Hi, everyone! In case you don't remember me, I'm Bandit, the new shelter manager at Cats Haven and I'M WRITING MY 2ND BLOG. OH DEAR. WHY IS EVERYTHING IN CAPITAL LETTERS? WAIT A MINUTE. LET ME FIND GWEN...... There. That's better. Still learning how to use a keyboard. Anyway, it's a quiet, rainy Monday afternoon, so I thought I'd take some time out and write in my blog. It's been a busy morning here at the shelter, teaching the new kittens as well as some of the older residents how to look precious. Not everyone instinctively knows how to flop over, make "patty-paws" in the air, or give humans that wide-eyed, adorable look. A lot of work goes into this training, you know. So the kittens are all snuggled up on their nap mats with Girls Scout cookies (thank you, Sonny) and juice boxes. And I get a break!

Not only have the kittens been busy around the shelter, the humans have been flying around the shelter over the past couple of weeks, too! Barb is getting ready for the Women's and Food Expo at the Fairgrounds this weekend, making lots of really cool new Gypsy Cat jewelry and putting the finishing touches on our world-famous catnip pillows. I've been trying to help her with the jewelry, but this is gonna take some practice. Barb says that stringing pieces of dry cat food on wire probably won't sell well. Who knew. Anyway, we'll be at the Expo on Saturday and Sunday this weekend, and will have adoptable kitties with us. I think I heard that Polo will be there on Sunday. Check out our Calendar page for show times. 

We'll also be at the North Shore Animal League's Tour for Life at Indianapolis Animal Care and Control (2600 South Harding) on Sunday!  Lela and Helen will be there, along with a ton of other rescue groups, and we'll have adoptables and maybe even some surprises! Again, check our Calendar page for times.

And of course, I have to mention that our small but mighty Kitties for Titties (oh, that just makes me blush) Race for the Cure team will be walking the 5K route this Saturday morning. I gotta apologize for my last posting, tho. I thought that team registrations were still open, and you guys could sign up but sleep in and catnap with me that morning. Well, I was wrong. Registrations were already closed. I think I'm doing a pretty good job as the new shelter manager, but I'm still learning a bunch of stuff. Sorry for the misinformation, but I'll let everyone know how we do on Saturday!

Be sure to check out the Smiley and KJ show this coming Thursday morning because the Other Sue will be on!! KJ is gonna do a KJ's Strays, and Other Sue will be talking about all kinds of fun stuff. She told me that she's gotta be at the station at 6:30 in the morning, so tune in and hear how funny she is when she's not really awake! 

We also have Speck's Appreciation Day on April 25th at the Speck's in Avon!! We'll be there from 10:00 til 2:00 with adoptable kitties and stuff to sell. Wow, we're just all over the place, aren't we?

Okay, let me check my notes here because I've got some other shelter news. Where did I put those notes? Oh, yeh . . . in my pants pocket! Here they are. Um, let's see. Our Organic Mousetrap program is going great guns! We've had several people request organic mousetraps for their farms, so even in this rough economy, a few of our residents have gotten jobs! Good work, guys! And congrats to Adelaine for finding her fur-ever home!!! Now that I've got the happy news out of the way, I have a couple of friends to whom I'd like to send our condolences. First, my deepest sympathies go out to Barb and everyone here at the shelter over the loss of Grandma. Grandma was an old-lady-cat who got dumped in a feral colony last fall. Grandma didn't have much hair, but she had a lot of purr-sonality. She was really really old, tho, and she crossed over in her sleep Saturday night. Sympathies also go out to Joy who lost her beloved Jack. Hugs to you, Joy. And our most deep condolences go out to Dr. Alice Johns who lost her Raj kitty last week. Last but not least, The Other Sue suddenly lost her friend Kalvin on Friday. You can see Kalvin's story on the In Memoriam page. Big warm hugs and purrs go out to everyone who has lost kitty friends. 

I guess I better stop blogging and get back to work! The kittens will be up soon, and we've got a full afternoon planned for them. Our lesson this afternoon is "What to do on a rainy afternoon that will drive your humans crazy!" My personal favorite is staring into a corner like there's something there when there's not. Hahaha! Oh, before I forget, be sure to mark your calendar for the Spring Fling Art for Paws event on May 23rd. This is gonna be soooOOOOOoooooo cool, and I'll have more info on it later this month. But we've got a bazillion artists, a tarot card reader, a numerologist, and even a massage therapist who will all be part of this years' event. I'll be there, too, so plan to come by and meet me! I'd like to meet all of you, too!! And we're also planning for our annual Silent Auction at Arni's again this year. The date is June 2nd, and I'll tell you more about that next time. Back to work for me! - Bandit the cat