Another Cat Interlude

I do like looking in on the cats. They have plenty of volunteers themselves, and I spend 99% of my time with the small animals, but every once in a while I go to visit the kitties.



This handsome fellow has the adorable name of Mr Toes. He's a talkative guy, and when I went to take a photo of him, he was clearly planning a clever escape from his cage. I'm not a cat volunteer so I decided a photo through the bars would work better! Mr Toes has been at the sheltesince July 31, when he was brought in as a stray.



Gemini has beautiful colouring! She came in June 6 as a stray and does not like other cats. She seemed to be fairly friendly, letting me take her photo (which is not the most flattering!) and sticking our her head for some head-scratching.



Mimsy is a lovely, lovely girl. She's absolutely gorgeous, with nice silky fur, and she's very friendly. She was surrendered when her family had a new baby, and she's been there since April 21. I don't know why she's been there so long - she's got a sweet personality, she gets along with other cats and kids, and no medical problems that I could see. I really hope she finds a home!

Quite a few of the cats have reduced adoption fees, only $30, until the end of August. The Ex (Canadian National Exhibition) is currently on, so the shelter either gets lots of visitors or none at all. Still, hopefully a few animals find new homes before the end of summer.

New Rabbits

What with the strike and all, the small animals previously at the south shelter have been scattered to the wind, so when I went yesterday, they were all new faces.


This pretty lady is Cordelia, named after the character from Buffy the Vampire Slayer, and she was brought in July 24. She's a Florida White, and has lovely blue eyes (can't tell here, I know). I don't know her story but she was brought in as protective custody. She's a little uncertain but happy to be petted. She's not spayed yet, so she's not up for adoption quite yet.



Next up is Simon, a young adult lop and a total cutie. He was so eager for attention! He's got a lot of energy and had a great time running around the room, but he'd always stop and come over to say 'hello'. I couldn't walk by his cage without his little nose sticking between the bars for a pet. He's been at the shelter since July 27 and is all ready for adoption. With his personality, I bet it won't take long.

Tanner is still a little guy, only about 6 months old. He's a little fuzzball, and very interested in getting attention, although he's also interested in testing out his baby teeth every once in a while!
Bizarrely enough, he and Simon look almost identical, but they were brought in at totally different times. Tanner arrived on August 17.


Finally, we have Moo and Meatball, a bonded pair of females. These two are totally adorable - you've gotta love Moo's poofy face. Their last owners took great care of them and socialized them well, but sadly their newborn baby developed allergies to the rabbits and they were forced to give them up. The girls arrived on August 10, and while they're a little disgruntled about being in a cage, they're very friendly and playful.

Oh, The Humanity

Or, how a quick vet visit can quickly get out of control.

Our cockatiel, Loki, has a habit of getting herself into the stupidest situations. The photo above was taken when she crawled into a pitcher on the top of the kitchen cabinet and subsequently found she couldn't get out. She whined until I took her down, and we laughed at her and took photos before freeing her, just to complete the indignity.
She also has a habit of getting her feet caught in everything. This bird has managed to bruise, cut, and twist her feet in more ways than I thought possible. We have the styptic powder right beside her cage.

Therefore, when she landed on me the other day, limping pathetically, I can't say I was particularly surprised - or sympathetic. Her foot was limp but it wasn't bruised, cut or swollen, and she didn't seem to be in too much pain. Still, I thought, best to check with the vet.

So we went to our vet's office, a lovely place with lovely people, and they were all quite amused because it turned out she'd broken a nail. There was much name-calling directed toward her (mostly on my part, and mostly along the lines of "wimp" and "drama queen" and "the lovebird wouldn't have made such a fuss"). They gave her a painkilling shot since she was so dramatic about it, and then told us to bring her back the next day, on the slight chance she might have a fracture. The next day, of course, she was totally fine, and wondering why on earth we were at the vet's again.

So: First visit - $50. Pain injection - $50. Second visit - $50. Total cost of your stupid bird breaking a nail and crying about it - $150.

Reason #2352350232 why the only people who own parrots are rich or crazy!