they have now reversed my shoulder joint. Reshaped the other portion of it, and I have enough titanium in me right now. I would more than likely set off any alarm in any airport. Good thing I don’t like to travel!

Bentley.  2012-2025

Rest In Peace My Friend

Gibby and Cricket got spayed today.. I was told by the clinic that this was normal:

however, in all the years that I have had kittens get spayed I’ve never seen such bruising. This is cricket. To me it looks like she has ripped a stitch out. I have her confined separate from the other two. I will be up all night monitoring her looking for any type of active bleeding as well as checking her gums to make sure she isn’t bleeding out somewhere. I know they told me that this is normal but again it’s the first time I’ve ever seen it and it was a little bit offputting and concerning.

Flash was going absolutely nuts without her sister today. I spent as much time as I could with her,  I discovered that she likes to play fetch. If I crinkle up a small piece of notebook paper and flick it in her direction. She will run and grab it and then bring it back to me! She’s such a clown. But I could tell she was very lonely today. I had a full schedule of things to do. But most of them got put to the side because she is more important.

Many thanks to those of you who helped to make this possible. It’s so nice to know that they will never have to deal with the stress of having kittens. The girls at the clinic were talking about how much these kittens purr. They purr more than they do anything else, and their purrs are loud and very comforting.

This morning Flash was dropped off at the local Humane Society to be spayed. My friend  Haley got her there right at 8:00. At 3:00 p.m Flash was picked up by another one of my friends and brought back to me. I had made a difficult decision to go ahead and surrender these three remaining kittens to the  Humane Society next week. I wanted to surrender all three of the kittens at the same time and asked that they stay together in the same cage until they’re adopted out. They are currently so friendly and loving, I don’t suspect they’re going to be there very long. I will be monitoring their adoption online as that’s the only way I can do this right now.

Flash had to be a late spay. She was spiraling out of control the minute I let her out of the cage to check on her and see what her incision looked like. I also freed her from the dreadful plastic cone and replaced it with a Trimline collar which is made of fabric and therefore, not a scary thing for a young kitten to deal with.

We moved her cage into the bedroom and covered it with a dark blanket and left her just to try to decompress from what she had endured this morning. I know from past experiences that they keep the dogs and the cats in the same room. (When they are waiting for spays/neuters.) Although the room is quite large, the dogs are kept on one side, the cats on the other. But the barking of all those dogs can be very offputting to cats and especially to kittens. So that, plus all the scary pheromones along with the anesthesia, she was quite altered.

Normally Kota sleeps with me in the bedroom. Tonight, however I banished him out of the bedroom and went in there about 10 o’clock to sleep. Flash had been meowing incessantly.  I had gone in there a couple of times trying to quiet her down or calm her. But nothing worked. Even giving her a little bit of food and water at 8 PM did nothing to even ease her into sleep.

I laid in bed for about two hours, listening to her cry and she sounded so pathetic and so scared. I knew that if I opened the cage door and let her out she wouldn’t calm down. She would just become a whirling dervish in the room and that’s not going to help her at all.

Finally, I just started singing her some Negro spirituals I learned long ago. The one that calmed her down immediately is called. Let There Be Peace. (Pretty ironic when you think about it.) But it worked for her and after three rounds of the song, she has finally fallen asleep. It is almost 2 AM. I am now in the living room and probably going to sleep in my chair instead of the bedroom. I do not hear her crying anymore and I’m grateful that she is now at peace herself.

I am hoping once morning breaks that she will be back to herself,  so she can rejoin her sisters. I know they won’t recognize her because she won’t smell the same. Thankfully, I have still in my cupboard, pure vanilla extract (not the imitation.) I will be putting this on all the kittens before setting her down in the room. They will all have it on the tip of their noses and under their tails. That’s how cats greet each other. They sniff each other’s noses and they smell under the tail. If I don’t do this, there’s going to be a fight. I do not want any fighting, especially when one of my cats just got spayed.

If times were different, circumstances not so overwhelming. I would have loved to keep all five of the kittens. They are so unique and so special. But that’s not going to happen. I still have 14 rescues here. Also my two indoor kitties, Aspen and Addie have not adapted to these newcomers even though they’ve been here several months.there is a lot of charging the screen door that stands between them. A lot of growling and posturing from my resident kitties to these babies. All pointing to the fact that chances are pretty strong they will never get along. One of the reasons for that is, they’re all female. If these were male kitties, this wouldn’t be happening.

