Three kittens ended up going to the vet. Turns out they got into something caustic and have burns on their tongues, back of the throat and roof of the mouth. The vet reminded me that when he examined Cassie, when he sniffed her- she smelled like DAWN soap as I had bathed her but also a strong chemical. Because of my ongoing cold, I couldn’t smell anything. He believes that whoever dumped the family also dumped some sort of chemical on the queen perhaps to hasten death? It worked because Cassie passed away this afternoon. And yes, I am digging yet another grave. 🙁

The kittens are on antibiotics because they all had fairly high fevers and I am assist feeding them 7 times a day. But it was not the calicivirus so the littermates are back together and Ben said they should be doing better in a few days. The hardest part of this is when they open their mouth- you can see this white tissue just laying on the sides of their mouth and I have to take a warm q-tip and roll it off and pull gently because according to the vet, this is the toxin solidifying. Vet bill down to $800.00 now thanks to those of you digging deep. I am doing all  I can on this end to solicit funds to get this paid off. My heart breaks for these babies who did not ask for all this abuse to happen to them.

One of the gunny sack babies is headed to the vet this morning as soon as they open. I noticed yesterday that she had blood on her mouth and when I went to check her, I found ulcers on her tongues. She is so young- 7 weeks old but I have isolated her because ulcers are the first signs of the calicivirus. When I went to feed her this morning, I also noticed her gums are shredding. I have never seen anything like this before so I want to get it checked out. I did look at the electrical cords in the bedroom because kittens love to chew things- but there are no frayed wires peeking out anywhere and no teeth marks.Poor little girl, she has been through it and now it looks like her challenges might have just begun.

This morning I laid to rest Sweet Tangie next to Taylor and all the rest. For a brief moment it looked like my fears of FIP and the vet’s suspicion wouldn’t pan out- she rebounded for a 24 hour period but then she slid quickly downhill and we put her to sleep. Her brothers show no sign of the disease and as the vet says it is the luck of the draw. I held her in her final moments and she died knowing she was loved even if she was only a small black kitten trying to find her foothold in this world. Now,  she will live on in another.

I am piggybacking on Mike’s computer right now. Mine melted three weeks ago. It has been a strange time not to have the computer. Mike is re-building mine in the hopes he can retrieve all that seems lost. At least he got my mail and files back so I could log into my blog and try to bring it up to date.

Hugh was nice enough to post on my behalf (thank you my friend) So  much has happened since I last logged in. Trista has been rehomed into a home with a girl with Down’s syndrome. It was the neatest thing when the family came to visit. Trista had never met the mom or the daughter before but the minute they came through the door, she leaped off my lap- dancing and barking and jumping on the girl in excitement. She knelt down and this “couch potato” dog jumped in her lap and began kissing her face! I was stunned but smiling and I knew that Trista had found her forever home. Turns out they had recently lost their poodle and they were looking for a replacement pet- they had contacted me about a kitten- but turned out they took Trista home and she is a very happy dog belonging to a very happy girl! It was amazing.

As I had Hugh mention, we lost Taylor and it was a big loss for both of us. So now our old timer kitties are Bentley 15 and Glory Bee 18. There are now five spots on our feline cemetery that have been claimed by some beautiful and wonderful felines: Chappy, Turner, Benson, Squirt and Taylor.

Two weeks ago, someone pounded on our front door. It was a group of extreme hikers. They had been training high in the Cascades and stumbled over a gunny sack that contained a queen and 5 kittens! The person (and I use that term loosely) that did this to this Russian Blue Mix and her family- I hope will have Karma visit them on a regular basis and make them completely miserable. He taped this family down into the bottom of the sack so they couldn’t move. There was so much hair loss from the cats trying to free themselves- and the queen Cassie had a 105.9 fever upon arriving! She was in the hospital for three days- she has a heart murmur- and she kept having reoccurring high temps. Several days, I was afraid she wasn’t going to make it. Her kittens were so starving when they arrived that they were fighting over the food and they were 3 weeks old! They wanted the canned food and they wanted it NOW! There were teeth and claws flying- no idea how long they had been in bondage. They are fine now- thank the Good Lord.  Cassie is getting spayed as I type- and I pray she makes it through the surgery but even with the murmur, she needs to be spayed.

Her five kittens have been added to the rest of the group bringing the kitten count here to 14. Last week a shelter took 3 and another rescue took 5. It was hard to feed and keep up with 20 kittens. We also lost two foster homes this year.

. Too many cats rescued recently needed to be sent to the Bridge. One 2 year old mack tabby- was so far into FeLV that her eyes just ran with yellow goo- it was built up into her third eyelid like a mucky pool of sewage. Her ears were yellow, her pads on her feet. She showed up at a trailer park and everyone was throwing water on her or trying to get her away from the other cats. So sad, and now she is at peace.

Our vet bill is right now at $1,115.32 so if you have any loose change running around in your pockets and you wish to share- please do. It is desperately needed- and I do mean desperately. Yes, I am begging here.

I need to go, but I thank you in advance-

Yesterday, a good friend called me and said she had a situation she needed help with. At first I thought she was going to tell me about a cat in need of rescue, but as it turned out the rescue involved a dog.

This poor dog had lost her owner unexpectedly when the woman died on Mother’s Day and for whatever reason, the dog was stuck inside the home all by herself for 8 weeks! Neighbors who were supposed to be feeding and caring for her, fell short of their responsibility and now, no one in the family wanted the dog. Midge asked me if we could take her. Without hesitation, I said yes and later that day Trista arrived.

