Yesterday, after yet another change in his living conditions; Bently went from living outside in the Intro cage to moving upstairs, he spent the majority of the day hiding under the futon. I am sure the switch even though he only lived in the cage for a few hours was scaring him, not to mention a vet visit.

I just let him decompress. I am sure he is waiting for his world to be rocked again in a major way. When I went upstairs at scheduled times to feed him, he would stay under the futon crying softly which broke my heart. I could see his front paws reaching out and kneading the carpet toward me (another heartbreaker in my book).

His food was gone this morning and he used the litter pans- so his behavior isn’t litter pan hits and misses common for cats who have gone through the trauma of de-clawing. I hit the room this morning with my black light and saw no telltale signs of urine marking.

It is highly possible that he is still in shock and hasn’t relaxed enough to show off his true personality, though I find him a very loving cat, a far cry from what usually comes through my door this time of year.

I wrote down the new cat list this morning as today is flea treatment day. Counting the five barn cats, Mike and I sit at 27 of these strays. Last night, I turned down kittens right and left and will probably do so today. Sometimes Mike gets so frustrated at the sad stories that he says he wants to change our phone number! I know the feeling. People plead, they cajole they even threaten trying to get me to take these cats or kittens they are “getting rid of.” Man I hate that term- it is so disrespectful to the beautiful creatures it refers to.

One lady late last night asked me how I pick and choose who I take? I had never been asked that before and I just told her, I don’t choose these cats, they choose me. What else could I say? If my sancturary were open, I would have room (for awhile) to take more. But do I want more at this moment? No- not with all the cats now inside waiting for the dreaded holiday the 4th. Our neighbors across the road near the river get nuts this time of year and last night they started letting their fireworks off early! I had to scramble to find the remaining cats who were still outside- but they came running at the sound of the can-opener and now are all inside as we wait for the craziness to be over.

I heard from the vet last night about Emerson’s necropsy. It was a toxin that killed him. There is nothing toxic to kitties in this house but I can’t say the same for the shop, which is where he was born or where mom moved the litter to. There is a hole in the floor close to where the kittens were so there is no telling what might have been swept or dripped down on the ground? His brother is doing fine now, he was vomiting for a few days but the store had been out of the regular kitten food so I was feeding him a different brand. I also called the couple who adopted the girl and she is doing just fine as well, so it is a mystery what happened.

I changed the brother’s name yesterday to Magoo because he is so clingy now, he wants me all the time. He cries when he crawls into my lap and won’t stop until I have him tucked up under my chin with my arms wrapped around him. It isn’t illness that is making him so clingy, it is him missing Em. I don’t know how they know when their siblings die, but they do. He didn’t seem that bothered when Em was hospitilized for those three days, but when Em was PTS Chandler changed and became this velcro kitty. I renamed him Magoo (after the cartoon character Mr. Magoo) because it just seems to fit him now.

Well, my day has started and my phone is ringing- I bet it will be about an unwanted kitten or a stray.