Hi, it’s me. I’m still here. Not in the hospital and not below ground which that in itself is a miracle these days. Twist’s bones are not responding to the pins and screws. She is scheduled to have her front leg amputated on Thursday. Because of the way things are these days, the vet will keep her longer than normal and call me when she is ready to go home. Thank God he is working with me on payments. We owe him $1,900.00 right now after the estimate he gave me.

The cat food donations from the local store has become leaner and leaner at every visit. Several times, we have left the house and arrived there only to be told, there is nothing here for you today. It is a crushing disappointment. I’ve been having to dip into savings and buy the dry food for the cats. What we’ve been given lately when they do give us something have been inadequate as far as nutrition goes and I end up throwing a lot of the food away daily, because the cats just won’t touch it.

I hope everyone is safe and healthy and masked! I did order just regular face masks last week. I use them when I scoop out the litter pans. Not only has the price doubled from the place where I order them, but I was told that they won’t be shipped until May 30th! Wasn’t expecting that. A friend and volunteer for CATS is making homemade masks and she was kind enough to make one for me. I now wear it not only when I am cleaning the litter pans, but also when I go out in public.

I am staying home, doing a DIY project in my bedroom. I never realized just how much Mike knew about everything when it comes to maintaining a house and property. I never paid attention to what he did, I just took it so for granted. Just as he took for granted all that I was doing for him along the way. I wish I had watched how he did things because it would certainly make what I am encountering now, easier.

What I have learned (and please don’t laugh) How to check all levels of fluid in my truck, and when to check them. How to repair a broken wheelbarrow. How to charge batteries on everything from the lawnmower to the truck. How to effectively clean the blade of the lawnmower without incident. How to plaster, how to build a gravel path and landing pad. The list is endless and will probably grow in the future. Thank God for YouTube. They have a video for everything!

Well that’s all folks! Stay safe all of you- chime in if you feel the urge so I can know how you are doing and how you are holding it together these days.

The other night, as I was feeding the outside crew, I noticed that Twist was up above me on the roof. I was popping cans of food below her, when I saw something out of the corner of my eye, I saw a black object hurtling off the roof! In normal times (before the build) she would have landed on a small shed (that was no longer there). Instead, she landed on the concrete. I heard the snap and I winced and as I went toward her she turned and hobbled off into the bushes and was gone!

Long story short, after many attempts to catch her, I was finally successful. She is now in a cast. They had to set pins in her leg but she is so small, there is a concern that the pins won’t hold. She is as immobile now that I can make her within the Introduction cage. They will re-assess her in 18 days. So now, like it or not, she will be socialized slowly. I have to be careful and not stress her out when I step into her cage. She will try and move away from me. So it is really a dance at this point- between the two of us trying to figure this out. It could have been so much worse. Understanding the times are hard for all right now, the vet is working with me on small payments. Donations are down right now and understandably so. I’m just glad it was just one broken leg and not internal injuries. She jumped from about 8 feet up. 🙁

Please all of you, please just stay safe in these uncertain times. We went on stay at home orders a few days ago and I am still amazed at how much traffic is going up and down the highway. It is a soft order at this point. I wish Gov. Brown had been more hard-lined about it. I am only leaving home for groceries and to pick up cat food. At this point, I am scared. I am scared of the people who are NOT scared of this virus! Some on facebook in my town are insisting that this is the way that the government is trying to control the masses and make us into sheep. Can you imagine having that type of mindset with all that is going on in the world right now? Makes me just shake my head in disgust. Love you all- hope you all find smiles and laughter hiding around the corner in your day.

First off, I hope that all of you reading this are doing well both financially and with your health. These are the strangest of times right now that I have ever seen. We are fine here- both two-footed and four-footed creatures. I have seen all my under-the-house kitties in various places on our property. They are a little bit confused and so I took about two days to build them a place where they can feel safe and eat in peace and relative quiet. All feeding platforms are elevated now, as the skunk has moved from under the house, to under the shop. I had hoped she would move on down the road, but it could be she has babies and wants to stick close to home. I don’t know, but she is still here.

It’s nice to see them out and about and assess their health and well-being. Twist, is getting used to me. I almost petted her this morning but she did flee when she felt my fingers on her back.

The house is so much warmer now! I was thinking this morning, remembering actually how a few months ago, I was taking a hot shower in a bathroom that was minus most of its walls! LOL Now I have a nice heated room to get ready for the day in. Far cry from what it used to be.

About the corona virus- here in Oregon, there hasn’t yet been any official decree about staying home (although for the most part that is where I am). I do see that the highway in front of our house has less traffic on it these days. But our restaurants and bars are still open, and the grocery stores are somewhat picked through. Absolutely no toilet paper to be found anywhere locally! Which is just strange. No one I know is sick, nor do they know anyone who is fighting resp. illness.

I keep hearing over and over, to wash your hands several times a day with hot water and antibacterial soap, and I wonder when it became not the normal thing to do so? I am a fanatic about washing my hands. When I was growing up, we had to wash our hands before and after every meal. If we did not wash our hands before a meal to their satisfaction, we were not allowed to eat. So I have been programmed to respect proper hygiene habits.