This poor dog is an pile of issues. She is so traumatized at the loss of her owner (poodles are extremely bonded to usually one person) She shakes, she pants, she drools. She acts completely terrified of me but thankfully she is bonding with Mike. She is 8 years old, she has cherry eye- she won’t eat and although she will lay next to me, if I move she flinches and she trembles the entire time. I can’t even begin to imagine what she has been through- 8 weeks all by herself inside the house- from what I have heard she wrecked the joint and pooped everywhere.

She completely ignores the cats but that may change once she adjusts to her new life. She is really a cute girl and I hope she will calm down soon and start eating. I went out and bought her a thunder shirt and a calming collar to help her get through all the changes. She has no leash manners and when we do go for a walk (she is quite overweight) the owner used to feed her from the table all the time) she keeps trying to jump into my arms like “Lady carry me please?” They have not been long walks, so I just tell her no and we just keep going. I don’t think she led a normal dog life- acts like she has never been anywhere out of the trailer where she was found. I feel really sorry for her- her world has been completely rocked.

This was on my answering machine this afternoon:

“Mary Anne this is Beth. I wanted to tell you that first of all, we have changed Gretel’s name to GiGi. Second, she slept between us all night and the only time she woke up was when she would headbump me so hard, I couldn’t sleep! Then I had to wake up and pet her!! We would go back to sleep until she wanted more pets. She is walking around our bedroom this morning as if she owns it. She is incredible and thank you for blessing us with her!

I was so thrilled. I  had hoped that deep down, past the trauma and the pain this cat was exhibiting, there was a beautiful soul looking for the right home. She has not growled, she has not nipped, she has not chased anyone’s ankles. She is loved, she is home and that is as it should be.

We just got back from a beautiful mountain home the other side of Junction City. Gretel was making herself at home when I left. True to her personality, as I was telling Beth about how grumpy Gretel really can be, as if on cue (Gret was on my lap) Gretel reached over and bit my hand and then growled at me. She didn’t draw blood, she was just warning me and letting her new owner know that sometimes, she does mean business.

The house is incredibly beautiful on 44 acres and her only companions will be two lovely white German Shepherds that run the property. I can tell she will be well cared for and loved. Beth was feeding her out of crystal bowls when I left!

I had eight inquiries about her and spent a great deal of time on the phone with each caller and one by one, dismissed them all until Beth called. Beth is an answered prayer. Someone who has the patience of Job and the understanding of a Saint. She is indeed the answer to the prayers that were flying in the last few days that God would lead me to the right companion for Grumpy Gretel!

Pidgeon, Drew and Digit go in for their neuters. There are still 5 more in need of fixing but they are all underweight. Three arrived yesterday, they are 7 weeks old- two mack tabbies and a black female. Their mom was killed by a neighbor’s dog and the people who found the kittens were clueless as to how to help them. They gave them cow’s milk to drink so they have horrible bloat at the moment. We have switched them to goat’s milk and I am giving them a combination of baby food and pumpkin to try to get things going again. They love to hiss, but I wouldn’t call them feral- just scared and wondering why their world has suddenly changed so drastically.

Do we have room for them? Nope- but will find room. Right now, because they are so little, I have put them in with the other kittens and after a few hours of hiding, they have come out in the open and being more visible. We also wanted them in with the others because activity will also get those clogged systems working. The bloat is concerning because of the hardness of the tummies. I have named them Hobbit, Tangie and Pebbles.

Grumpy is up for adoption but one of the photos I put online also show her kittens. Sadly the people calling are asking to adopt her babies and not her and she is only 7 months old! I said in the ad that the kittens were not available, but apparently some people can’t read. Hoping to find the perfect home for her as she is a real beauty but she will be a challenge at first until she realizes the person who has adopted her can be trusted.

This week was pretty traumatic regarding some of the kittens that I had placed into a foster home. I did manage to get them out of harm’s way and I have had to rethink my process of finding help when we are overwhelmed by the numbers. I guess it’s like Mike says, no one takes as good of care of these high-risk babies like I do. I’m still wrestling with certain decisions I made that left two kittens who are almost 3 months old, underweight and pretty sickly. Again,it was a hard lesson learned- harder on the kittens overall though. I will recover, but I will not trust as easily as before.

But now, I would like you to meet Skya she is being up close and personal!

Here is Pickett her brother:

Pigeon a sweet marbled tabby boy

And then Digit and his brother Pirate

Again, like everything else in rescue, there is a learning curve and lessons to be remembered for the next time. I was beating myself up for being so trusting but have stopped because it served no purpose. Next time we get overwhelmed by numbers- the lessons learned in the last three weeks will be on my heart before I make any decisions regarding the care of these sweet babies.

After a few days here, I did manage to get the rest of my kittens out of foster care and they are now here with us. There are two of the meth babies Drew (way underweight for his age) and Digit his brother. Also in the mix are two gray babies: Pickett and Skya and one marble tabby – Pogey. Skya is a beautiful dilute gray with calico highlights- her bronter Pickett is a mack tabby dilute and Pogey is a marbled mack tabby with beautiful eyes and underdeveloped testicles. He likely won’t be neutered for quite awhile unless the second testicle drops soon.

They will be here until their neuter and then hopefully off to forever loving homes.

Grumpy Gretel is still grumpy but her high fevers are finally behind her. All that is left is for her to dry up on her milk and gain some weight. Although she is eating like a little piglet she has stayed steady at 7 pounds which is worrisome. She has been dewormed twice now- another concern is the amount of urine this girl is pumping out on a daily basis and it has been discovered she has a heart murmur that is pretty substantial.  I really want to bring her into the house, but I know that won’t work because once she hears the kittens crying in the bedroom she isn’t going to dry up and it will compound her problems. I feel mean, but she is staying by herself inside the deck enclosure.

Molly doesn’t like the kittens and she won’t sleep with me any longer which makes me sad. I hope when they move on to new homes- there will be a reclaiming of my bed on Molly’s part. Time will tell I guess.