The vet said the lab shows nothing remarkable in the stool samples. When I questioned where all this diarrhea and wet tail is coming from then- he told me that he believes the lab did not properly test the sample (wet it down enough) to show the protozoas. I don’t know why those instructions weren’t included in the send?

But at any rate, they seem to be responding well to the meds and we celebrated formed stool in the pans yesterday for the first time!  I have to give Brambles, the biggest female kitty props- she finds amazing hiding places in the room when it comes to giving her the meds! The first time I couldn’t find her and I tore apart the isolation room looking for her- I finally found her inside an opened box of cat litter! The second time, she was in the pocket of my lab coat that I wear when I am out there and the third time, she was inside the dust bin! She has lost most of her fur from under her tail, on the back of her legs and on her belly and I am not sure why? They get butt baths with just drops of DAWN liquid dishwashing soap and warm water and then I put a non-petroleum based ointment on the red rears. I am not sure why out of all the kittens she shows this problem but I have stopped doing her baths and use a soft comb to clean her up instead.

I got two of the four healthy babies neutered and they have been placed into loving homes with seniors. They both live side by side to each other and I hear their new owners are meeting daily for “playdates.” I adopted out the little tuxedo boy and the snowshoe girl.

May I please eat your toes?”

Quincy has come a long way since arriving here

Riley and Ripley are now home- still quite sick but on meds and we are waiting for the lab results to come in- should be here on Tuesday

Ripley and Riley two of the five feral litter are not doing well. They have what I call wet tail from all the diarrhea that they have been fighting. The two babies have gone through one round of Albon and starting another round today but the diarrhea has intensified to the point that Riley cannot put her bum down flat on any surface unless it is heavily cushioned.

CATS Inc is in need to money to make this vet visit happen. If we can at least raise $200.00 I can get in the door to see my vet. We have taken the bill down to $1,200.00 so little by little it is being hit. I just hate for these kitties to suffer because we suck right now in asking for donations-

5:25 p.m. update- large amounts of protozoans were found in their stool. Both kittens found to still be emaciated, dehydrated despite eating and getting fluids. Both had fevers- vet suspects toxomoplasmosis along with the giardia,coccidia and trichomonasis- these babies were a mess. They are on an overnight stay so that they can give a bit more stool for an outside analysis of their waste. He is starting them on panacur, clindymycin and albon. We almost put Riley down just because she is suffering the worst of all of them but decided to give the meds a try and see if she can actually keep some nutrition in her body this time.

The three newcomers kept me up all night. They weren’t sick, they were just going stir crazy being in a small cage, custom made though it is it doesn’t have all that much room for the three of them to romp and play. So this morning, Mike and I got our heads together and took two cages and redid them into a two-story kitty house. All I can say is God Bless Duct tape otherwise, I don’t think this would have worked out the way it did.

Now, Bogey, Briar and Medora have a new home. You’ll never see this in the pages of Cat Fancy but my stray kittens don’t mind that-

Zulu was neutered this morning and soon will be on his way to a new loving home with a family willing and able to do whatever it takes to keep him healthy. I believe it was the heat making him sick because as the heat let up, so did the sick piles. I’m just glad he wasn’t here all that long, we were getting attached to him fairly quickly.

These two babies were found inside of a golfer’s golf bag on a nearby golf course. Apparently they crawled inside to get out of the heat. I got the call and went to go and pick them up. They are unsocialized and I am calling the black kitty Bogey and the Snowshoe kitty Sky (tried to stay with golf terms). They are owned by someone as they are both neutered (YAY!) So I have notices up online and in town to see if the owners might be looking for them. No microchips though. I have to keep them for 30 days to see if the owner steps up after that- at least the snowshoe, he should go to a home fairly quickly

.

This little one lost his mom when she got hit by a car this morning. He has two other littermates- a grey and white female and a tuxedo brother.

Here are Sky’s littermates:

The dump kitty is unable to keep anything down for a long period of time. I am concerned that he was poisoned while trying to stay alive at the dump and eating God knows what in the process. But, it is so unbelievably hot right now here, I am hopeful that it might just be the heat. 103 yesterday in the shade. There is a fan where he right now as I moved him yesterday to a larger area. I will keep my eye on him and I see that he still does have an appetite. I can’t take him to the vet right now. It just isn’t in the budget. I just keep giving him fluids and watching him and praying it is only the heat affecting him.

The five feral kittens are so unsocialized. George said the biggest male should be called Bullet because he runs like the wind when we are trying to medicate him. I can’t put them in the smaller cages in isolation- coccidia is so stinky, it wouldn’t be fair to ask them to inhale that air for even a half of minute. They are in the larger room off the back where there is room for them to run. So what if I have to scrub the floors twice a day? It’s just catching them right now that is the biggest issue so I can give them the medicine they have decided is probably going to kill them after all!

