Celebrating Our "GOTCHA" DAY

OUR GOTCHA DAY

as of today, we are thrilled to celebrate our "GOTCHA" day--4 years of living with our human in Connecticut. 

Our first night in Chez Carol

Before that we were "shelter kitties" But In December 2012 our human, needing furrrballs just like us in her life came to get us! We spent the first night in a luxuriously appointed room  with soft rugs & TUNA.  By morning we were raring to go explore the rest of the house. Here we are at 1-1/2 years old, on our first morning "jaunt."

Our Life in New York and "the shelter"

We weren't always so lucky.  We had two OTHER humans in New York City before during the first year of our life. We thought they loved us. We became loving & sweet-natured animals, very demonstrative.  THEN ONE DAY they put in cages & took to a cold depressing building, They said it was for our own good cuz they were moving to Puerto Rico.

At the Shelter

Maybe they thought since we had gorgeous ginger and black coloring and fabulous stripes we'd get adopted right away. But no one came to get us and day after day went by. My terrified sister Paprika caught the sniffles while we were waiting.  We were beside ourselves with grief and terror. Finally the shelter (called NYACC) decided we were "unadoptable" and put us on a list called "Death Row" - a list naming all cats to be killed the next morning.

How we were "saved"

Here starts the good part of our story. Hundreds of concerned humans watch this "Death Row List on Facebook. They share pictures of cats who win their hearts, they donate funds and they share our pictures. Here are some of the things loving & kind people posted which led to our rescue.

We were lucky and captured the hearts of many!  After a brief time (which didn't feel short to us) we were "pulled" from our near fate by a devoted rescue organization.

The White House in Connecticut

 She nursed us back to health and brought us to live in a

big white house in Connecituct. There were about 40 other cats but we were allowed to roam free and hang out near sunny windows while waiting for our forever homes.  Then we met our human, Carol. She fell in love with me on the internet after seeing my picture.  "I must have that cat!" she thought...  So she found the white house in Granby, Connecticut and met ME.  And my sister, of course!

I let her pick me up the first day! I don't let just anyone do THAT! 

And Home we went!

She took both of us home because I would not leave without my sister Paprika (then called Tigger). 

 Of course she loves both of us now.  We are awaiting our 4th Christmas here!  We haven't got her trained completely, she still doesn't feed us enough tuna,  for example, but she is coming along!   Happy Holidays from both of us to all our

blogger friends, those wonderful kind humans who shared our story, our foster home where we were nursed back to heath, the kitties still in shelters and the angel kitties who graced our lives for all too short a time!

Love, Peaches the cat

Our Narrow Escape from New York City

Paprika July 1, 2012 in NYC Shelter

PEACHES & PAPRIKA FOUND ON INTERNET SEARCH!

This past week  I thought I’d indulge my never ending curiosity for “where did my cats live before I met them?

 I had checked online before but now I remembered that Paprika was named "Tigger" in her "other life."

Peaches at NYC Shelter

So I typed Peaches & TIGGER into Google, waited, and  
then….suddenly Peaches’ face flashed across my IPAD, taking up the whole screen. 

I was shocked & gasped. Then Paprika’s face, her eyes huge with fright showed up next on my screen.. 

Pets on Death Row - Urgent Death Row Cats ...
https://esla.facebook.com/PetsOnDeathRow/photos/a.../465505273461310/

Paprika, terrified in NYC

The photos were excerpted from Facebook's "Pets on Death Row" page a page I had not knew existed.  

The posts took place between July 1 and July 7, 2012 They were written (& SHARED 177 times!) by 50+ volunteers at a NYC  kill shelter all about MY CATS!  

This brought chills to my heart but I could not stop reading.    Here is the first post I read: 

Somebody.. PLEASE SAVE PEACHES AND TIGGER Together!!! Need Safe, Loving Home!! 2 de julio de 2012 a la(s) 23:11 · 1 .

EBC: Peaches is just beautiful!! Please don't let her die. Please, someone in the NY area, give her a second chance!!!  7/1/12  8:43 PM           

LKC: Please welcome Peaches into your heart tonight & share her widely so she can find someone to welcome her into their home.  7/2/12   1:35AM

Peaches at the animal shelter

TO BE DESTROYED 7/2/12

JR: “Peaches was so starving for attention it was very sad to see. It could of been because she was missing her housemate Tigger."  7/1/12 6:30PM

MLV: PEACHES IS SCHEDULED to be KILLED TOMORROW MORNING!! There are 31 cats on death row!

MT: Please, someone help these beautiful girls. It can be hard to find 2 cats who love each other and these girls are the full package. Don't let her die.  7/2/12   2:46AM

Paprika looking terrified at the animal shelter

PMS: TIGGER is a real little beauty who is playful and friendly - quite a little stunner!  Adopt/Foster?  7/6/12 9:10pm

July 9, 2012 at 10:43pm

PA: Yay!!! Tigger is SAFE!!!! :):):)  PEACHES IS SAFE!

MY CATS... SAFE AT LAST

Peaches on top window at Marys Kitty Korner

Finally, they were both SAFE!   A wonderful angel-lady named Joann who performs last minute miracles rescued my kitties, fostered them till they recovered from COLDS they'd gotten at the shelter, then found them a home in Marys Kitty Korner, a large white house & no kill shelter in Granby CT. That is where I met them. 

But before going to that big white house I saw Peaches’ picture in Petfinder and fell in love.  And I went there to Granby to the white house and took them both home.

When I saw the poignant posts about them both 3 years later (!) I wrote to a few of the more fervent posters to tell them their energy was not wasted: Peaches and Tigger/Paprika were safe and sound.

Many wrote me back, delighted!   Thank you again you wonderful dedicated volunteers!

I don’t think much about my kitties' past (although I couldn't help but be curious)  but often I see a far away look in Paprika’s eyes and I wonder if she is remembering the cold cement floor, the cage, the fright. 

I will never know these things. But I gather my kitties tight about me, just the same.  And I savor their purrs, their whiskers, their sweet dispositions all the more.