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Annie Benson-Lennaman
August 23rd 03, 09:24 AM
We moved from San Diego to Jefferson County Missouri about three months
ago, Lenny and I. We drove, renting a truck and towing the car behind.
It was hard, because we were also towing along our four cats, Skitty,
Velly, Abondigas, and Jeeves. Well, Abondigas and Jeeves were really
the next door neighbor's cats. But they never took them to the vets, or
let them inside, and we ended up taking them because they were really
just being ignored.

So, it was a fairly trying trip (*you* try driving 2000 miles with 4
cats) but we made it. It didn't take us long to find the house we are
in now, on two acres of land, in a Mayberrish town called De Soto. We
don't need to lock our front doors. I fell in love with the house
immediately.

The cats seems to accept it as well, once they settled down (we had
been living in Motel 6's for a about a month). Within a week or so, we
spotted the feral cats living on our land. They were gray tabbies... in
fact, they looked just like Velly. They avoided us, but the soon
tumbled on to the idea that we had a cat door. Soon, they were having
run ins with our cats. Abondigas got into a fight with one in the front
yard... his tail got bit and infected. We had to take him to the vet.
He recovered, but seems to be deeply scarred emotionally. A couple of
days later, we heard a horrific battle in the front yard. We still
don't know what happened, but we do know that we haven't seen Velly
since. We suspect that she was driven into the woods, where she got
lost. We hope she got adopted by someone else.. but we are not sure.
It was hard.. we love our cats.

A couple of days after that, I saw Jeeves prancing excitedly in front of
the sliding glass door that leads to our deck. He's normally a very
mellow cat, so I investigated. On the other side of the glass, there
was a fluffy gray kitten! It was tiny... less than 3 weeks old I would
guess. It ran when it saw me, but not before I saw a couple of other
ones. Lenny and I saw the kittens a few times after that. We decided
to catch the feral cats, so protect our own, have them fixed so they
didn't keep making kittens, and then release them back into our yard.
About a week later, we got the live trap from animal control.

It took a couple of days, but we got a grey tabby. We waited for the
morning to take it to the vet's. Lenny checked on it during the night,
and saw a kitten cuddled against the cage next to the cat. But he
couldn't catch it. We took the cat in, named her "Momma Cat", asked for
her to be spayed, and took the trap back. Within a day, the vet's
called to let us know that they had changed the cat's name to "Poppa
Cat". For some reason, the kitten was trying to cuddle with a tom. We
figured then that the mom was not taking care of them.

The next day, we see a kitten dash into one of the sheds. Of one
mind, Lenny went the the front of the shed, I went to the back. We shut
both doors behind us.. and the kitten was still there! Trapped! With
some effort, we cornered the spitting hissing thing, and threw a coat
over it. Into the cat carrier it went! But... the kitten was in bad,
bad shape. It was thin and bony, like it hadn't eaten in a week, it had
a hole in it's lip ... and it was having a hard time breathing. Off the
the vet's!

The vet said it was about 4 to 6 six weeks old, and it only weighed 1
pound 1 ounce. That was way underweight. We could feel every bone in
its spine, every rib in its chest. The mom cat had abandoned it quite a
while ago, he believed. He told us she was a girl kitty. The hole in
her snout was probably from an infection, and she had some sort of
infection in her chest. He didn't know if she could pull though, or how
long it would take us to socialize her if she did make it. But he gave
us some food to feed through a syringe, and some antiboditics to take,
and told us to come back in three days.

She attacked the syringe when we fed her. She was starving. And after
we gave her two meals worth, she started to purr. It took us less than
two hours, from capture to feeding, to fully socialize her. She just
seemed grateful that someone was willing to give her a full tummy for
the first time in who knows how long. We put her on the bed, and she
just lay where we put her. It seems like she was too weak to move. She
pretty much stayed there for two days. She didn't do much but eat and
purr and sleep.

On the day before her next vet visit, another gray tabby invaded our
house. It ran back and forth, and I finally I got tired of chasing it
and just grabbed it as it was cornered, then stuffed it in the cat
carrier. I was bit and scratched, and the blood flowed pretty freely.
I just really wanted to catch while the other was at the vet's because I
knew that it would be the only time I could be sure it wasn't the same
cat.

So, off it goes to vet with the kitten. The vet says it will be a
good idea to hold it for ten for rabies quarantine, and I agree. The
kitten is doing much better. She gained ten ounces, and her mouth is
starting to heal. But she still has chest congestion. He tells us that
there is a chance that that will never clear up... and the kitten isn't
out of the woods yet. We take Poppa cat home and release him... he runs
like he had the devil after him. The kitten goes back into the
bedroom. And within a few days, she started to play. After a week, we
can't feel the bones in her spine or ribs any more. We decide to name
her Gem, because she is Gun Metal gray, and because she has such a sweet
temperament, it's like at least something precious came from all this
mess. We decide we are going to keep her, if she survives.

Ten days pass.. and Momma cat doesn't have rabies (whew!), and she won't
be making any more kittens. We release her also. We haven't seen any
of the other kittens, despite searching. The vet says its a pretty good
bet they starved to death just about the time we caught Gem. We regret
this, but we know there really wasn't much else we could have done. At
least one got a chance.

And what a chance! She soon was at her normal weight for her suspected
age. And playful as all kittens ought to be. But she was still sick.
The first round of vaccinations caused a reaction.. she could barely
breath. We rushed her to the vet. He gave her decongestants. Because
she is so tiny, we have give her 1/10 of pill at a time. We end up
crushing the pills, and making lines of them, the dividing the lines up
and mixing the dose with food. A pain in the neck, but it die seem to
work.

Then next time we take her in, the vet gives her a different type of
pill.. one that tastes real bad and makes her drool. We hate giving
that as much as she hates taking it.... but we want to give her every
chance to make it. The vet says he thinks that she will always have
this problem, because she was hit so hard so young. Well, I am
constantly congested due to allergies... not the same thing, but I can
relate. She is growing normally now, and is clear eyed and playful, and
seems to be very happy with her new life. She's poking the back of my
legs right now with her little claws of terror, and batting a bottle cap
from a 2 liter soda bottle around our hardwood floor. She's almost
impossibly cute.

So, with all the Bad Things that are going on in the world, at least
one creature caught a break and beat the odds. And I feel a little bit
cheered up every time I see her.
--
Annie

--
If you can't figure out my email address, you're not supposed to write
me.

