Cats and a rainy Tuesday

October 20, 2020Angel Ackerman Leave a comment

I woke up grumpy and frustrated and irritated.

I had my first dental cleaning in close to nine months— and it had me on edge but luckily I got my favorite hygienist. It was a relaxing visit after all with no issues.

I went to the bank to deposit the $127 I had collected over time. It was 9, but they didn’t have the door unlocked so I used the ATM. I get unrealistically nervous that the machine will eat my money.

It did not.

The tellers unlocked the doors at 9:10 a.m. a I pulled away.

After the dentist, the teens and I went to Chaar to see our fosters, Zeus and Apollo, on display there. It was delivery day so we couldn’t get too personal.

Also a note about yesterday, Nan, the teens and I went to Lidl where they had pet carriers for $15 and the teenager bought a new cat toy for $10.

Checking on Zeus and Apollo

October 18, 2020October 18, 2020Angel Ackerman Leave a comment

The Greek Pride was my first litter of foster kittens and they came to me two weeks after I lost my job under circumstances that still surprise me.

These kittens gave me so much joy— even little Hades who bit me on her first day here and sent me to the hospital for the first time in my life.

Artemus found his FURRever home as soon as he went live on the web site. Zeus and Apollo haven’t been so lucky. And poor Zeus and Apollo were so sickly and nervous when we got them and now Zeus is a love.

I asked for them to be placed at Chaar, a specialty pet store with three local locations, and they went on Friday. (Chaar’s web site: Chaar) The kittens are at the Forks Township location.

They have a teepee made of cardboard and were both asleep when I arrived at noon. But they both got up and came to me and of course, Zeus cried.

The employee there said this was her first day meeting them so I explained their difference and mentioned how Zeus loved her cuddles. And with the employee’s permission, I took her out of the cage and held her for a nice ten minutes. Apollo didn’t want to be held, but I did give him pets.

My fosters at Chaar (YouTube)

Zeus saying hi

Apollo saying hi

Good luck Zeus and Apollo

October 16, 2020Angel Ackerman Leave a comment

Today, an older cat originally designated for TNR found a FURRever home. The cat, once trapped, turned out to be a sweetheart more deserving of a lap than a life on the streets.

This 5-year-old orange love was named Sunny Side Up and was adopted by a couple who lives 2 hours away.

Zeus and Apollo will take over his crate at Chaar. It was hard to leave these kittens behind, but the teenager and I both hope they find families. And by going into the cage together, they shouldn’t be as frightened or abandoned.

I used all my word magic to write magical bios. I am so grateful to the good people at Chaar.

Please consider giving these kittens a home.

They started life so sick and wild, and now they are ready for a family.

FURR’s website

Apollo’s Adoption Page

Zeus’ Adoption Page

Adieu dear Hades, enjoy the freedom

October 11, 2020October 11, 2020Angel Ackerman Leave a comment

Fostering is not for the feint of heart.

The teenager and I applied to be foster parents for feral kittens through Feline Urban Rescue and Rehab at the end of July.

We received our first litter July 31— a little faster than we expected. That litter was about 3 months old (the same age as our newest litter) and consisted of 5 spunky but sickly kittens. By August 2, I was in the hospital for a cat bite.

Trial by fire, I guess.

There was only one all black kitten in that litter of tabbies. Two were lovely silver tigers. Two were brown tabbies with lots of white.

Since we wanted to name them after Greek Gods, we quickly decided the black one, regardless of gender, would be Hades.

Hades had bad eye infections and bit me, piercing me with one tooth, while I was trying to give her meds. It was my first time in nearly a decade scruffing a kitten. I’m used to scruffing my 15 lb adult cats.

Hades never trusted people. She would never let me closer than 2 feet away. Yet, if I sat still she would come up to about 18 inches away from me and cock her head inquisitively.

Sometimes she slept in the top bunk with the other kittens, but most of the time she hid in the corner.

And then she got ringworm. We crated her to try and give her meds. She would not let us. And every day she got more aggressive.

So we talked to our FURR foster godmother. Together the three of us decided it was time to transition Hades to a barn cat.

Today we transferred Hades to godmother’s house where she will have her ringworm treated and continue the process to become a barn cat.

