From the Challenger’s House update email:
Here at Challenger’s House it’s been hard to keep up with all the calls & requests for us to take cats & kittens. It was a late “kitten season” but even with an adoption center (at Petsmart) full of kittens, and foster homes full of kittens, and kittens here at the shelter, adoptions have been slower in 2010. In the first quarter of this year, we took in 37 and adopted 47 but in the second quarter we took in 57 and only adopted out 27. We still keep a population of 120-140 at any given time.
What a lot of people don’t understand is that being a no time limit (no-kill) shelter, we can’t take every cat or kitten that comes along. If we did, we would be overcrowded, disease would set in, and money would run out quickly. And since we keep the cats until they are adopted or die of old age we end up with cats that are middle aged & older, some of whom will probably live with us the rest of their lives.
At the current time, donations are down & our funds have dwindled. We are asking that everyone who is able, send a donation to help us defray the cost of vet bills, medications/vaccines, flea control, food, litter, utilities, and all the other expenses associated with operating a shelter that provides a comfortable place for the cats & kittens to stay until they are adopted. You can make such a difference by supporting Challenger’s House in its quest to help as many homeless and unwanted cats & kittens as possible.
We take the animals we can but when our foster homes are full and the shelter is full, and when money is tight, we have to turn people away. It’s heartbreaking to tell them we don’t have room for the litter of kittens they found in the ditch or the cat that their neighbor moved off & left.
If you’d like to donate to Challenger’s House, you can do so by mail, phone, or Paypal – all the information is at the bottom of their Petfinder page, here.
I went and added a note on yesterday’s entry, but in case you missed it…
“And then we was tutored, and it was EXHAUSTING!”
They tested negative (didn’t I tell you they would? But I was still worried!), they were neutered, and they had their ID chips put in, got their rabies shot, the whole kit and kaboodle. Now they’re ready and available to be adopted, we’re just waiting for room at the adoption center!
To celebrate the negative test results, well….
Meet Los Gatitos (Spanish for “The kittens.” At least that’s what Babelfish tells me. I know nothing of Spanish, so if Babelfish steered me wrong, please let me know.)
Pancho, Sofia, and Evita sleep off their spay and neuter surgeries.
Hermano’s a little leery of me.
Yes, we have FOUR white kittens. Hermano has two blue eyes, Sofia has one blue and one green eye, and Pancho and Evita both have green eyes. (I’ll be putting collars on them so I can tell them apart from a distance.)
They’re about 10 weeks old, and when they counted back on the calendar at the vet’s, they came up with May 5th – Cinco de Mayo, thus the Spanish names.
These kittens were tossed in a ditch by some guy in a van out in the country. Luckily, the sister and mother of a Challenger’s House friend came upon them almost immediately, which is a good thing – white kittens are particularly vulnerable to predators because they’re so visible.
They were a little bit skittish last night, but this morning they weren’t too concerned about me. Hermano let me pick him up and pet him, and didn’t think it was TOO horrible an experience. Pancho is a live wire – he was literally hopping straight up in the air to get rid of some of that energy. They’re adorable, sweet, playful kittens, and I’m looking forward to getting to know them!
Spanky, in his current favorite sleeping place.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Previously
2009: That is one happy little cat!
2008: Sisterly love.
2007: And then the guy sat down to talk to us, and I turned into a pouty teenage brat.
2006: No entry.
2005: No entry.
The newbies are so cute! they have that scruffy waif and stray adorableness that gets me every time!
Good thing for the Los Gatitos that you are an insatiable nuturer, Robyn!
And I’ll say it again: SOOOOOOOO relieved the Bookworms are negative!!!! Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!!!!!!
Can’t imagine how hard it will be to let the ‘worms go since they’ve been part of the household so long. Good luck to them! Will the newbies be moving on quickly since they’ve already been fixed?
Oh what great news that the Bookworms are negative – but we were sure they would be!
And Los Gatitos are adorable – all white kittens are super cute (ok, all kittens are super cute). And wow, already fixed means they won’t be there too long, but hopefully you will have a lot of fun with them. (And don’t get me started on the jerk who tossed them in a ditch).
Someone should toss thos men into a ditch…one deep enough that they can’t get out! Arrrggghhhh…
Cute new babies…YAY for the Bookworms….and you may need to sweep your kitchen rug. It’s FULL of cat hair! LOL 🙂
Congrats on everything! Can Hermano hear or is he deaf (the white cat/blue eye thing). No matter, he is great!
Can you see Los Gatitos’ bellybuttons? If you can, could you post a picture? I’ve never seen one.
Yay for the Bookworms test results!! That’s excellent news! Awww they’re off to be adoopted soon and I for one wish to all the gods and goddesses in the universe that I could have them all!! It’s been such a pleasure knowing each of them!! Thank you!
Oh my – look at your new little family!! Los Gatitos!! Oh wow!! They’re adorable!! Thank you again all friends and family of Challenger’s House for rescuing these babies! They’re so pretty and so lovely!
Take care
x
I wonder if they’re deaf? I have a white, deaf kitty.
I’m also a Spanish instructor, here to tell you Babelfish was right. 🙂
I hope there’s a special place in hell for animal abusers, I really do. Sorry to be so blunt, but I am so incredibly horrified and angry about people like that.
Yes, Babelfish is correct, although you can also call them Los Mininos (little kittens) and to call them in Spanish, instead of “here Kitty, Kitty, Kitty” you say “Mesu, Mesu, Mesu” It sounds a little like the Su-ie sound you make for calling a pig.
If they get in your way, you can also say “Basta, Vente” (I do this to my cats a lot) which means pretty much, “go away from me” but in a loving kind of way, people say this for real if they are angry but in play to small children (or cats).
They are lovely, I too wondered if they are deaf?
Happy dance!! Happy dance!! I am soooo thrilled for the Bookworms! May they recover quickly, having fulfilled their destiny to become responsible cats, and find loving homes even more quickly!
Los Gatitos are just precious!! A litter with an international flair – how exciting!! 🙂
I love your website – excellent effort!