Yesterday, a new arrival came to our home, this one canine not feline. he is 3 months old, his name is now Yoda and he is wonderful, incredibly smart, mellow when he needs to be puppy! He bonded to me right away so tight that when we stopped to get puppy food, he howled the entire time I was in the store! LOL Mike said he had to turn off his hearing aid to recover!

He is Mike’s Christmas gift but he’s not bonded to Mike yet- but as I told Mike this morning- his therapy boots he has to wear in order to walk properly scare even me! I am sure these frankenstien type footwear startle Yoda as well.

The cats are cautious, a few of the old timers are used to dogs so Sierra, Taylor, Baker and Trump were all in the living room sleeping while the pup was roaming about.

We tried to put him in a large cage, but he wasn’t liking it much so he slept under my feet (I crashed on the couch) and I put a barricade in the kitchen/dining room to give the cats space and to keep him out of their food.

I am hoping that Yoda gives Mike just one more reason to stay another day in the world. Perhaps one day what a miracle it would be- Mike will be able to take Yoda for a walk! That would be a blessing-

Anyway here he is and the people who owned him before us took such great care of him, but their life got busy and he ended up spending a lot of the hours in the day in a crate. Here he has acres to run on and we are both home the majority of the time-

This is pretty much he slept last night

The barn cats made their way into the house last night and huddled up to the heater. The temperature hadn’t dipped yet, but they were calling for a frost warning. I knew when Chappy came into the house, we were in trouble- he always comes inside when the weather gets unbearably cold. This morning, the outside thermometer is registering 16 degrees!

I look over into the bedroom and through the screen door the local business kitties are playing. I think where they would be right now had I not been able to trap them? There was very little warm shelter in the business they were found at a clump of blackberry bushes afforded their only protection.

Scotty is coming along slowly. He is so funny. I can pet him one time but if I dare try and touch him again he hops straight up in the air sideways and moves away from me. His trust button is low and who can blame him? Someone who resembled me, took him from mom’s warmth and placed him inside a letter box in a steel yard. The closed the lid- left him with nothing but the dark. He must have been so scared. I know I would have been!

I just went to the pesi refresh page and voted for my project again. I can’t seem to get out of the 30-40 rating mark and have done all I can think of to get the word out. The rest is up to God, but I hope you have voted for me today.

The house seems so empty even with cats scampering around the place. I keep thinking I hear Brooks massive tail thumping the side of the oven, or I hear her drinking water out of the bucket by the door. They are ghost noises of the days past and my heart hurts for her absence. She was really an incredible, loving and patient dog.

The kittens are full of themselves this morning. This is the longest I have ever gone in not getting neuters for some of them and it’s telling! There will be four more going in next week to get clipped and I suppose since one of them is Mr. Cool, he will turn into Mr. Comatose after his operation! The activity level right now in the living room rivals any playground of toddlers amped up on sugar. Yet through it all, Mike continues to sleep. How does he do that? LOL

Well, lots to do today around the house- just hope it warms up a bit sometime. If you haven’t voted- please click the link and vote and spread the word. I am working on getting a YouTube video going this week-

Thanks for voting! if you haven’t click below!

PEPSI REFRESH

I settled down on the tile floor of the “Big Dog” room at the vet’s this morning. With a slight tremor in my voice, I called to sweet Brook to come by me and lay down. She made her way slowly across the floor, her rear legs barely able to move her massive bulk to me.

We have had this four year old girl for a year and a half- hoping when we rescued her off of Craigslist that we could give her a chance at a life she wouldn’t have had otherwise. We had helped her as much as we possibly could and now it was time.

She laid down next to me and put her head on my knee. I looked into her light blue glacier eyes and sighed. She was a phenomenal dog- so good with the kittens, a wonderful companion a great “door blocker” as Mike liked to call her. But her life before us consisted of way to many trips to McDonald’s- too many scoops of food daily into her dog bowl and to many treats dropped on the floor for her to dispose of in a timely manner. The family had eight kids so you can imagine at dinner time, the food probably rained down.

