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A Curmudgeon's View of the World

I helped Hurricane Katrina Animals

I let my mom be gone for a really looong time; I had to stay at home with all the other kitties, the dog and our dad. She was off helping rescue animals abandoned and left behind in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina. I helped because I was a good kitty while she was gone. ButI sure was happy to see her when she came home!!!

Here's my mom's story:

We spent several days of working/helping with the rescued animals at the Tylertown, Mississippi rescue site/encampment that Best Friends Animal Society has set up there. (About 100 miles north of New Orleans.) It was the most wonderful, miserable, fantastic, awful, incredible week spent with some of the most wonderful, generous, compassionate people -- I'm sure I won't ever be able to forget it.

A friend and I took a u-haul trailer full of donated supplies (a really big thank you to everyone who supported us with donations assistance and/or money - it certainly went to a very good cause.)
Every day, the rescuers (my heroes!) went off into the toxic sludge of New Orleans and each night, they brought in 20, 40, 60 dogs/cats/misc. small pets. Everyone would wake up and gather at the "Ellis Island" area to offload the animals. We would coax them out of their crates, loving and welcoming them even though we were always aware that they may be contaminated from the toxic areas they were rescued from. Some were so scared and traumatized that it just made you cry. Some were emaciated, burned, injured - but a lot of them weren't. They were walked and watered and put back into their crate to await the next day when they could be examined by vets, pictures taken for ID, and grouped into their new temporary pens.

And every day, in horribly hot and humid conditions, amid swarms of bugs, volunteers kept pouring in from all over the country. We fed, watered, walked, poop-scooped, and cared for all the dogs & cats and critters. We cleaned & sanitized mountains of crates so they could be used again for the next day\'s rescue efforts. We tried to keep from getting heat-stroke by drinking water/Gatorade/juice practically non-stop all day, and hosing each other down with the water hose. (The dogs had to be hosed down a couple times a day - it was just too @#&#@ hot!!!!!) We sorted and organized donated food and supplies. Some of the volunteers prepared sandwiches and sometimes a hot dinner (bless them). The vets and vet-techs worked to vaccinate and micro-chip the animals, and to tend their wounds and illnesses. It was both exhausting and exhilarating.

We cried tears of happiness whenever an animal was reunited with their people. Everyone cheered and teared and took pictures and wished them well - it was the best part of each day!

Then, each night, we'd fall into our sleeping bags and hope to get a few hours of sleep before starting it over again the next day. (It was extremely hard to sleep because of all the barking dogs and nighttime camp activity.) Regardless, my heart is still there with the wonderful volunteers and Best Friends employees who are continuing to take care of those poor, wonderful, and very-lucky-to-be-rescued animals.

PS - I took tons of pictures while I was there - and have them posted at http://community.webshots.com/user/evelynblack Scroll down to the albums titled "Hurricane Katrina".

(More info available at www.BestFriends.org)

Why'd we have to MOVE?

This happenned a few years ago: I grew up in a fine house where I knew all the ins and outs, upstairs, downstairs, outside, the deck and the backyard and the neighborhood. It was a fine house. I knew everything about it. So why'd we have to move???? I didn't like it.

I knew something was up because lots of worker people came making lots of noise fixing things and leaving strange smells that I'd smell when I came out from hiding after they left. Then for days and days there were all these boxes everywhere - I really like boxes so it was kind of fun jumping in them and seeing what was inside them. But they were all over the house and they kept getting moved around and it made things look different and smell different and I didn't like it.

Then things were so crazy that I ran off and hid and didn't come back until after dark when everybody was gone. But things looked funny and smelled funny and I didn't like it. My mom tried to get me to come inside and get dinner and act like everything was fine - but it wasn't. The house was almost empty except for all the furniture. My favorite places to hide weren't so favorite anymore. I didn't like it.

Then there were lots of smelly MEN and a big truck and they were going in and out of MY house - I ran off and hid, and wouldn't come back until after dark. My mom was most upset and I could hear her calling and calling me but no way was I coming back to that scary house. After awhile everybody was gone and it was quiet and now I was ready to come inside for my dinner - but it was all quiet & dark and nobody opened the door to let me in. I was getting pretty hungry and wondering what I was going to do next - I really didn't like it. It must have been around midnight when I finally heard my mommy calling me. She came back after all the moving was done and all the noisy, smelly men were gone - she came back to get me, which made me VERY HAPPY!!

Fostering Baby Kittens (what were they thinking!?)

Although I am a large, fluffy, and very handsome Maine Coon Mix, I tend to be a bit of a curmudgeon. I'm 9 years old and rather set in my ways, and have become used to a rather quiet life. However that all changed recently . . . .

My human brought home a litter of five 6 week old kittens to foster until they were old enough to get adopted. She said they were adorable - but what I saw was lots of squirmy, noisy rat-looking little things across the room and I couldn't get out of there fast enough! (Punkin literally burned rubber on the hardwood floor trying to run away in terror from kittens that he saw 25 feet away!!!!)

I certainly didn't want to have anything to do with those kitten-things! For awhile they stayed in one room. I'd run away every time I saw them. After awhile, they were allowed all over the house and they'd see me and want to come close -- I couldn't stand that! My human assured me that they'd be gone soon, so I just tried to pretend they didn't exist.

They were gone soon . . . . but they were replaced by MORE!!!! Life may never be the same.