She is still fighting a bad case of oral mouth ulcers, goopy eye and poor appetite. The vet was disappointed that the depo shot didn’t do much for what is going on with her. He did give her one more convinia shot and we got more eye medicine for her. Since her last visit, she is down 2 pounds. Although she is one cat who can afford to loose weight, he wants me to monitor her weight for the next two weeks then bring her back. I won’t be taking her back. She is so stressed from all these vet visits she has been peeing all over herself since she got home. It’s not worth it, especially knowing that what they are doing for her doesn’t work.

We pulled her health file and looked it over, searching for answers and he has determined that the covenia shot does not work on her in the past, and he hopes that now that she is older it might. She’s had several of these shots in the past with no results. Bummer. I am going to increase the L-Lysine that I am feeding all the cats including her and looking into holistic ways to heal her ulcers (perhaps unprocessed honey?) I don’t know the answer- but hope for her sake, we find it and soon.

Shim is due for her recheck in under an  hour from now. She has steadily been progressing downhill since her first visit. She is barely eating, but she is drinking water almost continually all day with no pee showing in the pan. Her clear discharge is now goopy and her third eyelid of her other eye is showing. She’s also taken to sleeping in the bathroom way back in the corner behind the toilet. She has never visited the bathroom that I know of so I am quite concerned as None of these are good signs. Part of me wonders if some of this is because of the stress she is under when we take her in to the vets office- or if there is something more than just stomatitis she is fighting. I remember when she and Benson first arrived here, anything that changed in their environment threw both of them into health issues all URI related. Take the changes away from their environment and in less than 24 hours they were both fine again. It’s been two weeks since she has been in to see the vet and instead of getting better, she has worsened. I hope he can tell us why.

Thank you to those of you who donated to the vet debt. We were able to put $143.00 towards the debt and we are grateful you opened up your hearts and your wallets to the cats here.

Please pray for Shim and I as we seek answers to what is going on.

PITA has been returned to us as of today. He was found to have some off-putting behavior (hissing) Just once, he never bit, scratched or struck out with his claws. Just one hiss as he considered his new caregivers and if they were worthy of his trust. I think they were worthy- but I know they have the kids to protect and when you get a new kitten in your care and he hisses at you- yes, it can be off-putting.

He was a bit stressed upon his return. His two brothers are still with us and he yowled so loudly when I confined him to the bedroom, that to save my eardrums, I let him out. No fights so far, but Molly, the one kitty he scuffled with from time-to-time is still outside. She will come back by dusk as she always does, so if there is going to be a confrontation, it will be after dark.

I had to take Bentley to the vet and Mike said while I was gone, PITA leaped upon him, headbumped his face one time and took off again. So hopefully, he is as glad to be home as we are to have him home.

Mr B- is in a bad way. Like Shimmer, bad stomatitis- one infected eye and lots of gingivitis on this 11 year old boy. I felt so bad for him- so we did the antibiotic, he got a pain shot and a depo shot. He is pretty unpredictable in his behavior thanks to the after-effects of surviving distemper when he was such a baby. They were so nice, they did everything for him with me holding him in my arms seated in a chair! I told them my knee was giving me fits and what happened as to why it was giving me such a fit and they just said, “Hang on to Mr. Bentley- we will work with him that way!” I love my vet.

He’s only been there a few times after his initial two week stay fighting distemper. He was there with pancreatitis that almost took his life, then he came back with massive diarrhea unstoppable until he got The Recipe and then got better. Then he came back with massive bite wounds when Mr. Gnarly got ahold of him before MG was neutered. He was there for two days on that stint. So he has been through it and they admire him for his strength and his character.

Our vet debt is now at $1,300.00 so if anyone has loose change rattling around in their car or inside the sofa in the living room- we SURE could use it. Just sayin-:)

Here is one of my favorite photos of my boy Bentley

Many thanks to those of you who are gifting us your Fresh Step Paw Points. Through these donations, we are able to buy trash bags, scoops litter and other items necessary to keep us going. If you enter our unique shelter code SHELTERBONUS914 they will gift us 250 points immediately. We are again in need of 13 gallon trash bags and another outdoor water fountain now that the weather is getting warmer (although last night it was 22 degrees here!) But it is April now and warmer weather is just around the corner.

Chandler and Bronson have become best buds. They are sleeping inside Mike’s shop which sadly, he hasn’t been in for three years now. He’s decided it might be time to sell some of his heavy shop equipment like his mill-drill-lathe which weighs well over 1,200 pounds as well as his contractors table saw (which is pretty much an antique as he has had it a long time. I set up some cat carriers with heated cat beds in the back of his shop and that’s where Bronson and Chandler have settled in.

