Ike

Update – July 27, 2011: Ike and JJ Have a Good Home! Last Friday, Ike and JJ went to their new home. A lovely lady who had recently lost her elderly cat adopted both Ike and JJ. So they are in a wonderful new home with their loving caregiver and they are still together. This is amazing news. Huge thanks go to the people at Friends for Life who have cared for Ike and JJ over the last couple of months and who found them their new forever home.

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This is not a typical post for me, but we have a situation here.

My neighbor is a wonderful lady who recently received a devastating diagnosis of Alzheimer’s. She has moved to a facility where she can receive the care she needs, but could not take her two cats with her. I stepped in to help find a place for them. Unfortunately, we can not take them in permanently because we already have two pets (Nigel, a poodle, and Tasha, a Russian Blue cat) both of whom were also rescues.

Both Ike and JJ are sweet and affectionate, but right now they are a bit confused and stressed. They were used to being in a quiet home with the only human caregiver either had ever known. Suddenly, not only was their human missing, new people were coming and going all the time and things started to disappear from their home as it was prepared for sale.

JJ

After making lots of phone calls and moving a few mountains, I have come up with some interim solutions. Ike and JJ will be in the library of my home until spots open up at a wonderful no-kill shelter in Houston that is working with me to help them. However, the shelter is not the end. They will need a forever home.

If you can help find Ike and JJ a forever home, please let me know. It would be wonderful if they could be placed together, although I know that may not be possible.

The sooner they find a home, the better it will be for them and the easier their adjustment will be.

JJ is four years old and cute as can be. He is shy around strangers, but it doesn’t take long to become his friend. A couple of treats and some head scratches (He LOVES having his head scratched!), and he was my buddy.

Ike is 13 or 14. He is the beautiful Siamese (?) cat you see here. Ike is not as shy as JJ and loves to be petted.

Both have been declawed, so can not be outdoors at all.

What You Can Do

If you are in the Houston area and would like to inquire about adopting Ike and JJ, get in touch with me. My email is cathy (at) idealady (dot) com.

If you can not take on the kitties due to geography or a full house, you can help by:

Spreading the word. Let people know about Ike and JJ and let’s see if we can find them a home.

Support Friends for Life. I have been so impressed with the people there and what they do, and I want to see them continue to thrive and save more animals. If you are in Houston, you can volunteer, adopt a pet or make a donation. Wherever you are, you can make a donation by check or PayPal, or by shopping at Kroger or Amazon. Details are at http://nokill1.org/donate.php.

After the holiday is a good time to kick back, relax, reflect on the past year and plan for the coming year. My husband always takes a couple of weeks off over the holidays, and his mother spends a few days of that time with us, so I will be taking it easy with them.

Although for the last several years I have not done much work this time of year, it used to be my most productive time. That is because it seems that everyone else is on vacation. No meetings, the phone isn’t ringing–what a wonderful time to actually get some work done!

If you are planning to work this week, take advantage of the blocks of uninterrupted time that may be available to you. This might be a good time to work on your marketing plan for 2008, get a lot of writing done, or just catch up on all of those little projects you never seem to have time for.

This is also a good time to assess your finances. How did you do in 2007? What are your goals for 2008? If you find that there is spending you need to do for your business (e.g., buying supplies or equipment) could you use the tax savings this year, or would you be better off waiting until January to incur the expense? Taking a preliminary look at your 2007 financial results can help you make that decision.

Have a wonderful holiday season and a prosperous 2008!

Cathy

Those of you who have read my newsletters know that I am not shy about saying what I think, and I love to share news, tips and resources. The newsletters are one way but they have limitations. This site simply gives my another way to do all of that, and to share more with you.

And although I love getting emails from newsletter subscribers, this blog will allow all of us to have a conversation, not just me to you and you to me, but involving all of us together.

Plan on visiting often to keep up with everything going on here. I plan on posting just about every day, and sometimes more than once a day. You can also get updates via email or RSS so you don’t miss a thing.

And be sure to let me know what is on your mind. I always love to hear from you. You can email me at cathy (at) idealady (dot) com, or leave a comment here on the blog.