Easy herbs

I interrupt my animal posts for an exciting post about GARLIC. I found a new little cooking treasure. Little freezer trays of crushed garlic cubes. They are so easy to use! Just pop one or two out of the tray and voila! They are made by Dorot and can be found at Trader Joe's in the frozen food aisle. For $1.99!

It cracks me up when commercials include the specifics of where you should find something. "You can find our fabulous soup in the the soup aisle of many fine retailers." Wow, really? I think that time and money could have been spent a little more wisely.

Back to garlic! All Dorot herbs are freshly frozen and retain their natural flavor and aroma. They are the real thing. No preservatives. No cholesterol. No trans fat acids. No food coloring.

The company also offers:

Crushed Ginger
Chopped Basil
Chopped Parsley
Chopped Coriander (Cilantro)
Chopped Dill
Chopped Mint
Chopped Red Chili Peppers

I am not (opposed to) receiving compensation for providing this message.

Finalizing Fritz!

We want Fritz! :) And I think he'd say the same about us. His adoption papers are in the mail (as of tomorrow).

He's having a good time with his new squirrel-watching buddy and partner in Tabby-ness, Johnny.



And things are much calmer between Fritz and Katie. He's been more respectful of her space and it's only making her more interested in what he's doing! So, he's using reverse psychology. Smart boy.

Here's a photo of Fritz in the crinkle tunnel.



Our cats were never interested, so Fritz has claimed it for his own! So much so that it has to be put "to bed" at night so we can sleep.

We were kind of dreading the announcement of three cats. For some reason, that's the magic "crazy" number. The reactions from our mothers: "You'll know when you have enough cats!" and "Three cats?!?!" The former was much more supportive. The latter? Well, it's pretty well crushed her dream of us realizing "our" dream of living in a downtown high-rise. Yee-ha!

Welcome, Fritz Cat!

Update

Unfortunately, they had to euthanize the sweetie. The x-ray showed she had a broken back. Poor kitty. That must have been so terribly painful, not to mention frightening for her.

I do find it comforting that she didn't have to suffer through the cold days ahead in her condition. We found her on Sunday. Since then, it's been in the 40s here during the day and the 30s at night. She was facing an agonizing death, probably of starvation.

At least she was warm and she didn't have to suffer more.

But still... :(

While at the shelter today, a dog I was walking became very interested in sniffing a tarp in the corner of the yard. He pulled the tarp up with his nose and I saw a cat's back leg. I went inside to get help. Charles, a staff member, came back out with me and brought a carrier.

When Charles lifted the tarp, the cat ran for the fence. We both gasped in horror, as it was running using only its front legs; the cat's back legs were just dragging behind flat on the ground. It was an awful sight.

Even with just two working legs, the cat was FAST. It climbed up the fence as quick as any other. It took about ten minutes, but we finally managed to get the poor kitty into the carrier and inside. The cat looked similar to the one above, but with more white.

Charles said it had likely been hit by a car. It wasn't bleeding, but obviously very injured. Charles said that it might have to be euthanized. But, he also expressed a little hope that the doctor who happened to be in today might try and treat the cat's injuries if it was possible. I'm hoping for this outcome, of course, but understand that euthanasia might be the humane thing to do.

The fact that the cat managed to get to Animal Care & Control on his/her own is pretty lucky. I hope it's a sign that more good luck awaits this sweet kitty. I should know more tomorrow.

Fritz!

After taking him back to Sheri's, we took a few days to think about Oscar. And the terrible decision to introduce him so quickly. We decided to give it another try, but with a very different strategy. So, we went back to get him!

And he now answers to Fritz!

We have been doing a very slow introduction this time around. For a few days, Fritz stayed in the 2nd bedroom at all times. Interest was building on both sides of the door. Last weekend, we put up a tall doggy gate (borrowed from Sheri) so that the kitties could all see each other and start getting used to the idea of meeting him and vice versa. This went well, and it was discovered that this boy can JUMP! He escaped numerous times, even though the gate came up to my armpits.



We've built up to Fritz now having free range of the apartment when we're home. We leave his door open, and he wanders in (to eat and sleep) and out (to explore, play, etc.). It's worked pretty well.