August 23rd 03, 10:29 AM
Annie Benson-Lennaman > wrote:

> A couple of days after that, I saw Jeeves prancing excitedly in front of
> the sliding glass door that leads to our deck. He's normally a very
> mellow cat, so I investigated. On the other side of the glass, there
> was a fluffy gray kitten! It was tiny...

Wow, what a story! Gem is one lucky kitty. She's really lucky to have you.

Joyce

lrulan
August 23rd 03, 11:08 AM
You and your husband are great people, Annie. We will pray Gem survives and
lives a long and happy life with you. She will give you years of happiness
and love.
Jazz & his mama

--

Irulan
from the stars we came, to the stars we return
from now until the end of time


"Annie Benson-Lennaman" > wrote in
message ...
>
> We moved from San Diego to Jefferson County Missouri about three months
> ago, Lenny and I. We drove, renting a truck and towing the car behind.
> It was hard, because we were also towing along our four cats, Skitty,
> Velly, Abondigas, and Jeeves. Well, Abondigas and Jeeves were really
> the next door neighbor's cats. But they never took them to the vets, or
> let them inside, and we ended up taking them because they were really
> just being ignored.
>
> So, it was a fairly trying trip (*you* try driving 2000 miles with 4
> cats) but we made it. It didn't take us long to find the house we are
> in now, on two acres of land, in a Mayberrish town called De Soto. We
> don't need to lock our front doors. I fell in love with the house
> immediately.
>
> The cats seems to accept it as well, once they settled down (we had
> been living in Motel 6's for a about a month). Within a week or so, we
> spotted the feral cats living on our land. They were gray tabbies... in
> fact, they looked just like Velly. They avoided us, but the soon
> tumbled on to the idea that we had a cat door. Soon, they were having
> run ins with our cats. Abondigas got into a fight with one in the front
> yard... his tail got bit and infected. We had to take him to the vet.
> He recovered, but seems to be deeply scarred emotionally. A couple of
> days later, we heard a horrific battle in the front yard. We still
> don't know what happened, but we do know that we haven't seen Velly
> since. We suspect that she was driven into the woods, where she got
> lost. We hope she got adopted by someone else.. but we are not sure.
> It was hard.. we love our cats.
>
> A couple of days after that, I saw Jeeves prancing excitedly in front of
> the sliding glass door that leads to our deck. He's normally a very
> mellow cat, so I investigated. On the other side of the glass, there
> was a fluffy gray kitten! It was tiny... less than 3 weeks old I would
> guess. It ran when it saw me, but not before I saw a couple of other
> ones. Lenny and I saw the kittens a few times after that. We decided
> to catch the feral cats, so protect our own, have them fixed so they
> didn't keep making kittens, and then release them back into our yard.
> About a week later, we got the live trap from animal control.
>
> It took a couple of days, but we got a grey tabby. We waited for the
> morning to take it to the vet's. Lenny checked on it during the night,
> and saw a kitten cuddled against the cage next to the cat. But he
> couldn't catch it. We took the cat in, named her "Momma Cat", asked for
> her to be spayed, and took the trap back. Within a day, the vet's
> called to let us know that they had changed the cat's name to "Poppa
> Cat". For some reason, the kitten was trying to cuddle with a tom. We
> figured then that the mom was not taking care of them.
>
> The next day, we see a kitten dash into one of the sheds. Of one
> mind, Lenny went the the front of the shed, I went to the back. We shut
> both doors behind us.. and the kitten was still there! Trapped! With
> some effort, we cornered the spitting hissing thing, and threw a coat
> over it. Into the cat carrier it went! But... the kitten was in bad,
> bad shape. It was thin and bony, like it hadn't eaten in a week, it had
> a hole in it's lip ... and it was having a hard time breathing. Off the
> the vet's!
>
> The vet said it was about 4 to 6 six weeks old, and it only weighed 1
> pound 1 ounce. That was way underweight. We could feel every bone in
> its spine, every rib in its chest. The mom cat had abandoned it quite a
> while ago, he believed. He told us she was a girl kitty. The hole in
> her snout was probably from an infection, and she had some sort of
> infection in her chest. He didn't know if she could pull though, or how
> long it would take us to socialize her if she did make it. But he gave
> us some food to feed through a syringe, and some antiboditics to take,
> and told us to come back in three days.
>
> She attacked the syringe when we fed her. She was starving. And after
> we gave her two meals worth, she started to purr. It took us less than
> two hours, from capture to feeding, to fully socialize her. She just
> seemed grateful that someone was willing to give her a full tummy for
> the first time in who knows how long. We put her on the bed, and she
> just lay where we put her. It seems like she was too weak to move. She
> pretty much stayed there for two days. She didn't do much but eat and
> purr and sleep.
>
> On the day before her next vet visit, another gray tabby invaded our
> house. It ran back and forth, and I finally I got tired of chasing it
> and just grabbed it as it was cornered, then stuffed it in the cat
> carrier. I was bit and scratched, and the blood flowed pretty freely.
> I just really wanted to catch while the other was at the vet's because I
> knew that it would be the only time I could be sure it wasn't the same
> cat.
>
> So, off it goes to vet with the kitten. The vet says it will be a
> good idea to hold it for ten for rabies quarantine, and I agree. The
> kitten is doing much better. She gained ten ounces, and her mouth is
> starting to heal. But she still has chest congestion. He tells us that
> there is a chance that that will never clear up... and the kitten isn't
> out of the woods yet. We take Poppa cat home and release him... he runs
> like he had the devil after him. The kitten goes back into the
> bedroom. And within a few days, she started to play. After a week, we
> can't feel the bones in her spine or ribs any more. We decide to name
> her Gem, because she is Gun Metal gray, and because she has such a sweet
> temperament, it's like at least something precious came from all this
> mess. We decide we are going to keep her, if she survives.
>
> Ten days pass.. and Momma cat doesn't have rabies (whew!), and she won't
> be making any more kittens. We release her also. We haven't seen any
> of the other kittens, despite searching. The vet says its a pretty good
> bet they starved to death just about the time we caught Gem. We regret
> this, but we know there really wasn't much else we could have done. At
> least one got a chance.
>
> And what a chance! She soon was at her normal weight for her suspected
> age. And playful as all kittens ought to be. But she was still sick.
> The first round of vaccinations caused a reaction.. she could barely
> breath. We rushed her to the vet. He gave her decongestants. Because
> she is so tiny, we have give her 1/10 of pill at a time. We end up
> crushing the pills, and making lines of them, the dividing the lines up
> and mixing the dose with food. A pain in the neck, but it die seem to
> work.
>
> Then next time we take her in, the vet gives her a different type of
> pill.. one that tastes real bad and makes her drool. We hate giving
> that as much as she hates taking it.... but we want to give her every
> chance to make it. The vet says he thinks that she will always have
> this problem, because she was hit so hard so young. Well, I am
> constantly congested due to allergies... not the same thing, but I can
> relate. She is growing normally now, and is clear eyed and playful, and
> seems to be very happy with her new life. She's poking the back of my
> legs right now with her little claws of terror, and batting a bottle cap
> from a 2 liter soda bottle around our hardwood floor. She's almost
> impossibly cute.
>
> So, with all the Bad Things that are going on in the world, at least
> one creature caught a break and beat the odds. And I feel a little bit
> cheered up every time I see her.
> --
> Annie
>
> --
> If you can't figure out my email address, you're not supposed to write
> me.

