She had been too wrapped up in grief over losing her favorite family member to come play with the kittens. I wasn't until I said, "this weekend is your last chance, four of them go back Monday. We don't have to socialize. You can just shut yourself upstairs with them for kitten therapy." All the cats she has chosen on purpose are black and white, so she loved Ticket on sight, even more so after spending time with him.
By Monday morning, she had talked herself out of giving us a ride to the shelter so she could adopt him right then and there. But when my babies didn't appear on the website Tuesday night as expected, I said, "you can still get him if you are at the head of the line Thursday morning." (People start lining up hours before the shelter opens when a new batch of kittens gets posted.)
But we didn't have to do that. When I called to ask if it was OK for a foster volunteer to hold a place in line for an adopter, they said they would hold Ticket as long as we got there soon after the shelter opened. When we arrived, the person at the desk said the first person in line had wanted Subway, as did some disappointed people further back. By the time we got home, Briefcase and Tram were gone too.
So the transit brothers will get to have play dates, assuming I get to keep them, which I am not assuming right now. I promised the shelter I wouldn't take them if I wasn’t sure I that I could stay in this house and care for them properly.
The goal is enough tips/donations and merch sales to put about a year's rent in the bank, and at least 1000 new subscribers across the various platforms, which would cover basic necessities while I kept looking for a job and/or got better at all the social media things I did poorly when Harpo was alive, until helping cats and the people who love them is a sustainable job.
But as of right now, I have only four months rent and about 100 new subscribers, and Airport, Passport, and Suitcase go back to the shelter December 17th. I'm supposed to pick them up on the 20th. So unless I can raise the rest in the next four days, the house will be as dark and quiet on Christmas as it was last year.
I'm so glad I was able to talk her out of talking herself out of it. Ticket has broken through her sadness, her other cats already love him, and he's already learned to ignore the dogs.
Her house is very perfume-y, so he will be visiting me.
When she came over to watch Flow with all of us, I had to wash the sofa slip cover, pillow covers, and afghans before I could sleep on the couch again. In the summer, I can’t use the backyard when her dryer is on, because it vents heavy perfume right above the fence.
But all of that will get a lot better after her roommate moves out this summer. She prefers unscented products, for the most part.
I'm so happy for all of you, esp Ticket. Great to hear the other kitties have loving home already. Keeping all paws & fingers crossed for you over here! 😻😻
It was so sweet to hear that people lined up early for Subway.
Briefcase looked pretty woebegone in the shelter playroom, as he was the only one who was even a little bit nervous around new people. But I'm sure he got over it within minutes of getting to his new home.
It's just wonderful how so many ppl clearly saw what wonderful cats they all were. I love to think ppl were lining up for them. They will be adored. As they should be! 😻😻
They can’t copy that model if they don’t have a huge amount of money, thousands of volunteers, and a training hospital in the shelter, with a dorm for students.
The Oregon Humane Society is very, very well funded.
It’s one of the oldest shelters in the country, it opened just a few years after the Civil War. The founder, Thomas Lamb Eliot, was also a benefactor of Reed College, so his name is on a few things. His main concern at the time was the cruel treatment of work animals .
The Oregon Humane Society runs a low-cost spay/neuter clinic that does 10,000 pets a year, in addition to however many of the 10,000 animals they find homes for that were intact when they arrived.
That reduced cat surrenders in the Portland area by 50%.
The Spay & Save program is why I have Gummitch. After doing a shift in the hospital, sterilizing and packing instruments, I was walking down the long, long line of carriers waiting in the corridor when I saw one with three silver spotted kittens with great big thumbs. I left a note on the carrier.
I have a Twitter/Bluesky mutual of many years who lives in the South, who now has almost 20 cats, most of them seniors, because she could not find anyone to adopt her best friend’s cats after he died, or any rescues that wouldn’t just end up euthanizing most of them. They are all she has left of him, so she is using up what little she had saved her retirement, because she no longer expects to live long enough to do that.
It’s hard to find homes for cats with special needs when you live in an area where a lot of people don't bother to spay or neuter their cats, and just casually kill them when they become too numerous.
If I was a staff member at the Oregon Humane Society instead of just a volunteer, I would have all of them transported here, where they would all find homes. OHS takes in big groups from outside the state on a regular basis, especially after natural disasters, like the fires in LA and Hawaii.
I wish more shelters would transfer in cats from Alabama. Our laws suck here. I also do TNR and we just now got a free place to take ferals for sterilization.
She had been too wrapped up in grief over losing her favorite family member to come play with the kittens. I wasn't until I said, "this weekend is your last chance, four of them go back Monday. We don't have to socialize. You can just shut yourself upstairs with them for kitten therapy." All the cats she has chosen on purpose are black and white, so she loved Ticket on sight, even more so after spending time with him.
By Monday morning, she had talked herself out of giving us a ride to the shelter so she could adopt him right then and there. But when my babies didn't appear on the website Tuesday night as expected, I said, "you can still get him if you are at the head of the line Thursday morning." (People start lining up hours before the shelter opens when a new batch of kittens gets posted.)
But we didn't have to do that. When I called to ask if it was OK for a foster volunteer to hold a place in line for an adopter, they said they would hold Ticket as long as we got there soon after the shelter opened. When we arrived, the person at the desk said the first person in line had wanted Subway, as did some disappointed people further back. By the time we got home, Briefcase and Tram were gone too.
So the transit brothers will get to have play dates, assuming I get to keep them, which I am not assuming right now. I promised the shelter I wouldn't take them if I wasn’t sure I that I could stay in this house and care for them properly.
