Purrr..fect!

On my way to the local farmer's market, I heard some unusual chirping, high up in a tree. This sound was echoed from another tree across the road. I didn't think much about it at the time since our neighborhood is full of parrots but I did think it was amazing that those parrots could sound so much like kittens. In my defense we also have frogs that sound like cats howling at night.

It wasn't until several hours later when I was again walking by those same trees, (across from each other), that I just had to look up and see what kind of parrot could mimic a kitten so expertly. Well duh! You guessed it, when I looked up I saw 2 kittens instead of 2 birds. Each one had climbed a different tree for protection but they were calling to me as I walked by.

I went to look at each tree then decided to go to the kitten up the tallest one, the kitten most high up. If I could coax it down, then the other one should be no problem. It would be up to the kittens however to try and come down, as even a tall ladder would be too short to rescue them just then. My tree climbing days are far behind me and actually I never did any climbing as a kid anyway.

So I walked up to the tall tree and made eye contact and just said "Kitty, Kitty, Kitty, here Kitty, Kitty
Kitty" (in English) and it worked! This tiny bit of a kitten used every climbing skill in its repertoire and never wavered in its determination to come directly to me. Animals can sense when they need help. Despite, my being a stranger and big and scary looking, that kitten just knew she had to come to me. She leaped into my arms and stayed there as I crossed the road to try and rescue its little brother.

The second kitten, in the other tree was not so high up, he came down in a snap. He too stayed in my arms, as I carried the two kittens back to my house. At that moment, with the addition of those 2 kittens, I now had 3 cats and 3 dogs inside of my house.

My 3rd dog is named Noche. She was abandoned in front of my house (across the street) in December, 2013. I found her living in the drain pipe in the culvert along side the road. She was smart to do that as it was very hot weather at the time and it was cool in there.

"Noche" my 3rd dog. This is where I found her living.

I had the neighbor take photos of Noche and he put them in the window of the veterinarian shop (which I saw later). I put Noche's photo on Facebook on a Uruguayan site and had a false promise of a placement. Needless to say, that did not pan out and no one else came forward for Noche. So  I ended up keeping her.

The only reason that I don't have 4 dogs right now is that I took the puppy who I purposely just called "Puppy", which was abandoned 4 weeks ago, (again, across the street from my house), I took him, to the Farmer's market (feria).  Lo and behold, someone at the last second adopted him! Yeah!

"Puppy" had been slightly bite and had a little open scar on his cheek and a dot of missing hair on the top of his head where, I guess, a tooth grazed him. I took him to the veterinarian for some parasite pills and to have the Vet. look at his cheek. A few days later, at the weekly feria I found a vacant spot and sat among the vendors and I hawked out-loud, his availability.

My local weekly Farmer's market/Feria in the town of Salinas, Uruguay.

My loud North American verbal ways must have been a novelty because the vendor next to me started to advertise the puppy as well, instead of his own goods! A young woman took pity on "Puppy" when I told her what was up with his face and that he was okayed by the Vet.  She adopted him!

I should have taken Noche during the first few weeks of finding her, to the feria as well, because that is how I got my other 2 dogs, Barney and Sheila, from someone giving them away there. Because I didn't take Noche right away to the feria, Noche missed her opportunity of being placed while she was in the throngs of extreme cuteness. She was named Noche because she was jet black in color at the time but she has since turned grey!!! Now she wears a grey skunk like mask and silver streaks are appearing under her black coat.

Noche with her grey odd coloring, 2nd photo with her toy hamburger.

Had I known then that her coat would change, I might have named her "The Silver Fox" or just "Zorra" (La Zorra de plata. Zorro means Fox in Spanish) I'm not sure why the whites of her eyes are not white, white, like my other 2 dogs. Noche's eyes always seem a little blood shot to me. I make sure all my animals go to the vet; so at least I know that she is supposedly healthy. She has lots of energy. She is intelligent, playful and does well with the other dogs and even with the cats! However, there's definitely, not too much hope of finding her a new home.

I knew, I would need to keep her myself once she started to grow large and she turned grey. Now at about 6 months old, she is almost Sheila's size (Sheila is 5 years old). Noche is a very happy dog and plays with Sheila well.

Getting back to the 2 kittens, the 2 kittens were taken to the vet. for their parasite pills after several days had passed rather than right away because of the rain and my lack of a car that week. I also, got more parasite pills for my other permanent mascotes/pets.

It was purrr...fect timing, my bringing them to the Vet. when I did on that particular day. As I was walking along the rambla  toward home, I was carrying them in my other cat's carrier (Nathan). I approached everyone on the way home and asked if they wanted 2 kittens. Then a few blocks from my house, I saw 2 ladies just getting out of their car. I mentioned the kitties to them and they lit up! They said that they try and place cats in homes whenever they can because they love cats. They made me come inside their house right then and there.

