New designs coming up

Thanks to everyone who bought some stationery to help support my poocher's vet bills!  :)  I'm working on shipping out the current orders before the long weekend.  Just be warned that Canada Post basically won't be working until Tuesday, so consider that the date of shipping, even if I ship out today.  Sorry about that!

I've got a slew of new pin ups girl designs coming up, and I've decided to release them one set every two weeks.  Upcoming at the end of March is "Women At Work".  Here is a sneak peek of some designs!  The set should be about 6 pages long.

Aren't they cute??  I think they are my favourites so far.  :)

I'm off to package up orders now.  Have a great long weekend!

Vet Bill Fundraising

Yikes.  It's been a harrowing few weeks, let me tell you.  Today, I'd like to tell you what's been going with Luna.  I know I haven't addressed how Luna came to join our menagerie yet, but let's skip over that for now and talk about her relationship with Butters.

Ever since he was a tiny kitten, Butterscotch has been fascinated with Luna.  I'm really not sure why, since Luna is a bit skeptical of all the cats roaming around the house.  Not only that, but Luna is big, 73 lbs big, and oafish as well.  She's kind of clumsy and doesn't realized how big she is or how LOUD she is.  Yeesh.  But still, Butters has always loved her.

I thought it was adorable how they'd play, so I just let it happen.  It never occurred to me that there might be ill effects for either one of them.

(please ignore the voice over from both my mother and I)

It turns out, I was horribly wrong.  One day, I noticed Luna had some small growths on her chin, and a few on her eyelids.  It looked like kitten nibbles that punctured the skin a little bit, so I carefully cleaned them and thought they would heal up.  They didn't.

After a week, Luna's muzzle looked like raw ground beef.  It was disgusting.  I should have taken a picture, but I didn't think about it at the time.  I took her to the vet instead, and what followed was months of tweaking medication doses, constant vet visits, and some peeing inside the house and ON MY BED (a side effect of the meds).

Last week, I realized the medication was no longer working.  Luna was developing a lot of swelling on one eyelid, a growth on her opposite eyelid, and her chin was dotted with small scabs.  I took her in to the vet again, and he walked me through the options.  We had tried everything already, and the last thing on the list was a biopsy, which he hoped would give us a more targeted idea of what is going on in Luna's skin, and what meds would be helpful.  Unfortunately, the bill was going to be $750 CAD plus post-surgery medications, which are never cheap.

I wasn't happy about it, but what could I do?  I scheduled the biopsy for the next day.  I decided that since she was going to go under sedation, now would be a good time to get her teeth cleaned.  I used to have to give her anti-anxiety herbal remedies that stained her teeth pretty badly, and sped up tartar build up.  I was eager to get that removed, and the cost savings for doing it now would be about $500.  It only added $200 + tax to the bill.  In for a penny, in for a pound, right?  Besides, the pre-surgery blood work and one round of heartworm meds had already left me with a $375 vet bill for that day.  I figured I was in so deep already, I may as well go for it.

I was nervous about putting her under sedation.  There is always a chance that something can go wrong and the next call you get is the vet telling you your pet died on the table.  Thankfully, my poocher made it through with flying colours.  Although given how spaced out and grumpy she was afterwards, I'm not sure if she thought that was a good thing.  She can't eat or drink by herself with that huge cone on, and she mainly stands around with her head drooping under its weight, looking up at me mournfully.  I hand feed her three times a day, and give her water orally with a 10 cc syringe.

She had two stitches in her eyelid, holding closed a v-shaped gap where they removed a chunk of flesh, and two more stitches in her chin.  They gave her back to me wearing a huge Cone of Shame.  The vet advised me to go next door to the pet store and buy a collar, since the cone needed to be really secure.  If she managed to scratch her eye and pull out a stitch, it would cost me another $600 to sedate her again and close the hole.  I bought the sturdiest collar the pet store had in stock.

