When Phoenix rose from the ashes and I cried

Let me tell you about Phoneix.  She was rescued along with 20 other cats in a home with one litter box for all the cats.  There were holes in the floor, feces everywhere and it was no condition for cats to live in let alone people.   I brought home two of the 20.  Her roomate warmed up within a few days and has adjusted well in the year that they have been here.

Phoenix however spent an entire 4 MONTHS hiding in my master bath vanity.  I did NOT see her for 4 MONTHS.   I decided to take the two bottom drawers out after 3 months so she could see out and maybe start warming up to the environment.   I started seeing her peak her head out from time to time and on the 16th week of her being here she decided people and dogs weren't so bad. 

She came out and decided to jump on the bed and sleep at my feet all night.   I didn't move a wink even though I so wanted to see her laying there.  Baby steps with fearful cats and dogs for that matter.

After another month she started swiping at me when Id walk by....I would touch her head and she would purr but was still not excited about being touched for very long and ONLY on her head.   another month and she was purring and letting me rub her entire body and decided to claim her space in the house on top of a pillow by the biggest window on the south side.    She had become a family cat and started seeking attention.

Today is the part where I cry out of pure joy because Phoenix has found a home with the total understanding of Phoenix and how she is and its exactly what they want.  

And the best part is, its Ya Ya Kim's sister so I will stay in close touch and if Phoneix doens't work out I have more to offer her:)  But how you can you not fall in love with a cat with a story like that!  Love you Phoenix and Im so glad I got to be a part of your journey!!!

Should we REALLY be tagging some animals as unadoptable?

I guess everyones definition is different but I want you to meet Bi-Polar who I took in after a raid of an "animal rescue" owner left all the animals in danger and the owner no where to be found.  I was told by one of the volunteers who worked night and day to get this particular group to safety and she stated the "owner" wouldnt put him on the website because she has issues.  So Bi-Polar sat in "the shelter" and hung out.

Does this look like a cat that wouldn't be loved instantly?  Let me tell you that this cat is an amazing cat.  She is however Bi-Polar.  For example I did lots of loving on her yesterday and she loved every single second of it.    But then at 2:30 this morning I must have been snoring and she batted me with her paw (Shes declawed or that could have hurt).

But lets work harder as rescues and shelters to find the right homes and list these animals like Bi-Polar that CAN and WILL find the perfect home and will love her for all her quirks. 

She walked out of her kennel yesterday, greeted my pack of cats and dogs and headed straight for the favorite chair in the house......

So the moral of the story is that are AMAZING adopters just like most of us that would love to adopt a cat with special needs.  So lets find these sweet girl (with her own bi-polar attitude) a home!  She so deserves it like every other special needs cat or dog.

You can go to our website http://www.thebarkleyfoundation.net/ to read all about her and apply.

Tears turn to laughter just when we need it!

I woke up this morning remembering one year ago today.  I remember it like it was yesterday, I woke up like any other day the few days prior praying to god that Barkley had fallen asleep on my bed and not woken up.  9 months and the hopes that he would fight renal failure were no longer in my future.  I was preparing to say good bye .  Everyday I did his sub q fluids from large IV bags and gave him his medicine (he was on 12) and rubbed his belly and cried.  

I woke up a year ago today and had to make the call to my ever so compassionate friends and family and my wonderful vet.   Everyone came to help Barkley into the van so we could make the 25 minute trip to say good bye.

The whole in your heart never goes away but sometimes those we love send us messages from beyond just when we need them.

I drove home tonight thinking about Barkley I, the dozen or so dogs in Rome GA that are dying tomorrow,  and what I always think about, the fur kids and what kind of trouble they got into, how many piles of puke, pee, or even poop sometimes.  I have a nanny who lets the kids out half way through the day Mon-Fri in exchange for her using part of my 2 acres for her 2 horses (I dont do horses by the way - nothing against them but they are aliens to me and weigh 1200 lbs!) I turned off the highway to see Grandma Jo Jo and Marshall Edward standing on the gravel road looking at me like "you idiot this is our road" and I was NOT going to argue with them!! 

Jo Jo  Marshall Edward

All naughty animals have a middle name:)  So as I turn my lights and flashers on they decide they better head for the opposite direction.   I tell myself "only me"....  I keep hearing Kim (who owns the horses) saying "Ya Ya your going to be a cowgirl".  

So I round up the horses and get them to the trailer and open the "yummy food side" and throw it over the fence.  Do you think they would go in?  Oh NO - They pushed the gate OUT when they decided to go for a trot so they were afraid to go back in.   So I stepped in piles of horse poo and pee to get to the gate to pull it all the way open so they would go for the yummy hay.....Long story short I DONT DO HORSES but Im getting better at rounding them up.

The night only gets better....I walk into my house after rounding horses up and get hit with "that smell".  Wouldn't you know it Barkley left me not only one but two of the biggest piles of doo doo ever.  And my dogs are talented because they make art out of their doo.  Ill spare you the pictures this time but one of them looked like an arched caterpillar!!!  My Nanny was in IC all day so the kids didn't get out like normal.

Then I step into the house and slide across the floor flailing my arms as to not fall on my ass!  Thank you Barkley, Nanna, Albert and little Ema for contributing to the pile of pee that was now a pond.   So now my tennis shoes smell like horse shit AND dog shit...Just great!  The tension is crawling to my jaws and they are clenched (not a good thing for me)

At this moment I am about to crack....Thinking of Barkley, rough day at work, noone to give me flowers on a special day and I hear my dog Barkley I's bark.  I kid you not, he barked and he barked loud and it was at that moment that I realized that life was good and so worth living.   He was telling me from beyond to pull myself up by the boot straps and open my eyes to what I have done for animals since he passed.  And to remember that all of these things come with loving our fur kids...

My tears and frustrations became an uncontrollable laugh as I stood in a pond of pee...

Now who is coming over to scrub my white kitchen floor after 52 paws went outside and came back with mud on their feet! 

Life is good