Yesterday, I watched his great concern as a short haired tuxedo kitty probably about five or six months old ran across the four-lane highway, ending up in my front yard. I knew if I went outside and startled him, he would just start back across the highway and that’s not something I would wish on any animal. I waited for about an hour and went outside and put out food and water in the front yard as well as a shelter, hoping that next time he comes across the highway he’ll see that he has a place that safe and he won’t go back across the highway and disappear over the railroad tracks.

I don’t know if my plan will work. Tonight I will set my trap and hopefully get him captured. I need to get Nathan back here to finish the introduction cage because that’s virtually. The only place I have to put another kitten. I suppose that once I get him tested and I’m pretty sure it’s a male, he can join the other two kittens as they seem to be around the same age. Plus, if he’s a Mail, that would be a quicker introduction and then if I have another female on my hands. I will say my heart was in my throat as I sat at the window and watched him dart across a busy highway and not get hit. Unfortunately, here in Oregon a lot of people intentionally will hit animals. They see on the road. I will never understand why that happens but I have seen cars intentionally pull over Elaine or two to hit an animal. And they never stop when they do. Right now, I am calling the newcomer Elusive  and I’m hoping he doesn’t stay that way very long .

Everything went according to my original plan, for which I am grateful. It allowed me to get home in enough time to shuffle the kittens accordingly.. I did not have to inconvenience a couple friends to come and fetch me or to ask Nathan to tow my truck back home. According to this new mechanic, who I like a great deal- all the problems. I’m having on my truck in this last year is due to the mechanics who have been working on it not providing guaranteed Ford parts. Unfortunately, I’m being charged for guaranteed Ford parts, I keep all my receipts in a manila folder in my truck. But according to him everything that has been replaced on this truck is generic.

He told me that when it comes to the engine in this truck, it’s a very fickle engine, and it only responds well with guaranteed Ford parts. Although this engine was originally made in the 80s, and Ford is completely aware of all of its problems. My mechanic said they have done nothing to make the engine better. They are still pumping out the same engine for the older models.

I’ve been told that my truck is drivable. It will still misfire. He said my engine is good so that’s a relief. So now my goal is just to start saving to get my truck fixed. I’m just relieved to know that it is drivable because the last mechanic told me the direct opposite . However, he did not put my truck up on a lift and actually look at it. He just took it for a test drive. This mechanic went over my truck with a fine-tooth comb.

Kitties were fine when I got home. I actually arrived at home ahead of the heat wave. Then last night the temperature dropped down to 41° so go figure? Who would’ve thought that I would have to run the heat in June in Oregon? This is nuts!

I have to have my truck towed to an auto repair shop in the morning. My policy limits my tows to one a day. A fact I am unfortunately well aware of. This truck has broken down so many times on me recently. So the plan is to have it towed, there it will be diagnosed, and an estimate will be given. Then if I get an all clear that it is still drivable. I will drive it back home and park in my driveway until I can afford to get it fixed. If I can’t drive at home and I have to have it towed, my insurance company will not do that until tomorrow. So then I’m faced with how to get home. I have three back up plans for that just in case the first one fails so hopefully the mechanic will tell me some good news at least maybe my truck will make it back home. Otherwise, I have to figure out how to guide three people who have never helped me in this capacity before, how to care for the cats in my absence and how to take care of Kota in my absence, who I will be leaving at home. I also know based on last years experience with my truck that the only dogs allowed in tow trucks are lap dogs. Kota does not apply.

I’m really hoping for the best case scenario here. That after the diagnostic is done, Colt will tell me  my truck will limp home, but will make it. If I promise to park it permanently until I can get it fixed.Cross your fingers for us.

Another concern for tomorrow, because it’s supposed to be another hot day. I have to find out today if I’ve figured out the airflow in the room to get it cool in there. But they’ll have to be checked on and if it’s too hot in the room they’re going to have to be moved so like I said, tomorrow’s going to be a juggling act. Hopefully not, but around here you never know what’s going to happen next.

