Watching Hollister interact with the two of us, I am saddened to think that because of her early introduction to a human who did not understand the ways of a cat, she may not be able to move on and become someone’s beloved kitty for the rest of her life. When she sleeps with me, she will start by first sniffing my hair (as if she likes the smell of the shampoo). Her purr will then intensify and her sniffing becomes almost frantic- then she attacks my scalp. She digs in with teeth and claw and when she is removed, she comes right back. I hide my head under a pillow and she burrows her head deep underneath still seeking my hair and my head.

Last night I slept with a knitted cap on my head, hoping that might help and it didn’t. The only thing that prevents her from attacking at night is preventing her from sleeping in our room. Then she sits at the door and wails all night keeping me up. Mike’s oblivious to the noise as he takes his hearing aids out before he sleeps- but she is loud. I finally resorted to an old trick I discovered that stops cats from wanting to get into the bedroom at night. I parked the vacuum just inside the bedroom door. It was plugged in but not on. When she started screaming that she wanted inside, I turned the machine on just for a second and she scrambled away. Eventually, I was able to just park the vacuum outside the door not running and all was peaceful and quiet for the night. As time goes on and she feels she can trust humans again, the vacuum can be put back in the closet. But for right now- it stands vigil in the evening hours. It’s a good trick to stick in your back pocket if you have a cat that keeps you awake at night. Much better than spraying a cat with water- or screaming at the cat, stomping your feet or other methods some use to stop unwanted behavior in the nighttime.

Hollister was adopted out last week and she was returned yesterday. Apparently, she bit one of the older kids in the chin and drew blood. I told the new adopters that her trust meter was fairly low and they said they understood having “rescued” another cat years ago with trust issues. But they aren’t willing to just let her figure out things for herself and although I saw the wound- it was nothing really. Not even that deep- but they tossed her back.

I suspect she will just stay here for awhile until the memory of all she endured before coming here has faded away. I never noticed before, but she has a mark on her back and the pattern looks somewhat like a heart. She has our hearts and that’s all that matters.

We are still turning down cats right-and-left and it makes us sad, because there is no place really for these cats to go. But with a nine-hundred dollar vet debt and the food supply tenuous at best-there are no other options available to us at this time. When you throw the word feral into the midst talking about placing cats somewhere safe- it narrows the field.

The weather here has been frigid especially at night.  Yesterday, it warmed up enough to snow and more snow is in the forecast for tomorrow through Thursday. Kota doesn’t quite know what to make of all this white stuff falling from the sky. He started barking at the snowflakes yesterday which we thought was pretty funny. I would love it to just dump on us heavy and stick- I think he would be one of those dogs who would just dive into a snowbank and love it.

This morning, I left my flashlight outside when I was feeding. I went out to get it (this is about 4:00 in the morning) I heard this skunk making noises of distress under the shop- of course the flashlight was sitting on the feeding table out there. I went to reach for it- and turned it on and that’s when I saw the skunk. She was under the feeding table surrounded by the baby nutrias. They were growling and gnashing their teeth at her. I am not sure what set all that up- but I didn’t stick around to find out. By the time Kota and I made it to the house, the skunk smell had followed us inside. Yuck- thank God for Vicks Vapo Rub under the nose- overpowers everything.

When it got lighter, I went back outside to see how things were going and noticed the fresh hole dug down under the shop. I don’t think the new tenants are going to get along very well. I don’t really know how fierce Nutrias are in the wild, but they come from South America and they are rodents so I imagine even the babies can hold their own in a battle.

Tripp is doing so much better on the CBD oil. He is no longer fixated on his tail- eating the carpet or trying to suck down socks in his spare time. What I like about this treatment is it doesn’t turn him into a drooling zombie cat. I am noticing he is gaining weight now- I think the oil gives him the munchies.

My knee is still incredibly painful. Worse time is at night- can only lay in one position and the cats are determined to lay on me which only increases the pain. I can’t knock them off because I can’t move my leg freely.

I went for recheck today and they are concerned that my right foot will not straighten all the way. It wants to point to the outside, which I find odd because when my knee buckles, it buckles to the inside pocket. They renewed my pain meds and told me to start trying to do leg lifts as best I can because the meniscus when injured can adhere to a tendon that it is not connected to. Now they are not sure if it is a tear or a deep tissue injury. An MRI has been scheduled but the calendar for those are full so it is weeks away. They are going to expedite the order.

