I am not sure what they are going to do about Mike’s legs yet. I don’t even think they know. The cat scan that has been scheduled keeps getting put off and until they find out to what extent the infection has invaded his legs, they are treating it as a skin infection.

My hope is it has NOT gone to the bone. I believe we will know more of that later tonight. I was just told the hospital has been slammed with emergencies and those patients come first when it comes to the cat scan. All other scans are scheduled starting after midnight which is why the delay.

Glory is sitting on the rail outside, waiting for her Pop to come home. She will come inside when it gets dark, but other than that, she just sits there watching. I can’t even get her to eat when she is “on watch.” And people have the nerve to tell me they think cats are stupid! Taylor, another of his favorites, just hides till he comes back home. Unlike Glory, she will eat, but she just sleeps in the carrier near the head of his hospital bed waiting for him.

Took “Lake” into the vet this morning and she is about 7 months old, her fever is down (thank you God) but they suspect she has kittens somewhere based on how strange her mammary glands are- they do suspect that the kittens are old enough to be weaned as her nipples did not produce milk.

The sanctuary vet bill is out of control, but I still had her tested, vaccinated and put her on the spay schedule for Monday. With the recent flood of drop-offs- the euthanaias of the ones to sick to treat- the bill is topping over $800.00

If anyone can help us get this back to a manageable number- Thank You- if you can’t- I understand. But I have to ask because I am getting a bit of pressure about paying it off.

I still am refusing cats/kittens on a daily basis and it breaks my heart. But we are an organization of 3.5 people (Mike doesn’t count anymore because he can’t help out) Our resources are stretched thin and still the cats keep getting dropped off. If I ever catch someone dumping a cat on us- you will need to send bail money! But right now, we need vet money.

Thank you for listening, for caring and for helping IF you can-

Mary Anne

When they ran an article about me and the cats in the local paper, I was so proud. I thought maybe being on the front page (photo and all) would make a difference in the lives of the cats who pass through here. I had hoped the readers would be inspired to maybe dig into their pockets and help me out. I made sure that the reporter who was writing the article would NOT publish my address. He didn’t, he drew a map to my front door with his words. “She lives X miles outside of sweet home on the main highway heading toward Lebanon.” Well, he kept his word, he didn’t publish my address!

But since then, there has been a flood of kittens and cats dropped over our fence or on the front porch. I would much rather they were stuffing envelopes of money in my mailbox though! LOL This afternoon when I returned from Portland, there was a box on my porch and I knew it wasn’t from FedEx! Inside was a very young snowshoe kitten- scrawny, flea ridden and not looking very bright.

I lifted her out of the box and she was burning up 103 degree fever! I have called my feline specialist and will take her over there in the morning, but in the meantime have been instructed to start her on azithromax which I have done. I also gave her 100 mls of fluids.

I don’t know what she has(other than light-blue icy eyes) but I pray it’s not contagious or deadly. She is a pretty little girl (possibly pregnant), Will know more tomorrow. Please pray for her in the meantime. I suspect she isn’t quite a year old yet.

When I left Mike at the hospital today, he was waiting for the doctor to come in and talk to him about his options and quality of life. I had to get home to feed the cats so I didn’t stay and besides, this is something he needs to come to terms with- it is his decision solely. IF he can come to the determination that his life would be better without two diseased legs, I believe the process will be easier for him to accept. But if they remove that option from him and force him to have them amputated, it could go quite badly.

As with everything else around here- time will tell what will happen to the humans and to the cats who share the same roof.

His ears weren’t open yet, so he only felt his mom’s purr. His eyes were also shut so he never saw the loving looks humans gave him. I held him this morning as he took his final gasp of air. Mom cried once when he took his last breath, then she turned her attention to the other littermates nestled at her belly.

For the last few days, she has been nudging him away from her. I would try to feed him, but he was unable to suckle. Drops of formula in his milk, just stayed in his mouth. He was to weak to swallow. Just recently she tried to do him in the way that cats do: by stepping on him intentionally, laying down on him or squishing him near the wall. I would rescue him every time but she would become anxious and go over to the box and the heating pad and bring him back, then do it all over again. He never had a chance. Some moms know best and then the human side of me has to back down and understand that he was failing and should have never put his paws on the ground in the first place.

This morning when I went in to check on the litter, he was lying far away from the rest. I picked him up gently, he gave one small squeak and a gasp and was gone. His rectum had blood in it. I buried him in the long grasses and told him I was sorry. He was the runt of the litter and sometimes only the strongest survive. My hands were tied, I could not take him anywhere else to keep him safe because of the distemper outbreak. I did all I could but it just wasn’t enough.

Then I took Mike to his appointment and I had a bad feeling all the way up to Portland. I could smell his legs from where I was sitting and he had been complaining of pain (rare for him) for the last week. When they unwrapped him, I knew why he was complaining. His legs were infected- badly. For the first time, the surgeons came in and talked to us about amputation of both legs. He wants to fight to keep his legs and so for now, that is the route they will take. The surgeons do not believe that amputation is the answer for now. We made them promise if it ever comes to that (and I pray it doesn’t) they will tell us right off that there are no other options. They said they would do that.

So he is in the hospital again with badly infected legs- wounds so deep that I shuddered when they unwrapped all the casings he was in. He will be there for awhile.