So this is my last rescued litter (Knocking furiously on wood as I say that). I pray the Humane Society stays true to their word of keeping all three girls together in the same cage until they get adopted. It would certainly lower their stress level and mine.

We are still under a flood watch and my creek is definitely flooding. It’s halfway up the footpath right now and the current is booking. It is so swift that even Kota understands the power of this current. He does not even try to venture to go down and drink out of the creek. He just stays with me at the top of the path. Such a smart dog. I think they call it animal instinct.

For what’s coming with me next, instead of asking one person to take care of not only me, but also my animals. It would just be too much. So I have asked several people to come in and take care of the outdoor kitties, another one will come in and take care of the indoor kitties. One lady is coming to only take care of Kota- and still another one will come in to pick up my mail periodically and bring it in the house, as well as take out my trash cans if they need to be taken to the curb. I thought that would be a lot easier than asking someone no matter how much they like me to do everything. I know because I do everything every day  and it’s a lot for me.

My biggest concern remains Bentley. I don’t think anybody can give him his pill. I am thinking about perhaps making very small meatballs, inserting a pill inside of each meatball and then freezing them in a ice cube tray. Have three taken out at one time to thaw out. Working it that way, but again. He’s very famous for spitting out his pill.

I’m just trying to cover all the bases. I don’t know how long I’m going to be immobile. My surgeon told me that he won’t know either until once he gets in there and sees what’s actually going on and does his best to put everything right. Good thing I don’t like to fly because he says I’m going to start setting off metal detectors in airports.

It’s hard to imagine having a shoulder joint that is reversed from how nature intended it work. But as I mentioned before, he has a 90% success rate with this surgery and he’s been doing this surgery for 20 years. Wish us all luck-

This morning I met with my orthopedic surgeon, the one that’s going to perform the surgery on my shoulder. Thankfully, it’s not as complicated as the PA made it out to be.

I will not have to deal with my claustrophobia by having an MRI. They are going to do a CAT scan so they can see the full structure of the damage to the shoulder more than they can on x-rays.

Unless there is a complication (according to him only 10% of these surgeries become complicated either during the surgery or afterward). So those are pretty good odds. This is an outpatient procedure and I will be home within 10 hours after the two hour surgery. That relieves a lot of stress on me as to what to do with the cats, the dog, what to do with the kittens, etc…

I will be in a sling for eight weeks. It is a removable sling, but they will not allow me to remove it until two weeks after the surgery. I will not be able to lie flat-for at least a month because that increases the swelling on the shoulder. There will be a lot of swelling and a lot of bruising. I won’t be able to start physical therapy until two months after the surgery. So there’s going to be a lot of variables to work around, but I feel so much better knowing that I won’t be in the hospital for one to eight days. I don’t need to give blood. They will do blood work before the surgery, but that’s no biggie, They are doing plenty of that right now anyway.

Speaking of kittens, it’s time to spay them. They are now five months old.Unfortunately, due to the fact that I still can’t drive, my shoulder is still frozen. I’m taking them to my vet. It’s going to be fairly costly. My donation button on this blog is dead. That’s how I have it until I can figure out how to remove it. If you feel in your heart that you want to help with the cost of the spays-You can donate through PayPal. You can email me to find out how:

Mary AnneM@ladydawg.net This is the only email you can reach me at from here on in.

Please stay safe and loved-

Kitties are now four pounds and total purr monsters! They are slated to be spayed next week. Winnie threw all females. Soffit has been renamed by her new family as Sylvie- Mudbug is now known as Bug. They are thriving in their new home. As previously arranged by me- the two kittens will be returned to me the day before the spays. This will guarantee that there will not be any kittens in these two sweethearts futures.

Gibby is no longer biting hands and fingers. Cricket is slowly coming out of her shell. They are amazingly loving kitties now. I am really hoping that I can place the other three before I go in the hospital next month.
Crossing my fingers that I find loving families for these three beauties.

The kittens are doing splendidly. We just had a weigh-in. They are now 2 ounces plus. I have started to introduce them to Kota. Most people already own dogs, so if I can get these kitties used to a dog at least it might make them a little more adoptable.

MudBug loves to pounce on Kota’s tail when he’s wagging it-which is all the time he’s in the room because he loves the babies. I trained him long ago. I knew he was going to have a lot of babies in his future. She hangs on for dear life and it’s so funny. She looks like she’s surfing the wave.

