The Hippie ... born Activitst

I know I am supposed to be on hiatus.  I am, really.  I have no time for this computer thing.  But, hey, I'm sitting here, drinking my tea anyway.  No reason I can't write and drink simultaneously, right?  

After my tea I can take care of the post office and picking up the key and cleaning the new place and dropping off the donations (for the umpteenth time) at the Humane Society Thrift Store (we like that the money goes to the animals) and take the Princess to her annual well check (Hippie had hers yesterday ~ perfect health, as always) and get more boxes and keep packing and ...

But, for now.  I wanted to tell you the latest venture my little activist has started.  

I told you about our adventure with a Momma Cat and six kittens here.  Well, ten weeks later, we still have Momma Cat and four kittens (not to mention the dog and cat we already own/claim).  

I have been driving the kittens to our local Petco each Saturday and Sunday to be shown for adoption.  Two were adopted on the very first Saturday ~ woo hoo. 

I must say the whole experience is bitter-sweet.  Difficult, to say the least.  No matter how old and responsible you try to be, it's only human to get a little bit attached to animals you care for for ten weeks!  Babies that could barely walk ... you watch them grow and develop little personalities all their own.  Especially if you are an animal lover, as we all are in this house.  

The girls were told (and me) from day one, "We are NOT keeping any of these kittens" ... "We are NOT keeping them" ... "We are NOT keeping them" ...

Why?  You may be asking. 

Well, we've always had and done well with two cats and two dogs and two kids and two parents.  It works for us.

Yes, our other cat had just died.  But, we are in very tight financial times.  

We are recovering from my husband being laid off and unemployed for four months.  Things are tough. 

Caring for an animals should require more than just food, water and love.  It should at least require flea and heartworm prevention and annual shots/check-ups, too. 

It should also require that you can afford to take them to the vet when something is wrong.

That is where we struggle.  I'm working on that.  Hubs has a good job, a career and we are working to understand the amount he will make (it changes by the week, based on work, not hours).  I'm learning to budget and have been doing a lot of educating myself.  We will be setting up a new budget once we get settled in our new place.  I will make room for savings and for animal care.  

But ...

At the time we found these kittens, things were not looking especially promising.  It would be unfair to the animal and irresponsible to take responsibility for any of their care (permanently) and not be able to afford more than the minimum.

That doesn't even prevent a 34 year old woman from getting attached.  How do you think a 6 year old handles that?  

Needless to say, we all love the kittens (and the Momma).  But, we are smart.  We are working hard to find them homes.  But, we are invested ~ we've spent so much time with them, so much money on food and litter, so much care and love and stress and cleaning out litter boxes and ...

We want them to find homes, but we want them to find good homes because we care about them.  

*****

Wow, I went way off topic from my original post idea.  Let me get back to that.  

So, I started taking the kittens to Petco three weeks ago.  This wonderful organization is helping me by showing the kittens at their weekly adoption events.  

It was difficult to find help.  Most places I'd call would not accept any animals.  But, Jennifer (at TARAA) agreed to help immediately.  She does not euthanize ~ she rescues animals from being euthanized at the local shelters.  We love her!

Well, the first Saturday that I took the kittens with me, the Hippie fell in love with one of the dogs available for adoption.  Her name is Stella, and she had been saved from being euthanized.

The Hippie cried and begged and pleaded for us to adopt her.  


Obviously that is not an option at this moment (coming soon ... we do want another dog, a playmate for Sweet Pea, but not until we are moved and we want a boy because Sweet Pea is a girl and same sex dogs don't get along as well).


She begged and cried and begged and cried.  She understood the reasons and eventually accepted them, but could not wait to go back to Petco with me to see Stella. 

They noticed a limp on Stella that day.

The next time we went to Petco to take the kittens, the Hippie ran right up to Jennifer, asking where Stella was.  

They'd left her at home.  They'd x-rayed her and discovered that she needs a new hip.  It looked like someone had kicked her and shattered her hip (precious baby).  

It is going to be a $1,000 surgery. 


They are trying to raise the money.


The Hippie came home and made a poster and took our family's "piggy bank" (a giant plastic jar that we cut a slit in the lid) to begin raising money for Stella.  


The next time we went to Petco, she took the stuff in and said they should set it up for people to make donations.  




Anyway, the Hippie decided to leave the piggy bank, money and poster with them for the week in hopes that they could raise some more.


Of course, that hasn't stopped her from raising money here at home!  She's got a TON of change to add to the jar tomorrow when we take the kittens again!  


She makes me so proud.  I just know she is going to change the world one day!

Stella on the right, that's Tessa on the left