Years ago, (my vet estimated) probably when she was two or three- she had to have blown out her back knees and nothing was done about it. When I questioned the former owners about it after we adopted her and discovered she was injured, they told me that they took her to a vet who told them it was hip dysplasia and nothing could be done- so- they did nothing and she has suffered ever since.

Her weight-144 pounds. I tried the best I could to help her slim down. But you can’t take a dog who can’t walk for a walk because that would be wrong. So I would take her instead to the lake to swim which she loved. She had her own lifejacket because I was afraid she might get into really deep water and get into trouble.

For a year we enjoyed the lake outings and then she found she couldn’t naviagat up the slight slope to get out of the water and back on dry land anymore, so I had to lift her up- physically impossible because dry she was heavy- and wet she felt like she weighed a ton.

People enjoying the day would glare at me and I would feel guilty as if it were MY fault she was so fat. Sometimes, a kindly gentleman would offer to help lift her up over the small ledge- sometimes, I just did it on my own.

The kittens would settle into her belly and sleep and she would let them. They chased her tail climbed over her face, she never minded- she was a gentle giant.

Dr Steve settled on the floor nearby and the vet tech gently took Brook’s head and wrapped her arms around her neck and squeezed her front leg to show the path of peace to the vet.

As the needle struck home, I was nearby and Brook turned her head and kissed me goodbye. It was as if she was thanking me for allowing this release. She left us gently and I hugged her tight as her head dropped and she slipped off into the night.

This was our gift to each other. We had talked it about for days after seeing how bad she was becoming. In the mornings we could see the spurts of the young dog she once was and she had a bit of energy. She was so funny because when the legs just wouldn’t do what she wanted, she would sit with a THUMP on the carpet and wag her tail. Then she would scrabble her front legs on the carpet and turn like a top around and around on the carpet. This was her good morning dance.

But by afternoon, she would lie on her bed not wanting to move, not able to go outside, not wanting to lie by our feet and we knew it was time. Time to make the hardest decision- time to relinquish our hold on her and let her go in peace before the pain became so unbearable that when she looked at us her eyes would say acu “Why are you letting me suffer?”

Goodbye Brook- thank you for your head on my chest in the morning, for your good morning dance, your warning bark when the coons were raiding the cat feeders and for protecting the smallest who walk here and guarding the largest who live here.

I will miss you my friend-your fur caught a lot of my tears and it was this river that carried you away to a better place today. Be good until we meet again~

This morning even though it was so chilly, I dressed warmly and walked out to the back pasture with Brook. As we stood there in the early light, the fog in tendrils catching the tips of the green grass, the fog was doing a sort of dance. I envisioned this structure to come. This pole barn with it’s welcomed heat beckoning to the cats, rising out of the mist and the pasture surrounded by cat-fencing. I could see in my mind’s-eye the cats in the fields, in the apple trees and out by the creek. I could just see these gentle creatures existing, living safely. No one to hurt them, scare them or worse.

If this comes about it would be such a wonder. To have a sanctuary open 24-7 with an observation deck off the back of the property where people can pull off the road and watch the cats, yet not even be close enough to try to pet them through the wires.

I saw it all and I smiled and yes, and not for the first time in a week, I cried. But these were different tears. These tears were full of hope.

Again to vote Here is the Link
You can Like the project on FB

You can like the project on the Pepsi Refresh page – the FB emblem and I believe that counts as a vote.

You can text 110725 to 73774

Help me make this happen. Tell anyone you know about project and keep voting. These cats need this safe, warm place and maybe I am indeed crazy thinking I can pull this off- but for their sake- I HAVE to try!

I was just notified that my project idea for saving older stray cats in my area has been approved I am over the moon excited about this! I am asking all of you to please help me get the word out however you can for people to vote for me. I am working on a local and national level as well to get the word out about this much-needed project here You can vote for this project three times a day- here

And here is how you can vote. You can go directly to the link and vote, you can vote via FB

Or you can text in a vote. In the 2 field you need to put 73774 and in the body of the message 110725 then send it.

