Meet The Kitties

At 5 years old, Boots (better known as Bootsie) ties with Bosco for the oldest kitties at Leuk's Landing. She and Paris were our first residents, coming to us from the Humane Society of Monroe County (www.monroehumane.com). Bootsie is the lover of the group as well as the "grande dame." If as you are leaving the Landings you haven't spent enough time with her, she will stop you in your tracks and demand more love.

It's hard to believe that a cat can eat as much as Paris does and not look like a little piggy. Paris can hold her own with the younger boys of Leuk's Landing, pushing them out of the way at breakfast and dinner. Paris' specialty is her ability to find a way to put her nose into your hair then pull on it to get your attention if your petting is not sufficient. Paris also comes to us from the Humane Society of Monroe County (www.monroehumane.com).

Everyone says that Mickie should be the black and white cat. But she's proud of her gray and white coloring. Thanks to Mosaic Feline Refuge and Debbie of Crafty Cat for sending Mickie and Minnie to us. As sisters, they were best friends until we lost Minnie to her disease in July 2009.

Everyone falls in love with Tommie and he is happy every day except when he gets shaved in the summer because his fur has matted up. As an all white cat he is susceptible to sunburns and so we erect a tent for the summer in their outside play area. With enough time rolling in the dirt he can turn into a brown cat from a white cat, overnight. Thanks to Gloria Arndt, Jill Ross and Paws for Life Rescue (access through www.petfinder.com) for providing us with Tommie.

Jerry was the original "big boy" of the group, weighing in just shy of 20 pounds. But that didn't slow him down-he could chase any of the "smaller" cats just fine-thank you very much. He was rescued by the Wood Country Humane Society (www.woodcountyhumanesociety.org) from Bowling Green, OH. Jerry was the heart and soul of Leuk's Landing until he lost his battle with FeLV in November 2009.

The "little lady" of Leuk's Landing, Gracie, is very petite. Gracie is the second kitty we named-she is very regal and in another life may have been a southern belle. Gracie comes to us from the Ann Arbor Cat Clinic (www.annarborcatclinic.com), one of our valued all-cat veterinary partners.

Everyone fell in love with Bobcat! To look at him and a picture of a bobcat, you notice the similarity. His brown feet melted many hearts. Often picked on by Silver, he could hold his own. Bobcat's philosophy was "why sweat the small stuff?" Bobcat lost his courageous fight with his disease a few days short of 2010. Mosaic Feline Refuge and Debbie from Crafty Cat brought us this lover-boy.

There's always one kid that likes to mix things up and at Leuk's Landing that's Silver. We know a lot about Silver because of Santa Zhugra who watched over him for a year and gained his confidence over time so she could catch him. Santa helps Paws for Life Rescue and Gloria Arndt to rescue abandoned cats. Thank you Santa!

Coming to use from Camp Kitty (thanks Becky and Tracy) and Barb Wolfe of Community Cat Coalition (www.geocities.com/communitycatcoalition), the brothers Sneekers and Scamp instantly fit in with the rest of the kitties upon their arrival. Even if they could not find another kitty to play with them, they had each other to wrestle with. It was particularly difficult for all of us to lose Scamp to his disease even before he turned one year old. Sneekers continues to flourish at Leuk's Landing but there is still a void left by the passing of his brother, Scamp.

Daisy is named for Barb Wolfe's own Daisy that gave her many years of love. True to her calico coloring, she's a real princess! When everyone else goes in at night for dinner, Daisy will stay outside until she is carried in. Daisy had a rough start to life but thanks to Dr. Kelly at Kelly Veterinary Clinic and the Community Cat Coalition, she has thrived! Daisy's Mouse Count:

According to Becky from Camp Kitty, Clark and Fitch are cousins. As best friends at the Landings, they are either mixing things up with one another or another cat. Clark's full name is Lil' Clark since he was named after Becky's own Clark. Fitch is named for the store bearing his name - Ambercrombie & Fitch. Clark's signature is nibbling on fingers and Fitch's is cocking his head to the side when he invites you to pet him!

Bosco makes us an international sanctuary, hailing from Windsor Canada. After living most of his life at the wonderful no-kill shelter, Jazzpurr (www.jazzpurr.org), Bee Friedlander and Don Garlit brought him to Leuk's Landing. A bit of a shy boy for the first couple of months, Bosco has bonded with the other kitties and now allows the volunteers to scratch him in his favorite place-the base of his tail. Bosco has truly come a long way (both in distance and in learning to live with other kitties like him).

The most vocal of all the kitties at the Landings, Sasha is one of the smallest kitties. Rescued from near-starvation outside in the late winter, Riley Trumbull and Bill Lockwood had their hearts set on adopting her…until she was diagnosed with Feline Leukemia. While they were unable to adopt her, the kitties are happy to have her join the gang at Leuk's Landing.

Brooklyn's lucky day was when the Chwatun's found him at a gas station in Brooklyn MI. Hopeful to add him to their family, they were surprised when he turned up positive for FeLV. The next best thing to being adopted by the Chwatun's, Brooklyn ended up at the Landings. A relatively small boy, he's the most boisterous, talking constantly. At the same time he was neutered he had several teeth extracted. Bad teeth are a common problem of FeLV positive cats.

I think the phrase is "as one door closes, another one opens," or something like that. Within a day of losing Jerry to his disease, we get a call from the Wood County (Ohio) Humane Society that they have a FeLV cat for us. Wood County is the same no-kill shelter that referred Jerry to us two years ago. The resemblance of Tucker to Jerry is unreal. Both are tabby over white cats and have the sweetest dispositions.

A big MEOW also goes to Country Cat Clinic (www.countrycatclinic.com) and the Ann Arbor Cat Clinic (www.annarborcatclinic.com) and the wonderful staffs of these all-cat veterinary clinics for their support of Leuk's Landing. Note: any errors in facts or attribution are unintentional. Please send an email to Kitties@leukslanding.org with any corrections.