I wanted to let everyone know my computer died Saturday. The hard drive failed and I lost everything on the computer including photos, dissertation work, everything. My last back up was July 5 so I only lost 3 weeks worth of work and photos ... if I didn't back things up, it could have been devastating. As it stands, it's just headache-inspiring.

And luckily, I have a 2-year warranty on the computer. ((I am SO glad I got that warranty now)) They are going to put in a new hard drive on Tuesday (totally free, free, free) and I'll have to rebuild everything then ... so I'm apologizing ahead of time if I don't post until then.

Hopefully I'll be back Tuesday night with a Wampi update and photos. Wampi gets his X-rays sometime this week and hopefully his cast off but I don't know which day yet ... Urban Vets is waiting on the X-rays from the Animal Medical Center to come in so they have x-rays to compare with new ones and they can assess his progress.

Feel free to leave comments everyone and pin the guest map while I'm gone!

(I have officially named this summer - The Summer of Broken Things.)

Emerald put her diamond ring up for auction on E-Bay to help Wampi! She's donating the money earned from the sale of the ring to Wampi's vet bill so anyone wanting a nice diamond ring & wanting to help Wampi out at the same time, go on over and bid. This is her second auction for Wampi & there's only a day left on bidding. =^..^=

Wow! This is Wampi's 6th Friday Cast Call - amazing! I'm really hoping he gets his cast off next week. I can't wait for him to be able to get out of his cage and walk about.

The following photos are a series I just finished taking. I took lots of photos and ones of his cast but I thought, "hey, it's Friday ... maybe Wampi would like some catnip! That would relax him a bit so I could finish taking photos."

Um. It didn't quite work that way! He got all excited and a bit hyper, rolling around in the cage. He seemed very, very happy though! So I tried to take more photos but he was not having it. So I waited a bit longer than took more photos of his cast. The following is a synopsis of the photo shoot. I hope you enjoy them as much as Wampi enjoyed that catnip. =D

Donor Update: Thank you Richard & Stacy ... 2 new donors overnight. =^..^=
Total donors from the past week:16
Total donors on this cast (5th & 6th cast calls):41


Eating catnip.


Licking up every last bit.


Rolling around in the catnip.


Stretching out & relaxing.


Wampi completely relaxed after the catnip. I think he's wondering why that stupid camera flash keeps going off in his face!


Donors


More Donors


More Donors


and More Donors! I hope everyone who donated during the past week is able to see their name ... it was hard to write on this side of the cast and subsequently photograph the inner side of the cast. whew.

Good morning everyone!

It's early here (4am) and I'm working on catching up on things. I've got about 50 emails and some donations to go through in the inbox so if you emailed me and haven't heard from me in the past day or two, I should be finished in a few hours. Yesterday was a doctor's visit for me and the baby so I was gone much of the day. Some of you may have noticed my blog was down for much of the morning ... one of the servers that host some of my blog's images was being rebuilt. Such is technology!

I hope to be finished by mid-day and also have Wampi's Friday Cast Call up. Lots more Feline Friend and Purrfect Pal pics are in the queu ... I'm working on those too!

The following are just a few photos of Wampi ... as the Web-Divas Mascot! For those of you who don't know, Daria, a designer at Web-Divas, donated her time and creativity (completely free of charge) to make over this website to help promote Wampi's story. And thanks to Rachel for championing him as their mascot! =D


What an adorable face!


Wampi sends hugs to the Web-Divas


Where's the food?



He decided to eat the sign!

DONOR UPDATE: Many, many thanks go out to emerald, Michele, Tamsyn, Samantha, Tom, shizgirl, and n1ghtwr1ter! Total fundraising is now $3,231.66. Wow.

p.s. - the window latches aren't fixed yet ... super said next week. All I gotta say is they better be fixed before Wampi gets his cast off! And my scanner is still dead. I got the driver but still nothing. I got one more thing to try...tomorrow. And I got TONS of cans to take in for recycling ... tomorrow. For now, I'm off to sleep after I have a little mint tea. :D

I don't feel so good today. I've had a headache bordering on a migraine for days. And yet, here I am working on the computer. Wampi has been really laid back today, which is good. The baby has been crying more than normal. The super is coming tomorrow to look at the latches on the window. I'll have a better update then ... maybe I'll have my scanner fixed too.