I had to take the new babies in today to get them tested and evaluated. They had been leaving poop trails across the floor and it was discovered they have coccidian. It is going to be challenging to medicate them every day when they don’t quite trust me yet. I could put them in the cage, but that would be horrible because then they couldn’t escape the mess and the stench left behind as they shed their bodies of the bacteria. They were de-wormed and de-flead and I will just have to go in every day twice or more if necessary and mop up the messes. I was surprised they tested negative because two of them are so sick. But, it is the coccidia and the worms according to the vet- so in a few days, they should all start feeling better. They are on Albon and a new kitten food (canned) Royal Canin Babycat- almost twice what we would pay for the regular canned kitten food, but according to the vet, they need this food to thrive.

Last night, I received a tearful phone call from an elderly woman whose life had drastically changed in a moment’s notice. She has 4 older cats and found herself losing her farm and having to move in with friends as she sorted out her life. Her husband had recently passed and she said she posted online begging someone to take all of her cats until she could get back on her feet. A lady responded immediately and said she would help her out. But, when they went to drop off the cats, she realized the home was not the best place for the cats to be. The woman put all four cats into a small, cluttered non-ventilated room. The owner of the cats had no choice but to leave them, but as time went on, she said she could see her cats changing and not doing well. She said she was at the local feed store and she heard some people talking about my sanctuary and could I please- please- take her cats temporarily?

I’m listening to her story and hearing the desperation in her voice. I told her I needed to pray about it and think about it and see what I can come up with. When I said that, she replied she knew that because I was a believer, I would help her.

I called George and we bounced some ideas off each other trying to figure out how I could bring four older cats into the sanctuary. In our main enclosure there are now only two cats who frequent the area. Chappy and Andie and generally both of them stay inside the tunnels leading to the house. So George built a wire endcap to the tunnels and closed the opening leading to the main enclosure off to the house kitties. The four cats will stay in the main enclosure and Zulu who is still in the introduction cage would also be out there.

I called the woman back and told her our decision. She was so grateful and brought the cats right over. Hopefully, these cats will not be permanent residents here. She said she is trying very hard to find a place to rent that accepts cats but four cats in this area in a rental is almost unheard of without a huge pet deposit. But initially when she explained to me the condition of the house the cats were staying in, we knew it wasn’t the best place for older kitties. Plus, with all this hot weather and no ventilation- things could go south quite rapidly.

Here are three of the four cats newly arrived:

They carry names like “Precious, Pretty, Buddy and Kiki” so let’s hope that their owner can find a home for all of them to grow old together- time will tell. Precious immediately went into one of the cupboards and is in hiding- she is a mackerel tabby about 9 years old.

Returned home yesterday from my trip to see my mother. The first thing I did when I turned on my computer was check Heartland’s pages to see if Franklin and Huggles are still among the “adoptable.” I am so thrilled to say, they both were adopted out fairly quickly to loving homes! I am not surprised but I am so relieved that I am not the only one who loves the orange babies!

My intention before driving down to California was to sleep most of the day before leaving, but as the fates would have it, so much had to be prepared beforehand, both for Mike and the cats that I might have gotten 3 hours of sleep before heading out at 1:30 a.m. I hadn’t even been able to make it to the California border when I knew I had to pull over and find a place to sleep. I found a place near an abandoned motel and parked. Quincy was with me on this trip, so I let him out to stretch his legs and do a potty break. The minute his feet hit the ground, I heard this horrible screeching noise overhead. At first, I thought it might be an owl, but the noise wasn’t right. It was one ticked off bird though and even Quincy was unnerved. He did his business but he was whining and looking all over in the dark waiting to be attacked.

I grabbed my flashlight and started following the noise, and that is when I saw her- a very anxious and irritated Perrigrine falcon sitting on her nest on top a broken street light. She was glaring at Quincy and I was afraid she was going to dive bomb him. I opened the truck and he jumped right in and the noise stopped. I looked up at her and grinned and told her she was a good mama. I told her we weren’t staying just catching a cat nap. Little did I know how prophetic those words would turn out to be!

A few hours later, I woke up. It was still dark outside and I just wanted to stretch  my legs and walk a bit. I left Quincy in the truck and stepped outside. I heard the kitten before I actually saw it. A little black kitty all alone in the grasses. There were no homes around, we were up in the mountains and the motel had been long abandoned. No momma cat came to whisk the little one to safety. He/she looked so hungry. As I always carry cat food in the truck- prior to leaving, I had to figure out how to keep the food away from a nosey dog, so I tucked some dry and canned food into a small carrier and tucked it under the back seat.

Ok, you guessed it. When I drove away from that spot, I had a new kitty with us. She was so hungry (and so damn skinny) all I had to do was open a can of food and put it into the carrier. She raced in, I shut the door- captured! She was now riding in the carrier on the passenger seat.  Between the back seats is an open area that Quincy would sometimes lose his balance and fall into. In order to prevent this, I put two small bags of litter in the space and covered them with a towel. All that was left was to find a litter pan.

