Saturday, September 08, 2012

Good Morning Good New, September 9, 2012


I’m Opie, Vincent D. Cat's adopted son,  and here to make you happy! You are HEROES! You work hard every day and you deserve to smile every day! Those of you working to save us animals hear so very many very sad things. And there’s lots of very glad things too and that’s what we talk about here! All pawsitive all the time! I want my friends to be happy and smile and know there’s a lot of good - including YOU - in this world!! Be kind and pass it on! Please send me your Good New and Fun Stuff to share, personal or global. Let’s keep it fun and interactive!! After all, if we couldn’t laugh, we would all go insane! Vincent@RikkisRefuge.org


On Friday ......

I hear mom call the V...E...T.... and so we went to visit my nice doc .......   and you know what she said about me?
She say 9 pounds be too fat for dis little boy!!!  Yes she did.  She said I gots all kinds of belly fat and I need to exercise me bottom half more.  Grrrrrr .... now mom says I have to be on diet .....


NUM NUM NUM .......

   
Wayne Morris, our photographer friend in New York,










YES, that Wayne!! The one who visited in July












entered a picture a picture of his kitty Batman in a contest to win NUMS ----  600 POUNDS of NUMS !!!!!  
 and won FIRST PRIZE and that was 600 pounds of nums donated to his favorite animal shelter!!!  And guess who that is???  YUP !!!  Rikki's Refuge.    Thank you Wayne, and thank you Batman !!!!!!

Wayne's Birthday is coming .... read all about what he wants!
http://wishes.causes.com/wishes/480521
 

 I've got your goat ......

 Dancer's been under treatment by Rose Hill Veterinary Clinic in Washington Virginia for six weeks ..... Tuesday was appointment day ... guess that escape during the Labor Day Tour he wanted to prove the leg is working just fine !!!! He got freaked out with all the people on the tour and went nuts, bashing his horns against his gate till it busted open.  Thank goodness there was no damage done.  He's very elderly, sixteen, and healing's been slow..... Photo by Beth McMaster, Official Photographer of Rikki's Refuge
We had to leave bright and early and head over the river ......

.....and thru the woods









............  and across the mountains we went ....

 and once at the doc's ......    He checks Dancer's gait

 and then x-rays










 Yeahhhh for Dancer ... it's healing, slower than we'd like .... but so far so good .... after six weeks it should be almost all healed and it's no where close ....  but healing is occurring and there's no infection ....  so we'll be back in two weeks to check again ....





 Dancer is glad to be home
Doug lifts out this 108 pound goat all by self    




Did YOU come to the Labor Day Tour ?

         We're up and working hours and hours before the gates open and the guests arrive .....

 Paul getting food to feed kitties

 Timmy says Good Morning









Doggy Downs

 Merlin

  





Powderpuff. ....... am I going home with Lloyd?    Lloyd Dolan, a volunteer since 1998, adopted kittens from Rikki's very first litter way back in 1999.  And now he's fallen in love again ......





Melissa Felts vendor of shirts at the Labor Day Tour !!!  Thank you Jan Chetnik, Tour Director, and all the volunteers who worked hard to give such lovely tours !!!!  Thank you to the visitors who were so generous in their donations!!  
 Sally will come out if the visitors bring good nums
 Jesssie loves visitors ........ with nums

Pigs numming corn - a big thank you to Snead Farm and everyone who went to pick and haul corn!

Joe protects the wildlife

Rabbit rotunda round up
Billy preparing new ground cover for Rabbit Rotunda  


Good morning from the goat field




Piggy Paradise


Petunia - the BIG pig !
Pig wallow







Emu Estates






Christopher meets Miss Piggy


 There was lots of excitement during the Labor Day tour ...... It all started when
.................. Dancer, who's on confinement with a healing leg went streaking by ..... Valerie in close pursuit was soon followed by others .... Photo by Beth McMaster, Official Photographer of Rikki's Refuge


 Cornered and captured, Billy hangs on for dear life as Dancer tries to butt him off the truck
.... Photo by Beth McMaster, Official Photographer of Rikki's Refuge




Thank you Sherry Eller !!!    LOOK my very own mower !!!






KiKi and Lena have a nose to nose .....











Look at the wonderful signs Rene Luther made for Rikki's Refuge !!!!






