This boy has four legs but isn’t a cat. I picked him up yesterday out on the coast. It was a pretty drive. He is a year old and it looks like God just put the head of a Rottweiler on the body of a German Shepherd dog! Thankfully, this fella has inherited the Shepherds brain as his stubborn streak is pretty low.  When I picked him up, he had no manners at all. He couldn’t walk on a leash without pulling my arm out of the socket and he is at one year old-90 pounds. He wouldn’t sit, stay, lie down. I spent 2 hours training him over the course of 24 hours with a friend of mine who missed her calling and should have been a dog trainer. It’s been wonderful. He now heels, he lies down- sit, well we are still working on this.

He was injured on Monday with his previous owners. They would let him outside and their property isn’t fenced and he wasn’t neutered so of course he roamed. He went missing for 24 hours and when he came back he was bleeding profusely. They took him to the vet where he had surgery on his front leg and he got neutered. They decided they should find another home for him because according to woman “the vet bill was a wake-up call and what happens next time if it’s worse?”

That’s when I saw the ad and answered it and after a few days of trying to arrange a meeting, it finally happened and I fell in love with this boy. From his head to his neck he is spot on Rottie. From his neck to his tail he is German Shepherd. He chased a cat one time and I let him know without raising my voice or swatting him with a newspaper- that this is not going to fly with me. He’s not chased them since and he slept in the living room last night open on the floor with five cats clustered near him. I was sleeping on the hospital bed right next to him with one eye open at first, but then sleep claimed me and in the morning nothing had happened to the cats or to Quigley (that’s what we are calling him)

He met Mike today and of course Mike flipped for him as well. So it’s a done deal- Quigley is now part of the family here.

The outdoor colony update= 10 cats have been trapped and will go be neutered tomorrow. Most of the cats captured were the female kittens and most of the kittens unfortunately were pregnant already. Thankfully, no one has produced a litter yet- the trapping of the rest of the colony will have to wait until there are more spots opened in the spay clinic.

Well Quig is whining at the door and I KNOW what that means  LOL  Gotta run

She was returned yesterday and she is missing Jessica big time. This wonderful, loving kitty that I remember her to be is not here at the moment. She is grieving, she is angry and she escaped out of the bedroom and went into the enclosure She wants to be left alone. Jessica called this morning to see how she was doing and we talked. I decided to just keep Chauncey here for a year and wait for Jessica to return from her teaching job. It will last one year and it will strengthen her quest for her masters. I’m just going to leave Chaunce alone, let her take her time to acclimate into the group again. Jess did not want to do this but this teaching job came up and she needed to make some tough decisions. She gave me some boarding money and I wished her luck. After hearing she will be teaching in Saudi Arabia, I am glad she decided to leave Chauncey with us. Chauncey will settle down in about a week and go back to the loving girl I know her to be. Right now, she needs space and time to deal with the separation of the first human she grew to love.

Mike’ oldest son and our grandson came for three days. Last time I saw Ben (my step-grandson) he was 8! He in now 19 and has grown up to be a fine young man. They kept Mike busy this weekend giving me a much-needed break. I was able to go and look at a puppy I saw on the internet and when I saw this boy, it tugged at my heartstrings. He had been seized in a puppy mill raid. He was HUGE at 7 months, loving, lop eared- just a doll. He had the ears and face of a shepherd, the paws of an Australian shepherd and the body of a great dane. He was so skinny! You could see his backbones, his ribs- man he was in rough shape. But despite all he has been through, he was there with sloppy puppy kisses.

I made the big mistake of taking him over to meet Mike before taking him  home and cat-testing him. Never again! This boy was on the cats- he had the look- I could just see him as I held him off thinking: “Oh look! There’s a cat over there by the tree. There’s one by a bush and another at the log pile.” Oh boy gotta herd em!”  Even in his skinny state he was strong and almost broke away from me. It’s not his fault. He wasn’t going to eat them- he was just responding to his high prey drive.

He is now in a home with two delightful women who used to work with Pitbull rescue and they have NO cats. Broke my heart- he was everything Mike needed- not to mention myself. But the cats have to be safe and that is the bottom line. I guess the best thing is he is no longer waiting in a shelter for a loving home.

The kids are in from Alaska giving me a much-needed weekend break of being with Mike. Mike is back at Timberview and he looks so much better than he did. They found an electric recliner and he is sleeping in it and getting better rest. He is on oxygen at night. If I am repeating myself, I apologize.