I have help with the outside feeders and the sanctuary cats which leaves me to tend to the inside kitties. I think Kota is suffering the most, I am unable to take him anywhere except outside to go potty and I see all his energy starting to explode. He knows I am hurt and normally he will pull me out to his pen at night to go potty and now he keeps in step with me without the pulling.

I have a brace to wear but it doesn’t fit at the moment because of all the swelling. They don’t want me to wear it yet- they just want me to have it on hand.

I did send out all the donation receipts and thank you letters. if you did not receive one either by email or direct mail, please let me know. My thanks to James for his help with creating such a great letterhead and helping me put it all together into something that might pass for professional 🙂

I love you guys a lot but sitting is a challenge, so I am going to sign off now. Thanks for all you did for the cats in 2017- so far no one has stepped up as a merchant to take the pressure off of feeding them in 2018 but the year is just getting started. It will all work out in the end and I will hobble through it-

Hey Guys,

A few days ago, I had Kota on a play date. There were two women I met a few months ago at the dog park and we formed a friendship. They have two dogs that Kota just really loved to run with and after a few times of running them at the dog park- Sue and Colleen invited us to their home where they have a large almost two acre fenced front yard that gradually goes down into a gentle slope. It’s perfect for Kota and Torrie (their shepherd mix) to run on because there are three rock walls the dogs have to jump on or over so that expends more energy. It is pure joy to see them run- like a big racetrack and the dogs get along great.  

I was on the lower level which thank God is grassy and wet and Kota was in front of me. I turned my back on him to leave and called him to my side. Oh, he came all right, at a fast clip and before I figured it out, he had hit me full bore in the back of my knees! I flew in the air and when I came down- I was lying on my back with my knees folded under me. I had hit my right shoulder and my head and I could feel this numbing pain traveling down my back toward my right leg. I could not move. Kota was beside himself, he knew instinctively that he had messed up and he was circling me and whining and nudging me as if to say “Mom get up, I don’t like this game anymore.” The only problem, I couldn’t move. I think I was screaming- it was a great deal of pain. 

I was lying in water and I knew I had to get up so I rolled over and tried to tuck my legs under me to get up- and then I know I screamed. Kota came to my side, and by bracing myself on him, I was able to get up. But, when I took a step, my right knee tried to buckle inward and a searing pain went through my body.  I knew because I was standing, that I hadn’t broke anything so slowly, I was able to get to the truck and with Kota’s help got into the truck and drove home. My knee was swelling at a great rate- so I iced it all that night and took ibuprofen hoping against hope it would be better in the morning. It wasn’t. 

I went to Urgent Care the next morning and they determined that I had torn my minescus. They gave me a pain shot, an anti-inflammatory shot and told me to stay off it for a week. I explained my circumstances, my husband and his needs and the cats plus the dog, so the doctor just shook his head and said do the best you can to stay off it, but don’t let it seize up. 

It hurts like the dickens. It initially swelled up to the size of a watermelon- but thankfully the shot helped to take a lot of the inflammation away. Today, it is the size of a cantaloupe. My problem is standing and sitting. I am using a walker to get around and I never realized how far it was to the mailbox until this happened.  They also diagnosed me with osteoporosis and I am supposed to really start taking calcium and eating calcium enriched food. The doctor said that they can’t replace the calcium lost, but that the diet will stop me from losing more. He said at my age, it is to be expected to lose calcium, but he was surprised at how much is actually gone. I told him about my early hysterectomy at age 21 which I believed had a bearing on the loss of calcium and he said that would do it. 

So how do I tell my cats that I can’t properly care for them right now. I have cut down the feeding time to only once a day which I hope will only last a few more days. I had a volunteer out yesterday, but she fed them dog food instead of cat food and my other volunteers haven’t been here in quite awhile.  My biggest concern is if I do have to have surgery- who is going to step in and care for Mike, Kota and the cats while I recover? My knee is still buckling when it shouldn’t be and I embarrassed myself yesterday when I went to the store to pick up my prescription and I screamed in pain when my knee gave out. People came running asking me if I was okay? I am concerned because I have a high pain tolerance- but not for this apparently.