So much to do ... so many broken things to fix before I can get them done.

I've moved the Guest Map to a section called "Wampi's World" ... it's under the "How to Donate" section.

There are 2 new sections under "Webmasters for Wampi" and they are "Feline Friends" and "Purrfect Pals". Both of these sections will showcase the kitties and other pets of people who have donated to Wampi's fund.

If you've donated ... send me a pic! If you don't have a kitty, send me a pic of your puppy, fish, iguana, ferret, hamster, or whatever. =)

Wampi has all types of friends!

((Good night all ...I'm tired and I'll work more tomorrow on these various parts.))

OK, I'm tired ... and it's only 5am on a Monday morning. So much to do! But I did want to post to keep everyone updated on Wampi and the site.

Wampi is doing really well. He stood up yesterday and stretched, turned in a circle (awkwardly with the cast) and sat back down. He usually stays in the same position for hours and hours unless I bring out the food ... then he gets a bit excited!

In another week he will be getting more X-rays to see how his leg is healing. Hopefully, he will get that cast off.

BACKGROUND: For those of you who haven't read the background on Wampi ... some horrible person threw Wampi off the roof and he broke both his back legs. One was so bad the bone tore through the skin and he got a bone infection and the other one was broken near the joint. We took out a loan an paid for surgery on the really bad leg. The other leg they said he needed surgery but we couldn't get any more money to pay for it. That is the leg in the cast. The vet said most likely he will have a limp in that leg and arthritis. But hey, at least we were able to get the really bad leg fixed! Time and a cast are working on the other. He would have died if the bad one hadn't been operated on. So, it will be interesting to see what the X-Rays show.

Wampi was lucky he didn't break his back or crack his skull. He's a tough kitty. Ugh. I still can't believe someone just dropped him off the roof and left him to die. What sickos. >_<

Wampi's leg that was operated on, has a steel plate in it and as far as we know the bone infection is gone. He took all his antibiotics and he seems to be doing great. He is putting pressure on both legs and can now make it on his own into the cat litter box. (Yes, I had to help him into it in the beginning and hold him while he went ... it was hard but we managed.) Also, the leg that had the operation on well, the foot is a little off ... it sticks out at a weird angle. The vet said that this is because they had to remove the smaller leg bone because it was shattered. The bigger leg bone was patched back together with a steel plate and screws.

SITE UPDATE: I tallied up all the medical bills and am almost finished scanning them in ... my scanner messed up on me halfway through and my headache is preventing me from investigating further ... it will have to wait until I wake up. So for anyone who wants to see them, I should have them up maybe by tonight.

I put a Guest Map on the page ... look in the sidebar to the right, scroll down until you see Odds and Ends. Click on the button that says Sign My Guest Map. You can put a pin on the map, add your name, and a little message.

Friends of Wampi! I will have photos posted tonight of all his new kitty friends!

MORE DONORS OVER THE WEEKEND! Thank you Sara, Stacey, Theresa and Court. =) Ya'll are awesome.

The other day, someone asked me if there are Wampi supporters outside of the US and I said yes. Definitely. I could think of a bunch of places off the top of my head ... and it made me think it would be really cool to make a map and chart out where all Wampi's new friends are from.

So, all you Wampi supporters out there ... Where are you from? If you are from the US, list your state please ... if UK, what part? France? Holland? Canada? I know there are a bunch of Aussies out there! =)

I'll put up the map (and keep it up) sometime next week.

EDIT: On second thought ... you can leave a comment here but I just added a guestmap (thanks for suggesting that abenweek!) where you can add yourself on a map, leave a message and choose your own icon. Let me know what you think.

The guest map can be found in my sidebar to the right, scroll all the way down and under "Odds and Ends" look for the icon "View My Guest Map" under the Blog Explosion button.