Fritz and Johnny have had some promising interactions mixed in with just a couple tense ones. All in all, there is not much hissing/growling anymore. I think they have the potential to get along great.

Katie is another story. She was doing pretty well as long as he didn't come near her. She was interested in watching him and seemed to be getting more comfortable until she was chased yesterday.

Fritz chased her from the living room into our bedroom. She ran under the bed, which is her "safe place." Johnny has never followed her under there. Well, Fritz did. She was literally screaming. Brian finally was able to grab Katie, who was very traumatized. She's now very wary of him and more on edge, understandably.

Hopefully this memory will fade. And hopefully Fritz learned a lesson by being placed back in isolation.

I'll post some more photos soon.

Last weekend, we heard about a 2-year-old gray tabby named Oscar, who needed a home. He was one of many emails I've received from Sheri Berliner, Chicago pet photographer and homeless animal advocate extraordinaire. She's the one who was our key to finding Tommy Cat his new home.



Oscar had been picked up by Animal Control in Skokie...after knocking at a cat-fearing woman's screen door one night. She was terrified. Great idea by the kitty though!

I've seen other wonderful cats come through my inbox, but he stood out for a few reasons.

He's a gray tabby.
It was Columbus Day weekend.

And on Columbus Day in 1989, my family adopted a gray tabby who was a much beloved member of our family. She died last year at age 18. She was an amazing cat who saw me through braces and awkward years and college years...and I got to kiss her on my wedding day. She was sweet Mrow. Her real name was Isabella Jim (maybe for a later post). But when you asked her what her name was, she always said "MRROOOW!"

Lastly, Oscar was already front-declawed. Johnny was front-declawed by choice (a poor one in my present opinion) and Katie by chance (since we rescued her). We'd been thinking about adopting another cat for a while, but we didn't think it would be fair to introduce a cat with the advantage of front claws to the household, nor did we want to declaw again.

Then we saw the email about Oscar. He's friendly, healthy and needs a home. Let's go pick him up! We isolated him in the bathroom for two hours before giving him full range. We were just so excited to know that he was known to be healthy and able to mingle. And so we got quite a bit ahead of ourselves.

Oscar was very pleased. The last few weeks (at least) had been spent lost outside, in cages and in a basement bathroom at Sheri's house. It was kind of sad to see how comfortable he was with NOT being accepted.



Do you think we have enough cat toys?

Even sadder was seeing how upset our own kitties were with the drive-by introduction.

Katie was a bit hissy and on edge, but okay, so long as he didn't think about coming near her.



Johnny turned into a hissing, growling, VERY unhappy mess who only wanted to spend time up in the "Club House" (on top of the kitchen cabinets).




He did this for a few hours before finally succombing to sleep. But he kept one ear awake.



So, under the pressure of seeing two cats that we love so unhappy and realizing that our approach was less than fair, what did we do next?

Tune in for the next post. I realize this might leave several (literally, and with a cushion) readers with questions, but more soon!

Thanks for reading! And Happy Birthday to Deb, my most pushy (in a good way!) reader!

A little ad hominem look at convenience pet owners*

HELP NEEDED ASAP!

Please help!!!! After two long years of being on a waiting list for the perfect purebred, we have been notified by the breeder that, at long last, our number has come up and ... WE ARE HAVING A PUPPY!!!

We must get rid of our children IMMEDIATELY because we just know how time-consuming our new little puppy is going to be and it just wouldn't be fair to the children. Since our little puppy will be arriving on Monday we MUST place the children into your rescue this weekend!

They are described as:

One male - His name is Tommy, Caucasian (English/Irish mix), light blonde hair, blue eyes. Four years old. Excellent disposition. He doesn't bite. Temperament tested. Does have problems with peeing directly in the toilet. Has had chicken Pox and is current on all shots. Tonsils have already been removed. Tommy eats everything, is very clean, house trained & gets along well with others. Does not run with scissors and with a little training he should be able to read soon.

