No names as of yet, perhaps feral and more feral would apply right now! LOL

No, I wouldn’t label them feral although I have been scratched by her son more times in the last few days then I have in years. He is scared, he is on alert and God help me if I even dare to touch him!

Today my dear friend Haley came over (she used to be a vet tech) and she and I were able to de-worm and de-flea these two scared babies.

I had to laugh when her son Sam (who came with her) saw the cage and said “Mom! That’s a BIG cage, I could sleep in there!” This boy is amazing with kittens but I asked him if any of the kittens got loose and jumped on the bed, that he do his best moves to get away from them. No one escaped- and all is good-

This morning at breakfast, Mike told me he thinks I am simply amazing. He pointed to the kittens lined up on the floor below, to the work on my desk ready for me to tackle when I can get a moment. He said I take on so much and he is so sorry he can no longer contribute to the keeping up of the house, the property, help with the cats- although he can still bottle-feed when needed.

I see this man before me, one who could before the illness swept in- build a beautiful home from scratch, make custom knives that could make you weep in their beauty. Spin thread on fishing poles and present the customer with a custom rod with his name, his boat or the fish he captured caught in the artistry of the thread on the pole.

I remember the first gunstock he ever crafted and how the local sporting goods shops in Alaska fought over which one would get it.

I see him now before me, his hands shake, his legs- well they no longer resemble legs. To me that look like diseased tree trunks. I had to run him into the hospital last night and we didn’t get back until after midnight. He decided to “help” change a light bulb in the bathroom and drove a screw (protruding out of one of the sides through his leg. I couldn’t stop the bleeding so off we went.

When we got home, I didn’t have the luxury of sleep. I had to rid the floor of all the blood- there had been no time prior to remove it. I didn’t want it to be a permanent resident here- so it is gone.

Then I spent a restless night with another new arrival. A kitty I call Scotty in honor of a dear friend and cat lover Scott Rundle of www.felinefurniture.com

Scotty was shoved into a letter box and left to die on a steel lot. He was found by nothing short of a miracle and brought to me.
I think I got two hours of sleep last night if that.

And here is this gentle, wonderful man who both frustrates and amazes me, looking at me this morning with such love- 25 years worth.

We met through a private ad years before computers. We wrote for years- him in Alaska, me in Southern California until one day I decided to yes, fly to Alaska to meet him and his five kids. I guess you could say the rest is history.

Because of our age difference, he started calling me “His Small, Powerful Child Bride,” his friends would laugh and my friends would tease me about being a “mail order bride.” I guess these days; we would have met through e-Harmony or Match.com.

He is the one who is amazing- and when another kitten is brought in the door, he shrugs his shoulders, smiles reaches for the kitten formula and offers a hand (if it isn’t shaking).

I may be his small, powerful, child bride but He is my Hero.

I just received the last two survivors of Velcro’s litter. I got them just in the nick of time as the tom still is ramming the traps to trip them and not going inside of them. I’ve never quite seen anything like it before- and he is Siamese so he is ultra-smart.

the weather is getting colder supposed to be 21 degrees tonight.

The kittens are in the large dog cage in the bedroom and Hawthorne and Fog are merged into the population. I have one black fuzzy girl and one mackeral tabby boy very much like his mother. He has already escaped from me twice and is very feral-acting- hissing and spitting at me- the bad giant who caught him. They will be de-flea’d and de-womed tomorrow. Right now, they are decompressing-

He arrived here about six months ago, this mackerel tabby tomcat. At first, he hung back by the woodpile watching the house warily while eyeing the feral feeder with great anticipation. When I walked out on the back porch, he would beat feet out to the back pasture and vanish into the woods.

So, I set up a feeding station by the creek and over the weeks, he got bolder and came closer to the house until I could pour the food out in the morning and hear him by the Jacuzzi waiting for his turn.

Traps were laid out and he avoided each one, including the drop trap. His age, I would estimate about 5-6 but it was difficult to tell from a distance. His balls the size of tennis balls worried me because of the aggression factor. But except for one quick tango with Baker, Fester just stayed on the outside of the group.

This morning when I backed my car out of our long drive- I saw him on the road and I wept. He deserved more than to be a road causality- he deserved to grow old in peace.

This morning Velcro attacked the door of her cave as I opened it. Her ears were flat, but her eyes were wide open and round. I know she is sending me a message, so I managed to still feed her and keep her confined. Then I put all the cats in the enclosure in the house (including Dash). I blocked the entrance to the tunnels on the cat enclosure side and let Velcro out of her confinement. If any cat can get out of the enclosure, it will be her- though many have tried before her. My hope is that in releasing her and letting her have her space-she will relax and trust me down the road. Time will tell-

Here are the kittens; Donovan, Quincy, McGee, Salem and Piper.

She has the routine down pat now. When I empty her litter pan out of the last cubicle, she is there waiting. Her small condo is her hideout and her gorgeous mackeral tabby head pops out to watch. She makes no effort to flee, she just watches.

When I fill up her food bowl (in the first cubicle) her head pops out of the second hole watching me closely.

I added something new to the mix this afternoon and put my fake hand in there to see how she reacts. Well, let me just put it this way, it will be a long time before she will allow anyone to touch her. It will come in time.

She is eating and using the pan and drinking and above she is safe. not a very happy camper, but she is safe.

She is slight, she is scared and she is crafty. The newest arrival here, the mackeral tabby (possibly pregnant) somehow got out of the Intro cage and into the cat enclosure.

When I saw that she was gone, I couldn’t believe it. This three-level walk-in cage (I thought) was escape-proof! Apparently not- she was found on the top of the highest cat ramp and we have spent one day trying to coax her back into the cage. She’s not having it.

