Last of the Minnesota kittens, Miss Callie, is being fostered by NewDealFarmGrrl until she can go to her permanent home with B Lamb in Maryland. Unfortunately, TLC Pet Transport (the people who drove Walter) turns out to be less than optimal (they would charge approximately $1500).
Fortunately, experienced cat-courier Reilyn has stepped up:
The flight I’m thinking of per my last comment on the blog leaves DCA late Friday Dec 8 to MSP, then has a return flight the afternoon/evening of Sunday Dec 10 to DCA.
It’s on Sun Country which does not list a minimum age requirement, and as of when I looked at it Sat/Sun was running about 276 bucks for the round trip flight, plus 125 for a one-way pet fee.
I can easily get to DCA on my own on the 8th and fly out and stay w/ my mother; then meet up to retrieve the kitteh on Sat the 9th or the morning of Sunday the 10th and have my mom take me to the airport to make the flight back to DCA, then meet up at DCA to purr-form ;) the exchange….
So — those of you who offered to chip in, this is your time to shine! I’d like to set a target of $500, with the understanding that Reilyn will forward any extra money for pet rescue. Send me an email (‘Contact an author’ or [email protected] ) and I’ll reply with the link to Reilyn’s PayPal address.
Amaranthine RBG
I don’t do paypal.
Pls send me a mail address and I’ll send mine along. Thanks.
rikyrah
Awe…let’s get that cutiepie to her new home :)
satby
@Amaranthine RBG: and all who don’t do Paypal: I slapped together a listing on my etsy shop here where you can donate in $5.00 increments and I will PayPal the total over to AL. I’ll cover the miniscule fees so your total donation goes to transport.
danielx
Awwwww…little white paws :)
Aleta
@satby: You are way cool, satby and smaaat.
Diana
I’m in. I’ll be sending Anne Laurie an email later tonight from my personal ipad.
More kitten pics always appreciated.
Mary G
That face!
raven
ding
Silent no more
I’m in.
hedgehog the occasional commenter
Done.
Mnemosyne
I can be in tomorrow, which is payday.
Kristine
I’m in.
Yutsano
If I wasn’t going to California tomorrow I would kick in. Be that as it may…
laura
@satby: Thanks Satby! I’ll be combo cat-n-soapin’
Steeplejack
Repeating my offer to ferry the kitten and/or Reilyn home from DCA on Sunday the 10th if helpful.
newdealfarmgrrrlll
It is going to be soooo hard to say goodbye to Callie and her sweet little face and paws. It seems like once she got over her initial shyness she hasn’t stopped purring for a moment. She can’t hide from me — as soon as she hears me enter the room she starts purring and gives away her location. Such a loud purr for such a tiny kitty!
jacy
@satby:
Donated! And it was a good excuse to buy some soaps. You’re swell. :)
satby
So far we’ve had several I’ve sent across, if you want a nym or your name shared you need to tell me, otherwise I send them immediately and only as “from a fellow jackal”.
And though I appreciate the thought greatly, please don’t anyone feel like they also have to buy something ?
satby
@newdealfarmgrrrlll: she sounds adorable!
Shana
Done.
satby
All shop contributions have been transmitted as of 6:25. Any coming in after now I will send over after I get home. Leaving to go watch Casablanca on the big screen! Woo-hoo!
Josie
Done. It’s not much, but hopefully it will help
Auntie Anne
Satby – I know you said we didn’t have to buy anything, but you had emulsified sugar scrub! My dearest wish! I love sugar scrub in the winter, but I always manage to spill the oil. This is perfect! And of course, Callie is a sweetie and needs to get to her forever home.
Another Scott
Contributed via Satby’s page. It was quick and painless.
Best of luck to Callie and B!
Cheers,
Scott.
debit
@satby: Done! Thanks for making it so easy.
Callie’s sister Dani is doing really well. She zooms all over the house now and has totally charmed all the other animals. Julian follows her everywhere like a nervous Maine Coon nanny cat. Oliver is obsessed with cleaning her butt. I had been worried about introducing a girl cat into our rough and tumble mass of boy cats, but they love her so much.
spudgun
@satby: You’re wonderful!
Ok, so I don’t paypal and I also can’t brain today ‘cos I have the dumb – when you say “increments”, does that mean I can choose “quantity”? or do I have to do separate transactions?
debit
@spudgun: Quantity.
spudgun
@debit: Thank you! Going to donate right now…
satby
Wow, Casablanca was amazing on the big screen. Almost as amazing as you all are! I think we’ve got near the $500 goal, let me figure out where we are.
satby
Ok, I set up 100 of $5.00 donations and it shows sold out! Let me send the rest over and then Reilyn can let us know if she has enough for the ticket, carrier and additional pet fee. The PayPal transfers have been friend to friend, so no fees there.
Edited: Just in case, I renewed the listing for a few more.
