New Year Greetings from Joseph

We got a nice note from Joseph's mom wishing us a joy filled and peaceful New Year...

And so we pass it along to you all.

Thanks for stopping by!

~MamaLisa

A Happy Mancat

Joseph is content and happy!

His new guardian sent us this picture of him and gave us this update:

"Joseph is doing great. I think my little apartment feels like home to him and although I now leave the door to the downstairs open when I leave he rarely goes downstairs, however he does follow me when I go downstairs but often heads back upstairs before me. He talks to me a lot and plays all the time. His favorite plaything is still the red flyswatter. I have been feeding him freshly ground cat food made at Mainely Poultry and he loves it."  

"I've discovered he likes to catch houseflies. He has quite a talent for it. This morning there were wild turkeys outside in the storm and Joseph loved watching them. He enjoys all the windows and is frequently perched on a windowsill taking in the goings-on outside.

I love having him in my life."

So very heart warming to hear!

Thanks for stopping by!

~MamaLisa

Joseph

If we could find the perfect forever home for Joseph, it would be at the end of a country road.

On a rolling farm.

With a friendly pony

and friendly cows

surrounded by beautiful fields 

(oh, heck, let's make it blueberry fields since we are in Maine)

and to feel safe in the arms of a warm and loving guardian.

Welcome to your forever home, Joseph!

We couldn't be more pleased to announce that 

Joseph was adopted on Sunday!

Being the brave risk taker he is, Joseph took out to explore his new home right away,

and found everything in perfect order!

Joseph came to us looking tired and bedraggled only two short months ago.

He healed, ate, slept, sunned and filled out into a gorgeous boy.

We are grateful for the many people who donated to help Joseph including Kari, Betty, Gail, Trish and Caren!!

For those of you who want to know why we couldn't keep Joseph, please keep reading below....

Otherwise, thanks for stopping by!

~MamaLisa

P.S.

Why we couldn't keep Joseph:

Many of you have given us wonderful advice on how to integrate a kitty who doesn't like other cats into a multicat household. Under different circumstances we would love to take on a project like that. However, my beloved boy, Snafu (who is growing more deaf each year) has anxiety and social issues, which have been heightened due to the unfamiliar smell of new cat on everything and especially on me. Snafu's demeanor has changed and I'm working with him medically and behaviorally to resolve the change (I hope after Joseph's smell is gone, he'll come back to himself). Since Snafu has the only other room in our cottage, there wasn't a place to separate Joseph out.

Also, we have two elderly special needs dogs that need a lot of our attention. Cooper is mostly blind and deaf as well as senile, and Buzz is living with cancer (lymphoma). So we could not add more stress factors into our  household.

We are looking forward to winter coming, slowing down and becoming more contemplative.

Thanks for reading our blog! Peace to you!
~ML

Whiskers of a Tuxie on Wednesday

Look at Joseph's beautiful whiskers!

Well, today is October 1st and we had an appointment to bring Joseph to Pal's No-Kill Cat Shelter.

We couldn't do it.

A couple of weeks ago, I visited the shelter and was amazed at how many cats they had living peacefully in one huge cat room. They have an outdoor enclosure and a special room for peers and cats with special issues. A young woman was there just to snuggle and be with the cats and another woman helped me by answering a ton of questions. While I am grateful this shelter is doing everything they can to make these kitties happy and get them adopted, I felt it had to be a last resort for Joseph.

Joseph's spirit would not thrive within the accommodations for cats who do not like other cats. Two cats fell into this category, and they were in 24 x 20 metal crates. One was a tuxedo male. They did have clean litter, food, water and a nice bed.

Joseph currently lives in our workshop and is visited 4 times a day.

Above is a picture of the workshop with Joseph in the window. It was taken as I was coming back from taking the dogs for a woods walk.

Say hello!

Here is his view out the window (with his own bird feeder).

Inside, he is so happy to have visitors.

We play for a couple of minutes and he shows off his climbing skills by going up to the loft.

He has his own special room where we secure him in at night.

It has his food and water up on a shelf with a special drawer bed stuffed with old down jackets.

But Joseph's taken to sleeping in his chair with an old down sleeping bag draped over it.

About an hour or so of each day, he gets transported to the cat enclosure for time outside (he's always talking).

He loves to use our shoes as a scratching post (in a friendly way).

Many people have assured us that cats will do well outside in the winter as long as they have good bedding (ie. down jackets and sleeping bag).

Joseph is doing well with our accommodations, but he still would like to be with people, so we continue our search for his forever home.

Here is a fun video of Joseph walking the rafters while we play.

Click here if you can't play the embedded video.

Thanks for stopping by!

~MamaLisa

Life of Joseph

Joseph has been spending time in our cat enclosure when no other kitties want to use it. We close off the door to the bathroom window (where the entrance is from the house).

He scented the place up real good; he did a pee, but NOT a spray.

But Joseph mostly wanted to come inside the house.

If you haven't stopped by recently, check out how Joseph came to us HERE, and his updates ONE and TWO.

Today Joseph's coat has been coming in a nice shiny black, replacing all the dry, brittle, brown fur he had from being malnourished for so long.

Last week the vet we took him to said he could be anywhere between 1 1/2 to 3 years old. 

He is so playful and vocal, he'll be a joy to anyone who wants an engaging kitty. 

Here is a video of him talking to me from the shop window. We love his big thumbs!

Thanks for stopping by!

~MamaLisa

Mancat Monday: Joseph, Of Course!

Joseph was a true gentle mancat during his visit to At Home Vet on Saturday!

