I just wanted to write in regarding a Sharpei x Chow Chow we adopted from Keysborough (BEAR).

Thank you so much for giving us the opportunity to give Bear a loving home! He has now been with us for nearly a year and I wanted to give you an update on how he is going.

When we first bought him home, he was scared and stand-offish. You could not hug him, pat him on the head or make any sudden movements around him (without sending him off to the bedroom in a panic!). I admit I was a little bit worried at first as to whether he would learn to love people again and how he would go with my three year old daughter! I know now that I did not need to worry! Bear is the biggest sookiest dog in the world who loves nothing more than to fetch the ball. My daughter took a little while to get used to him, but now she throws the ball for him, gives him hugs and leads him around the back yard practicing her "walking".

It took a while for Bear to stop being scared of people; my partner takes him to work with him so Bear is never home alone and he loves it! (Although a few unsuspecting tradies have accidentally startled Bear who nipped them) Everyone who has seen Bear when we first brought him home has been amazed by his transformation. He is the best dog anyone could ever ask for.

About four months ago, we decided to get another dog (a friend for Bear). So we bought a pure chocolate Lab who we called Coco. She has been wonderful for Bear - although I think he sometimes finds her energy exhausting and annoying resulting in a few "stay away" nips for Coco as she loves to lick poor Bears face! Bear has also been wonderful for Coco, tempering her otherwise unboundless energy! We also bought another kitten as unfortunately Bear had an accident with my cat Finny (Bear has a bad habit of using his head to stop himself from running into things and poor finny was caught in the way once. Bear was very upset over the incident and kept nudging Finny to get up. Since then, Bear has not played with another cat). We called our new kitten Moris. Moris, Coco and Bear have developed a "you leave me alone, I will leave you alone" attitude towards each other when outside which is quite amusing. Especially when Coco tries to play with Moris!

All in all, all I can say about Bear is that when we bought him home, we knew we were in for a long recovery as he had obviously had a pretty beaten childhood (he was excellently trained, but terrified of people - especially males). He is now a very warm, loving gentle boy and I thank you very much for giving us the opportunity to love him!

Thank you very much,Caitlin, Rad and Zoe.

My family and I adopted "Lara" from you guys back in April 2007, after loosing our beloved "Abby" to a cancer of the spleen at the age of 11 years in December 06, then we rescued "Patch" but sadly only had him for 2 months when he was diagnosed with cancer in his chest, he was given a few months, but we lost him a week later. So we decide to have a look at Keysborough and we were just about to leave when I spotted "Lara" in the very end cage, waiting very patiently and quietly, while all the others were barking and chewing up their blankets! So we spent some time with her, slept on it over night and then went back the next day to get her. On the way home she spread out across the back seat of the car with her head on my lap while my dad drove,very affectionate I thought until.. about half way home..she vomited all over me!!! Being a Vet nurse, I'm used to dog vomit, but not all over me!!!! Anyway, she was very destructive in the first few weeks, chewing anything in site, the deck, clothes line, the couch, my best friend's $200.00 pair of new boots!!! But now she's over that and we walk her once a day and she goes to the park for a run and a play every day also. She's put on 10 kg and grown 8cm taller!!! She can sit, stay, drop, shake, roll over and bark on command. when she wants to!!!

Thanks AAPS for the opportunity to add this adored member to our family; we'd be lost without her!
Jason

It would seem Jasper ( Novmeber 2007 story) has a new talent, He likes to ride the motor bike. He took to it straight away and would jump up if called for a ride.

We bought a farm & Jasper loves the farm life. What a change from a city dog never allowed in the house to his wonderful life now!

Doug & Leanne Page

I saw seven year old Kendra (formerly know as ‘Kitty’) on the AAPS website late one night in July 2007.

I fell for her especially because she was described as being ‘so sad’ to be in a shelter. The following morning I showed my boyfriend and he agreed that we should adopt this sad and beautiful little kitty. We went into the large enclosure and saw her curled up in a box on a shelf. When she heard us she instantly gave a trill, rolled on her back for a tummy scratch and started purring. Then she hopped out of the box, grabbed a quick snack (a sign of things to come!) and then proceeded to greet us happily. We were thrilled when she accepted us and took her home that day. I thought she might be scared at first, but as soon as she was out of her cage, she went back and forth giving us head butt kisses, purring loudly and trilling happily. She was absolutely beside herself with joy and we could tell she knew she was in her new forever home.
The next step was to introduce her to our first cat, Cleopatra. Unfortunately Cleo was disgusted by the new arrival and, despite our efforts to introduce the two slowly, spent much time growling and hissing at her. Kendra tried to be friends but eventually got fed up with being harassed and began to fight back. Six months have now passed and unfortunately our two girls are not yet friends, but luckily Cleo learned to tolerate Kendra. At first I was very sad that they don’t like each other, but I see now that they are both happy and well and there is only the occasional loud ‘cat spat’.
Kendra’s favourite activities include: trilling, strutting her long-legged elegance, being underfoot, opening doors and cupboards, and sleeping on the good couch. As well as loving laps, she also loves to wedge herself tightly next to you on the couch or the bed, which has earned her the nickname ‘the wedgie’. She runs like the wind and has lightening-fast reflexes and especially loves it when we play chasey games with blades of grass or a mouse on a string. She also enjoys an occasional ‘tipple’ at the catnip plant. We have moved house since we got her. On the second night in her new Coburg home, the little Houdini escaped into the darkness. She waltzed back into the garden 15 minutes later – as happy as Larry, covered in cobwebs!
Before we got her we were thinking of adopting a kitten, but are both so glad we adopted an adult cat - she fitted in so easily with our lifestyle and thinks she is a kitten anyway. Thanks so much to the wonderful team at AAPS for helping to bring her into our lives!

