T
H
U
N
D
E
R
I
N
G
P
A
W
S
Mewsings
C e n t r a l
T e x a s
A n i m a l
S a n c t u a r y
Winter 2012
Stella’s Kittens
And some not.
Volume 9, Issue 3
Shy Moonbeam
Sometimes Thundering
Paws has kittens and
cats available who just
don’t show well.
Page 2
Page 3
Season For Caring
Written by Anne Zabolio
I look at the Season for Caring families every year to
see if I have anything I can share, until this year to
no avail. This year, I noticed that two of the
recipients were a couple, Paul Haltom and Daniel
Townsend, both of whom are HIV positive. I read
more about them because I was so happy that the
newspaper considered a same sex couple a family.
They have two cats and a dog, all of whom need vet
care. We can do that!
Thundering Paws has a new program to help people
keep their animals. It is multifaceted: part is
counseling people with problems with their
animals. Another facet is the work of animal
communicator Kimberley Freeman, who can give
insights into the minds of animals. Another part is
financial assistance: vet care in the form of
vaccinations, spay/neuter, heartworm preventative;
or items we are donated and can pass along like
feral cat shelters, dog houses, carriers, and crates.
Shine and Cash, the cats, are already spayed and
neutered, respectively, but need vaccinations and
examinations. They will visit our vet.. Murphy, the
thunderingpaws.org
The Hoover School
We have established the
Hoover School of Kitten
Socialization.
Page 3
Happy Cat Mom
Happy cat mom, Mary
Kay Sliz and her fur
baby, Mabry.
Page 3
Pleas For Help From
The Public
Thundering Paws
receives hundreds of
requests for help.
Page 3
Save Lives On Cold
Mornings
Before you start your
car...
Page 4
7 lb. dog, has never been to a vet. He needs to be
neutered, vaccinated, heartworm tested, and put on
heartworm preventative. The couple has avoided
taking Murphy to the Dog Park because they don’t
want their unvaccinated dog exposed, a very wise
decision. Murphy will get his rabies vaccination
and first DHLPP when he is neutered. Jennifer
Carroll, of Wags, Hope and Healing, has offered to
go to Paul and Daniel’s house and give Murphy his
booster DHLPP three to four weeks after his first
shot. Thundering Paws will continue to provide the
family with heartworm preventative.
To get all these animals to veterinarians, we donated
three carriers to the family. It is always a good idea
to have a carrier for each animal in case of an
emergency.
It was lovely to meet Paul, and Daniel, and their
animals, to experience their positive attitudes, their
home, and the pictures of their three grown
children. Vet care for their animals is a small thing
to be able to do, but they say it will ease their minds,
knowing that their fur babies have the medical care
they need.
Sherman
Hi, my name is
Sherman.
He’s So...Um...Round
He is delightful to
cuddle.
Page 4
Page 4
Santa Loves
Thundering Paws
Bring your animals to have their pictures taken with
Santa, and Thundering Paws gets half the price of
the photo session! Thundering Paws will have
Santas at the PetSmart on Brodie Lane on Saturday,
December 15th from 11 to 4; on Sunday, December
16th from 11 to 4. You can also visit the PetSmart at
Bee Cave and Highway 71 (across from Lowe's) on
Saturday, December 15th from 11 to 4. This gig is
tons of fun for all involved!
Facebook
Written by Anne Zabolio
Please like us on Facebook. I have been told that
with social media, you get out of it what you put
into it. I put in nothing! I don’t understand
Facebook and I am very bad at navigating around in
Facebook. Thank goodness we have volunteers to
deal with Facebook. So please help me to put
something in to Facebook! I will continue to ask
you for your social media help. You know, we’re
cats here, and cats aren’t very social.
1
T
H
U
N
D
E
R
I
N
G
P
A
W
S
Stella’s Kittens
And some not.
Alexander
Written by Anne Zabolio
Renee, manager of our veterinarian’s office, found a
carrier full of a mom cat and seven kittens outside
the door when she arrived at work early one
October morning. Renee called me. “Gee, that’s too
bad,” I said, unsympathetically. I knew these
animals were safe; this is one of our rescue vets!
It must have been a Wednesday, because our
volunteer, Nance Highum, came that afternoon. She
and her husband, Brad, have fostered kittens in the
Sherlock
2
past but didn’t have any then. I mentioned the
mom and seven to her, just conversationally, never
having any idea that she would take them. Nance
said, “Hmm. Seven kittens, huh? That would be
fun! Let me ask Brad.” Brad agreed, and the family
went to the Highums house.
