Yesterday, bright and early I found myself at Urgent Care. Around 2:00 a.m. I woke up to a burning pain in my eye. When I opened my left eye, all I saw was a black mass near my face. One of the black kitties had clawed me in the eye.

The doctor gave me a shot, renewed my tetanus and took me off work for three days-yeah right! He put me on antibiotics and a steriod type of eye drop that burns when I apply it. You know, I have had cats claw me in the middle of the night usually they hook me in the nose, but never in the eye!

I feel better today and I will be going to work today and tomorrow then I have four days off which I can use right now. I can feel my eye all the time it feels like pressure and I am watching it for nasty drainnage or more redness or any heat as I am well aware of cat scratch fever. the doctor said he only tipped me with his claws, he didn’t puncture any of the lining of the eye. The only thing I can think of is something must have scared him in the middle of the night. When I laid down to sleep, seven cats climbed on me to settle down for the night- to find the one who scratched me would be an undertaking as they were all black.

Blessed are they who understand

My faltering step and palsied hand.

Blessed are they who know that my ears

today

Must strain to catch the things they say.

Blessed are they who seem to know

That my eyes are dim and my wits are slow.

Blessed are they who looked away

When coffee spilled at table today.

Blessed are they with a cheery smile

Who stopped to chat for a little while.

Blessed are they who never say,

?You?ve told that story twice today.?

Blessed are they who know the ways

To bring back memories of yesterdays.

Blessed are they who make it known

That I?m loved, respected, and not alone.

Blessed are they who know I?m at a loss

To find the strength to carry the Cross.

Blessed are they who ease the days

On my journey home in loving ways.

*I need to keep this prayer in my heart and mind daily-*

Maybe my cats just consider water a precious commodity and have to fight or protect their right to drink it. This surprises me as we have eight different Drinkwells in the home which are always running, so why they feel they have to stage cat fights over the water bottles is beyond me!

He seems to have found a favorite spot to perch on=

The house is settling down some now after the passing of Turner. Three days ago, the remaining survivor kittens were vaccinated and Axle became feverish and lethargic not soon after. I had a moment of panic there, but the other three kittens were fine, so I hoped Axle’s reaction was due to the vaccine and not panleukopenia. His temp peaked at 102.9 and I gave him supportive fluids before heading off to work. When I got home, he was up and eating and drinking and playing with the others and I could breathe again.

One thing I have learned since being exposed to this deadly disease, is there are no “good days” no remissions, no forgiveness. It may take the victims quickly or slowly, but it always takes. If Axle had feline distemper, he would be doing either the same or worse- and right now, he is laying in my lap playing with my fingers as I type.

I have sterilized two rooms of the house as best as I can. I threw out litter pans, bedding, cat condos all cat furniture except for the units I have from one company FelineFurniture.com Because of how innovative the furniture is designed- you can take it apart and put in new inserts and tubing, and wash the hammocks and condos as well. I am not sure what the material is going to look like because I had to use bleach, but hey, I don’t think the cats will care! all the other wooden and carpeted condos got carried off to the dump- because there is no way I can effectively feel that I destroyed any lurking viruses on that equipment. So kudos, Feline Furniture for thinking of replaceable parts and pieces for your cat furniture.

So the house and my heart is settling down now and the kittens are out in general population where all but Riley have decided it’s okay for them to be around. But there will be no more coming through the front door for as each year progresses, I see diseases getting smarter and more sickly kittens being shoved out of homes to live on the streets. Twenty years ago, it was rare to receive a sickly kitten beyond just some with a common cold or a heavy parasite load.

Four days ago, Turner started acting off. He was vomiting and straining when he used the litter pan and he just looked off-kilter. I took his temp, it was 103.8 so I whisked him off to isolation. He refused to eat, became dehydrated and so I stared assist feeding him and giving him supportive fluids. Alcohol rubs didn’t diminish the fever and it held at 103 for several days. Antibiotics failed to work-and a shot of penicillian caused the fever to esculate to 105.8. He started pooping pure blood early this morning and began to slip away in earnest not soon after.

I called my feline specialist and although she had told me that she wanted to give him 48 hours after the last shot he recieved, when I told her the other symptoms; vomiting bile and pooping blood, she agreed with me it was time. When I asked her if this was distemper- she replied that she was afraid it was worse than distemper. My thought when she said this- How can anything be worse than distemper?”

She met Mike and the truck, took the carrier and the kitty and her husband returned minutes later with an empty carrier. Mike was instructed to tell me to sterilize the room completely, throw away anything that the kitty had laid on and keep all cats out of the room for a long while.

I am so heartsick for Turner. He was in such pain that the minute I walked into the room, he would start to purr. Mike said when he took him and put him in the carrier, he was as limp as a wet noodle (I was at work when all this went down.) It was clearly over for him. I feel like a kitty serial killer.

I am shutting it down completely and honestly, if I ran into that other kitten rescuer right now, I think I would pound her into sand.