I got a call from a former adopter and Chauncey is being brought back to us this weekend. 🙁 She is not being returned for behavior issues, but the woman who is a professor at OSU has been offered a job teaching abroad and accepted. She has been trying to find a home for Chauncey but has been unsuccessful. She said taking Chauncey abroad is just not possible- long confinement in quarantine and a lot of stress on both of them. I am sad, because Chauncey finally did bond with someone and was doing so well. Now, she will be back in our bedroom in shock and grieving the loss of her person. Oh well, at least the woman called me and didn’t just leave Chauncey out in the cold.

Slater is in his new home. Right now, it has been reported, he is hiding under their piano. At least he isn’t hiding in the piano! The whole family has quickly fallen in love with him and I suspect in a few days he will be the center of attention in his new home. He is a gorgeous boy-

I have George coming to renovate the two doorways in our home so when Mike does get home, he will be able to get the wheelchair through the hallway and into the bathroom.entry. Unfortunately, our bathroom is really a water closet. I don’t know how we have managed this long to deal with the fact that when you walk into the door of the bathroom you can touch, toilet, sink and shower without moving a step! Home was built in 1935-

Last night, quite late, a doctor  called about the electrocardiogram study done today. She was NOT one of the doctors present during the exam. She is the cover doctor and she was interpreting the results for me. (I had called the hospital several times asking for information). She said the notes show that it was a technically difficult study to do because of several issues- #1 being his weight (316 pds according to the chart) and the fatty tissue between the heart blocking the view.  and #2 the heart was apparently beating with more beats then it actually should.( She said this is called an arrhythmia)The function of his heart is at 40-45% when it should be about 70% when you look at his age, lifestyle, weight etc.,  The right side of his heart was hard to view but the pericardium appeared to be normal.

She said in layman’s terms the notes indicate the heart does not look completely normal- the heart’s function is “mildly decreased.” There will be other specialists looking at the images she said in a day or two and the data and I might get more definitive information from them. The notes did say that this is something they believe he has had for quite awhile and it just didn’t get noticed or show itself until now. I wonder if the stress of losing his leg triggered it? I asked her, but she said that is something you need to ask the day team about because they are familiar with the case and she is not.

That’s all I know for now- one more thing- the nature of this disease is that sometimes when the lungs are full and the heart is struggling to keep up- there is some carbon monoxide that gets released into the brain. This can cause the person to become somewhat in a fugue state of mind. Saying things that are happening (that really are not) but because they fully believe that it is happening, they are unwilling to accept the fact that it hasn’t or didn’t happen. Not like a hallucination I was told, more like just a trick of the mind. The gas has to go somewhere and the only path open for it is into the brain. So I guess he’s a huffer now without wanting to be. 🙂

On the cat front- Slater the little grey boy that was living under my kitchen cupboards is going to a new home this weekend! He has turned out to be a delightful, funny little boy and his favorite trick is to climb up on the top of the refrigerator and try to swipe at me when I go in to the fridge for something. He doesn’t have his claws out- I think he is playing with my hair.

Gidget is the new kit on the block and I wish I could post pictures of her. She is beautiful a long hair-dilute calico who appeared out of nowhere, let me scoop her up and take her in to be evaluated. She does not appear to like to be in any of the enclosures or the house. She is about 2 years old and she has taken up residence in the barn. Since her arrival there has been a line of rodents deposited on the back steps nightly. She is a mighty huntress and until our riding lawnmower gets fixed (needs a fuel pump) I fear that line will get longer daily as long grasses attract rodents, bugs and birds. If it was left up to me, I would just let the grasses grow, especially in the back pasture where deer (in the past) have left their nesting patterns when they settle for a sleep. But my neighbors complain that the grasses need to be mowed and kept looking nice.

Mike’s oldest boy and one of his sons (Ben) who is 16 will be coming in on Friday. I told him I don’t know at this point where his father will be- but they are coming anyway. Unfortunately they can’t stay here. Both of them are allergic to cats!  I think the other kids are like me, in a holding pattern waiting to hear from some more doctors before deciding what is best to do.

And as far as how I am doing. I do appreciate the private emails sent from some of you. They help me stay grounded. I am sad but try not to show it. I am scared and give my fears to the Lord. I’ve been praying a lot but it seems I just can’t sit still for long periods of time. My foot has been completely healed! YAY I can walk without a limp now. They pulled 4 pieces of plastic out of my foot over a period of two weeks. My finger is quite numb- my nail on that finger is very colorful and it is no longer painful unless I bump it, but I still can’t make a fist.

