This post is of course brought to you by three of America's most photogenic homeless cats. The computer shows that some of you are wondering--given that I don't support the Humane Society of the United States' agenda of rendering domestic animals extinct, why am I encouraging you to adopt animals who may be in HSUS shelters?
1. People are sponsoring the Petfinder posts. (If youall are encountering serious computer problems at Petfinder, let me know, but I'm not. Windows 10 is a computer problem but it seems to be controlling whatever problems the Petfinder cookies generate.)
2. HSUS rakes in money from donations; they don't make much profit on animal adoptions, unless you adopt a fancy-breed type for which they can charge outrageous fees. Figure the cost of routine veterinary care and food these days, plus the expense of maintaining the building, in your area. I don't recommend paying a shelter a penny more than keeping the animal has cost them.
However, I do recommend vigilance to make sure you're not "rescuing" a stolen pet. Some HSUS "volunteers" have been known to steal pets...I try to avoid the Petfinder pages for animals "found in Kentucky, being held at a shelter in Atlanta" because that's such a simple dodge for petnappers, but really it can be hard to tell whether a pet was genuinely rescued or stolen. We probably need laws requiring full documentation of how animals get into shelters. We don't have them.
Anyway, Internet publicity gives people one more chance to find stolen pets, if these shelter animals are stolen pets. More publicity, more chances.
So, Serena has two darling calico daughters, almost identical except that one has the dilution gene and one doesn't. There is no photo of these kittens yet. There should be. The reason why there's none is money. The coronavirus panic is costing my part of the world dearly. Everyone who has any money at all, even COVID money, has a dozen hangers-on in need of more work and more wages. I got on the phone with the electric company and fussed like a good fellow, in February, about the need to keep the genuinely sick and disabled warm and/or cool and/or oxygenated, and dug myself into a hole with an agreement to pay "just" an extra $20 per month, which in winter is 50% more than I ought to be paying, and that's $60 and that takes care of the $50 I can count on earning this week. There would've been another $50 this week if someone hadn't had a heart attack. So there's no money to spend on cell phone minutes and thus no way to post original pictures.
But that's no loss to you, because these pictures are much better than the ones my cell phone takes:
Zipcode 40404: Patches from Elyria, Ohio
(Why zipcode 40404? I typed in 10101. Petfinder chose to ignore that and pulled up a page of cats from Ohio. Oh well, Ohio cats need love too. Today Cleveland displaces New York.) Patches is described as a typical two-year-old cat, friendly, curious, lovable, rejected because somebody had "allergies" that were probably caused by chemical pollution. She's had a full course of veterinary care that has to have been donated by some generous veterinarian, because just try and get all that done for $25 by a vet who's not doing somebody some kind of favor. Her web address is https://www.petfinder.com/cat/patches-55344009/oh/elyria/friendship-animal-protective-league-oh166/ .
Zipcode 20202: Auburn from Alexandria
The shelter staff sound a tiny bit control-freaky, which I'm told is unfortunately typical in Alexandria, but the kitten is certainly photogenic. Auburn is described as healthy, already spayed and vaccinated, and still friendly with humans. They recommend "fostering," which may be a good sign. To meet and/or foster this kitten, click: https://www.petfinder.com/cat/auburn-54699528/va/alexandria/tails-high-inc-va540/ .
Zipcode 30303: Shiloh from Roswell
The shelter staff say she's a good mother, but don't say (online) anything about the kittens! You'll have to ask them whether one of her own kittens comes with her, now that she can't have any more. They say she's shy until she gets to know people, but likes to purr and cuddle once she feels safe. Meet her at https://www.petfinder.com/cat/shiloh-54270811/ga/roswell/all-about-cats-inc-ga924/ .
Now the news from Serena, who has the same general type of coat as Shiloh but is of course a different cat, and her darling daughters:
PK: "As you kittens reach an age where your observations go beyond 'That stuff Mother drinks is wet' and 'When we fight over milk too much, Mother stands up and walks away,' what have you observed that's unusual?"
Daughter #1, possibly to be named Crayola because she has a colorful coat like Serena's: "There was SNOW on the porch this morning!"
Serena: "Not much, but a little."
Daughter #2, possibly to be named Pastel because she has a "diluted" coat, light gray and buff instead of black and orange: "So instead of making us go out in it for breakfast, the human kept us inside and brought you and Silver in to look after us."
Serena: "Well I don't like looking after them in that little box. My mother liked to hide in a box. I prefer to be on top of things, looking down. There is a deplorable lack of safe things to perch on in your warm room, friend."
PK: "There are no safe things for cats to perch on in the warm room."
The other surviving kitten, possibly to be named Biro because it is black above and white below, and absolutely adorable but suspected of being male: "There is that bench you sit on. It has nice soft blankets at the end."
PK: "But the weather's been warm. My spider was running circles all over the desk all morning, frustrated because it's awake and the nuisance insects it protects me from were still hibernating. Warm weather means youall might have had fleas, and I didn't want you bouncing onto my desk and attacking my poor little spider."
Serena: "Do humans actually bond with spiders?"
PK: "When they're obviously very hungry spiders but they don't even think of biting me, I do. Anyway I don't want fleas in the blankets, or kittens bouncing on the POG, either."
Serena: "You ought to throw that Lap Pooper out of the house."
PK: "I couldn't work without it. My real computer is in the shop. I'm dependent on a computer that's infested with Windows 10. Pity me for this unhappy plight! And though I thought Serena and Silver could control the kittens' bouncy-pouncy energy..."
Serena: "They were quiet all night! They have to bounce and pounce some time! How will their legs grow long and strong if they don't?"
Kitten possibly to be named Biro: "Well, I like teasing people. I pretend to bite my sisters and they pretend to scratch my eyes out. I pretend to bounce on that object you keep looking at, even when I'm right there ready to be adored, and you pretend to scold me."
PK: "I do adore you, because you are adorable, but I really don't want you bouncing on the computer."
Kitten possibly to be named Crayola: "Well I didn't go near the computer. I always think of something different and distinctive to do."
PK: "I don't want you pulling on electrical cords either."
Silver: "You became very grumpy and threw us all out in the snow."
Serena: "Not that there was much of it at any time. Not that any of it was left even on the porch."
Kitten possibly to be named Pastel: "I wasn't sure you still loved me. But from the way you picked me up I could tell you do. So I still like you. Don't go into town and leave us."
PK: "I have obligations in town. I have to go."
Kitten possibly to be named Pastel: "Well, hurry back and bring us back into the warm room before dark..."
The sun is sinking low. Later, Gentle Readers.
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