One female - Her name is Lexie, Caucasian (English/Irish mix), strawberry blonde hair, green eyes quite freckled. Two years old. Can be surly at times. Non-biter, thumbsucker. Has been temperament tested but needs a little attitude adjusting occasionally. She is current on all shots, tonsils out, and is very healthy & can be affectionate. Gets along well with other little girls & little boys but does not like to share her toys and therefore would do best in a one child household. She is a very quick learner and is currently working on her house training-shouldn't take long at all.

We really do LOVE our children so much and want to do what's right for them; that is why we contacted a rescue group. But we simply can no longer keep them. Also, we are afraid that they may hurt our new puppy.

I hope you understand that ours is a UNIQUE situation and we have a real emergency here!!! They MUST be placed into your rescue by Sunday night at the latest or we will be forced to drop them off at the orphanage or along some dark, country road. Our priority now has to be our new puppy.

--Author Unknown

* you suck

Guess which was mine?

Recently, on a celebrity baby news blog I read, there was a post stating that Rebecca Romijn and Jerry O'Connell said that pets were preparing them for kids. Some of the comments:

" ... when my friend adopted her dog and tried to make some comparison i had to let her know that look you may dress that puppy up and get a carrier and stroller for it BUT if that thing gets on your nerves you can return it to the pound, people have the option of putting animals to sleep, and you can leave that animal unattended...raising a child is not the same as caring for a pet."

" ... You can go on vacation and leave your dog in a kennel for weeks on end if you want, and they'll act like you were never gone when you come home. Can't do that with kids.

You can get sick of your dog and give it to a humane society or find it a new home. Can't do that with kids."

"I think all Jerry means is that they are learning responsibility with their pets. When you've lived a pet-free, kid-free existence, you aren't used to considering the needs of others in your day-to-day life.

It disgusts me to read the comments discussing "disposability" (my word, not yours) as one difference between having kids and having pets.

By adopting an animal, you are making a commitment to that animal. Too many people "love" their animal until they have a baby or chose to move into a non-animal-friendly building. I volunteer at a shelter FILLED with them. It's unfortunate that animals pay the price, often with their lives, for those who have no regard for this commitment. It's the only life they have been given too.

I understand sometimes circumstances make it so that you cannot keep a pet. At least try to find it a new home. You owe them that."

Have you heard the latest about Tony?

Who's Tony, you ask? He's Tommy Cat under his new name! I wish I could tell you his new full name, last name and all. It's Italian and all together, it makes him sound like one tough guy (read: mobster!). I bet if his former owner, who has NOT moved, saw Tony's name in his inbox, he would require a change of pants.

And to explain why I thought his new name was Tyler, here's the update I received from his new family (in its entirety) the day they adopted him:

"So far, so good! Tyler has a sofa in front of a huge picture window, so he loves to look out onto street. Quick meet w Bruno [dog brother], more tomorrow.

Will keep you posted!"

It had been previously mentioned that they were tossing around a couple of new names for Tommy. But, I found out later that Tyler was the teenaged son...after I referred to "Tyler" as such during an email about him spraying (!! haha)---yes, it did continue, but he seems to have curtailed the habit, with lots of patience on the part of his new family.

I recently got the BEST news about Tony, who will always be Tommy Cat to us. Not only is he happy and loving is new family, and vice versa, he tested negative for Feline Leukemia. Yes, it was a false positive! This is fantastic news! It would have made his life a whole lot easier sooner (finding a home), but I think he's where he was meant to be.

Bring Your Dog to Work Days

Yesterday, it was discovered that a new employee at work had been bringing her dogs with her...and leaving them in the CAR (common sense is apparently not a standard feature in a BMW). The windows were cracked. They had water. She said she checked on them. But her side of the story means nothing when I think about what her two dachshunds endured for 5 hours on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday.

Monday it was in the 90s. The next two days were sunny and in the 80s. Imagine being trapped in a hot car, not knowing how long you'd be there! If you're not an "animal person", just picture yourself there. It works the same way.