Shimmer’s mouth has simmered down a bit, I am hoping just a few more shots and she will be right as rain. I have to take Bentley in next- he stopped eating a few days ago and he also looks like he might have stomatitis starting- although right now, his red patches are located in the back of his throat and none of his gums are bleeding. He goes in Monday- he’s my boy, my distemper survivor and vet visits with him can be pretty unpredictable. The disease left him neurologically challenged- so we will just have to see how it goes.

We had a minor flood in the kitchen of late. Our dishwasher sprung a leak and unknown to us, it leaked underneath the tile and ended up leaving a stain on the living room carpet that at first I attributed to the dog or the cat- but it kept appearing and never had an odor like pee- so it was a matter of elimination to figure out we had a leak somewhere. The plumber came out and fixed it and now we have to tear up the tiles and linoleum in the kitchen and dry the floor out. We are going to try and do it ourselves- and then if we find that doesn’t work- we will call in a professional. But the insurance didn’t cover much for repair work. I’m not sure why we have insurance in the first place? They seem to always find a way NOT to cover damages in older houses. The people who lived her prior to us, instead of tearing off old tile or linoleum they just covered it with new- so this is going to be quite the mess I think. But there was a lot of water damage and Oregon is known for mold and dry rot. Next week, we will get to work.

Speaking of work, I best get going. It’s time to get the cats fed as well as the husband. Everyone please have a peaceful day today and hug those around you who you love and who love you-

After getting bit to the degree of ending up in urgent care and losing my left thumb’s use for a few days, I decided to corral Chandler into a carrier and transfer her out to the enclosure where she has access to the outdoors as well as the enclosure 24/7. She has been out there a few days and this morning when I went to feed

, she came flying into the cat door and skidded to a stop when she saw me. Then as calm as toast, she came up to me and head-bumped and rubbed me! She doesn’t want to be inside- she was kept inside that bedroom all her life and treated feral and although she is not feral, she is also not a cat that wants to be confined if given the choice. With the cold weather over soon- her lack of hair won’t interfere with her being outside. I see her out in the yard when I am doing the laundry or out on the porch and she has made a new friend with Bronson who is also back here and hanging around the feeders. They both look 100% better and happy for the first time since their arrival here.

The last few months, Shimmer has been acting out in strange ways. I have taken her to the vet three times, each time, being told “She’s not fat, she’s just likes her food.” She is three years old and 16 pounds! We do not have chunky cats here- it’s just not something we worry about. I took her back again and was told she has URI so they gave her a shot of Covina. Didn’t work- took her back a third time and was told it was “probably allergies.” To heck with that, this time I took her back in with every intention of doing full blood work or whatever it might take to get to the bottom of her issues.

Shimmer is a lovely calico girl. She has attitude and she loves you UNTIL you pick her up, mess with her, or give her meds and then she turns into the feral cat from hell! So this time, I held her during the exam and we finally discovered what was wrong with her- why she can’t breathe at night, why she is hardly eating (I know 16 pounds- but I never saw her eat that much.) She has really bad stomatitis- so severe that her throat was closing in on itself from the infection. I felt so bad, because although I can scratch her back and pet her- picking her up and doing a mouth exam is dangerous to say the least.  They gave her a cortisone shot and I take her back in two weeks to get a second one if the mouth doesn’t start to resolve. I knew something bad was going on with her- especially yesterday when I pulled the warm clothes out of the dryer and she hopped into the basket (I thought she was going to sleep on the clothes, but she ended up peeing on them!) That’s a clear sign that something is wrong with your cat when she is peeing on soft things or peeing in the shower. I am glad I listened to my gut.

I am happy to let you know that four of these beautiful rescued kittens have now found new, forever homes. The tipping point for the decision was that Skya who has come from being a shy, reserved kitty has blossomed into a lovely dilute tortie girl. She would follow Mike’s wheelchair around the house like a dog, and as it turns out, her new owner is also disabled- and a lot younger with so much love to give.

Hollister’s new owners did not seem to mind that she nibbles chins- she no longer draws blood (thank you God) they might have minded that more! Slyder and Pita have also departed our company and it brings me great joy to see how these kittens who were so hard to find their trust button for so long have turned out to be lovely, wonderful kitties. They are all beautiful kitties who deserve to have their own homes full of love and laughter.

