This is a bittersweet post laced with a bit of excitement because of how many cats will benefit. So here it goes, me catching up a bit on all that has been happening lately.

For over 8 years, we have been receiving $4.00 a month from a blog follower. She has never asked for a tax receipt, just said she loves to help those who rescue. From time to time, there would be surprises sitting on my porch from her- not boxes of kittens either 🙂 Just supplies that only someone who rescues knows are needed: rubber gloves, litterpan scoops, trash bags, PAM cooking spray. We would email almost monthly, and I felt like we were friends although we never met.

I haven’t heard from her in quite awhile and was getting worried. I recently learned, she passed away and there was no one that I knew I could call and offer my condolences too because she was pretty much alone in the end of her days.

Her lawyer sent me a letter and she left behind a donation for CATS Inc., that will enable us to finish the renovations on all the enclosures (making the wire ones solid) insulating every single one of them and allowing us the capability of helping over a dozen more cats down the road. He said she wished to stay anonymous and that no, there were no living relatives. Her family consisted of 4 of her own kitties and she had allowed in her will enough monies for them to be taken care of till the end of their days.

I was in tears for quite awhile (both happy and sad) after hearing this news and yesterday we went to buy supplies for the renovations, once again someone went out of their way to accommodate us getting what we needed at a very handsome discounted rate.

George will be working all week for us to get all of this done and I will be posting photos of the progress made as we go along. The once-exposed shelter off the back porch will now be made solid, insulated and the catio will be enlarged to accommodate more kitties who like to bask in the sun. The old “customized’ guinea pig cage (two levels) will be torn down and an insulated, secure “stand up and not bump my head” cage will be built in its stead.

The feral feeders will have solid wood on all three sides and electric running to them so heated water pans and heated beds will be able to run during the wintertime. There will be a small fence in the front of each feeder to keep Cooper out. Ever since he started feeling like a dog again- those cat food trays are quite tempting. I think a low fence, one I can step over but he can’t jump because of his missing back leg, will do the trick nicely.

The deck enclosure that used to be our gazebo will have a two- story catio on the side fully wired and screened. The main enclosure off the house will be half wood and half screen to create a windbreak when the winter hits and shelves and ramps will be made so kitties can get off the cold ground and into heated beds.

The stall enclosure will now be fully enclosed with wood- insulated and instead of a warming cave (that I can’t possibly fit into) there will be an actual insulated warming room within the fully insulated enclosure. We debated whether or not to tear down the big double stall doors in the back, but instead they will stay up and be insulated and closed off with wood. Beams will be added where the cracks show to keep the winter weather out. But in the summertime or the Springtime, those doors can be opened and wire will prevent cats from escaping and won’t stop the breezes from going into the enclosure. The catio will also be enlarged and run along the side of the enclosure giving the cats inside a lot more room.

I’ll be honest with you- after my parents passed away, I was wondering if I should just step down and stop rescuing once and for all. But then the phone rings and the stories start and I find myself wanting to say “No I’m sorry we can’t help you.” And instead hear myself say “We’ll be right there.”

Recently someone ditched a kitten up on Quartzville Road, it is road that at milepost 6 leads to Green Peter Dam and then the road just keeps going past the dam and into some pretty secluded forest area. It’s famous for a ditch road because no one really lives up there- it’s all government land. I got into it a bit with a woman who posted on the FB page that she just didn’t understand why “everyone” was stopping their lives and going up there to this isolated area Milepost 22 to look for this kitten because according to her: “Cats survive perfectly fine on their own in the wild and putting out food for the kitten just brings predators in to eat the food.” I tried to inform her she was mistaken, she didn’t take kindly to being told she was wrong and I was nice about it. Someone contacted me in chat and asked me “Mary Anne why are you arguing with someone who has no brain cells?” So I stopped arguing and backed out. It is common thinking here (and elsewhere I am afraid) that cats do survive fine in the wilds- but this kitten, he was near death when he was finally found. He’s been to the vet, he’s in foster care right now and I think the family has fallen in love with this tuxedo boy. They are calling him Gravel because there is gravel pit on that road.

On the Mike front- the doctors and surgeons have decided instead of having him go to wound care twice a week, I am doing “such a good job” caring for this leg that now that is all delegated out to me. I clean and wrap his leg every day. The wound on the bottom of his foot is closing up! YAY!! But our bathroom still resembles a crime scene after he takes a shower. Even the gentle setting on the shower head will cause his leg to open up and bleed now. I just keep praying that none of the superficial wounds on the leg will turn into a bigger problem.

Mr. Riley aka:Stryker the cat who lost his owner to heart disease is still only eating Temptations. I am taking him into the vet tonight for bloodwork and x-rays to be sure this 12 year old isn’t fighting something more ominous then being a picky eater. If he gets a clean bill of health- then I have a family interested in adopting him!  They initially contacted me for a kitten, but I gently persuaded them that he would swallow up all the love offered to him more than any kitten ever would.

I think that brings us up to date. The photo below shows me and George picking up supplies and yes, I know I look like I am constipated but I had just hit my knee on the trailer hitch. I’m smiling and grimacing at the same time! LOL  But it is a great photo of George the man!