Homer's Odyssey

Naoto Matsumura lives in Tomioka, Japan.  He is the only person living in Tomioka, Japan.  Once home to over 16,000 people, the city has been closed down by the government due to radiation dangers from the TEPCO Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in the wake of last year’s tsunami.

Matsumura is a fifth-generation farmer who has lived here his entire life.  When the government evacuated the city, no plan was made to evacuate or care for the thousands of pets and livestock left behind.  Matsumura refused to evacuate without his dog, and so he remained behind.  Soon the starving and desperate animals left uncared for found their way to him, and now he does what he can to feed them all.  He sees death every day, but still he fights for life.  He gives these animals food, he gives them care, and he gives them what they lost when their people were forced to leave them behind–human love.

Mr. Matsumura is living without electricity, without running water, and with barely enough food for himself.  That’s not what struck me about his story, though.  What struck me is that we all know what it means to live in a zone with that kind of radioactive contamination.  We all know the choice Mr. Matsumura is making.  He is giving his life for these animals.  Literally.  Thus far he has made this struggle alone.

You can read more about him here.  I forewarn you that I haven’t cried so hard since the day we lost Scarlett.

I don’t talk about it a lot, but between Homer’s Facebook fans, his Facebook friends, the fans of the book’s Facebook page, and the people who follow Homer on Twitter, there are 30,000 of us (not counting however many people read this blog).  30,000.  We could be an army, if we wanted to be.

I think we should be an army.  I think we should be an army for good.  Or, better yet, we should be heroes.  This man–this extraordinary human being, the kind of man who comes along no more than maybe once or twice in a generation–deserves to know that we support him.  He deserves to know that we bear witness to his struggles, his selflessness, and his courage.  I want this man to know that he may be alone in the only home he’s ever known, but he is not alone in this world.  We stand with him.  He may live alone on the other side of the world, but he also lives with us in our hearts.  Our hearts have no borders.

Mr. Matsumura needs money to continue to care for these starving, abandoned animals, and I’m asking you to give.  I’m asking you to give as much as you can, think about it a minute, and then give a few dollars more.  I’m asking you to share Mr. Matsumura’s story with your friends, your families, on your Facebook pages, on your Twitter feeds, on message boards and online community groups, and anywhere else you can.  I am asking all of you–all of us–to show what a force for good we can be when we put our minds to it.

There are people out there who call us “crazy.”  They call us “crazy cat ladies” (or “crazy cat dudes”).  They roll their eyes when we talk about the animals we love, they mock us, they belittle us and the things we do.  I say that if protecting the innocent and caring about every life–no matter how tiny, no matter how supposedly “insignificant”–makes me crazy, then by God I’m crazy.  I’m insane.  I’m a certifiable loon.

You know what the best part is?  I know I’m not alone.

Give.  Please give.  Follow the link below to make your donation.

Donations.

God bless you all, and God bless Naoto Matsumura.

Actually, two new furiends!

As I mentioned about a month ago, I’ve been considering the possibility of a kitten or two to add to our family.  My hope was that a kitten wouldn’t be as put off by Homer’s unusual face as an adult cat might be, and that two kittens together would give Homer some outlet for all that playfulness he still has at 15 (!!!) while also having each other for those times when Homer’s energy level isn’t quite as high as a kitten’s.  I also hoped I would be able to find a “special needs” kitten who might not be considered as adoptable as other kittens, and who would benefit from the devoted level of cat worship we’re prepared to shower on pretty much any feline that crosses our doorstep.

As anybody who’s ever rescued a cat knows, when it comes to cat rescue–ask and ye shall receive!

This little boy–now 12 weeks old–was born with only three feet, and was rescued by the good people at Furrever Friends Rescue and Volunteers.  As adoptable as kittens generally are, black kittens are usually the last to go, and a “special needs” black kitten has even worse chances.  (For the life of me, I will never understand this–because black kitties have such amazing personalities!)  And this charming little guy has a sister!

She’s not “special needs” per se, but she does have a small umbilical hernia that wasn’t caught when she was spayed and that will need to be addressed surgically at some point.  From what I’m told, both kittens are extremely friendly “love bugs,” although the little boy is a bit more outgoing than his sister and tends to look out for her, which is why Furrever Friends was particularly anxious to find a home for them together.

Furrever Friends is a no-kill foster care organization, entirely run by volunteers.  They’ll take the kittens back if things end up not working out with Homer, but I’m optimistic that they will.  I really think Homer will like having kittens to play with–it’s been a long, long time since anybody but me was interested in playing with Homer, and I know I don’t do quite as good a job as another cat would–but even if he ends up not liking them, I don’t see him doing much worse than ignoring them most of the time.  Homer doesn’t have a mean bone in his whole body.  And, I hope, kittens introduced to him young enough will grow up respecting Homer like Homer learned to respect Scarlett and Vashti.

How long is it physically possible to keep your fingers crossed before they freeze that way? 