He was nervous, of course, but remained calm.

Even when nice Dr Crispbell was "mandling" him, he didn't fuss much. She said he was very well behaved!

His Feline Lukemia/Aids/Heartworm test came back negative! Whew!

His ears were clean, and he'd gained almost a pound since his neutering, 

but he did need worming and was glad to get back into the crate. 

Many, many thank yous to those who donated funds for his care and made the visit possible!

On another note...

Thankfully, Joseph was accepted onto Pal's No-Kill Cat Shelter's waiting list and is scheduled for in-take on October 1st. If we do not find him a forever home first, we have a warm place for him before winter.

Thanks for stopping by!
~MamaLisa

Joseph Update

Thank you all for your well wishes for Joseph. We have learned a lot about this pleasant fellow over the weekend.

First, let me say that we were totally spellbound by Joseph, and did a crazy thing by taking him in without a future plan for him. Quite honestly I feel he was asking us for help and we had no choice. I've heard stories about this kind of thing from other people, but now I understand it completely. It has amazed us at how grateful he seems. Again, I've heard other people say their rescued dog or cat is grateful, but I'd never experienced it until now.

Joseph is a love bug for sure, but not clingy and can be left alone. He’s not shy around new people and tolerated a front paw nail clipping. Every day that he feels secure and is getting nutritious food, his coat gets cleaner and shinier. It seems like he is taking a respite from being outdoors since he really hasn't tried to get back out there at all.

However…

Unfortunately, we can't keep him. The number one reason is he's an adult male (former tomcat) at least a year and a half to two years old, and Snafu will not tolerate another cat. We don't have the space inside the house, vertical or otherwise! He won't be able to live in our shop over the winter because there's no heat. Number two, we have learned that Joseph doesn't like (or trust) dogs and he will challenge them. I'm sure when he was on his own he ran into many dogs that did not treat him well, so we can't blame him.

The least, but none the less important, reason is that we just can't afford another pet. Buzz has recently been diagnosed with cancer and we will need to focus our resources on her for as long as she is with us.

We have reached out to our cat loving friends, but no one is able to take him.

So, Joseph remains in our care. Ultimately he will need additional medical care before he can go to his forever home. I called our vet and priced it out with them:

 General Medical Exam - $43
Feline AIDS/Leukemia/Heartworm Test - $53
Distemper - $25
Distemper Booster - $25
Feline Leuk - $29
Leuk Booster - $29

 That's over $200!

We are definitely going to need financial help with this! Some of you may know (via Facebook) that we just went through this with a little rescued Maltese Shih Tzu mix named Maddie who we just placed in her forever home. And here we are again! Please let us know if you're familiar with any feline rescue resources we can tap into. I've also set up a "Donate" button for anyone who has the means and can contribute to his care (or call At Home Veterinary Care at (207) 582-8800 to donate directly to his account under Lisa Kolosey). 

We would be very grateful and Joseph already is.

Thank you for stopping by!

~MamaLisa

Joseph

 We've been listening to loud screechy cat fights all summer long. There’s a new stray tomcat in our neighborhood and he’s challenging all the outdoor cats that live around here (none of our kitties, since ours are indoors only). MamaLindy caught glimpses of him enough to know he was a black and white tuxie. 

 Our next door neighbor has a very pretty torbie named Momo who's been getting bullied by this guy,

and our neighbor said she’d like to catch him and take him to the local humane society.

I hadn't seen him until yesterday. He was right outside our front door meowing and meowing in a sing-songy speech.

I thought he was threatening Snafu and Owen who were plastered to the screens looking out at him. Both of them were very quiet and the black and white, fat-faced tom was looking directly at me. So I called out to him. That triggered a long low meow session from him and my heart sank. I felt he was telling me there was something wrong. 

I totally forgot he was the neighborhood terrorist and brought him a bowl of food. He was shy but didn't go very far when I came out to deposit the goods at a safe distance. Once I was back inside, he dug right into the bowl of kibble. In less than a minute he was rubbing on everything outside and I wondered if he’d spray us as his own, too. Thank God he didn't spray; he only laid down on the stoop and began washing up. 

 So I went out to take a closer look at him and see if he was injured. His face was beaten up, but mostly old wounds and he’d only one new scratch that looked swollen but not infected. He let me pet him a little bit then continued to eat. 

 When MamaLindy got home and went over to see him, he came right out to see her with only a little coaxing. He's bony, but not emaciated, had no collar, and his coat was unkempt with motor oil underneath a patch of matted burrs. He didn't fuss at all when she cut the patch off him with scissors. 

We agreed he needed to be neutered, and MamaLindy called a local dog shelter that offers inexpensive neuters on certain days. When she found out they were having a clinic that day and could do him right away, we felt it was fate. This black and white tuxie seemed to be asking us for help, so we had to do it even though it cost $75 (not as cheap as some clinics around here, but it was to include rabies vacc.). 

 So…we nabbed him! 

 Okay, so he pretty much walked right into the crate.

He didn't mind the car ride at all and lay down in the crate during our drive to the clinic. We had no plan for what to do with him afterwards, but at five o’clock last night, we picked him up. 

Meet Joseph!

We made a place for him in our workshop behind the house (only recently vacated by another pet project Foster Dog Maddie – now in her forever home).

Overnight he did not try to escape, he did not meow incessantly, he did not pee all over the place, but went in his litter box. 

 He’s incredibly friendly, playful, rubby, lovey, rolly and dirty!

Has this ever happened to any of you?  ;) 

He needs a home now. 

Help!

~MamaLisa