=)

So does anyone have any idea how long a cat can lay in one position before moving? I mean, seriously, moving at all? lol. Wampi lay in the same position for hours and hours ... I would look over at him and nope, he still hadn't turned over. He laid in the same position -- covering the side with all the autographs on it -- for hours. At least he's comfortable and taking it easy! =D

So, I took a bunch of photographs of his cast from a few different angles. I really hope everyone will be able to see their names. It was hard to fit 25 names on one side of a cat cast! Yep, 25 wonderful people have donated in the last week. Wow. Truly amazing. There are so many more wonderful people out there who support Wampi and want him to get better. The very few comment trolls are so outweighed by the good-hearted people here who care about Wampi. I can't even count how many people have told me they would be homicidal if someone did that to their cat or dog.

Before I show the pictures, I need to say THANK YOU to the 2 newest donors from overnight: Phyllis & Marcie ... thank you so much!

Someone else asked me a good question: "What nationality are the donors from?" Well, I don't know where everyone is from but I know there are supporters from all over and donors from: U.S., Candada, England, Scotland, Ireland, Italy, Australia, and France (and the U.S. military in Korea!) ... this isn't a complete list, only the ones I know about off the top of my head. I'd love it if people spoke up and let me know where they are from. If you are in the U.S., what state? Maybe I can make a map of Wampi Supporters and show where in the world they are! Well, email me or leave a comment and I'll get to work on it! =D

Have a absolutely wonderful happy Friday and weekend. Wherever you are.










So many pictures! So little time!

Meow.

=^..^=

Good Morning everyone! I just wanted to post a quick picture of Wampi "before" I signed all the new donor names to it. I took this picture just about 1/2 an hour ago, signed all 25 names (wow), then prepared to take some more pictures of Wampi with his newly autographed cast ... but he was done with being in that position! He turned over to expose the other side of his cast which has no autographs on it. I didn't have the heart to move him. lol. So, I'm posting this "pre-" pic first, then in an hour or so, I'll post a bunch more pics of Wampi for his 5th Cast Call.

On a different note, I'm saddened & disturbed about the bombing attempts in London yesterday. My heart goes out to all of you over there. I'm sure many people are probably still shaken from the July 7 bombings. This morning in NYC they are massively checking bags randomly at the subway stations ... Police everywhere ... military at Grand Central ... very disturbing and brings back memories of post-9/11. Hopefully, this is just a precaution and not because of any kind of known threat or tip.

OK, well, I'll be back soon with Wampi's 5th Cast Call. =)



Meow!

Just wanted to share a few photos I took of Wampi yesterday. He's doing pretty good still and seems almost content in the cage. He doesn't try to get out or move too much. He stares at the pigeons outside of the window but he doesn't get too upset that he can't get them.

MORE DONORS SINCE YESTERDAY! Wow. Thank you's go out to Joyce, Thomas, Adela and Judy. =D So many visitors, so many donors, such wonderful people! Don't forget everyone, send me your kitty pictures so I can include them in the Feline Friends section that I will put up this weekend.

A little note - I'm behind in emails but if you emailed me I should get to all of them by late tonight. I try to answer every email but sometimes I get behind since I'm taking care of our baby girl, Avalon and Wampi too. Avalon is now 6 months old and she is starting to crawl...that's a handful!

So I went to take a few photographs and Wampi became really curious. I have at least 6 different pictures of him "rubbing up" against the camera! He's so cute and cuddly ... he even loves getting pet by the camera. =)

Here he is calmed down a bit and just hanging out. You can see a little bit of the new green cast which I haven't autographed yet ... I should finish today and will have pics of his autographed cast tomorrow!

Every now and then he gives me a look like this! Just cocks his ear to the side and stares at me. It's pretty darn cute, if you ask me. I think he wasn't sure why I was taking so many pictures of him. =^..^= If you look closely, you can see out behind him through the mesh and outside the window. The black criss-cross behind him is our window gates ... all New Yorkers have these on their windows! And we have a lovely view of another brick building complete with lots of pigeons that Wampi stares at intently from his cage.

