Kitty Kat (fostered 12/08-2/09)

3/21/09 Final: Kitty Kat was adopted by a lovely family with a huge yard in which to play and a lovely view from her comfy couch.

3/19/09 Update: Kitty is finally scheduled to be spayed at the end of this month. She had come into heat unexpectedly and we had to wait it out. Meantime, she's doing very well and living the good life on a spacious farm. She loves being outside with her people, and is affectionate and adorable. She still purrs when she's especially happy and content, which is just so cute! She remain intimidated by large males but, once reintroduced, quickly warms up. She's a lovely girl who has a winning way about her. Once spayed, her adoption will be finalized.

1/23/09 Update: Now that Kitty is feeling better, her true personality is shining through. She loves to play with her stuffies, and to go belly up when she's happy. We contacted Kitty's former owner and she said that when she purchased Kitty at 3 months of age, she was in a basement and had no socialization. This means that Kitty missed out on a very important socialization period. She needs slow introductions but is a curious girl who will approach strange things and people if encouraged. Her first response, however, is to flee far and fast. She shouldn't be forced to confront her fears, as she would snap, but if gently encouraged and praised, she does fine in a short time.

We tested kitty indoors with cats and she did fine. We also tested her with small and medium male dogs, and feel she would be fine with slow introductions. She is not good with female dogs. Her former owner said that Kitty lived with a male and female dane but would get into scuffles if the male approached "her" person and Kitty didn't want him near that person. This is classic resource guarding and Kitty will come with information about how to discourage this type of behavior.

Kitty lived with a small child and was fine with her. However, she would not allow other kids near "her" child. This caused problems since the child needed some friends :) As a result, Kitty won't be placed with children.

Kitty's foster home will be working with her to introduce her to more new things and to build her confidence.

If Kitty is very happy and has her head buried in your lap while you're scratching her neck, she will purr (a hmmmmmmmmmm sound). It is very cute. Kitty needs a patient, loving family to call her own. She's not a difficult dog to live with, she just needs someone to take it slow with her.

Original 1/09/09: Kitty came to us on New Year's Eve sick as a D-O-G. The foster rushed her into the emergency room to find out the kennel cough she had had morphed into full-blown pneumonia. For the first few days, she didn't do much of anything, and was running a high fever. This week, thanks to antibiotics, she's feeling much better and her personality is starting to shine through.

Kitty is a sensitive and unsure soul who wants to be happy but isn't so sure you're going to contribute to her happiness. She loves to be talked to in a sing-song voice--her tail wags and wags, lo and fast. Kitty is also a nester--she paws at her bedding until it's all scrunched up, wanders around the house and finds blankets and clothing to add to her pile, drags them back, rearranges them and settles on down. It's quite cute, even when she adds shoes to the pile. She will, however, chew on shoes--she thinks they are especially yummy!

Kitty has free run of the house when the foster isn't home and has been left alone for up to 7 hours with no more than a few shirts found in the pile when she gets home.

Kitty's original owner left her at the SPCA with a note that said she was "dominant" with other dogs--we're trying to determine exactly what that means and are hoping to introduce her to dogs small and large this weekend. We'll also cat test while we're at it. Kitty also lived with a child but the owner requested no children. We're trying to find more information on this.

Kitty still needs to be spayed. We'll do that as soon as her lungs are deemed strong enough to withstand the anesthesia.