Natalie at home

Hello everyone who helped me at Nine Lives!
I was originally brought to the shelter in Jan-08 with lice that was itching me to insanity! I was really scared of people and felt so itchy 24/7 that I think that I might have accidentally taken that out on the nice people who were just trying to help me – I’m sorry about that! They were all so understanding though, and they took really good care of me. Dr. Thompson shaved me naked and all of the bugs were gone overnight! I was kept at the shelter and some volunteers pet me and eventually coaxed me out of my little tent that I would hide in all the time. One of the volunteers called me “naked little kitty” which eventually was changed to “Natalie” when they wanted to name me. I’m still somewhat naked, but my fur coat is starting to come back and my new mom tells me that it’s so soft, like baby fuss.
Eventually, one of the volunteers adopted me and brought me home 6 weeks ago. I live in her kitchen and there are 2 other cats who live in the rest of the apartment, but they don’t seem to mind me being in their kitchen (according to my new mom, they didn’t use the kitchen, anyway). We can hear each other moving around in the different rooms and see each other through the screen, but we haven’t actually met each other yet. One of my new sisters started letting me walk around the rest of the apartment today (my other new sister was outside, so she didn’t know:).
I have lot s of toys here and the staff of Nine Lives even let me bring my teddy-bear with me for the first week from the shelter to my new home…but I don’t feel the need for this “security” item anymore, so my new mom returned it to Nine Lives. My new mom is really nice and I just love it when she pets me, (she says that I’m a little attention piggy, but I don’t really understand that since I’m a kitty, not a piggy). She doesn’t seem to mind it when I walk on her legs or feet so I started sprawling across her lap to get more rubdowns.
She seems to like it when I play with her, so I’ve decided to humor her. Besides, it’s worth it, with all the kisses that she gives to me afterwards, so I let her wave a string in front of me that I pretend to try to grab. Sometimes I actually do grab it with my fingernails or teeth and pull out of her hand, just to keep her entertained. I was going to send you all pictures of my new home, but apparently, mom’s camera is broken from one of her other furry roommates, so I can’t use it right now. She told me that she’ll get her camera fixed soon, so I’ll send you pictures of all of us then. In the meantime, her computer’s still working so I wanted to let you know that I’ve unpacked and I have decided to stay here. She even bought me a necklace…it’s pink with white polka-dots and it even has a little gold heart with my name and phone number on it!
Thank you again for all your help and I’m glad that I’m not living on the streets anymore. She opens the window for me, and the fresh air smells good, but I have it TOO easy here to want to leave :)
Best regards always,
Natalie
(also known as “naked little kitty”)

April & May (to date) update

It's been a while since I've posted an update on how things are going at Nine Lives. It's been a very busy couple of months. April saw the reopening of the Dr. Thompson's Feline Well-Care Clinic with the proceeds going to support the cats and kittens of the Nine Lives Foundation.

April was busy, busy, busy as we adopted out 35 cats and kittens, kind of a small number given our more recent totals, but pretty good. The real work came as kitten season hit us hard. The Kern County Animal Shelter in Bakersfield was (and still is) getting in 4 to 5 moms with litters in daily and numerous pregnant cats. We pulled 16 nursing mothers from them alone during the month of April, I know, that sounds like a huge number but it would break your heart to hear how many beautiful cats and litters of kittens we were unable to stop from being PTS. We did all we could though and to our astonishment, we rescued an astounding 131 cats, 34 adult and 97 kittens, during the month of April (most of the kittens have been adopted or are still out in foster care).

We started the month of May with a huge Adopt-a-Thon, weekend long event that drew in a record number of people and found homes for 37 cats and kittens. We're so thrilled that we were able to get the help of so many wonderful volunteers to help us with this event! It is only because of their help that so many kitties find their forever homes.

The great news is that the May adoptions keep on coming! So far this month we've found homes for 48 cats and kittens with more each day!

Written by: LH

An update on cat formerly known as Got Milk

Can there be a success story in 1 night? Oh, yes I suppose there can if it's Teddy the Bear.
30 minutes with his new family in the "safe" room and he was ready to explore more of the condo. He's done a thorough job!