Wampi is back home and he seems to be in really good spirits. He was soooo happy to see me last night when we picked him up. And he seems to be moving much better around in his cage, so maybe he will get the cast off in a few weeks. I'm not going to get too excited ... just going to keep my fingers crossed!

So, anyway his new cast is green (I was so hoping for pink but oh well) and I'll be autographing all the new donors names on the cast in the next few days. Will have photos up on Friday for Wampi's 5th Friday Cast Call! Wow. Time is flying.

Send me your kitty photos! I've been getting a lot of emails lately with photos of people's cats. I'd like to make a special section in my sidebar showcasing the feline friends of all Wampi's donors. So, if you have donated to Wampi -- in whatever way -- please send me a pic of your kitty! I'd love to showcase them and let the world see all of Wampi's kitty friends. =^..^=

BIG BIG BIG Thank you's go out to all the following people who have donated in the last 2 days: Farrah, Donna, emerald, Oldcontroller, Odhinn, Terri & aelfheld.

Emerald's E-Bay Auction - And emerald, bless her heart, knitted a beautiful scarf in honor of Wampi and is holding her own E-Bay auction to help raise funds for him! Can you believe that? That is so touching it made me want to cry when I saw it. Take a look at emerald's blog and her E-Bay auction and you'll see what I'm talking about.

So yesterday after a really long morning taking care of the baby (she fell asleep in a weird position and woke up crying, then threw up her breakfast), I had to change Wampi's vet visit from 11am to 3pm. There was just no way I could take care of Avalon and get him ready to go to the vet by 11am. So I didn't sleep but managed to get it all done. I put together the temporary cat carrying crate that the vet gave me (for some reason mine got locked up in their basement and the secretary didn't have the key, weird) and getting him all ready to go. He was not happy. Last time he went to the vet to get the cast changed, he mewed the whole way and shook so violently I felt so bad for him. He didn't meow as much this time, but he was shaking.

Once at the vet's office, Wampi waited patiently but I could tell he was scared. Last time they changed the cast, they didn't use any kind of sedative. My heart almost broke hearing his kitty screams. This time, I emphatically said they had to give him some kind of pain killer, a sedative, something. It just seemed horribly inhumane to subject him to that much pain, especially if there was an alternative.

Wampi sitting quietly waiting his turn at the vets office.

Hmmm.... Maybe he's contemplating his escape options?

So the vet finally called us (my neighbor April came with me since Rich was at work ... thank you April!) and we went into the back. They don't usually let people in during the cast change but they agreed to let me stay while they took off the outer cast (the green part) and let me photograph the process.

The silver table he is on is actually a scale too. Wampi weighs 10.4lbs ... actually a little bit less than he weighed 2 weeks ago. I was surprised, because he seems to be eating a lot more. Before the accident, he weighed 14.8lbs.

Wampi didn't cry or fuss at all during this part of the procedure. They cut off the cloth outer bandage and gave it to me. Now I have 2 of them, although he has had his cast changed 3 times since the surgery. The first cast change was 1 week post-surgery & was before I started signing the names of donors on it. Also, he had a hard time aiming in the cat box so it was quite soiled and I didn't keep that one.

So once this part of the cast was off, we returned to the waiting room but not before I stressed that if he seemed to be in any pain they needed to stop and give him a sedative. I was hoping that he wouldn't be in the same kind of pain because getting a sedative meant he would have to spend the night.

After about 5 minutes in the waiting room, we heard a cat yowl. *shudder* We both looked at each other. A few minutes later the vet came out and said they couldn't continue the procedure until he had the sedative. =( I was sad, but told myself at least he wouldn't be in a lot of pain during the procedure.

As I signed the consent forms, I couldn't help but wonder if there was any chance he would be getting his cast off in 2 weeks when they redo the x-rays. I honestly don't think he'll get it off then ... but we'll see.

So I signed the consent form authorizing the sedative ... $45 for the sedative and $60 for the cast change. Ugh. NYC is so expensive for everything. But at least they offered to keep him overnight for free since they have to watch him as he wakes up from the sedation.