Today I go meet a friend for coffee. Then I will go to the humane society and return their crap traps! Other traps have been secured to use for the colony and the trapping will begin in a few weeks. I just can’t focus on that right at the moment to much else going on. Then I will call the hospital and see what is scheduled for Mike and make a determination from there. The doctor did say last night that a possible discharge may be happening because this was there most expensive machine they used on him- and the results were pretty inconclusive. She said they can manage the disease by drugs and diet as long as the patient cooperates. Since his foot is still harboring that open ulcer, I can’t imagine them sending him home? I would think he’ll just have to go back to the rehab center at least till the wound completely heals- but at this point that is only my guess.

On an OMG note, I stopped by to check on my donation box yesterday at a local restaurant. Inside, was a check for $200.00! Turns out the owner of the restaurant donated it- she’s a cat lover! The money is very much needed to knock down the ever-present vet debt. 🙂

Well you know what they say- When God gives you a blessing, the devil gets jealous! Just went to the last spot where I have a donation box only to find out someone stole it. 🙁 Makes me sad- guess they needed it more than the cats.

Just got back from the hospital. Did not see or talk to any of the doctors, no tests were done on him on Sunday. They only do emergency cases on Sunday,  but he looks SO much better! He is not ghostly white, he knew who I was immediately. He isn’t coughing very much and he was sitting up on the side of the bed when I went in. I was so relieved because yesterday, he looked pretty grim.

I did talk to the head nurse and told her everything the ER doctor told me about his prognosis. she was pretty upset that the ER doc had told me all the worst case scenario stuff and said he really had no right, because he was not a cardiac doctor. She said she was so sorry he had got me all worked up without really knowing much other than Mike has congestive heart failure. As for the open heart surgery, that depends on how much damage is done to the heart and that scan won’t take place until Monday.

What she did tell me and what I learned is from here on in, he will be on a heart-healthy diet. This means NO salt  (or limited amounts) NO FAST FOODS- NO DIET COKES- NO HOT DOGS-CHEESE-NO BOXED BAGGED OR FROZEN FOOD and only 2Liters of fluid daily, any more than that amount of fluid and he will become short of breath because his heart isn’t working right in order to pass fluids through his body and he will start backing fluids into his lungs again. What he does have is not curable, but it is treatable with diet, medicine and they are going to have to figure out an exercise program he will be able to do on a daily basis.

These last three weeks since he has fallen ill has been stressful and frustrating. I wasn’t sure what to expect this morning when I finally arrived at the hospital. It was so nice to see Mike back again.

They are supposed to do tests on him tomorrow. I am not sure I will be there on Monday, but I will be there on Tuesday because by then they might have more results about the shape of his heart. It’s such a long drive up there.

This was only funny later on after I saw Mike, but when I got there and got off the elevator, there were two wards one on each side, both labled “B” I wasn’t sure where he was, so I went to the left. I went over to the nurse’s station and this nurse asked if she could help me? I told her that I was looking for Mike Miller and could she tell me how he was doing? She said, “Mike Miller is stable”. I said I was glad to hear that and asked where he was? She leaned over the desk and whispered “Are you the wife? Or are you the girlfriend?”

I was stunned and I asked her to repeat what she said to me. She did and she said that she wasn’t sure who could see him and his wife’s name was written on the board of his room. Was that my name? Gloria?

I told her no, that’s not my name, I am mike’s wife my name is Mary Anne and I bloody don’t know what she is talking about! I walked over to room 13 and saw the name plate- Mike Miller and peeked in- wasn’t Mike, some dude in his 30”s lying in the bed! LOL   The nurse about stepped on her tongue telling me over and over how sorry she was. I told her I’d give her a tip, when the  real wife comes in, she best not divulge the existence of a girlfriend or Mr. Miller’s condition may not stay stable!

Then I went to the other side of the building and found Mike. He was alert and chipper and when I left he was complaining about not being able to order what HE wants from the dinner menu! J

I rushed him to OSU this morning. He is in congestive heart failure. 🙁

Weebles was negative for Rabies. I guess the saving grace is she died a humane death instead of continuing to suffer.

The above line is my way of trying to find humor in a bad situation. I just got back from the ER. My finger grew much worse during the day. I had taken a marker to keep track of the redness and swelling and both were expanding I decided that waiting until tomorrow for my scheduled appointment (regarding a recheck of the foot) wasn’t going to work so off I went.

They ended up lancing the tip, draining and flushing it. Put me on antibiotics and pain killers and told me if I had hesitated longer my finger would have been lost! They did say that all the preventative measures I took stalled the process and didn’t make things worse. I am supposed to elevate my hand-and rest as much as possible for a few days. The darn thing is telling me I am still alive by throbbing to the beat of my heart.

