I always find it fascinating when someone departs the group, how the dynamics of the group switch to compensate. Since the loss of Gadget, Goblin has taken it upon herself to meet me every morning at the sliding glass door as I go to feed. She still is quite skittish when I go to pet her, so I stopped trying. That in itself has seemed to relax her a bit,and now she escorts me all around the property as I feed. She stays right by my side, and when I finally get to her feeding platform and put the food out, she will then leave me and go to eat with all the others joining in.

I am happy to say that since she showed up over a year ago, rail-skinny, and gaunt in her face, she has now filled up to be an adorable black kitty. Sneaking in L-Lysine and diatomaceous earth crystals (when there is canned food available) has helped her as well. She really is a beauty, I might be able to, by the end of next year, break through her trust barrier and maybe even get her adopted out. That will thrill me to no end. However, I know that when it comes to adopting out black kittens, people either fear them (thanks to silly superstitions that have lasted through centuries0, or they love them. I happen to love black cats (probably why I have so many here at the rescue).

So, it is nice to have this new black shadow trailing me when I go out in the mornings. She waits as I go into each enclosure then scampers out of the darkness to join me in my morning ritual. I am not quite sure where she sleeps. I think it might be under the new observation deck, so today when it warms up, I will go out and fill a box with straw and slide it underneath the deck so she can stay warm.

Temperatures at night now swing down into the 20’s and 30’s. Because the deck isn’t watertight, when I mentioned that to one of the crew several weeks ago, he (bless his heart) slid his huge frame underneath the deck and using a large piece of flashing (I think he called it) he made a water slide so the rain wouldn’t get any cats underneath wet. Instead, it catches all the rain and because he slanted it- the rain runs down and dumps into the grass next to deck! I swear this work crew, they were amazng and their love for critters just showed their good hearts. I do miss all the guys very much. Kota still is keeping up his vigil and waits in the morning impatiently for them to walk through the gates.

I received a text yesterday from one of the guys (even though they have left the build because they were finished) several of them told me before they left that I was much more than a client. I was now their friend. They are on another job and there was a cat who had been hanging around for weeks. She is a beauty, she is a long-haired cow kitty. The neighbors told the men that she had been dumped weeks ago. Now she has a home with Nathan and his family. He sent me her photo where she is snuggled down into his daughter’s furry hoodie. I couldn’t be more pleased that she has found a loving home and has been brought out of these severe weather elements we are now facing. I am sharing his photo:

Kota is ill again, it has been determined that not only does he have a rare type of ulcer, but he is now prone to struvite crystals. They will retest him in two weeks. Now there is  a list of food ingredients he can’t have: chicken, beef, spinach, sweet potatoes, brown rice, organ meats, ammonia (found in beef products) magnesium and one more ingredient that escapes me right now. The vet tells me to get him to drink more water- all the tips I use when my cats are dehydrated and not drinking (such as rubbing a bit of salt on their gums) is not working for him. They have all fallen flat. He doesn’t even want to eat salty cheetos! So, I started thinking it and wondering if it might be not the food, but the well water? Next week, I will go into Albany and get the test kit and have them run an analysis of my two wells. I know that our irrigation well has hard water- not sure about the house well.

Unable to find any food locally that didn’t have any of those ingredients (and was under 15% protein) last night in desperation, I called Chewy. They were so kind.  Brenda helped me figure out what canned food Kota could safely eat. It was quite the search though, i so admire her patience. Good customer service is so hard to come by anymore, but Chewy comes through every time. I remember when Mike died, they even sent flowers to me. I had one of my unexpected grief moments on the phone with a rep right after he passed. Today marks the day when four years ago, they dismissed him from the hospital and put him on Home Hospice.  This time of year is still a bit tough for me to get through, but I am working it out. The kitties help, especially helpful is Goblin my new black shadow!