The cats you see at Petco and Petsmart belong to rescue groups. A private citizen cannot go to Petco and Petsmart and have their animal displayed for possible adoption. The contract the rescue groups sign is quite long and extensive - putting a cat in a cage in a pet store opens that petstore up to all kinds of liability, this is why the adoption centers are only for the use of well-established, well-reputed rescue organizations who can contractually guarantee the animals are healthy, vaccinated, and won't be abandoned by the owner. Since this is "kitten season" you will have a very hard time finding any shelter, kill or no-kill, to take them. Each rescue group has their "niche" - some only rescue from shelter death rows, some only rescue certain breeds, some only rescue thos with certain diseases, etc. Becuase of this it will also be really difficult to turn the cats over to a rescue group. If you already had an "in" with a rescue group that takes in death-row kitties, you could ask that person what shelters they rescue from, then drop the kitties off there, then alert your friend in the rescue group they are there. But I suppose if you had such a contact, you wouldn't be posting your message, would you? I can't give you an easy answer because there isn't one, especially this time of year. At this point you probably only have two options - drop the kitties off to a kill shelter and hope for the best, or stay on the internet/phone trying to locate a rescue that will take the kitties. You may have luck finding a no-kill shelter, but that's very doubtful this time of year. And, like was mentioned upthread, you WILL be expected to give a donation if you surrender them to a no-kill shelter. Shame on your stepsister. And good luck to the kitties.

My seeds are packed up and will go out in Monday's mail, just in time for the deadline. Things are good here Angela, TY for asking. :) Very busy with sowing, pruning, and garden cleanup. In my climate this is a very good time to do all that. Just sowed several different culinary herbs yesterday. :) Also busy planning out which food seeds I'll need with me, when I leave here and move someplace with a climate that's approximately Zone5. I will have a pretty short season, so I'll need vastly different veg/fruit varieties from what I've been growing here in Zone11. The place I'm moving to is pretty remote and has a very high cost of living, so buying or swapping for the seeds after I move is not such a great option. I'd spend a lot more if I did that. It will certainly be an adventure! On the one hand, I won't be able to grow my own ginger root, or grow things year round outdoors, anymore. On the other hand, I WILL be able to go skiing which I cannot do here, and I'll be able to grow alpine strawberries, which totally refuse to grow here. Gotta look at the blessings. :) Like the rest of you, I'm looking forward to seeing what goodies I get in this swap! :)

Aunnie thanks for the kind words. i will admit i hate snow at the best of times and we don't need it in may. however, it went up to a balmy 46 today! - lol. yes, i will also admit we have great kids, no problems with the law, no drugs or drinking, infact ds dropped his long time girlfriend of 2 years because she started running with the wrong crowd. right now he is going out with a delightful young lady also of 2 years and is catholic as well and comes from a great family, so we are blessed. i hope you didn't think i was rude about you caring for your mom, but we are kindof the same age, -- i 49 and am home ALL the time, 24/7 with Al, and i have no help except for the kids (oh, everyone, his mother and sister came by for 15 minutes yesterday, to whine about something stupid, but they didn't get the answer they wanted so they left!) i keep busy by quilting and knitting, and mostly donate things i make for worthwhile charities, if i don't have crafts i don't know what i'd do, they are a God send to me. i wanted to tell you that i was worrying so much that i lost alot of weight, - i am 5 ft 10 and weighed 119 lbs, no good, with the paxil (or if you go and see your doctor he will put you on what he thinks is best for you), these pills have made me eat and very healthy i must admit (we never did eat fast food stuff) but now i weigh about 130 so alot better, i would also be up all night, believe me when i say there is nothing on tv at that time - lol , but i now can sleep almost all night. aren't prescriptions draining, we have a plan where you have to put out 100 percent and wait and wait for get 85 per cent back, and with bills of about 600.00 a month - oh don't get me going - lol, but atleast Al still has benefits from the college where he works (he has academic upgrading, math, english and a computer lab to help adults get their high school, so they can get into a college programme, it is very sad to see a man of 58 come in with a grade 7 or 8 education, but worthwhile when they finish the 3 year programme). anyways, aren't everyone just great here, as i said before, we will probably never meet, - except linda (glitter) and i, and i hope we still are linda! - lol, but see you are writing back, so that's really, really good because you can divert your mind on something else and you get to just chat with super nice folks! anyways i've rambled on and on to much, and my furry friend wants me to take him outie (too afraid to go out alone, he needs his momma!) so try and have a restful sleep! Gabby, i'm going to try that cyanne pepper, next time i have a being of amigrane, i did try the feverfew and it didn't work, al said it only gave me really bad breath! he tried grape seed extract, for pantom pains, i read a couple of articles, but they didn't work for him, but then again, everyone is different, but right now, i'm game for anything! thanks for the tip! debbie

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