Save Wampi

Wampi - One Year Later

2006-06-17T11:23:00.000-04:00

Here's Wampi on June 4, 2006 exactly one year after someone threw him off the roof of a 6-story apartment building.

He's doing great!

Remember how he looked after the surgery? His hair was shaved on his legs and he looked so skinny ... well, he's really fluffed out now. I call Wampi "fluffers" sometimes and he actually responds! =)

Way to go, Fluffers, er, I mean, Wampi!

Wampi is doing awesome. He gained weight, fluffed out, and really mellowed a lot ... he's not as scared of things as he was right after the accident. I'm hoping some of those bad memories have started to fade a bit.

As far as his leg goes he seems to be great. He never got the second surgery on his second leg and they said that leg would probably be lame. It's not. It healed and he can walk really well on it. When he tries to run, his back legs sort of "splay out" which is noticible from behind, but not from the front. If he goes to fast (which he likes to do) his back legs will slip out from under him and he'll fall over but nothing serious. Also, he's adapted to his handicapp and can climb over baby gates by pulling his body up by his front two legs. It is amazing! As he's gained weight, it's harder on him and sometimes he hangs on the gate and meows until I come by and let him in the room he is trying to enter.

Well, I'll be posting more pics over the summer since I'm not working two jobs right now, going to school and taking care of a baby full-time. My jobs are on hold until school starts at the end of August; ditto with school; and Avalon is at day care during the bulk of the week days freeing me up to write my dissertation! I am planning to finish and defend my thesis this coming spring. I can't wait to graduate after so many years.

Anyway, stay tuned for more pics. I can't promise them every day, but I'll do them much more often than before and probably on writing breaks. =)

Have a great summer everyone!

The Loan is Paid Off! Thanks to everyone for their support & help. =)

2005-12-15T08:17:00.000-05:00

Yesterday was the day and it was crazy. I still had $204.94 owed on the loan and as of a few days ago, I didn't know what to do. I know I could have posted here and asked for one last final push for help but since I hadn't been posting regularly, it didn't feel right.

So here's what happened: Since late August, I started working an extra part-time job in addition to being a student, my regular part-time job with my school, being a mom and a grad student. It was too much. That, on top of the moving and a ton of problems with the new apartment including no hot water (we still don't have hot water most of the time as of today!) ... I got sick. Too much stress, not enough sleep, constant running around, things suffer. I didn't give up. I kept doing everything but I was in a daze most of the time. And I didn't get a paycheck from that extra part-time job until December (end of the semester). I thought to myself, that's ok ... as long as it's here by Dec. 14, no problem. I can pay the loan off.

Well, last week I went to check on the status of the check and there was a mishap. The check request had not gone in! I panicked. But I was able to get the paperwork fixed last Friday and I was told I would probably get the check before Christmas. My heart sank. I didn't know what I was going to do. Again, I knew I could have come here and told everyone what was going on, but I felt bad about that. I made extra money myself to pay off the loan ... I just needed to get paid.

So, I thought I'd take out a cash advance on a credit card (man, I've juggled credit cards this semester like crazy) and then pay it back with interest when the check came in.

But some sort of miracle happened.

The woman at the business office where I was to get paid took my check request in early Monday morning (Dec. 12) and a weird series of events occurred that caused the people in the office to process the check that very day! I got an email close to 5 pm saying it was ready for me.

I almost fainted.

Things had worked out! It was there! I just...I just couldn't believe it. It was as if someone was looking out for me and knew all that had gone wrong the last 6 months and decided to make things right.

I picked up the check Wednesday morning (Dec. 14), cashed it and put it in my bank. Then I called the place and had the loan balance paid out of my checking account.

It was done.

I still get emotional when I think about all this...all the things that have happened in the last 6 months. But it all worked out...Wampi is alive and doing great...I met so many amazing people from this blog...even though a horrible person threw Wampi off the roof, I realized that many good things still happen. Most people are good and want to help others and the world around them. It makes me wonder if my actions someday will be able to help someone as profoundly as everyone here has helped me.

Thank you again, all of you. You have reaffirmed my belief to "never give up." Even when people were calling me stupid and telling me to "put Wampi down, you can't afford his surgery". I know I did the only thing I could do -- the right thing -- to save his life.

p.s. - I finish with school and work tomorrow (Friday, Dec. 16) so my life will quiet back to normal for the holiday break. I'll be a mom writing my dissertation at home and hopefully putting up lots of photos of Wampi that are still on the camera. I didn't even have time to download them. One thing at a time. One thing at a time. =)

I'm back

2005-12-05T15:25:00.000-05:00

Well, I'm back. I've had a rough time lately and during the past few days I decided that I really needed to start writing again. I've felt guilty for not posting but I've had so many things piled onto me (health, home, & money problems) in the last few months that I think I just snapped and withdrew. I am so touched that people have emailed me and and asked how I'm doing. I'm going to write back to everyone, but I'll have to do it day by day ... I can only do so much each day ... it's not enough really by my old standards, but it will have to do.

And I saw there were some more donations ... I just about cried when I saw that. Here I am with all these problems overwhelming me, I stop posting and updating about Wampi, and yet, still some people care enough to donate to help me pay off the last bit of the loan. I'm in awe. It's part of what made me realize that in this hard time of mine I should come back and write here ... it comforted me so much during the summer after Wampi's "accident" ... and it can comfort me now when I feel like the world is crushing me.

Wampi is doing so great. His fur is super fluffy and he's really built upper body strength. He can pull himself up onto everything using his front paws. He still can't jump but it doesn't stop him. Total mice caught since mid-September: 5.

More tomorrow. And thanks again to all of you for being so supportive. It means so much to me during this difficult time.

Wampi Loves Drawers Too

2005-10-28T12:43:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone,
Well looks like Wampi is really exploring the whole apartment and he is determined tot take a nap in every nook and corner. =)

Now that he likes to sleep in this plastic "junk" drawer, my husband doesn't have the heart to close it all the way. He leavs it cracked just in case Wampi wants to crawl in and take a snooze. And funny, but just a little crack is all he needs to put his paw in, pull as hard as he can and pull the drawer out, then he crawls in to take a nap.

I know I'm biased, but he's so cute when he's all cuddled up!

note: you can see his reflection in the plastic!

He's soooooo used to me taking pictures ... he's not even fazed.

Happy kitty.

Wampi looks like he's smiling!

Taking a Break from Mouse Patrol

2005-10-22T13:35:00.000-04:00

Wampi is really adapting to the new place. Here you can see he is hard at work! lol.

Wampi likes to curl up in a ball on our couch. He still can't jump up there yet, but he gets up there all by himself now by "climbing up" with his front claws.

Cute position #1.

Cute position #2.

Reaching up toward the camera.

Streeeeeeeeetching.

I think he got tired of the photo session!

Wampi, the Mighty Mouser

2005-10-13T20:21:00.000-04:00

Here's one of the mice Wampi caught! Can you believe it? I love all types of animals but face it, it' not healthy to live with rodents and this building has got a serious -- SERIOUS -- mouse problem. I am all for Wampi catching mice ... gets him exercise and makes him feel useful and at the same time we get rid of the mice without using any type of traps or pesticides. Earlier today an exterminator hired by the building manager came by and asked if we needed our apartment baited for mice (lots of people have been complaining) and we were able to say, nope, we got our own in-residence exterminator! Wampi is a super mouser!

He caught 3 mice total and I haven't seen or heard any in awhile. He patrols the apartment and except for a little limp he has now from the "accident", you'd never guess he was near death early this summer. Go Wamp!

Peek-a-Boo Kitty

2005-10-13T20:17:00.000-04:00

More Wampi in a box. =)

Why Do Cats Love Small Boxes?

2005-10-11T01:40:00.000-04:00

It is such a mystery to me! Well, as you can see Wampi is doing great and is finding lots of "comfy" places in the new apartment. And yes, I have found my USB cable! Wahoo! I have tons of pics and things to write but it is so late and I need sleep. I had to put this up though, I couldn't wait until tomorrow to let everyone know.

Tomorrow more pics!

=)

Where, oh where is my USB cable?

2005-10-06T16:25:00.000-04:00

I miss posting pictures of Wampi!

He's so adorable and curious all the time ... I love taking pics of him but now I want to share them with everyone and I seriously can't find the USB cable. I found a few other USB cables but they don't work with the camera which is a pretty old one but still works great. OK, hopefully it will turn up soon.

Wampi ate a bunch of catnip and is snoozing in the bottom drawer of my husband's desk. Super duper cute. He is really happy.

Still no more mice in the apartment. I think they all packed their bags and left. =)

Wampi the cuddlemeister

2005-10-03T23:47:00.000-04:00

Yep, he's such a sweety. No more mice lately but every chance he gets he curls up in my lap and purrs. I think he approves of the move. Still no USB cable! But we are down to less than a dozen boxes and my husband says he saw the cable recently so I'm hopeful that tomorrow will be the day that I get pics back here.