Flash just likes to box his ears. After all, they are giant ears, and they flop, she likes floppy ears. The others are gradually getting used to him being in the room. I only do it for a few minutes at a time. Once they get used to him being in there I will ask him to just jump on the couch and lay down and see what happens if the kitties come up to see him.

I have a confession to make, I am falling in love with MudBug. I have started using the kitty couch as an opportunity to elevate my legs like the doctors want me to. She seems to understand where the pain is in my shoulder and she will lay right on the sore part. She won’t fidget or run amuck like the other ones are doing on my chest. They make me feel like I’m doing kitty yoga. I know they do that with goats, so why not with kitties?

MudBug has also discovered a new game. When I am scooping out litter pans, she is sitting in the middle of the pan watching me carefully. (I have to do everything with my left hand now as my right side is now completely immobile) and will continue to be so until the surgery in March. So it’s difficult, but it’s do-able. She’s decided to test me, Right when I get to the point where I’m shaking out all the litter to keep to keep the solids in the scoop, when I lift it up, she takes her paw and she twangs the scoop! Poop goes flying. (I learned how to duck very quickly.) It’s hysterical. I know not a good trait to have when you’re trying to find her a home but honestly, I think for her she is home.

Speaking of homes, the two homes for the other two kittens have fallen short. However, this morning, when I was getting blessed out of my socks. A friend had taken me into town, when I went into the beauty shop to say hi to the girls-walking through the door, Sabine said: “Speak of the devil we were just talking about you, Mary Anne.”

I told her I hoped it was a good talk. She pointed to the woman who she was cutting her hair and said this woman wants two of your kittens! I was brought up short, and then she added: “Oh, and by the way, she’s a Veterinarian!” I was thrilled. The two kittens that she is interested in are Soffit and Flame! She said that she will call me later and talk to me about it. I am just so relieved to know that they are going to a good home. I know this vet from a friend. I hear she’s very good. I know that she will make these kittens, a wonderful home.

I am following all of the doctors orders. I am doing range of motion exercises daily. Some of them I can’t accomplish on my right side, but I keep trying. Because I can’t drive my car right now, I am walking to the creek and back daily. The doctor wants me to simultaneously do as many trips to the creek and back as I can. So far all I’ve managed is three. Kota is  always with me, while his buddy Mama  trails behind. Behind Mama her six kittens follow. I am sure my neighbors think it’s a very strange parade they’re watching. I really want to do it four times in a row, however, my legs punk out on me. Apparently, during the last car incident, the doctors believe that I must’ve jammed my feet underneath either the brake pedal or the accelerator. I don’t know I can’t remember. For the life of me, I’ve tried but It all comes up a blank.

I found someone who will stay here for the time I’m in the hospital. She is a good friend of mine. She used to be a vet tech, and she’s watched my cats before in the past so that takes a lot of stress off of me. It also means that I don’t have to board Kota. I am sure he will miss me, but he will miss me less when he’s home then when he’s at the vets being boarded or being at a boarding facility. The only thing that won’t happen is Bentley will not get his pill until I get home and I’m mobile again. I talked with the vet who said that although it’s not ideal. It will just mean that Bentley will go hyperactive again because his metabolism will be out of whack.

I was told that immediately after my surgery, there will be four physical therapist at my bedside and I will go straight into physical therapy. Depending on how I do with them will depend on how long I stay in the hospital. I saw my husband be very noncompliant in the end, especially with the physical therapists that were visiting at our home. He would tell all of us that he was doing all the exercises, but I knew he wasn’t because I never saw him do any of them even the easy ones. They knew just by watching him go through their maneuvers while they were there that he was not doing anything to strengthen himself or give him more stamina. By that time he had given up.

I wanted to also thank the two people who recently sent me a donation through this website. However, I just sent my final closing forms in for my nonprofit. So I have refused the donations and refunded them. I do appreciate all the support that all of you have done for me over the years. It really means more than I can say. I am sad to put this behind me. It almost feels like part of me is missing. But it’s unfair to the cats because I can no longer do the work. Even simple things like scooping a litter pan becomes a problem. I’m learning to do it with my left hand though while watching out for MudBug and the flying poop! LOL

Don’t you dare think about it. You stay put!

This meeting will now come to order.

?

Just remember-I am the sheriff around here!

I was told to watch out for you. I take my orders, seriously!

Don’t you try to escape!

You need to stay here because we love you!

This team is on the case. Someone is always watching me!