Consider the facts:

* On a warm, sunny day car windows collect light, trapping heat inside the vehicle. When it's 85 degrees outside, the temperature inside a car with the windows opened slightly can reach 102 degrees within ten minutes. After 30 minutes, the temperature will reach 120 degrees. At 110 degrees, pets are in danger of heatstroke.

* Parking in the shade or leaving the windows cracked does little to alleviate this pressure cooker.

* Dogs are designed to conserve heat. Their sweat glands, which exist on their nose and the pads of their feet, are inadequate for cooling during hot days. Panting and drinking water helps cool them, but if they only have overheated air to breathe, dogs can suffer brain and organ damage after just 15 minutes.

Reading this, I hope you are with me in realizing that action had to be taken (I'm a people pleaser by nature). I realize I have a tendancy to react emotionally to situations involving animals and I wouldn't apologize for this even if trapped in a hot car (not to trivialize). But, this time, the facts were on my side. And so was the VP of HR, which never hurts.

The result:
The woman was told that she could not bring her dogs to work with her. She told HR that her home was being fumigated. But, she also told a co-worker that she just loves to take them everywhere with her. Whatever the reality, she did not bring them in today. Thank God!

Upon returning home from work today, I hope she was greeted by happy dogs who enjoyed their day at home. She really seemed to be a caring owner who was oblivious to the dangers. I hope she reads the facts above.

No, of course, I don't expect her to read my blog. I hope that she read the sincere note a concerned little bird left on her windshield yesterday.

A private squirrel performance

By Johnny Cat

I do enough squirrel watching to know that today was pretty special. A squirrel ran back and forth on MY window sill! I was inches away. The closest I've ever been to a squirrel.



He even stopped a couple times to get a better look at me! My heart was pounding with excitement and my nose was in overtime, hoping for a sniff. I ran back and forth and back and forth and jumped up for a better view and ...



then my sister jumped up and ruined my fun. The squirrel jumped again from the porch to the window sill, or so I'm told. I was busy growling at Katie for stealing MY squirrel.

Feeling Good

Can you tell she's feeling pretty good? :)

She's finished with her pain medication, but has another week of both the ear drops and the antibiotics. They are mainly to prevent infection in her mouth, but will also take care of (or not) the urinary tract infection that she did or didn't have.

She's been enjoying her bed being in a new spot. It's now on the table in the Red Room right under her favorite bird/animal/people/neighborhood watching window. Today, Johnny took advantage of the view while Katie slept. Yes, she was really sleeping like this!



When a top bunk was created, Johnny promptly took advantage of that too. :)

She's awake!

... and not a happy camper (understandably so). But, the surgery went as planned. They had a little difficulty getting the tooth out, so a drill was involved. :( She has stitches, but it's a precarious area to stitch and there's a chance that there will always be a hole where the tooth was. Likely not noticeable to anyone but Katie, and she'd just get used to it. However, the other side healed fine, so I hope she does just as well this time around. She'll go back for a follow up visit next week.

The vet is definitely smart, but lacks a bit of warmth in her communication. She called and launched into all the technical aspects of the surgery, which I wanted to know, but didn't address what I wanted to know most of all until I asked "How is Katie doing?" She said Katie was doing okay, and definitely does not seem to like being there. Ya think? At least she's a great vet/surgeon!

Brian will pick up Katie as soon as possible, hopefully around 2:30 or 3. She'll have some pain medication and care instructions. I'll try to post a photo of the sweet little patient tonight.

Positive thoughts needed for Kiki

Katie Cat visited the vet this weekend for what we thought was a urinary tract infection. She'd had one once before, and was exhibiting the same symptoms again. I won't say any more about that out of respect for Katie and her right to privacy. That's her information to share on her own blog, if she chooses. They weren't able to get a urine sample, so we are still unsure as to her status as far as that's concerned.

However, the poor girl was found to have TWO ear infections AND a crack in her tooth that went all the way up into her gums, which were showing signs of infection. !!!! To explain the tooth a bit, when we found her three years ago, she was missing her right eye tooth. It had been professionally removed. Sometimes, the lower tooth pokes her lip and gives her a cute little Elvis look. The left eye tooth was chipped, but the vet said it didn't seem to be causing her any pain and it would hopefully stay that way. Obviously, it didn't.

