The Cally sisters urgently need homes. Toots, Sweets, Edna and Pickles

We are leaving the island at the end of June and are worried what their fate will be. Please spread the word that these adorable kittens need a home. They are very small for their size but large in character!
Please contact us at info@arubakitten.org.

At the end of the evening we saw them outside the Westin and told them about our kitten rescue.  We exchanged cards with them and bade them a good evening, thanking them for helping out the animals of Aruba.

The next day we got a call from them. While at their hotel they were befriended by little cat they named Pika and they asked what could be done to make her life a more comfortable one. We explained that we could make arrangements for them to take her home with them. Although they felt weren’t sure they had room for another cat at their home they thought that could take her back to a shelter in Canada where she had a chance to get a good home. We invited them over to talk and meet our newest orphan, Keebler. The next day Sarah and Tim came over and we were able to spend some time talking about alternatives. We decided to catch Pika, we could have her examined by the vet and we would keep her here until final arrangements could be made.

Now by this time Pika was working her charms on Sarah and Tim and they were starting to consider  keeping her as their own. Since she was going to be our first rescue going to Canada, we were not familiar with Canadian law concerning transportation of animals but a quick visit to the Canadian governments web site, we found that bringing an Aruban cat into the country was as easy as taking one to the US. The next day we were off to the vet’s for her shot and health certificate.

Pika spent the next 3 days with us. She was so happy and content to be somewhere safe and to have a constant supply of food. Even the vet told us that he could not believe how calm and sweet Pika was. She seemed to know that she was on her way to a better life and never meowed or was upset. Saturday morning we delivered her to Tim and Sarah’s hotel as they were checking out.

Pika had a long trip. First the flight to Toronto. After arrival in Toronto, she spent the night at a Sheraton hotel. Yes, many hotels are pet friendly now. After a good night’s sleep it was off to the airport for the flight to Vancouver.

We will post an update on her flight when we hear back from Sarah and Tim. But this is truely an Aruban love story. We know she will have such a great and happy life. We have been deeply touched by this sweet cat and her affect on all of us!

James saw Doug and immediately fell in love him but he was told he would have to go back and ask his parents if it would be okay.

Later that evening James came back with his parents and sisters to meet our Chug-a-lug Doug. Everyone loved him and though Dad seemed apprehensive, after 5 seconds of Doug nuzzling his beard, Dad said it was okay.

We got Doug his health certificate on Friday and Saturday morning we dropped him off for his new adventure. His new home will be in New York state not far from the Massachusetts border. Besides his new humans he’ll have 2 older cats and a big Labrador to keep him company.

We discovered that we have been mispronouncing little Murray’s name. We thought it was pronounced MUH-ree when in actuality it is pronounced muh-REE.

Last night as I was giving him a bath I took a closer look and saw that he is a she. We had only assumed that muh-REE was MUH-ree because the person that delivered the kittens told us that the two orange kittens were brothers. So it seems that Mini-B and Du-ug have a sister. It’s 2 girls and poor lonely Du-ug.

Well, this weekend we took in 3 babies. One male and 2 females – one looks like a tiny version of Bunny – and in a few weeks we can expect the crazy rough housing to begin again.

The one that looks like Bunny was going to be Mini Me but at the moment she’s Mini B. Her brother & sister are almost identical twins but we can tell the difference and they are presently known as Marie and Doug. Our Aruban friend pronounces Doug but with 2 syllables – Duh-ug. They are all in good health and are starting to adapt. The first couple of days they wanted nothing to do with the bottle and formula. “This isn’t Mom and this isn’t what we are used to drinking”, was the attitude. But they finally got hungry enough that they decided a rubber nipple and formula was better than nothing.

Doug is looking for a home! Get ready world – here they come.

What happened was a fellow cat lover on vacation, Diane, met these two at her hotel and to her surprise they were very approachable. After a few days of feeding and petting she contacted us and asked for help in taking them back to the US. Because she was leaving in 2 days there was a rush order on all the work that needed to be done. Needless to say, Queenie and Sweetie decided to hide out the day before and did not show up until Saturday morning. By that time it was impossible to have their papers in order to make the flight that day.

Diane decided she missed the two kittens and wanted to
see if we could get them to her. We posted looking for
someone to fly them to Dulles and a wonderful lady, Alison,
said she would fly them back for her.