Thanks everyone for sticking around through my lean posting times. Ya'll are so awesome.

My B-day =)

2005-10-02T22:49:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone,

My life is settling down now. My family is ok and their houses escaped Hurricane Rita even though some were caught in a nightmare 24-hour evacuation on I-45 (they have some real horror stories of people who ran out of gas and just wandered lost on the road, not to mention gangs roaming the highways...freaky). My dad didn't have to evacuate since he lives south of Houston and it didn't go that way anyway.

Today is my b-day! I didn't do much today except relax and play with the baby. Rich cooked dinner tonight. Yummy. Wampi seemed to know and curled up in my lap a lot today. His birthday was a few weeks ago and we celebrated with catnip and kitty toys even though that was only a few days after our move and we didn't have electricity. He seems to love the new apartment and has been earning his keep by catching mice! He's caught 3 to date and I haven't seen any more at all ... I think he scared them all away. Good kitty.

I'm sorry (again) for not posting regularly lately ... it's just been a really hard month. A lot of people have said to me "how do you do all that you do?" and the answer is, lately I haven't been able to do it all. I just couldn't keep up with everything and that's why my posting lagged off. Moving is hard and harder yet when you have a family and the apartment isn't ready! Geez. At least it is all coming together now and I can really start to appreciate our move. I love the new apartment and our new neighborhood is nice too. Very residential. Where we lived before was full of businesses and bars ... 24-hour bodegas on the corner and now we live in this very residential Brooklyn neighborhood. I like the change. =)

For all of you who have missed Wampi's pictures, I just wanna say that I have taken tons of photos lately but I can't find my USB cable to upload them! I looked all day yesterday (while unpacking boxes and cleaning) and today I just kind of took a break from unpacking. I still have to unpack the boxes for my desk and I'm sure it's in there but unpacking takes so long! And Wampi likes to help ... well, he likes to get inside every box I unpack and sniff at everything. LOL. He's such a cutey! He has been such a sweetheart lately. I think it's because he has some room to move around, places to hide, mice to catch. I can't wait to post a pic of him with his prize from the other day. I got a pic of him after one of his mouse hunts!

Well, that's all for now folks. I think I'm now back to blogging. It feels good to write again and share all this. I'll be back again tomorrow ... hopefully with some new photos!

=^..^=

Waking up from My Nightmare

2005-09-22T21:04:00.000-04:00

Wow. It looks like I was really missed. First, let me say I'm really sorry for not being around but the last 2 weeks have been a nightmare. The mold in our apartment got so bad that we made the big decision to move even though our lease wasn't up until December. Our landlord was ecstatic about letting us out of the lease because that meant he could renovate the apartment and get a ton more money for it. Oh well. Anyway, we decided to move to Brooklyn where we could find a cheaper, bigger apartment and the commute to Manhattan wouldn't be too long. So last Thursday we moved to our new place but of course the new landlord lied to us and told us the place was ready for us to move in. Nothing could be further from the truth. No electricity. Plumbing messed up. They were still working on the place when we showed up and there were saws and saw dust everywhere! It was insane and horribly hot. So almost 3 days with no electricity and we couldn't use the tub, no hot water, rooms needing to be painted, and I could go on and on. I went back to the old apartment to clean it up and turn in the keys (and hopefully get a shower) but to my surprise ... they went into the apartment and gutted it in the few days after we moved out! Everything was gone!! I was in shock. At least we got most of our stuff out. So I call up the old landlord and he apologizes and offering me a rent reduction to make up for it. The new landlord also took off a week of rent to make up for all the "inconveniences" we have suffered.

So, the old landlord claims the apartment early and the new landlord didn't finish our new apartment. We felt like we were in limbo. And here we are in the heat with a baby girl and Wampi who was seriously freaked out and not wanting to spend another minute in that cage he lived in for 2 months.

Fast forward to tonight.

So here I am, finally in our new apartment with electricity, working toilets and a bathtub, lukewarm water and things seem to be settling down now ... but wait ... in blows Rita to Texas! I grew up in Texas and my mom and sister are now trapped in grid lock on I-45 going north to Dallas trying to get out before the Hurricane hits. My dad lives on a small farm south of Houston and he is headed Southwest to get away from the storm. His house is so old that winds of 100+ will most likely rip the roof off. My aunt had heart surgery last week and is driving alone with her cat and dog trying to stay in contact with my Mom and sister but the cell phone lines keep jamming. I'm all stressed out with worry.

So there you have it guys. My life has been a nightmare of neverending stresses for weeks and I'm sorry I haven't posted but hopefully you understand why. We are all doing better here (especially being away from all the mold rampant at the old apartment) but now I'm worried about my family. And I miss my old neighborhood in the East Village.

Wampi is doing great and, except for his legs bowing out in the back and his inability to jump, he seems much like his old self. He even caught a mouse earlier today and brought it to me. Yes, He loves me! =)

I'll try to post some photos soon but please bare with me ... my life has been chaotic and I'm one inch away from freaking out.

Furry Wake Up Call

2005-09-09T10:42:00.000-04:00

Wampi is wanting to sleep in the bed with us again ... I have been woken up the last few nights with Wampi trying to get into the bed but of course he can't. It's a futon bed/couch pullout so it's lower to the ground so what he does is get up on his back legs with his paws up on the futon mattress. Then, he meows a bunch and takes one of his furry fore paws and tries to touch my face. He touches my cheek very gently but the combination of meowing and face pawing is enough to wake me up!

Wampi is playing again!

2005-09-07T06:49:00.000-04:00

Yes, that's right. He's playing again and seems so much happier. He's gained a little weight and his fur is getting shiny again and starting to fill out. In fact, his limp is even getting so much better, he walks almost perfect now albeit a bit slower and if he walks too fast his back legs sort of slip out from under him like he's lost control. He pretty much has to walk slowly and he still can't jump up on anything but he's doing so amazing. I am just so happy that he is progressing.

Here a few photos from last week that I wanted to share with everyone.

Wampi is back to hanging out under my desk ... yes, on top of a bunch of junk which I don't think is very comfortable but he seems to like it. =)

stretching

You can't tell from this picture, but seconds before Wampi and Avalon (my daughter) were having a stare-off. Wampi is pretty much afraid of her and she is super fascinated with him and especially his tail.

Wampi playing with a rubber duckie!

Get the duckie!

He is playing again! I was so happy to see him playing that I had to get pictures of him terrorizing the duckie. =)

The Horror of Hurricane Katrina ... Wampi says Donate to the Red Cross

2005-09-02T19:29:00.000-04:00

SaveWampi is suspending its donation drive for the month of September to help the Hurricane Katrina relief efforts in New Orleans and the Gulf States. If you are moved by Wampi's story and wish to donate, please consider donating to the American Red Cross instead. All money I raise from bottle/can deposits for the month of September will be donated to the American Red Cross. Regular Wampi updates will continue as usual and I will resume our donation drive on October 1st to pay off the remaining vet bill. Thank you. =^..^=

I can't believe what I'm seeing on television. I've been to New Orleans several times and it's gone. Might as well call it Atlantis. I have friends there ... I hope they are ok.

I feel so lucky, so blessed to have my home (be it ever so small and rented), my wonderful husband and daughter, and of course Wampi. We don't have a lot but we have each other and we've had so much support from the blog community to help us with the tragedy that happened to Wampi last June.

The problems of my life seem so insignificant when I see what is happening on television to the people of New Orleans.

So I've been thinking ... Wampi's surgery bill is almost paid off and I still have until Dec. 14 to pay the balance. I don't have much at all to donate to help the victims/refugees of Katrina but I can ask this:

If you are moved by Wampi's story and want to donate to help pay off his debt, please send whatever you would donate to Wampi, to the American Red Cross instead. I'll start taking donations again on October 1 to help pay off Wampi's remaining surgery bill. I only need to raise $365.74 by Dec. 14 so I know I can do that in 2 1/2 months.

But right now, the people in New Orleans and the surrounding area are without homes, food, water ... I heard today there were dead bodies inside and outside of the Superdome, rapes happening in there, alligators in the water, sewage flooding the city and 80% of New Orleans is gone. Who knows how many people died in their homes. I could go on but everyone is hearing about this ... to recount it all makes my stomach hurt.

I'm also going to donate the deposit money I receive for recycling bottles & cans for the month of September to the American Red Cross. It won't be much, but it is something. I have to do something. So many people have helped us, I want to help these people in this tragic time. I'll keep posting Wampi updates and letting everyone know how he is recovering, but no donations to Wampi for the month of September. Please help the Red Cross help these people. If I could, I would go down there myself and volunteer my help ... but I have a family to take care of ... we all do what we can to help our fellow humans out.