Some people have asked me about the vet bills and I have decided to itemize everything and scan the bills in. I'll try to have all that up within the next week.

That's all for now! I'm really behind in the emails ... there were soooooo many when I woke up just a little while ago. I think at least 50 all in less than 24 hours! And a bunch more donations too but I don't have all that tallied up. I gotta few hours to catch up ... will post everything as fast as I can. And if you made it all the way down here, well, wow. Thanks loyal Wampi fan and reader. =D

Six more donations came in over night and that means we are past the halfway point. Wa-Hoo! =)

Huge Thank You's go out to: Denny, PDawg, Kim, Jenifer, Arthur & Assrot. Ya'll are awesome.

OK, well, I've been up the entire night and I gotta get things ready to take Wampi to the vet. And the baby will be waking up soon too so I got a full day ahead. I'll try to have some pictures for tonight.

Five more donors in the past day and a half! Wow. =) Despite the problems with the ads and a few "bad seeds" a lot of people out there are rooting for Wampi. The Lazy Iguana said it well: "Concentrate on the best, ignore the worst." Good words. He has an inspiring story about a memorial site in Florida being defaced but some good people volunteered to clean it up. They didn't let some vandals bring them down. Check it out if you have time.

And thanks to all these wonderful people who have donated: Darrel & Gabbi, Jenny, Sarkasmo (a second time!), Kris, and Alison. Wampi will have a new cast on tomorrow so this coming Friday you can see your names inscribed on a fresh cast. Wonder what color they will use this time?

So many people have donated and put links or buttons on their site for Wampi. If you do, I'll put in 2 links for you: one under the Donors and Fan Club and a second under "Webmasters for Wampi". Also, you get mentioned in an article, which is pretty good too! =D If you care about ranking and stuff, getting linked is good ... If your in the TTLB ranking system (or just about any other) than having websites link to you raises your rating.

Wampi has a lot of supporters. More and more people come to this blog every day to see how he's doing, check out his pictures, and give overall support to this wonderful kitty that was victimized in early June. The Webmasters for Wampi section is growing every day ... Heck, I'm getting more and more donations ... the vet bill is slowly but surely coming down.

But similar to real life, there are people out there that are extremely intolerant. They think that what they do and believe and act is the ONLY way to go. They criticize photo blogs or cat blogs or dog blogs ... don't even get me started with the controversy surrounding Mommy Blogs (and yes, I am a mommy with a secret mommy blog).

But really, isn't this all about free speech? A blog is whatever we want it to be. And who says a blog has to be an all-encompassing journal of someone's life? Why would anyone think that the blog is completely and totally representative of the blogger? Maybe the blog you see is just a chronicle of events, or an in-depth look at something amazing/tragic in a person's life. Maybe someone is training for a marathon and a team is blogging about their goals. Maybe a mom wants to share some photos and experiences of that part of her life with friends, family or anyone interested. Maybe the blog is a fitness blog, set up to keep someone motivated to lose weight or get in shape. Maybe, just maybe, someone wants to tell the world of something horrible that happened to her cat so people speak out and take a stand against cruelty to animals.

Is there anything wrong with that? I say emphatically, NO.

I just don't understand why all this blog snobbery exists. Why some people (and I think it's a minority but it exists and it bothers me) feel the need to be so negative about others' personal thoughts & ideas. If all the blogs were the same, it would be quite boring indeed.

Let the polital bloggers be political, let the mommy bloggers do their thing, and the cat-lovers, the dog-lovers, the shark-lovers! Write about what makes you laugh, or cry, or feel, or remember ... and if you just want to write about WHATEVER, well then, do it.

Just please don't criticize. Please try to keep an open mind and realize everyone single one of us is more than what we are in our blogs.

And please don't attack people's blogs.

Recently, my blog has been targeted by malicious ad clicker(s) ... crazy but true. So I've removed the ads from the site and I don't know if they will be back. Too bad because they were doing so well. I'm sad that I had to take them down but mostly just disturbed that someone felt they needed to attack a website like this one.