Over all, just the surgery alone was $1039 CAD.  The pre-surgery vet bill was $375.  I really can't afford to absorb that, so I have to sell things to make up for the cost.  I'm got some hairsticks I can sell, but I'd also like to try and sell some stationery.  :)

So, I'm going to have a fundraiser sale!  I've been working on different sets of pin up, and I've decided to create a limited release set of pin ups with animals, called A Girl and Her Faithful Companion.  I'll sell these designs only when I need help with vet bills - 25 sheets for $8.50 USD.

I couldn't stop at just dogs, so here are two more sheets.  :)

I've also got some new listings going up in a few hours, so keep your eyes peeled for those too.  :)

Ripple & Butters, part 2

Wow.  It's been a while.  Sorry about that!  Here's the rest.

Things went well with Karamel and the kittens for the next month and a half, as long as I made sure the Feliway plug in was working.  Then, when Ripple was about 1.5 months old, I noticed something was off about him.  When you stare at someone everyday, checking them over carefully to make sure they are growing up happy and healthy, you get to know them very well.  Their movements, their temperament.  One day, I could just tell Ripple was feeling kind of under the weather.  This isn't entirely uncommon in kittens, so I waited it out.

Except the next day he didn't feel better, and the day after that, he looked worse.  There was nothing overtly wrong with him - he was still eating, still playing, still mostly fine.  But I could tell in the way he moved, with a slight hesitation before jumping, less graceful landings, that something was wrong.  I fed him Nutrical (a high calorie kitten supplement) when I noticed his appetite waned a little, but the first day he didn't eat breakfast, I took him to the vet.

The vet gave me an appetite stimulant and some special food, with a note that I should continue with the nutrical and force feed him morning and night, just to be sure he was getting enough calories.  I did this for five days, watching Ripple like a hawk.  He had always been bigger than Butterscotch, and stronger, but over the course of those five days, I watch Butters outpace him in strength and size.  Ripple refused to eat, sitting on the table crying and leaning against the wall for support.  I was so worried.  I've seen fading kitten syndrome during my time at the Toronto Humane Society, where kittens go from healthy to dead in 48 hours.  Vets don't really understand why, but some kittens just fail to thrive, and then they're gone.  I had to do something, and quickly.

I showed up on the vet's doorstep the next morning without an appointment.  This vet is amazing.  He's seen me through so many rescue animals, so many late night drop offs of animals is severe distress, weeks of me calling every other day for advice when an animal I'm nursing isn't doing well.  He always takes the time to help me out, and I'm so grateful.  When he saw the concern on my face, he brought Ripple in to take a look at him.

We talked about it, and I convinced the vet that Ripple needed 24 hour care.  I told him I didn't want Ripple to become another Fading Kitten Syndrome statistic.  He read the panic in my eyes and kindly agreed to keep him a few days.  Over the next six days, the vet fed Ripple every two hours, even staying late and coming into the office in the middle of the night to check on the kitty and give him another feeding.  I got updates that he was still alive and doing better daily, and on the sixth day the vet called to tell me to come pick Ripple up.

When I got there, I was floored.  Ripple looked like a different animal!  He was back to being robust and active, and he had grown a lot as well.  He was taller, broader in the shoulders, and I was thrilled.  The vet told me that once he started feeling better, Ripple had cried non-stop the entire stay.  I apologized to the vet, thanked him profusely, paid the $1300 vet bill, and took my kitten home.  And he cried the ENTIRE WAY in the car, all the way down the steps to the basement, and didn't stop until he was reunited with his brother.

After that, things were mostly fine.  When Ripple was 4 months old, he got up onto a high shelf and injured his leg jumping down.  I was worried it was broken, but it turned out to be just a sprain.  Another trip to the vet, an anti-inflammatory shot and meds, a $350 vet bill and three days later, and he was fine.  The boys were tearing around the house like crazy, getting bigger every day, and when they hit 6.5 months, I decided it was time to try and get them adopted.

