October 06, 2006 With their crinkly hair and super sized ears, these boys may not be everybody's cup of tea, but believe me when I say that a Rex can be an addictive experience.  Once you have stroked that velvety coat and had your chin rubbed by that proud Roman nose, there is no going back.  When properly treated, a Rex should be as outgoing and people loving as a Siamese, and these two boys are coming from a wonderful home that has treated them with a great deal of love.  Their owners must part with them because their new baby is very allergic to them and cannot live in his own home until the cats have left.  (This is not the first time that I have heard of an allergy to Rexes, by the way, so they are not quite as hypoallergenic as some people claim.)  Zack had a bad start in life and was fearful and unapproachable when his present owner adopted him.  In her expert hands, he turned into a loving little guy who holds your face to kiss you, loves to be held in your arms or on your lap and likes nothing better than a car ride in your company.  Tigger is like a little dog and plays fetch with his bone for as long as his human is willing to throw it.  He, too, is much given to sprawling on one's lap.  Both cats have spent part of their loves with a large dog (who has since died) and would probably adjust to another dog in an new home.  They are fairly patient with children and will let themselves be chased and picked up, but will use a gentle bite to inform the small monsters when enough is enough.  It would be wonderful for Zack and Tigger to be adopted together, but it is not a must.

October 06, 2006 With their crinkly hair and super sized ears, these boys may not be everybody's cup of tea, but believe me when I say that a Rex can be an addictive experience.  Once you have stroked that velvety coat and had your chin rubbed by that proud Roman nose, there is no going back.  When properly treated, a Rex should be as outgoing and people loving as a Siamese, and these two boys are coming from a wonderful home that has treated them with a great deal of love.  Their owners must part with them because their new baby is very allergic to them and cannot live in his own home until the cats have left.  (This is not the first time that I have heard of an allergy to Rexes, by the way, so they are not quite as hypoallergenic as some people claim.)  Zack had a bad start in life and was fearful and unapproachable when his present owner adopted him.  In her expert hands, he turned into a loving little guy who holds your face to kiss you, loves to be held in your arms or on your lap and likes nothing better than a car ride in your company.  Tigger is like a little dog and plays fetch with his bone for as long as his human is willing to throw it.  He, too, is much given to sprawling on one's lap.  Both cats have spent part of their loves with a large dog (who has since died) and would probably adjust to another dog in an new home.  They are fairly patient with children and will let themselves be chased and picked up, but will use a gentle bite to inform the small monsters when enough is enough.  It would be wonderful for Zack and Tigger to be adopted together, but it is not a must.

June 26 , 2006 Darling little Bronwen is a miracle cat who managed to survive some six weeks of abandonment before being found.  She is the companion of Bella (whom you will find in the Courtesy Listings section) and was thrown out by her previous owners when they left the neighbourhood.  Other residents became aware of what had happened and began feeding these girls and Bella was fortunate enough to find herself a marvellous foster home in due course.  Unfortunately, by the time Bella was taken in, Bronwen had disappeared.  How she made it through the next few weeks remains a mystery, but eventually she was found mewing in a field and brought to safety.  As Bella's foster home is already amply furnished with animals, I have taken on Bronwen myself, and what a darling she has proven to be.  She may not be the stunner her "sister" is, but I think they could be related, as Bronwen also has a rather flat face and very long hair, not to mention a very sweet disposition.  When she arrived, her coat was dreadfully matted and she weighed almost nothing, but things are looking up.  She is applying herself to the pleasant task of eating as much as she can, and has begun to fill out a bit, though I don't think she will ever be a plump cat.  At some point in her travails, she suffered a broken canine tooth, and as soon as she is robust enough, I will have it removed (it cannot be allowed to stay, because infection can travel up into it through the sheared-off tip, and the only other solution is a root canal treatment for many $$$$$$).   While she is under anaesthesia, I will also have her poor ragged coat shaved off.  This may seem drastic, but her mats are so bad that when we try to comb them out, they simply come out of her skin altogether, so she is already adorned with bald patches around her neck and might as well lose the entire mess and have a lovely bath as well.  The important thing to know is that she is a wonderfully affectionate and happy little person, and that the people who dumped her and Bella are vile wretches.