Soon we realized that it wasn’t just one family,
however. Three of the kittens quickly grew
noticeably larger than the other four. Stella, the
mom, was exhausted and had other medical issues,
Stella
so we returned her to the vet’s office. She is
recovering.
All seven kittens turned out to be boys! Nance
named them, loved them, doctored hurts, and
medicated illnesses. ChipMonk was “failing to
thrive” so she force fed him until he was again
willing to eat. Everybody has recovered from a
harsh beginning. ChipMonk, Othello, and Einstein
are in their new homes. The others are incredibly
friendly, and are available for adoption.
Gabriel & Watson
thunderingpaws.org
T
H
Shy Moonbeam
Written by Alison Upton
U
N
D
E
R
I
N
G
P
A
wonderful personality that may be hidden from
view. Sometimes the stars, or in this case, the
moons, align and everything falls into place. Trudy
adopted Moonbeam and renamed her Kleocatra,
Kleo for short, later adopting a second Thundering
Paws kitten, Dusty, so that Kleo would have a
playmate. It’s been a match made in heaven and we
thank our lucky stars (and moons) for adopters like
Trudy.
W
S
of sensory overload, or what happens, but it seems
that three is a magic number.
We have therefore established the Hoover School of
Kitten Socialization. Mary, Clyde, and Kathleen
take a feral kitten or two home and work on them
until they are putty in the hands of any human, with
the goal being eventual taming sufficient for
adoption. It worked with Tibby, Denzel, and
Chantel. Darlin’ is coming around.
The Hoover School Of Please For Help From
Kitten Socialization
The Public
Written by Anne Zabolio
Written by Scott Haywood
Sometimes Thundering Paws has kittens and cats
available for adoption who just don’t show well.
They sit quietly in their crates at adoption days and
seem to count the minutes until they can go back to
the safety of their foster homes. No playing, no
mewing, just quiet and reserved. They might be the
best cats in the world at their foster homes, but in a
crate on view to the public, they simply shut down.
One such kitty was Moonbeam.
Moonbeam, a beautiful lynx-point Siamese mix, was
rescued from a horse farm in east Austin where she
was bullied by the other cats. Her timidity made her
a prime target and she would run for her life to keep
from getting attacked. Once she was in a foster
home, Moonbeam slowly came out of her shell and
gained confidence. The other cats in her foster
home accepted her, and she learned to play and
mingle with them. Her foster parents said she was
the best kitten they’d ever had -- well mannered and
sweet as pie.
Moonie was one of those kitties whose personality
didn’t shine through when she was on display at
our Petsmart adoption days. Weekend after
weekend she would go to Petsmart, but potential
adopters would pass her by. Moonbeam wouldn’t
let people see her beautiful blue eyes, and she
seemed withdrawn and aloof.
Everything
changed for
Moonbeam
one weekend
when a
woman
named Trudy
stopped by to
admire our
cats and
kittens. For some reason Trudy was drawn to
Moonbeam even though Moonie had the same dour
look on her face that she always had. It’s easy to be
charmed by a playful kitten, but it takes someone
special to see past the exterior and see a cat’s true,
thunderingpaws.org
One of our trappers brought in a feral kitten who
was way to young and small to be neutered.
Installed in our climate controlled Recovery Hut
until he was old enough, he began talking to his
caretakers, however. Since no one could keep their
hands off him, we named him Thibodeaux, or Tibby,
and brought him into the Thundering Paws
adoption program. He is at the Bee Cave Petsmart,
awaiting the perfect adopter.
Our Facebook Queen, Tara Cohen, had a feral mom
cat—now spayed--and her calico kitten come to her
yard. The kitten was extremely feral and too young
to be spayed, so, off to the Recovery Hut she went.
We talked to her, but she responded only with
hissing. Approached by Kitten Whisperer and
Sunday volunteer, Mary Hoover, however, this
kitten began showing signs of taming. We named
her Darlin’. She is almost ready for a home.
Another trapper brought in two feral kittens, again,
too young to be spayed/neutered. They had a
home to which to return. “Please stay feral,” I
begged them. I refused to name them, refused to
talk to them, did a lot of tough love, all to no avail.
Denzel began talking to me, and his sister, Chantel,
followed suit. They got named, and tamed, and are
ready for adoption.
Thundering Paws receives hundreds of requests for
help with cats and dogs. When we cannot help
directly, emails are forwarded to me, and I offer
advice. This past summer, June to August, I received
62 requests.