Here is a photo of Laurel, enjoying her new room. I will say that ever since putting these two inside my mudroom, now converted cat room, Aspen has come out of her shell. She was very aloof and standoffish when she first got here. She hated to be picked up, she would squirm, she would fight she would bite. Any transportation that I did with her was only inside a carrier. That has stopped, now she is climbing all over me. When I sit down on the couch, she will come up to me,  headbutt me everywhere she possibly can. Last night she climbed on my shoulder when I was feeding. Right there tells me that I’ve done the right thing in trying to break into her trust barrier. I didn’t rush her,  I respected what she was telling me. So I was hand’s  off until she told me otherwise.

Yesterday, based on the behavior of the resident kitties, we moved Aspen and Laurel into the mudroom in the house. This is a room that is currently unfinished, there is no final flooring down, just subfloors. Originally it was a cat room with access to the outside to a cat door. We have taken the cat door and rolled it up. We screwed it down into place and put over the opening pet proof screen. This will allow air to come into the room. There is a sliding glass door and screen. Currently the screen is just regular, so it has to be rescreened with pet proof screen.

We put the old intercom system that used to exist between the shop in the house into the mudroom. Added one unit to the kitchen so that we could interfere. Should we hear any battle cries coming from these two kitties who have been through so much in such a little time.

The room will still function to hold tools, as well as a mudroom to deposit coats and shoes in, but now there’s two little feline security guards running around, making sure that their new world is safe and secure. The plan is to keep them in the room until they can gain enough weight to be able to hold their own against the other kitties. Then they will be moved into the introduction cage, which will have been extended by that time. This seems to be an easier solution than what we were looking at before. We have to make do with what we have on hand, and so this decision  came with a lot of prayer and thought.

I hope you enjoy the photos of the two girls in their new dwelling place.

Since coming back from the vet, Aspen and Laurel have been spending their time alone inside large dog cages. Although they are side-by-side, my fear, since they’re both females is that they’re going to get to the point where they’re not going to get along anymore.

A few days ago when I was cleaning out their cages in the morning. I cleaned out one cage of everything in it. I put them both inside that cage and stepped back,  as I feared, they went to battle. Quickly I stepped in and separated them and put them back in their perspective cages.

So now the plan changes.instead of extending the introduction cage. We are going to have to make the extension bigger and turn it into a separate cage where one of the kittens can stay comfortably for as long as it takes for them to acclimate to the other kitties. It is far too soon for me to just release them within the population. Not only do they not have the body weight to stand up to any type of bullying, but it’s not wise to automatically assume that cats can get along immediately just because they’re cats.

If one of these kitties was a male, we wouldn’t be faced with this situation right now. For some reason, females in the cat world do not get along with each other. Sometimes, as almost was the case with these two, it can  even turn into bloodshed. If I had left the building with them inside. I would definitely have had to call the vet and take them in.

Unfortunately, this means that they have to spend a little bit more time in these cages. Nathan is quite busy with his construction job. He is doing all of this work for us out of the goodness of his heart and his love for cats.

Right now my cats account is completely tapped. So they’ll have to spend an additional 10 days until next payday before I can go back and get additional lumber. I suppose I could finish the job with Nathan before the weekend but it wouldn’t be fair to the cat that would have to live inside this extension. It’s simply not big enough. So I did some planning last night and I figured if we hit it from the side and extend it and bring it around. It might look a little unorthodox, but it would certainly give the cat a lot more room than she has now .

This is the way of the stray. You can plan, you can plot, you can hope and you can pray. Sometimes it just doesn’t go as planned. Their presence within the enclosure right now is being felt within the population. There is a lot of negative energy, especially with PITA. I discovered her yesterday, she had Magoo pinned and she was biting his neck. This is not good. I will be getting a pheromone collar for her as well as for Aspen in a few days. No Feliway diffuser is going to take down the negative energy level because the outdoor enclosure is wire. The calming fumes are going to just flow outside and do no good. I am playing the CD.Harp of Hope continuously to ease some of the tension. But the best thing I can do is just go get the lumber and make the cage into two cages attached to each other. There will be a door that will allow both cats to eventually come through, and perhaps share the two cages together. That’s my plan, let’s see if they’ll go along with it. Time will tell.

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Both Aspen and Laurel have been spayed now. Currently, we have them in a large cage. Each girl has their own cage. They are very subdued kitties than what we are used to, but quite reserved and timid. We put them in the cages while we begin work, enlarging the introduction cage to accommodate their extended stay. Plus the fact that with the surgeries they can’t jump without it causing pain or discomfort.