Had quite the scare day before yesterday. Because of that I went to see my orthopedic surgeon. I called them after the incident and although they were fully booked, they got me in quickly.

I want to thank James for that steady voice on the phone that grounded me. I value the friendship that we’ve formed through this blog. Helping me get through the scare of the moment, helped me to face reality.

I am concerned about what I’m going to do with my kittens, my cats and Kota. He was in the truck when the incident happened. So he was in the truck both times. Once when my brakes failed. And again when my body failed. He is altered, but not painful or hurt. Now, every time he sees me, he tries to jump up on me. (He has never jumped up on me not even when he was a puppy). In the mornings when he follows me out of the bedroom, he will start to talk to me. It’s almost like he’s trying to comfort me. I can’t explain it. I know we are connected in ways that puzzle some people. We’ve been through alot together.

Now, my next visit will be March 6. On this visit, they will explain the procedure and everything surrounding it. The rest as they said is up to me. I intend to follow all their instructions to the letter. There are too many valuable beings who depend on me, not planning on letting them down anytime soon.

Hospital stay can be up to up to five days. Directly after surgery there will be physical therapists working with me. Watch me to go home the second day!

My faith in God grew stronger in that parking lot.I saw Him move many times in order to keep all parties safe. Glory to God-

On the eighth, I re-injured my shoulder. I had discovered that mud bug was wedged into the sofa bed and he could not get out. He was screaming at the top of his voice. Oh boy, don’t you love kittens? What I ended up doing was locating him within the arm of the couch, just by following his heat pattern. I couldn’t see where he was because there wasn’t a way to do it unless I opened up the sofa bed and that wasn’t happening.

what I ended up doing was feeling where his bottom was through the fabric. I took my cutter and gently lifted mud bug up. He stopped screaming, which made me feel just a little bit better because that meant that I was taking some kind of pressure off his body. As I lifted him up as high as I possibly could under the circumstances, I took my cutter, and I cut the bottom of the fabric of the arm of the couch. Silly me I was thinking once I did that all I had to do was reach in and see if I could disengage him. I completely forgot about all the insulation. Instead of feeling a kitten, I felt a thick wall of insulation. That caused more concern for me because insulation and kitties do not go together not by any means.

I stopped what I was doing,  gathered up all the remaining kittens and put them inside the cage. I moved the couch forward just a little bit and then the only way I could see getting out of this was to tip the couch forward. It was too early in the morning help was asleep no matter who I called. So I just prayed, and I tipped the couch. It was leaning on a scratching post so it isn’t like I lifted it. However, my shoulder did not like what I did. I did get mud bug out of the situation. He had got his leg pinned at the corner of the couch. The way this couch is constructed. There is actually a wooden tunnel. That’s just little enough that kittens  could think it was a cool place to hang out.I put him inside a cat carrier to decompress.

I ended up pulling all of the insulation that I could out of the one arm of the couch. There was quite a lot. My next quandary was how do I seal that area off so no other kitten gets stuck there? One of the local ladies has been dropping off these cloth  blankets. They are rolled into a tight bundle and covered with cardboard. I stuffed as many as I could into the area blocking it off (or so I hoped). I put a large piece of cardboard over the hole I cut. Duct taped it down as firmly as I could. Every bone in my shoulder was screaming at me. I ended up at urgent care the next morning.

my shoulder was so swollen. The night before I couldn’t get any type of sleep, I tried everything I knew to calm down the shoulder, but it wasn’t happening this time. Even after all they did for me the other day I’m sitting here in my chair and I am just in trouble. I have a pretty high pain tolerance, but this is taking me above and beyond. Thankfully, they did not see any dislocations or brakes. But all the x-ray shows is bone. They want me to make an appointment with my orthopedic surgeon ASAP and they told me to get ready to have an MRI. I don’t like those things. So I’m gong to call on Monday and get it going. I think I’m going to surprise him when I get there because I have decided to go for the reverse right shoulder replacement. It’s not a decision I make lightly and if anyone reading this has gone through that procedure. I would really appreciate it if you could reach out to me through email and tell me your experience with the aftermath of the surgery MudBug Is fine. He is no worse for wear. I decided to leave the slit open this time because they are getting back there regardless of what I do. While it was tipped forward, I was able to really look in there and see what was going on. I think my idea would’ve worked except I ran out of blankets. Now it’s just a really nice place where they can snuggle down and sleep together.?Point for this game? One for the kitties.