Friday, February 28, 2014

Feline Friday - Grady!

Grady is gorgeous! Maybe I should say handsome. Anyway, he is a healthy 2 year old and ready for a forever home.



He is friendly and laid back. Not much ruffles his fur. He has his claws, but doesn’t seem too anxious to use them. He seems to mostly like striking a pose and showing off his beautiful long haired coat.



Grady was abandoned by his owner and then rescued. His rescuer however found that she could no longer care for him. So once again he is looking for a new home where he can be truly loved.




Like all of our kitties, he has been to the vet. He has been neutered, and has had all of his vaccinations.  When it's time for him to move into his new home he will be micro chipped and registered.

If you are interested in meeting Grady come by StreetCats at 6520 E. 60th St, in Tulsa, 10:30 - 5:00 Tuesday though Saturday, or call our message line, 918-298-6006. We would love to show you around and introduce you to Grady!

Sunday, February 23, 2014

More Than Just a Pretty Face

Hello there!  It's me, Vanna!  And I bet you are smart enough to figure out that since I'm writing my second blog, I did not get adopted this last week.  But hey, not to worry, I'm pretty sure I'll be adopted this next week!  I can just feel it coming!

Okay, now for my lesson of the week.  I did tell you that I'm a teacher, right?  Yeah, pretty sure I did.  But before I start our lesson I will show you a picture of me . . . again.



Now, try to take your focus away from my green eyes and look down just a bit to my . . . whiskers!  Now my whiskers are white like most of my body so you might not notice them unless you know to pay attention!

But here are the whiskers of our last blog author, Toots.  I don't know how anyone could not notice these whiskers! No wonder Toots got adopted!



Now, really, WOW!  Those white whiskers against that mostly black fur??!!  Toot's designer really did a great job, don't you think?!

Okay, now for the lesson.  You probably already know that these really neat, gorgeous whiskers work as a type of environmental scanner.  I mean, as interesting and beautiful as they are, they weren't put there just to be pretty.  What I bet you didn't know is that they don't even have to actually touch something to detect that its there!  Yep, they are almost sort of a wireless network!  The nerves at the base of the whiskers are so sensitive that they pick up even tiny air movements!  So, for instance, air currents flowing around a piece of furniture can vibrate a cat's whiskers so that he knows there's something there!  And this happens even when it's dark!  Wow!  Just wow!

So last blog we talked about ears and this blog we're talking about whiskers.  Moveable ears and super sensitive whiskers.  And did you know that some humans actually think they're more evolved than we are??  Funny, huh!

Okay, I looked around the shop and determined that probably the winner of the best whiskers contest at this time would be Scooter.  So I told that big boy that since he won the whisker contest I would put his picture on the blog.  So here is Scooter, the very big, very sweet, lovable cat!  (And also  the pretty darn handsome cat!)


Well, before I go, I have one more thing to tell you about.  On Saturday I saw Katie Spring, the volunteer who adopted Janie!  She came in the shop to clean out our litter boxes and she told me that Janie is doing really well!  I just wanted to let you know that.  Janie sleeps with her at night and wakes her up during the middle of the night!  Good job, Janie!

If I'm still around in a week, we'll talk again then!  But right now I intend to find a volunteer lap in which to sit!  Anyone out there looking for a lap cat?!

Friday, February 21, 2014

Feline Friday - Dickens!

Dickens is a cutie! He is about 7 months old and full of mischief!
 
 
He is a healthy youngster who loves to play! He is also very sweet and does have his quiets moments. He seems to get along with everyone at StreetCats, including the other cats.



 This handsome kitty came to us from a local veterinarian. He has been neutered, tested for everything and has received all of his vaccinations. He has not been declawed. When adopted he will receive a microchip for identification with  the new owner’s information.



If you are interested in meeting Dickens come by StreetCats at 6520 E. 60th St, in Tulsa, 10:30 - 5:00 Tuesday though Saturday, or call our message line, 918-298-6006. We would love to show you around and introduce you to Dickens!

Sunday, February 16, 2014

All In The Ears!

Well, well, well.  Hmmm.  Not sure, not sure AT ALL, what I'm doing here!  If you've been really wondering, from Toot's last blog, if she got adopted, well, she did.  And she was so, well, in a state of disbelief that I don't think she was even thinking about this blog.  But, because I'm a cat, I have very good ears.  (We'll talk about that.)  And because I have very good ears, I heard her say as she was leaving the cat quarters, "I'm gone.  Say nice things about me!"  And then just as she was being carried out the front door I heard her say, "I'm gone.  You'll have to carry on without me."