I Love YOU,
Opie
PPS You tell me what you want! Email me at Vincent@RikkisRefuge.org with instructions to change your subscription: additions, deletions or modifications! Subscriptions:  Vincent’s VIPs - up to the second alerts about issues at Rikki’s Refuge for those who care and want to be intimately involved. Scheduled as needed. Good Morning Good News - a little something to get you going in the mornings, for those of you who want to keep smiling with us! Scheduled daily. Hairballs - so you know what’s coming up at Rikki’s! Scheduled weekly.

Rikki's Refuge, supported solely by private donations, houses over 1200 animals of 22 species. On line at http://bit.ly/Give-a-gift-to-Rikkis Checks, money orders, cash, items at Rikki's Refuge, PO Box 1357, Orange VA 22960

Rikki's Refuge is owned and operated by Life Unlimited of Virginia, Inc., an IRS 501(c)(3) not-for-profit Virginia Corporation, tax-id 54-1911042. Combined Federal Campaigns #77674, Commonwealth of Virginia Campaign #3163, PetsMart Charities #1377. A financial statement is available upon written request from the State Office of Consumer Affairs.

Learn more www.RikkisRefuge.org and help spread the good word, tell everyone you know about Rikki’s Refuge

Thursday, August 16, 2012

Good Morning Good News, August 16, 2012


Goodz Morning ....  well today be long over the river and thru the woods day.  


Iz gotz to go out and gets the great big truck .... and then go getz the great bigz trailer.  I glad Kiki be coming along to drive, cuz it's a big truck.  Who's gonna win today's Opie's Kitty Trivia Contest? 

Wez getting 12,200 pounds of canned food.   If we gotz to drive back MILES and MILES and ME (Opie) and Timmy and KiKi be doing the driving, and we have to stop to snack every so often, and if we figure out how to crank that can opener --- heee hee hee KiKi already snitched it from the kitchen and put it in her pocket --- how many pounds of nums you think wez getz back with?

Just kidding, that not the real Opie Kitty Trivia of the Day !!!!  Here's the real conundrum you gotta figure out. 

We're picking up 12,200 pounds of canned food.  It'll be in cases I'm sure.  Two 1,900 pound pallets and six 1,400 pallets.  Lucky for us they fork lift at the pick up site!!  But unlucky for everybody when we getz back, Rikki gotz no fork lift !!!!   If youz got fork lift and you gots time to pave parking area and build a warehouse a fore we gets back, well than that sure makez the job easier !!!

So Iz be expecting Lena, Wayne, Paul, Billy, Shannon and Sean to be there working today.  Butz I gotz to be leaving a fore time for dem to show up.  They all know what afternoon chore is today .... so how many will think of creative excuse to no come do their job today?   But that not be the trivia question!!   Mom, and Mary Ellen and David will be with us in the truck and they be helping to unload too.   They all be da old kind of hooman, what you call dem?  Da senior sitonthems?  I think that cuz they be good to sit on after all those years of them practicing loving us.  

So .....  wif six ... better show up to work young whipper snapper hard workers and with three old senior sitonthems how long will it take da hoomans to unload 12,200 pounds of nums from the truck and trailer?   Give me your time in minutes.

Now curse I not know the answer to dis question either.  But I be finding out for you!  I got stop watch and us aminals we be watching da hoomans do dis job.  It be good some time to just look cute and say, but Iz just aminal, I can no help you wif hard job, Iz sorwy. 

So you tell me here in the comments - how many minutes to unload all the nums today.  I sorry they be variables but life at Rikki's is always full of variables!!!!!   So they just get calculated in every day.  And that be for today too!!!! 

Who ever be closest to the number of minutes it actually takes - wins a kitty toy !!!!   Mailed to you and your kitty, anywhere in the world!!!

Get out your chalk and find a blackboard and start your cogitating and your guessing now !!!   Seez you in lots of many hours.  And guess what .....  soon .... real soon .... you just might be able to keep up wif me on da smart phone all day long!!!!  Will dat be cool dat I neber neber have to be out of touch wif you!!!   Iz very excited !!!!  But it be secret now!!!  

But you know what not be secret?  I LOVE YOU !!!!! 


YOU been VOTING???

Don’t forget - every day in every way - Vote for

Rikkis Refuge in VA in the USA in the Shelter Challenge

Just click to vote -- easy and free




Betty Guarding the Pantry!!!

Remember Betty? Known as Bitey when she came? YOU saved her. You told me she'd bitten the animal control officer who captured her and she was going to be murdered for that offense. And so YOU helped her get here. And she's been just fine. Never bitten, never been mean. A bit of a loner but a love bug too. Likes good snuggles some times. Just not all the time. Wants to be outdoors and only comes in when the weather is really extreme one way or the other.



