I have a home!

... More details later... There is a chihuahua looking for me to torment.... :)

I'm Still Here.... For Now...

I really love the Center and all the people who work here, but I am a bit restless. I get lonely on the weekend (even though my Nana visits me...) and I would love a fun family to live with.

So far, my efforts to be adopted by Mrs. Libby have been dashed... maybe someone else will take me home and keep me updated as to the doings of the Center.

But for now, it is busy! Christmas assistance is starting up (Mrs. Kelley explained Christmas to me and I think it is awesome!) More and more people are visiting the Center seeking assistance for their children during Christmastime. Maybe I can fill out an application--- if only I had opposable thumbs--I like kitty treats!

If you or someone you know needs help with Christmas, go to our website for more information.

**Meow**

Ok... so maybe I was a bit over emotional

Ok, so when someone I love is out I might get a little out of sorts. Two weeks ago, Jessica was out sick. I missed her, and (I am a bit embarrassed to say this but-) I showed this by being a terror. I basically got my emotions out on Jessica's office (not good since Jessica's office is the main office in the building). Everyone is now concerned about my actions when Jessica is out for maternity leave-whatever that is...
So, as sad as it is- I find I need a home. I would LOVE my Nana to take me home, I do love her too! Maybe you can let her know that I want to live with her. Jessica said she would love to take me, but with a baby on the way-she will not be able to give me the attention a codependent kitty like me needs!

I love people and I really would like to still visit the Center and be the star I know I can be!

The Pitch:
I would be a GREAT addition to your household! I am talkative, love to walk next to you, I use my litter box, love to play (give me a piece of crumpled paper and I am set!), I have had my all my shots, and even been fixed (no more babies for me!). I do blog, so I need to stay in contact with Mrs. Jessica so she can help me write and share the good news of the Center.

If you are interested in seeing me, or adopting me please call the Center or stop by! (864) 578-1379

Playtime!

I absolutely love to play! I have so many toys in my office (well... Jessica's office) that I can entertain myself to my heart's content.
I practice my hunting and attack skills. I also enjoy exploring and learning about my environment.

My playtime reminds me of what Jessica told me about the importance of play. I did a little research of my own last weekend (I do my computer work over the weekend when no one is here-it is quieter) and found information on play from some guy who goes by Mister Rogers. His picture seems to be of a very nice man, and seems to know about playing...

He said this about playtime: "For children, play is both a serious and necessary business: a way for them to try on different roles, pretend to be bigger than they really are, stronger than they really are, or even, at times, smaller than they really are. And playing gives children a chance to rehearse for events that may be worrisome to them - a visit to the doctor, a first haircut, or the first day of school. By pretending about such things, children can find out how they feel about them.

Young children who are just learning language often use a variety of other ways to “talk about” things that concern them. Playing or drawing may be an easier way for them to “tell” us what’s on their minds. Giving children many opportunities for pretend play can set the stage for them to work on their feelings and to communicate their thoughts and ideas to others."

...sad news Jessica just told me that Mister Rogers passed away... too bad anyone who has a character named Henreitta Pussycat is ok in my book.


You can read more about this cool guy, Mister Rogers and about playtime at: www.fci.org

Surgery, school supplies, and codependence

It has been a few weeks since I could log onto my blog-- seems there were some computer issues. But we seem to be up and running!

My surgery went well. I was not happy when I was dropped off at the Spartanburg Humane Society the night BEFORE my surgery (I did hear Jessica say that she did not want to get up early to drop me off there at 7:30 am -thanks Jessica.) So I had to spend a restless night in a strange place, with strange smells, and strange noises. I was a nervous wreck when Jessica picked me up the next day! And to top it all off- I looked like I had udders!!!!! Maybe I should have started mooing instead of mewing.

Me post-surgery

It was SUPER crazy here last week and over the weekend. The Center hosted a Back to School and Wellness Day. I think the entire TOWN came- children got needed school supplies (lucky them!--They get to learn, and color, and stuff. Maybe they would let a kitty in the classroom too?) and the families learned cool stuff about other helping places in the area. I was not too happy though that the SC Search and Rescue Dogs were right outside my door, but they behaved themselves. Jessica kept me in her office, since she was afraid I would get lost- or worse stepped on!