She meant the blog, don't you think?  And I didn't see anyone else rushing to do the chore.  That sort of surprises me because, I mean, Lulu started the blog and then she was adopted.  Janie took over, at Lulu's request, and she was adopted!  Well, Janie convinced Toots to do the blog and then Toots was adopted!  Well, I want to be adopted, too, so this is a no brainer, right?!  Adoption is a great thing!  I know because I was adopted once and my human loved me so much and I loved her, too!  I sat on her lap and she fed me anything I wanted!  But, sadly, she was no longer able to take care of me and I had to come back to StreetCats.  That's not bad at all except that they won't feed me anything I want here!  They have me on a "diet!"  So anyway, there were a lot of tears when I left my human . . . very sad.  I sure hope she's okay and not worried about me.  There is no need to worry because the volunteers here will find me a new home as soon as they can.  And . . . once you are a StreetCat, you are always a StreetCat!  I think that's the very best thing!  So since I grabbed this blog writing gig, I know I'll be adopted . . . maybe even this week!

So here is a picture of me.  First and foremost, you will want to notice my beautiful green eyes.  Lulu thought she had pretty eyes, but mine are green!


Nice, huh?!

Now I'm going to explain to you how it is that I happened to hear everything Toots was saying as she left StreetCats.  This is very important because it is why I'm writing the blog and why I will soon be adopted!  Okay, ears!  Just in case you didn't know, hearing is a cat's most highly developed sense.  We can hear sounds at a frequency three times higher than humans can!  And our ears can rotate around like a satellite dish to capture sounds more accurately.  That means that, not only can we perceive the slightest noise, but we can judge where it's coming from!

Now I'm going to show you two more pictures of my ears and how they rotate.  In the second one you will notice that I have one ear up and one ear back.  Cool, huh?!  That way I can hear what is going on behind me as well as what is going on in front of me.  I bet humans wish they could do that, but they can't!  Their ears don't rotate at all.  They have such limitations!  Okay, here you go!



Questions?  If you have any, just make a comment on the blog and I will do my best to answer them.  I know how much humans would like to understand cat specialness!  And when I write again, I'll teach you something else!  IF I write again, that is.  I just might get adopted before there is time!  Oh yeah, I almost forgot to tell you!  My name is Vanna!  Vanna's my name and teaching's my game!

Friday, February 14, 2014

Feline Friday - Mandy!

 Mandy is simply stunning in her sleek black coat with those gorgeous eyes!



She is a 1 year old little girl who loves to play and get into things....especially the cabinets! She gets along well with the other cats and is also very talkative! When she isn’t playing or sleeping she spends a good part of her day trying to get into the upper cabinets in our big cat room (we don’t have a room specifically for Big Cats, but we do have a big room where a lot of the cats spend their time). She's pretty clever! Sometimes during the night, despite the latches on the cabinet doors, she manages to get one open and we find her the next morning comfortably lying among the stored cat beds and towels.



 Mandy was returned to us a couple of months ago because the owners said that she “wasn’t a lap cat”.  Well, I have personally seen her relax in a volunteer’s lap, so I know that statement isn’t entirely true. What I suspect is that she had no desire to sit on the laps of the owners. She wasn’t treated very well by them and she used to hide from them a lot. I’m biting my tongue not to say anything about them, except that they were wise to bring her back to us when they decided that they no longer wanted to care for her. And, no, we did not let them choose another cat.

 We think that Mandy would be fine living in a home with another cat(s). We don’t know whether or not she gets along with dogs. Because her social skills are a little undeveloped we feel that she will do best in a loving home with owners willing to be patient with her.



If you would like to meet Mandy, please come by StreetCats at 6520 E. 60th St., in Tulsa, or call our message line at 918-298-0104, and leave a message indicating the reason for your call. Our hours are Tues. through Sat. from 10:30 am until 5:00 pm.

Friday, February 7, 2014

It's The Fur, Stupid!

No, no, not you!  If there's anything you learn on the street it's not to call people or other cats "stupid!"  And since I've been living at StreetCats I've learned that it's not polite to say it even if you're thinking it.    So see, I have just given you two reasons not to use the word "stupid."  But I'm talking to myself!

Here's the deal.  One of the perches from which I observe here at StreetCats is beside a window and I can tell that's it's cold outside!  I haven't been outside for almost a year, but I can feel that cold and it will be just fine with me if I don't experience it straight on ever again!  So when the poor, strangely hairless humans come in here they are wearing not only their regular clothes that substitute for fur, but extra coats, gloves, scarves, anything they can find to keep them warm!  So I'm observing this and feeling sorry for them in their nakedness.  It really is sad, you know!  They have no fur!

So they come in here and often, certainly not insignificantly, they take a cat with them when they leave!  A few days ago it was Sophie and yesterday it was Pepper, Beau and Miss Molly!  Well, I'm somewhat dismayed by how long it took me to put two and two together!  You get it, don't you?!  They are taking kitties home with them for their fur!

