Cosette

In June, my sister who lives in another town told us about a cat that followed her cat home.  She lives in an apartment complex near a large store and there are a lot of stray cats there.  I figure it is a dumping ground for unwanted cats.  

And then the cat started getting bigger......Stray cats don't get overweight for the most part.  Instead they get pregnant.  Which is exactly what this little girl had happened to her.  

We brought her home with us on July 27th.  It was pretty obvious she was pregnant, but I took her to the vet just to confirm.  While there our vet did a free X-Ray "just for fun" as she called it, to see how many fetuses there were.  She saw four, and said she thought the cat would be due in 2-3 weeks.  

We named her Cosette, after one of the main characters in "Les Miserables."  Cosette was an orphan, a little waif with big eyes, and so was our new little mama-to-be, so the name fit.  

With 3 weeks left to go in her pregnancy, she weighed all of 7 pounds.  My sister had, of course, been feeding her, but she still needed some fattening up.  That was no problem, as I put out unlimited dry Kitten Chow and a small can of wet food 2-3 times a day.  

Pretty soon Cosette's sides were sticking out and she developed a pregnant lady waddle.  

She took to laying on her side a lot.  I spent as much time with her in her room as I could, to gain her trust so that I would be able to handle her babies from the beginning.  I also got a thrill out of seeing her belly roll around when the babies became more active towards the end.  

Here is Miss Cozi in Mr. GV's lap, the night before her babies decided to make an appearance.

Next post:  kittens!!

CCHS Tour de Paws

Last fall, Mr. GV got an idea to help out our local humane society.  We had adopted twice through them already and were very impressed by how well the animals were cared for. We attended our first quarterly meeting and put forth the suggestion to them:  How about a charity bicycle ride to raise funds?  They said "Sure!" and so WE DID IT!

This event involved months of planning, loss of sleep (from worrying and from working), asking people for money and supplies (something many of us are not at all comfortable doing), and lots and lots of volunteers.  

But.....we pulled it off!!  In the end we raised almost $5,000 after expenses! Next year our expenses should be even less since we will know better how many  supplies we will need plus there will be items we purchased this year that should last us for many years to come.

The community supported us by many businesses becoming sponsors of cash and supplies, and the bicycling community supported us by coming out to ride, even though the weather report wasn't so good that day!  In the end we had 52 riders, which is fantastic for the first year of an organized bicycle ride.  

Riders get ready for the start

Mr. GV makes a few announcements at the ride start.

J said the prayer, and asked that the riders and volunteers stay safe and that all our animal friends would find a home.  :)

Our last rider in for the day.  He is someone living with  recently-diagnosed muscular dystrophy and did the 100 mile route on his recumbent bike!

An exceptionally happy, extremely tired Mr. and Mrs. GV.

Busy busy

Busy busy around here!  I have so many things to talk about, but I am too busy doing them all to write about them!

The biggest undertaking of them all:  We are in the very last few days of organizing a big event for our local humane society.  It's so exciting and I can't wait to share our end result.  

We also have taken in a few extra boarders---the cute and fuzzy kind.

So between these things, family events, and just normal everyday life, I'm having trouble organizing my thoughts right now.  

In a week or so I hope to be more rested and able to share everything on here.

See you then!