This website is just a small part of my life ... it's here to chronicle Wampi's recovery and our fundraising efforts. Sometimes I feel like I shouldn't vent like this because I want to keep this site all about Wampi ... but I'm human and I just got tired of it today. Forgive me for venting.

To everyone who supports Wampi and what I've tried to do here, well thanks. Thanks for letting me share this part of my life with you, thanks for reading, and thanks for helping me save Wampi.

Daria also made this banner for the site too. So now there are 2 banners for Blog Explosion! =)

Happy Friday Everyone!

Welcome to the 4th -- can you believe it already?? -- Friday Cast Call. And the website has a new look! Daria, a web designer at Web Divas redesigned the site free to help support Wampi's fundraising cause. She did such a great job, don't you think? Leave a comment today and let us know what you think of the new site. =)

As for Wampi, he is so adorable and so sweet. I'll admit, it was very hard getting these photos today ... he is standing more on his legs and wanting lots of attention. So I pet him, took a picture, pet some more, took another picture...you get the ... idea. =) The very fact that he is moving around so much really gives me hope that he will be able to walk well after the cast is off. The vets cautioned though that he will most likely have a limp and may even develop arthritis.

I picked him up during the off-and-on photo session and I was actually able to hold him next to me and he purred! If you have a cat, or even a dog, then you know how wonderful it is to have your furry one cuddled up with you. He was purring and looking at me with half-closed eyes (I think that means "I Love You" in cat-speak.

Donor Update: In the last week, there have been 12 more donors through PayPal including 2 overnight ... Daria and Sarah. =) Thank you! Wampi was not thrilled about me trying to write on the other side of his cast so I had to add to the same side as last weeks autographs ... very crowded now. I took a few pictures so if you donated, you should be able to see your name wedged on there!

So far $2,313.66 from donations & recycling. That's almost half of the total loan in about 5 weeks! Wow. Thanks everyone for your support either financially, emotionally, visiting the site, and of course through link referrals. THANKS AGAIN!

So Many Donors!

Wampi's website has a new look! The incredibly-talented Daria at Web Divas donated her time and talent to give this site a makeover. Thank you so much, Daria! If you are interested in giving your site a new look, check them out. They are awesome!

A few days ago, Sarkasmo told me about another way to make some money recycling ... recycling old cell phones! I went to the site and looked up the info ... it's really cool. Some of the phones only pay a few dollars (esp. the Nokia ones) but some of the more pricey phones pay $20-30+.

They send you postage paid envelopes so it costs you nothing! So if you have any old cell phones laying around, go to the site and sign up. Maybe you know friends who want to get rid of those old phones too ... put them all together in one shipment. And once you get paid for the phone, you can donate to Wampi (if you like) or for something else. =^..^=

I have gotten so many donations for $2 & $3 and let me tell you, it really does add up. Don't think that just a few dollar donation isn't much because it really is ... especially when a lot of people do it.

And thanks to all of you who are linking to Wampi's site. Once the facelift is completed (sometime tonight) then I'll have the "Webmasters for Wampi" section done. Feel free to use this button (thank you Sarkasmo!) or any of the ones in the sidebar.

http://www.oldcellphone.com/ <-------check it out!

Wampi is a really furry cat and for the first month after his accident I never saw him groom himself. He had all sorts of knotted hair along his back and sides. I would pet him and feel the knots all over, not to mention his boney back and ribs. He's a male Maine Coon cat so his 10.5 lbs is not that much ... he looks so much bigger with all the fur.

But ... yesterday, he actually started to fix himself up! He purrs a lot and is really seeming sooooo much better.

Along those same lines, this website is getting "fixed up" too. Daria, a web designer from Web Divas, volunteered to give the site a makeover as a donation to Wampi and our fundraising efforts. Isn't that awesome? =) She's been working on the overall look of the website this week and it looks great. Should be up sometime tonight ... so if you have trouble getting to the site late tonight check back shortly.