August 14 2006: This naughty scamp was adopted before I could even take her home from the clinic and now rules the roost in her new home.  Appropriately renamed Diva, she lords it over the other cat (who up to now had never accepted another cat but has fallen under the spell) and over the large dog, who loves cats and was completely thrilled when this little playmate moved in.
May 24, 2006 Bought for 350.00 dollars in a pet store and disposed of shortly thereafter at a pound, this ravishing little number was about to be euthanized.  She rewarded me for taking her on by coming down with diarrhoea, followed by anorexia (the vile taste of the medication made her refuse all food), ultimately requiring her to be given intravenous fluids (see photo with blue bandage).  Fortunately, Bokhara quickly bounced back and is now ready to be adopted by someone who will not tire of her within mere days.  I was told she was a Persian, but her face is not "deformed" enough, praise be to God, so I suspect she has rather impure bloodlines.  Her eyes are a brilliant light amber and her charcoal coat is thick and long and will definitely call for regular grooming (although she takes care of those adorable ear tufts by herself).  The good news is that she submits willingly to this procedure, even when the comb reaches her armpits, a very sensitive spot that has most cats objecting strenuously.  Bokhara has not had much contact with other cats, judging by the hilarious hissing she puts on when she sees one, but she was completely at ease with the groomer's sizeable dog, a chow mix around whose legs she wandered without a tremor.  As she is very young, she is flexible enough to adapt to most situations and I expect she will learn to get along with other cats.  Bold and confident, Bokhara is less frenetically energetic than most kittens I have met and should mature into an interesting adult.  Need I add that she is arrestingly pretty?

May 23, 2006 Horton, or "Il Divino" as I like to call him, is a splendid specimen with his fierce eyes and lush coat in every shade of silver.  He came strolling up the driveway of a lovely house in TMR a couple of years ago, sporting shoulders worthy of a stevedore and a fine set of reproductive organs whose potency was reflected in a crop of local kittens.  His rescuer soon put an end to his macho career and Horton turned into a regal indoor cat with a loving disposition and an appreciation for creature comforts.  Alas, his rescuer had to leave her home and Horton's cushy life came to a temporary halt.  Although he shared his previous home with other cats, he had actually been living for the most part in one room and has thus lost some of his earlier flexibility when it comes to meeting others of his kind.  He has just been introduced to Fiji and Samoa, and the relationship is not going particularly for any of them.  I sense that he would best like to be a singleton, lord of all he surveys and cared for by suitably worshipful humans.

August 14 2006:  This darling creamy girl has just been adopted by a wonderful kind young woman who adopted another torti-point Siamese from me two years ago.  Vanilla thus joins Domenica and her big buddy Noé, a black and white domestic who was found abandoned in the lane in sub zero temperatures when he was but a kitten.  After a mere 48 hours, Vanilla is already emerging from a cosy spot in the bedroom wardrobe to snuggle up against her new human on the sofa, and the others seem more than happy to share their home with her.  She has already been visited by the cat loving neighbours who have declared her to be "belle et fine" - my sentiments exactly.

May 23, 2006 See below (Venetia)

October 10 2005: This handsome cat is a gentle soul who can be startled by other animals’ rough and tumble behaviour, loud noises and other assaults upon his nervous system. Once he feels confident, he expresses his considerable affection for humans by sucking on one’s arms as one lies in bed. He is playful without being hyper, as befits his status as a young adult, and very loving in an understated way – no unseemly pushiness for this boy. He shares his foster home with cats, one large dog and assorted birds and bunnies, and would like to have a bit more room to himself, as well as a human who is not always busy vacuuming and mopping and can spend more time cradling a shiny black cat. Born in 2003, Spook is castrated and has all his claws.

September 17, 2006 This exquisite cat was found downtown (as usual, my grateful admiration goes to the breeder who sold her to a pet store who sold her to an idiot who got rid of her - way to go, ladies and gentlemen, we rescuers just love to fix the problems you create!).  Sissy is as lovely on the inside as she is on the outside.  She is affectionate, enjoys being handled (which is not the case for all Himalayans, in my experience) and is calm, so she would make a wonderful addition to any home.

August 01, 2006 Bella's charm has worked its magic and her foster carers have decided they cannot part with her.

May 8, 2006:  Exquisite Bella was born under a lucky star, although things looked bleak for her for a while.  Although she had the misfortune of belonging to people who simply moved away and left her and her companion behind (the companion has disappeared, poor thing), fate kindly placed her in the path of two devoted animal lovers who have taken her in and will care for her until she finds a new home.  As it happens, these lovely people are among my adopters, and were it not for the fact that they have three dogs, two cats (one of whom was my first ever Persian rescue, a charming apricot coloured chap), two parrots and a number of fish, they would adopt Bella in a heartbeat.  Whoever does adopt this creamy flame point with saucer eyes will get a cat as loving as she is beautiful.  Bella lived with Dobermans and is fond of large dogs (her present companions are Golden Retrievers).  Calm and trusting, she allowed herself to be shaved with nary a murmur shortly after her rescue; this was necessary as her glorious blond coat was matted beyond salvation, and she will require regular grooming like any long haired cat once her coat grows in.  Bella is delightfully keen on humans and follows her present caregivers around all over the house.  In short, only a heart of granite could fail to love this girl, and if I did not already have too many animals (recent memo from Saint Francis: "Leave some for other people!"), I would be happy to fall under her spell.