I blocked the access tunnels so the other cats wouldn’t hurt her. The only cat out there at the moment is Dash and Dash wouldn’t disturb a fly if it landed on her nose!

Then I lost her again and found her hiding in one of the cat bed cubicles we built.

My options were to capture her and put her upstairs; leave her be and deny access to the cat enclosure for the resident cats (not really an option) put her into a carrier and let her live in it until she trusts me (NOT a good option) NO cat should be forced to live in a carrier for days on end- just because she is unsocialized.

I could bring a larger dog cage in the enclosure and put her in there (but then she would be open to the other cats seeing her and bugging her. I strongly suspect she is pregnant.

So I started looking at the bed she was living in. Mike and I built these, they are insulated and warm and there are escape hatches in each one of them (so there are no kitty ambushes).

What I decided to do was give her access to three top beds (they vary in size. One for her and her food, one for the litter pan and an extra one where she can hide when I invade her turf and change her water, give her water and clean her pans.

With Mike’s help, I blocked the last access to the other beds and then we designed doors for the front of the beds made of stout wood and pet-proof screen. That was the easy part, although I was sad to watch my husband struggle with building something that in the past would have taken him maybe 15 minutes, but these days it took both of us 3 hours. He didn’t really want to ask me to help him so it was a bit of struggle for him. But the doors were made and installed.

I knew that Mike wouldn’t be able to help catch her, so I called in my good friend Haley. Within 15 minutes, I had Velcro (a name I HOPE she grows into!) cornered. I wrapped her in a blanket and poor girl was so terrfied, she let loose of her anal sacs all over me. PHEW! Well at least I won’t have to express them! LOL

Carefully, I put her inside the cubicle and Haley shut the doorand locked it.

Now, if she is still in there- she is safe. She has a large area to roam in, places she can hide, food water and shelter which is more than she had from where she came from. I am trying to still trap her remaining kitten and hope to do so by the weekend. He is eating solid food, but that Tom is stil in the area and where there is one easy meal, there is another.

My hope is by removing mom out of the picture, he will leave the kitten alone. Toms kill kittens that don’t carry their scent in order to force the queen back into heat (from grief). Although her smell will still be around the place, perhaps I have bought little furr-ball some time.

I can’t do anything today, I am going to the doctor about my dang foot which flared up again and doubt I will be able to walk after the procedure is over. Guess we will have to find out. Now, the sun is just starting to come up and so I am going into the enclosure to see if the kitty managed once again to escape! I hope not! Stay tuned- it is always an adventure in this house.

Cat beds

5:30 a.m- she is settled now, next to her litter pan. Her first compartment shows frantic moments; overturned water, dry food scattered, wet food turned over. I cleaned the first compartment talking softly to her all the while. I told her she doesn’t have to worry anymore. There are no nutrias to attack her, no bully tomcat to terrorize and mate with her. She will be warm, she will be safe and she will be loved.

I need to get some tap lights and install them in there. It’s a bit dark in them, thar caves! 🙂

As the days grow shorter and the sun bids an early goodbye to the day, my thoughts turn to my dream cat sanctuary which oddly enough may just be a stone’s throw away!

As I stand on the back porch looking out into our lush fields, I can well imagine the sight of dozens of cats at play or rest in those fields. A cat-proof fence will be stretched across the pastures, securing the safety of the felines inside and hopefully high enough to discourage anyone from tossing a cat or kitten over its top- but when it comes to people, you just never know. Wire would be buried deep around the fence dissuading any coon or possum from even trying to sample the buffet just within their reach.

The pole barn with the heated floor will lure the cats in at night and they will curl up on the floor or on the ramps and settle for the night.

I have long planned for such a place and I have been informed that the Pepsi Refresh Grant that I have applied for has been accepted BUT if I messed up the application form, they can disqualify me for any reason. I will know the first of November if my sanctuary will be in the running for the grant.

The voting is online and I have to get into the very top five to be awarded the money, or maybe it is ten- I am a bit excited at the moment and can’t quite remember! If you register with the website, you can vote 5 times a day. If you surf in- you can vote once.

In putting this application together, you have to present a business proposal, and mine, I believe is solid. I have found a contractor who is honest and he is also a cat lover! He has quoted me a fair price for the work and says he is excited that finally in Linn County there will be a place where people can bring their cats and they won’t be ignored or harmed.

So, I sit at the edge of my seat, praying that this works for all concerned. I know that I can safely help at least 100 cats and in the process help ease the burden on this community where I live.

So as the sun rises, I stand on the porch visualizing my dream and praying that all will fall into place and this time next year- this place will truly be a haven for cats!

I think I must be wired wrong or something. I am unable to turn a blind eye to the suffering of cats and today I have three more cats here. Three more to feed, three more to vet, three more to socialize. Am I crazy I wonder? I had a long discussion with God this afternoon as I was attempting to trap some kittens who are at great risk of being killed by outside predators (suspect a tomcat is doing the deed). I will spare the details of the two I found, but I ran home and got my traps and set them. I caught the mom, and two other adults. The kittens (the two who are left) were in and out of the trap all day playing, eating and having a blast. They are to young and malnourished to trip the trigger and my kitten traps were loaned out over a year ago and never returned.

So in the introduction cage, I have the mackeral tabby mom (the kittens are weaned). She is barely one year old which explains how two of her kittens were killed either early this morning or last night. Most older moms would have jumped in and fought with the killer- but again she is so young. She is in my introduction cage. The tuxedo boy is in a cage in the haybarn and another tortie is in another cage next to him. I couldn’t leave them in the situation they were in- they were in an awful place. At least here, they are safe.