Again, I hope all of you are doing well and hanging on to your sanity in these uncertain times. I feel like I went to sleep and woke up in a bad science fiction novel or a bad Hollywood movie! But knock on wood- all is good here on all fronts.

A friend of mine from the Coast (and a former adopter) when learning about these three cuties has decided to adopt them! They left the other day bound for a loving home with a wonderful human being! Thank you Carla! Carla used to own a successful gift store in Newport but now she has retired and is looking to place all her attention on the three babies.

This couldn’t come at a better time. The day I have both been anticipating and dreading has arrived. They started this morning, working under my house as well as upstairs in the attic and crawl spaces. I have only four under-the-house kitties left and I pray that they will be able to make the transition to the alternate living spaces I have provided for them. There’s also a skunk under there, and the workers have been warned.

They will be done by Friday end of day and sadly on Saturday, they are predicting snow. My cats who are so used to being under the house, do have alternative outbuildings to hide under, but I really want them to go to the main cat enclosure. I suppose time will tell. There are a lot of heated cat beds waiting for them in the main enclosure. I just hope they use them.

As soon as the sun went down and I turned out the lights, the kittens started screaming. I was halfway down the hall when it started, and fearing the worst I ran back into the room to find out what happened. I turned on the light, the screaming stopped! I didn’t see anything amiss, they were still just cuddled together inside of the open carrier, so, on a hunch, I turned the light off and shut the door- they screamed like they were being tortured.

Three night-lights later, they were all settled in and quiet. Because of being stuffed into that heavy gunny sack, they are afraid of the dark. The only other time we have encountered this is with Dunkin who was a near drowning victim.

After we got the call to rescue her, Dunkin would forever be afraid of the dark, and would also always want some sort of heat around her. We figured it was because the lake water was so cold when this happened to her. We kept her until she passed from cancer at age 12.

So these kittens are showing the same type of fear of the dark. Good thing the bedroom walls are now painted bright white!

Patt thank you for the goodies! The kittens will love the food and I am sure that Kota will make short work of your treats!

While walking a well-known trail at a local park early this morning, we passed a large boulder. As we passed it, Kota started to whine. (He doesn’t whine). I looked around to see if anything was in the vicinity, couldn’t see anything. I started going forward, but Kota stopped and pulled back on the leash. He was going back to the boulder. I know this dog and trust him, so when I went around this rock with him, I saw a burlap sack twisted tight. But, Kota went up to it and gently picked it up in his mouth and brought it to me!

With some misgivings, I untied the bag took a deep breath and looked inside to find three kittens! They were open-mouth breathing- so frail and it just broke my heart.

The only thing opened was the 24 Hr ER Vet clinic. The kittens were given warmth, fluids, food which they inhaled. One was tested (negative!) They were de-flead and I was given worming medicine to give them once they gained some weight. They are now on a pet heating pad resting comfortably they are about 5-6 weeks old.

I am calling the two black kitties, Coal and Gunny on the silver one is Silverton. Here they are and Kota is always nearby watching to be sure they are safe. God Bless this dog! It has been cold and rainy here and if he hadn’t changed his behavior on our walk. I would have never even seen them. They were encrusted with mud, so they did also get a bath and some antibiotics.

I had thought by now, the insulating of the underfloor would have been done- but no one has shown up to do the work? I have called a few times, but as this is also a government program, I just finally gave in and figured when they want to come in and do it- they will. All I get is automated answers.

In the meantime, I have successfully relocated the cats’ feeding area to be closer to the main enclosure and during the day, I can see several of them just lying under the catio catching a cat nap. I think they still must feel a bit bombarded by all the chaos that recently took place for all of them.

Pigeon has turned out to be quite the challenge. Ever since his crush injury, he has started to spray. The vets believe that some nerve damage occurred with all the other injury to his rear leg and he will be a sprayer for life. I’ve had to finally decide that he won’t play well with others (he is tearing the other cats up) MK is his latest victim with a nasty laceration to her paw requiring yet another vet visit. 🙁

So now, Pigeon is all alone in one of the enclosures which breaks my heart, but he can’t stay in the house. I already tried that for a few nights and saw that in the one room he was in, there was pee in every corner of the room. I can’t adopt him out, I won’t give someone a cat with issues, and I won’t lie to a potential adopter about any issues a cat has going on.

He seems to like the small enclosure so much better that the big cage, and he is eating and drinking. This enclosure was set up years ago for sprayers. There is splashboard (no pun intended) on all four sides. Big, Rubbermaid containers with tall sides for litter pans. He has two window perches, and after the winter leaves, I will take down the wind barriers around the catio that he has access to and open up the windows and let him catch air. He has all the comforts of home, just not the constant presence of me with him.