Kirsty and Pete

This little girl has been with us since New Years Day 2006 and has fitted right in. Lots of energy, affection and has developed into a very good watchdog, provided there isn’t a bone to take her attention instead.
Loves the beach, and from a timid little pup who had no idea what the ripples were in the water, she now bounds into the water to chase balls, people, other dogs or anything else of interest.

Has had a couple of attempts to swim, but that need s a bit more work. Gets on famously with her big brother Shadow who was with us for 4 years to the day when Indi arrived.

Tony,Sue, Shadow and Indi Bramwell

I thought I would tell you a little more about Hector our Great Dane cross. We adopted him in March after falling for his photo on the Internet. He settled into his new home quickly.We were worried about our ducks but he is just fine with them although they fascinated him at first and would follow them around!!
He loves to lie in front of the heater and when I stretch out on the settee he tries to share it with me, not easy as neither of us is small!! He is very affectionate, loves cuddles.
He loves to run at top speed round our very large back garden and everyone gets out of his way. He has a couple of old gumboots and an old shoe, one of these is usually in his mouth while running. He chases round at dusk trying to see possums , there are many of them but they never go anywhere near Hector.

When he goes for walks someone will always stop to say how lovely he is and want to pat him, Hector is very obliging in that way. He is not so obliging when he sees a four legged person as he wants to play, well I think that is what his intentions are. He will however ignore them if I am walking him but that is seldom the case if he is walked by Fiona my wife, she is not a big person like Hector and I so has to keep tight hold of the lead or could be airborne.

He loves bones and digs holes in the garden to bury them, he then goes and digs them up and moves them. This was no trouble he never touched the plants until Fiona thought she would make a vegie garden, he particularly liked the nicely prepared plot, oh well, we just have to fence it off.

Everyone loves him, family and friends and he is one happy dog. Keep up the good work. Ian, Fiona and Hector Hall

Hello to all of the wonderful people at Keysborough, from Jinny. My new family adopted me in September 2007.

We are all besotted with each other! I love it when they take me for walks, and especially love going to their holiday house in Anglesea. I've sent you a couple of holiday snaps of me showing the kids how to go boogyboarding. After a big day at the beach, I settled in for a good nights sleep.

My new family also want to thank you all so much for letting them adopt me. They adore me!!

Love from Jinny (the little fat Jack Russell with the gorgeous black spot on my back)

p.s. I haven't lost any weight yet although my family take me for lots of walks. I may be short and a bit overweight, but I sure can outrun them...even the kids on their scooters can't keep up with me!!

Cheers,Jinny
(And thanks to you all at Keysborough for our gorgeous little dog. We've never owned a dog before, but couldn't imagine life without her! Jinny's settled into our house beautifully, and we adore her!

Jinny's new family, Glenys, John, Imogen, Jackson)

I adopted Milo, a 7 month old Siamese, from the AAPS, a couple of weeks after my old ginger Moggy had gone to God. Milo is part Angel (like sh-nuggles) and part Monster (he might've watched too many Wrestle-mania shows).

He has settled into his new home well and when he is in a quiet mind-set gets along (at paw's length) with my other cat Coco (who I also adopted from the AAPS, who is very quiet and very shy). Milo has a sweet kind nature but he is still a kitten! And a very busy kitten. He climbs everything, gets into every cupboard. I almost renamed him Dennis or Whelan, a few times. Milo is equally happy playing with a piece of baling twine as well as a jingly fluffy toy.

When Milo is in 'launch' or serious Wrestle-mania mode, Coco thinks he is quite a terror and it's just lucky that he is easy when it comes to clipping claws. Due to his boisterous and cheeky nature, I know that Milo wouldn't have been suitable for a home with small children, so Coco and I are setting some boundaries for him. He gets sin-binned in the study for brief periods when he is really out of control with hyper-boisterous play.