The bright spot in this day lay at the end when Lil’ Squirts owner contacted me and I was able to bring him home. His two littermates were glad to see him and I could tell that yes, he belonged with Paula and her family.

This morning, I had to get creative when it comes to keeping cats here. I moved Girlcat (who was only supposed to be “boarded” for 30 days) that was three months ago- I took her out of her deck enclosure and put her in the Introduction cage. I suspect she has been abandoned. Her owner no longer takes my calls, so the poor girl is in limbo. My plan is over the next few weeks to introduce her gradually to the rest of the crew in the house and have her merge with them.

I put the two “moms no more” into the deck enclosure so they would have more room to roam. The one Torbie girl is a cat food hog! She ate 5 cans of food last night before 8:00 p.m.  I don’t think the mackerel girl got any at all. Putting them in this large enclosure will allow the mackerel girl to be fed in the catio, and the torbie to be fed inside the enclosure so both get their much-needed meals. Torbie is so swollen with milk that she still looks pregnant. She had 12 kittens inside of her and was ready to drop any time. 🙁  I’m contemplating seeing if she and the tortoise shell can get along and she can help with the kittens. But, it is dangerous to do this so I need to be careful and think about it more before acting on it. The tortie is in pretty bad shape and she is young- I am feeding her 6 times a day but the kittens are sucking the dickens out of her nutrition-wise. She could use the help (if she will accept the other cat). Still praying about that one-

I found myself fervently chanting “Please God don’t let them have their kittens now!” He heard me and even though their stress level was off the charts, we made it to the vet without having a litter!

I hate that this has to happen. It is hard on the queens, it is hard on the vets and it is hard on the rescuers. But we know that although this bumps up our vet bill- in the long run it is cheaper than allowing these kittens to hit the ground. Without having a history of the two cats there is no way of knowing what disease or issues these kittens may have. Plus the queens only feed for so long and there is then the situation where you have to buy kitten food, get vaccinations, get them neutered and find them homes. Although they are right on the cusp of having their family, this is the only way to go. It’s not fair but until people start taking accountability every time they add a cat into their family and do the right thing by spaying and neutering- it is how it has to go.

I will be trying to make the catio porch comfortable for two females today. Figure out some way to give them height- since the space is narrow 4’x8′ much larger than a small cage, but not a lot of room to roam about. George will be here this afternoon and maybe we can figure something out before the girls come home.

The mackerel tabby girl is not feral, but heaven’s she is so scared. I was able to handle her with a towel and get her into a carrier. She didn’t try to bite or scratch but she was not a happy girl. She is carrying her kittens back and low and I was really praying they weren’t going to make a surprise entrance!

Ok, well my venting is over. I hope someday in the future, what I do and what I know best to do becomes obsolete. But right now, I don’t see that happening. We are still turning down kittens and cats daily- not much light at the end of this tunnel I am afraid.

Both momma’s have been captured- please send up a few prayers that they won’t have their kittens before tomorrow morning! Aurora’s babies have already hit the ground- but the other two are still hanging in there. I just went in an checked on Momma 2- she is pawing the litterpan furiously without trying to pee or poop which is an early sign of labor. 🙁 Both moms are not feral- they are just scared and way to young to be a mom in the first place!

Of the three pregnant females recently dropped on our land, I have managed to trap two of them. I had an appointment on Monday to get the tortie spayed, but she had the kittens before I could get her to the vet! Now she is in full protective mode, but I did manage to take this photo before she moved her kittens to a “safer place.” Don’t worry, they are inside and safe. I am just sad that I couldn’t get her in fast enough but this is the time of year when spays and neuters are going full bore and their calendar was pretty full- She threw five kittens- two torties, two orange and one black.

Really need to turn off my cat magnet- not sure how to do this though. This morning on the way to the vet, I was driving through a residential area when I see this lady soaking the dickens out of this little white kitty!  I stopped the car, rolled down the window and challenged the woman as to why she was doing this? She said the kitten showed up two weeks ago, “no one wants her.” And they were “trying to drive her off!”  I was so mad, but I kept it in check and got out of my car. I walked over to this 3 maybe 4 month old white, soaking wet kitten and picked her up. I told the woman I rescue and I would take her and get her  into a home. She didn’t say much just coiled up the hose and walked into the house!

I put the kitty in my car (no carrier) and she promptly walked over, lay on my lap and rolled over to have her belly rubbed. She is a pretty girl-she is a flame-point. She is a long-haired girl with blue eyes and she is getting spayed right now. She tested negative and I might have a new home for her tonight- I have to wait until later when the woman calls me back.

Poor thing was soaking wet and smelled to high heaven but who knows what she has been eating recently just to stay alive!

Ok well here she is- She is home now and inside the stall enclosure which is empty right now.

I don’t know what I do to these cats to make them so unadoptable, but the woman who adopted Jordan just yesterday called before dinner and asked me to come and get her! Apparently Jordan yowled the entire night from underneath the couch…sigh. It was non-stop according to Joan and highly annoying.

Jordan is now sitting on my lap looking quite pleased with herself- the little brat. It would have been a great home, just as the other four would have been that she came back  from. I guess she goes on the unadoptable list unless I can find someone with enough patience to put up with her anxiety attacks until she calms down and trusts others besides just Mike and I.