"Cali" the Calico kitten on the left and "Felipe" my lover, right. 

They wanted to photograph the 2 kittens. They have a website. They are Persian cat enthusiasts. They sell Persians but they place any abandoned cats for free! Wow, I had struck gold with these two!!!

Alejandra and Alicia

Please click on their site WWW.GATOSPERSASURUGUAY.COM
Persian cats are so comical to me because of their flat smooched in faces. If you go to their site and hunt around through it's pages you might still see the  wonderful photos that they took of my little kitties that I named "Cali"  (the female/hembra) and Felipe (the male/macho), yes, I decided to name them a real name, unlike "Puppy". You will also see several adorable Persian cats.

I hadn't realized this before but Calico cats, the ones with 3 colors are (almost) always female. It's just known that they will be girls.

I have fallen in love with the boy cat that I have named "Felipe"  or Philip in English. I named him such because I was thinking of the Phil in Philadelphia, "The city of brotherly love" that's because he is so loving a kitten. He likes to snuggle. Also, since he is a feline, I used a play on the first 4 letters of the word feline in the name Felipe. Ph in Spanish is always changed into an "F". example photo = foto, Pharmacy= farmacia, etc...

Cali is a Calico cat and I was born in California, so "Cali" was a play on the first 4 letters of the word California and Calico.Which is also represented with the first 4 letters of her name.

Note: Now after saying, all of this, I have since renamed him, see the postscript at the end of this post.

Unlike the puppy, "Puppy" who "peed" everywhere for a week and a half throughout my house, the kittens learned to use the cat box during their first day with me! I had given them a little personal box to use and they used it all day, never once making an accidental mess! The second day they discovered where Nathan's litter-box was kept and from then on they used his box (the big boy box). Smart little kitties!!! To be fair Noche as a puppy, learned right away to "ask" to be let outside, to go in our backyard, she was never a problem either.

Well, I had mixed emotions when I received the call that "Cali' had found a new home. Someone in Maldonado wanted her. She had been inseparable from her brother for a week. Yet, she had started to be independent. She had started to want to sleep apart from her brother. Also, even though Nathan my grown boy cat is neutered, he had started to show an interest in her that was not befitting toward such a baby cat. Nathan tried to pin her down. Also, the night before in some rough and tumble play with her kitten brother (formerly known as Felipe) she had accidentally scratched his eye, so that he kept one eye closed all day. Fortunately, I had some animal eye drops on hand. So, I wasn't too sad that Cali would have a separate home from Felipe.

Alicia, let me know that she regularly delivers cats to their new home. She has the use of a car on Mondays and Tuesdays or Tuesdays and Wednesdays and she was to deliver 2 different other cats to Maldonado that day and that Cali would make up the 3rd cat going to Maldonado.

I got Cali ready with a little toy I had bought her and that she liked and put that and her and a little bag of food into Nathan's carrier and took off down the street to the ladies house nearby mine.

They had several cat carrying cases ready to delivery them in.  We transferred Cali into one of theirs so that I could get Nathan's case back. A couple of their many cats were quite interested in Cali and had to check her out.  I think it was quite an honor for Cali to be picked as the third cat to travel to a new home.

One was an Cream orange colored Persian kitten someone had bought from their website. The other was an adorable Black and White cat named "Whiskers" because of a white mustache that it sported. I was told that Cali was being eagerly awaited because of her colors.

I was inside of Alejandra and Alicia's house. They DO NOT run a kitten mill. They just truly love cats and they never asked me for a cent to help me place Cali, nor did they ask me for this post. They were happy that I said, I would write something, so I have their blessing.

Again, they are enamored with Persian cats, so I took a few photos of the various ones they own. Most of the ones I saw are permanently theirs but look on their website if interested as well. By the way their house smelled fresh and clean. The animals were doted on and healthy, Persians just look annoyed!

One cat was named "Betty Boop" because of her large eyes. I couldn't resist taking her photo along with my own Betty Boop statue.

Black hair with large eyes, the two Betty Boops!

I was afraid that Felipe would start to miss Cali but then I saw him with Nathan who even tolerated his laying on the same chair with him and when I heard Felipe loudly purring in my arms I knew that finding Cali a separate new home was the right thing to do after all. I really want to keep Felipe and not give him away. Wally says, that having 2 cats is okay. So if you see Felipe on the website, admire him but move on. I'm purrr..fectly happy with him.

PS. I don't often rename an animal, so as not to confuse them but Felipe is so loving that I have since renamed him  "Romeo". Wally agrees that name suits him well!