Photo Credit: Strassberg Stock Art
Angels 4 Animals

 


 

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Meet Our "Staff"

Squeeky

Squeeky is our senior kitty, at 19 years of age. She also answers to her nicknames "gorgeous girl", "snugglepuss", and "angel kitty".  Squeeky arrived at our doorstep at 4 AM on a frigid January night (minus 30 degrees celcius - that's ridiculously cold!) all the way back in 1991. Her ears were on the verge of frost bite - we took her in just in time. Her super-sweet and gentle disposition melted out hearts immediately and she instantly became one of the family - and of course has been a very happy  indoor kitty ever since. Squeeky is the most well behaved cat we have ever known. She is incredibly obedient and has always followed all our house rules to a "T". No furniture scratching, no jumping on counter tops - a real little lady. She is also highly intelligent and has always been a real chatterbox. She is very affectionate and until the last year had a playful bratty streak, but at age 19 she's taking things easy now. She's always been highly attached to her humans. Squeeky was the only cat in the family until age 17, at which point we added 6 (yes, 6) more within just one year. She's adapted to sharing her home with a bunch of crazies very well - we're very proud of our senior girl.

Squeeky had feline diabetes for a short time a few years ago, and we are so fortunate that it was reversed. She also struggled with chronic esophagitis over the last year, a complication of anesthesia during dental surgery.  But her recent vet check showed this 19 year old to be in otherwise excellent health

See our article about how we are treating Squeeky's cat arthritis.

 

Treenie

Our super-tiny little sweetie. Next to Squeeky, Treenie is our Second in Command". Treenie was rescued by us from a very large tree in which she had been stuck, unable to come down, for hours on a beautiful hot August evening in 2008. Just 6 months old, she was far too high up for us to get to ourselves, so we had to enlist the help of our local Fire Department. After much arm-twisting (since it is actually against Fire Department policy to assist in these types of rescues apparently for liability reasons), they showed up with their big red fire engine and hydraulic ladder. Turns out they were all a bunch of animals lovers and couldn't turn their backs on our pleas to help this little girl, so they went against policy. We took her home and tried to find her family, to no avail. After having her scanned by our vet to see if she had microchip to identify her  owner, Treenie became ours. Due to some of her habits, we suspect this tiny little girl may have been fending for herself on the street before she crossed our path. To this day, she remains extremely small, probably due to lack of nutrition under the age of 6 months. When she came into our life, Treenie brought a lot of laughter and love into our home when it was really needed. We think of her and our Squeeky as a couple of little angels who were sent directly to us. They are both very special girls. Treenie's Photo Album

 
George

Georgie joined us on December 4, 2008 at six months of age. Treenie, also 6 months,  needed a buddy her own age to romp around with. She was full of beans and looking for constant play, and our senior girl Squeeky was not amused by Treenie's attempts to engage her. After visiting the no-kill shelters in our area and finding several awesome kitties we would have loved to adopt, we decided to check our local Humane Society since they were euthanizing cats in horrifically high numbers at that time due to overcrowding. We wanted to save a life. Georgie was our guy. This little silver-grey tabby is a real character. He  knows how to dance on his hind-legs and twirl around, (especially if there's corned beef involved) which is very, very cute. In addition to being a fun-loving little kook, he's a very sweet, well behaved, refined little guy who is always good for a laugh or a cuddle. He was named George by the Humane Society and it stuck. But since he likes to hang out with us in the kitchen when there's work to be done and keep us company we nick-named him "Emeril" (after celebrity chef Emeril Lagasse). AKA "the kitchen buddy".

 
Ringo

Ringo is George's brother. So here's how it happened. We walked into the Humane Society to adopt a cat - we came out with three. As mentioned, the Humane Society was euthanizing high numbers of cats at the time, and the thought of adopting George but leaving his brother Ringo behind broke our hearts. They were the last two cats remaining of their littler, and the thought of separatng them was bad enough, but if we didnt take Ringo, they would have put him down. He was suffering his third round of a chronic upper respiratory infection at the time and with the overcrowding problem, the Humane Society would not continue to treat him for the condition. If we hadnt adopted him that Sunday, he would have been euthanized later that week. So now he's ours. We initially took him strictly as a pity case, but Ringo has turned out to be is an admirable little man - our highly affectionate little "tiger". We call him "wild man Ringo" because of the extreme vigor with which he can play. A sickly, scrawny little guy when we brought him home, today he is rock solid and strong on the outside - but so soft and gentle on the inside. He loves to chew things - like the rod-iron legs of our kitchen table, or say, the edge of a computer.  But he's always the little gentleman. Well behaved and (mostly) well mannered (except for when he muscles into his buddies food bowls). He'll let you know when he's in urgent need of a cuddle by standing on his hind legs and reaching up to be held. It feels great to know we literally saved this little guy's life. Ringo's Photo Album

 
Boo-Boo

At just 2 weeks of age, BooBoo was found downtown on one of the busiest streets in the city, alone with just one other sibling, and turned over to the Humane Society. He arrived at our home with George and Ringo. They had all been roommates together at the Humane Society. Also just 6 months old when we adopted him, he was quiet and withdrawn throughout much of our visit at the Humane Society, but as we prepared to leave, he sprang to life, suddenly craving attention and playtime. It was like he was calling out to us to take him too. How do you turn your back on that, especially when you know you can find room in your home?  Once at home, Boo-Boo soon proved to be utterly incorrigible. If there was something he wasn't allowed to do, he did it - over, and over, and over again. He would not take direction (hence the name "Boo-Boo" - as in "we've made a Boo-Boo"). But we stuck by him, as much as he tried our patience - because that's what you do when you've adopted a pet, you make a committment to them. In the end our perserverance was worth it. A year later, after consistent trainingand guidance, Boo Boo is a real little gentleman who keeps his nose out of trouble (mostly) and has learned to overcome all his bad habits (mostly). Originally resistant to being cuddled or held, Boo-Boo will now happily accept that type of attention and likes to be affectionate. He's turned into a great little companion. We put in the effort with Boo-Boo and stood by him, and it paid off. Its rewarding to see how far he's come. We're proud of him.  Pictures of Boo