THANK YOU! Please blog about this, put it in your newsletter, Facebook it-talk about it at the grocery store tell your friends, I don’t care! There are so many older cats are just dying from neglect and starvation and no one gives a rat’s ass! You can’t surrender them to the local shelters anymore they refuse to take them and it is a problem that is growing every year.

Please help me get the word out- and if you can come up with other ideas on how I can get the word out in my area (already going to local papers and contacting newstations) please let me know.

I can’t thank you enough for supporting me on this- you have no idea what an impact this is going to make should I be fortunate enough to make it to the top of the voting list!

Trying to remain positive lately has been such an inner struggle. I know that tough times don’t last but tough people do but I think I’ve reached the point of no return. I’ve kept if off the blog just because writing about it slams the reality of it straight into my heart and my tears start again.

When Mike got so sick years ago, spent the time in the hospital then the nursing home we lost substantial income. We have been struggling to keep up and yet kept falling further behind.

Recently, the lender (who I totally detest and will not name) but I will tell you it is one of the lenders currently in the news along with a few others “under investigation” for improper tactics regarding mortgage loans has decided working with us is no longer an option and unless we come up with a substantial amount of money in the next few weeks, they will start foreclosure procedures against us and we will lose our home.

I suppose if it was just us, it wouldn’t be such a crushing defeat but my tears are for the cats. What happens to them? Who in their right mind will rent their home to someone with dozens of cats? It’s hard enough to find a place that will accept one cat!

I told the rude, nasty lady who called this morning that they really don’t want this house! Our neighbor who has a brand new home has had his up for sale for five years with no interest. His barn in brand new, he has more land and yet no one wants it. I told her I have been living in a home half-finished from a remodel started over seven years ago. It doesn’t matter- they want their monies and they want it NOW!

I have never seen Mike so devasted. This handsome, loving gentle man who would give you his shirt off his back in the midst of a raging blizzard. And now this situation has raised its ugly head and further devasted this gentle man.

I don’t know what is going to happen, with fees and penalties and the BS they have tacked on suddenly it has overwhelmed us. We have a short time to figure this out and last night it must have reallly sent a message to me. My dreams were about Mike in a nursing home and me on the streets with a shopping cart full of cats! I must have cried in my sleep because when I woke this morning, I had cats covering my body. The door had been left open to the bedroom and I was surrounded by my friends. I was strait-jacketed in cats which is highly appropriate because right now, I feel like I am heading for a nervous breakdown.

Taylor is six years old- we have had her since she was 8 weeks old. She is part Maine Coon, part clown and of course a patient and loving teacher.

Taylor is Pop’s cat. It doesn’t matter that I am the one who scooped her out of a flea ridden nest and bottle fed her and her brothers to health. That’s not her concern. She is Pop’s lap warmer, comforter and sometime tormentor! LOL But lately, she is training him.

His computer is about 3 feet away from her favorite napping place- his recliner. When he gets on the computer, she becomes highly annoyed because her human heating pad dared to leave her!

Taylor hops on the small condo next to the chair and starts to meow. It is a sharp, short meow. A “Pay Attention!” to me NOW meow. He tries to ignore her and I have to laugh because her normal meow is so soft you can barely hear her. But, perhaps she knows Pop doesn’t have his hearing aids in right now and so she amps up the volume.

He keeps trying to read his emails in peace or surf the Internet but she is insistent. Finally with a bit of a sigh, he turns toward her and quickly checks under his chair for other kittens. Then he scoots over to where she is sitting and she hops on his chest! LOL

Satisfied that she has found yet another favorite napping spot- his chest, she settles down to sleep as he slowly scoots his chair back and tries to work on the Internet.

That works for about ten minutes until the weight of her and her fluffy bulkness blocks his view. Then he sighs, reaches over, turns off the monitor and places her on the top of the condo while he grabs his cane and slowly makes his way over to his chair. Once he is settled down and his legs propped up. She hops from the condo to his lap and settles down for a long nap.

Before she drops off to sleep, I swear she looks over at me and smirks. It’s as if she is saying- “See training humans is way easier than training cats!”