Kelley had said that this Fair was a success and we are almost out of backpacks, since the families who missed the festivities last Saturday can still come to get supplies.

Me helping Jessica work

So after the surgery, the Fair, and all the excitement I am all about having my adopted family near me. I mainly follow Jessica or Libby, since they tend to give me food and attention. But I LOVE going into Kelley's office! There are so many neat shelves to explore and she has some nice chairs that are super comfy! Unfortunately, Kelley is afraid I will mess up her mess, so generally I have to leave her office.

Oh! I almost forgot! Gus-Gus has a nice new home! So now I get all the attention I want. :)

Things have been busy at the Center lately. Everyone is talking about school supplies and needing donations. I think human children need supplies to help them learn. Something called "bookbags" are needed, and so are those things with metal rings that hold paper. (<--my favorite! I loooooovvvee to eat and sit on paper!) It seems children need lots of things when their new school year starts, and it can be difficult for humans to get the necessary items. If you have some of the needed items, please bring them to help the children out.

My son, Gus-Gus, is too young for school but he sure is trying to learn about new stuff!

I have had quite a time keeping him out of trouble!

There were a lot of people at the Center the last few days for food and utility assistance. There seem to be a lot of people not able to find work, so I feel very lucky to have my position as greeter here. I get food, water, and nice people come to visit me. I am truely blessed.

Update

Thank you all for your prayers! Gus-Gus is much better! He is very spoiled since all these humans have been paying him more attention than to me! But that is fine (I have to admit, he is awful cute).

As for me... I am feeling a bit lost. Mrs. Libby says that I am experiencing "the empty nest syndrome." All my little ones are in good homes. Gus-Gus is still with me to make sure I don't go into heat again before my surgery (but Counselor Bob is going to take him home). I am quite at peace with my upcoming surgery and am actually looking forward to it. I have had my brood and I don't want any more.

Coming from a cat, I am sure it sounds funny that I am pro-spay/neuter. From my times on the street I saw too many little kitties that no one would love. It is a very sad state. Spend sometime walking around your neighborhood at night-you are bound to see wild cats (who are very scary to a sweet kitty like me). I found information on the subject here.

I go in August 3rd, so keep me in your thoughts/prayers that all goes well.

Pray for my baby

What a day this has been! I spent most of it at the veterinarian's.

My poor Gus-Gus fell (Well..I think he did-- ) and hurt himself. He can't walk on his back legs.

Part of me wanted to love on him but part of me said, "eh, why bother..." So when Mrs. Libby (aka The Food Lady) came in, I just let her look after him. Little did I know that Jessica would bundle me and my other babies up to go to the vet.

Heartland Veterinary Clinic is a nice place, I do have to say. They looked after Gus-Gus and fed him. They kept me and the others comfortable as well (and No Thermometer!) So overall, I have no complaints about the experience.

Jessica, Ashley, and everyone else though has been buzzing around Gussy. I just don't know what I can do for him at this point, so please don't judge me! He is being bottle-fed and kept in a little basket for warmth and his protection.

I know, I know, I am not being the best mommy in the world-but hey, I have four others I need to pay attention to! All I can sincerely do, is ask you to pray for my little Gus-Gus, and pray he gets better!

The little rugrats are about 4 weeks old and are on the move. I am so overwhelmed! Picture it... 5 kittens running around, pooing where ever they feel like it, and meowing every single second of the day (unless they are nursing)-and me running in circles, trying to corral them into one area, and trying to tell them to hold their potty until I can get them into the litter box! I wonder if humans have it this bad.

One thing humans have over us kitty folk- is a doctor they can communicate with. I have yet to see a doctor that understands how I am feeling and listens when I tell her to not the the thermometer in there! I have observed, however, that not everyone goes to the doctor or takes their sick child to the doctor. Kelley told me that no everyone can afford health care insurance, but Medicaid is available to families who qualify. I don't know what the qualifications are, but Kelley sent Jessica and Miss Dianna to a training (humans get trained-hah!) to help people get this Medicaid stuff.