Two people had lost their cats (total of 3): a blackand-white female named Pixel, location unknown,
and two cats, Squirt and T, lost in the River Oaks
Ranch neighborhood near Dripping Springs in late
August. T returned home in early September;
Squirt, a fluffy female tabby, was still missing at last
word.
Two asked for advice about a cat they wanted to
keep. There was a kitten with neurological and
vision problems, and a friendly fat male cat, "Suzy".
Suzy had adopted a couple who had never had cats.
The majority asked us to take cats, or help re-home
them (40 requests, 113 cats).
Happy Cat Mom
All of this taming is due to the aforementioned
kitten whisperer and her family, husband, Clyde,
and daughter, Kathleen. Mary ignores the hissing
and picks up the baby, cuddles him or her, and coos
at the kitten until she elicits a purr.
It is my opinion that it takes three people to tame a
feral feline. Many people contact us with
“formerly” feral cats who, unfortunately, are only
friendly with the one person who loves them. “But
I am sure they could tame to other people,” they say.
These adult cats usually cannot adjust to anyone
except the person or, in some cases, couple, who
took them in as kittens. Sometimes they cannot
even let those who befriended them touch them.
But when a feral kitten is confronted with three
humans, the conversion usually occurs. I don’t
know if they can’t count, if they just give up because
Here's happy cat mom, Mary Kay Sliz and her fur
baby, Mabry. Mabry was rescued from Camp
Mabry about three years ago, along with her two
kittens, Luna and Dash. Luna was adopted but Dash
is still a little too feral for adoption so he lives
happily at Thundering Paws with lots of cat friends.
3
T
H
Save Lives On Cold
Mornings
Written by Anne Zabolio
Bang on the hood of your car and honk your horn
(phooey on your neighbors) before you start you car
on these cold mornings. Kitties like to snuggle up to
a warm—or even a cold—engine, anywhere to be
contained. It saves lives to make a lot of noise and
frighten out whoever may be in there!
Sherman
Written by Lynnanne Mockler, DVM.
U
N
D
E
R
I
N
G
P
A
they started talking about getting me fixed up so I
could go back outside. Outside??? Hunt for my
food??? No soft bed??? I was in trouble. But I'm a
pretty smart guy, so I figured a way to stay. I started
cuddling and meowing at them and they couldn't
put me back outside.
They say I'm all up-to-date – negative on feline
leukemia and FIV, my shots are current, I'm
neutered and microchipped. I'm just about 6 months
old I just need a place to call my own. I love toys,
riding on shoulders and cuddling on laps. If you're
looking for some amazing company (even if I say so
myself), give me a try.
He’s So...Uh...Round
Written by Anne Zabolio
W
S
had a ton of them this year! See the article in this
newsletter about the Hoover School of Kitten
Socialization.
Stuart came to us with his brother, both too tiny to
be neutered. We kept them for about two weeks
and, even then, Stuart was only 2.6 lbs. when
neutered (3 lbs. is the norm) Long before then,
however, he
started
talking to me.
He asked to
be petted and
purred when
I would. So
he placed out
of the Hoover
School.
Stuart and his brother, who is blue, the color applied
to light gray cats, came from a feral colony in
Dripping Springs. There are several people who
feed the colony in a five street neighborhood. The
man who lives in the house where these two were
trapped wants the blue kitten, so we took him back.
I would have taken Stuart back, too, because he at
least had a place to be fed. But the more I looked at
him, the less inclined I was to do it.
Hi, my name is Sherman. I was born on the mean
streets of Austin. Feral? You could bet your knickers
on that. But then I was trapped and taken to Oak
Hill Veterinary Clinic. I had a soft bed, a full bowl of
food, plenty of water and no worries. That is, until
4
We have had “foster failures,” which are animals
whom the person fostering falls in love with and
keeps. We also have “feral failures,” and we have
His pictures don’t do him justice because it is very
hard to photograph a black cat. He has short little
legs, a round head, round eyes, a round body (he
got dewormed and that should help). It made no
sense but I kept saying that I couldn’t let him go
back to the feral colony because he was so, well,
round. He is delightful to cuddle.
thunderingpaws.org
!""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
#$""""""""""""""""""
%
&
!"""""""""'()*"""""""""""""""""""
!"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""+'""""")""""""""""""""""
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""","""""""-
""""""""""""""""""
.
"""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
/0 '1)"""""""""""%"""'1)"""""""""""""
,
""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""""
+
%
+2
3
4
(4
(
+
4
2!#53
($
%
6