I am (and I am sure Coco is as well) hoping that when he grows up a bit he will be a little more relaxed.

I really wanted to emphasise that Milo is a very sweet and gorgeous boy and honestly, although in the start when we had settling in issues, I had wondered if he was the right choice. I probably haven't recognised it but he has calmed down a lot.

Milo is very atheletic (can parallel bar using the wire clothes horse), I can wear him like a cat-stole around my neck, he loves to snuggle under my doona like a little tummy warmer, he waits on the shower mat, for me to come out of the shower….. He also likes to inspect the inside of my front load washing machine when I'm putting stuff in the wash to give me the nod that there's space for more stuff. When I drive down the drive way, he is waiting at the door for me to open it!!

He is very cute in so very many ways!!

It must be hard for the little guys to settle into their new homes as much as it is for us to adjust to them.
I wouldn't return him since I'd made the commitment to take him on. And I was told by the ladies on the front counter that he'd been adopted and then returned because Milo didn't get along with the adoption homes' other cat.

Since his claws are now clipped it's easier but he is still a biter and the way I get about it is to avoid engaging with him when he is in a bitey mood. When he gets truly aggressive with the other cat, I just sin-bin him. I never hit a cat. He's smart enough to know that when I say 'sin-bin', that he often runs off and that's usually enough. But when he's really aggressive I have to pick him up and then sin-bin him. My other cat is getting better at holding firm, but even she has a limit!!

Hope the other cats find homes. Some of the write ups on the older kitties waiting for homes were heartbreaking. I will tell all my friends about them.

Cheers, Mika

My Mum and I came to the Cuddly Cats Adoption Day to find me a kitten for my upcoming 21st birthday. We hadn't had a cat in the house since our old two were stolen a few years earlier. This was a long awaited day for me.
After a few minutes of looking around at various kittens Mum pointed out a small black ball of fluff hiding behind a chair. We hastened to pick it up before it took anyone else's fancy.
Then suddenly another black beastie appeared. Out of the blue Mum said 'Do you want both of them?'. I was overjoyed to have the chance to have one kitten, let alone two!
A lovely lady held on to one, while I kept hold of the other, and Mum went to check that they were both still available. They were. Two black and fluffy male kittens to go please. After sorting out the paper work we set off.

Kitten No. 1 (16 weeks) was sleeker than Kitten No. 2 (12 weeks) who was the more timid of the two. After much deliberation No. 1 was named Tam O'Shanter, Tam for short. As Tam is also the Scottish form of Thomas which means 'Twin' the name seemed quite appopriate as they look so alike on first glance.
No. 2 was named Solomon as his great big eyes looked so seriously upon everything.

They have both settled in well and now run the household, or so they like to think. Tam, as the older of the two, likes to hold Solly down and wash him thoroughly. They both love galavanting around the backyard chasing bouncy balls.

Thankyou very much for my two wee black beasties. May we bring each other many years of happiness.

I just wanted to let you know about Oscar who I adopted in October '07. However you would know him as Prince as you named him, since he was apparently named Princess by his previous owners. I saw Oscar on the website one night and was hoping that he would still be there when I came on the weekend. Thankfully he was, however there were several others who were quite interested in him also. As soon as the cage was opened he was rubbing himself all over me and meowing to be picked up. As soon as I cuddled him we had a connection. He was so sweet and cuddly, pawing me and 'cleaning' me immediately and then he started dribbling! I just had to have him.

As soon as Oscar arrived home he made himself at home immediately, rubbing himself all over the house and testing out the 3 beds available for him to sleep on! It has been such a joy to have Oscar in this house, and he has settled in so well, however there are a few issues that we are still working through such as he tends to bite when touched on his hind legs. But despite this I do not regret adopting Oscar for a second! He is just such a delight to have around and has provided non stop laughs. Oscar's favorite games are to chase me up and down the stairs or 'body slam' us.

However, nothing beats his favorite past time of lying in bed all day long preferably under the covers with his head on the pillow, or lying on the balcony in the sun watching the birds fly by.

When I first adopted Oscar he had been partially shaved and looked as though he had a mohawk, as a result he has been nicknamed mohawk cat by the neighbours - he just makes himself welcome in their homes just wandering in and lying on their couches whenever the door is open! But thankfully his hair is almost grown back and he is looking more handsome by the day, especially as he has gained some weight since I adopted him. Oscar was a touch on the thin side and has thooughly enjoyed 'snacking'.

Oscar has bought so much joy into my life and I am so thankful that I was given the opportunity to adopt him. I look forward to many more laughs with Oscar and many more cuddles over the years. I would definately recommend that anyone considering getting a kitten consider adopting an adult cat. It has been such a great experience getting to know his wonderful character and 'quirks'.

Thank you so much AAPS!!! Erin and Oscar

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