Lambert

Lambert is the last of our shelter adoptees to arrive. A big cuddly teddy-bear, he joined us in October 2009. He first caught our eye in Febraruy of 2009 at Darcy's No-Kill Shelter - the largest no-kill shelter in all of Western Canada, truly an awesome place. As far as shelter's go, it doesnt get any better than this one. The staff truly love the cats and work tierlessly to give them the best care and comfort while trying to find them homes. But it is still a shelter, not a home environment with a family, and Lambert knew it. This poor guy was in the shelter for over a year and a half, and he was very depressed.  He suffered from anxiety so severe upon his arrival at the shelter that he was pulling his fur out, and now has a permanent bald patch on his neck as a result. Our home was getting quite full, but every time we saw his face and looked into his deep eyes, he pulled at our hearts. How could this lovely cat be passed by for so long? We kept telling ourselves that if he was still in the shelter by the end of the summer, we'd know it was meant to be and we'd adopt him. Long story short - he was still in the shelter at the end of the summer. We took him home in early October and he fit right in immediately, becoming fast friends and great buddies with our other guys. What's really wonderful is that within 48 hours of intergrating into our home, Lambert underwent an entire personality change. He literally sprang to life. He became extremely playful and the depression he'd always exhibited in the shelter completely lifted. All he wanted was to be part of a loving family. In the shelter he had given up on life. He would simply sleep all the time and wouldn't even get up if someone came in the room to visit. He showed no interest in anything. Now Lambert is always looking for a good time. This fun-loving guy is constantly dragging a toy through the house, and is always ready for a little action. But Lambert also has a deeply senstive side. Interestingly, he has an incredible ability to know when someone is in need of comfort - whether they are humans or cats. He will gravitate toward any person who is feeling depressed and will crawl into their lap to console them. If one of the other cats is feeling ill or is sulking because they have been scolded, he will insticntlively go to them and protectively cuddle up to them. Lambert is a cat with a special gift. We call him Lammie for short, which is actually quite fitting because he sounds just like a little lamb when he meows.

Frosty

Frosty was not "planned".  He showed up in our yard, pleading for help in early December 2009, the day the weather really started turning frosty-cold. He'd been hanging around peering into our window for weeks but we didn't realize he was homeless; we thought he was just a neighbourhood cat looking to make friends with our cats. But as the north wind brought the first really cold weather on the first Friday in December, this little guy knew it was time to get help and he knew how to ask for it. (He also apparently knew how to pick the right people!). After enlisting the help of the Humane Society to try to track down Frosty's family, we learned he was at least 5 years old. Nearly 2 months prior, his owner had moved to a place that didn't allow pets so she left him with somene she hoped would care for him. Apparently they did not. He had been living on the street for 6 solid weeks - almost the entire time since his owner had left. The story goes that one day he just never came back. However, nobody bothered to look for him. No signs posted in the neighbourhood. No "lost" report filed with the Humane Society. And so it was that he came to be ours. We kept him and promised him he'd never know what it is like to be homeless, unloved, abandoned or unwanted again.  Frosty was very depressed and withdrawn his first couple months with us. No matter how welcome, safe and secure we tried to make him feel, he just seemed so sad and kept to himself. We suspect he deeply missed his original owner and was very confused by her sudden departure from his life. He wanted his person back. We finally got to see Frosty's true personality when eventually the depression lifted after a couple months. He has finally adjusted to his new home and moved on with his new life with us. He's a gleeful little guy who likes to frolic and play. If he gets hungry and we're not around to fill his food bowl for a while, he'll topple the garbage over and rumage for a snack - not something we're crazy about, but we understand that its no doubt how he used to survive when living on the street. Just before Frosty showed up, we had decided we could make room for one more cat in our home - we were going to treat ourselves to the joy of a little girl kitten for Christmas. Then came Frosty and there went the plan to adopt a little kitten. We couldn't turn our back on him.

 

We've met so many wonderful cats when visiting animal shelters. We would have loved to adopt them all. We often think of the ones left behind. Our cats add an additional layer of richeness to our lives that just wouldnt be there without them. If you are a cat-lover and can find room in your home for another cat, please consider rescuing someone from a shelter. The cat over population problem is tragic, with astonishing numbers of these precious animals being put to sleep every day simply because they have no home. They die alone, afraid, confused, anxious, and unloved. Adopting a cat from a no-kill shelter makes a space for the shelter to take in someone else.

We here at Angels4Animals dream of the day when no more cats have to die because humans have let them down - a day when feline euthanasia due to overpopulation is a thing of the past. Until that day comes, its up to cat lovers everywhere to do what they can to open their hearts and homes to make room for even just one more cat in their lives. If every responsbile cat lover were to adopt just one more cat, think of all the lives that would ultimately be saved.

Click this Link and a Corporate Sponsor Will Donate Money to Help Homeless Pets - Costs You Nothing!  Click to Help Animals Now!

 

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