For those of you safe in your homes, count your blessings and help out these people if you can. My heart goes out to the refugees of New Orleans.

p.s. - I need to thank 3 more people who donated during the last week of August ... Huge thank you's go out to Greg, Rena and Amy! Thank you, Thank you, Thank you!

Wampi makes confetti!

2005-08-30T06:48:00.000-04:00

The past couple of days Wampi hasn't even gone near his cage. He is definitely happier! He sleeps outside the cage, sometimes in the bathroom, sometimes on the floor next to the bed, sometimes in our bed on my pillow. He has been walking so much more and even though he has a funny walk now and his back legs still bend at this weird angle, it doesn't seem to bother him. Also, he seems to be able to jump off the couch ok, but he can't jump up onto things. He tries. Oh, yes, he is definitely trying. He gets his paws up on the edge of the couch and you can just see him trying to push off like he used to. Sometimes I help him up but sometimes I let him work at it. He needs to work at it, I think, so he can rebuild the muscles. It might be that he never jumps again but who knows, he might be able to. He seems to want to try.

Yesterday, I did pick him up and put him on the couch with me and he found some random catalogue from the mail that I was about to throw away ... but Wampi was fascinated with it! He used to always love to play with balls, and feather mouses, paper & plastic bags, and probably his favorite thing to do was to just shred paper. It's pretty funny to watch unless it's your homework or some important bill or something! lol. Well, it is still cute.

Here are the pics from Wampi's playtime with the magazine, ie Wampi makes confetti!
=)

Wampi's First Night Out!

2005-08-27T08:55:00.000-04:00

Yep, that's right. The Wampster stayed out of his cage the entire night. He is making leaps and bounds when it comes to getting rid of his fear. I kept thinking he would want to go back in, but no, he slept under our futon couch/bed the entire night. He woke me up this morning meowing beside the bed because he wanted me to pick him up and pet him. I was still really tired but I managed to pet the little guy for a bit.

Last night late, Wampi sat next to the couch meowing and I could tell he wanted something. Then, he tried to jump up onto the couch and of course, he couldn't do it. He got his front paws up on the edge but his back legs just can't push anymore. So, being the industrious kitty he is, he used his front paws (claws) to scale the side of the couch. Normally, I would not encourage the use of his claws on the couch, but I was fascinated. I wanted to see if he could do it ... and he did. He got up on the couch by pulling himself with his front paws! It was really amazing to see how he was compensating. And he was really happy afterwards too ... curled right up with me and seemed almost proud of himself.

Before December rolls around we will have to move out of this apartment because our lease is up ... and we'll probably be moving to Brooklyn because the apartments are bigger and much cheaper than in Manhattan, even though I live in one of the cheapest areas of Manhattan. Once we do find a different place, I am thinking I might get him those foam steps that someone mentioned in a previous post. This way he can lay on the couch or chair without clawing everything in site up!

On a different note, I wanted to alert all you dog-lovers out there as to what Emerald is up to ... tomorrow she's on her way to rescue a toy American Eskimo dog that is scheduled to be put down. She doesn't have much money although she has donated to Wampi's recovery several times by auctioning off some of her things, recycling cans and spreading Wampi's story. If you can, go to her site, check it out and help her a bit if you can via her PayPal button. She needs to raise $100. Emerald is really a wonderful person and cares deeply for animals. And that little dog is absolutely the sweetest, cutest, little thing.

Even though I haven't paid off all of Wampi's bill yet (geting super close though!), I am going to donate the $5 from my can collecting/recycling efforts from this week to help the little guy out. I truly believe that if everyone were to recycle and make a little effort, we would all have a few bucks extra a month that we can use ourselves or donate to a good cause. Not to mention we help the environment and reduce our public landfills. =)

Wampi Came Out of His Cage ... for the Whole Day!

2005-08-26T08:35:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, Wampi spent the entire day out of the cage. For those of you new to this site, that may not seem like a big deal but after all he's been through ... with the surgery, the cast changes, the final cast removal, the mental trauma ... it's amazing.

He spent the morning sleeping on the couch, then I put him on the floor so he could limp around a bit. Yes, he still has the limp but he doesn't seem to be in pain (no crying or meowing). The vet says he may have arthritis from all his trauma.

So he walked slowly through the apartment (very small so he didn't have far to go!) and then I turned around and I couldn't find him! omg ... I panicked. I looked everywhere ... I even looked out the window even though I knew there was no way he could even jump up to the window ledge let alone climb the gate to get to the top of the window (and yes, now my windows are locked). But I was still freaked. He can't even jump up or off the couch by himself yet.

So I got a flashlight and looked behind everything and there he was ... behind the couch in the far corner, grooming himself and looking quite happy. So I decided it was good for him to stay out and I left him alone. He stayed back there until almost 9pm when he came out for dinner and then he went to the table where his cage was and meowed. He slept in the cage but wow, he got the courage to stay out of it all day! He is definitely healing not only physically but mentally too.

Wampi is a survivor!
=^..^=

ps-can ya'll tell that his fur is getting thicker? He has gained a little weight (his back isn't bony anymore) and he is looking sooooo much better overall.

How Wampi Got His Name

2005-08-25T18:50:00.000-04:00

A lot of people have asked me lately about Wampi's name. It is pretty unusual!

Well, Wampi means "white beads" in Algonquin and it is also the name of a tropical fruit - Clausena lansium (Lour.) Skeels in the family Rutacease (the Orange family), but these are not the reasons I named him Wampi.

I named Wampi after a little Ecuadorian boy I met while doing research for my Ph.D. in Biology. I started doing research in Ecuador while I was an undergraduate and was fortunate enough to win a nice grant that paid for my trips to South America and my graduate tuition. Now, I'm still a grad student but finished with all the research (thanks to that grant!) ... and now just trying to take care of our daughter, Wampi, and write the final dissertation so I can actually be called a "Ph.D."

Back to the story.

The little boy I named Wampi after belongs to an indigenous group known as the Huaorani who live in the Ecuadorian Amazon. I lived in their village several times 4-6 weeks at a stretch learning from them and studying tropical plants. No electricity. No running water. No outside communications. Just palm-thatched huts, small meandering rivers, steep terrain and green jungle for as far as you can see. Very intense and definitely life-changing.

This little boy was such a sweetheart. When I first met him I was struck by how social he was. All the other Huaorani children were shy with me on my first visit (they don't even speak Spanish). But not Wampi. He was smiling and laughing and trying to climb up my leg. He was a little 3-year-old ham! I loved playing with him and as I got more familiar with their language, I could actually talk with him. The Huaorani speak an unclassified language and was difficult to learn. But after a few visits and dedication to learning the language, I got the hang of it.

So how are Wampi the boy and Wampi the cat connected?

This beautiful Maine Coon kitty was so loving right from the start (you now know how he came to live with me now). He would meow and meow at me on his very first day in my apartment ... he wanted me to pick him up. And ... if I didn't pick him up he would try to climb my leg! It was funny and remdinded me of that little boy. Still, I didn't think of naming him Wampi yet.

A few days later, I put some cat food on a plate and when he started eating it he made the funniest noise. It sounded like he was chirping! I had never ever heard of a cat chirping and I just listened in fascination.

"What was this?" I thought. At the time, I didn't know Maine Coon's are famous for this "chirping" sound that they usually do when they are really happy.

It was around this time that I just connected Wampi the boy and Wampi the cat. Both are incredibly social and loving, both tried to climb my leg and liked to ride on my shoulder, both have a unique way of speaking. Eureka!

And that's how Wampi got his name!

=)

Wampi Update

2005-08-24T07:58:00.000-04:00

I just wanted to post really quick to let everyone know that Wampi is making some more progress. Yesterday, he came out of his cage for about an hour, sniffed around the apartment a little bit and spent some time in both my lap and my husband's lap. I think he is getting up more and more courage.

His limp is still there, but he can definitely walk. The leg that had the cast on is soooooo much skinnier than the other one. I'm not too worried about that though because I know anyone who had a cast on for 2 months would lose some muscle tone. I'm just so glad he's getting a little bit of his courage back!

I have to go to school all day but tonight I'll finish the story about Wampi's name and post it with some photos. =)

HUGE, HUGE THANK YOU'S go out to Jan & James, Old Controller, Sharon and Judy who have donated recently to help pay for Wampi's vet bills. You guys are so incredible! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!!! That brings the total up to $4,569.36. Wow. Almost there. So amazing.

How Wampi Came To Live With Me

2005-08-22T09:41:00.000-04:00

So when I happened into Petco about 2 years ago I was naturally drawn to the adoption area where they keep all the cats. I've fostered a lot of them for short periods of time through the years, but never adopted a cat because I didn't think it would be fair of me to adopt a kitty then take off for my research during the summer(although I did have a cat during my undergrad years).

