Meet Dobby. Dobby has been here for almost two days now. He is a very needy kitty and the woman who owned him before he arrived here, keeps a very busy schedule that doesn’t include needy kitties.

I have clipped his claws, snuggled with him and kept him in segragation, but decided to let him out a few minutes ago. He is roaming the house hissing at the other cats, but there have been no open confrontations.

I am going to have to get a bit creative, my black cats all look alike, so it is going to be difficult to tell them apart. Cole is easy, because of that growth on his leg and his hair is shaved around it until I can figure out just what the heck it is. I can tell him from Bart and Dobby right away.

Dobby is a bit thin so I have him on A/D for the time being. He does have his own room where he retreats if things get to hot for him. But he is a welcome addition here.

His previous owner described his behavior as out-of-control, but so far, I haven’t seen anything other than kitten-hood from him. He is about 8 months old now.

The most difficult part of rescuing for me is letting go. Today I took Rocky to his new home. The guy who expressed an interest in Rocky turned out to be everything I have ever wanted for my cats. Lives in a beautiful home, has plenty of love for this wonderful cat, Rocky will be an only kitty, there aren’t any other animals living there. He wanted to hold Rock-rock immediately (brave soul) considering Rock was a feral kitty at one time.

I cried all the way home. I will miss his presence. He was my lap bug. But I don’t regret leaving him there, not at all. I know he will have a good life.
Here he is the day he arrived with his littermates. He is on the lower step. I have had him for two years now. He will be missed

That’s what I was told yesterday when a gentleman contacted me about writing an article for him. He simply wanted an 800 word article. He had heard about me “through channels.” When it came to how much he was willing to pay me for my time, he offered to cough up $4.00! Mighty nice of him- four dollars wouldn’t even buy a cup of specialty coffee!

When I told him that he would be hard pressed to find a quality writer at that price, he responded: “But writing is so easy!”

The weather is clearing here, but there is another winter storm looming offshore. This one looks to be a bad storm bringing in more snow and rain and freezing temperatures.

Wild Kitty has reappeared. She was laying on the chair this morning when I went out to feed! Of course, the minute I made eye contact with her she fled. I put out food for her and was really glad to see her.

I pulled out the Feline Funhouse today and set it up for the kitties. They are so funny playing in and out of the netting, and pouncing on the other cats inside.
Wild Whiskers offers this fun diversion for your kitties. Supervised only if you leave them outside in it, because other predators can come in and attack the occupants.

Wild Whiskers

I haven’t seen WK since this inclement weather hit. The rest of the barn cats have been indoors. They all demanded to come inside before the first snowstorm hit. But WK is a true feral and she wanted to stay outside. I put a heating pad on the porch on her chair, and she had fresh food and water daily, but she never showed up to eat. Although it is true, that the cats can sense the storms before they hit, and they do hunker down in safe areas, she should have surfaced long before now.

I know she was never “mine.” She wouldn’t go into any trap aand she ran from us at every opportunity, she did know that the porch offered warmth and a haven from the other predators in the area. I hope I am wrong, but I suspect she got too cold, or she got trapped and is no longer roaming the earth.

Christmas is long past, but every morning I can expect gifts from the kitties. I have ping-pong balls in my rain boots, catnip toys in my slippers. When I change out the litter pans, I find toys buried in the sand.

In the evening, I have lap dances from Baker and Trump. Chin bumps from Charlie and an arm bath from Matuse. I can’t forget the chorus of purrs from Chappy, Sierra, Charlie and Oliver as I fall asleep at night.

It has taken a few days to recover from the recent events. I have started a new project that I am quite excited about, and also been hired to edit and rewrite some existing articles.

There is snow on the ground and snowmen are popping up all over the place. One gal is making a snow dinosaur that looks pretty realistic if you ask me. It is so odd to look out the window and see snow. The snow plow went blowing past yesterday and it took out our mailbox. The kitty that was custom carved for me from Woodendipity ended up flying halfway across the yard and landing in the bushes! I was so ticked- he had to venture into our yard, not the road to take out kitty. Thankfully, Mike was able to repair the kitty and she got a much needed bath before being placed back on her post. I called the DOT and left a very annoyed message about the incident. They called back, but they were not happy to learn the mailbox (if I could get another again) would be $200.00, They were relieved to learn Mike fixed the crack in her head and put her back.

It is supposed to snow again tonight- they are calling for thunder snow storms and hail! Oh my-

All the cats are doing well. I have some people interested in Baker. They live in Portland, so we shall see if they fill out the application form or not. My application form has a habit of scaring off people because I ask so many questions. But, my goal is to find the right home for these kittens and cats and the questions are neccessary.

They cypro has only worked on Brooke for a very short while (ten minutes or so.) Nothing substantial has happened to jump-start her appetite. Cats are predators first and foremost, for them NOT to be eating, there is something substantially wrong. Sometimes, the cats turn out to be smarter than the people trying to make them well.

Last night while force-feeding, she reared back and down and bit me hard in the inner thigh. She is held firmly between my legs when I feed her. So, with deep regret, I have stopped force-feeding her and medicating her. I made an appointment with the vet and at 3:00 today she goes in for a final visit. Until God throws a miracle through my window, she will more than likely go the Bridge tonight. Experience has shown that in cats where cypro doesn’t work, they end up having to be euthanized after all.

She is drop-dead gorgeous and I have no doubt she would be highly adoptable. But I will not adopt out a cat with an unknown health issue. She is growling almost constantly now when I go up in her room and she is hiding in corners. If I pick her up, I better have my rescue armour on, because she will get me. She is trying to tell me in her kitty way- “I don’t feel good, something is dreadfully wrong so leave me be!’ I will honor her request, no matter how much it hurts and no matter how much I don’t want to.

At 4:00 p.m. Brooke was tucked in with the angels. She went quickly and peacefully. The vet suspects dry FIP and asked permission to do a necropsy. I have completely scrubbed and disinfected the room where Brooke lived for over a week. I have thrown out litter pans, scoops, food bowls and water bowls. I will let the room sit for awhile before letting any of the other cats inside.

Goodbye sweet Brooke- I am sorry I couldn’t save you

16 degrees and dropping this morning! The irrigation pipes are frozen so I had to carry water out to the horses. I used the cat’s pet fountain bottle to do the job. It worked pretty well. I only had to make 6 trips from the house. Because the ground is so frozen, the horses have a hard time finding their footing. Racer was really sore last night, so I have confined them to their stalls for the duration of this winter freeze. I am hoping some clouds come in tonight and it warms up enough to snow.

I knew we were in for a cold night last night, when by 8:00 p.m. ALL the cats were inside including my most feral ones. For Dash and McKinley to be inside, I know it is cold. I felt sorry for wild kitty, but she still won’t go into a trap. I put the pet heating pad on the chair she sleeps on on the porch so she would at least stay warm. I found her asleep there this morning when I went out. The pet fountain even froze last night. I unplugged it so the motor wouldn’t burn out.

Unfortunately, my washing machine is also frozen. Told Mike, I felt like we were still in Alaska- this weather is very strange for this area.

Charlie is back to normal. Thank You God, and in all fairness to the clinic, they didn’t know about his fragile state. I told them, but they do a good service for a lot of people. If anyone is at fault, it is me for not taking him to my regular vet who knows him and his history. I was just trying not to go deeper into vet debt. The boys were mounting the girls, so I knew I had to do something quickly or I would have more kittens…although Trump and Panic would throw some gorgeous kitties! Don’t worry, won’t happen here. My regular vet didn’t have appointments until late Feb and I know the girls are getting ready to have their first heat, so I chose the spay and neuter clinic.