Violet Vacates the Premises

Violet

Violet is our 6-year old adopted kittie from Project Cat in Accord, NY, but we like to say she's from Skittsville USA.  She's one of 4, and is very sweet and affectionate if you're lucky to be blessed with her presence.  She's very timid and will hide in the basement whenever we have company.

Our cats are kept indoors.  On nice days we allow them onto the deck as long as myself or my husband keep watch.  We enforce a 'no tolerance' policy.  If any one  of them should step a paw off the deck, we herd them back into the house.

Last night we were all out here enjoying a humid-free and mosquito-free evening until it started to rain.  All but 1 of the kitties ran inside as soon as they realized it was raining.  We kept tabs on the 4th.  Finally, we decided it was time for all of us to go inside.

This morning I broke open a can of their favorite wet food, and all but Violet came running.  We were concerned.  She never misses a canned food breakfast.  Then my husband recalls that he didn't see her last night when he took a headcount.  She hides so much we don't think much of it when she's not counted.  Now we are a bit concerned.  My husband goes into the basement to check the nook 'n crannies and I look around outside.  Our back yard is fenced in, so not only can I not believe she would have wandered off in her first experience with rain, but I would assume the boundaries provided by the fence would be enough to deter her from leaving the yard.

We then think to check the shed where we keep the cushions for the deck furniture.  She probably got trapped in there when we put away the cushions and didn't realize it.  My husband investigates and reports that he hears meowing from behind the shed.  He takes a look, and sure 'nuff, finds Violet buried among the compost afraid to move.  He couldn't get to her, but makes enough of a commotion that she slinks out on her own but not without letting out some very low and desperate sounding howls.

The funny part of this story is that the other 3 cats have different relationships with Violet.  Chandler who is her bully step-brother started a fight with her when she returned inside the house.  Stella, her step-sister, could care less about her and acted indifferent.  Luca, her step-brother, and hate to say it but it's true, also her love interest, consoled her for several minutes and consequently dissed us for like 30 minutes, blaming us for what happened.

So Violet spent her first night outside, in the rain, behind the shed where she probably escaped to when she finally realized she wasn't getting inside the house any time soon.  I have to admit I was afraid she had run off, and being such a skittish kittie, wondered if we'd ever see her again!  Hopefully she learned from this experience and will think twice before stepping off the deck in the future.

Have to work harder on honing in on Kolby's, our Australian Shepherd mix, herding skills so we can relax on the deck with our menagerie and not have to worry about their whereabouts.

Rescuing Sugar Joe

Isn't he the cutest? It will soon be a year since we adopted Kolby from the 11th Hour Rescue and brought him home to join our family in August of 2009.

We were on our way to LensCrafters to pick up my new glasses when I noticed a "Dog Adoption Today" sign in front of PetSmart. "Let's go take a look" I pleaded with Rob. Normally, there would be no hesitation, but just 2 weeks prior we had returned an 8-month old Springer Spaniel puppy we adopted the previous March because, unfortunately, she had aggression issues and came very close to killing our cat Luca. Sooooo, do we try again so soon? There were many dogs vying for human attention and putting on their best "please adopt me now" performance. Rob spotted Kolby as he was the only dog not barking. He was shy and somewhat timid with very unique markings. The tag said "Sugar Joe"; Australian Shepherd mix. We liked him a lot, despite the huge mat of hair that took over his entire back and a "doggy" smell that was overbearing. Papers signed, leash, collar and other necessities paid for and off we went. We drove all the way home with all windows down and our heads hanging out so we could breathe.

The first thing I did when we got home was bathe him and cut off that rug that used to be his fur (outside on the deck of course). We weren't thrilled with the name Sugar Joe, and 5 days later came up with Kolby, as in cheese. Kolby was one of 200 dogs that were rescued from shelters in the south that were on the euthanasia list. His papers were generated in Georgia, so we can only assume that's where his prior home was. He has turned out to be the best companion anyone could ever ask for. He minds well, has a very sweet disposition, gets along great with other dogs and even cats (thank goodness!), rarely barks and obeys commands. Everyone loves him. He continually receives praise from others, and everyone remarks on his coloring. We love our baby boy to pieces. He's the best! Earlier this year his photo and bio was published in the local newspaper (see below). Kolby turns 3 on June 30th, and you can bet he'll be spoiled even more that day!