Further down the road at a gas station, I bought a small plastic tray and kitty was set. All this time, I am just asking myself over and over- “Mary Anne what are you doing?” But I had a hitchhiker and I had to just press on. Kitty slept the majority of that night, she was so worn out. I decided to name her Hitch.

Our next stop was near a river. There was a Burger King and I was starving. It was about 9:00 a.m. by then so I picked up my food and went behind the restaurant to let Quincy out and to stretch my legs. As I got out of the truck, I saw this homeless guy headed straight for me and I groaned. Our town is full of panhandlers, and I guess I was hoping I could just relax on this trip and not have to feel guilty about not giving out money to people asking. I give them food, water whatever I can but never money.

He came up right beside me and Quincy’s head was popped out the window watching. He grinned a toothless grin and said “Are you here to watch the cats?”

I looked at him stunned and said “What did you say?” He said it again and told me that down by the bluff by the river there were dozens of feral cats and two ladies had been feeding them over ten years! He pointed out to a higher spot on the bank, and I could see about 7 homeless people watching the river intently below. I could see two women moving about the cats, pouring out cat food into cardboard boxes. The cats were jumping in the boxes and fighting for position- but they were being fed. Pans of fresh water set out on the slope could also be seen.

I left Quincy in the truck and went down the trail. Agatha, a grey-haired wonderful soul met me with a warm handshake and asked me if I was going to donate food or money for what she called “The River Cats.” I started asking rescue questions and she realized after a few minutes that I too rescue. They feed- TNR all the cats in the area and she said that so many people will come and just dump off cats that she finally had to erect a sign that read Animal Abandonment is punishable by Law and up to a $1,000.00 fine.” I asked her if it helped, and she shook her head sadly and said no, not really.

I told her about my operation and then I told her about the kitten. I said under different circumstances and cooler weather, I would just keep Hitch with me until I got home again. But I was heading into 126 degree weather and was going to be boarding Quincy in air-conditioned comfort during my visit- but the kitten would be another story. She agreed to take her. I didn’t have a lot of money, but I did give her some and turned over all the cat food and cat litter that I had and told her to keep the carrier.

Before I left, she took my arm and led me to the edge of the bluff and I looked down and could see all the cats below. It was like a moving canopy of color against a dusky cliff. She said the river was down so much that the vegetation the cats normally hid in was drying up and withering away. She said the kitten would go back to the house, be taken to the vet and then put into foster care until she could find her a home. I drove away from that spot with a different opinion of the homeless because she told me that they would panhandle for money and go and buy cat food and donate it to her!

On my drive, I could see the signs of serious drought all over. Shasta Lake looked more like a swimming pool than a recreational lake. There was only one mountain in the Shastas that had snow pack and it was just right at the top. No snow on the road melting in the mountains as normal. California, like Oregon was in serious drought conditions.

I finally reached my destination (after stopping at every other rest area on the way for Quincy). The kennels where I was going to leave him was high on top of the hills overlooking the town. She had air conditioned inside sleeping quarters and outside runs. Quince didn’t want to leave me, and I didn’t want to force him to go inside the small opening that led to the air conditioned area, so I crawled in first and before I knew it- he was wiggling in right beside me! I opened the flap leading to the outside run and was met with a blast of hot air. When he went out to check out the dogs in the other runs- I backed out and shut the door.

Filling out the paperwork, I noticed a large cage on top of the table. It was clearly custom made, big, containing a few levels. I had to laugh when two black kittens came out to say hello. Beth asked me if I wanted them and I told her no. I had enough black kittens back at my place. Feeling like I was abandoning Quincy, I drove off. I would learn later that Beth and her husband would fall in love with this dog and she asked me if she could have him when I went to pick him up to go home. She said in the 30 plus years she had been doing this- he was the best behaved and loving dog she had ever seen.

About my visit with my mom it went all right. Turns out she has mild dementia and she has been suffering from severe vertigo for many years. About twelve years ago, one of her doctors suggested she take an over-the-counter antihistamine to help level out the vertigo so she has been taking one pill daily ever since. According to the specialist I took her to see, antihistimines cause dementia! So it was decided to keep her on the same product rather than risk her falling and breaking a hip or worse. She is so depressed after losing Dad and a far cry from the mother I remember her to be. I just hope the anti-depression drugs they just put her on will kick in soon because she is living in a really nice place. No, it is not her home, but they take good care of these Independent Living Seniors and oh my heavens all you do is eat all day! I told Mother I was going to go home and go on a diet! LOL

On my first morning there, I was staying in the guest room on the second floor. I opened up the blinds to see the view and there on the roof below my window as a gold and white queen nursing six babies! I laughed and told God: “Now that’s not fair!” Two of her babies were ginger in color- and you gotta love orange kitties!

Here is my mother and me-