Hello from, In Kirkland Lake

[In KirklandLake]

Per my name, I live in Kirkland Lake, in Northern Ontario. And nope we don't have snow yet.

I found your message board by chance, as I was seeking a cute cat poem. I didn't find the poem but do appreciate what you stand for.

I'll "try" to make my intro brief.

My oldest daughter Jen, age 25, is happily married in the U.S. and expecting my first grandson. My 2nd oldest daughter Julie, age 23, is happily teaching, with her boyfriend in South Korea. And my youngest daughter Natasha, age 18, just started college 400 miles away.
So my second husband of 12 years and I are now empty nesters.
Luckily he loves cats as much as I do, so we are up to 5.

I am not as dedicated as many of the members here are at saving homeless kitties, though I do my best. Only my husband works so our funds are limited.

Our oldest fixed male Tabby, will be 10 years young next Friday. He is a big healthy cat, who was in a small litter of only 2 kittens.
Our youngest fixed male is Itty Bitty, who is 3 years old. We had him fixed, as it was cheaper then having the 3 females fixed.
Before our daughter moved to the states, she gave us her kitten Pumpkin, who was 8 months old. Unfortunately she went into heat before we could get Itty Bitty fixed. So at 11 months old she had a litter of 4 kittens. We quickly found homes for the 2 males. But after 12 weeks the 2 females had grown on us, so we kept them too.

We had purchased new livingroom furniture a few months earlier. So it was a bit disparing to see our pets scratching it and ignoring their scratching posts. But even so, we did not and will not ever have them declawed.

We had only the males fixed for ecomonical reasons only. Yes the females going into heat sometimes can be trying, but we love them just the way they are. All 5 are indoor cats. And they are only allowed out of the house on a leash. That took alot of patience to accomplish. Only the 2 kids, Chubs and Blackie now go for their daily walks, until the snow comes.

I guess I have a good heart, as I seem to have a knack at getting feral cats to trust me. Since our town is so small, we do not have a humane society or anything like that. Finding homes for them is quite a challenge.
We have only lived here for the last year, after moving from Niagara. But last winter was so cold, that I have taken to seeking homeless cats once again.
We have a very large garage, which is where I leave food and water for any in need. But it isn't heated so not the best situation.

Well so much for being brief.

Anyhow. Attached are pix of my 5 fur children, whom I love as much as my 3 daughters! I hope my kids never see the last line. lol

Shelly

[In KirklandLake]

And here are the kids.

[In KirklandLake]

Yikes the photos are too huge!

If a moderator could please help me and downsize them, I'd appreciate it, as I don't know how to fix it.

Boy my first day here and already I'm hopeless.

Thank-you.

Shelly

[erykah1310]

HI and welcome

What a move! Niagra to KL? You must find things very different up there.
My man works there A LOT in the summers and I went up with him a few times.

Thanks for doing what you do for the kitties, I understand the financial issue for not spaying just yet, but bear with some of the members here, it may be a heated issue, it may not since you explained.
Knowing what a spay costs here, I can only imagine what a spay is up there!

All your cats are beautiful, your Tortie is just STUNNING! ( I have a thing for torties as I have come to find out over the summer... every time I see one I just stop in awe, definately my favorite color variation in cats)

Look forward to reading more from you in the time to come.
Good luck with the ferals and strays this winter, the fact that you help at all makes you just as important as a big rescue organization!

[otter]

Hi Shelly!
Welcome to pets.ca

You've done a great job! We are all picture fanatics so, no matter what the size, we love them

Beautiful kitties you have.

Keep watch for a low cost spay/neuter clinic... they happen occasionally - PALS sometimes puts them on (PALS = prevent a litter , they are associated with Northern Ontario Animal Welfare Society out of Iroquis Falls I believe) you might have to drive to Timmins or something.

[hazelrunpack]

Welcome to the board, Shelly!

Beautiful kitties.

[t.pettet]

Your kitties are beautiful, such a diverse group, welcome to the site.

[Tundra_Queen]

Hi shelly *waving*

You came from Niagara Falls to KL? I'm originally from Toronto and I moved to Kapuskasing 26 years ago. It is a big difference up north isn't it? Things definately move a lot slower in Northern Ontario too!

Your furbabies are soooo cute! I was lucky when I adopted my laast two kittens here in Kap as I got them from a foster home thru the ARK rescue here and the price of the spayed and neutering and first set of shots were covered in the adoption fee. I certainly know what u mean about it being expensive to get the cats fixed. Our first cat we had to pay for and it was very expensive.

ARK, animal rescue of Kapuskasing, is a non profit bunch of volunteers that take care of the animals in different foster homes. They get no funding from our town, which I find just terrible! But they are a great bunch of people that just got together to help the stray animals and help them get adopted! Maybe u could start something like that in Kirkland.

It's wonderful that you are going to keep an eye out for ferals in the winter. Our willie was born in our garage six years ago with his 5 brothers and his mom was feral. Mom took the others away but left willie, who was the runt and has a bad eye.

If u could take your femlaes to Iroquois Falls if they have another spay clinic that would be great! I didn't even know they had one until Otter wrote that.

Good luck and welcome to the forum! Nice to have another Northerner in our mists. *S*

Debbie

[In KirklandLake]

Thank-you for the warm welcome.

I have been checking ARK's site. But I see they don't have the funding to help spay any females right now.
It isn't critical though, just sometimes trying. Like in late July, when all 3 were in heat. Others need the help much more then we do.