LOOK !!!!! Timmy's a star!!!!

I saw his picture on nums yesterday !!!!



Looking to Adopt any pot belly pigs??
We are looking for a home for our six 9 week old pot -bellied pigs and their 1 1/2 yr old father (he's fairly small ).  Some of them have white on them. If you can take them ,or know of someone who can please let us know.  I believe in the Culpeper area. If interested let me know and I'll give you the guy's email.



Mum’s gotz a happy
 - Snowball been here bout 3 years. She’s scardy cat. Her mum died and she was all terrified, ended up in a pound. Nobody gonna adopt a poor terrified adult kitty. So Snowball came here to live. She very nice, never growl or hiss or bite or scratch. Just scared. I don’t think she’d ever seen another kitty. And it’s scary to have to suddenly leave everything and everyone y
ou ever knowed and go to a strange place with all kinds of peoples and all kinds of aminals and start learning to make friends. And so Snowball’s been hidy, and scared. She’ll come up near at nums time, but little pat on head and she wants to run hide again. Mum woke up this morning with Snowball rubbing her feet, rolling and rubbing and purring. Mum was scared to move. She reached out a hand and wiggled her fingers. Snowball slowly slunk up, and rubbed on mum’s fingers for a bit. Then she stretched out and tried to look comfortable and regal and in charge of things (Snowball, not num) while she purred intermittently and looked around quickly, like this ok? I be ok now?

Mum says we need a 100 room hotel for the scardey kitties, so they could have quiet environment, one or two or three in a room, and nice kitty peoples who wanted to come spend the night and sleep with them and let them get used to things gently.

Wouldn’t that be nice? Not to worry. No hotels for sale! Not asking for $s to buy no hotel. But someday maybe? The Scardy Kitty Acclimation Hotel - what you think?



So ..... drum roll please ..... actors out front !!!!!
The main players in Tuesday's Get the Bleach plea .......

Sir Duke Thomas Peabody, who dutifully rolled in good poo and put on a sad sad face and even stopped wagging his tail ....

Timmy who pathetically drug his hind legs in, hauling a filthy bankie .....

Opie who slunk on his belly, like those hind legs don't work purrfectly without feet, and drug a dirty stinky bed ......

And of course ME, Vincent the World's Best Super Shopper .....

And when I walked up to that clerk and said .... please ... my boys are dirty ... they have no clean bed ..... can you please spare me 100 bottles of bleach .....

And she said GET OUT OF MY STORE YOU STINKING BUNCH OF AMINALS !!!!! And so I snuggled up to her real close and whispered in her ear ..... Pssss I said ..... I'm incontinent, and I'm gonna sit right here on your lap till you GIVE me 100 bottles of bleach !!!!!!

And do you know what she did? She threatened to call Aminal Control !!!

So I said ok, Lady, tell you what. I'll pay your outrageous price for that bleach. Then she smiled and said, Right O Pussy Cat, you gots the credit card, wez can talk. I whipped that almighty piece of plastic right out my pocked and I swiped it in dat machine and I say - See lady, I be nice pussy cat, I swiped the card, then I curled my fingers and stuck out my claws and said, I could a swiped YOU !!!!

And she said, well, uh, yes, I guess you stinking aminals can be a dangerous bunch, here you take that bleach, and I'll help you load it up if you go get out of here quick like bunnies, here go go go ... I even toss in 20 free bottles if you don't swipe me with those dangerous looking claws !!!!!

And so my friends .... I present to you 120 bottles of bleach --- total cost $100 --- look on lady's face - Priceless !!!!

And now .... to go tally up the counts of bleach. Who won the Opie Trivia Question of the day yesterday? How many gallons of bleach do we use at Rikki's Refuge every year? Hey, you, over there ... can you keep the drum roll going while I go check the entries !!!!


Thank you, thank you for the drum roll ..... Here are the guesses on Opie Kitty Tricia "How many gallons of bleach does Rikki's Refuge use each year."
1,000,000 Kathleen D Atkinson
   12,000 Kate Viscardi
    7,300 Ashlee Lee
    3,000 Nora Eldridge
    3,000 Catherine Hamilton
    2,920 Sherry Eller
    2,000 Jeff Green
    1,900 Bonzai Brown
    1,500 Frances Campbell
    1,373 Lia Federico
    1,095 Sheila Fath
    1,000 Stan Dial Sr.

