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Happy endings abound at PLL

Greetings Sonoma!  

  I am happy to report our Catoberfest went incredibly well, with more than 45 cats adopted to their forever homes since Oct. 15. What an uplifting note to end the month on.

  We even had some dogs who got in on the happy ending story as well with Augustus, Alphie, Lucky, Oso, Howdy and Angelina all adopted during the month of October. That’s what it is all about and it warms my heart when we can report a multitude of adoptions of our furry friends.

  I even had the joy of adopting myself this month. The story goes like this, way back in August, the folks at Benziger Family Winery being the wonderful animal-friendly folk they are, brought us a kitty they had trapped on the property.

  A few hours later they brought in another little guy who was found in a well, so naturally we called him Timmy. He was 4 days old.

  PLL staffmember Shoshana checked him in and he was so cold and close to the edge she couldn’t even get a temperature read on the thermometer. She warmed him up with a snuggle disk and heating pad and a few hours later, I attempted to give him a bottle. He ate like a champ and we were cautiously optimistic.

  Fostering bottle babies, as we call them, has become my niche here. Usually I get them to the point of transitioning to solid food and turn them over to their next foster home. But this one was special.

  It was touch and go for the first week or two, but I made a promise to the little guy that if he pulled through, I would adopt him.

  What really made the difference is that, Tracy from Benziger, then brought in a sweet little calico girl a week-and-a-half later who we concluded had to be Timmy’s sister. We afffectionately named her Thelma in honor of Thelma Houston who performed at the Black Cat Cabaret in September. Once Timmy and Thelma were together that was the turning point.  

  Thelma, who had managed to spend more time with mom, was robust and healthy when she came in at about 2 weeks old. I fostered both for more than two months until they were ready to be spayed and neutered.  

  When the artists from Black Cat came into town, Christine Deaver, our fabulous fraulein (you had to see the show) came to visit the shelter and fell in love with Thelma. I would keep her posted on Thelma’s progress along the way and in early October she came up to visit her and the rest is history.

  Timmy is now fully ensconced in my household with my two other cats, Cowboy (a PLL kitty) and Angelito, my 16-year-old rescue from Mexico City.

  Thelma, now called Nomi, a nickname for Sonoma, is settled into her role as co-diva in Christine’s home in Los Angeles.

  So thank you to our wonderful network of folks out there (hats off to the Benziger folks) who trapped and brought us the kittens who would otherwise perish in this mean old world.  

  Our book sale was a smash this weekend raising more than $1,200 for the care and feeding of the animals.

  Thank you to Judy Black and Dale Miller, the dynamic duo who not only put the book sale together, but also come to the shelter every Monday to help clean kitty cages.   Volunteers like that are a true treasure and we of Sonoma Valley are blessed with an entire community of generous spirits.

  We have a lot to be thankful for during this holiday season.

  Although Catoberfest is over, our more mature cats will still be available for $25 until the end of the year ... and we have more than 20 kittens still in foster who will be gracing our kitten room over the next few weeks, so come on down and check us out.

Until then ... wag more and bark less.