As I predicted, our ample windows are his favorite hang out and he loves a chair in the living room. He's king of the condo already and as soon as we allow him to be in the entire condo he'll officially become the emperor of the condo! :) He's such a sweet guy. He's given his belly to mommy and daddy for rubs already. Actually he allowed belly rubs within the first 30 minutes at home.He's so precious flat out on his back with his head thrown back! And he has lots of belly to rub, as you know! I knew he was our cat the very first time I saw him. I thank goodness I put him on hold immediately! He fits in perfectly! I felt so sad watching all of the volunteers and Dr. T hug him good-bye today. Almost guilty to take him. However, we're so fortunate to have gained this fine soul into our family! We selfishly accept him as one of our family. Thanks so much!

Cordially,
Dawn & Rich

Ginger and Pesto, a success story

Hi Dr. Thompson and the great staff,

I just wanted to write and let you know that Ginger and Pesto are both doing well in their new home.

You wouldn’t recognize them from the shy, scared little kittens they were when they were in the shelter, they have really relaxed and have become really affectionate and outgoing. They now rush over from wherever they are in the apartment when I come home from work and won’t stop meowing and chirping till they get lots of attention and tummy rubs.

They even come and fall asleep on me when watching tv, such a big change from avoiding people at all costs when I first picked them up. I’m so glad I came to the open house and gave these two little angels a chance.

Thanks!

Justin

A letter from the kitties formerly known as Sonny & Chet

Dear Nine Lives Foundation,
We are sorry we have not written sooner but my brother and I have been very busy making ourselves at home with our new people Ron and Mel. We want to thank you for taking very good care of us while we were waiting for them to come and adopt us last July. You knew us as Sonny and Chet, but Ron and Mel call is Ix (icks) and Pu (poo) after the Mayan Gods Ixbalanque and Hunahpu. Since moving to Pacifica we have been exploring the house, garage, backyard, neighbor's yards and the hillside behind the house. We have made several new friends, but Ron and Mel don't much like it when we bring our friend-mouse or friend-bird into the house to play with us.. they really didn't like the gopher. We have our own perch where we can nap in front of the window when we are not sleeping on the bunkbeds in the guest room or with our people. Having our own door to the backyard is great since we can go outside and play all day when Ron and Mel are gone. They don't let us go out late at night ever since Ix got in a scuffle with the "furry thing that bites" and he had to go to the doctor... so now we have a curfew at dark. That's ok, we also love sitting on the couch with Ron and Mel on our blue blanket. It is very snugly and so are they. We have to go, Ron doesn't like it when we play on the computer especially when he is trying to use it at the same time. We did want you to know we are happy and healthy and Pu has become quite the fluff ball since you last saw us. Thank you again for giving us a place to stay until Ron and Mel could come and get us. Attached are some before and after photos - look how much fluffier Pu got!

Drying My Tears

I’ll never forget a conversation I had over the phone one day at work – “It’s cancer.”

As the veterinarian gave me the test results, I don’t remember anything except for one repeating thought – NO! PLEASE NO! But no matter how much my brain was screaming, it was true…my sweet little girl kitty, only 12 years old, was diagnosed with cancer. The doctor said more, but I didn’t hear the words.

I remember hanging up the phone and going to the restroom for a good cry. After work, I went home to hug her and kiss her…and cry some more. Tears for her, because I didn’t want her to go through the painful decline and death that’s associated with cancer. Tears for her twin sister who would miss her. And some selfish tears because I would also miss her when she was gone. Many, many tears.

I remember crying in the doctor’s office when I asked the most difficult question I would ever ask in my entire life…“What’s her prognosis if she doesn’t have the cancer medication?” The pain and side-effects of the cancer taking over her little body sounded so much worse than the treatment, so I decided on the treatment.

Then, double whammy – her twin sister was diagnosed with diabetes just a short three months later.

My sweet little girls have four paws, whiskers and sharp pointy teeth. They both retract their nails when mommy holds them and they growl, hiss and one of them even screams when mommy’s not the one holding her at the vet. For this reason, they have their entire vet’s office scared of them…they have all the techs SO fooled (One of my kitties – just to look at her face, I swear she’s laughing the whole way home after each visit.) But for mommy, they are such marshmallows, so I hold them for blood draws, shots and cysto's.
During this past year, I learned how to give pills (sometimes four pills in one sitting), B-Vitamin shots, insulin shots and test for glucose levels (you test a cat by pricking their ear, in case you were wondering). I had to change their food, watch their water intake and monitor their meds. (Although, during all of this time, I still didn’t learn the ‘cat-neck hold’ as I call it. After all, I’m mommy…I don’t need to hold them, they just stay for me until their medications are done.)