August 14 2006:  Java has become the darling of a Siamese-worshipping retired couple in a beautiful home in Beaconsfield.  His owner delivered him in person and reported that, had she not been newly married, she might have been begging these lovely people to adopt her as well!  I never met Java but he sounds like an exceptionally nice boy and well deserving of all the good things coming his way in his new life.
June 26, 2006:  coming soon.

May 20, 2005: Their owner’s terminal illness has rendered these very shy boys homeless. I was told that they were both Russian Blues, but I choose to disbelieve this in Wasabi’s case, as he has blue eyes and points, so I am classifying him as a Siamese blue point. It’s true that his points are hard to make out on the picture of the boys together (he is on the right), and his eyes are so dilated that the blue irises barely show, so you will have to take my word for it. Wasabi was born on January 9, 2003 and Katchaturian timidly entered this world on July 11, 2002. They appear to be attached to each other, so once again I would like to try and place them together but will consider separating them if a good home comes along for just one of them (as I did with Mustard and Custard). For the time being their most noticeable feature is their timidity, which occasionally borders on terror. I am told that I sometimes put the fear of God into people, but I am not used to having this effect on animals, and it was sad for me to feel Wasabi trembling like an aspen leaf as I was trying to cuddle him in my lap. I have not had much time to visit these two cats since their arrival, so I don’t know what progress they may have made toward socialization, but they are sharing a room with a couple of boys who could write a book on the subject (Charlie and Theo), so let’s hope some of their confidence rubs off on the two newcomers. Both cats are castrated and have all their claws.

Here is what his rescuer says about Phinneas:

"Phinneas was abandoned about a year and a half ago, appearing on the street completely panicked and disoriented. Over time, he found food, and managed though a winter, and although his survival instinct kept him alive, one could see, sadly, that his spirit was broken. An injury, namely an abscess that required surgery led to Phinneas being taken inside his present foster home, where he has regained his spirit and health, and is perhaps the softest big lug you could imagine. Truly adorable. Phinneas is a big boy, strong but soft – he nearly takes your knees out when he rubs up against your legs – and loves to lie on your tummy or lap. He also has a purr that a rivals a tractor, especially when his ears are stroked. Phinneas has the best sleeping positions of any cat I have ever seen. He also shows quite a bit of intelligence - who says beauty and brawn don’t go with brains? Phinneas is about two/three years old, is neutered and vaccinated, and is great with other cats. He is still a slightly edgy when it comes to people’s feet walking by, and to being touched on his back where his injury was, so he would probably be best in a house with adults. Since his stint here, he has not been outside, (mostly because his backside has yet to grow all the fur back), and seems to have adjusted well, although I suspect he would be happiest as an indoor/outdoor cat." (March 14, 2006)

April 22, 2006  When this lovely shy cat first came to me from her original rescuer some two and a half months ago, she was extremely people shy and would dive under the bed if I so much as looked in her direction.  She had been one of a large group of cats belonging to an older woman, and got along very well with her own kind.  Alas, this could not be said of her relationship to humans, from whom she hid most of the time.  After around a week spent in my quiet bedroom, which she shared with only Wasabi at first, she began to respond to her nickname "Zolina" and let me pet her.  These interactions happened only provided I crouched on the floor and squeaked her name, and would end in a streak of taupe and cream diving under the bed as soon as I made a move to get up or, God forbid, attempted to wrap my arms around her.  Thus we coasted along for weeks until the morning I woke up to find her curled on the bed close to me.  I fully expected her to flee as usual once I moved, but no, this time she let down her guard and we indulged in a fifteen minute love-fest.  Zoë dived und the covers, re-emerged to sit on my chest, jumped off the bed and on again, rubbed her face against mine and did all the lovely things one wants a happy cat to do.  I did warn her prospective adopters that she might take a fair time to warm up to them, and indeed she began by checking them out from a safe distance, repeatedly popping out from under the bed and returning to its safety.  Then, as her adopter Elizabeth crouched on the floor, didn't little madam come out and start to rub noses with her, then allow herself to be picked up!  We were all thrilled and amazed, and I do feel proud of Zoë for graduating to this level of trust.  She is eloquent proof of what can be achieved with patience.  She will go to her new home in early May, where we hope she will be made welcome by the resident cat.

April 9, 2005: This family pet is up for adoption because her owner has developed asthma. While this is sad for her previous humans, it may be a good thing for Perle, who has had a rather thin time of things since the birth of the family’s little boy, two and a half years ago. As toddlers will, he tended to pester her, and she spent more and more time hiding away, unable to enjoy leisurely cuddles with her people. Perle is a lovely little blue point, believe me, but she looks a bit shop soiled here because her coat sported mats the size of golf balls when she arrived and we had to shave her from stem to stern. A mild eye infection has done nothing to improve her looks, but this too shall pass. Born on ...2000, Perle is spayed and her front paws are declawed. She is an affectionate cat who would like to be spared any further exposure to small children.