Her flight was on the Sunday when all the snow hit DC.
The flight took off from Aruba and we were biting our nails because we had seen all the reports and that Dulles was closed until Monday. Diane send us the following email about their journey:

Well the plane left an hour late so was due to arrive at 9pm. We got to the airport and called Alison around 9:20 but they were still on the plane because the gateway (or whatever you call that thing that rolls out to the plane so people can get off) was jammed plus something was stuck underneath the plane. To make a long story short, we finally connected and I took the little gals home and set them up in their room sometime between 10:30 & 11 PM. Today they seem fine – they were playing with one of those round cat toys with a mouse inside that goes round and round when you bat at it. Used the litter box like pros. So all is well!

Alison who took them and said they were little angels the entire time. Not a peep from them and they were just great.

It took 6 months for her to find her “dream home” in Va. We have grown
quite attached to her because she has wonderful personality and provided
endless entertainment for us. But we are so happy that she has a new
home in the US where she will be dearly loved and spoiled. We wish you
the best of luck Bump!

Thanks to everyone for their support and contributions. Thanks to you
we are able to give these great little guys a chance for a good life!

So young, so cute, who could resist? Certainly not Tammy and Dave who fell in love with their new kitten, Divi Divi.

A beautiful orange tiger about 4 months old, Divi Divi must have heard from some of the other cats at their hotel that if you played your cards right you could get yourself adopted.

We got the call from Tammy and helped her out with the regular travel package. They got the exam from the vet’s and with a certificate of good health and a rabies shot the stage was set for the flight to the US. Everything went smoothly and we recieved word that Divi Divi has settled in quite nicely in her new home.

We received and email a short while ago from a person who wrote us that there was a young orange cat hanging out at the Marriot. They wanted us to take the kitty in and rescue it. We told them that the cat was self sufficient and that we rescued the bottle babies and therefore it would be best if she remained at the hotel where she would be relatively safe and cared for by the countless Marriot customers.

We let the person know that we could make the arrangements for them to adopt the kitty and take her home. They said they couldn’t and we told them that if the kitty was that friendly that they should let others at the hotel know that it was possible to take home the ultimate Aruban souvenir.

We heard nothing for the next week until yesterday. We got an email from Debbie who inquired about taking home a beautiful orange kitty that befriended her at the Marriot. We asked if she had spoken with someone at the hotel about taking her home and if he had given her our phone number and she said no, the cat was just very friendly and she decided she would like to keep it.

Debbie had already called the vet and made an appointment for a rabies vaccination and health certificate and was in the process of trying to find a suitable carrier for the flight home. After a few phone calls and no luck she tried doing a Google search for “aruba cat carrier” and this web site came up.

The rest is now another successful tale of how cat lovers rescued another homeless kitty.

Just that morning we had visitors that brought us supplies. We were well prepared as we picked up Debbie and Mango at the hotel and took them to the vet’s for the shot and exam. Mango passed her health exam with flying colors and was given the go ahead for her flight to the US. We dropped Debbie off at the Marriot with the “travel kit” we prepare for adopted cats – a carrier, harness, leash, an unopened package of temptations, a small, disposable kitty litter and a towel.

We then took Mango home with us to spend the night just so there would not be any problems – we are not sure if the hotel would allow her to keep Mango in the room overnight and to let her roam the hotel grounds, now that she was leaving, was out of the question.

Mango slept well in our guest house and this morning she was fitted with her new harness and leash. Into the new carrier and off we went to reunite her with her new owner. At 12:15 we bid them both a fond farewell and a safe and speedy trip.

We are amazed by the fact that even though Debbie hadn’t heard about Mango from the earlier concerned person and also that we are now getting to the point where a Google search brings up our web site. What is even more amazing is that it seems as though little Mango was determined to find an owner. Sure, working the crowds at the hotel is pretty simple, it is still work. Finding someone to take care of you for the rest of your life is a much sweeter deal – and sweet, sweet Mango hit the jackpot.

Mango asked us to thank each and every one of you who have brought us the carriers and leashes and harnesses and treats and everything else that made it possible for her to start her new life. We did our part as did Debbie, but this is just a reminder that you all helped too, and for that we thank you again.

At about 6 weeks old he was catching up to the Flintstones and we put them all together keeping a watchful eye so he wouldn’t get bullied. Lo and behold, little Elmo was one not to be reckoned with. Absolutely fearless and ready to take on all comers.

Having longer fur that’s soft as chinchilla, Elmo was snatched up by a wonderful young lady from Philadelphia who was here in late June. She and her family had brought supplies for us when they came and she wanted to adopt Max. Unfortunately it was not possible at that time and Max found a new home here in Aruba a few weeks later. We kept in touch and last week she decided she would like Elmo. As luck would have it, we had a visitor on the island who was able to transport the lucky little guy to Philly for us.

The Flintstones miss Elmo and are sad that they were not picked first since they were older, but they are happy for him.