So, positive thoughts are appreciated by all (I *love* to make references to the legions of readers I have, ha!) this morning as Kiki has this tooth removed, her teeth polished and her gums scaled (pretty invasive cleaning of the gums that I have unfortunately experienced for myself). I hate to think of her under anesthesia and being scared. Please hope that they don't find any "surprises" (other teeth/mouth issues) that need to be addressed. They are also going to try to get a sample to see about the urinary tract infection. Her symptoms seem better, but we just want to be sure.

Brian took her in to the vet this morning. Apparently, before they took her, he said "Go get 'em, Kiki." Not exactly what I would have said, but I like the sentiment.

I'll update once I hear anything.

What did the jellyfish say to the beach goer?

Last week, I went to Fort Lauderdale with my friend Dina. While I didn't *find* any animals there, I did meet one. I can't say it was a pleasure, but I know it didn't intend to meet me. This is a photo of my souvenir taken a week after we met.

At least I didn't have to find its owner!

Local Family Wins the Feline Lottery

Four-and-a-half long hours later, the would-be owner replied: “Can I come over tonight?” And 45 minutes later, she arrived! I whisked her back to the bathroom (as I do all guests). She loved Tommy (no surprise there).

His neutering surgery was the following day. I’d been feeling guilty about scheduling this since we hadn’t even found a home for yet. But it seemed like things were finally falling into place. The would-be owner and I agreed that it would be best for him to have a few days of rest post-surgery, but tentatively talked about them taking him to his new home on Saturday. (!!!)

When she left, I felt like the weight off a Hummer had been lifted off of me—and I danced around like a crazy person.

Tommy came through the surgery with flying colors. It was sad to see the note on his carrier said “store room.” I realize he had to be kept separate, but it’s sad to think of the poor guy recovering from surgery in a store room. Despite his day, he seemed to be feeling good about things. He was 2+ pounds heavier than two weeks earlier and his fur was getting thicker and softer. And he had good reason to be feeling so good...

This past Saturday, Tommy went to his new home! He has a great family, including at least three pre-teen/teen kids doting on him. They came to pick him up with the father and the kids were SO excited to meet him and get him home. And he has a cat-loving dog brother. It was bittersweet to say goodbye, but so wonderful to know that he was going to be cared for by this great family (who also reimbursed us for most of our expenses, which was very generous and unexpected).

Last report was that “Tyler” was settling in fine and enjoying sitting on the back of the sofa, looking out of his Lincoln Park picture window. I hope he enjoys the view for many years to come.

And has he been spraying?

Are you kidding me? You actually think I would bring that up?! ;) Let’s just say that they promised to get in touch if things weren’t working out. So, while I hope to get another update...for now, no news is great news. Tommy has a home and a great new family. In the words of Sheri: Yahooooooooo!!!!! My thoughts exactly.

Thank you to all who helped us along the way!

My response to "the" question

So, I had to answer "the" question. And honestly. There was much care...and physical and emotional (yes, it's possible) sweat...in composing my response. Thanks, Em, for the final thumbs up. I might still be tweaking. ;)

My response:

-----------------------------------------------------
I will answer your question honestly, but hope that you will consider my full response in regards to the situation.

Tommy did spray a couple times in our bathtub last week. We decided it was likely he was doing this in response to his litterbox which, although we scooped first, still contained litter with the scents of other cats. Last week, we put the litterbox through the dishwasher and added all fresh litter. There have been some drops in the bathtub since, but the amount is dramatically reduced.

Male cats who are not neutered spray. That's a fact. Tommy will be neutered tomorrow. This will eliminate the testosterone that makes him feel the need to mark his territory or attract mates. It's my understanding after discussing with our vet that, in most cases, neutering stops spraying. If a cat continues to spray after the surgery, the spray does not contain the same chemical makeup as pre-neuter spray. This would be considered a behavioral issue that can be addressed. It is also likely that the scents of the cats living beyond the bathroom door have contributed to his desire to spray, even just a small amount, while being isolated in our bathroom.