But when I saw Wampi, I was so in love. I thought, "OK, he's almost a year old ... he'll be harder to adopt out. I can foster him for awhile and maybe find him a good home." The year before I fostered a beautiful Norwegian Forest Cat and he eventually went to live permanently with my neighbor April. Later on I was to learn that Wampi had been adopted out twice before but returned shortly after because he was too high maintenance & too energetic.

So I went over to his cage and we just looked at each other.

When they opened his cage door they said "careful, he doesn't let anyone hold him ... he might try to jump out and run." But this didn't happen. Nope. Not at all. I leaned forward and he carefully put his paws on my shoulder. Then he hopped up on my shoulder! "Wow," I thought. "What an amazing kitty!"

I turned around to see all these volunteers and people staring. And Wampi was perched on my shoulder staring back at everyone.

The woman who was helping me exclaimed "I think he chose you!" And I was thinking the same thing. I was so in love right then. I knew I was going to adopt and not just foster, and this was a good time since I was pretty much done with my research (just writing & analysis left to do!).

I said I wanted him. "Where's the paperwork?"

The woman smiled and said I could fill it out, but there was another couple who had already said they wanted to adopt him. They were finished with the paperwork and standing there watching me with the kitty. I was so heartbroken. How could this be? It just seemed so right. Maybe you know the feeling I'm talking about. Just seemed absolutely right and to be told, "no" seemed surreal.

She said I could fill out the paperwork anyway and if something fell through with the other couple, she'd give me a call.

You know the end to that story. She called the next day and said the couple hadn't returned her call and that it seemed they weren't as interested as she first thought. She said I could have the kitty! I was ecstatic!

So within a day Wampi came to live with me. But it took me another 3 days to figure out his name.

(Tomorrow: How Wampi Got His Name)

Wampi update - Hanging Out in My Chair

2005-08-18T22:45:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone. Sorry I haven't posted in a few days ... it's been a crazy few days but I'll have to post more on that later. I had to register for classes yesterday, my daughter got vaccinations today, and I have a doctor's appointment tomorrow.

Wampi actually seemed interested in coming out of his cage today! He played with a toy mouse in the cage until it was totally slobbered over and torn up, then started meowing for help to get out. I put him on my chair and he hung out with me for a while.

More tomorrow! But this is all I have time for now.

p.s.-I'm behind on all the emails too ... I should catch up on that tomorrow afternoon! =)

I think Wampi is considering jumping on the floor, but of course he didn't. He definitely seems just a teeny bit better.

Wampi still isn't walking much, but at least he's off the pain meds

2005-08-16T12:15:00.000-04:00

Thanks everyone for your kind words while I was sick. I'm still feeling run down but I'm doing better. I took Wampi out a little while ago and he purred up a storm sitting on my lap, but not surprisingly, as soon as I set him on the floor he limped over to the stool again ... he wanted to go back in his cage.

I think if I'm holding him he feels safe. But when he's out in the open he gets scared and that's why he wants back to the safety of his cage. I leave the flap open (during the day) and the makeshift stairs are there but he doesn't use them yet. He'll poke out his head and meow at me when he wants food, water or is about to use the cat box. Yes, it is sorta funny but right before he uses his cat box he will meow a bunch to let me know so I come running over, he uses it and then waits for me to scoop it out. lol. Smart kitty. He's got me waiting on him hand and foot! =) I don't mind.

And actually I'm starting to worry about him a lot less. He will be able to use the leg to walk around the house when he's ready. He's shown me he can limp across the living room too. I haven't given him pain medicine in 4 days and he doesn't seem to mind, but I do have more in case he wants it.

Now, I just have to take him to the vet one more time to see if he says Wampi can heal without another surgery. I really think he's just mentally traumatized and that his leg is probably sore and tender, but on the mend. He'll be going back once more (hopefully the last time for this situation) this Friday. As always, I'll keep people updated. =)

Wampi is almost healed and the vet bill is close to being paid off! Yay!!! Only need to raise $560.64 to reach the fundraising goal!

HUGE HUGE THANK YOU'S go out to Wampi's latest donors: Emerald, Stacy, and Robin. Ya'll are Awesome! =^..^=

I've been sick

2005-08-15T10:47:00.000-04:00

Sorry everyone ... I'm sick and haven't been able to post. Hopefully I'll post some Wampi pics tonight.

A New Approach?

2005-08-12T17:55:00.000-04:00

Wampi, some of his nicknames include: Wamp, Wampers, Wampster, & Wamp-meister! Too cute, huh? =)

So every day I've been taking Wampi out of his cat cage to exercise a little bit, and every day he walks a little (limps) and then returns to the stool in front of his cage wanting to go back in. He can't jump up on the table by himself.

Today, I picked him up and he was purrring furiously ... it was so nice. I pet him and held him then sat down on the couch with him in my lap. Almost immediately he went to the edge of the couch, stepped carefully on the box I put next to the couch, then onto the stack of books I set up, then onto the floor.

Yes, I made him kitty steps!

Today, within a matter of 2 minutes he went down the steps, walked about 5 steps over to the stool and meowed for me to put him back in the cage. Who would have ever thought he would want to stay in there?? It is his safe place, true ... but I thought about something else.

I think I got this whole physical therapy thing all wrong.

I've been trying to rehabilitate him. His leg is healing with time (and Emerald's reiki! thank you!) but he needs to exercise it and get comfortable with it on his own time.

Maybe I'm pushing him a little bit too much. I can tell he's in some pain(not horrible though), but he can walk with a limp. I highly doubt the vet is going to say he has to have surgery. I've had my share of traumas, broken bones and surgeries and there is always a period of time to recoup in addition to the initial repair and healing. Especially with joints.

And, he has some sort of post traumatic stress disorder going on.

So, I think taking him out to pet him is a good thing, but I am going to set up some sort of step system (here too) and leave the cage door open. He can come out when he's ready and go back when he's ready. If I had room in our apartment, I would move the cage to the floor to an out of the way spot so he'd feel better, but we don't have anywhere else for the cage.

I know his legs are going to heal, even if he has a little bit of a limp. It's the emotional scars now that I now believe will take the longest to heal. Little bit, by little bit!

Some pics from today:

Here's Wampi just hanging out. He seems really happy here and mellow.

Wampi wonders what the heck I'm doing.

Wampi ventures out just a little bit. He never came all the way out of the cage.

Wampi was meowing a lot here ... I think he was just afraid to go any further on his own. He turned around, and went back inside.

Wampi retreated to the back of the cage. Maybe he thought I was going to take him out again. Poor fella.

And out of the blue ... our windows are finally fixed!

2005-08-12T17:48:00.000-04:00

I can't believe it. After several years, three landlords, and numerous run-arounds ... the windows are fixed. The frames weren't bent. They just needed new latches!

Here they are ... the defective latches ... probably cost them 5 bucks to replace.

I got a check yesterday!!!!

2005-08-12T07:42:00.000-04:00

I got a check yesterday for $650! This was not a donation, but rather a paycheck that I was supposed to be paid last spring for web work but never got it. We limped along without it and during this Summer of Broken Things just done without and scrimped along ... and finally this check came in!

I'm putting the whole thing in the Wampi fund! =D

So that means the total is now up to ---> $4,216.96 !!!

I'll be back later with a post on Wampi's Physical Therapy complete with pics. Just wanted to let everyone know that I'm getting really close to paying this off.

My windows are still not fixed ...agh!

2005-08-10T22:06:00.000-04:00

Mrrrawwr.

OK, well it might be a really good thing that Wampi wants to still spend most of his time in the cat cage. Our window latches are not fixed. It's not safe for him to roam the apartment unattended.

The window repair guy arrived around 2pm and after inspecting the windows said the window frames were bent and they had to be completely replaced. He'd have to order new windows ... if the landlord would approve of the expense.

Well, I thought, of course he will. I should have locking windows right? I mean, I should ... deserve ... to have windows that lock, right?

Well, more excuses. I called and left a message with the landlord as to what the guy said. He called me back and seemed upset regarding the verdict. He wants to inspect the windows himself. In his defense, I think he wants to do the right thing but omg I'm so tired of waiting ... and getting the runaround.

He thinks that if all three windows have bent frames and since there is no obvious damage to the windows (like a burglar trying to get in with a crow bar) then the building may have settled and what we need is a mason to fix the brick work around the windows instead of new windows.

AGGGGGGHHHH.

He's coming to look next week and decide what to do. If he wants to redo the brick work around the windows ... well that's bad. How in the world can we live in a tiny little apartment with all our windows torn out, exposed to the world (NYC world) while a bunch of people rebuild our frames? It's more than inconvenient. It's not safe. It's scary. I don't know what the heck we'll do. There is no way, NO WAY, we will stay in conditions like that.

