I went to visit One-Eyed Jack today and he is sitting pretty in his new home. He came right to me when I went inside and rubbed against me. It was nice to be remembered. They are busy spoiling him- he is getting only canned food. They said he wants outside badly- but so far they haven’t let him out. I asked them not to- he is at a disadvantage with only one eye and missing four claws. I can tell they really love him and that makes me smile.

I play this game mentally in my head each morning as I lay in bed waiting for that moment my feet actually want to hit the ground and my day begins. The struggle, the questions always remain the same. On one end, is my family and their voices that cast doubt on my so-called life. Why do I not have a career like I used to? Why don’t I earn a paycheck and help take the pressure off of me? How can I live with so many cats and where is the strength coming from to get me through all the heartache, drama and sorrow that rescue can bring. I can still hear my dad’s voice in the very last phone call we had before the angels came and took him away from us. Although he is the one who started me on this path early-on, I think even he was surprised that I stayed with it. I know that they consider me the black sheep of the family. Mike jokes and tells me that “It’s to BAAA..d they don’t really understand you.” I constantly worry about the cats, how will I find them all homes? How will I adequately vet them and provide for them without always having the vet debt looming over us.

It is usually about 4:00 a.m. when this game plays out. Then it is up to me to get up- gather the canned food for the outside kitties and go outside and start my day. Dry Kibble in all the trays, canned food to the seniors, fresh water in all the bowls. Pats and pets all around, scoop out the litter pans- refill and clean as necessary and all before 6:00 a.m. Then it is back inside to see to the house/sanctuary cats needs and also to take care of Mike and Quincy.

I was presented recently with an unproofed copy of a book by  Joann Chittister called Two Dogs and a Parrot. I set it aside for a few days. I’ve read a lot of books that are a collection of animal tales over the years. My life was a bit hectic for reading at the moment. But last week, while waiting at yet another doctor’s office for Mike. I took the book out and began to read it. The author, not only writes about the impact animals had on her while growing up, but she also nailed beautifully and accurately how they teach life lesson’s along the way.

Several passages resonated to me -this one in particular spoke volumes:

“Lao-tuz wrote: ‘Life is a series of natural and spontaneous changes. Don’t resist them, that only causes sorrow. Let reality be reality. Let things flow naturally forward in whatever way they like.’ It is at the times of acceptance that our souls come to peace with the world. Acceptance becomes the sacrament of the present moment, the point at which our struggles become useless and the unknown becomes the next step in life. If we learn to accept life as it is, as it must be, despite our best efforts to change it-we can keep on growing, even when we least want to.”

I step into the unknown every day. What I do know is my phone will ring and someone on the other end will be needing our help. What I don’t know is what or if I can help this person but that I know I want to help the cat. Where the money comes from for that help is also an unknown- but somehow- in some mysterious fashion it all comes together in the end.

If you have ever stepped out of your comfort zone and helped a critter in need- I encourage you to read this book. It is inspirational, it is uplifting and just like a jigsaw puzzle sitting unfinished on my coffee table, it helped me put the pieces of my unconventional life together giving what I do meaning and depth. Very rarely does a book touch me on every cylinder but this book touches and uplifts me. It was no accident that this book was sent to me. I believe God had his divine hand in this delivery.

Hopefully, not as good a dance partner as I am! *G*  He got his new leg today- FINALLY!

He has found a home. The two women are disabled and just looking for a lap kitty which he qualifies for thankfully. They have one dog, but he likes dogs. He isn’t crazy about other cats. They love his “foofy” tail!  I didn’t have the heart to tell them it is foofy because he got stud tail so often! LOL

I was able to finally get the four cats signed over to me today. The family is once again in upheaval. The son and mother are going to be splitting up and living with two different families. The son did not want to sign the owner surrender forms. I finally just told him that if the forms aren’t signed, he needs to remove the cats today from my care. He told me that they have no place to put the cats and I got tough and told him that isn’t my problem. They are HIS cats not mine right now. If he wants me to continue to take care of them for an indefinite period of time, I needed the forms signed.

He had the audacity to tell me that he thought in Oregon no one can own a cat. In his words “It’s not like they are like dogs!”  I told him I didn’t know where he was getting his information, but since I am a non-profit, I am bound by the law and the law says I can’t legally have these cats seen by a vet unless they belong to me. I told him I am not planning on adopting these older cats out but he was still a bit of stinker about signing the papers. Do I really want four more cats? Not at all- but I can’t have my hands tied when it comes to their healthcare.

He kept telling me about their situation and asked me to just hold on to the cats without the forms being signed. I held fast to what I needed to happen- so now the cats belong to me. I am not doing a happy dance here. I am sorry they are in such dire straits but my fear is Buddy who is trying to get outside might just make it outside and get hurt. Then what do I do?