So after much prayer and consideration, I have cancelled the neuter trip. I have to be at the top of my game working with these cats and right now, I’m not there. I let the coalition know of my decision and I have been told that more clinics are coming in a few weeks time so I will take advantage of that and get this colony in to be spayed unless the kitten comes back positive for rabies and again- I don’t think that is what was wrong with this baby. But I still haven’t heard back. I’ll call the vet in the morning and see if OSU has the results.

When I look back at the last few days and list everything that went wrong for this anticipated trapping- the list is impressive and daunting. For whatever reason this trip is not supposed to happen on my time schedule. I was told that if the kitten (who I named Weebles) is positive- the fate of the colony will no longer be my decision. The proper authorities will step in to make a determination at that time. Again- I think Weebles had nasty bacteria in her mouth- but I would think if this is rabies the other cats would be showing signs of it? They are sick with URI, oily coats, parasites but other then two kittens of the same age as weebles who had the same symptoms and have died- no one else is showing high aggression or other signs of furious rabies. So here I sit, typing with one finger and wait…and wait…and wait.

Last night, the kitten started snapping at the air around her. She’s been in the trap since she nailed me and I feel bad for her, but putting such an aggressive kitten into a carrier is not an option. The symptoms she is and has displayed MIGHT be rabies. The uncoordinated gait, the falling over, the twirling eyes. So now, instead of this kitten being given a fighting chance at another life, I have to have her put down and tested for rabies.

I highly doubt this is rabies. There hasn’t been a case of rabies in our area for over ten years, but it would be irresponsible of me (since she bit me) for me to dismiss the idea of rabies -not to mention fatal to both of us.

So this is my quandary this morning. I have to put this beautiful kitten down and wait to hear that she is negative and then deal with all the guilt that will follow. I wish there existed another way to test for rabies besides testing the brain.

My finger is red this morning and slightly numb. I go to see the doctor tomorrow morning about my foot. I’ll ask him to look at it then. One thing about being bitten- it’s made me forget my foot hurts! 🙂

I can’t even conceive that this is rabies though. And if it is, this means all the cats in the colony will be destroyed- not just trapped-neutered and released.

Hey guys-

This might get long and if it does, I hope you will forgive me. I went this morning to pick up the traps. I shouldn’t have bothered, Can you say circa 1945? These traps are crap (sorry but they are) It looks like once the cat gets inside of them, they can get right back out! I still haven’t figured it out and neither did the humane society who had them. Just said they were the only traps donated to them. George is going to look at them tonight to see if he can make them safe.

There are 8 good traps available in Salem- but only enough gas money to get up to salem and back one time (which would be the trapping day). Plus the cats have multiplied or more have arrived and many look pregnant so leaving them behind isn’t even an option.

I don’t know what I was thinking that 18 traps would fit in my truck. It isn’t going to happen- so I am going to have to make multiple trips on delivery and pickup days and again gas is an issue.

I went to see Mike today. I can finally walk on my foot. He looks so bad guys, it just broke my heart. His lungs are so congested that when he breathes, he rattles like a skeleton hanging in the wind. They have him on oxygen and it doesn’t give him much relief. He was pale, he’s lost a lot of weight and he wasn’t making much sense when he did talk to me. I left wondering if he was ever going to come home again it was that bad, Please, please please keep him in your prayers.

I know it’s tax time but if you have any spare change lying around would you toss it this way? I can then fill up the truck, run up to salem pick up the good traps and still have enough monies left to do multiple trips on trapping and pick-up day. I deliver the cats on the 28th and pick them up on the 29. There is one kitten who has stolen my heart. She is black and white and her head tilts to the left and she circles to the right. I suspect she either got hit by a car or she is a survivor of distemper.

At any rate- that’s what lies ahead for CATS right now. If you can help- thank you- if you can’t that’s fine too. I just don’t know who else to ask.

7:12 update- stopped at the storage place to drop off my good traps. While I was there I noticed one of the kittens “stumble drunk” weaving side to side, wobbling, falling down. It went under the motor home and Chris was able to slide underneath and grab the kitten who was snarling and biting-but Chris had her gloves on and stayed safe. We popped the baby into one of my traps and I took it home.

This litten might not walk good but she can bite. She just nailed me with her canines and she went deep. She bit through all the protective gear I had on. The gloves are so bulk, I couldn’t scruff her tight enough and she turned her head and gave me all she had. I have done all the preventive measures I know and the tip of my finger is going numb. I’ll watch it carefully and I have started antibiotics just in case. It’s been a long time since I’ve been bitten.