Our building is really old. I think about 200 years old. Our floors slant and we even have ancient gas fixtures (non working, of course) in the bathroom. I wouldn't be surprised if the verdict is the actual window opening has shifted. A building across the street totally collapsed a few years ago...every single person had to evacuate their homes.

OK, I'll stop. I'm just upset. I should stay positive. Maybe things will work out and he'll say something simple next week and this will get resolved.

In the meantime, I'll just keep doing what I'm doing ...keep working with Wampi. Coaxing him to walk a little more and encouraging him to stay out of the cage longer and longer. Both yesterday and today, he limped about a little bit, layed on the floor a while, then sort of scooted himself over to the table where his cage sits. Then he would look at me and meow. He tried to climb up on the stool but it hurt him so I just picked him up and put him in the cage. He's making a little progress and I'm glad he's got a safe haven.

ps-I recycled 86 cans. =)

Surprised by the flash.

Wampi stretching.

Just a quick update ... waiting for the window repair guy

2005-08-10T12:41:00.000-04:00

Any minute now the window repair guy should show up to fix our windows! We have 4 windows in our apartment (3 big ones and a tiny one) and 3 of those have broken latches. The building super has tried to fix them but can't. The previous two landlords have brushed this off and over the years they never got fixed.

I can't believe that *finally* someone has listened and they are getting fixed.

I'll post more later on this, recycling, and Wampi's physical therapy. (Wampi's sleeping now).

=)

ps- if you didn't know, our broken window latches are the reason Wampi was able to get out of our apartment in the first place.

New Donors =)

2005-08-09T12:09:00.000-04:00

I've been so busy with Wampi and my daughter that I realize I haven't posted the names of new donors since last Friday. The totals are up-to-date as well as the "Donors & Fanclub" and "Webmasters for Wampi".

Many, many thanks go out to our new Wampi friends:
lilred
Melissa M.
Rachel
Melissa W.
Jacqueline
Anne
Matthew
Roxanne
Dustin
Gregory

Thank you sooooo much for your donations! And please let me know if I can link to your site. =)

I can't believe how much has been raised already. Wow. $3,562.36 has been raised since the blog first began on June 7.

Wampi's Physical Therapy: Day 3 (Terror & Retreat)

2005-08-09T08:04:00.000-04:00

So last night I took Wampi out of the cat cage and put him on our bed to give him some exercise. He limped around a little bit. He didn't cry or meow but he seemed agitated. He kept trying to go to the edge of the bed and jump off. The vet said that I was to absolutely NOT let him jump for awhile but there he went, jumped off the bed about a foot off the ground.

I was horrified. I held my breath waiting for him to cry or scream (his kitty scream is bone-chilling) but nothing. He stood there for a second, then sat down.

Whew. I took a deep breath. My nerves were already rattled!

I let him stay on the floor because he seemed to be happier there. I pet him a bunch and my husband pet him a lot (while I took photos) and I tried to coax him into walking. He wasn't too interested in that but he did walk a little bit when I brought out the food!

Now, he doesn't really seem to be in too much pain. He tried to scratch his head with that paw (the formerly cast one) but couldn't do it. He'd bring his leg up to his head and it would hover there, then he'd put it down. Too sensitive.

But then something weird happened. My husband was sitting at my desk and messing with my things (no big deal) and he was teasing me about my house shoes that stay planted underneath the desk (hey, my feet get cold while I'm sitting here!). These are pretty silly shoes ... ones my mom bought for me when I was pregnant because they each have a little button on the side that you can push to activate a vibration (it runs on AA batteries). I never wore them when I was pregnant kuz my feet were too swollen and I still don't use the vibration part, but they are warm. Anyway, my husband was playing with these shoes and he pushed that vibration button.

And Wampi freaked out!

He didn't hiss, or cry out ... his eyes got big and he backed up quickly on the floor dragging his leg and looking TERRIFIED.

Now, I know a lot of you may say, "hey, don't worry ... cats get spooked ... it's just the way they are."

But not Wampi. Or at least not before the accident. Wampi used to be very inquisitive, friendly, happy, purring and coo-ing all the time. Just amazingly social for a cat. But I guess he has some post-tramautic stress going on ... hopefully he'll get through it with time.

Rich put the shoe away quickly and I quickly tried to reassure him with lots of petting and gentle talking. He was shaking ... shaking like the shaking he does before going to the vet (and he's terrified of the pain of the cast chamge).

Why is he so afraid? And why NOW?

After that, he limped over to the stool that sits in front of the table where his cat cage is sitting on. The cage is up there level with the window so he can look out.

He put his front paws on the stool, holding up his back leg and balancing on the other. Then he meowed while looking at his cage and turned back to look at me.

He wanted to go back to the cat cage.

=(

Well, I guess he associates the cage with safety.

*Sigh*

Little bit, by little bit.

I have hope!! Wampi took some steps today!

2005-08-07T19:33:00.000-04:00

Wampi says hewwo!

Wampi walked a little bit around the living room today for the first time since Friday! He didn't seem to be in much pain and he didn't freak out or start meowing or anything. WOW!!

Today ... I took him out carefully and set him down in the middle of the living room. He took about 5 steps before laying down and resting. He got up a little later and took a few more steps around the living room sniffing at the baby toys that were still sitting out.

His back legs bend at weird angles and he has a little bit of a limp but he did it!!! He walked around the room and he didn't meow his little head off! I couldn't believe it. I started crying, I was so happy.

I have hope that he will be able to use that leg. I'm even daring to hope that he won't need anymore surgery. Little bit by little bit...one day at a time, right?

Here are some pics!

He's got a limp but he managed to walk a little around the room before resting.

His back legs bow at a really weird angle but he got around!

Examining the baby toys while taking a rest.

Wampi without his cast ... he's got such furry paws!

The cast-free leg is a lot thinner than the other one ... I'm hopeful that the more he moves around he will regain his muscles. =)

Wampi Gets His Cast Off ... The Good & The Bad

2005-08-06T10:25:00.000-04:00

Well, first off, I have good and bad news.

The Good News is that Wampi got his cast off.

The Bad News is that the break in his leg is not completely healed, but it is as "healed as it's going to get" with the cast on. Keeping the cast on longer would cause the leg to atrophy.

So Dr. Cohen said it was time to take Wampi's cast off and it is time to start slowly getting him to use his leg. He showed me the x-rays of both his legs that they did yesterday and the x-rays of both his legs that were taken right after his surgery on June 10 at the Animal Medical Center.

The back right leg is the one that was shattered, had a bone infection and had to have surgery to save his life. It's doing great now.

The back left leg is the one that was broken near the joint and although they recommended surgery for it too, they said keeping it immobile with a cast might help it heal. Dr. Cohen explained to me that the joint had small fractures and it was dislocated. The fractures were preventing the joint from going back into place properly making it very painful and most likely he would develop arthritis and have a limp. (He told me the exact technical name of the injury and I forgot ... I'll ask him on Monday for those of you medically-minded types who would like to know ... I want to know ... can't believe I forgot!)

Wampi will be reevaluated in 1-2 weeks to see if he is making progress with regaining the use of his leg. Dr. Cohen said that this leg was a candidate for surgery too (yes, the AMC vets told me this back in June) but he might very well do ok with out it. I told him we couldn't get the money for surgery for that leg too and we still didn't have it ... he knows we are fund raising to pay off the first surgery. He seemed cautiously optimistic that Wampi would get control of it himself but just to "wait and see".

The next 2 weeks I will be spending a lot of time working with Wampi encouraging him to use his leg. I also have some pain killer drops that I can give him to help him work through the next week. I think he will really need them. I will post photos every day of his progress.

Here are the pictures from yesterday:

My daughter is fascinated with Wampi & vice versa. Here we are waiting in the lobby of Urban Vets for the vet to see Wampi. The hand belongs to my neighbor April, a wonderful friend and Wampi supporter who walks with me to the vets office since I can't push a stroller and carry Wampi at the same time.

Wampi was nervous and shaking waiting to see the vet

This is the x-ray taken on Friday at Urban Vets. The back right leg had the surgery and you can see there is a steel plate, 9 screws and a long pin keeping the bone together. The other one is the one that had the cast on and you can see that the joint is out of place and doesn't quite look the same as the other good joint on the steel plate leg.

Up close of the steel plate & screws.

Up close of joint on the leg with the cast.

Dr. Cohen (veternarian in beige) starts taking off Wampi's cast while Jamaal (vet. technician in blue) holds him still. They both said it was ok to include their photo on Wampi's website.

Getting the cast off.

Getting the cast off, con't.

Wampi is getting upset and meowing a lot here.

He kept meowing and meowing. I felt so bad for him.