We all hope the open space is what she needs to be happy.

Those crazy fools got more kittens!

October 6, 2020October 6, 2020Angel Ackerman Leave a comment

Today we made a very difficult decision regarding the fate of one of our Greek Pride kittens, that we are fostering for Feline Urban Rescue and Rehab.

Hades, the little black cat who bit me and sent me to the hospital, is inquisitive but hides most of the time. She now has caught ringworm from her brother Hermes, so we crated her.

Even in the crate, we can’t get the anti-fungal cream on her.

Video: Zeus proctecting Hades

The complete opposite of her sister, Zeus (the runt!!) loves people and runs into any situation to protect her siblings.

With a heavy heart, the teenager (#1) called our FURR foster godmother and asked if she could help us determine if Hades behavior was based in fear or aggression.

Together we decided that Hades is a female cat who will always feel trapped and cornered in a home environment and would do better as a barn cat.

In more optimistic news, Zeus and Apollo will be returning to Petsmart this weekend for their second adoption fair and may head to an in-store habitat to increase their visibility.

And we’re working on teaching Hermes to cuddle. He’s been the sickest of this group so poor guy has spent most of his life getting scruffed and having medicine applied: first antibiotics and eye cream, then ringworm cream on muzzle and belly.

Onto the insane news, we got MORE kittens! This will be our second set, trapped this morning, and will be named after Roman Gods.

Introducing… drum roll please… The Roman Pride… YouTube video of new kittens

Greek Pride update

October 3, 2020October 3, 2020Angel Ackerman Leave a comment

So today is going to be a hard day. Even though I put on my sparking eye shadow from Baby Bat Beauty and finished my look with some of my beauty products from Ipsy.

I’ll offer a review of those products in a future post.

Right now, I want to use this space to talk about our FURR foster kittens who will turn 6 months old in a couple weeks. (For more information on FURR, visit their web site Feline Urban Rescue and Rehab

We took two of them, Apollo and Zeus, to the adoption event at our local Petsmart.

Our godmother in the organization, I’m not sure how else to refer to the person we report to, introduced us as the new foster family that took a litter of five very difficult feral kittens to try and turn them around. And told the story of how I ended up in the hospital when Hades bit me. (This is the blog entry that starts to chronicle those events: The Unfortunate Cat Bite.)

I had asked Gayle to help me make a sign about Zeus’ personality as I knew she would be nervous and scared and not herself. And we included a QR code to load a playlist of YouTube videos of the whole litter playing.

The other members of the organization loved this.

And we even ran into my former work colleague Emery and her husband who adopted three cats from FURR.

Hermes has ringworm and we’d been medicating him— but now Hades has ringworm on her head so I’m not gonna lie I’m scared to catch her. Not for my own sake, but because Hermes has lost the ground he gained in trusting me because of his need for medication.

These kittens had some bad cat colds when we got them and to add ringworm to their other struggles seems so unfair.

Such sweet cats.

https://angelackerman.com/2020/08/02/greek-pride-day-2/

What does your Monday look like?

September 21, 2020Angel Ackerman Leave a comment

What does your Monday look like? Did it look like mine? The teenager finished painting the custom litter box she and her uncle made yesterday from my neighbor’s old TV shelf.

Nan came over to work and I invited her to stay for lunch— we had the chicken feta spinach sausages from Park Avenue Market and they were so good Fog had to curl up and play adorable on Nan’s lap.

And Nala, my Goffin’s cockatoo, and I hung out in the sun because it’s certainly warmer outside than inside.

Educational Videographer

September 20, 2020Angel Ackerman Leave a comment

There are elements of every week that feel harder than the previous week.

I think I have determined that if I don’t move enough and I sit at desks and in similar circumstances my spine cannot handle it. Perhaps I am a candidate for a standing desk.

I spent yesterday cold and in pain, rotating my chores with cuddling kittens.

The teenager went with her uncle today to build a cat litter box for her room. She’s on her way home so I’m anxious to see how it went.

I was trying to determine what to do with my day when I got an email from my friend Gayle— yes, the same Gayle with whom I walk and who is designing ASPIRE to Autonomy’s annual report— “If only you lived closer…”

And me being me, I said “I’ll be right over.”