Jessica seems pretty excited about it. It seems with what she and Dianna learned, they can hopefully help applications get looked at and processed faster. I don't always know what Jessica is talking about- (like what "processed" means-other than processed food -yum!- but I don't think this is the same thing).

Oooo.... gotta go.... Gus-Gus just made a mess....

Thank you for your assistance!

The results are in! I now have names for my babies!


Gus-Gus (based on Cinderalla's mouse friend)


Oreo



Opie


Figaro


Lily

Now... if they would just listen to me....

Too many babies

It has been a little while since I have been able to get away and get to my blog. As you saw from my previous post- I had my kittens!

So Sunday night, after the Food Lady came to visit me, I started to feel a little funny. I had this insane desire to nest somewhere, and I seriously considered getting comfortable behind Mrs Jessica's computer... but there were too many wires. Eventually I found a box that was just right and even had a blanket in it! SCORE!

I will spare you the details... but by the end of the night I had five hungry mouths to feed!

I am happy report that the kittens look like me and do not take after their father.(Though some seem to have inherited his intelligence...)

The trouble now is, I can't tell the kittens apart! I call them- "Hey you!", "Move over here you little munchkin!" and all the kittens answer! I need to have them named so if I need Kitty #1, I can get Kitty #1's attention!!

In the interest of my sanity, I am asking for your help in naming these munchkins. In the sidebar, you will see a poll for the kitties names. I have three boys and two girls. Please help me out-- they are getting more active and listening less and less to my "Hey Yous!".

They're Heeeerrrrreeee!

Short end of the stick

I miss Jessie. She would always call me a "sweet baby" or "kitty kitty" and I found her very cute. From what I hear, she was married off and they got rid of her. I guess that is how humans get rid of people? Do they marry them off? It doesn't sound pleasant, but Miss Jessica assures me it is. Miss Jessica also said that Jessie is on her "honeymoon" and will be back in a week or so-but she will be leaving then for someplace south of here.

Apparently there already was a big party to celebrate Jessie's going away and I wasn't even invited. How wrong is that? Staff just left me--pregnant, bloated, and huge and had a party. Jessica showed me one lousy picture.
They at least could have brought me a piece of cake...

I'm ready.... I'm SO ready!

So... I love attention. I love the pats, scratches, pets, and general loving I get on a constant basis. I would love it even more if I was not so pregnant! My poor belly has gotten bigger and bigger and my perfect kitty figure is completely gone.

I am so big that staff and visitors to the Center make it a point to see if I have "popped" yet. It seems, however, that I just keep getting bigger and bigger. I suppose I will go into labor when no one is here and I will be able to howl loudly and not bother anyone.

One awesome benefit to my pitiful state, is when The Food Lady (sometimes I call her Nana) feeds me my favorite canned cat food. She knows the way to my heart is through my stomach. I hope the canned food continues even after I get these kittens out of me.

I have to say I really like The Food Lady. I think she teaches something, but I did notice that she is not especially good with things like copy machines and paper shredders (why do they have a paper shredder when they have me?). But she is a funny lady and she visits me over the weekend, which I appreciate. I do tend to prefer the company of humans, you know.

Life Changes

At first I thought it was just a super intense case of gas. Then it felt less like bubbles and more like kicks…that’s when I got suspicious.

And then some other changes started taking place: it’s harder to jump up on the counter, I feel heavier, my girlish figure is slowly but VERY surely vanishing, I crave strange foods, and some other obvious physical changes. It’s official. I am pregnant.

Sure, I am excited, but it is also very scary, especially since I am so young. Luckily there are some people around here who are helping take extra good care of me and the little ones that are coming soon. I’ve learned that I have to change how I eat and take care of myself to make sure the kittens are born healthy, that I need to learn how to nurture them so that they develop at the correct rate once they are born. Otherwise, they will not be ready to do “big cat” things when the time comes. I am so glad someone told me, otherwise I would not have known how to best take care of my babies!

Something tells me that this kind of situation can be similar for my human counterparts. I hear of something called the CARE program that is here at the Center that is run by Liv. (Liv REALLY loves me.) Sometimes I hear her talking about things like pre-natal care, eating right for you baby, getting vaccinations, nurturing your baby, and preventing another unexpected pregnancy. Turns out this is good information for me too. I know she usually just mentors young ladies in the local high schools, but I wonder what my chances are for getting into the CARE program. Humm….