MaryL
August 23rd 03, 11:10 AM
"Annie Benson-Lennaman" > wrote in
message ...
>
> On the other side of the glass, there
> was a fluffy gray kitten! It was tiny... less than 3 weeks old I would
> guess.
>
With
> some effort, we cornered the spitting hissing thing, and threw a coat
> over it. Into the cat carrier it went! But... the kitten was in bad,
> bad shape. It was thin and bony, like it hadn't eaten in a week, it had
> a hole in it's lip ... and it was having a hard time breathing. Off the
> the vet's!
>
> The vet said it was about 4 to 6 six weeks old, and it only weighed 1
> pound 1 ounce. That was way underweight. We could feel every bone in
> its spine, every rib in its chest. The mom cat had abandoned it quite a
> while ago, he believed.
>
> She attacked the syringe when we fed her. She was starving. And after
> we gave her two meals worth, she started to purr. It took us less than
> two hours, from capture to feeding, to fully socialize her.
>
> And what a chance! She soon was at her normal weight for her suspected
> age. And playful as all kittens ought to be. But she was still sick.
>
She is growing normally now, and is clear eyed and playful, and
> seems to be very happy with her new life. She's poking the back of my
> legs right now with her little claws of terror, and batting a bottle cap
> from a 2 liter soda bottle around our hardwood floor. She's almost
> impossibly cute.
>
> --
> Annie
>

What a wonderful story, and how lucky that little kitty is to have found
you. Messages like this show that there really are loving people in this
world who will go to exceptional lengths to help our furry friends. Thank
you!

MaryL

Shirley
August 23rd 03, 12:34 PM
What a wonderful story, I wish all the stray/feral cats and kittens
could find people as special as you and Lenny.

--
Shirley
see my cats at
http://communities.msn.co.uk/Friendsfamilyandfelines2
http://uk.msnusers.com/friendsfamilyandfelines3

Karen Chuplis
August 23rd 03, 12:37 PM
in article , Annie Benson-Lennaman
at wrote on 8/23/03 3:24 AM:

>
> We moved from San Diego to Jefferson County Missouri about three months
> ago, Lenny and I. We drove, renting a truck and towing the car behind.
> It was hard, because we were also towing along our four cats, Skitty,
> Velly, Abondigas, and Jeeves. Well, Abondigas and Jeeves were really
> the next door neighbor's cats. But they never took them to the vets, or
> let them inside, and we ended up taking them because they were really
> just being ignored.
>
> So, it was a fairly trying trip (*you* try driving 2000 miles with 4
> cats) but we made it. It didn't take us long to find the house we are
> in now, on two acres of land, in a Mayberrish town called De Soto. We
> don't need to lock our front doors. I fell in love with the house
> immediately.
>
> The cats seems to accept it as well, once they settled down (we had
> been living in Motel 6's for a about a month). Within a week or so, we
> spotted the feral cats living on our land. They were gray tabbies... in
> fact, they looked just like Velly. They avoided us, but the soon
> tumbled on to the idea that we had a cat door. Soon, they were having
> run ins with our cats. Abondigas got into a fight with one in the front
> yard... his tail got bit and infected. We had to take him to the vet.
> He recovered, but seems to be deeply scarred emotionally. A couple of
> days later, we heard a horrific battle in the front yard. We still
> don't know what happened, but we do know that we haven't seen Velly
> since. We suspect that she was driven into the woods, where she got
> lost. We hope she got adopted by someone else.. but we are not sure.
> It was hard.. we love our cats.
>
> A couple of days after that, I saw Jeeves prancing excitedly in front of
> the sliding glass door that leads to our deck. He's normally a very
> mellow cat, so I investigated. On the other side of the glass, there
> was a fluffy gray kitten! It was tiny... less than 3 weeks old I would
> guess. It ran when it saw me, but not before I saw a couple of other
> ones. Lenny and I saw the kittens a few times after that. We decided
> to catch the feral cats, so protect our own, have them fixed so they
> didn't keep making kittens, and then release them back into our yard.
> About a week later, we got the live trap from animal control.
>
> It took a couple of days, but we got a grey tabby. We waited for the
> morning to take it to the vet's. Lenny checked on it during the night,
> and saw a kitten cuddled against the cage next to the cat. But he
> couldn't catch it. We took the cat in, named her "Momma Cat", asked for
> her to be spayed, and took the trap back. Within a day, the vet's
> called to let us know that they had changed the cat's name to "Poppa
> Cat". For some reason, the kitten was trying to cuddle with a tom. We
> figured then that the mom was not taking care of them.
>
> The next day, we see a kitten dash into one of the sheds. Of one
> mind, Lenny went the the front of the shed, I went to the back. We shut
> both doors behind us.. and the kitten was still there! Trapped! With
> some effort, we cornered the spitting hissing thing, and threw a coat
> over it. Into the cat carrier it went! But... the kitten was in bad,
> bad shape. It was thin and bony, like it hadn't eaten in a week, it had
> a hole in it's lip ... and it was having a hard time breathing. Off the
> the vet's!
>
> The vet said it was about 4 to 6 six weeks old, and it only weighed 1
> pound 1 ounce. That was way underweight. We could feel every bone in
> its spine, every rib in its chest. The mom cat had abandoned it quite a
> while ago, he believed. He told us she was a girl kitty. The hole in
> her snout was probably from an infection, and she had some sort of
> infection in her chest. He didn't know if she could pull though, or how
> long it would take us to socialize her if she did make it. But he gave
> us some food to feed through a syringe, and some antiboditics to take,
> and told us to come back in three days.
>
> She attacked the syringe when we fed her. She was starving. And after
> we gave her two meals worth, she started to purr. It took us less than
> two hours, from capture to feeding, to fully socialize her. She just
> seemed grateful that someone was willing to give her a full tummy for
> the first time in who knows how long. We put her on the bed, and she
> just lay where we put her. It seems like she was too weak to move. She
> pretty much stayed there for two days. She didn't do much but eat and
> purr and sleep.
>
> On the day before her next vet visit, another gray tabby invaded our
> house. It ran back and forth, and I finally I got tired of chasing it
> and just grabbed it as it was cornered, then stuffed it in the cat
> carrier. I was bit and scratched, and the blood flowed pretty freely.
> I just really wanted to catch while the other was at the vet's because I
> knew that it would be the only time I could be sure it wasn't the same
> cat.
>
> So, off it goes to vet with the kitten. The vet says it will be a
> good idea to hold it for ten for rabies quarantine, and I agree. The
> kitten is doing much better. She gained ten ounces, and her mouth is
> starting to heal. But she still has chest congestion. He tells us that
> there is a chance that that will never clear up... and the kitten isn't
> out of the woods yet. We take Poppa cat home and release him... he runs
> like he had the devil after him. The kitten goes back into the
> bedroom. And within a few days, she started to play. After a week, we
> can't feel the bones in her spine or ribs any more. We decide to name
> her Gem, because she is Gun Metal gray, and because she has such a sweet
> temperament, it's like at least something precious came from all this
> mess. We decide we are going to keep her, if she survives.
>
> Ten days pass.. and Momma cat doesn't have rabies (whew!), and she won't
> be making any more kittens. We release her also. We haven't seen any
> of the other kittens, despite searching. The vet says its a pretty good
> bet they starved to death just about the time we caught Gem. We regret
> this, but we know there really wasn't much else we could have done. At
> least one got a chance.
>
> And what a chance! She soon was at her normal weight for her suspected
> age. And playful as all kittens ought to be. But she was still sick.
> The first round of vaccinations caused a reaction.. she could barely
> breath. We rushed her to the vet. He gave her decongestants. Because
> she is so tiny, we have give her 1/10 of pill at a time. We end up
> crushing the pills, and making lines of them, the dividing the lines up
> and mixing the dose with food. A pain in the neck, but it die seem to
> work.
>
> Then next time we take her in, the vet gives her a different type of
> pill.. one that tastes real bad and makes her drool. We hate giving
> that as much as she hates taking it.... but we want to give her every
> chance to make it. The vet says he thinks that she will always have
> this problem, because she was hit so hard so young. Well, I am
> constantly congested due to allergies... not the same thing, but I can
> relate. She is growing normally now, and is clear eyed and playful, and
> seems to be very happy with her new life. She's poking the back of my
> legs right now with her little claws of terror, and batting a bottle cap
> from a 2 liter soda bottle around our hardwood floor. She's almost
> impossibly cute.
>
> So, with all the Bad Things that are going on in the world, at least
> one creature caught a break and beat the odds. And I feel a little bit
> cheered up every time I see her.
> --
> Annie
>
> --
> If you can't figure out my email address, you're not supposed to write
> me.
Hi Annie. I'm glad she seems to be surviving well. You might look into
l-lysine for her. Cats that have a perpetual infection can really get a
boost from it. Talk to your vet. I hope she continues to thrive well. I'm
sorry about Velly :(