[name], please consider what I've said above in your decision. Please also consider that you are likely our last chance for finding him a home. It's maybe not fair to you to let you know this, but I'm the only advocate Tommy has and he deserves to have that be known. Your email came at a time when the "adopttommy" inbox had received no activity for days and the hope for finding him a home was at an all-time low. His testing positive greatly narrowed the field for him in terms of being adopted in a world of many homeless non-special needs cats. It's a terrible catch-22 that the no-kill shelters that would normally be his last hope cannot take him because of this positive status.

I realize there are many variables at play here, but there are no known answers unless we give the situation a try—give Tommy a chance to try.

Please let me know if you are still willing to move forward...and we can maybe go forward with a meeting tonight.
--------------

Yes, I realize I reused some of the language I used below, but come on!? Aren't you as ready as I am to get to the ending?

Tommy, Part III

A woman emailed me last Saturday about Tommy. Her friend had received Sheri's petraits email about Tommy, printed it out and brought it to a lunch they had planned. Her email came at a time when the "adopttommy" inbox had received no activity for days and the hope for finding him a home was at an all-time low. His testing positive greatly narrowed the field for him in terms of being adopted in a world of many homeless non-special needs cats. But this one was my responsibility. It's a terrible catch-22 that the no-kill shelters that would normally be his last hope cannot take him because of this positive status. I am really not trying to be dramatic here, but the situation was grim. And what we were having to contemplate for Tommy would be extremely traumatic to me. Anyone who wouldn't feel this way....well, I don't know why you're reading this blog right now. Shouldn't you be out hunting?

I had been forced into the "what now" phase I so dreaded. Clearly, it was not a long-term solution for anyone involved for him to remain living in our bathroom. Though I will say that both cat and humans involved adapted surprisingly well to the situation. Shout out to former crappy onwner from Tommy: being fed and loved, albeit in a bathroom, is much preferred to living with you. Who would argue?

Back to the prospective home for Tommy! Multiple positive emails went back and forth through Sunday with mentions of coming to meet Tommy on Monday. Things were going swimmingly, until I received an email containing the following:

"One last question raised by cat owners I'm asking--do you see any signs that he likes to "spray"? That's one habit I just can't handle..."

My impulse was to respond "Nope. No signs at all, everything's great!" This was quickly taken over by my conscience. She deserved to know that he had sprayed a few times, because if this was a deal breaker, which it sounded like it was, it would be better to address it now than later. My reply (next blog) was one of the most well thought-out emails I've ever written. I considered every word as though someone's life was on the line. Unfortunately, this was really the case. Talk about pressure.

This just in (and then out)

Okay, I feel like I'm in some weird Jim Carrey movie or something, which is funny cause I can't stand the man. However, he has done a few movies where he suddenly has some "gift" to contend with that keeps cropping up in his life. For me, it's animals in need. I don't even have to look for them!

On my way to work this morning, a cute pug of a dog named Buffy RAN across a busy intersection. F-O-U-R lanes of traffic. For those of you who are local, hey who am I kidding...nice to see you again, Deb...it was around Caldwell and Lenox, right by the golf course. Luckily, everyone reacted in time, since the light had just turned green. Buffy made it to the other side and ran straight up to a woman walking her dog. I pulled around the corner and got out, thinking that the woman might need some help. I will say here that, when I made the decision to stop, I could already see that the dog had a collar and tags. I didn't stop to be the rescuer. I considered the other woman the main rescuer and myself the sidekick. I didn't realize sidekicks could be so bossy. I felt like a professional when instructing head rescuer Candy as to our next steps.

• We need to get him in my car.


• We need to call the number on the tags (she didn't have her cell phone).


• We need to drive to your house and you can keep him until we find his owners.

I was afraid she was going to resist this last part, but she hopped in the car and told me her address. I'm not authoratative by any sense of the word in any other area of my life, but I guess animals bring it out. It's kind of fun.

Less than an hour later, Buffy was home.

It was kind of cool. I never find anyone with a collar/tags or microchip, so this was fun new territory that wouldn't include weeks of craigslist postings and an inbox full of check scammers each morning. Plus, I was just Candy's bossy assistant. It was nice to have an almost-instant happy ending.