I know that some people think adopting cats out at 4 months is a good idea, but I always worry that the seemingly nice adopters that love your tiny 4 month old kittens are the same people who will abandon your 11 month old cats when they are no longer tiny and cute.  If you wait for the kittens to grow up a bit, then the people who love them know what they are getting.  I have found this system to work well in the past for adoptions (more on those stories later!).

I worked with a great rescue, and courtesy of a great adoption bio and pictures, I had several inquiries about the kittens within four days.  The rescue vetted everyone and sent me a nice family with adult kids who lived at home, where someone was home all the time, every day.  It sounded perfect.  They came for a meet and greet, and although the kittens seemed a bit apprehensive, the family wanted them, so I packed them into a carrier and sent them on their way.  The look of betrayal on Butters' face as they picked him up and walked away with him was heartbreaking, but I tried to tell myself it was for the best for everyone.

Except I had a feeling that I had done something terribly wrong.  I've adopted out a lot of animals, both cats and dogs, and never had I had this horrible nausea in the pit of my stomach.  I had no idea why I was feeling that way.  The family had had cats their whole lives, and they always lived to be 16 or older.  The vet reference was glowing.  Why did I have such a horribly foreboding feeling?  

The call came two days later - the kittens were not making the transition well.  They were hiding, peeing on the floor in terror, and refusing to eat or drink.  I gave the new adopters tons of tips to try and make them comfortable, and by day four, Butters had taken his first drink.  After that, the adopters said they would stick it out and do whatever it took to make them comfortable.  "We're not quitters!", he said.  I tried to tell him that I *wanted* him to quit, if he thought it was best for the kittens, if they were unhappy and not adapting after a week or so, but he wouldn't listen.  I was so worried about my little guys, but there was nothing I could do about it now.  They were someone else's.

I didn't hear anything after that, until one full week after the adoption.  I spent the intervening time moping and nauseous with worry.  The call I got from the new adopter painted a different story than the one he had last told me in which the boys seemed to be starting to settle in.  The new story was that Ripple would cry all night long, and Butters had destroyed the basement door trying to escape (which was odd, because the adopter had previously told me he had let the kittens have full run of the house on day three).  Apparently Ripple hadn't eaten or drunk anything the entire time he was there, and Butters refused to leave the closet.  They had attached somewhat to the family's youngest daughter, who was about 5 years younger than me, and they would follow her around if she was alone in the house.  If anyone else came home, they bolted downstairs to hide in the basement again.  The new adopters found the whole thing too stressful, and they called to say they'd be there in 20 minutes to return the cats.

Honestly, I was relieved.  I had been so worried about them, and now they were coming home.  

When he let the kittens out of the carrier, I was shocked at how they looked.  Ripple had lost a lot of weight, and he seemed haggard and exhausted.  Even Butters was skittish, and after spending some time with him, I was sad to see that the joyful light had gone out of his eyes.  He no longer thought that life was amazing.  Now he knew that things could go bad and it seemed to be weighing him down emotionally.  I felt terrible.  Not only that, but their pee smelled strongly of ammonia, meaning they were both very dehydrated.

I gave them time, and love, and let them get used to being back home with me.  I stuck to the normal routine, to try and give them stability.  It was one week, one sad, long week, before the kittens began to act normally again.  I had been worried that they would always be sad and skittish from then on, but a full seven days later and they were both happy and healthy.  I vowed I wouldn't put them through that again, so now they are staying with me.  I had already decided to keep Karamel, who isn't as friendly with strangers as I had originally thought, and so now the family is back together again and staying.  Right now they spend overnight in my basement, but I'm hoping to do some light renovation to my room and move them up with my current two cats over the summer.

So that's my story of how this little family came to stay.  :)

What I spend all your money on ...

My etsy shop is pretty small, and doesn't do a ton a business.  People often ask me if I have another job, and I do - a full time job at a hospital in Toronto.  I love my work and I love helping people, so I won't be giving it up anytime soon.  Still, I'm not a doctor or registered nurse at the hospital, so I don't get paid a large salary.  KWS helps to supplement my income, which I'm very grateful for, because ...