Karen

Jill McQuown
August 23rd 03, 01:42 PM
Annie Benson-Lennaman wrote:
> We moved from San Diego to Jefferson County Missouri about three
> months ago, Lenny and I. We drove, renting a truck and towing the
> car behind. It was hard, because we were also towing along our four
> cats, Skitty, Velly, Abondigas, and Jeeves. Well, Abondigas and
> Jeeves were really the next door neighbor's cats. But they never
> took them to the vets, or let them inside, and we ended up taking
> them because they were really just being ignored.
(snip Gem story)
> Annie

The sweetie kitten Gem aside, I'd say that was darned nice of you. Taking
the cats that were ignored, I mean. I have neighbors like that. If Persia
didn't hate other cats so much, I'd probably have a house full of them.

Jill

JHBennett
August 23rd 03, 01:54 PM
Congratulations on your escape from the Republic of California!
Since Mother and I are..... hmmmmmmm *involved* with feral cats, I can
relate to much of your experience, right up to and including your close
encounter of the losing kind with a cat. In my particular case, I lost a
one round decision to Miss Kitty, a 2-1/2 pound feral, with about 23 pounds
of very bad attitude. She's now a barn cat at a hog farm some 80 miles
away, after doing 10 days in solitary. As for me, the infection in my
finger is clearing up very nicely, thank you.
When it comes to feral cats, about all I can offer is you do the best
you can at keeping them alive but sometimes, despite your effort, it isn't
going to work out. In our case, we have a neighbor from Hell who poisons
animals (long story). In your case, might I remind you that the part of the
country you now live in abounds with predators such as hawks (even eagles),
foxes, coyotes, cougars, badgers, weasles, snakes, etc. It is not beyond
the realm of possibility that snakes might have taken the missing kittens, a
Red Tail Hawk (quite common) taken your missing pet (sorry about that), etc.
Even in our part of Illinois, we've had people losing pets to a cougar for
years.
Welcome to the Midwest and best of luck to you.
Jack

polonca12000
August 23rd 03, 02:50 PM
Hi, Annie, and welcome! I do hope Velly finds the way back home. Thank you
so much for taking such good care of the "neighbourhood" kitties (and your
own also).
Best wishes,
--
Polonca & Soncek

"Annie Benson-Lennaman" > wrote in
message ...
>
<snip>We still
> don't know what happened, but we do know that we haven't seen Velly
> since. <snip>On the other side of the glass, there
> was a fluffy gray kitten! It was tiny... less than 3 weeks old I would
> guess.

Steve Touchstone
August 23rd 03, 05:21 PM
On Sat, 23 Aug 2003 08:24:33 GMT, Annie Benson-Lennaman
> wrote:

>
>We moved from San Diego to Jefferson County Missouri about three months
>ago, Lenny and I. We drove, renting a truck and towing the car behind.
>It was hard, because we were also towing along our four cats, Skitty,
>Velly, Abondigas, and Jeeves. Well, Abondigas and Jeeves were really
>the next door neighbor's cats. But they never took them to the vets, or
>let them inside, and we ended up taking them because they were really
>just being ignored.

<snipped for length>

Congratulations on what sounds like a lovely move ;-) Glad to hear
that you, and the cats are settling in the new place.

Sorry to hear about the loss of one of your cats. As someone mentions
in an earlier post, one of the drawbacks of the country life is the
possibility of predators. I know that we lost a kitten to a hawk back
when I was a kid (we lived in Del Mar at the time, right next door to
San Diego).

