I dont give a flying Fuck

Current Location: Morningstar Hall
My disposition: awake
My tunes: Shriekback -- Coelocanth

ishottheserif

for the northern hemisphere, samhain -- more widely known as halloween -- is the end of this month. please, for the love of all things Holy, if you have a black cat -- do your best to curtail your cat's outdoor activities during that week, and a few days after. there are still people out there who will harm these innocent creatures during this time of year simply because of the color of their fur, due to certain beliefs about black cats.

in my lifetime, i have had a few black cats leave the house as normal during this time of year, as samhain draws close.... and never come home again. protect your pet and (arguably) the cutest member of your family - keep your black cat indoors around samhain.

also, please be aware that many animal shelters WILL NOT let anyone adopt a black cat during the week of (and in some cases also the week after) samhain.

in memory of Mystery

cmpriest

Billie was surrendered when her owners got a divorce, and she’s unlikely to land a speedy placement because her family returned her with a complaint of litterbox issues. (Though after a few days in the shelter it became apparent that Billie’s “litterbox issues” really amounted to nothing more than a preference for a very clean litterbox.)

Here’s what her listing reads: “Billie and her siblings were rescued as feral kittens several years ago. All were tamed and adopted. Mom was spayed. Billie was recently returned to us because she was urinating in the house and her parents were divorcing. Billie has made another visit to the vet to see if we can clear up her urinary tract infection. Billie is staying at Next to Nature in the West Seattle Junction. You can visit her there. Please email mehud7@aol.com for more information on this beautiful girl.”

Anyway, this pretty, blue-black cat — who reportedly bears some resemblance to my own feline overlord — is available at 4543 California Avenue SW, down the block from Easy Street Records in West Seattle. She probably needs to be an only pet in an adults-only household, but she’ll make a most excellent companion for someone out there.

So if you’ve got room in your life and in your home, and you’re within range of Next to Nature, please consider taking a look at this poor darling. Her adoption is processed through the Friends of the Animals Foundation. It costs $100 and includes spaying or neutering, testing for FIV/FeLv, first vaccine(s), flea treatment, cat carrier, collar and ID tag, and a certificate for first vet exam.

Current Location: Morningstar Hall
My disposition: AWWW!
My tunes: Jill Tracy -- Extraordinary

snowcoma

I found Hecate in the middle of a field a little after midnight. I was in the car with my roommate, going on a grocery run, when I spotted an owl perched on a wire right by the road. Being an avid birder and a complete nutcase, I flailed and squealed and Tim loyally turned the car around just in time for us to see the owl swoop down over the field and disappear from sight. I scrambled out of the car with my dinky pocket flashlight, and began tromping through the mud in the direction where I'd first sighted the owl.

Suddenly I noticed a little black shape hunkered low to the ground off to my left. A sweep of the flashlight revealed that not only was the shape not a shadow, it was staring at me with orange eyes. "KITTY!" I declared, completely ruining the spookiness. She stayed low and still as I approached, and skittered away from my hand at first, until a lucky lunge on my part landed my scritchy-fingers behind her ears. Suddenly, we were old friends, and she started to follow me across the field, tail held high. Every time either Tim or I stopped, she was there, winding around our ankles and purring loudly.

Tim picked her up, and as we both petted her more thoroughly, I noticed how thin she was, and that her fur was full of burrs. Spurred on by a hooting across the street from the field, I crossed to the sidewalk, and spied one of the nearby residents. I asked if she was his cat, and he informed me that she was no ones cat, but that his daughter put food out for her sometimes. I walked back to the car, my mood sinking as I knew what this meant. She wasn't a beloved pet out for a midnight stroll, she was just another one of the millions of strays that are left to die alone by the people that should rightly be cherishing them.

She followed us right up to the car. I started to cry, because I knew I couldn't give her a home. I turned to Tim, who was murmuring consolations. "What we're trying to tell ourselves right now, that someone else will come along and do something, is what everyone else says when they walk away. There is no one else. Either it's us, or it's nobody."

We drove to the store, no longer thinking about food. We'd made up our minds. Emerging with disposable litterboxes, canned food, flea shampoo, and the few groceries that we remembered, we drove back to the field. I wasn't even done calling "Here, kitty!" when she ran out of the bushes right by where our car had been parked before. I put her in my lap, and we drove home.

Now, pertinent cat stats! She's a young female longhair, I haven't been able to determine if she's spayed yet. She's been given worm medication since she got here, and I'll be flea-bathing her ASAP, though she doesn't have a noticable infestation. She is litter trained.

She is very affectionate, and she never stops purring when humans are in the room. She's playful without being aggressive. She eats with gusto and doesn't seem to have a problem digesting wet or dry food. And best of all, she sucks her paw like a thumb. She takes her front paws, pulls a back paw to her mouth, and suckles one of her toe pads while kneading the air with her front paws and purring. It is more adorable than baby Jesus, I swear.

snowcoma

snowcoma

You can reach snowcoma either via LJ or via email at snowcoma@gmail.com.