And the answer is 1,095 gallons of bleach are used every year at Rikki's Refuge to keep everything sanitized for our protection !!!!!

Sheila !!!! You're the winner !!!!!!!! Ask your kitties if they want Pink, Blue or Orange and pm me your mailing address !!!! Or email Vincent@RikkisRefuge.org




Did you know




that Black Cats are the least likely to be adopted and more often killed than any other fur color, 5 times more likely to die in shelters. We hope that we can change this, they need your help. Post your photos, stories and share your love for them. We are here to enjoy and celebrate the Black Cat, to dispel the myths that has plagued them. Stop by, all pets are invited .. so share your love , post your photos and stories!!!!!!!  

This is an on line, virtual event.  Last year, when we started this project, so many folks joined that we got global media coverage.  This prompted many people to adopt black cats all over the world.  And shelters in many countries participated and countless animals were saved.

It costs nothing, and you need do nothing, but click on the event, and join us.  Just your membership here will help black cats the world over.



Tomorrow, August 17th, is Black Cat Appreciation Day


 

YOU can sponsor a Black Cat at Rikki’s Refuge for only $25 !!   Let ‘em know you care!


Later gators .....  Iz off to ride in BIG truck ....  Love Opie


Thursday, August 09, 2012

Good Morning Good News, August 10, 2012



.... (((((( scoots out with clipboard and pen )))))  
         ....  Well my son ... 
                         we're coming along on this evaluation .....   

You've been at the job three months 
          and tell me you can take over the whole show?   

Hmmmm   ((((( lots of checks in the right column .... but ))))   


Let's see here ....  You've done a fine job of keeping the hoomans stocked with paper towels I see ....    


New Species?  Well I guess so.  What is this guy anyway?  Pretty beast, that's for sure!  Anybody know what kind of critter this is?









He's like 3 inches long and a good half inch in diameter.  You go put him back in Caterpillar Corner, son.




YOU got to meet Wayne!  Wayne?  Wayne Morris?  As in Wayne H. Morris the world famous artist and photographer?  In catson?  No way!  How’d you get so lucky?




Son, I think you might be letting some of the staff slack off on the job ....



And I heard you let hoomans go early on Friday cuz they told you they’d finished their jobs.  Gotta be careful my son.  Not all species are as honest as us cats.

....... comes out of cat trailer with big X on clipboard and shaking head .....

Opie my boy !!!!  Opie, how can you forget to inventory CAT FOOD? 

Sunday night will be the last meal of dry cat food at Rikki's Refuge .....  
 

we NEED donations now !!!!   http://rikkisrefuge.org/donate.php and I'll do the leg work!!!   Donation Drop Off - email Vincent@RikkisRefuge.org or Facebook PM for instructions - 11 am - 2 pm this Saturday.  Or if you like amazon!  http://www.amazon.com/Lives-Daily-Essentials-15-Pound-Bag/dp/B002OHOC6A/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1344537505&sr=8-1&keywords=dry+cat+food

   ---- this time of year we're eating bout 65 pounds a day !!!!!    Hurry Hurry .....    I can see Opie's been slipping on the job.  Lots of paper towels but no nums .... Hmmmmm. 


I just don’t know .....  is Opie REALLY up to running this refuge?

Hey you all out there, you've had a better chance than me to keep an eye on Opie these last three months.  So how do you think he's doing?  Where have you seen him succeed ....  and where do you see his short comings?   Help me out here,

Lots of Love, Vincent

     

Good Morning Good News, August 9, 2012


OK Quick like a bunny, gotta vote for Rikki's Refuge in the shelter challenge. 

Oh my gosh.  I think I'm in trouble.  We're not doing so goodz.  Daddy Vincent always won these contests with your help.  I'm way behind. 

Hurry hurry, help me catch up. 

Big inspection today. 

I'm getting a review about how goodz I running the refuge. 

I don't wanna get thrown out of here. 

Help me quick.  VOTE .....  
http://theanimalrescuesite.com/clickToGive/shelterchallenge.faces?siteId=3
And enter Rikkis Refuge, VA, USA 

...  Later guys.  I gotta hide my cat nip mice and things.  Oh gosh.  I think Timmy and me maybe be goof off and play kitten so much.  I hope I no gonna get fired !!!! 

You all vote now, OK?  Love, Opie