ANIMALS.  That's what I spend all my KWS profits on.  Once the cost of supplies and etsy billing is taken out of the sales, I spend all the rest on animals, in some way or another.

First off, I donate monthly to a few different animal rescues.  $55/month goes to Animal Alliance of Canada (formerly known as Project Jessie), an amazing organization I've been supporting since my early 20s.  They do a lot of animal rescue, saving dogs in shelters from pound seizure to be used in animal testing, but they also work on larger issues, and even lobby for political change.  They are based in Toronto and at the time I started supporting them, they were 100% volunteer run.  As they grew over the years, they've now added staff members.  They are great and I love all the work they are doing.

I also donate $25/month to World Animal Protection (formerly World Society for the Protection of Animals, or WSPA).  When I decided to start giving monthly in my early 20s, I wanted to focus on one rescue working in my home town, and one working on the international front.  This rescue focuses on international rescue initiatives, and I think they do some really important work.

Lastly, I donate $10/month to the Wilderness Committee, who works on environmental initiatives in Canada.

$80 a month isn't a huge deal I suppose, but as I said, I don't make a ton of money, so it feels like a lot to me each month.  Especially because I sort of run a haphazard animal rescue out of my house.

What does that mean exactly?  It means that injured or homeless animals wander up to my door, I take them in, nurse them back to health, then try to find them homes.  Sometime the animals I take in require a lot of medical attention, and I pay for it all myself.  Other times the animals are so badly damaged, either physically or emotionally, that I can't rehome them.  That of course means the house has essentially become an "island for misfit toys".  After a recent failed adoption, I'm back up to seven cats and one dog.  UGH.  Last month I tracked my pet related spending, just to see how much it costs for basic necessities for the animals I care for, and was horrified to learn I'm spending about $700 CAD per month on just food, poop bags, litter, and the regular medication that the dog needs.  This doesn't include flea/tick/worm meds (three of the cats are on this monthly, and the dog is on it monthly in the summer - each single dose is $18), or any other vet related issues that come up.  If KWS can cover even half of my pet costs each month, it will really help me fund more vet bills for the animals I continue to pick up off the street.

Over the next few weeks, I'm going to do bios of all the animals that live with me and their origin stories.  I'll probably even do some for a few of the animals I've placed in other homes too.

So, lets start with the most recent additions - Karamel, Butterscotch, & Ripple!

Karamel showed up my doorstep last March.  We have a lot of cats in the area that are owned who wander around all day and night.  They do go home I assume, and are fed, but it makes it hard to tell a homeless cat from one that roams around but has a bed waiting for it at the end of the day.  Generally I start by assessing how skinny the pet is.  Karamel looked reasonably plump, so I thought she probably had a home.  I gave her some kibble and petting, but left her outside to see if she would leave or not.

Over the next couple days, Karamel hung around, appearing from under the bushes or even our neighbour's car anytime I came out the front door.  I left more and more kibble for her, and she ate ravenously.  I still wasn't sure if she had a home or not.

A week and a half later, I was sure.  She had gotten dirtier and dirtier over the past week, and she had gained a large amount of weight.  I realized she was both homeless AND pregnant.  I wanted to bring her in right away, but I still live with my parents (more on that later), so it wasn't entirely my decision.  My mother is a total softie, and I get my sense of responsibility from her, but she's also already not impressed by how many animals we have in the house.  The idea of bringing in a pregnant cat didn't thrill her.  She resisted, and so I left Karamel outside.

One day the next week, we were talking to our neighbours about Karamel, and they mentioned that during a very strong thunderstorm, the poor cat had huddled up against their back door, trying to get shelter from the rain that the two inch door frame provided.  It didn't work and she got soaked, but she still refused to leave the area.  I gave my mom a pointed look, and she sighed.  I knew the battle was half won.  Later that night I made my case - mom and I both knew that if Karamel had the kittens outside, I'd be compelled to do something about it.  That would end up with me tromping through bushes, following Karamel through the nearby ravine, trying to get her to lead me to her kittens.  It was going to be harder and more expensive to treat them once they had been born who knows where, and we'd STILL end up doing something about it.  Mom knew I was right, and grudgingly gave me the go ahead to bring Karamel inside.  I set up the basement, got her easily into a carrier, and brought her inside that evening.