Wampi's doing really good today ... hanging out in the cage (he still has at least 3 more weeks before they decide if he can take the cast off). I took this photo just a little while ago and Wampi just wanted to rub up against the side of the camera! So cute. He's really adapted to getting into and out of the cat box with the cast on and the other leg -- the one that had the surgery -- seems to be supporting his weight when he rearranges himself in the cage. Less than a month and he may be cast-free! Time is flying. =^..^=

Thanks to Michael and Sarkasmo for their donations!

I recycled another 82 cans tonight ... almost all of those cans & bottles came from people in my building too. Almost everyday I open my apartment door and right there are 5-6 bottles or cans lined up next to the door mat. Isn't that just cool? So many people recycling for Wampi!

My cable was out since yesterday morning! That means no computer, no phone (we switched to digital phone kuz it was cheaper, erm) and no tv. I can live without the tv but the computer??? yikes! Anyway, it's back on now. =) I have received tons of emails, links, pictures and I have some updates to report ... I should be catching up by tonight. =^..^=

I was sitting at my desk and I had this feeling of being watched ... I turned around and Wampi was just staring at me looking all sad and lonely. So I left the computer for a long time and just pet him and talked with him. After reading Richard's story (see previous post), I feel so lucky that he got the care he needed in time and that he is here safe with us now. I love Wampi so much. =)

Three more donors overnight -- Thank you Carolyn, James, & Richard!

Richard posted this as a comment and I just wanted to share it with everyone. His story of finding a stray cat that he tried to save really moved me. I found myself in tears thinking about how lucky the cat was to have at least spent the last few days of his life with a person who tried so hard to help him.

Posted 7:31 July 9, 2005 by Richard

I am glad to hear he's doing good. I was in a similar situation over a year ago. I found a cat who just wanted to be loved. I gave him every reason not to come home with me, but he just was as perfect as you can imagine.

After taking him to the vet because he had an obvious eye infection, we discovered he had a broken jaw. This took the range of money needed to get him better out of my league. For 2 days I was burning the phone lines trying to get him the financial assistance he needed.

After work, I went to the vet's to spend time with him, and all he wanted was attention. The vet himself was surprised at how loving he was considering his condition. He had an eye infection, respitory infection, an infested sore from the broken jaw and the broken jaw itself.

After 2 days of calls, I finally found 2 orginizations that would help financially, and 1 that would financially along with vets who would treat him at cost. I was to take him to the new vet the next morning.

That night he passed away. The respitory infection, even with the medicine being given to him was just to much for a cat in his weakened condition.

I am glad Wampi has found a good family.

Thanks Richard, for your touching story.

There have been 5 donations in the last 24 hours! Wow! I'm really amazed. Thanks go out to all these wonderful people: Tara, Sheryl, Meli, Rachel, and The Lazy Iguana.

I've been getting more and more support from so many wonderful webmasters that I've been thinking I would like to add a section in the sidebar called "Webmasters for Wampi." Maybe I should even make a small banner or button? Wonder what people think?

More fundraising ideas: Tara had some great ideas -- make t-shirts, bumper stickers, etc through Cafe Press and sell them here. Might be cool. Also, that free ipod thing might work too. I would need 5 referrals and then I would get an ipod that I could turn around and sell on Ebay. Wonder how much ipods are going for on Ebay? Wonder if I could even get 5 referrals by the time the loan is due? Might be worth a shot!

Wampi state-of-mind update: he is feeling frisky this morning and didn't want to take his medicine! Up until today, I just open his mouth and use an eyedropper to put it in ... but no ... not today! He is getting his strength back and his resolve. It took a little longer, but he finally downed the whole dose.

Wampi was really talkative while I was autographing his cast. He meowed, and meowed and meowed, well, more like mrawred, if you can imagine that sound! The red blanket was one of his favorites from before "the accident."

You can see a lot of the names of recent donors in this picture, but all of them are viewable in the next picture. Thanks to everyone who has donated in the past week and of course, since this website went up! =)

Recycling Update: Yesterday, I turned in 130 cans, plastic & glass bottles bringing our grand total of recyclables to 518! Wow! I still have another huge bag to turn in today so that number will go up soon.

Wampi's autographed cast showing donors from the last week (July 1 - 7).