I let one-eyed back outside today and watched him and within 5 minutes he was fully engaged in pursuing Bentley across the yard. I scooped him up before the war could start and put him back in the enclosure. That’s where he is going to have to stay until I can find the right home for him. I put fliers up in the nearby town trying to locate the purrfect home for this black beauty.

It is so hard to get used to but when I go in the backyard and look over the fence at the next farm, I see 8 pot plants in planters in the renters backyard. I drive down the street now and see people puffing on pipes and bongs just lighting it up. I know that smoking pot has medical advantages especially for people fighting cancer and chronic pain and they use it when battling those with anorexia, but now that it is legal here, I see it all over the place and wonder about the long-term repercussions. I also know the dispensaries are making money hand-over-fist but very little banks are accepting their monies. There is now even pot treatments for dogs and cats dealing with chronic pain.

It’s a learning curve for sure. If kitties nibble the leaves, I wonder if they get high? I saw McGee over there this morning doing his sniff test. If he sprays their plants, I hope they don’t won’t hurt him! Maybe he is just making a peelitical statement?

I had to take One-Eyed in to get his stitches out. It was on my way to picking up the weekly donated food and I wanted the vet to hold One-Eyed until I got back, but it didn’t work out that way. One-Eye does not being in cages, carriers, vehicles- nothing. So he ended up going with me to get the food about a 45 minute drive.

He got himself so worked up- he was open-mouth panting and his ears and body were on fire. I knew we were in trouble, so I opened up the carrier and just let him roam inside the truck. He “repaid” me by going to the back and leaving me a steaming, smelly mess of poo! I couldn’t open the windows without putting him back in the carrier, so I chose instead to just turn on the air conditioner and gasp for air through a very small cracked window. PHEW!  I was never so glad to get home silly boy!

You know for a just neutered boy, he is sure a big baby and he cries most of the time. I bought a calming pheromone collar to help him out in the coming days. I need to put him with the rest of the crew in the one enclosure and I don’t want problems.

He is fine now, he just ate and drank and is back in his own enclosure. I will let him out tomorrow and see how he does and go from there.

My friend Dee just called me, her and the family were out on the boat dock earlier and Dee went to use the bathroom. She opened up the bathroom door and out walked a tuxedo kitten! She went right up to Dee, climbed up her leg and settled in her chest! Dee used to rescue, but doesn’t any longer, so she called me asking if I can take this little one. She said on the ride home, the kitten slept in her lap and ate a dog biscuit so you know she was hungry. Who knows how long she has been in that bathroom. Dee will bring her to me tomorrow. She looks to be about 7 weeks old from the photo Dee sent me on my cell.

Cell phone pictures are deceiving. I met this little girl in person. is she little? Yes. Is she a kitten? Not by any shape of the imagination. She is an old girl. Like my dear blake adopted out a few months ago, this girl cannot retract her claws and her teeth are bad. One very unique characteristic of the girl is she is tuxedo on her face, chest, half of her belly and her front legs. From right after her neckline down to her rump she is the color of a Havana Brown. She is also long-hair from her neck down to her rump and medium hair in the front. I have never seen anything like her before.

I finally heard from the people who own the four cats brought here over a month ago for a “short two week stay.” Apparently, they have been besieged with one traumatic event after another. I heard the whole story tonight and the family is now homeless and looking to be living in their car until they can figure things out. There is no place for these cats to go other than here, and so I have given them one option to keeping them here and that is to sign them over as owner surrenders. That way, if a cat gets sick (and the calico is pretty sick at the moment) I can legally treat them with my vet- otherwise, I have to call a number they gave me that only goes to voicemail and wait for them to give me permission to treat their cats. I did tell them that it is doubtful they are going to be adopted out any time soon. Very rarely do we get calls for someone wanting older cats- most people want the youngsters. I told them if they ever do get their feet on the ground again and contact me IF the cats are still here- I will be more than happy to turn them over to them.

But I also told them if they can’t agree to it- then they will need to take these cats away from here and put them somewhere else (even when saying this I knew I was going to be keeping these cats regardless) These people are in a pretty bad way.

So paint a big “S” on my forehead. I am sure there will be tears, but I believe the forms will be signed and we will do our best for these cats as we do with all under our care.

I have to say, I do feel like I was tricked into taking these four cats- but what do you do?

I went in to feed and found out the little buggars had decided not to wait for food and dumped over their canister of dry food, climbed in and turned into little piggies. The 5 gallon container that was three quarters full is now quite empty. The puzzling aspect is their trays of dry food on the floor were still showing with enough food in them to get them through the night. I think they are going to have belly aches in the next few days.

Still nothing about the adoption of One-Eyed. I can hear him meowing in the morning when I am doing my rounds and I try to spend as much time as I can with him- but he really just needs to have a home. He gets his stitches out on Tuesday, so I will repost a photo where he doesn’t quite look like Franken Kitty and then maybe we will get lucky.