I love to eat. I eat all the time. And seeing as though eating is one of the…5 activities that make up my daily life, (including napping, licking, sitting, and playing with shiny/dangling objects), I figured that its something I should know more about.
There is something in my inner cat that craves the rich, juicy, and satisfying taste of food that is not necessarily so good for me…like red meat. Oh how I love red meat! However, as it turns out other things are better for my little kitty system than all that stuff that I love the most. And turns out that those good-for-me things aren’t too bad to eat either. Here are a few nutritious things that I like:

Spinach:

Salad:

And you know what else is great? Here at the Center, we have a great garden started so that we can get even more fresh veggies—both for me and people who live around here. Some students who come to school here planted some big boy tomatoes and basil plants in the back of our building that were donated to us (thank you!) and so I am so excited about the Italian salads that should be poppin’ up soon!
And there is a LOT of gardening going on all around me. Across the street, Dr. Hanna has taken the whole side yard of his dental office property and last weekend planted a HUGE garden. It looks great and he is going to donate some of the good stuff for us to give out here at the Center! It is called “Dr. Hanna’s Victory Garden for those in Need”. YAY! I am excited.



The only question now…where is the ranch dressing? Oh wait…I guess I need light ranch!

Nutrition is important for everyone—not just for kitties…so here are some resources for the human types!

MyPyramid for Kids: Helping Parents Make Healthy Choices www.mypyramid.gov/kids
MyPyramid for Pregnancy and Breastfeeding moms: www.mypyramid.gov and click on “MyPyramid for Pregnancy and Breastfeeding Moms

Plea of an innocent kitty

The other day I was working with Jessica and I overheard her talking with Miss Kelley and Miss Jessie about fundraising. Last weekend, they had another booksale (if I was not a Resource Cat, I would want to be a Library Cat-so I was interested in hearing more about the booksale) but turnout was not what they had hoped for.

I am learning that something called "funding" is a common issue for places like the Center. I am pretty sure that "funding" is important, since Miss Jessie said we might need to cut back on my food! This is serious! I know I eat a lot, but I am a growing kitty and kitties need their nourishment!

Last night I did some internet surfing and found out that places like my home rely on people so they can help other people. This is where "funding" comes from. The humans here help other humans on a daily basis (and some kitties too!), but Miss Jessica, Miss Kelley, and everyone else can only do so much.

So, in the interest of my next meal-please think about helping fund the Upstate Family Resource Center. My tummy will thank you!!

So what does a Center cat do all day?

So you may ask.... what does a cat do all day at a Resource Center? Well. I have several duties...

Printer maintanence...


Office organization...


Taking memos...



And many, many meetings...

Beginnings...

As I sit here happily playing with my new green marble, I take time to reflect on the past two weeks...
It all started with a big storm. I thought I was old enough to handle the "big booms" (I later found out they are called thunder claps...) but I soon realized they were very scary for a little kitty such as myself.
I desperately ran and ran (and ran and ran...you get the picture...) until I saw sanctuary in the form of a big oak tree. I spent the next few hours wet, miserable, clinging to a tree. It was a sad state.
Come morning, I was wet and my beautiful white coat was a dingy brown. I started to give up hope... what was I going to do? Where was I going to live? And where is my next meal coming from???? I was SCARED!
But like a ray of hope from heaven itself.... I saw a door open. A warm, comforting feeling came over me. I ran down the tree (I almost fell, but I maintained) and crying my head off! I wanted someone to hear me!
And someone did. She knelt down and I couldn't help myself-I jumped into her arms. I didn't care at that point what would happen to me--I just knew I made the right decision.
The lady (I later heard people calling her "Jessica") carried me into the building and called two other ladies. One brought a nice big bowl of food and water to me and the other made me a soft bed in some sort of portable cave-like thing.
It was then I knew this was the place to be! This new place was so inviting, and even the boss-lady(I think they call her Kelley) thought I was cute!
So now I am happy, warm, and have a full belly. I even have a job: Mascot and greeter! Life is SO good at the Upstate Family Resource Center!