B
This is Callie’s new (future) servant (do we really own our cats or do they deign to allow us to serve them). The bj community is wonderful and i appreciate your help in getting Callie home!
I can meet Reilyn at the airport, so right now that is not an issue.
satby
@Another Scott: congratulations on your new family member Ellie! Hope you send a picture to AL for us to all see her.
middlelee
Did the PayPal thing. That little fluff is so cute it hurts. ;-)
Another Scott
@satby: Let’s see if I can do this right…
Here’s a picture of our new dog, “Ellie”, or “Ellie Mae”. We’ve had her less than a week, and she’s settling in pretty well. She was from a tiny town the SW corner of Virginia and we adopted her from a shelter in the NoVA suburbs. She’s about a year old, and about 30 pounds.
When we first saw her in person, they warned us that she might have to have her right rear leg amputated. The femur was broken long ago and it healed up in an uncontrolled manner. I saw the X-rays today – it’s quite scary! Lots of sharp pokie bone pieces everywhere. :-( But it doesn’t seem to bother her and she has no difficulty walking or running though it is a little shorter than her left. The orthopedist said there was no need to take it.
She’s sharp and attentive (likes to watch TV), but a bit nervous (especially around cars – moving or parked).
We’re hopeful that she’s going to be a happy with us, and be with us a good long time.
:-)
Cheers,
Scott.
debit
@Another Scott: She’s so beautiful!
satby
@Another Scott: Glad the news from the orthopedic vet was good. She’s a pretty girl and she’s going to have a wonderful life with you!
satby
Good night all. Looking forward to pictures of Callie in her new forever home soon!
Diana
replied while at work, now home & realized that the pet fee was disclosed above, so I’m in (as I promised) for the pet fee.
Donated via Satby’s Etsy page, really cool!!
And, with Satby, I, too, am looking forward to more pics of Callie…
J R in WV
Our first rescued dog I found at the Dairy Queen in Culloden, which I stopped at one February dreary day to get a caffinated beverage. There was a tiny ball of puppy at the back door, I asked about her. She was living on DQ scraps, hot dog ends and such. She didn’t weigh anything, and I feared she might not survive the Feb cold til I got back from the U where I had classes.
So I bought hot burgers and fed them to her in tiny bites as soon as they cooled enough to not burn her mouth, very slowly. She was darn grey with silvery curly hair. I took her to school and went to the car to warm things up between classes. I didn’t score much education that day, took off fast for home farm.
We named her ragamuffin, which was the name of an early English literary demon, and called her Muffin for short. She was really smart, and her right hip had been damaged and didn’t heal right because she had no extra protein to invest in that hip. So when she was walking slowly, she used all fours and looked normal.
But when she needed to be in a hurry, she pulled her right rear leg up tight against her body and drove hard with the other hind leg, double timing with the front legs. She could keep up. She taught subsequent dogs how to behave in the house, how to get into the truck or car, how to treat the chickens, the horse, the milk cow, and to stay way away from the pigs.
We never taught her toilet habits, she seemed to figure it out from the cats, who mostly went outside to go. She taught the future dogs how to go out. All our critters are basically free people on the farm, we let them in and out as they wish for the most part.
But that bum leg, which must have been agony alone starving, it didn’t destroy her happiness at being loved and warm, sitting next to her people on the couch. She had a great smile. One day the 2 dogs went out in the morning for their typical climb to the big ridge, to wander in those really big oak trees, twisted by heavy weather on the ridge top. They didn’t come home that night was wasn’t unheard of, but was unusual.
Late the next afternoon, Annie ( a sturdy young part Airedale trained by Muffin ) came home alone, and very quiet. I believe Muffin had something critical go out running along the ridge. We never found her, Annie wasn’t into showing us the scene, would turn away when we asked where was Muffin. She was dark gray and would be invisible in the shadows of the great oaks, so we didn’t to a search. A natural way for a farm dog to go, really, to have a heart attack or aneurysm while on the hunt along the big ridge.
The not knowing was disturbing a little, but she had a long and very happy life, visiting friends with us. She was fully involved with life her whole life. I will never forget bringing her home to Martha the evening of Valentine’s Day. She was thrilled, and loved Muffin as much as she could love anyone.
The coming and passing of the little kitties, dogs of all sizes, they all have great heart, and love their rescuers, because they know all that early adventure that’s the rescue.
Thanks everyone for rescuing this little kitty, all the little kitties!!! And the dogs, who love us so much, they are born to run with their people. And we love them too.
Another Scott
@J R in WV: Thanks for the story, J R. I’m glad you and Muffin found each other.
Cheers,
Scott.
satby
@J R in WV: I love your stories JR!
Kristine
@J R in WV: Thank you for Muffin’s story.
laura
@satby: hi Satby, I did not see the option for additions to purchase, and was unable to contribute to the flying Kiki fund.