Last night in line at the grocery store, buying (of course) my usual load of cat food, there was a couple behind me waiting to be checked out. I had been given enough donations to stock up, so the cart was pretty full of cat food. The couple weren’t what I would call nicely dressed, but they weren’t homeless either. What they exhibited during the entire time in line (about 8 minutes maybe?) was how exasperated they decided to be. Shuffling from side to side, muttering about feeding so many cats and making some pretty crude comments. I finally turned around and smiled and told them I was sorry that it was taking so long, but I ran a non-profit cat sanctuary and when the canned cat food goes on sale, I am the first in line.

The woman looked at the cans of food and looked at me and said: “Honey, if I had THAT many cats, I would just start eating them! Then she winked at me, nudged her male counterpart and said “We hear they are quite tasty!”

I wanted to kick her in the teeth- but I didn’t. Even the clerk who knows me quite well was offended. She spoke up and said “For your information, Mary Anne is one of the few here in town who does rescue stray and feral cats. She has done so for years.” I just walked away with my cart load of food.

This morning at 4:00 a.m. my usual wake-up time, I laid in bed and tried to sort out my thoughts. What am I doing right now with my life? Why do I care so much for these creatures that clearly have a low order on the pecking pole? How did I get here? It just all seemed so overwhelming…sixteen spays in the future, fighting ringworm, the huge vet bill as a result of the challenges of working with Pumpkin and Hope- then the hardest obstacle, finding all these wonderful cats forever homes. It suddenly didn’t even make any sense.

I was praying and talking to God and I suddenly had a flash of memory. My Daddy walking home from work with his mailsack on his back. Peeking over his shoulder, tucked into a side pocket was a calico kitten looking right at me! When he got to my side, he gently placed “Pirna” which would be her name into my waiting arms and this kitten climbed up on my chest and sat on my shoulder just waiting for what was coming next. My Daddy had found her in the field on his walk home.

She would eventually pass away at the age of 21 of cancer. This was before spay and neuter was important and Pirna (or Princess) would have multiple litters, some kittens we kept, others were given away to friends and acquaintances. She would be the family cat, but she was MY kitty and everyone knew it.

So, my path was forged years ago by my Dad and his love for animals and it is something I cherish, a way to stay connected to him even though he is no longer with us. People may not understand me, I am getting used to that- but I am so at home with these cats. Everything else, I hope will be taken care  of in time. If not, I will do all I can to keep these cats fed and healthy, for that is my ministry. That is my life.

Unfortunately, they are still so sensitive to light- so the flash of the camera causes her to close them-

But you can see the swelling around her eyes has gone way down-

I just went in to do the night feed for the kittens and I could NOT tell the difference between Pumpkin and her sister Autumn! Both kitties are wide-eyed and bushy-tailed and it is glorious (to say the least) to see Pumpkin’s eyes. Her swelling is down substantially. She still has patches of missing fur and some reddened skin- but not like before. Hopefully, the swelling will stay down from here on in and we can just concentrate on bumping up her immune system. She’s running all over the room looking things over and investigating everything. It’s a wonder to behold!

I am pleased to say that she has gained 15 ounces since she was weighed three days ago.

Here she is getting some  much-needed comfort from Aurora. It is interesting to see that when Aurora is with Pumpkin, all the other kittens now stay far away. I guess Mom effectively drove home the message that Pumpkin needs her special love and when they are together, the rest of the kittens should not trespass or else!

Pumpkin

Here are some of her other babies that she has helped me with tremendously.

After being told that Pumpkin is quite likely going to go blind, I have been on the hunt to find food to fortify her. She is now eating 3 jars of baby food at every meal, but face it – baby food doesn’t have all she needs as an auto-immune kitten. I have found a new canned food at the local feed store. I bought only five cans of it as The Kitty is once again tapped. She LOVES it! She was fighting for her place at the plate to eat it. She has not been willing to eat anything other than AD and Baby food for days now- but I have run out of both at the moment.

The food is Dave’s naturally healthy food Tuna and Salmon in Aspic. I think the smell is as attractive to this kitten as the taste. I just wish I could have bought more than 5 cans of this. I did put it on our wish list  a few moments ago (hint hint). *G*

It just warms my heart to find a food that is made for cats that she likes. Usually at feeding time, she either sleeps or just hangs back from the meals being presented. I have to hand feed her and she was losing weight the other day.

The AD is so rich (and expensive) not good for a daily diet.  I did check my donation box on the way out- nothing there but my seed money, 🙁

“He’s wild, he should have never been adopted!” That’s what I was told this morning from the woman who adopted both Jordan and Darby recently. I was stunned, Darby isn’t wild! He’s shy, he scares easily but he is not a feral cat. But last night, he got into her glass cupboard and went nuts and knocked every glass on the floor and busted them. Sounds to me like something scared him, perhaps that horrendous thunderstorm that passed through here late might have something to do with it?

At any rate, Darby is back here at the sanctuary and this wild boy just finished sitting on my lap for a bit before he headed out to the enclosure to say hello to some old friends. Barbara said as far she is concerned, Jordan has a home for life, but Darby shouldn’t have been part of the deal because he is wild. Related to Dennis the Menance is what she said.

I checked to be sure he didn’t get cut and I don’t see any wounds on him. I am sorry she lost all her glassware and I told her that. Sometimes kittens just react- but they do so for a reason.

I just took the above photo a few minutes ago- how “wild” does this boy look? And the flash in his eyes  doesn’t count!

Darby

I felt sorry for Cooper for about a half a second!

Trip to McDonald’s