This morning when I went in to feed- the enclosure was a mess. He had pulled out supplies in the drawers, ransacked the food cupboard, thrown over litter bags and torn them open. He was a busy boy. He has fled! I found a portion of the floor where he had found a weak spot and chewed and clawed his way to freedom. 🙁 My hope is just the containment was stressing him) and he knows that he can eat, find heated cat beds and safety here and he will be back. At least, he has a chance to survive being neutered and healthy. No way a sick cat could create such destruction. I took down the door separating the catio from the enclosure and the catio door stays open, because that is where Chessa sleeps and eats, so he can re-enter at any time, find his warm bed and hopefully understand he can escape at any time.

(Tripp laying with Kota)

Tripp who suffers a neurological disorder and is currently on CBD oil which quells his obsession to clothing and soft items he fancies has been missing from his normal napping spot (Mike’s lap) for a week now. Lately Mike has been unable to cope with Tripps obsession of him as well. Tripp will jump on Mike’s chest, knead his arms and stomach and even with his claws clipped, he still leaves wounds which isn’t cool. He will also reach out and scratch Mike’s face. He doesn’t do it to harm him, his neurological pathways are so messed up by toxins, he can’t help himself. Mike has been discouraging these “visits” of late.

So, I searched in the house and enclosure, calling, opening cans and Tripp never appeared. I was afraid he had gotten out with the delivery of Mike’s new hospital bed and given him up for lost. With my knee injury- I don’t go upstairs- but I did set dishes of food on the steps and the only cats coming down to eat were the core group minus Tripp. I need to also add here that twice a week now, Mike gets visited by a caring group of nurses who bathe and dress his leg for him. My washcloths of which I had over thirty were also vanishing. I asked the nurses if they inadvertently either tossed them in the trash (because they can get yucky) or perhaps tucked them in a plastic bag and took them with as they left. They assured, me they left them hanging after they rinsed on near the hamper. I was puzzled, where did they go? Was my machine eating them?

Mike was missing Tripp so  much that yesterday despite the doctor’s orders, I climbed up the stairs to the second floor. We have a set of cupboards that go alongside the stairs and years ago, we converted them to cat beds. We cut holes in each door, laid screen inside so the cats couldn’t fall out and topple down the stairs- and cut holes inside each cupboard leading to the next. What can I say, we are cat-driven here at home.

It was in the third cupboard that I found Tripp. He had dragged every washcloth they used on Mike into the cupboard and built a bed for himself! I picked him up checking for injuries or something amiss, and all he did was nibble my ear and purr. He ate the food I presented to him and then went back inside to sleep on his “bed.” I’m thankful I can buy washcloths fairly cheaply at the new dollar store in town! I don’t have the heart to take his carefully crafted “Mike” bed away.

We have two cats, one previously owned, one a stray one deemed “feral.” Both of them are showing me in all ways possible, they want nothing to do with humans. Poorly socialized and also stressed out to the max, Chandler growls the minute I open the door. If she is visible, by the time the door shuts, she is gone. I know where she is because her growls are constantly rumbling. Pretty sad when you consider the woman who owned her had her since she was a young kitten. She is eating, but barely. She has drained out the pet fountain twice making me think something besides her unease at being here might be going on. Yesterday was the first time there was poop in the pan and not a lot of it. She ate 3 sardines from her buffet of offerings.

On the other hand, the battle weary Bronson if he could- he would do more than spit, hiss, growl and swat if given the chance. Last night, as I lay in bed in the early morning, I heard a cat crying. Not consistently (thank you God) because the enclosure is near my neighbor’s bedroom window. But you could hear him howl throughout the morning until it got light. He is eating everything that is offered to him. I did try to approach him to see if he has been handled somewhat in the past, but he let me know quickly, he might be battle weary, but he is also battle ready! LOL

So we will let them decompress and take their time in this process and not rush them. I do get discouraged. I think it’s in human DNA when we serve to other creatures needs, we would like that acknowledged in some way. But they don’t work that emotion, they have their own time clock. Their paws march to the sound of a different drummer.

Every cat here in the sanctuaries were once in the same spot as these two with us. I remember Pita being such a handful that I considered taking up stock in betadine when I had to buy large bottles to cleanse out the wounds she left behind! Now, she is one of my #1 lap sitters and she follows me around the house like a dog. Hence her name. Her original name we considered it to be Holy Terror, so viscious her nature was once upon a time. So I try not to be disheartend coming from a generation who is used to instant cup-a-soup ,  411 directories that didn’t route you overseas and gas stations that used to be called Service Stations offering full service on the spot.