UPDATE FOR THE PANDA FANATICS

The staff now 'fesses up that we're panda devotees. We have the San Diego Zoo panda cam minimized on our second circulation computer at all times! When we have a moment we all check in to see what's happening. As of October 3rd, we know that it's a boy, and that at last week's checkup he weighed in at a rol- poly 6.4 pounds. At the website you can watch a video of each medical checkup if you want to track his development Last week, he protested loudly when given his first distemper innoculation (who wouldn't), and the vets had to rush and finish since Mom Bear is not too far away, and could hear him bleat. ( Each exam is conducted only when Bai Yun is outside the den eating bamboo, so that she doesn't fret about the cub. After almost two months of nursing him, she feels more comfortable leaving than she did at first, obviously.) She has had four cubs before and is a very experienced mother. I particularly enjoy watching her give him a bath, which usually occurs about noon EST, or 9 a.m. where they are in California. Since he is quite big now, she tosses him around a little like a football-not an inch is missed with that wet tongue! I'm sure it feels wonderful to our little cubbie. A final note: All panda cubs are named on their 100th day, according to Chinese custom. The zoo has not announced whether or not they'll have a naming contest. If they do, you may enjoy participating. Five names, in Chinese with their English equivalents, are usually listed, and it's fun to pick one. Meanwhile, happy viewing, there's no way this little guy won't put a big smile on your face!

HOMER'S ODYSSEY

I have been reading the most fascinating, charming book. NPR thought the same and devoted an entire program to it. The full title is: "Homer's odyssey, a fearless feline tale, or how I learned about love and life with a blind cat." The author, a writer, was asked by a shelter she had dealt with to come see a handicapped cat. Since she already had two healthy, lively ones, she thought what would I do with another who couldn't move or defend himself? When she spoke with the vet, it was explained that the 3 week old black kitten had been brought in, eyes still shut, with obviously severe optic infections. Taking pity on him, it was decided to perform the surgery to remove the eyes to save his life. (Remember, the cat had never "seen" since it's infant eyes had never opened.) Gwen Cooper described her first sight of him as daunting, to say the least, since he had a huge cone, or lampshade, device around his tiny head to prevent him from clawing at the two x stiches on the lids. What instantly bonded her to him was the fact that he immediately started purring and snuggling, and that surprisingly his face did have a lot of expression to it since the muscles around the eyes were still functioning. Once home, the author had to plan how to introduce the kitten to his new surroundings. She hit upon a series of steps, which she still follows if they move or are visiting. First, place the litter box and let him orient from that; then food and water, toys, etc. It is commonly known that people deprived of one sense overcompensate with others. Indeed Homer has extraorinarily acute smell, touch-whiskers- and memory of what is where, e.g. furniture. (He will sometimes circle the walls first). The only thing she must never do is MOVE anything. In the NPR interview she said if she had left her slippers out and he tripped on them, for days he'd avoid that area of her bedroom.....The great lesson of this fabulous tale is that facing life's challenges with little fear is daunting, but a hurdle we must not be afraid to confront. having Homer around as a fabulous example must be pure delight!
Final note: Friends had urged the author to name him Sammy (after Sammy Davis), or Ray (after Ray Charles). It just came to her one day to name him after the blind poet who wrote so beautifully about life's voyage (The Odyssey), from which she quotes frequently.

PANDA-MONIUM!

It's time to power up those panda cam screens once again. The San Diego Zoo is home to a 9 day old little squeaker. It will be a while before zoo veterinarians will be able to determine the sex since the mother and infant are kept in strict isolation to help insure their healthy bonding. Bai Yun seems to be devoted to her offspring, and every hope is that all will go well because this is her fifth offspring. When you zoom in on the den, you usually see Bai in a ball, presumably the baby is between her great black paws. In this posture, she resembles the great Yin and Yang Chinese symbol. Patience, and returning often to the screen, will reward you with glimpses of the teeny one and Mom's gentle re-positioning for more comfort. As time goes by, we'll have more opportunities to peek at the teeny pink bear. Other zoos such as those in Atlanta and Washington DC have been generous in providing cams in the past. Unfortunately, neither had good luck being home to a cub this year. We all wish our local zoos could have a panda, but China requires over a million dollars to have them on loan, and only the largest insitutions can be so fortunate. So, take a trip to one of these great cities and fall in love with these fabulous creatures, as the rest of us have!

Desperate House---cats and dogs.....

I was emailing a friend this summer, and he mentioned that this would probably be the last he spent with his best friend, his Lab, Chip. What to say when you know pain lies ahead, but want to make the next few months the best you can for both of you? So many people speak to me about making that dreaded decision, as I wrote in some detail in "Little Bee , RIP". (Best advice is to share all your feelings with sympathetic friends.) ....... However a new wrinkle has come up. Recently, the husband of a new foster mom said he couldn't stand letting their visiting cat go to his forever home, he'd gotten too attached after only two months. Now, this is a painful dilemma faced by all foster care givers. The whole point of our work is to provide a caring home where animals' social skills can develop in order for them to MOVE ON to their forever home. If we can't detach well, the system breaks down. Now, to be honest, a lot of us do keep animals that for one reason or another we can't bear to part with. (My tortie, Emma, was so sick for so long, that after bottle-feeiding her for weeks, I simply couldn't get her out of my pocket!). ......However, if we don't prepare ourselves to absorb those twinges of loss, we either become hoarders, or give up rescue altogther-both bad prospects. So.....in this time of great need, I urge anyone interested to realize that your pain of loss bears no resemblance to the ache animals feel left in cages at shelters for months, most likely to be euthanized in the end. We must get them ALL out!!! Join foster care groups. It's a labor of love.