He is eating and drinking, so he is not shutting down. He can spray to his heart’s content and each morning, I do a thorough clean of this place and get rid of his pee-mails. It’s not the ideal solution. The ideal solution would be to keep him in the house, but I can’t wreck what just got completely rebuilt. Once a cat sprays, others will come and cover that area with their own peemail even if they are neutered. It’s a stinky cycle that is hard to break. It’s instinctive for them. Nothing to get mad or upset about. It’s how they communicate with each other and it won’t change. So he will just have to realize that this is his new pad and he will in time.

Yesterday, was our 41st wedding anniversary. This will be the second one without Mike and when I felt the blues overwhelming me, I just grabbed Kota and we went for a walk in the mountains. Nothing centers you more and brings you closer to God than a walk through the pines.

Initially, when I started this project, I suspected that I might lose one of my under-the-house kitties. I certainly did not expect to lose four in six months! First to succumb: Chessa, she could not handle the stress of people crawling under the house, shoveling out loads of dirt and changing the place she felt the most safe in. The vet told me that her immune system had tanked and the kindest thing to do was to send her to the Bridge. Bron was the next one that I lost. Someone, or something terrified him enough that I found him on the highway in the morning as I was going to town.

Then I found Mystic back behind the barn, with no clue how she died or where her leg ended up? And then yesterday, losing Link. All of this happening before they even finished insulating the underfloors. The house hasn’t been sealed up (yet) underneath, I just pray that the remaining cats will remain steady and not freak out, once their safe place vanishes.

We had just eliminated our vet debt and now it is peaking at about $800.00 Those cats were worth so much more even though they were not house kitties or pets. But they were a constant presence in the yard and under the house and now their world is going to be rocked to the core. The plan is to try and trap them before the underground work is finished and get them all inside the main enclosure. That’s the plan, but when feral cats get spooked or scared, there is no telling how they will react. All I can do is hope it all goes according to plan-

As I wrote a few days ago, the non-sightings of Link had me really worried. Last night, I sank down to my knees and with the image of Mystic still in my mind, I prayed that God would show me some sort of sign that Linc was still alive. This morning, I put out four cans of Kitty Krack (aka FF) I turned around to toss the cans into the container and when I turned back, I saw that Link was face deep in food!

I was right there oh so close. A cat carrier (a top loader) was sitting at the ready with the top opened. I remember looking at Link’s scruff and thinking: “God am I brave enough to barehand him?” I knew I had to go for it, even if I missed. Link was stumble-drunk, falling over, his back legs shaky. If I couldn’t rescue him now, there was no chance for him to survive this horrible cold snap that is upon us.

I took a deep breath, reached down, grabbed the scruff (barely). He went ballistic and I could feel him slipping. I had to almost toss him into the carrier and when I slammed the door down- I thought- “Gee Mary Anne, you DO still have it!”

I called the vet and they said bring him down to drop him off. A few hours later, the vet called and we had a lengthy conversation. Dr. Steve was wondering how in the world I managed to even grab this kitty because he truly is full feral. But, it turned out, Lincoln had ataxia. For those who might not know, ataxia is a neurological disease that either means three things- a tumor pressing on the brain, a mass pressing on the spine, or an incurable ear mite infection. It is not treatable, it is absolutely fatal and a horrible way for a kitty to pass. I gave my permission and now Lincoln is with Mike.

God, I am grateful that Your hands were upon me this morning when I did the snatch and grab. The minute he did finally settle down in the carrier, I could see the unmistakable tremors going through his body and I knew that my first inclination about him was right. Something was majorly wrong with this boy. I am glad you gave me the courage (or maybe it was because I only had 3 hours sleep last night) to follow through and get him to professionals who could help him. He didn’t have much time left and they would have caught it before on the visit on the 6th except just to get their hands on him, they had to sedate him.

RIP my fierce beast- despite your lack of socialization, you did bless my life.

Donations are desperately needed at this time.

Just wanted to say to those of you who “might” have seen the posting of “oh So Close” I found a way to secure the new truck. I sold Mike’s “Songpile” this morning. That’s what he called his longboard, exotic lumber that he collected over the years: Myrtlewood, mahogany, Zebrawood etc.. He used to say that he only bought wood that sang to him. It was a bittersweet sale, but I am now the proud owner of a 2006 Ford Expedition! Those of you who did read my posting, please forgive me for posting it. It was out-of-line.

Link is again in trouble. He keeps falling over and I am not sure why. I am supremely worried about him because of this cold snap, because this morning, when I went out to the pasture (WARNING GRAPHIC INFO APPROACHING)

I found Mystic, she was frozen solid and she was gone. But, what was really strange was that her left rear leg was missing?!!! There was no wound, no hole, no nothing- just a leg gone??? I don’t know what happened to her- was she dying and she froze and a raccoon snapped her leg off? She had all claws intact on her remaining leg- no road marks, no nothing, she was just gone. It was 22 degrees last night. She was a kitty that showed up years ago and just would come and go to eat. I talked to my vet, but he had no clue either. I am sad she came to this end, and now, not having seen Link in a week- I wonder if he too is in trouble under the house. Tomorrow, despite my bum knee and bad foot, I am crawling under the house to try and find him and get him to the vet yet again.