No, no, don't worry!  Our volunteers here are very careful in who gets to adopt us.  I promise they don't take the fur off of us!  Nor do they ignore us when it gets warm enough that they don't need fur to help keep them warm.  They are nice people!  But, let's face it, humans go to extremes during cold weather to keep warm.  Did you know that they borrow sheep's wool just to weave into clothing to help keep them warm?  I hate to mention it, but they even try wearing animals' fur to stay warm.  Well, that is just wrong!  And besides, it doesn't work!  Our fur is warm because it comes with our warm, (and in a cat's  case, purring) bodies!

So yesterday, after I added things up and figured this out, I decided that I would show off my fur and see what happened.  So a young woman came in and I went right up to her and got her attention.  And then I rolled over to show her the markings on my stomach that I didn't even know I had until I looked at Vickie's pictures of me!  And she liked me!  She thinks my fur is good fur!  I think there is a very good chance that she is going to come back and get me and adopt me!  Really!

So . . . I'm scared!  I've belonged to a human before and he wasn't a nice one and he abandoned me!  Do I dare really trust this young woman?  I will follow my own lessons and verify, verify, verify before I give her my trust.  Then we'll see how she responds when I show her that I'm in control.  Maybe if all goes well, we will love each other!  Wouldn't that just be wonderful?!

If you don't hear from me again, you'll know what happened!  And if you do hear from me, well, you just do.  Stay warm, everyone!  A cat on your lap or beside you in bed will surely help!  We have fur!

Feline Friday - Rupert!

Meet Rupert! 



Rupert is a youngster and celebrated his 1st birthday with us last week. His estimated birth date is February 1, 2013. He's described as a domestic short hair red tabby that has not been declawed.




Playful and outgoing, he gets along well with other cats and people, too!  He came to us because his owner was moving and said that she couldn’t take him with her.


I think he was enjoying having having his picture taken.

As with all of StreetCats kitties he has been to the vet and declared healthy! He has had tests and vaccinations,  and has been neutered, too.

If you are interested in meeting Rupert come by StreetCats at 6520 E. 60th St, in Tulsa
Tues. - Sat. between the hours of 10:30 and 5:00, or call our message line at 918-298-0104 for adoption information. Leave your message about Rupert and you will be called back as soon as possible. 








Sunday, February 2, 2014

Lessons From A Street Cat

I have some things I need to tell you.  But before I do . . . did you see those pictures of me?  I had no idea I had such pretty markings!  And how about those whiskers!  Wow, sort of glad I looked at those!

Okay, now down to business.  Here's the deal.  I've been worried about some of our kittens that have been coming through StreetCats.  It's not much like me to worry, but . . . .  Well, let me explain.  They are so darn innocent!  I mean some of them have never had one bad thing happen to them in their lives! That's what everyone wants for babies, right?  Right!  But what if they do have some hard knocks along the way?  They won't have a clue what they should do!  So I'm going to give them some advice, if they're reading.  And I hope they are!

First, I know you've heard the phrase "trust, but verify."  Well, no!  By the time you get around to verifying it could be too late.  Here is the rule:  Verify, verify, verify, and verify at least one additional time before you trust!  Got it?!  I'm telling you a lot of these kittens would walk up to just any stranger they saw on the street!  They need some lessons!

Okay, second rule.  Always maintain control, even after you trust.  You see, I had a place to stay once. I can't quite bring myself to call it a home because it wasn't forever.  And I turned my life over to the person who had me.  I can't quite call him an owner or even a human!  But I learned, after I was abandoned, to always be in control.  Never, never, never give up control over your own destiny.  Even after you trust someone, be sure they know that you will interact with them on your terms only!  Give them a nip or a scratch now and then just to remind them of who is the boss!

Okay, now for my third lesson I need to show you a picture.  Here it is.


Attention all innocent kittens like the ones in this picture!  If you ever find yourself on the street and you see this man, run, don't walk, to him immediately!  The cats in this picture are Loki and Odie and I sure hope they are reading this.  They are absolutely the most innocent, trusting kittens we've had in the shop since I've been here.  They've been adopted and they have a good home.  But things can happen!  If you don't believe it, watch The Incredible Journey!  I'm telling you they need lessons!

The man is this picture is David McAuliffe and he LOVES cats!  Rest assured that if you ask him for rescue, you will get it!  He has four cats of his own!  Their names are Earl Grey, Autumn, Rocky and P.T.  And he likes to spend lots of time helping animals!  Well, he does also like to draw, paint and play music.  But what is important for you to know is that he is a good guy who will help you if you need to be rescued!  Okay?!

That's all my lessons for today.  I sincerely hope none of you kitties reading this blog ever have to use them!  I wish I had never had to learn them!