Happy Tails

Dear AWLMC Staff and Volunteers,

Hi everyone, Lionel here ( at least that is my name for now). I just wanted everyone to know I have the best forever mom and best forever home. Although the first few days of being in my new home were a bit scary, my mom calmed me down and made me feel safe and comfortable. In the closet ( my choice the first day), mom sat with me, petted me, brought me water and food and made me feel comfortable. I then made my way to under the bed where I stayed part of Sunday until I ventured out. While under the bed my mom stuck her hand under the bed to pet me, gave me food under the bed and made me feel safe. At night when mom slept or tried to sleep I explored my new home. Yesterday mom stayed home with me and we cuddled on the bed most of the day, what fun.

When mom's alarm clock went off this morning, I came out from under the bed, greeted her and followed her into the kitchen so that she can give me breakfast. After breakfast it was time for brushy, which I luv luv luv. :-)

I am doing great and as soon as Mom can figure out how to download pictures onto her sometimes working computer, I will send pictures.

Thanks for everything everyone did for me.

Hugs,
Lionel

Rocky is beyond cute! He's a very happy little fella and feels quite secure in his room – he's met part of the family and has been brave enough to romp around the top floor (where his room is) and then he ran down the stairs twice to explore the kitchen but raced back upstairs into his room. He is indeed a water-baby and has also gone into my bathroom and up on the sink! I've attached some recent photos of him for you. We're going to let Jack lead us on the pace at which he will be fully introduced to his new family – each day shows a little more desire to explore – a little hissing and sometimes a tiny growl but much improved – he's even done a little kissing of his new feline family!!

They are great! Woody has stayed Woody but Jessie is now Dolly. That name just seemed to fit. They have to be the most affectionate kittens I’ve ever encountered. You did a great job getting them socialized.

Woody is into everything. He thinks he is a duck and likes to splash in the water dish then lick the water off of his paw. Also, trying to teach him not to jump on the dining room table. Not having much luck so farJ Dolly has really come out of her shell and is the instigator- chasing and attacking her brother, then getting angry when he pins her down. They are both sleeping in the bed with me at night and during the day I have seen them climb onto a blanket at the back of the sofa to nap or curl up together in the cat carrier. They are both clowns and I could sit and watch them for hours.

Hemingway is doing great; low shedding, no shredding, and only 1 hairball episode. He's also charming to all his house guests, particularly my mom. Invariably someone will try to pick him up only to realize he's 16 lbs.

I'm going to try some low calorie food for him so that his weight won't wear down his joints long-term. It's the pharmacist in me.

Our vet asks us to list the three adjectives that best describe her, and we've decided that "affectionate, adaptable and fun" fit her to a T. We have so much fun watching her race around the apartment, up the climbing tower we got for her (it's just like the one at the animal welfare office which she enjoyed a great deal when we got her), attacking newspaper strewed around on the floor, playing with pipe cleaners, chasing her tail, etc. And she's an outstanding lap kitty — being perfectly happy to curl up and go to sleep on my lap for hours.

She will have another opportunity to earn adaptability points when we take her out on our boat in May — especially if our grand-dog (a very well behaved shepherd/ridgeback kind of dog who lives with two cats) comes and joins us for a day. If I remember correctly, you said that you have dogs, so I hope that she'll be OK. And, of course, it's easy for her to find places that Sebastian can't reach to get away if she wants to.

I hope all is well with you. We love Rachel, and so appreciate the good care you gave her. She's a treasure.

Hi AWLMC, just a quick note to let you know that our beautiful kitty Fiona (formerly Nevaeh) is adjusting really well and loves her new home! She is so sweet and cuddly and loves sitting in the office with me while I work during the day, and gets very excited and playful when her daddy Michael gets home at night. She still loves her windows, and has had no problems staying out of the bedroom or being quiet at night, just as we had hoped. We are thrilled with Fiona and we are sure she is a very happy girl. Thanks again to Jeanne and all the wonderful volunteers who helped us find our perfect match! We will keep in touch!

Came down with my coffee, and who before me should appear?
It was Prevvy and SheRa snuggling together, looking so dear,
I grabbed my camera none too soon, as I then heard such a clatter!
It was Prevvy, who ran off quickly, sensing something was the matter

The poem (timed to the prose of "The Night Before Christmas") was composed after I came downstairs to my office this morning and found those two laying together on the chest at the foot of the basement stairs, normally SheRa's 'haunt.' I was able to snap a quick picture to share.

If you take a look at the picture where Terry is wearing her pink blouse, I tried to capture the look Prevvy gets on his face at night, as we find it very amusing and endearing. You ladies probably recognize it. He is almost animated when he makes that face, pleading for Terry to share. We don't like overfeeding them, but you've gottaadmit, it's hard to resist him, he's that adorable.

I know that when we took the two cats, our initial plan was for Prevvy to be a Daddy's boy (he did jump up on my lap that first night I met him) and SheRa to be Momma's girl, but their roles have reversed. SheRa sleeps next to me, and FINALLY, Prevvy has began jumping on our bed in the morning and snuggling up with Terry. He seemed to be afraid initially (one of you ladies suggested that SheRa may have told him, in Cat language, that the bed was off-limits to him), but that is wearing off, and he has been coming in to snuggle every morning of late. SheRadoes chase him off (she wants the bedroom and bed to be her domain), but only after he's gotten some loving.

Anyways: Merry Christmas to you all, and we wanted to thank you guys again for taking such good care of Prevvy and SheRa. It was the smartest move of Prevvy's life, the evening he jumped into my lap. We have given them a good home, and they are both very happy kitty cats who want for nothing (except more food, but no matter how much I feed them, they lie to Terry and tell her that I forgot).

Merry XMas from Prevvy and SheRa's Mom & Dad,
Bill & Terry

Hi AWLMC… It's me...Henry!
I LOVE my new adoptive home. Here's a picture of me and Nemo my new "brother" and BFF. Nemo is 3 years old, just like me! He even looks a lot like me except that he is orange where I'm grey. We have a great time wrestling and running around. I also have 2 new boys to play with. They are lots of fun and one of them even invited me to his birthday party with 18 other kids. I had a great time and everyone played with me and told me how handsome I was! There are also some other nice cats here. Don't tell anyone, but I'm kind of smitten with a pretty calico named Callie. She used to be an AWLMC cat too.

Thanks for finding me such a great new home!
–Love, Henry

Dandi is doing wonderful and is a great addition to our household. We have renamed her "Mandy" as all our kids have "M" names. We recently lost our pet dog to old age and Mandy really fills the void that was left after our dog passed.
–Peck and Bill & Mandy

Mittens is doing great, she's so cuddly now! She also looks after my husband to be petted by him!! She loves to sit on the edge of the couch to look outside the window. Then she rubs her head against mine and likes to be carried down next to me or on my lap. Her favorite time of the day is when she wakes us up at 5:00 am, just to let us know it's almost time to go to work and let the bed free for her to snooze in! She usually jumps or walks on me until I move.
– Cathy & Mittens

Just dashing a quick note to let you know the girls have settled in nicely into our home (and are in the process of winding us tighter around their little fing- well paws). They are adorable to the infinity and very well behaved. From the moment they were let out of the cage, they were eager to explore and interact with all three of us.

Did you know that they can tell me when they want food? One of them usually "fetches" me the spoon that I keep in the cabinet for doling out the food and drops it at my feet - that's how I know they want food. And Nicky likes sleeping with me under the covers while Nibs likes sleeping on top of the covers. :)
– Nicky & Nibs & New Adopter