For four days, Karamel enjoyed indoor living.  She was nervous without me, unsure of what would happen to her, but when I was around, she was a happy, loving little kitty.

I spent a lot of time with her, reassuring her that she'd be okay.  When the kittens fussed inside her womb at night, I'd massage them gently and sing The Rainbow Connection.  Everything seemed like it was fine.

Four days after coming inside, Karamel gave birth to two kittens while I was at work.  When I went to see her at night, I found her nursing a pair of brothers that I named Butterscotch and Ripple.

At first it seemed like she was a great mom - whenever I went into the room with her, she was an extremely attentive mother.  I went to bed the night she gave birth confident I'd wake up to a happy, healthy little family.

That isn't what happened.  When I opened the door the next morning, I found Karamel huddled next to the door, peeling chunks off the bottom, desperately looking for me.  Ripple, who had gotten hungry overnight, had left the safety and comfort of their large bedded area in search of his mother, and had stalled on the cold linoluem atop concrete floor a few feet away from the bedding.  Who knows how long he had been there, but when I found him at 9 am, he was freezing and motionless.  I was sure he was almost dead.

Thankfully, I've been volunteering in the Toronto Humane Society's kitten nursery for 11 years now, so I knew exactly what to do.  I warmed him up with a hot water bottle, and rushed to the pet store to buy kitten formula.  I have a lot of extra syringes lying around from volunteering, so I got to work bottle feeding the kittens every two hours.  Thankfully it was the weekend, so I had the time to commit to the job without having to take vacation time.  I did a lot of research on ways to calm new mothers, and finally decided to give Feliway a shot.  In the past this has not worked with any cat I've tried it on, but with Monday looming and the kittens mewling desperately, I was willing to try anything.  I plugged it in and checked on Karamel three hours later.  She was like a different animal!  She was cool and calm, happy and purring, cleaning the kittens and nursing them whenever they wanted.  Finally, the little family was happy and healthy, and I could breathe again.

Does the story end there?  Of course not!  Come back tomorrow for the finale in their life and death story.  :)

Raffle, Mail Call, and a few new designs

February has come and gone, and so it's time for the monthly raffle!  The winner this month is Neri.  Congrats, Neri!  I've already sent her a message on etsy asking her what free set she'd like.  :)

Mail call!  I've been really terrible lately at spicing up my outgoing envelopes, so I have nothing to show in that regard.  But I've gotten in a bunch of very pretty envelopes in, so here goes!

Here's a gorgeous envelope from my pen pal in the UK.

Next up, a pen pal from Louisiana sent me this cute owl card with matching envelope.  Even the stamps are nice!  I wish I could show you her return address, because the stamp layout is really nice.

Then I got this amazingly handmade envelope and card.  Actually, I got it a loooooooong time ago from a customer who sent me some papers to try out.  Along with the papers was this card.  So pretty!  I unfortunately lost the whole package in my office until "spring" cleaning last month, when I unearthed a lot of exciting stuff, this letter and the test papers included.  :)  I love that the paper is different on each side, but the best part is the embossing on the blue area of the handmade card.

I bought some washi tape (I have a problem - I buy a ton and then always forget to use them!  Yeesh.) and got this package with these cute stamps and nice band of washi tape along the bottom.

Lastly, I got this great postcard from my best friend when she went to Ottawa's Canadian Museum of Nature.  

Here are some new designs I'm working on.  I've got a lot more in the pipes, but I haven't had enough time to get them quite right yet.

This last one I made just for me.  I am not sure anyone else would want it, so I doubt I'll list it.  Still, I am very much loving using it.  :)

That's it for today.  Tomorrow I'll be putting up a blog post titled "What I Spend All Your Money On".  Curious?  Check back tomorrow!