When I called my husband to tell him I had rescued a dog, his question was a suspicious "Where is it now?" He was relieved to hear that I was still on my way to work--alone!

Tommy, Part II

We took Tommy to the vet the weekend after we found him. This was before we had located the owner. We were becoming quite attached to Tommy and decided that if nobody stepped forward as his owner or as the perfect adoptive family, we'd welcome him into ours. We were eager to get a clean bill of health to allow us to start introducing him to the interested cats outside the bathroom. The vet commented that we had "found a good one." We agreed. What we found out next didn't change that, but required a completely new plan of action. His blood test came back positive for feline leukemia and FIV. This was a huge blow. It wasn't a death sentence for him, but it meant that he could not live with other cats and there was no keeping him. He would be competing, unfortunately, against many other homeless cats with no special needs. We had rescued Katie, one of our cats, two years ago and, when we couldn't find her owner, kept the kitty we had come to love. This was new territory. Scary territory.

Since we could no longer offer the safety net of keeping him, we had to contend with the fact that we had to find him a new home ASAP. It wasn't fair to him to keep him cooped up in our bathroom for much longer. The people who would have likely stepped up to help him (feline lovers or no-kill shelters) could not take him, as he posed a serious threat to other cats.

There were a few tears in the hours after his diagnosis, but I rolled up my sleeves up and got to work--because Tommy couldn't. I talked to many people in the Chicago shelter arena and one name kept coming up: Sheri Berliner. She's a local pet photographer (http://www.petraits.com/) who is also a very dedicated advocate for homeless animals in Chicago. As such, she takes photos of shelter dogs and cats in her studio setting, emails them to her list of 3600 local animal-lover contacts and posts them on petfinder.com. Her success rate in finding homes for homeless animals is phenomenal. The combination of her passion, talent and innate ability to capture the true spirit of an animal is evident in every photograph she takes. Even more amazing, she responded to my email within hours. And took Tommy's photos that same night. She wrote a bio to accompany Tommy's photos and so, twice-over, truly captured him. She is not interested in a quick fix, but rather a forever home. It shows.

With Sheri's photos and the hope that they would touch that one special person we needed to reach, Tommy's adventure continued. I was prepared for the worst, but hoped to find that needle in a haystack. There was a reason he found us.

Tommy, Part I

We found Tommy on 3/25. He was meowing as loudly as a moo from a cow. He was the hungriest kitty I'd ever seen. His back legs trembled just to perch himself in front of his bowl of Cat Chow. Yet, he was so appreciative and friendly. He meowed appropriate thanks and appreciated belly rubs from the get-go. This was SOMEONE'S cat. Someone would be missing him and worried about him. I thought, "I HAVE to find his family."

Well, I did. After posting Tommy’s face and story all over the internet and the real world, seven days later, I finally got the call I thought I’d been waiting for. His owner saw the signs we posted in the neighborhood and left a gleeful...think almost s-i-n-g-i-n-g...voicemail message. "He's mine! I'm sure it's him! I can pick him up tomorrow!" It was a great feeling...until I called him back. My heart hit the floor as he described this outgoing, friendly cat as timid and “retarded”. I asked when the cat had gone missing to be sure we were talking about the same cat, as this description certainly did not jive with the cat we had found. He volunteered that:

• He thought the cat had gotten out three days after we had found him


• He lives close enough to us that I could throw a rock and hit his house


• His cat was “bony” (a strange description for a cat who was only missing for a day or two)
  
• He had chosen the ironic name of Lucky for the helpless animal he was starving to death.

I'm not the greatest with logic problems, but this was, unfortunately, an easy one to solve. The more he said, the more I knew—this was his cat, he had been terribly neglected, and he wasn’t getting him back. I was shocked to find myself at my original goal and wanting to run the other way. The guy ended up telling me to keep him, which was probably the first lucky thing to happen to Lucky so far in his life. They were moving in a few weeks and weren't planning to take him anyway. Nice, huh? It did make my job of not giving him back easier. Next post: the vet visit and WHO took that photo?