Meet New Kitty

   We arrived early to meet Jenna, and spent some time exploring Petsmart, meeting up with 10 month old Buddy (a soft-coated wheaten terrier) and his family. I'll tell you, if wheaties looked like this when they were full grown (extra shaggy with dark markings & puppy proportions), I'd have one by now—CUTE!!!

   She came with the name Francine, after having originally been named Fancy; cute, but not suitable for this girl. So far the suggestions have been Apricot, Momo ("peach" in Japanese), and Kismet ("Kizzy" for short). Maybe Joanie, after my favorite red head on Mad Men? Send me ideas. We shall see what fits, once I've lived with her for a few days.

Check. Out. This. Face.

I was allowed to let her out of her cage, to get to know her better...

Taylor didn't even notice her!

Aki is not sure about this "kitty" thing. She gives a lil' protest:

And in response, Kitty smacks her on the nose...

And Aki tries to eat her face. Uh-oh... But at least Kitty isn't scared!

And finally, Taylor notices!

Gorgeous coat...

   Honorable mentions to Paisley and Hope, two other dear kitties. It was a very, very difficult decision! I couldn't take you all, but I'm sure you will find your perfect home soon!

And Another Thing...

   ....that makes me insanely happy: when the people who have adopted my foster dogs give me updates! I really look forward to fostering again someday, once the craziness of my own life has subsided.
   Here is Raven, my most recent foster, and the Montgomery's. I ran into them at Shawnee Mission Park weeks ago, and was so thrilled to see how happy they were. I bet this photo made their Christmas card:

 LOVE this pic of Marissa & Raven!!!

   And here are Swifty and Scooter (Scooter is the lil' black and tan puppy I fostered this spring). David works at Hallmark, and I last saw him & his girls at Hallmark. Since Taylor was with me, it was a black & tan doppelgänger reunion! Clearly David loves Scooter as much as I did, and her sister Swifty does too!

   Renee and her family adopted Rosie & Boo from The Humane Society of Greater Kansas City and they have been our hiking and camping buddies. Proof that perfect dogs can come from anywhere... all they need is the right family to love them.

GREAT NEWS!!!

   Thanks to many very generous donations, the surgeries for the 3 Shiba puppies that I helped foster have been PAID! What a relief. These girls had a rough start in life—one pup needed one knee surgery, and two of them needed two surgeries! But Skeeter & Scooter have now been adopted and are expected to make a full recovery, and the last one, Zoe, will be adopted soon, I'm sure. I think my pathetically sweet photos of the puppies must have done the trick.

   Speaking of "pathetically sweet photos", I could sure use a good home for Raven, so if you know anyone...

Meet Raven

   Raven is a 4-year-old girl I'm fostering for MSIR (Midwest Shiba Inu Rescue). She's sweet and friendly and loves to snuggle on your lap. She has a very soft, fluffy coat and big, beautiful tail and dark, soulful brown eyes. She's tall for a Shiba, but only 24 lbs. Rather than the fox-like look that most Shibas have, I'd say she has a wolf-like appearance due to her longer coat, gray undercoat and more streamlined features.

   She's cheerful even with strangers, eager to please, and knows some basic commands. When you ask her to sit, she gets so excited and wags her tail so hard that she can hardly keep her butt on the ground. She has a huge, happy smile. She'd prefer to be an only dog, or paired with an easygoing dog (she and my dominant female, Aki, are not big fans of each other). Seems fine with cats, untested with kids.
   If you're interested in Raven, please visit shibarescue.org and fill out an application, and feel free to email me with any questions. After your application is approved one of our volunteers (maybe myself) will contact you to schedule a home evaluation.

 Look Raven in the eyes & tell her that you're NOT going to adopt her. I dare you.

The Jig is Up: Aki Catches Her Quarry

   Today started off like a normal weekday; I woke up and went downstairs to feed the dogs and let them out. Then I came back upstairs to shower. But as soon as I turned off the water, I could hear the dogs barking frantically. "Awesome—at 6:30. My neighbors are going to shoot me!" I thought. I threw on my robe and raced downstairs, expecting them to be playing together.
   Looking out in the backyard, I could see that Taylor was circling a lifeless gray body—and Aki had her jaws around it! I yelled "DROP IT!!!" and ran outside. Fortunately, Aki dropped it.