I noticed her at feeding time limping across the pasture. Her right front leg was held up high in front of her and my first thought was “Oh no, she went past the treeline and got hit on the road.”

I walked over to her slowly but she ducked into the barn. By the time I got inside the door, I saw her vanish through the cat door in the rear wall and figured she was going to duck under the barn and hide from me.

I hadn’t seen her in a few days and it soon became clear that she was hungry for she slowly climbed up the ramp as best she could to eat at the feral feeder. While her head was bent into the food tray, I snuck up and grabbed her by the scruff of the neck whereupon she tried to bite me. But I held fast to her and took her protesting all the way into the enclosure, depositing her into the Introduction Cage. I left her alone while I scooped boxes and fed the other cats, then I stepped inside the cage to see what had happened to her.

She growled once, but when I started petting her, she dropped the feral pretense and leaned into my hand, ducking her head so I would rub her neck and accepting all the pets she had missed while she was outside.

Working my hand down her chest, I put my hand just above her injured leg and was alarmed to feel intense heat radiating up into my palm. Her leg was swollen from the knee up and I located the puncture wound that had scabbed over. Because of the heat and the swelling, I broke open the scab and gently squeezed. She screamed once and lunged for me, so I scruffed her until I had debreeded the wound. Then I put neosporin on the spot and gave her Clinidrops.

So many nights of worry about her are now over. She had been outside over 5 months but except for the one leg wound, she looks good. Before I left, I looked over at her and told her that I hoped she had given as good as she got. She was snuggled deep into the cat cave at that point, but her look said it all- “Of course I did- I stand up for myself now.” My pariah kitty is back home inside where she is safe. I will keep her in the cage until she healed and hope that when I do let her back into general population- no one will mess with her.

Welcome Home Mercedes, you have been missed.

Took Brook today to see a new vet and after extensive testing, we were told that Brook has indeed been injured (probably years ago) and instead of getting her help, they just let it go. As a result she has really bad arthritis in her joints, but especially in her left leg. It is not something that surgery can correct- the vet almost gagged when I told him about the $6,000.00 surgery! He said we can help her live with it with proper exercise, getting the weight down and pain control management. SHE HAS LOST 4 POUNDS! I am so proud of her- wish I could lose 4 pounds in 11 days! They put her on privicot one a day and applauded the swimming lessons and said to continue with that- but more of sloshing round in the water versus putting her in deep water to swim (because she could tire easily) and we could lose her.

When I shared with him that money was tight, he was kind enough to give me all the samples of her pain meds he had at the clinic. I am just so relieved that she doesn’t have to have surgery.

Afterwards, I went to see the boys. I have been thinking about them so much lately and so Mike and I took a drive to see them. Racer was glad to see me and whinnied when he saw the car, even before I got out of it. He looks good, except he still has those darn fly allergies. Trav looks good too and came over to say hello to me. I took them both over the car so they could say hi to Mike-It hurts to see them in someone else’s yard, but she is doing right by them and they have a small herd to keep them company.

She is aptly named for her and I are now in sync. When I walk into the room, she weaves patterns around my feet, zigzagging and crossing over within my ankles and legs dozens of times, making a once easy job of tidying up the bed virtually impossible without falling on my face.

This black kitten with a small dot of white on her chest, the one who used to scoot under the bed in terror every time I walked in the room- now wants to be my dance partner.

I wish the last woman who saw her in the room and made the judgement that she would never be saved could see her now.

Her presence is comforting, her trust overwhelming. She is still so tiny, but she has a big heart and holds her own when Axle decides to bully her. Where before, she used to concern me, now when I see her all I can do is smile and ask her “May I have this dance?”

I found the perfect place for Brook to exercise and swim. It is on the lake not the river and I am able to go into the water with her. She appears to like this swimming buddy system and the water is clear and calm and best of all, the bottom is sandy not rocky. It is about a 5 minute walk from the parking lot to get to the spot, and there is a small embankment that you have to climb down but it amounts to more then about 2 feet high.

While I was in deep water and she was splashing nearby, I caught a cramp in my leg. I involuntarily cried out once and she leaped out of the shallow waters and swam right for me. I managed to grab her collar and she took me back to the shallows where I was able to work the cramp out of my leg. I love this dog and so does everyone else in this house including all the cats.

I have kittens again- the gal who “wanted” to be me has had second thoughts and called me and said she needed the kittens gone “NOW.” I went over and took three kittens from her- two adorable cow kitties and one gray-and-white kitty. They are about 2 months old. The cow kitties are a bit unsocialized and spend a lot of the time hiding. She also has two more recent rescues that she is probably going to put outside if I can’t find someone to take them. They have been hurt by over-the-counter products and need a lot of care. I have calls out for those two as well as another mackeral tabby boy. No rescue is never easy- but this new development really hisses me off. I didn’t want anymore kittens, but she left little choice in the matter.