At this point, Wampi got really, really mad. He started meowing and screaming and it was quite upsetting so I stopped taking pictures. I wanted to stay out of the way so they could do their job quickly and Wampi would calm down.

Wampi takes a few steps out of the cat carrier after the cast is off. He was in a lot of pain so I picked him up and put him back in the cat cage. He meowed and meowed and was pretty upset. He wouldn't use the newly liberated leg...he probably felt scared to put any weight on it so soon.

Wampi's 7th Friday Cast Call

2005-08-05T09:27:00.000-04:00

OK, this is going to be brief because I have to leave in 10 minutes to get to the vet's. I just wanted to post some pictures of Wampi with the added names from the last week ... it was hard, let me tell you! I had to squeeze them in whereever I could find a small spot. Hopefully, everyone who donated can find their name on the cast. =)

They told me not to give Wampi any food or water after midnight since he will have sedation today. He looks hot! And thirsty! But at least the vet's place is nice and cool (they have a good air conditioner ... ours barely seems to work lately). Wampi will be home later this afternoon.

BIG BIG THANK YOU'S go out to Rebecca, Lip Schtick, and Melissa for your donations!

**I'll be back later with more updates, photos and updates to the site (yes, I'm still behind). Have a great day everyone! =)

Wish Wampi Luck! Vet & X-Rays tomorrow

2005-08-04T22:32:00.000-04:00

Wampi goes to the vet at 10 am and I'll be picking him up after 4pm ... hopefully he will be cast-free! I'll post photos of Wampi's (hopefully) last cast call tomorrow morning before I head out ... I gotta squeeze a bunch more names on the tiny space that is left on his cast. =)

Wampi stretching and Restless

2005-08-03T18:11:00.000-04:00

Well, it's been a rough week for me but it's just about over. Things are getting fixed and nothing else has broken. Wampi, the poor dear is getting restless. He rolls around in the cage and just a little while ago I saw him staring at me with his little kitty face pressed up against the side! awwww.... I wish I could take him out and let him wander around a little, but the vet hasn't ok'ed it yet. I just keep petting him throughout the day and that's all I can do right now.

Someone mentioned that since he hasn't used his legs in 2 months he might have to really build them up again ... I'm going to ask the vet what to expect and how long it will take him to regain those muscles.

I'm really behind on emails everyone so if you wrote to me please understand that I've had mucho problems this week and I'm going to try my best to catch up tonight. (GRRRRR @ Dell and their faulty hard drive!) I also have a bunch more pics to post under Feline Friends and Purrfect Pals.

I'm still really curious about recycling around the world so once I catch up, I'm going to do some research and compile all the emails & comments I've received. On a recycling note, our superintendent of our building says I'm welcome to come get cans in another building he manages. Awesome! I'll be picking up those cans on Wednesday evenings ... just gotta have someone to watch Avalon. (Or figure out a way to push a stroller and carry 2 hefty bags full of cans about 6 city blocks to the store! A wagon maybe?)

Next week I'll be recycling from 2 different buildings! Yay! I wonder if I can collect another 500 cans/bottles?

THANK YOU Dixie and Rebecca for your donations!

Recycling - What are the rules in NYC? In the U.S.? In other Countries?

2005-08-02T19:19:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone!

I just spent the last 2 1/2 hours walking to and from the grocery store where I recycle cans and bottles each week. This week I brought in a whopping 501 cans & bottles!!! I think I lost a few pounds in sweat definitely and I also learned a few things about recycling in New York City.

Recycling Things I learned:
1. The Food Emporium (the grocery store where I recycle everything) will only take either 48 items or 240 items at a time, depending on who is attending the recycling station. And still other employees will ring up 40 cans/bottles at a time ad infinitum and not make me leave and come back. I told the manager that I'm recycling to help pay off a vet bill for my cat who was thrown off the roof and he just looked at me. I think he had a hard time comprehending that someone would actually do that. He just shook his head. But he still said "It's the Law, we can only take 240 at a time." Hmmm... seems weird to me. Wonder if that is just *their* store policy...

What are the laws governing recycling in NYC? NY state? the U.S.? How does it work in other countries? Please leave me comments if you can answer any of these. =)

2. The Food Emporium will NOT take cans/bottles if they don't sell that product in their store. They wouldn't take any of the small plastic Pepsi bottles I had. However, on my way home, I stopped at Rite Aid Pharmacy and they said they would take any recyclable bottle or can. It didn't matter if they sold it or not. And when I asked if there was a limit to how many they would take at a time, they said "no limit, however many you want to bring in." Well, that's interesting!

3. Apparently, it's The Law in New York City that you recycle cans, bottles and a whole list of other items. How many buildings in NYC do this? How many people in the U.S. actually recycle? How does recycling work in other countries?

Are these store policies? Is this really NY State Law? Are there different laws depending on the states? How does recycling work in other countries?? I would really like to know these things.

The superintendent of my buidling *still* couldn't fix the window latches but there's a professional window repair guy now coming out next week. But the super did patch up my kitchen ceiling which collapsed from a water leak from upstairs! Yes, more broken things. Dell PROMISED they would be here tomorrow to fix my computer ... until then I'm using this computer from my school and I can't upload photos. (I'm going to research the recycling thing tomorrow too when I have my computer back.)

Wampi is doing great ... he goes to the vet on Friday for the X-Rays! Hopefully I'll have a photo update tomorrow (from *my* computer).

Donor update:
HUGE THANK YOU's go out to emerald (she sold her diamond ring on E-Bay!), Shannon and Joyce for their donations! Ya'll are awesome. =D

Broken Down & Overwhelmed.

2005-07-31T15:50:00.000-04:00

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.)

E-Bay Alert: Diamond Ring up for Auction!

2005-07-29T20:37:00.000-04:00

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. =^..^=

Wampi's 6th Cast Call & Cat Nip Friday!

2005-07-29T12:16:00.000-04:00

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.

Up early & Catching Up

2005-07-29T03:56:00.000-04:00

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 Divas Adopt Wampi as their Mascot

2005-07-27T20:20:00.000-04:00

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

Broken Things

2005-07-26T18:13:00.000-04:00

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.

A Few New Things ...

2005-07-25T19:35:00.000-04:00

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.))

Is it Monday already?

2005-07-25T05:05:00.000-04:00

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.

Friends of Wampi Map

2005-07-23T08:25:00.000-04:00

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.

=)

Wampi's 5th Friday Cast Call

2005-07-22T10:12:00.000-04:00

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.

=^..^=

pre-Wampi's 5th Cast Call (Another post to follow soon)

2005-07-22T07:57:00.000-04:00

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!

More Wampi Pics

2005-07-21T07:42:00.000-04:00

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.

Quick Wampi Update & More Donors

2005-07-20T06:48:00.000-04:00

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.

Wampi Gets His Cast Changed & Spends the Night at the Vets

2005-07-19T03:25:00.000-04:00

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

More Than Halfway There ...

2005-07-18T07:52:00.000-04:00

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.

More Donors!

2005-07-17T22:34:00.000-04:00

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.

Whatever You Want It To Be

2005-07-16T16:34:00.000-04:00

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.

A New Banner as Well

2005-07-16T05:10:00.000-04:00

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

Wampi's 4th Friday Cast Call

2005-07-15T09:58:00.000-04:00

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!

Autographed Casts -- Week 4

2005-07-15T07:43:00.000-04:00

So Many Donors!

Website Has a New Look!

2005-07-14T20:19:00.000-04:00

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!

Recycling Old Cell Phones!

2005-07-14T12:15:00.000-04:00

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 Cleans Up & the Website Gets a Make Over

2005-07-14T07:18:00.000-04:00

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 ... Up Close & Personal =)

2005-07-12T22:55:00.000-04:00

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!

Returning to our Regularly Scheduled Program ...

2005-07-12T16:08:00.000-04:00

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. =^..^=

Inside Looking Out

2005-07-10T17:49:00.000-04:00

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!

A Very Touching Cat Story

2005-07-10T17:24:00.000-04:00

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.

Bright eyes and whiskery-faced Wampi

2005-07-09T07:16:00.000-04:00

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.

Meow!

2005-07-08T07:00:00.000-04:00

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 3rd Cast Call

2005-07-08T06:57:00.000-04:00

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

2005-07-07T23:20:00.000-04:00

Here's a new banner I made to use on Blog Explosion. Should I use it? Make a new one? What say everyone?

Surreal Thursday

2005-07-07T06:58:00.000-04:00

I'm super tired now ... been awake with the baby all night ... and she still doesn't want to go to sleep! Later today, I'm going to make several treks to recycle all the bags of cans that have been accumulating in our apartment.

Also, wanted to say thanks to Shannon and Jen for their kind donations. And Shannon graciously took the time to design a button for the site. Take a look in the sidebar down toward the bottom where the blog explosion & blogspot buttons are. Feel free to copy the button and link to the site!