Looks pretty dead, doesn't she?

    The possum had blood on her sides and appeared to be dead. My heart sank. But suddenly movement in the grass caught my eye. There were three small babies walking all over the place, distraught by their unresponsive mother, and no doubt by the obnoxious barking.

"Back off, or I'll bite!"

Taylor maintains a safe distance...

    I grabbed Taylor to shut him up and dragged him into the house. When I turned to go back for Aki, to my horror I saw that she had picked up Momma Possum again and shook her. When I yelled again, Aki complied, and I was able to drag her inside. She had blood on her chin and on her neck. I wasn't sure whose blood it was. I knew the mom was injured, but hoped it wasn't critically. She sure looked dead, but her skin was warm to the touch. I collected the babies and placed them on their mother and headed inside, hoping that if she were faking, she'd soon take off. I went back to preparing for work.

"Mom? Let's get out of here!!!"

    A few minutes later I heard the dogs whining excitedly, and got downstairs just in time to see Mom staggering off with one of the babies clinging to her back. She slid under the fence into the neighbors yard, so I ran out to check on the family. I hoped the second baby was also with her, because I couldn't find it. The third baby must have broken its back legs, because it was dragging them. It dragged itself under the fence in the direction mom fled, calling out to her with his tiny wheeze, but she knew he was hurt and had left him. Totally broke my heart.
   Since I had to go to work, I put the little orphan in a dog crate in the back of my car (ironically, a crate on loan from Midwest Shiba Inu Rescue... now Midwest Possum Rescue!) and parked in the Hallmark garage in a shady spot. I went out at lunchtime to check on him, and was shocked that he was still alive, but could tell he was getting dehydrated. I tried to get him to take some milk but needed an eyedropper.

He looks just like Remy from Ratatouille!

If you think he's not cute, you have a heart of stone.

    I told Laurie about my traumatic day during our staff, and she jokingly dubbed the baby "Darwin" since he seemed doomed to his fate, which I think is actually a cute and fitting name. So Darwin it is!
   After work I rushed back to the car and was relieved that Darwin was still alive. I stopped by CVS to get baby formula, chicken baby food, and eyedroppers and headed home to attend to my little patient. Wanting to ensure that he was safe, warm and secure, I've been carrying him in my own pouch of sorts—an inside pocket in my fleece jacket. He loves it.

   I feel like I should acknowledge that most people probably think I'm crazy for finding "vermin" like possums to be cute, let alone that I would go out of my way to save one. I wish more people would give them a chance. People say they are mean, that they hiss, that they have beady eyes, hairless toes and rat-tails. I say they aren't mean: they just try to intimidate anything they view as a threat. Their sound does sound like hissing, until you hear it from the babies. They communicate with each other and with their mothers in hushed whispers. I could hear urgency in his voice when Darwin knew Mom was leaving. Their eyes are dark but surprisingly warm and friendly. And their amazing toes and tail serve an important purpose. They have great dexterity and grip strength, and their tails are prehensile, so they can use them as another tool for climbing and hanging on. I'm not the only one who thinks they're cool.
   At the very least, you have to give them credit for playing dead so convincingly that they can fool a possum-killing dog and a human critter-sympathizer. But check this out: I took a short video and it wasn't until I reviewed it that I realize you can see Mom breathing!

Home Sweet Home

   Well, SOMEONE seems to be settling right into her new foster home, doesn't she? Lil' Scooter looks so happy in these photos David shared with me. She is one lucky pup. (And of course her big sister, Swifty is, too!) 

   Here's another happy MSIR alumni... Miss Polly, whom I transported from the airport last year. She always had a great smile, but how happy and content does she look here? The man who adopted her last year posted this in the Great KC Pet Expo's Facebook page and I happened to catch it. I sent him a note and he said that they are "stone-cold crazy about her." And suddenly my smile was as big as Polly's.  :)

   Joahnna, another MSIR volunteer, created this slideshow of recent adoptees. And though my guys aren't that recent, they still made an appearance. Love to see dogs find their happy new homes, especially when you just know that it was meant to be. I feel that way about my sweet, spoiled pups.

Swifty + Scooter

VIDEOS: playing inside  /  playing outside