Both girls are adapting well to this new situation. I haven’t noticed any type of aggression from them towards the resident kitties. Nor have I noticed any of my five resident kitties challenging them in an all out battle. It’s quite odd to have two kittens who are not feral. They love to be scratched under the chin, it’s amusing actually when I stick my hand into the cage to say hello, they stay inside their little carriers. However, the minute that I withdraw my hand and shut the door, they come out. That’s when we can get to know each other better. I believe that if we kept our hand in there and tried to coax them out or pull them out of where they are, this would not bode well with them. The fact that we withdraw our attempts to pet them, causes them to reconsider that perhaps these humans aren’t really messing with them. They are just trying to be friends.

Yesterday, Nathan and I did a quick rendition of the new changes to the introduction cage. We are going to expand it out and this new addition will also be insulated, so in the winter time they can stay warmer. We will have screened areas in the back, so that resident kitties can investigate the newcomers without anyone going to battle. It also will allow more air circulation within the cage. There will be shutters that can be closed in the winter time to provide additional warmth. I am quite excited about seeing this come about. Nathan will be here early this morning and we will start work as soon as he gets here.

The only one who seems to resent these newcomers is, of course, PITA . She has to maintain her Alpha state with the group. Her trick is she jumps up on top of the cages and growls at them. So we cut a piece of plywood to fit both cages and now she can sit on the roof and growl, but she can’t reach in and claw them should she desire that. We have not seen that part of her aggression show towards these two new ones. But it certainly is showing towards the outside girls that come to the door to say hello. Her and Twist  seem to get into it quite a bit. We are glad that there is wire between them.

This transition between the two groups inside the enclosure may go easier than we anticipate. We just have to take it a day at a time, we take our cues from the cats. Nothing is rushed, there is no time schedule on our end. We want to be perfectly sure that, everyone will be getting along  the first time we “accidentally” leave the door open and step back to see what happens. That may be in a week, perhaps a month or even longer. It’s all up to the kitties.each day is a journey of discovery between all of us.

The upgrade to the introduction cage has begun unless something comes up. It should be completely finished by tomorrow night.

I would like you to meet Laurel and Aspen. They came to my attention a few days ago. They were in a very hard predicament. No other Rescue would touch them. So they are here now.

They will remain here for the rest of their lives. Both of them are females. They are not spayed, vaccinated, they are not feral however, they are also not adoptable. Both of them spray like a fire hose. This can be caused by a few things: they either were mated early in their life. Which means that they will be lifetime sprayers. Or, they lived in a home that was filled with chaos, violence, and other factors. I am doubtful that they have urinary tract infections. They are way too young. One looks to be about maybe a year old? The other one perhaps six or seven months?

They are posed in my introduction cage in my main enclosure. I have made an appointment to bring both of them in next week to be tested and spayed. They both flinch when you try to touch them, another indication that they may have been touched by violence before they got here. But I’m really guessing because I don’t know their story. All I know is they are now safe, although I wasn’t looking to bring any more in at this time. This was a high-risk situation, and somebody had to care. That person was me I care.

We are still struggling to feed those that we have here. But we get it done every month regardless. It doesn’t help that the prices of dry and canned food have exploded exponentially. So now, instead of having nine cats, we have 11.

Laurel, the marble tabby was in desperate need of a bath. She tolerated it pretty well until the very end when she got tired of being handled. However, no one was injured during the process. She is now clean and dry and as you can see they are snuggling together. they will stay in the introduction cage until I get them tested and spayed and also once the other cats have adjusted to their presence. Then and only then will I let them out to get to know the others without having wire and screen to block their way. Aspen, who looks a lot like Ashley, is quite shy. She, too, is a flincher, when you go to try to touch her head, especially she draws back in a very jerky manner.

So anyway, these are the two new kits on the block. We will do our best for them, because that is what we do here.

Due to the recent policy change at the clinic, we just got hit with a $531 vet bill  The girls are getting spayed as I type. They both tested negative They have been dewormed and de-flead  they will come home tomorrow. If you would like to send us your lunch money, or your coffee money, it will be put to good use to help us whittle down this new bill.