We’ve decided to name the boy Clayton after Clayton “Peg Leg” Bates, a famous one-legged tap dancer.  (I wanted to name him Ahab after the one-legged captain of the Pequod in Moby Dick, but Laurence said that was “too obvious!”)  And we’re naming the little girl Fanny, just because it’s a sweet old-fashioned name for a sweet old-fashioned girl who lets her big brother do most of the talking.   Although Laurence is already referring to them as “Claytolinsky and the Fannikins.”  As the Vashowitz could have told you, nobody lives with Laurence Lerman for very long without gaining a nickname.  (This from a man named Laurence who won’t let anybody call him “Larry”!)  I won’t repeat here the various nicknames Laurence has for me, but I will say that he only calls me “Gwen” when he’s mad at me about something, which means that I’ve learned to fear the sound of my own name coming from my husband’s lips.  Oy! 

Since the kittens are currently several hours away from me, one of the volunteers has graciously agreed to meet me in the middle and deliver the kittens at the Trenton train station this Saturday, which is only about 90 minutes outside of New York.

I really couldn’t be more excited!  Kittens again after 15 years!  Keep your fingers crossed for all of us…

A spot in a no-kill shelter has been found for them and adoption offers have been received.  Thank you to everybody for sharing their story!!! 

Marmalade and Shadow are a gorgeous one-year-old Maine Coon and ten-year-old long-haired silver tabby in Fairfield, CT.  Their mom committed suicide last week, and her only surviving family is a brother who doesn’t like cats and wants to see these two babies put down.

Marmalade is a sweetheart who gets along with everybody.  Shadow is a bit more traumatized by this whole experience and has become somewhat temperamental with Marmalade, although he’s fine with people.  Still, it would be best to keep them together if at all possible.

Marmalade and Shadow need a “furever” home, but if nobody can take them immediately then at the very least we’d like to find a rescue group to care for them until a home can be found.

I promise that this will be the last sad story I post for a while!  Truly, though, my heart absolutely breaks for these little guys who’ve been through so much.  If you’re in the tri-state area and are either interested in adopting them or represent a rescue group that can care for them temporarily, please send an email to info(at)coveredincathair(dot)com.

There’s a lot more love in this world than Shadow and Marmalade’s mom was able to see.  We can’t show her that anymore, but we can prove it to these poor babies–who haven’t done a thing wrong except not being enough for the human who should have loved them most.

Life is hard for cats in countries like Oman, where there’s very little animal-welfare infrastructure and where temperatures can climb to over 100 degrees every day and fall below freezing every night.  Most kittens in Oman never survive into adulthood, and the ones who do rarely make it past age five.  Which is why it’s so miraculous that Peri–not just a kitten, but a blind kitten–today is a happy, healthy nine-month-old living in the U.S.

Peri’s foster mom in Muscat, a woman named Rosheno who daily fights the difficult battle on behalf of cats and dogs in her country despite having precious few resources, rescued Peri and saw to it that he had the surgery that (as with Homer) saved his life even though it cost him his eyes.  She then, with the help of many generous fans and supporters on Facebook, paid for the 29-hour flight that brought Peri from Muscat to a home in West Palm Beach, Florida.

But, after only two days, Peri’s new family requested that another home be found for him.  From all accounts, Peri is as playful as any kitten and a “love bug” to boot.  If you have any doubts, check out this video of Peri and Rosheno on their last night together.  If it doesn’t melt your heart then you, my friend, don’t have a heart!

http://www.lifewithcats.tv/2012/04/15/peri-blind-cat-travels-from-oman-to-the-us-and-now-needs-a-special-someone/

Without going into details as to why things didn’t work out for Peri in the home he was originally sent to, it should be noted that any cat–even one who isn’t blind and hasn’t been through everything Peri’s been through–will need at least a few days to adjust and begin to feel safe in a new home.  And, like any cat, Peri will need to be introduced gradually to any new “bro-furs” or “sis-furs.”  Coming from a place where life is so absolutely dire for cats on their own, Peri has never learned that when there’s enough food for everybody, another kitty could end up being his very best friend (and not just a cat so hungry and desperate she’ll beat up a blind kitten for his food).  But Peri is still very young and, by all descriptions, as playful and friendly as Homer was at his age, and with enough love and patience there’s no reason to think he won’t learn this lesson within a few months or even within a few weeks.  It would probably be best, though, if Peri doesn’t need to get used to more than one or two new “fur-sibs” right away.

Peri has been neutered and is negative for FIV and feline leukemia.  He’s also up to date on all his shots.  Ideally Peri’s new home will be in South or Central Florida, but if it turns out that Peri’s best “furever” home is in another part of the U.S., Homer and I will contribute up to $500 to cover his transportation.

If you’re interested in being Peri’s new family, please write to Rosheno at petpals(dot)email(at)gmail(dot)com.

Everybody reading this knows how passionate I am on the subject of special-needs cats.  But Peri’s story is truly extraordinary–a living testament to the miracles that we, as humans who love animals, are occasionally able to perform under even the worst of circumstances.  A “miracle cat” like Peri deserves better than languishing in the home of someone who doesn’t really want him.  If you’re anything like me, you’re already imagining yourself scooping Peri up in your arms and kissing his little face and generally making a big fuss over this brave little guy.  If you have the room in your heart and home to do so in real life, then I urge you to do so–and to be the last miracle Peri will ever need.

Oskar, the blind kitty of YouTube fame, curls up with a good read!

I give you Exhibit A:

Join me on Tuesday, January 17th for free wine, brownies, and a reading from my new novel Love Saves The Day (yes, it’s about a cat! )  Info below:

RSVP here!

http://tinyurl.com/7tld297

And a paw-sitively happy New Year!