Saturday, December 22, 2007

Great story...

... in The New York Times about working cats -- mostly adopted strays who work in small city markets keeping mice and rats under control.

Luis Martinez, 42, has managed his brother’s grocery in East New York, Brooklyn, for two years. At first, despite weekly visits from an exterminator, the store’s inventory was ravaged constantly by nibbling vermin.

“Every night I had to put the bread in the freezer,” he said, pointing at shelves filled with bread and hamburger buns. “I was losing too much inventory. The chips and the Lipton soups all had holes in them.”

Then, last winter, a friend brought Mr. Martinez a marmalade kitten in need of a home. Mr. Martinez, who was skeptical of how one slinky kitten could fend off an army of hungry rats, set up a litter box in the back of the store, put down an old fleece jacket and named the kitten Junior.

Within two weeks, Mr. Martinez said, “a miracle.”

“Before you’d see giant rats running in off the streets into the store, but since Junior, no more,” he said.

Junior sometimes brings Mr. Martinez mouse carcasses as gifts, which he said bothers him less than the smell that permeates his store when the exterminator’s victims die and rot under a freezer.


Sadly, though, the same New York City health code that bans food stores from having rats and mice also makes it illegal for them to keep cats. That's a shame -- you can tell from reading the story how much these owners love their cats and even how much pride they take in them.

“That’s Oreo,” he said, as he lifted a tiny black cat with white paws into his arms and carried her like a football. “No one’s ever complained about cat hair in their sandwiches, and if she weren’t here, you bet there’d be bigger problems than hair.”


There's a blog devoted to covering these Big Apple felines, called, appropriately enough, Working Class Cats.

Friday, December 21, 2007

Few words before the holidays








Thank you all for coming back to the blog - it means world.



Danica is more-less good; problems are present , the regular ones (food, never ending late bills), but as long as there are no new sick kitties, it can be called a period of stability. Little Gingerello rules: he is competing with the older cats, wants to be the chief, runs around the house like crazy, bumping into things, other kitties, and Danica, hissing like little devil. And still being the cutest one ever. Danica is simply keeping him in the apartment for now, for, at this point, he can not go down into the shelter , because, those are older, more experienced cats that go out, but they know what they are doing. She will see what she'll do. In the meantime, any donation is more then welcome. In a word - it is hard, but she is coping somehow for now.


Last but not the least: Danica and all the kitties wish you very Merry Christmas and Happy and Healthy New Year.

Friday, December 7, 2007

Gingerello urgently needs home



The news is that little, extra cute Gingerello needs a home. Danica has been trying everywhere, and even her vet's office posted an ad, because even they , who deal with animals every single day,claim they have never seen such an adorable cutie!




Danica spent money in nursing him back to health, and the vet eventually gave him a clean bill.





He speaks all the time (extremely vocal little guy), he runs around like crazy wanting to play, he hisses at much bigger, stronger cats if he does not like the way they either play or ignore him... he is as cute as a button.

Picture tells all.