Sounds like you are very lucky to have found and rescued Gem. Hope she
lives a long and happy life.

It may take awhile, but eventually you may get your ferals to calm
down a little. One of my cats spent his early years feral, and he's
doing great. It took a LONG time before he decided to trust me, but
now he comes when called, well comes as often as any other cat, when
he wants to ;-)

MaryL
August 23rd 03, 05:40 PM
"MaryL" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Annie Benson-Lennaman" > wrote in
> message ...
> >
> > On the other side of the glass, there
> > was a fluffy gray kitten! It was tiny... less than 3 weeks old I would
> > guess.
> >
> > --
> > Annie
> >
>
> What a wonderful story, and how lucky that little kitty is to have found
> you. Messages like this show that there really are loving people in this
> world who will go to exceptional lengths to help our furry friends. Thank
> you!
>
> MaryL
>
>

Annie,

When I first read your message, I didn't notice that you had lost Velly.
I'm so sorry about that. I'm so pleased for Gem, but I know it must be very
difficult to lose Velly in that way.

MaryL

Hopitus2
August 23rd 03, 06:27 PM
What an uplifting story! No, not just one kitten you saved, but don't forget
Poppa and Mama Cat, who were given vet care by you; I can sure relate to
your long journey with the 4 cats - back in '87 we returned to FL from
northern CA with 3 cats, one a diabetic....that was a fun car trip I'd not
like to repeat! (3500 miles). Best wishes for the continued good health of
your remaining cats, and for your ferals to become more friendly toward you,
the hoomins who took pity on them and showed them the first mercy and
kindness of their lives.





"SUQKRT" > wrote in message
...
:
: In article >, Annie
Benson-Lennaman
: > wrote:
:
: >
: >
: > So, with all the Bad Things that are going on in the world, at least
: >one creature caught a break and beat the odds. And I feel a little bit
: >cheered up every time I see her.
: >--
: >Annie
: >
: Thank you for rescueing her.
: Suz
: Iron Chef Macmoosette
: Thank Heavens There's Only One
: =^..^= =^..^= =^..^= =^..^= =^..^= =^..^=
:
: Chocolate heals all wounds.

Nanny
August 23rd 03, 06:46 PM
And I thought 90 minutes with a diabetic cat in a heatwave was
bad.............

Nanny


"Hopitus2" > schreef in bericht
...
> What an uplifting story! No, not just one kitten you saved, but don't
forget
> Poppa and Mama Cat, who were given vet care by you; I can sure relate to
> your long journey with the 4 cats - back in '87 we returned to FL from
> northern CA with 3 cats, one a diabetic....that was a fun car trip I'd not
> like to repeat! (3500 miles). Best wishes for the continued good health of
> your remaining cats, and for your ferals to become more friendly toward
you,
> the hoomins who took pity on them and showed them the first mercy and
> kindness of their lives.
>
>
>
>
>
> "SUQKRT" > wrote in message
> ...
> :
> : In article >, Annie
> Benson-Lennaman
> : > wrote:
> :
> : >
> : >
> : > So, with all the Bad Things that are going on in the world, at least
> : >one creature caught a break and beat the odds. And I feel a little bit
> : >cheered up every time I see her.
> : >--
> : >Annie
> : >
> : Thank you for rescueing her.
> : Suz
> : Iron Chef Macmoosette
> : Thank Heavens There's Only One
> : =^..^= =^..^= =^..^= =^..^= =^..^= =^..^=
> :
> : Chocolate heals all wounds.
>
>

Annie Benson-Lennaman
August 23rd 03, 07:10 PM
Thanks for the responses, everyone.

I really wasn't looking for any thanks for what we did. We feel
we've been more than amply rewarded. Even if we didn't get one of the
world's sweetest kittens out of the deal, at least we know that we cut
down on the chance of some other kittens being born then left to die or
suffer. I hadn't thought about predators, but I do suppose that this is
a possibility. Well, whatever the circumstances, I feel that the fewer
kitten left out there to fend for themselves, the better.

It is too bad about Velly. She was an indoor cat, and we thought we'd
have her for years and years (our oldest cat, Skitty, is 15 and is going
strong... pretty sure she'll make it to the big 20). But even though it
didn't turn out that way, we know we gave her the best home we could for
the time that we did have her, and she is still in our hearts.

And it wasn't a hard decision to take Abondigas and Jeeves when we left,
either. We had gotten them fixed, vaccinated, and had been letting them
in our house for about the past 3 years. They never even went to their
real "home" at all. I guess our neighbors just didn't understand the
concept that cats need more than just food. I don't know why they
didn't let them in... these are fully tame cats, very mellow and
friendly. They're like big teddy bears. We're lucky to have them too.

There are so many stories out there of where things didn't turn out so
well. I'm living with four examples of where they did, at least one of
which despite extreme circumstances. And the more I thought about it,
the more it seemed selfish to keep their stories to myself.


--
Annie

--
If you can't figure out my email address, you're not supposed to write
me.

EvelynVogtGamble(Divamanque)
August 23rd 03, 08:45 PM
JHBennett wrote:
>
> Congratulations on your escape from the Republic of California!
> Since Mother and I are..... hmmmmmmm *involved* with feral cats, I can
> relate to much of your experience, right up to and including your close
> encounter of the losing kind with a cat. In my particular case, I lost a
> one round decision to Miss Kitty, a 2-1/2 pound feral, with about 23 pounds
> of very bad attitude. She's now a barn cat at a hog farm some 80 miles
> away, after doing 10 days in solitary. As for me, the infection in my
> finger is clearing up very nicely, thank you.
> When it comes to feral cats, about all I can offer is you do the best
> you can at keeping them alive but sometimes, despite your effort, it isn't
> going to work out. In our case, we have a neighbor from Hell who poisons
> animals (long story). In your case, might I remind you that the part of the
> country you now live in abounds with predators such as hawks (even eagles),
> foxes, coyotes, cougars, badgers, weasles, snakes, etc. It is not beyond
> the realm of possibility that snakes might have taken the missing kittens, a
> Red Tail Hawk (quite common) taken your missing pet (sorry about that), etc.
> Even in our part of Illinois, we've had people losing pets to a cougar for
> years.
> Welcome to the Midwest and best of luck to you.

It's not at all unusual for people to lose small pets to coyotes in
California, either! (Even in parts of Los Angeles, where you wouldn't
expect to find them running wild.)

