Yesterday, I took a deep breath and opened up the doors to the kitchen and the bedroom so the kittens could start exploring their world finally. There have been some pretty substantial hissing and growling from Molly (to which the kittens don’t respond except to run away). She hasn’t charged the two interlopers or shown any signs of going to battle. Her ears aren’t back, her gaze does not narrow at the sight of them. Her tail will twitch and it is kept low, but not tucked into her legs. So these are all good signs. I shut the kittens up at night in the bedroom/patio but during the day they are busy finding out more about this house and all the hidden places they can go. I do have her on a pheremone  collar which is helping a bit.

I dodged a bullet with my lawnmower. After being told by two different corporations that I will likely need to buy a new engine, a friend of mine told me about a smaller outfit who keeps their estimates honest and their prices fair. One to the mechanics came out last week and fixed my riding lawnmower for $10.00! Turns out the O ring by the oil dipstick had corroded and it was simply a matter of sealing the leak with silicone gel. I was grateful because once again, we need to stock up on canned cat food. It doesn’t last long around here, and it got me to thinking about approaching one of the major cat food companies with an idea I had. If they go for it, and I hope they do, it will greatly benefit the small mom & pop rescues- not the bigger ones with all the political clout and money behind them, but places such as mine where we are mindfully trying to get the biggest bang for any buck that is sent our way. i think it is a great idea, and if they do accept it, you will be the first to know what the idea that came to me after I washed out the cans of cat food for recycling purposes. Wish me luck!

Well I hear some pretty active growling going on upstairs. I am trying to act like this introduction is no big deal, but to Molly, who has been Queen B around here way to long, it is a very big deal to her. I have dark blankets ready and stacked in corners if there happens to be a war. Anytime two or more cats are fighting, the best way to stop them is to drop a dark colored blanket on top of them. This startles them apart and you use the blanket to herd them away from each other. This way you don’t get attacked with their stress level is out of control. You put one into a room with food and water and you leave the cat in there until it has calmed down and has eaten and is grooming itself. That my friends is the tip of the week, 🙂

Last weekend, I had to rush Pigeon to the vet as he was unable to pee. I was so worried that he was blocked, but the vet said the films showed him a smaller than normal bladder that was half full. He did not see any crystals or stones and so the final diagnosis was an  idiopathic UTI.

He could find no reason for the inability to pee, so we just covered all the bases. I put Pigeon on a pheromone collar, he is on an antibiotic, anti-inflammatory and pain meds. He was peeing by Monday but I was told to keep him on the medication until it is all gone. I’m, just grateful that he didn’t have a real blockage. I’m trying to hard to keep the vet debt low, but right now it is at $1,000.00  🙁

I think it is stress that caused this problem for Pidge. He has been pacing the enclosure similar to how a lion paces in his cage. Although the enclosure is huge, Pigeon is used to being free to roam the property and he misses his freedom. I looked into getting him a cat wheel- my goodness those are so expensive! Almost $300.00 I have talked to several people who own one and they say they work to relieve anxiety and stress and also helps when the cat is obese. Pigeon is a large Maine Coon mix but he is also fatter than usual because he no longer is allowed to freely roam. I thought when I got my stimulus, I would get the wheel, but in the meantime, my riding lawnmower has broken down and my priority is to get this fixed. The shop that can fix it is 7 weeks behind in repairs because of Covid- so my pastures are going to be quite lush before my Hustler gets fixed. They haven’t seen the machine yet, but based on what I told them, it looks like I might need a new motor. I hope not, but that is what two shops told me after I showed them a picture of the leak and told them it was dead. My neighbors get upset when I don’t cut my pastures because the long grass entices wildlife: deer, skunks, coons, possums, porcupines. Ideally, I would love to plow up all the grass and plant wildflowers. So far, I haven’t been able to do this. But that is the long-term dream.

The burn kitties have been here now for 17 days. They are slowly beginning to adjust again to us. I wish Molly was more accepting, but I now call her Miss Hiss because that is what she does every time she sees them through the screen. it will take time and patience, but it will happen that she will allow them into her domain. I am not pushing her though. She still needs time.

One of Magoo’s behavior issues that only crops up at night is he is a face sleeper. This beautiful flame-point boy is bound and determined to sleep directly on my face. Not my head, or my chest or curled up at the back of my neck, but directly on my face. I draw the line at this type of furry sleep mask.

Since we are currently burning three Feliway diffusers between the two rooms, I knew that introducing another would have little to no effect on this behavior. I have ordered several Bach Flower Remedies, they are lost in translation somewhere in the mail system. In the meantime, my first experiment to stop this behavior without further traumatizing Magoo  was a complete failure.

I took a very big and somewhat scary looking stuffed animal and placed it in front of my pillow and my face at night. I had hoped that using this as a barrier would deter Magoo from his mission. Nope, he went immediately over it, then crawled under my pillow and headed straight for my face.

Probably not scary enough?