The heat is on........

So you think two three-pound kittens can't burn down a library? Wrong..... While "Peanut Butter" and "Jelly" were visiting the library, they stayed in my office, and managed to get into REAL mischief. I was out front talking with patrons for over an hour, and decided to quickly check out to see if they were asleep. Looking in the door's window, all seemed serene as they were smugly sitting quietly on the desk and computer. Fortunately, I decided to go in and give them a pat and put more food in their dishes. However, upon entering I smelled fire. At first I assumed the smell was coming in the open window from someone burning rubbish outside. Then, as I approached my desk, I was horrifed to see smoke rising from my leather blotter! The little monsters had been playing with the dangling cord which turns on my green glass banker's light . Apparently, they had managed to yank on it, which turned it on, and knocked it over. The bulb was rapidly raising the temperature of the blotter to the point of bursting into flame. Good thing I went in, that's for sure. Meanwhile Rosemary, our children's librarian, came running in and raced with the blotter out to the back steps. Whew! We laughed, but the Marion FD wouldn't have found it funny at all. (Especially since they had already rescued one of my other guys-detailed in Emma vs. the MFD. )

ALLEY CATS ALLIED

A headline in the local paper recently read "OFFICIALS TO TRAP FERAL CATS". Reading further, I noted that the healthy ones would be taken to local shelters, and those that were "ill" would be destroyed. There is no question that if a huge colony had been allowed to develop in Freetown, it was problematic as to how to control it or fix the situation. As a rescue person myself, I look at this situation from a totally different perspective. The Marion library is obtaining pamphlets from Alley Cats Allied, an advocacy group, describing what to do with strays in your neighborhood and why killing off ferals will not stop the population from growing once again in an area where there is food (and, of course, is inhumane, except for those who are truly ill). Basically: you are not being kind in just feeding a stray that comes to your door. After inquiring with neighbors as to whether or not he/she is owned, the kindest thing to do is to trap the cat and have it spayed or neutered. ( I will volunteer to have a jar on the library counter to help raise funds. ) Then, release it. As the feral cat advocacy experts say: Ferals like living away from humans. If there is a food source, they will stay in that area and be content. Spaying and neutering all strays, hopefully one by one, will keep the colony from growing. Then, folk may feed them, and even provide outdoor shelter, to their heart's content. I will be writing more about this as events unfold. The Freetown Library, where this is happening, will have information to help their citizens, too. There's a lot of work involved in loving animals, but we can do it together!

R.I. "Pee" Little "Bee"

Yesterday I had to say goodbye to my little black cat . Boston Blackie, known as Bee, was a tiny little girl with front legs that had never grown properly and were too short, so she always walked, and ran, at a tilt. She was my first foster-care baby, and like so many before me, I couldn't give her up. Coming from a feral background, she exhibited many of the traits of her wild ancestors, fearing strangers, and people in general. However, she loved my other cats and soon became a part of the pack, sleeping and eating, and playing with them every day. I could get near her at feeding time, always patting and stroking her to keep up a connection. Over the Fourth of July weekend I noticed she wasn't running into the kitchen to her bowl with the others. I soon discovered her hiding under one of the beds. This is usually not a good sign with any animal because when they're really feeling sick, they hide. As each day went by, I hoped for the best, that she'd be out and about, but by Monday I knew she was seriously ill. The big dilemma was: how to capture her and get her to the vet's. I called upon my good friend Carol, who is a cat caregiver herself, to try to shoo her out one side of the quilt so that I could grab her in a blanket and drop her into a carrier. Bee just screamed and ran. Then we knew we had to get the Animal Control Officer to come help. Sue King warned me that she would have to use a noose on a pole, and , wearing heavy gloves, she dragged Bee, yelling at the top of her lungs, and managed to get her into the carrier. There was no other way.......We drove to the emergency hospital in Buzzards Bay where they are equipped to deal with all kinds of situations. I had to put "she can't be handled" on the intake form.......When we got into an examining room with an ER vet we discussed our dilemma. (Bee was silent all this time, feeling safe in the box.) Dr. Robertson said that in order to determine what was wrong, a cat that was so wild would have to be sedated. All the necessary tests would be very expensive, and then we had the dilemma of how to administer medication if she couldn't be handled at all. Also, since she was very ill, it was most likely that she'd have to come back for re-checks. This meant calling the ACO again and terrorizing B. The decision to end her suffering had to be made, but it was very, very painful because I still didn't know WHAT was WRONG? I did remember that she'd had 10 happy years in my house that she never would have had outside with her mother. The head of Cause for Paws also told me that no one else would have adopted her with those bizarre legs. So, I just had to let go and keep remembering her funny little self. One final note. At this wonderful hospital they have a special way of dealing with the death of animals like Bee who are very frightened of being touched. They kept the carrier temporarily, and Dr. Robertson said it would very gently be tipped into a large glass enclosure where she would lie and fall asleep as gas was administered. Only after this, would the final anaesthetic be given to her. This kind of tender loving care and respect for shy Bee's need to be separate, though loving her caretakers for sure, is rare and wonderful. I am so grateful to the doctors and techs and my friends for all their support and wisdom at this time of sadness. A little black shadow flitted through my kitchen last night-just a glimpse......