Mike used to tell his friends, that I was the only woman he knew that could go to the grocery store for milk and come back with a cat! Last night, his prophecy again came true. It has been so unbearably cold here recently. I ran out of cream for my coffee so I went to Safeway to get some. As I type this sentence, I feel quite shameful for saying this, as our friends and neighbors in Texas are suffering so mightily from not having power during one of the worst snowstorms for Texas in History. I have friends there, and I am keeping in touch with them over texting. One friend has had her pipes burst two days ago, they have sporadic power, never long enough to accomplish anything. But they are also preppers, so they have food and safe water and will come out okay in the end. They are powerless to help any neighbor because they live so rurally. But here, in Oregon, in frigid weather, my worst problem is no cream for my coffee! Forgive me Lord.

So I run to Safeway and as I pull into the parking lot. Kota (who has his head out the window in 32 degree weather! He starts getting anxious and whining. At first, I thought he might have to go pee, but he was acting different. In front of the Safeway store, there is a chain of ghost stores that have long gone out of business. He was pacing the truck and whining and he nudged my arm hard enough for me to veer off to the side of the parking lot!

I stopped my truck in the middle of those chains of stores and got out to talk to him. If he had to go potty, there was a field right behind the stores where he could do so. But he’s never been that adamant when he has to pee. As I hopped out of the truck, to let him out, I glanced over to the end of the ghost stores and that is when I saw the cat! At first, I thought it was dead. It was lying at the end of what used to be the barber shop. In the view of the headlights and how it was lying so still. I thought it had been hit by a car.

I grabbed a towel and ran over. The cat did not even move at my approach. When I got closer, it raised it’s head ever so slightly. It gave one meow and then the head went thunk on the pavement!
I only had one carrier in the truck and it was Kota’s old dog kennel. I wrapped this orange cat into the towel (Oh my God he stank) He smelled like a smell I was familiar with (unfortunately) he smelled like Mike’s leg smelled before they amputated it. He smelled like gangrene! I put my hand under his leg to find his heartbeat. It was faint but it was going! Forgetting all about the cream, I hustled him home.

He is now in the same kennel that I put him in last night. He is alive (but barely) he has been suffering by the looks of him, for a very long time. He has no muscle and no fat on any part of his body. His tail is black, whether that is the source of the gangrene, or his ear that is also black might be the culprit. It is hard to say. I tried to give him some cat food, but he went almost catatonic after eating it. By that I mean, he was frantically pawing at his mouth- and he would hunch over in crouch in the back of the kennel in the strangest position and just freeze. Almost like he was seizing? Has he not eaten in such an enormous length of time that this happens?

Using a ballpoint pen, I gently pried his mouth open and I could see that there was a wound on the side of his face and it had actually penetrated all the way into his mouth. My heart wept. I had some babyfood, so I offered this to him. He ate 3 jars before he started pulling at his mouth again. I don’t think that my vet has enough magic in his bag to save this boy’s life! I am calling him Pan in respect to Peter Pan because he is definitely one of the Lost Boys.

He has spent the night in my bathroom, and now my bathroom also smells like gangrene. With his ear and his tail, I am sure one of those is the culprit behind the smell. He has not pooped or peed. I am thinking he might have an invasive cancer like squamous cell carcinoma, based on how hammered his ear looks.

As it turns out, the other day, I made a vet appointment for this morning at 9:20 for Bentley, whose stomatitis has gotten out of control. I was handling it for awhile with slippery elm tree bark (powdered) and sprinkling the concoction on his wet food. But it is seasonal, this disease and in the wintertime, it takes on a life of its own. So it is time for another steroid shot. In two hours, the clinic will open and I will make a call and see if I can either bring both cats in, or make an appointment for Bentley later on. Pan is the urgent one in need of help right now.

I just went into the bathroom to see him and offer him more baby food. I had to put the plate right up against him (I believe he is also blind). But right now, although he ate up all the food, he does not have it in him, to move from his place of comfort, so I  can examine him further. I guess it really doesn’t matter. I believe his life of pain and torment will be ending shortly after 9:20 this morning. Notice the black ear?

Once again, my Wonder Dog comes through and alerts me to a critter in great peril. God, I love this dog so much!

Everybody, stay safe please? I almost feel like asking for a roll call of people still out there- what with Covid, this wild weather and the strangeness that is occurring now throughout the United States! Me, I am still unvaccinated (Oregon has made a mess of vaccine roll outs) I am staying in my own corner of the world and even though I don’t really want to actively rescue anymore, God clearly sees that I must.

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