I'll have a Recycling Update and photos of Wampi's autographed cast tomorrow.

For those of you in London, my thoughts are with you today.

Why Should You Bother to Save Cans?

2005-07-06T11:02:00.000-04:00

In the last few weeks, I’ve had people say to me “wow, saving cans … what a good idea … help your cat while helping the environment” as well as “what’s the point of saving cans? You’ve recycled more than 300 and that’s not even $20.”

Now, my thinking is more along the lines of the first comment. Save your cans and donate them to charity, in particular, to Wampi, to help us pay his staggering vet bills.

But there’s more to the story.

According to some statistics $500 million dollars worth of aluminum cans go wasted each year. This drives up consumer prices, fills up landfills, and creates a need for more aluminum which requires the mining of bauxite ore deposits. So much energy, so many resources! Recycling cans relies on natural gas and requires 95% less energy than the electricity needed with the making of new aluminum.

Still, those are some of the recycling facts, but in my heart I knew there was another reason I’ve asked people to recycle cans. It has to do with my belief that we all have choices in our lives.

Big choices, small choices, hard choices, easy ones.

After Wampi’s “accident,” so many people asked me if I was going to “put him down.” The thought horrified me. Here was this beautiful, sweet, otherwise healthy cat, whose life hung in the balance because some sicko threw him off the roof … and I didn’t have the money to pay for his surgery.

I was faced with a choice.

The easy choice would have been to put him to sleep. He’d be out of pain and I wouldn’t be faced with a $5,000 vet bill in addition to all the bills from just having a baby. The thought made me want to puke.

The harder choice – the right choice – was to approve Wampi’s surgery and find a way to pay for his recovery. I didn’t have to think through the choices, I knew I had to save him and I’d figure out a way to pay for it later.

Isn’t that what you would do if you were faced with the same choice for someone you loved? You would find a way and you would make it work.

When you decide whether or not to recycle those few cans, you are faced with a choice. Not an emotional one like the one I faced with saving Wampi’s life, but a complex one nonetheless.

By recycling those cans and plastic bottles you can help the environment, the nation’s economy -- and if you donate the proceeds to a charity of your choice -- you help others deal with the difficult, sometimes life-threatening choices they face. And it doesn't cost you anything.

Help a child, help a cat, help a shelter, help the tsunami relief effort, or help a neighborhood project. Whatever. Even one can makes a difference.

The choice is yours.

Wampi Chillin' on the 4th of July.

2005-07-05T10:57:00.000-04:00

He's still on antibiotics but he's definitely getting better. On Saturday, he had his cast changed and now he's sporting a green cast ... and we have 6 new donor's names since Saturday to add to the Wampi's next "Friday Cast Call!"

The site is doing really well and we're almost to the halfway mark in donations! I'm adding a new advertisement sponsor to the site and blog entries ... Thanks to all you returning Wampi Supporters for supporting our sponsors. =^..^=

Happy 4th of July ... Save those Cans!

2005-07-04T10:30:00.000-04:00

For those of you in the U.S. -- Happy 4th of July!

This is a big day for all sorts of cans ... beer, soda, etc. Don't forget to recycle and turn in for the deposits. Save the money for something you want, or consider donating the deposit money to Wampi (or another good cause).

If you do donate your cans to Wampi, please be sure and email me (savewampi@gmail.com) and tell me that your donation came from deposits ... I will include it in the recycling update!

Donation update -- 3 more donations came in over night! Big thanks to Conrad S., Michael C. and Hope T. for your kind & thoughtful donations. Don't forget to check out Wampi's cast this coming Friday (July 8) ... I'll be autographing Wampi's cast with all the new donors names and posting the photos here.

Also thanks go out to Orange Haired Boy for posting a very cute photo of Wampi on his blog yesterday and also to Jonathan R. in NJ for his support. You guys are awesome. =^..^=

Peace.

2 More Donations and a Bag of Cans

2005-07-03T17:07:00.000-04:00

Two more donations have come in! Thank you, Amy G. and Dizzyscorpio for your kindness.

Also, I just found an anonymous (huge) bag of cans on my doorstep just a little while ago. On top of the bag was a yellow post-it note that simply said, "For Wampi." Awww. Thank you, whoever you are!

Wampi with a Green Cast

2005-07-03T14:11:00.000-04:00

Wampi got his cast changed yesterday ... now he's sporting a green one! Brings out the green in his eyes, don't you think?

Even though he just got his cast changed, we already have several new people's name to add! Thanks to Judy, people at her work, and the Dynasty diner ... all people who donated in the last few days. More and more people are emailing me and returning to the site everyday. (Thanks Josh! I know you want to hunt down the people who did this to him, but that won't help. Just keep coming to the site and share Wampi's story. Big hugs.)

And thanks go out to Kate for helping spread Wampi's story. She wrote a really nice piece about him in Kate's Ramblings and Wanderings blog. Thank you, Kate!

Changing Wampi's Cast on July 2

2005-07-03T14:08:00.000-04:00

The vets let me watch part of the cast change. Wampi was pretty calm during this part.

Changing Wampi's cast ... getting painful

2005-07-03T14:05:00.000-04:00

Once the vets opened up the outer cast shell, they had to take out all the gauze and he started to get uncomfortable. They took him to the back to finish the cast change and I heard him cry out a bunch of times. Just about broke my heart. Even though he doesn't seem to be in a lot of pain, when the cast is changed and his healing broken leg is exposed to the slightest touch, i can tell it HURTS. I don't know if you've ever heard a cat scream, but let me tell you...it's heart-wrenching. poor wampi.

Thanks Orange Haired Boy!

2005-07-02T21:58:00.000-04:00

A show of support from the people at Starbucks. Thanks Orange Haired Boy for telling them Wampi's story!

Don't be fooled ... this isn't your typical CAT BLOG

2005-07-02T20:01:00.000-04:00

I hear all the time, jibes about "cat blogs" and "baby blogs" and how they are not really worthy of visiting. Well, I think blogs can be anything you want them to be. Some are more annoying than others.

But I wanted to say that this is NOT just a blog to showcase photos of my cat (although I see nothing wrong with that being a cat lover) ... this blog is meant to let people know about the horror that happened to my cat on June 4 and to raise funds to pay his vet bill.

My cat was thrown off a 6-floor roof falling to the second floor fire escape, where he hit both back legs crushing one of them and breaking the other. He almost freakin died. It's not funny and if you are laughing now, you are one sick freak. And not in a good way.

Some one THREW MY CAT OFF THE ROOF! How would you feel if someone thew your cat, or your dog, or your child, or anything that you loved? It's messed up, I tell you.

Thankfully, not everyone laughs at a cat being thrown off a roof, or is annoyed at my "cat blog" ... I've raised almost $2,000 in 3 weeks and largely because of this blog. Donations have been trickling in every few days and people are linking to me to show support.

So, in addition to asking everyone to support the site by supporting my sponsors on this page, I ask you to hug the loved-ones in your life. They are truly precious. And even if you made fun of my blog, I still hope nothing like this ever, ever happens to you.

Peace.

A Knock on my door

2005-07-02T19:55:00.000-04:00

Yesterday, a neighbor knocked on my door and in her hand was an envelope full of donations that she collected at her office and at the local diner ... donations meant to help pay Wampi's vet bill. I couldn't believe it. Here was this amazing person who had taken the time to tell people about Wampi's story and to actually ask people for donations to help pay the $5,000 vet bill.

Thank you, Judy, for your kindness.

Wampi's 2nd Friday Cast Call & Update on June Fundraising

2005-07-01T04:37:00.000-04:00

Happy Friday everyone! It's been 3 weeks since Wampi had surgery and he's on the road to recovery. Hopefully, he'll get this cast off in 3 more weeks and then he can start building up muscle in his legs again. He gets a new cast on Saturday!

As promised, here's an updated photo of Wampi's cast ... I've added a bunch more names (up close view below) and I tried to keep all the new names to this side of the cast ... just to make it easier.

You guys are sooooooooooooo awesome!!!

So far, with everyone's help, we've raised $1,977.06 since the start of this blog on June 7. That's gosh-darn amazing, if you ask me. I'm just so happy that there are so many Wampi supporters out there. Soooo many emails and soooo many returning visitors to the site. Thanks for supporting Wampi's sponsors!