> Jack

Nanny
August 23rd 03, 09:38 PM
I kept mine alive for 6 years after the diagnosis, and then the seizures got
so bad, that when he'd seizured for a whole night we had him put to sleep.
The bad thing about those 90 minutes in the heatwave was that it was so hot
in the car that all 4 cats became stressed, and his seizures were most of
the time stress related, so we were very afraid that it would happen then
and there. So when we were halfway we went to a gas station and bought
icecream for us and the cats, only to keep that diabetic cat feeling good
:-)

Nanny

"Hopitus2" > schreef in bericht
...
> Well, to make a long story shorter: no prob keeping the original Hopitus
> (red/white Manx) going for over 5 years after diagnosis of diabetes; both
in
> Ca and in Fl I gave him 2 insulin shots am & pm as he scarfed it in from
his
> food bowl; he didn't even seem to feel the tiny needle prick in neck
scruff
> skin. Problem leading to his insulin seizure about halfway home, on
highway
> leading from Amarillo to Wichita Falls, Tex. was that they were *all* off
> their feed during entire trip - deadly to Hopitus: if I had had more
smarts
> at the time I never would have given him his daily insulin during trip -
we
> pulled over and by that time he was in the post-seizure daze stage, so we
> poured some Tang we had mixed into the corner of his mouth, which seemed
to
> revive him. At 11 pm that night we pulled into W. Falls and I got in the
> yellow pages at a gas station booth to call a local vet....a very kind W.
> Falls vet, a Dr. Bomar, advised me (free of charge) *not* to give him any
> more insulin till we got to Fl, and to take him right to a vet when we got
> home to Fl., and that he believed Hopitus would be okay with excess sugar
in
> his blood until Fl, vs another insulin seizure possibility. I called Dr.
> Bomar to thank him for his kindness as well as followed his advice upon
> arrival here.
> He inquired as to Hopitus' wellbeing, which was "better" by then.
>
>
>
> "Nanny" > wrote in message
> ...
> : And I thought 90 minutes with a diabetic cat in a heatwave was
> : bad.............
> :
> : Nanny
> :
> :
> : "Hopitus2" > schreef in bericht
> : ...
> : > What an uplifting story! No, not just one kitten you saved, but don't
> : forget
> : > Poppa and Mama Cat, who were given vet care by you; I can sure relate
to
> : > your long journey with the 4 cats - back in '87 we returned to FL from
> : > northern CA with 3 cats, one a diabetic....that was a fun car trip I'd
> not
> : > like to repeat! (3500 miles). Best wishes for the continued good
health
> of
> : > your remaining cats, and for your ferals to become more friendly
toward
> : you,
> : > the hoomins who took pity on them and showed them the first mercy and
> : > kindness of their lives.
> : >
> : >
> : >
> : >
> : >
> : > "SUQKRT" > wrote in message
> : > ...
> : > :
> : > : In article >, Annie
> : > Benson-Lennaman
> : > : > wrote:
> : > :
> : > : >
> : > : >
> : > : > So, with all the Bad Things that are going on in the world, at
> least
> : > : >one creature caught a break and beat the odds. And I feel a little
> bit
> : > : >cheered up every time I see her.
> : > : >--
> : > : >Annie
> : > : >
> : > : Thank you for rescueing her.
> : > : Suz
> : > : Iron Chef Macmoosette
> : > : Thank Heavens There's Only One
> : > : =^..^= =^..^= =^..^= =^..^= =^..^= =^..^=
> : > :
> : > : Chocolate heals all wounds.
> : >
> : >
> :
> :
>
>

Tanada
August 24th 03, 12:45 AM
Annie Benson-Lennaman wrote:
>
> So, with all the Bad Things that are going on in the world, at least
> one creature caught a break and beat the odds. And I feel a little bit
> cheered up every time I see her.
> --
> Annie
>
>

Annie, that was so sweet of you and your hubby to do all you have for
the ferals. Purrs for Velly kitty to be ok and make her way home. Also
purrs and healing thoughts for the kitties. You may need to do what
we're planning on doing. Make a cat enclosure. I can't remember the
website, but there are great pictures and plans on line that you can
find and adapt to your needs.

Welcome to the group, we're looking forward to reading more stories
about Skitty (from one of the Catfantastic anthologies?), Jeeves, Gem,
and Abondigas, as well as your new house. Do you have pictures online?
Were you able to find what I'd love to have, a huge old farmhouse?

