will resume in the new year. We wish you and your kitties happy holiday cuddling and many hours of re-hanging decorations that have now become cat toys.

Sweet Lily, before going home with her new family.

From Melissa:

Tuesday 12/13

Darling Lily is now in bed with Honor–last night we surrounded her with lots of stuffed animals and she happily fell asleep. I should have taken a picture with her head on a soft teddy bear leg! This morning she was hiding again but I did not worry so much and tonight we looked for her, could not find her but she came out on her own. Tonight Honor sat with her while she ate both wet and dry food, she seems to want us there while she eats.
So progress! She is such a wonderful girl and we have fallen in love with her.

Wednesday 12/14

I will send the picture because now our little one follows us all over the apartment and sleeps with Honor! She is a great brave baby and we adore her. She doesn’t hide anymore she comes to find us. Thanks for the dog information, that will be the next hurdle but the dog is so sweet that I think all will be fine.

Many thanks and I will keep you posted

Our Tysons Petco event was less crowded than the others, but we were visited by more serious potential adopters. There was cuddling to be had by all. Two of our featured kitties, April and Curly, were shy but they warmed up as they were held repeatedly throughout the day.

I'm Curly, Moe's brother. Guess what my other brother's name is.

I'm April. Tails High will welcome my two siblings tomorrow.

Swirl, a classic brown tabby kitten, crawled into the lap of Maria, an 18-year-old passerby, who naturally couldn’t resist taking her home. Swirl, who came to Tails High a week ago, will live with Maria and her sister in their apartment, and she will be their first cat together in their new home.

We also recruited two very plotting, potential fosters: we had a mom and her daughter fall in love with every cat in the gizmo, but sadly her dad isn’t a huge fan of felines (if you can imagine!). So, they came up with the plan to try and spin fostering a Tails High kitty as a science project for school, so her dad will of course fall in love and have to adopt it. Very sneaky…we approve!

Beck, a very special kitty, was also at Tysons on Saturday. He just came to us with his sister, Bekah, and these two are unique in an especially heroic way. The brother and sister pair acted as “hospice kitties” for a woman with a brain injury in assisted living. Unfortunately they could no longer be cared for, so Tails High took them in to find their forever homes. Beck has big eyes and is a brown tabby with an unusual pattern, and Bekah is a lovely black color. We cannot wait for them to find their forever homes since they performed a wonderful service: acting as cuddly companions to someone in need. While Beck is more outgoing, bashful Bekah needs a few more weeks of socialization, and she will soon be at a January adoption event. They have earned their “badges of honor,” according to Adoption Chair Kelley, and truly deserve a loving future family.

At our Annandale Petco event, featured kitties Zoe, Sunlight, and Dixie all found their forever homes. Zoe’s new mom and dad are already glowing parents, emailing us an update that Zoe has them: “smiling from ear to ear” and that “Little Miss Zoe was the perfect choice.”

A family that visited one of our events last week was enamored of Sunlight… so in love in fact that they came back to claim her. And funnily enough, Dixie was adopted by a woman named Vicki who used to have a cat named Dizzy…who everyone called Dixie! Adoption Advocate Joan thinks they will be a great match due to Dixie’s infectious spunk.

At Petco in DC, Lily, a fifteen-week-old kitten who was rescued from the woods of VA, was adopted by a mother and daughter who then stocked up on supplies for their brand new family member. And our adoption advocates Eileen and Leslie spoke with over a hundred people in the store, spreading the good word of Tails High.

So in total, that’s 5 adopted kitties this weekend! Whew! Congratulations to these happy new families who are enjoying the loving addition of a Tails High kitty this holiday season.