Carwyn O'Cat and Rhys MacKitten Tales

Haley

     In September 2020, I lost my black cat, Haley. She was my last indoor cat, and was 13 plus years old, when I had to make the decision to help her cross the Rainbow Bridge, a gut wrenching and heart breaking decision. She had lost weight very quickly - in less than two weeks time. In the end, a tumor was found in her belly area...

    Having friends in the animal rescue world, I knew of a buff colored momma cat, who had been found under a bush with her three newborn orange tabby kittens. I wanted one of these orange tabby kittens. They were in foster, but would not be available until early December. 

    I thought I could wait that long, because I have dogs who give me their love, but I was wrong. Having gone to Misty Eyes Animal Rescue to get a "kitten fix" - means to love and hold kittens, but not taking one home, I left fighting tears on the long drive home. There was a black kitten that was extremely loving, just like Haley had been, but I just wasn't ready to do a black cat at that time.    

    Orange tabby cats, especially males are considered the most loveable cats, per something I'd read, and then confirmed with a vet. Black cats were a close second, per this same vet and the one who helped ease Haley's suffering. Plus, I'd had two male orange tabby cats, each having some white on them. They were the most loveable cats, along with Haley, I'd ever had. Sadly, the creatures who love unconditionally, so easily, have the shortest lifespans compared to humans who cannot get the unconditional love thing figured out. With this knowledge and experience, I wanted to adopt an orange tabby kitten. An intense search began for an orange tabby kitten via various animal rescue groups, humane societies, and by watching Petfinder and Adoptapet. 

Remi who became Carwyn 2022

    One early morning in October 2021, a little 3 month old orange tabby kitten, with circle stripes on his sides, was found on a porch without his momma and without any siblings. He went to a humane society, and was named Remi. I saw his post on Petfinder, and went to visit him. When I  opened his cage door, he climbed right into my arms, purring his little heart out. I was hooked. Remi became Carwyn, which is Welsh and means blessed love.

    The first night home, Carwyn showed his rascally side. He climbed onto the Guinea Pigs' cage and was reaching through the square holes, trying to get them. From the cage, he spotted the fish aquarium, and was studying to see how he could jump from the Guinea pig cage to the aquarium top. He waded through the dogs' water dish, flipped water out of his water dish, and jumped into my bowl of popcorn, flipping popcorn everywhere. The Chihuahuas liked this, as they got treats.

    Carwyn's rascally side was more than I'd ever seen in a kitten. He needed a playmate of his own kind, but would I be "thrown into the backseat," so to speak as far as importance? I wanted to be number one in Carwyn's world, so it meant I was jealous, as a volunteer with Misty Eyes Animal Rescue pointed out. It was an ah-haa moment, as I had never thought of it that way. 

    I decided if I was going to adopted another kitten, then it would be one with special needs - a blind kitten, as I'd had blind animals before. In March, I contacted animal rescue friends associated with specific rescues or a humane society, to ask them to contact me if they got a blind kitten. (Every year, towards the end of March, kitten season begins, as it is called, because so many cats are never fixed, so I knew lots of kittens would be entering this world.)

    Twice blind kittens became available, but sadly one died before it was even old enough to be fixed, and the other was adopted prior to my being able to go out of state in order to adopt him. It is said that the third time is the charm, and I believe it is in this case.

    After searching Petfinder's special needs kittens for weeks, and a week after saying a specific prayer that I could find an orange tabby kitten or a black one (yes, I was ready for a black kitten), a light buff orange tabby kitten, named Gregory appeared, having been loved and cared for by Fostering Felines in Ohio. His picture showed sutures holding the left eyelids closed. The other eye had already been removed and closed in an emergency surgery when he was just 4 weeks old. His bio said he was a lover and climber, and that he needed to have a playmate. (His eyes were removed, because of severe damage done from infection, which also caused him to be in extreme pain.)

    Emails were sent back and forth for days. Then, the one I'd been hoping for arrived - I was approved to adopt Gregory. On June 9th, his sutures would be removed, and with a friend as co-pilot/navigator, I drove to Fostering Felines in Ohio to officially adopt Gregory, who became Rhys, which is, also, Welsh and means love, adore.

Gregory who became Rhys 2022

    I have been blessed with this tiny, yet might exemplar! Carwyn and Rhys are best buddies, and the greatest news of all - I'm number one in both their lives, as they both love to snuggle on my lap, and so much more!

Many more tales from Carwyn and Rhys will be coming.

Click the below links to go to each website:

Fostering Felines

Misty Eyes Animal Rescue

Pippin O'Chi, Therapy Dog has Retired...

    

    Pippin O'Chi and I were a therapy dog team. She was/is the most loving little dog who just wanted/wants to give all the love she can to anyone willing to accept it. As a team, we wanted to help children, and wanted to promote reading and inspire children to read more. Pippin loves to snuggle with anyone, and loves children. Boy, oh, boy, she sure got/gets excited when she sees the pet carrier out.

    I have retired her due to two things the therapy group I had worked and paid to get therapy training through, did; things I feel were extremely wrong. I have removed their name in the "About Me" section. After I let this group know my feelings about these wrong - in my opinion, they have NOT even tried to contact me, but they were more than willing to take my money for the course work.

    What did they do? First, in their training courses, they stated how important it was that we, as the human side of the team, were to advocate for our animals and keep them safe. This was repeated multiple times. I have no problem with that at all, but this therapy animal group has a "Do as I say, not as I do" way of doing things!

    Pippin was rejected by her mother at birth, never even getting any of the colostrum milk, which is so important to the immune system. She has little fur. Is her lack of fur caused from not receiving the colotrum milk or genetics, I do not know. Her fur is thin on her upper side. She has zero fur underneath. Fur on animals is the equivalent to us humans wearing clothes in order to keep warm in colder months, or to keep the sun from burning our skin in warmer months. Pippin needs to wear clothing in the cold months, in order to keep warm. She actually burns more calories trying to stay warm, even with clothes on. This increase in calorie burning requires that she eat more, in order to compensate, but there have been times that her blood sugar still dropped, causing her to have a seizure. (Each time any being has a seizure, a little bit of damage is done to the brain.) When I tried to "ADVOCATE" for Pippin to wear a coat or sweatshirt while doing therapy work, stating all the above, this therapy animal group, who hammered home that we should advocate for our animals, would not budge an inch on their "rules" that animals were not to wear clothing. Even when I stated that we were NEVER ever going to go into a healthcare facility, and that the situation affected Pippin's health, they, in my opinion, showed they did not give a darn, and "rules were rules." Funny thing is that every human, in a therapy animal team, wears clothes...go figure!

    Pippin misses going out to visit other humans. She still gets excited when she sees the pet carrier, even when I have it out to take a kitten to the vet. 

    Our country has fallen into dark times with those who feel they have the right to dictate this or that, regardless of the harms their dictating causes. Too bad this therapy animal group has fallen into this same thinking, and is so blinded, in so many ways...THEIR LOSS!!