OK, I'm nosy,

Pam S. who's purring and thinking along with Rob and the NC nine

m. L. Briggs
August 24th 03, 01:31 AM
On Sat, 23 Aug 2003 08:24:33 GMT, Annie Benson-Lennaman
> wrote:
Congratulations on a Gem of a story! Purrs for your successful
nursing. MLB
>We moved from San Diego to Jefferson County Missouri about three months
>ago, Lenny and I. We drove, renting a truck and towing the car behind.
>It was hard, because we were also towing along our four cats, Skitty,
>Velly, Abondigas, and Jeeves. Well, Abondigas and Jeeves were really
>the next door neighbor's cats. But they never took them to the vets, or
>let them inside, and we ended up taking them because they were really
>just being ignored.
>
> So, it was a fairly trying trip (*you* try driving 2000 miles with 4
>cats) but we made it. It didn't take us long to find the house we are
>in now, on two acres of land, in a Mayberrish town called De Soto. We
>don't need to lock our front doors. I fell in love with the house
>immediately.
>
> The cats seems to accept it as well, once they settled down (we had
>been living in Motel 6's for a about a month). Within a week or so, we
>spotted the feral cats living on our land. They were gray tabbies... in
>fact, they looked just like Velly. They avoided us, but the soon
>tumbled on to the idea that we had a cat door. Soon, they were having
>run ins with our cats. Abondigas got into a fight with one in the front
>yard... his tail got bit and infected. We had to take him to the vet.
>He recovered, but seems to be deeply scarred emotionally. A couple of
>days later, we heard a horrific battle in the front yard. We still
>don't know what happened, but we do know that we haven't seen Velly
>since. We suspect that she was driven into the woods, where she got
>lost. We hope she got adopted by someone else.. but we are not sure.
>It was hard.. we love our cats.
>
>A couple of days after that, I saw Jeeves prancing excitedly in front of
>the sliding glass door that leads to our deck. He's normally a very
>mellow cat, so I investigated. On the other side of the glass, there
>was a fluffy gray kitten! It was tiny... less than 3 weeks old I would
>guess. It ran when it saw me, but not before I saw a couple of other
>ones. Lenny and I saw the kittens a few times after that. We decided
>to catch the feral cats, so protect our own, have them fixed so they
>didn't keep making kittens, and then release them back into our yard.
>About a week later, we got the live trap from animal control.
>
>It took a couple of days, but we got a grey tabby. We waited for the
>morning to take it to the vet's. Lenny checked on it during the night,
>and saw a kitten cuddled against the cage next to the cat. But he
>couldn't catch it. We took the cat in, named her "Momma Cat", asked for
>her to be spayed, and took the trap back. Within a day, the vet's
>called to let us know that they had changed the cat's name to "Poppa
>Cat". For some reason, the kitten was trying to cuddle with a tom. We
>figured then that the mom was not taking care of them.
>
> The next day, we see a kitten dash into one of the sheds. Of one
>mind, Lenny went the the front of the shed, I went to the back. We shut
>both doors behind us.. and the kitten was still there! Trapped! With
>some effort, we cornered the spitting hissing thing, and threw a coat
>over it. Into the cat carrier it went! But... the kitten was in bad,
>bad shape. It was thin and bony, like it hadn't eaten in a week, it had
>a hole in it's lip ... and it was having a hard time breathing. Off the
>the vet's!
>
>The vet said it was about 4 to 6 six weeks old, and it only weighed 1
>pound 1 ounce. That was way underweight. We could feel every bone in
>its spine, every rib in its chest. The mom cat had abandoned it quite a
>while ago, he believed. He told us she was a girl kitty. The hole in
>her snout was probably from an infection, and she had some sort of
>infection in her chest. He didn't know if she could pull though, or how
>long it would take us to socialize her if she did make it. But he gave
>us some food to feed through a syringe, and some antiboditics to take,
>and told us to come back in three days.
>
>She attacked the syringe when we fed her. She was starving. And after
>we gave her two meals worth, she started to purr. It took us less than
>two hours, from capture to feeding, to fully socialize her. She just
>seemed grateful that someone was willing to give her a full tummy for
>the first time in who knows how long. We put her on the bed, and she
>just lay where we put her. It seems like she was too weak to move. She
>pretty much stayed there for two days. She didn't do much but eat and
>purr and sleep.
>
>On the day before her next vet visit, another gray tabby invaded our
>house. It ran back and forth, and I finally I got tired of chasing it
>and just grabbed it as it was cornered, then stuffed it in the cat
>carrier. I was bit and scratched, and the blood flowed pretty freely.
>I just really wanted to catch while the other was at the vet's because I
>knew that it would be the only time I could be sure it wasn't the same
>cat.
>
> So, off it goes to vet with the kitten. The vet says it will be a
>good idea to hold it for ten for rabies quarantine, and I agree. The
>kitten is doing much better. She gained ten ounces, and her mouth is
>starting to heal. But she still has chest congestion. He tells us that
>there is a chance that that will never clear up... and the kitten isn't
>out of the woods yet. We take Poppa cat home and release him... he runs
>like he had the devil after him. The kitten goes back into the
>bedroom. And within a few days, she started to play. After a week, we
>can't feel the bones in her spine or ribs any more. We decide to name
>her Gem, because she is Gun Metal gray, and because she has such a sweet
>temperament, it's like at least something precious came from all this
>mess. We decide we are going to keep her, if she survives.
>
>Ten days pass.. and Momma cat doesn't have rabies (whew!), and she won't
>be making any more kittens. We release her also. We haven't seen any
>of the other kittens, despite searching. The vet says its a pretty good
>bet they starved to death just about the time we caught Gem. We regret
>this, but we know there really wasn't much else we could have done. At
>least one got a chance.
>
>And what a chance! She soon was at her normal weight for her suspected
>age. And playful as all kittens ought to be. But she was still sick.
>The first round of vaccinations caused a reaction.. she could barely
>breath. We rushed her to the vet. He gave her decongestants. Because
>she is so tiny, we have give her 1/10 of pill at a time. We end up
>crushing the pills, and making lines of them, the dividing the lines up
>and mixing the dose with food. A pain in the neck, but it die seem to
>work.
>
>Then next time we take her in, the vet gives her a different type of
>pill.. one that tastes real bad and makes her drool. We hate giving
>that as much as she hates taking it.... but we want to give her every
>chance to make it. The vet says he thinks that she will always have
>this problem, because she was hit so hard so young. Well, I am
>constantly congested due to allergies... not the same thing, but I can
>relate. She is growing normally now, and is clear eyed and playful, and
>seems to be very happy with her new life. She's poking the back of my
>legs right now with her little claws of terror, and batting a bottle cap
>from a 2 liter soda bottle around our hardwood floor. She's almost
>impossibly cute.
>
> So, with all the Bad Things that are going on in the world, at least
>one creature caught a break and beat the odds. And I feel a little bit
>cheered up every time I see her.
>--
>Annie

