ADOPTED! Bert Has Left the Building!

Bert has left the building! And his name is now Simon Bert! He looks like a Simon too, come to think of it, and he looks pretty relaxed and happy in his new home.

Actually he left Monday, sorry for the day’s delay in letting you know. His adopter, Christy, said she’d send photos and I so wanted to share photos of a happy Bert in his new home. I’m glad I waited! She really laid things out for him—below is the full setting. This is “his” chair! What a lucky orange boy to have so much love.

I was concerned for how Bert would feel without his brother on Sunday night since they’d been stuffed into my tiny bathroom for over two months and played wildly in there all the time. Bert is very vocal and when he wants his dinner or is not happy, the whole house knows! But he was quiet and relaxed, then later on visiting him he was very sweet and purring, and then actually rolled over for belly rubs, a first! On Monday when Christy arrived she noticed the change from even a week ago when she met him, no hiding, no hesitation, we didn’t even the treats. It may look like she’s strangling him but she’s actually giving him scritches around the neck while he purrs with the volume turned up and air-kneads with both front paws. Unbelievable.

Bert was always the holdout with the two of them, growling more, hissing, hiding, and to see him finally give in and enjoy belly rubs and cuddles—with someone else in addition to me—is the best part of socializing feral or frightened cats. The changes I saw in them both in the past week or two, I think both boys knew their forever home was just ahead. I’m so happy for them both, wonderful loving homes and doting humans. Read about Bert and Ernie, and remember, this is where they started…

And then to this just last week…

And Smokie is happy to have “his” bathroom back. He’s been a little miffed since those two moved in, and so has the rest of the household.

I’m still getting used to just walking in there with no door or baby gate or kitties threatening to jump in and out—since last June! But no picture of me hopping the gate. I did have the urge last night and today to run upstairs and feed them, and to check on them. Guess that will happen for a while, but I am so happy to think of them in their new homes.

. . . . . . .

Aabout PittsburghCAT

Bert and Ernie were two hissy kittens who were considered unadoptable in the shelter, which unfortunately had no more foster homes available for socialization. The rescue I work with has an agreement with the Western Pennsylvania Humane Society and we receive a notice about cats like Bert and Ernie and a chance to find a foster home to socialize them. Read about Bert and Ernie and their rescue.

PittsburghCAT also works other shelters, and with the Homeless Cat Management Team to socialize and rehome cats and kittens taken from the streets during the process of Trap Neuter Return, or TNR, often teaching others how to trap, rescue and socialize cats they find in addition to taking cats and kittens for foster. Raising kittens is not cheap, and many cats come in with injuries or illnesses that require treatment and medications, all of which is borne by the organization and also by individual fosters. PittsburghCAT is not a 501(c)3 organization, but you can help this process by purchasing items from the Amazon Wish Lists below, or Paypal a donation to [email protected].

---

Read about other kittens and adult cats who are looking for homes.

---

Opportunities to Help Cats

 

Amazon Wish Lists

I’ve lost count of the number of kittens in foster among our volunteers, and August is usually the month with the highest surrender numbers at Pittsburgh shelters. Part of the mission with TNR is to not return the kittens—once we’ve rescued them we socialize them and put them up for adoptiont.

Many rescuers pay out of pocket for veterinary care and food but the costs of raising even the average litter of four healthy kittens is more than many people have, and many rescues have greater needs, like Auntie. If you can help with just one purchase from the kitten wish list on Amazon.com you’d make some kittens and a rescuer very happy.

We have two wish lists at the moment, the one hosted by Margo which several of you have donated through already and a new one hosted by Tarra that includes items for adult cats.

Original Wish List

Summer Wish List

Autumn Wish List

Help Feral Cats This Winter

We not only provide spay and neuter surgery as well as vaccines for the community cats we care for, we also provide emergency veterinary care, food when necessary, and we make shelters for them to live in over the winter. We’ve had a few shelter-making parties with Rubbermaid containers and styrofoam coolers, but we are running short of supplies. Right now we need $188 to buy tape and plastic so we can convert coolers into shelters this weekend and a few weekends in the future, so we can distribute shelters to as many cats as we can. Anything you’d like to donate would be greatly appreciated, though these donations are not tax-deductible. You can PayPal to [email protected].

. . . . . . .

ResQwalk, now for Android AND iPhone!

Download the app for Android or iPhone and record your walk to raise money for your chosen rescue.
Of course, choose “Homeless Cat Management Team”!
The kitty pictured above is “Hope” rescued just this past summer, and the image was custom made for HCMT by ResQwalk.
Choose Android or iPhone.

---

Can’t adopt? Foster! Can’t foster? Donate or volunteer.

There are so many ways you can help cats who need homes and care. You may not have room to adopt another cat, but can foster a cat or kitten for a few weeks. If not that, you can volunteer at a shelter or with a rescue, or donate. You do this because you love your cat, and by doing so you help all cats. No matter which of these actions you take, you help to save a life, and make life better for all cats.

• Adopt one of the cats I’ve posted here, or from any shelter or rescue near you, or from Petfinder, to open up a space for another cat to be rescued and fostered.
• Offer to foster cats or kittens for a shelter or rescue near you.
• Volunteer at a shelter or rescue.
• Find a group of volunteers who work with homeless cats and help them with their efforts.
• Donate to a shelter or rescue near you.

If you can foster kittens or adults cats to help prepare them for a forever home, please run to your nearest shelter and find a cat who needs you! Anyone can help with this effort at any level, even if all you do is donate to a shelter or rescue so they can help to pay for the food or medications needed for their foster, or the spay/neuter/veterinary care during a clinic.

Need to know more? Read Fostering for Your Shelter and Fostering Saves Lives.

---

All images used on this site are copyrighted to Bernadette E. Kazmarski unless otherwise noted and may not be used without my written permission. Please ask if you are interested in using one in a print or internet publication. If you are interested in purchasing a print of this image or a product including this image, check my Etsy shop to see if I have it available already. If you don’t find it there, visit Ordering Custom Artwork for more information on a custom greeting card, print or other item.

---

Do you appreciate the stories and images we offer you each day?

© 2015 | www.TheCreativeCat.net | Published by Bernadette E. Kazmarski

Weekly schedule of features:
Sunday: Essays, Pet Loss, Poetry, The Artist’s Life
Monday: Adoptable Cats, TNR & Shelters
Tuesday: Rescue Stories
Wednesday: Commissioned Portrait or Featured Artwork
Thursday: New Merchandise
Friday: Book Review, Health and Welfare, Advocacy
Saturday: Your Backyard Wildlife Habitat, Living Green With Pets, Creating With Cats
And sometimes, I just throw my hands in the air and have fun!

FACEBOOK | TWITTER | LINKEDIN | ETSY SHOP | PINTEREST | TUMBLR | STUMBLEUPON | GOOGLE+ | EMAIL

HOME

---