What was her dilemma?

Filming how to video mini lectures for her classes in the graphic design department at Northampton Community College.

It was fun to help her discuss magazine layout, master pages and style sheets in one video and cutting and scoring in the next.

Then we went for a walk. Gayle had new shoes she needed to break in before her 9-mile walk on Friday. And my back did just fine on the 4,000 step promenade.

She took me for a walk to Fountain Hill, past the house where she used to live. We stopped to talk to Violet who used to feed all the stray cats and I noticed a pretty cool stick. And I stopped at Dunkin on the way home as the Eagles were playing so I got a $1 iced coffee.

Nala: Nine month update

September 11, 2020Angel Ackerman Leave a comment

It’s hard to believe Nala has been in our family nine months already.

She is no longer plucking and is truly a very pretty bird— especially where I forgot I was wearing red lip gloss and I kissed her leaving pink overtones on her fluffy white feathers.

When I don’t have new toys for her, I try to recycle parts of her old toys to help keep her occupied— especially since new toys often scare her and she won’t touch them for weeks or even months. Except for her favorite toy, which I always keep in storage for a special surprise (and she destroys it in five minutes or less).

How to occupy a bird— a video of my latest Nala “busy box.”

I also put her cage closer to the window so she could see out and she ate my window sill. Got bored one afternoon and ate a large chunk out of it.

This is totally my fault as I usually let her sit outside of her cage and since the pandemic hit, she often sits unattended in my bedroom as she doesn’t go anywhere but I learned the hard way like any toddler she can think up new ways of destruction even when I think I have “bird-proofed.” Now she is away from the wood work and peeling the paint off the wall.

The teenager has taught her to “give kisses” and “boop,” maybe I will find a video or film one. She will only do these tricks with the teenager. No one else.

She loves to chase the cats and dogs when they visit. She adores French fries and pizza and an occasional banana or apple.

She can be cuddly. She is always a brat. She likes to groom my hair.

I bought her a perch for the shower and she loves to play in water if I put it in my cupped hands.

And now that her wing feathers have grown back, she can fly. But only if something scares her. And she hasn’t mastered landing.

When this naughty bird can fly… I’m in trouble.

This is her playing: Nala with cat toy

The first foster departs

September 7, 2020Angel Ackerman Leave a comment

And now there are four.

We have four cats.

We have four birds.

We have four foster kittens.

Our five kitten litter that we are fostering for Feline Urban Rescue and Rehab, that we named after Greek gods and nicknamed “the Greek Pride,” is approaching 5 months old.

Artemis, now Artemus, was the most social and the most cuddly of the group. Today, he went home with his new family.

I’m glad it was a busy day, and I’m also glad Artemus’ sibling is a therapy cat with his own Facebook page because this allows me to keep up with Artemus’ adjustment to his new home.

Sketch & Artemus (Marshall on the stairs)

I even saw a video!

My heart started today with a touch of sadness so I’m glad I spent the day with people I enjoy.

Yesterday I took all the carrots we received during the summer food program and diced them in the Ninja.
Nan came over to work in the morning and eventually we plan to do a Mother Maiden Crone themed piece, discussing a multi-generational experience of the pandemic.
Nan and I sneaked to the drive through for cold beverages, but we only spent $2 and some change.
The teenager and I spent a lot of time cleaning so there may be a tidy home in our future.
The teenager’s father brought me my favorite chicken salad and not one but TWO quarts of half and half from Aldi.
My mother-in-law brought picnic leftovers.
My stepmom gave me fresh cantaloupe that she says is the best she ever had in her life.
The teenager and I started watching the documentary Pick of the Litter on Netflix.

As if this wasn’t enough joy for today, the teenager and I hung out with Darnell and Amber tonight— trading some of my unfiltered chicken stock (tomorrow I will strain it and bring him his official portion) for some leftover chili.

After some work (yes, even though it is a holiday), we had some raucous and fun conversation over margaritas and a home cooked meal.

And we all know how I appreciate a meal.

Tomorrow might be as zany as today, but I’m ready.

Angel Ackerman

Writer, Editor, Passionate Participant in the World

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