Tuesday, December 15, 2009

Goodbye's and a Gloomy Morning

As usual, it's a sad day when my daughter goes back to Southern California. She leaves this afternoon and as I drink my coffee this morning I think back to the little girl that used to help me with my foster kittens. I remember when she was a teenager and we'd have a litter of bottlefeeders, she'd come home from a date at midnight and take a shift so that I could sleep longer. :) Our lives have become a series of airport hellos and goodbyes.

After she leaves this afternoon, it'll be time to get back to rescue business. Christmas is coming, and adoptions slow down - foster homes are going out of town. It's not really a good time to rescue, but it hurts to think of the cats that have no home or are going to die alone.

Sorry for the melancholy blog post this morning. Geez!

On another note, there's another guy at the shelter that I would love to see find a forever home:

Chunk weighed in at the shelter at a whopping 35 lbs! It's certainly a different kind of animal abuse. I wanted to laugh and I wanted to cry when I saw him. I've never experienced that kind of emotion so quickly. Somebody must've loved him at one point - he was neutered and declawed.

Chunk can walk 5 steps then he has to stop and rest. He LOVES belly rubs - probably because he can't scratch himself. In fact, he came to the shelter so matted because he can't groom himself either. All that being said, he has to be the world's sweetest guy! He purrs constantly and loves everybody! Last I heard, the shelter was considering making him a permanent shelter cat. Whatever happens, this guy needs to be on a diet. (Sorry for stating the obvious) I wanted to take him home the moment that I saw him.

My foster kitten "Travis" has to go to the vets this morning. Poor little guy has an Upper Respiratory Infection that isn't responding well to the meds I've been giving him. He seems to be getting worse and his poor eyes are sealed shut with goop until I clean them out.

I'll work on some happy news - sooooon! :)

9 comments:

RHz said...

Chunk is fabulous!

Anonymous said...

World Record Heaviest Cat:
- Himmy, a neutered tabby living in Australia who weighed 46 lbs, 15.25 oz; died of heart failure
- Poppa - an 11-year-old tabby who wieghed 44.5 lbs.
- Tiger - a long-haired part-Persian weighing 43 lbs.
NOTE: Guinness World Records is no longer documenting this record, as owners were cruelly overfeeding their pets to gain a new record

Anonymous said...

May God bless
Chunk and all the homeless kitties this Christmas! I hope shelter adoptions increase this year!

Anonymous said...

I look at that picture and I feel awful! My two adult cats are getting ever fatter because the foster kittens need to free feed. They are still 13 pounds away from being Chunk, but still.

And you're right, it is totally painful to imagine all the cats on death row during Christmas while we're eating turkey dinners.

Anonymous said...

Hi, seeing this post reminded me immediately of this webpage:
http://www.catinfo.org/feline_obesity.htm#Bennie_

If they do keep Chunk please make sure they see this webpage, great info about slimming down obese cats from a vet. I feel so bad for this poor cat Chunk!

Anonymous said...

He reminds me of Jabba the Hut!

Smartypants said...

He's so gorgeous... oh how I wish I could hug him!

canuckpet said...

I adopted a cat like Chunk a few years ago, not quite 35lbs but close to 30lbs. It is heartbreaking taking them through a diet that restrictive but every day with my sweet boy makes it worth it

Jenn said...

wow, he is huge! (the person who came to adopt our last TCR foster told me about Chunk, because we have a LARGE orange guy that made her think of him. (Our guy is just extra big, not extra fat.)