Christine Burel
August 24th 03, 05:31 AM
Wow -- kudos to you for all your efforts on behalf of the kitties you've
helped and many purrs for little Gem -- she was very lucky to find you.
Hope to hear more on her progress!
Christine, Omar, Midnight, Oreo, Robin & Tucker
"Annie Benson-Lennaman" > wrote in
message ...
>
> We moved from San Diego to Jefferson County Missouri about three months
> ago, Lenny and I. We drove, renting a truck and towing the car behind.
> It was hard, because we were also towing along our four cats, Skitty,
> Velly, Abondigas, and Jeeves. Well, Abondigas and Jeeves were really
> the next door neighbor's cats. But they never took them to the vets, or
> let them inside, and we ended up taking them because they were really
> just being ignored.
>
> So, it was a fairly trying trip (*you* try driving 2000 miles with 4
> cats) but we made it. It didn't take us long to find the house we are
> in now, on two acres of land, in a Mayberrish town called De Soto. We
> don't need to lock our front doors. I fell in love with the house
> immediately.
>
> The cats seems to accept it as well, once they settled down (we had
> been living in Motel 6's for a about a month). Within a week or so, we
> spotted the feral cats living on our land. They were gray tabbies... in
> fact, they looked just like Velly. They avoided us, but the soon
> tumbled on to the idea that we had a cat door. Soon, they were having
> run ins with our cats. Abondigas got into a fight with one in the front
> yard... his tail got bit and infected. We had to take him to the vet.
> He recovered, but seems to be deeply scarred emotionally. A couple of
> days later, we heard a horrific battle in the front yard. We still
> don't know what happened, but we do know that we haven't seen Velly
> since. We suspect that she was driven into the woods, where she got
> lost. We hope she got adopted by someone else.. but we are not sure.
> It was hard.. we love our cats.
>
> A couple of days after that, I saw Jeeves prancing excitedly in front of
> the sliding glass door that leads to our deck. He's normally a very
> mellow cat, so I investigated. On the other side of the glass, there
> was a fluffy gray kitten! It was tiny... less than 3 weeks old I would
> guess. It ran when it saw me, but not before I saw a couple of other
> ones. Lenny and I saw the kittens a few times after that. We decided
> to catch the feral cats, so protect our own, have them fixed so they
> didn't keep making kittens, and then release them back into our yard.
> About a week later, we got the live trap from animal control.
>
> It took a couple of days, but we got a grey tabby. We waited for the
> morning to take it to the vet's. Lenny checked on it during the night,
> and saw a kitten cuddled against the cage next to the cat. But he
> couldn't catch it. We took the cat in, named her "Momma Cat", asked for
> her to be spayed, and took the trap back. Within a day, the vet's
> called to let us know that they had changed the cat's name to "Poppa
> Cat". For some reason, the kitten was trying to cuddle with a tom. We
> figured then that the mom was not taking care of them.
>
> The next day, we see a kitten dash into one of the sheds. Of one
> mind, Lenny went the the front of the shed, I went to the back. We shut
> both doors behind us.. and the kitten was still there! Trapped! With
> some effort, we cornered the spitting hissing thing, and threw a coat
> over it. Into the cat carrier it went! But... the kitten was in bad,
> bad shape. It was thin and bony, like it hadn't eaten in a week, it had
> a hole in it's lip ... and it was having a hard time breathing. Off the
> the vet's!
>
> The vet said it was about 4 to 6 six weeks old, and it only weighed 1
> pound 1 ounce. That was way underweight. We could feel every bone in
> its spine, every rib in its chest. The mom cat had abandoned it quite a
> while ago, he believed. He told us she was a girl kitty. The hole in
> her snout was probably from an infection, and she had some sort of
> infection in her chest. He didn't know if she could pull though, or how
> long it would take us to socialize her if she did make it. But he gave
> us some food to feed through a syringe, and some antiboditics to take,
> and told us to come back in three days.
>
> She attacked the syringe when we fed her. She was starving. And after
> we gave her two meals worth, she started to purr. It took us less than
> two hours, from capture to feeding, to fully socialize her. She just
> seemed grateful that someone was willing to give her a full tummy for
> the first time in who knows how long. We put her on the bed, and she
> just lay where we put her. It seems like she was too weak to move. She
> pretty much stayed there for two days. She didn't do much but eat and
> purr and sleep.
>
> On the day before her next vet visit, another gray tabby invaded our
> house. It ran back and forth, and I finally I got tired of chasing it
> and just grabbed it as it was cornered, then stuffed it in the cat
> carrier. I was bit and scratched, and the blood flowed pretty freely.
> I just really wanted to catch while the other was at the vet's because I
> knew that it would be the only time I could be sure it wasn't the same
> cat.
>
> So, off it goes to vet with the kitten. The vet says it will be a
> good idea to hold it for ten for rabies quarantine, and I agree. The
> kitten is doing much better. She gained ten ounces, and her mouth is
> starting to heal. But she still has chest congestion. He tells us that
> there is a chance that that will never clear up... and the kitten isn't
> out of the woods yet. We take Poppa cat home and release him... he runs
> like he had the devil after him. The kitten goes back into the
> bedroom. And within a few days, she started to play. After a week, we
> can't feel the bones in her spine or ribs any more. We decide to name
> her Gem, because she is Gun Metal gray, and because she has such a sweet
> temperament, it's like at least something precious came from all this
> mess. We decide we are going to keep her, if she survives.
>
> Ten days pass.. and Momma cat doesn't have rabies (whew!), and she won't
> be making any more kittens. We release her also. We haven't seen any
> of the other kittens, despite searching. The vet says its a pretty good
> bet they starved to death just about the time we caught Gem. We regret
> this, but we know there really wasn't much else we could have done. At
> least one got a chance.
>
> And what a chance! She soon was at her normal weight for her suspected
> age. And playful as all kittens ought to be. But she was still sick.
> The first round of vaccinations caused a reaction.. she could barely
> breath. We rushed her to the vet. He gave her decongestants. Because
> she is so tiny, we have give her 1/10 of pill at a time. We end up
> crushing the pills, and making lines of them, the dividing the lines up
> and mixing the dose with food. A pain in the neck, but it die seem to
> work.
>
> Then next time we take her in, the vet gives her a different type of
> pill.. one that tastes real bad and makes her drool. We hate giving
> that as much as she hates taking it.... but we want to give her every
> chance to make it. The vet says he thinks that she will always have
> this problem, because she was hit so hard so young. Well, I am
> constantly congested due to allergies... not the same thing, but I can
> relate. She is growing normally now, and is clear eyed and playful, and
> seems to be very happy with her new life. She's poking the back of my
> legs right now with her little claws of terror, and batting a bottle cap
> from a 2 liter soda bottle around our hardwood floor. She's almost
> impossibly cute.
>
> So, with all the Bad Things that are going on in the world, at least
> one creature caught a break and beat the odds. And I feel a little bit
> cheered up every time I see her.
> --
> Annie
>
> --
> If you can't figure out my email address, you're not supposed to write
> me.

LOL
August 24th 03, 08:01 AM
Annie Benson-Lennaman > wrote in message >...

(snipped)
>
> So, with all the Bad Things that are going on in the world, at least
> one creature caught a break and beat the odds. And I feel a little bit
> cheered up every time I see her.
> --
> Annie


What a sweet story about Gem! You are very good people to have taken
care of the ferals, and I'm glad you were rewarded with such a darling
of a kitten.

I am sorry, though, to read about Velly; I hope she's okay somewhere,
and that you can find some peace of mind about her.

I look forward to hearing more about your kitties, and am glad you've
decided to post here. :-)

------
Krista

Ginger-lyn Summer
August 24th 03, 06:42 PM
What a wonderful story. Gem is a very lucky little one to have found
you. May you have many years of happiness with each other.

Ginger-lyn

Jean H
August 25th 03, 01:02 AM
> wrote in message
...
> Annie Benson-Lennaman > wrote:
>
> > A couple of days after that, I saw Jeeves prancing excitedly in front
of
> > the sliding glass door that leads to our deck. He's normally a very
> > mellow cat, so I investigated. On the other side of the glass, there
> > was a fluffy gray kitten! It was tiny...
>
> Wow, what a story! Gem is one lucky kitty. She's really lucky to have you.
>
> Joyce
I'm so sorry about the cat that disappeared but happy for the little kitty I
hope your other cat finally
finds its way back that sort of thing really upsets me. best of luck your
good parents jp