Here are the June Fundraising statistics:
JUNE FUNDRAISING TOTAL .........$1,977.06

Have a meow-riffic 4th of July weekend if you are in the U.S. and if not, then have a meow-riffic weekend anyway!

ps - the site had 1,439 hits in June. =^..^=

2005-07-01T04:36:00.000-04:00

Here's an up-close view of all the donors and Wampi supporters. A big thanks goes out to all of you who made cash donations -- Victoria, Stephanie, Katherine M., Luka, Orange Haired Boy (OHB), Effie, Lily, Sandra, Jeanette and Katherine W. And thanks to everyone else who has shown their support for Wampi! =^..^=

2005-06-30T14:29:00.000-04:00

Three more donations have come in this week through Paypal. Thank you's go out to Katherine, Luka, and Orange-Haired Boy! You guys are awesome! Be sure to check back tomorrow for Wampi's 2nd Cast call ... I'll be adding your names as well as a few more people who have been daily supporting this site.

Also, I know I posted this pic yesterday but I played with it some and have added our beloved "I love NY" to Wampi's pic (thank you for the suggestion, OHB). Everyone seems to love this one so I've decided to make some buttons and other images out of it, so that people can use to link to their site. I should have them done tomorrow too.

Peace.

Wampi stretching

2005-06-30T14:19:00.000-04:00

Wampi is now using the side of his cage as a scatching post.

Hewwo ...

2005-06-29T01:18:00.000-04:00

Wampi standing up despite the cast! He's healing! Next vet visit & cast change: Saturday, July 2.

Almost 200 visitors to the site yesterday! w00t!

Doesn't he look like he's waving?

2005-06-29T01:16:00.000-04:00

Wampi showing off his autographed cast. Tthe lower shaved leg is the one that he had surgery on.

Wampi before "The Accident" -- surrounded by color and lots of toys

2005-06-28T03:46:00.000-04:00

Last night, Wampi sat up and looked out his cage, through the screen and out the window. He must have mewed and mewed for at least 10 minutes. He wanted to get OUT and play. Yep, he's definitely getting better! I pet him for a long time and he calmed down. =^..^=

So in the spirit of looking ahead to Wampi frisking around the apartment once again, I wanted to show two of his "pre-accident" play spots.

Evenflo Activity Center -- he loved to hang out in this activity center that we got for our daughter, Avalon. Minutes after I brought it home from the store, Wampi thought for sure it was for him and immediately descended upon it.

Wampi before "The Accident" chillin' out baby style

2005-06-28T03:45:00.000-04:00

Wampi also loved laying on her play mat. It's ironic that the mat in this picture is laying exactly where his cage is right now. Instead of laying on a colorful mat under baby toys staring out the window, now Wampi is laying in his dog cage, with a cast on, and longing to get a closer look at the world. (makes me sad)

I made Wampi website cards.

2005-06-27T01:54:00.000-04:00

Last week, I made flyers and cards with Wampi's picture and url so I can help spread the word about this website. You can help by spreading the word and getting your friends and fellow cat-lovers to bookmark and visit the site daily.

It really does help!

Last week, the site earned a little more than $100 with almost 600 visitors. That's petty amazing since this site has only been up 2 weeks. Thanks again everyone and please, spread the word! With your help, I can get Wampi the care he needs and pay off these vet bills. =)

Hang in there, Wampi!

2005-06-26T05:15:00.000-04:00

My sister sent the above get-well card for Wampi ... on the inside it reads "See, some one else knows how you feel." It was just too cute so I had to share it with everyone. When Wampi gets a bath, that's just about how he looks too!

The recycling can day went well ... 124 cans, bottles, and 2-liter plastic containers in all. Let me tell you, they felt a lot heavier in that hefty bag. Maybe I'll build up some muscles while I'm raising funds for Wampi. =)

Saturday is ...

2005-06-25T07:43:00.000-04:00

Recycling cans day! I'm going this afternoon to turn in cans ... I have a hefty bag stuffed full of cans and bottles that people have been giving me through the past 2 weeks. It's such a cool thing to open my apartment door and see a bag of cans hanging there! There must be at least 150 cans, maybe more.

I'll have an update on my recycling trip tomorrow.

And thanks go out to Jeanette in Oregon for her donation! You are awesome!

Happy Happy Friday and ...

2005-06-24T04:53:00.000-04:00

Welcome to Wampi's 1st Friday Cast Call ... in the following 2 pictures, I tried to showcase all the names of people I knew had donated, are daily visiting the website, or are recycling and donating to help Wampi. If I've left anyone off, please email me at savewampi@gmail.com or just leave a comment and let me know. I know there are A LOT of you out there visiting ... the site is getting around 100+ hits a day! We would love to hear from you!. Have a great weekend! =)

One side of Wampi's cast ...

2005-06-24T04:49:00.000-04:00

Showcasing many donors, and recyclers, and Wampi supporters ...

And here's the other side ...

2005-06-24T04:47:00.000-04:00

showing more of you wonderful people! (Please note that I started to run out of room so not everyone has their state showing next to their name, especially in the former photo.)

Sleepy-Eyed Kitty

2005-06-23T03:40:00.000-04:00

Wampi is definitely getting better. He's able to move around a little bit in his cage and he's trying to groom himself. I think the antibiotics are really helping and of course, all his bedrest!

Another donation came in yesterday ... $50 from Katherine ... Thank you!

Already a 188 cans have been recycled in Wampi's honor. Pretty cool!

Wampi wearing his Elizabethan collar

2005-06-22T01:05:00.000-04:00

The doctors say he needs to wear it to keep him from biting the surgical scars as they heal. He looks like he hates it, but he seems to be tolerating it really well. I swear he looks like he's almost smiling in this picture!

Two more donations came in ... $25 & $65. Thank you Lily and Sandra! The donation section to the right is updated.

My neighbor Judy signed Wampi's cast tonight and that gave me an idea. "Friday Cast Call" ... I'm going to write down the first names of all the donors on Wampi's cast and post the picture of his cast on Fridays. He'll get his cast changed about every 2 weeks, maybe once a week so the names will keep changing. If you are a DONOR, RECYCLER, OR A WAMPI SUPPORTER IN GENERAL just email me or leave a comment here with your first name and state, and I'll add it to the cast so you can see it on Friday!

I figure decorating his cast with the the first names of "Friends of Wampi" might cheer him and me up ... besides, it's a reminder of how beautiful and generous people can be.

Peace.

You are Beautiful.

2005-06-21T01:48:00.000-04:00

Wampi is beautiful. And so are all the people out there that have visited my site in the last 10 days ... there have been almost 500 hits since I started this site! Thanks to my neighbors, friends, family, and everyone else who considers themselves a friend of Wampi. May you have a beautiful day!

Wampi - 1 week after surgery

2005-06-19T23:49:00.000-04:00

Wampi has a bone infection and has to be on antibiotics for another 6 weeks. (The shaved leg is the one he had surgery on, while the cast is protecting the other break for which we couldn't afford surgery.)

Living in a cage for 2 months

2005-06-19T23:47:00.000-04:00

Wampi has to live in a dog cage for 2 months to heal from his injuries. If he isn't kept very still, his body might reject the steel plate implanted in his leg to keep the bones together.

Why are there ads on this blog?

2005-06-19T22:44:00.000-04:00

Some people have asked me why did I put ads on Wampi's blog. Well, the answer is simple. I hope to make some money to help pay off Wampi's vet bill which is in the ballpark of $5,000. Some people have made PayPal donations, others have sent cans my way ... but the other simple way to help is to visit this site's sponsors.

Thanks again to all you good-hearted people out there ... after what happened to Wampi, I was so disheartened. But so many people have opened themselves up and expressed concern ... and are helping! THANK YOU ... THANK YOU ... THANK YOU.

UPDATE 7/19/05: Due to malicious ad-clickers I have suspended the Google Ads. If you want to help out, consider donating through PayPal (it accepts credit cards too), recycling cans, bottles, old cell phones (www.oldcellphones.com), or just giving up your cafe latte at Starbucks for a day and sending the money to Wampi. Check out my E-Bay auctions in the sidebar too.

I may put some ads back on the site later, but for now until I can make sure that they won't be abused, www.savewampi.blogspot.com is AD FREE.

UPDATE 8/9/05: I put some CrispAds on the page at the bottom of the sidebar, but if it looks like anyone is abusing them I will pull it right away to conserve the account. Please don't abuse my ads!!!

Wampi has a bone infection

2005-06-17T22:08:00.000-04:00

The vet called and said his bone culture showed a serious infection and he needs to stay on antibiotics for a full month. Originally, they said he would only need to be on them for 2 weeks. And his appointment is for Sat. at noon, not today.

Another donation has come in! $50 closer to the overall goal. =)

I think I will assess my belongings and start E-Bay auctions next week. I live in a small NYC apartment. I don't need that much stuff! I have my wonderful husband, my beautiful daughter, and Wampi on the road to recovery. I just need to pay for everything.

Thanks to everyone who has been emailing me and sending in donations. If you want to help but can't financially, please send out this url www.savewampi.blogspot.com and ask people to visit my site. RECYCLE CANS! HUG YOUR KITTIES!