The goal is enough tips/donations and merch sales to put about a year's rent in the bank, and at least 1000 new subscribers across the various platforms, which would cover basic necessities while I kept looking for a job and/or got better at all the social media things I did poorly when Harpo was alive, until helping cats and the people who love them is a sustainable job.
But as of right now, I have only four months rent and about 100 new subscribers, and Airport, Passport, and Suitcase go back to the shelter December 17th. I'm supposed to pick them up on the 20th. So unless I can raise the rest in the next four days, the house will be as dark and quiet on Christmas as it was last year.
Is it ok if I send you a DM? I desperately want to help 🫶
Of course it is.
May your adoption dreams come true! 💕
I'm so glad I was able to talk her out of talking herself out of it. Ticket has broken through her sadness, her other cats already love him, and he's already learned to ignore the dogs.
So happy Ticket will remain close by! Little dude is about to get so much love!
He's sleeping right in the crook of her neck, just like he did with me. She loves him so much.
WOOOO! so happy she adopted Ticket! Come on y'all, let's help Rain reach her goals so she can keep the greybies!!!!
So glad the special looker is coming back! ❤️
Such an extraordinarily handsome cat.
https://preview.redd.it/186rmad19n7g1.jpeg?width=2574&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=933762833e2f10fb938a831479a8fe2be6d0fa04
What a sweet baby. I would have chosen him if I had ever encountered him. I'm so glad he has a home and you can visit.
Her house is very perfume-y, so he will be visiting me.
When she came over to watch Flow with all of us, I had to wash the sofa slip cover, pillow covers, and afghans before I could sleep on the couch again. In the summer, I can’t use the backyard when her dryer is on, because it vents heavy perfume right above the fence.
But all of that will get a lot better after her roommate moves out this summer. She prefers unscented products, for the most part.
Yay!
I'm so happy for both of them! Thank you for sharing that happy news with us.
She has five cats, and two dogs, and everybody already gets along just fine.
Yay, handsome boy is back 😍
I'm so happy for all of you, esp Ticket. Great to hear the other kitties have loving home already. Keeping all paws & fingers crossed for you over here! 😻😻
It was so sweet to hear that people lined up early for Subway.
Briefcase looked pretty woebegone in the shelter playroom, as he was the only one who was even a little bit nervous around new people. But I'm sure he got over it within minutes of getting to his new home.
It's just wonderful how so many ppl clearly saw what wonderful cats they all were. I love to think ppl were lining up for them. They will be adored. As they should be! 😻😻
Well, to be fair, they do that pretty much every time new kittens are posted.
They are all special aren't they. What a great shelter, I wish others would copy your model.
They can’t copy that model if they don’t have a huge amount of money, thousands of volunteers, and a training hospital in the shelter, with a dorm for students.
The Oregon Humane Society is very, very well funded.
It's a disgrace that all shelters are not as well funded. We all know there's plenty of money to do that if cats could vote.
It’s one of the oldest shelters in the country, it opened just a few years after the Civil War. The founder, Thomas Lamb Eliot, was also a benefactor of Reed College, so his name is on a few things. His main concern at the time was the cruel treatment of work animals .
That's awesome. I really wish everywhere was as well funded.
The hate that Portland gets would be hilarious if it wasn't doing real damage to us.
Because this town rules.
Yay!!
https://preview.redd.it/s8apwd73os7g1.jpeg?width=1836&format=pjpg&auto=webp&s=f8d36e8428eef6d03e51cc5f4b30862ef13ed2a3
Sporting my new merch today!
Aww, thank you so much for posting it. I always get a kick of seeing Harpo in other people's homes.
I save these comments to put into compilations to post as Insta stories to promote the merch and they just sit in my accounts, lol.
Instead of just, you know, downloading them immediately and putting people's user names in the file name or something like that.
You're welcome! It was hard to choose a design, but this one won in the end.
I love how determined he looks.
"Imma get dis to ma if it takes me all day"
What state are you in that folks lineup for kittens? We're overflowing with them in Alabama.
The Oregon Humane Society runs a low-cost spay/neuter clinic that does 10,000 pets a year, in addition to however many of the 10,000 animals they find homes for that were intact when they arrived.
That reduced cat surrenders in the Portland area by 50%.
The Spay & Save program is why I have Gummitch. After doing a shift in the hospital, sterilizing and packing instruments, I was walking down the long, long line of carriers waiting in the corridor when I saw one with three silver spotted kittens with great big thumbs. I left a note on the carrier.
I have a Twitter/Bluesky mutual of many years who lives in the South, who now has almost 20 cats, most of them seniors, because she could not find anyone to adopt her best friend’s cats after he died, or any rescues that wouldn’t just end up euthanizing most of them. They are all she has left of him, so she is using up what little she had saved her retirement, because she no longer expects to live long enough to do that.
It’s hard to find homes for cats with special needs when you live in an area where a lot of people don't bother to spay or neuter their cats, and just casually kill them when they become too numerous.
If I was a staff member at the Oregon Humane Society instead of just a volunteer, I would have all of them transported here, where they would all find homes. OHS takes in big groups from outside the state on a regular basis, especially after natural disasters, like the fires in LA and Hawaii.
I wish more shelters would transfer in cats from Alabama. Our laws suck here. I also do TNR and we just now got a free place to take ferals for sterilization.
Engagement post bump...
tell her Congratulations!! remember: anyone can be a cat mother but only a special person can be a Tuxedo Cat Mom!
Yayyy that makes me so happy! I was hoping she would get ticket!