Eventually, my little diabetic patient went into remission (actually, twice so far) and my cancer patient’s weight is up, she’s feeling good and she’s a happy kitty lazing on the couch. I spent so many months taking care of my little girls, now I need to take better care of myself and my soul.

So, this past Thanksgiving, inspired by my father who volunteered at a soup kitchen for several years, I decided that’s what I’d do with my holiday time off from work. Now…what kind of volunteer work? Well, some people have told me that I’m the only one their felines would let pet, so I had an idea to see if there was an animal shelter around who needed some help. After all, I’ve had my cats for 13 years now and I feel that I understand cats well. Also, they seem to like me. After everything that my vet’s done for my kitties this past year, I wanted to do something to give back or pay forward on an animal level. I vaguely remembered someone telling me about a cat-only shelter, so I hopped online and did a search.

Then I found it…the place I’d quickly get hooked on… http://www.ninelivesfoundation.org/ I called them and asked if they needed volunteers. A cheerful and very thankful woman told me that they always need volunteers to help with a multitude of things…cleaning cages, swabbing the deck, doing dishes, donating supplies, or even just ‘holding’ some of the babies (to the doctors, it’s called socializing…to me, it’s called cuddling.) I made an appointment to go in for a visit before volunteering, so I’d have a general idea of what to expect.

I remember my first volunteer day, the Saturday after Thanksgiving. I spent the day moving recuperated cats from the ICU cages to the front for adoption day and moving other cats from their cages to the visiting room for prospective parents to meet. Talk about my favorite job ever…actually this wasn’t a job – I just spent the day holding and cuddling cute little felines – one of my favorite pastimes.

Then, we took a field-trip to rescue some cats and kittens from the breakwater in Moss Beach, California before the winter high-tide came in (we’ve rescued and found homes for 5 of them so far). Later that night, when I got home, I hugged and kissed my own kitties (who’d been sleeping all day, no doubt, and didn’t even realize that I’d been gone).

Since that first day, I now clean cages, dishes, ears and wounds. I have brushed hair, detangled fur and clipped kitty-nails. I have fed, watered and successfully trapped ferals. One morning, I even took someone home with me to see if he would eat better than he was at the shelter (the shelter calls it foster care…my cats called it an intruder.) I also introduced my neighbor, who adopted two kitties from the shelter.

Now, I go in each Saturday and spend the day helping where I can. I recently told the vet in charge, Dr. Monica Thompson, DVM, that I’m a bookkeeper for my day job and I offered to update their records…looks like I’ll be able to help in a few different areas, although the cuddling, I mean, the socializing is my favorite.

If you want to adopt a furry little feline, volunteer, donate or foster, please call (650-368-1365) or visit their website, http://www.ninelivesfoundation.org/ Personally, I’m very happy with the friends that I’m making (both feline and of the human variety). It feels so good to help cats find homes and giving some much needed TLC to the ones who live there. It’s ironic though…these remarkable little felines give me much more TLC in return, and I look forward to going back there each week. And because Nine Lives Foundation is a no-kill shelter, I know that when I leave each day, either (a) everyone will still be there when I return, or (b) they went to a good home, either permanently or for foster care.

I’ve found something here that I love and plan on doing for a long time to come (even if my cats won’t tolerate any more house-guests :)

Sonya Dow
Writer of Romantic-Suspense and a Happy Volunteer for Nine Lives

57 March adoptions suprise us all!

March was a busy month around the Nine Lives Foundation. We were still settling into our new shelter. Doors and windows were still missing and the washing machine setup still left a lot to be desired. But all of those thing were minor and the folks coming in to meet and adopt our kitties seemed to take the chaos of our ongoing construction in stride as they met and fell in love with new furry family members. As of Monday, March 31st, fifty cats and kittens had been adopted from our shelter. Many of them special needs or hard to place kitties.On top of our in house adoptions, Humanimal Connection, a sister rescue, has taken 17 cats from us this year, 7 of which were adopted out in the month of March (15 this year so far). Leaving us with more space to save more shelter cats from death's door.

Just in case you start to think that we're short on kitties now, I'll let you know that March also saw the arrival of 61 new cats and kittens (3 moms with 14 babies) make this number look a lot higher than it should. Also, eleven of our new March arrivals were adopted out before the end of the month, which just goes to show that shelters around the area are euthanizing some amazingly adoptable kitties.

Over all, March was a great month for the Nine Lives Foundation. Yes, we're still struggling to make ends meet because of the recent move and we very much need monetary donations to keep doing what we do, but we're pretty happy with the way things are going.

Written by: LH