Here my interesting contribution for today.
It's about my youngest daughters, "free" kitten, Kitkat. Before she moved from Kirkland Lake to go back to Niagara for college, her little girl stopped eating.
We took her to Dr. Catt (I just love her name) the only vet in town. Kitkat swallowed a button, which was blocked in her intestine. The surgery was estimated at $1,300 or alot for us. Though Dr. Catt warned us that two cats had passed away recently from the same surgery, we still opted to at least try. Without it, she'd expire soon. She was so lithless and hadn't eaten for 4 days, from Thursday until Monday. Our vet is closed weekends.

I left the choice up to my daughter, since she'd have to use some of her college money to pay the vet bill. The surgery was performed the following morning, Tuesday, April 7th, 2008.
We were on pins and needles, until the vet called to verify she was fine. The surgery was done in New Liskeard or an hour away. So I couldn't just hang around Dr. Catt's office.
She came back to Kirkland Lake on Thursday, as they wanted to verify she'd be ok. As far as I know, Kitkat was the only kitty to survive the tricky surgery on her intestines. My daughter still has the button in a plastic bag, as she kept it.
I was so proud of her for making a tough choice. I told her, she can replace the money later, but can't bring her new pet back to life later. It showed me, I raised her right and she learned well from my example.

In June 2008 after Kitkat had her follow-up, my daughter got her kitten fixed and declawed (I tried so hard to prevent the declawing too) The cost was another $600. including her shots.

So her free kitten cost her almost $2,000 before she had her first birthday on July 31st.

We moved her back to Niagara, for college, after being away for only one year. She calls often and updates me on her much loved Kitkat. She was down to a sickly 6 pounds before her surgery and now is a roubust 9 pounds. Her step-dad and I bought a house and love it here, so are staying.
I was raised in New Liskeard, so while young, I could hardly wait to move to the south. So for me to be here, is like returning home after being gone for 22 years.

I noticed the info I put for our 5 cats isn't in my profile so I'll add it here.

We have 5 cats, which are in the order of the above photos-

Tabby, fixed male, born October 17, 1998 - so almost 10 years
Itty Bitty, fixed male, born May 31, 2005 - he is 3 years old
Pumpkin, female, born April 30, 2006 - she is 2 years old
Chubs, female, born March 24, 2007 - she is 1 year old
Blackie, female, born March 24, 2007 - she is 1 year old

Itty Bitty and Pumpkin are the parents of Chubs and Itty Bitty.
Dr. Catt fixed Itty Bitty and updated his shots for $200.

We simpily can not afford to have the girls and mom fixed.
We moved from the south and "drastically" downsized our lives, in the process.
Some things are more important to me now then money, though a bit more would be nice too.
We are in a happy place at this time in our lives at 45, with 3 wonderful grown daughters and 5 terrific kitties.

So life is great! I'm one who believes you should live each day like it's your last, cause one day it will be.

Shelly

[14+kitties]

Welcome to the forum In KirklandLake.

I am not as dedicated as many of the members here are at saving homeless kitties.

Oh, I think you are!!

so our funds are limited.

You are preaching to the choir! A lot of us know that feeling!

The scratching post thing is a lot of work. May I suggest putting a scratching post in front of every spot they scratch. When they start scratching you say a firm No and move them physically to the posts. They will learn after a while not to scratch.

I am glad there are some programs that may be available for you to get your females fixed. I know you take great care to keep them in but there is always the first time. Also, an unfixed female can face many diseases which can be life threatening.

Welcome again! Your family is beautiful!!

[otter]

Wow, Kitkat's story is a touching one .... sounds like you are doing things just right

[Schwinn]

I came to say the same thing as what others have already said, "Woa! Niagara to Kirkland Lake!" Mrs. Schwinn went from Thunder Bay to Geraldtine to Kirkland Lake to central Ontario, and drove me to her parents house through Kirkland Lake once. One thing I find about up that area is everyone either wonders why the hell would you live there, or already does live there, and doesn't want to leave for anything. Mrs. Schwinn has tried to drag my southern butt up there almost since we first met. The deal breaker for me, though, was when I complained about too much snow (being a mountain biker and all), and she said, "Oh, they actually get less snow than we do". "Really? Why?" "It gets too cold to snow." Yea, not a selling point in my book!

I understand what you're saying about the money. I didn't, but Mrs. Schwinn once explained to me about costs, lack of vets, etc. involved with having pets up north. One of her cats was rescued from a bag of rocks and a trip to the river! But, you do what you can, and after $2000, it's obvious that you do!

[In KirklandLake]

Thank-you!
Yes we do have a nice mix, but I just love all cat types. Never been a dog person unfortunately, but I sure wish I had 100 more cats! Luckily my husband, who also is a cat person, is the voice of reason or we have many more.

Yes Blackie is indeed a beauty. Thanks for the compliment. It is always nice having someone else verify what we've thought all along.

I also am posting this link about our unique Blackie and her water fixation, if you care to read it. http://www.pets.ca/forum/showthread....287#post675287

Again thank-you for the warm welcome, as I feel I've been here much longer then only 5 days.

Shelly

[happycats]

Welcome!!!!

[Bina]

Hi Shelly, your kitties are beautiful.
We have 3, and we also feed a couple of "visitors" from other farms.
The stray visitors always have a place to sleep in the hay and have food and water.
We all do what we can, right? Right.