Yesterday afternoon, I tried the second experiment that I had come up with on paper. They look so good in theory, but in application and when dealing with a cat with PTSD who knows what will happen. I have seven experiments to try in total.

Magoo has been wearing a pheremone collar  since 3:30 in the afternoon. One of the first remarkable changes to his behavior, came when I put the collar on him. Some cats will NOT tolerate a collar no matter what. They can easily freak out and start running away and hurt themselves. I always apply these collars (and they are the only collars I will use on cats) in a small room like a bathroom. That way, if they freak out, you can get to them quickly before they hurt themselves and remove the offending object. Magoo did not object other than shaking his head a few times until he got the feel of this new object around his neck. I do wish they were break-aways, but they are not.

By 5:00 p.m. he had stopped hiding from me and I could see him out in the open laying with his sister or sitting on the window sill. My hope was that by 11:00 p.m when I finally crawled in bed to sleep, he would abandon all thoughts about sleeping on my face. He tried twice to wedge his way down on top of my face. I finally had to clap my hands twice before he fled. Not exactly what I wanted to do, but it worked. I am hoping tonight that he will be a bit less enchanted with this idea.  Time will tell-

Thank you those of you who helped out with securing food for the rescues here. I was able to stock up a bit for the coming cold spell (supposed to drop down into the 20’s all this next week at night). Spring is here almost…

Here are the two burn babies cuddling up:

Stay safe, be good to each other.Cuddle up with a kitten, just don’t let one sleep on your face. 🙂

It’s 4:00 a.m. and I really should be asleep. However. the kittens seem to have their own ideas about what time mom needs to wake up. They are a force to be reckoned with in the early morning hours. Part of their problem is the parasite load they are carrying. It is heavy, especially for kittens. I was told that both of them had been dewormed and de-flead. This is true, but what also is true is the preventative measures they used were bought at a store and not through a vet. Unfortunately, some of what is found on shelves in grocery stores (I know I am repeating myself) is worthless and sometimes even dangerous.I just finished putting Centragard (a topical) on them to give them some relief. This should help calm them down a bit. I’ve seen both tapes and rounds in the litter pans since they have returned. It has to be a bit uncomfortable to have those parasites invading your body. They also just got fed, and for the first time since their return, they will get the full nutritional value of the food offered. I hit pay dirt yesterday. It was payday and I had to go and buy cat food out of my funds.

I went grocery shopping at Grocery Depot. It is Amish owned and they sell food at a great discount. Most of their food comes from local farmers fields. Their canned foods are usually dented, but marked down significantly. On my  budget, this store is a God-send. It is also less crowded and locally owned.

I was perusing the aisle and I saw at the end, a big pallet that was still covered with plastic. There were several layers of plastic, but as I got closer i noticed there were large bags of cat food. I asked one of the girls if it would be okay to open it up and take a look at it? She came over and slit the plastic and I found a treasure trove of dry cat food! I end up getting several large bags of Blue, Nutrish, and  Rocky Mountain! Total of 7 bags and it cost me $51.00 for this store, this was a rare find. It cut into my own food budget, but with the pandemic and donations at a new low,  I can survive on peanut butter sandwiches for a month, however, the cats cannot. Besides, I love peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. 🙂

I had to take Pigeon to the vet yesterday. His old injury where he was sliced on his back leg from paw to rectum (we could never figure out what happened to him when he vanished from our care for fourteen days) My vet surmised, he might have gotten locked in someone’s old house and fell through a roof or something? Although it has healed, and it took months to do so. I hope I never see such a horrendous injury on a cat again! There is a part of his skin that has never healed. Periodically, it will break open and bleed profusely.

The first time this happened, months after he had healed. I will admit, it freaked me out. All of that blood. I knew because he has been confined in my largest enclosure, that he did not get hit by a car, but there was so much blood! My vet told me (yesterday) that the skin is so thin in this one area that it is almost transparent. It will probably never heal. Nothing to do except hope that Pidge won’t bump it against something and tear it open again. He said to sew it up in that area would be almost impossible. We are trying so hard to keep our vet debt low. Seems like the odds are against it. While he was there, Pidge was given a full work-up. They found his urine has a lot of viscosity in it. They want him to have more canned food in the day and more access to water. There are currently 12 bowls of water in the enclosure for three cats. Baker, our senior cat who is suffering kidney issues is also in there. He drinks those suckers dry  on a daily basis.sometimes when his special food is not working. The problem is, we have only .two cases left of Fancy Feast. My bills are paid up, but there is no money left to get anymore of the canned food I need for both cats. I still have one month before another check arrives.. That’s when reality bites me hard.

Going non-profit, I thought it would make things easier on the pocket book and it did for quite awhile. But Walmart who was routinely donating food weekly kicked me to the curb. They say they no longer do back door donations? But I have to wonder because the food sitting in pallets for days will draw pests. So where is the food going? They won’t say, but it it no longer available to our rescue. Then we had the fires, we had  Covid, (we still do) we had the pandemic, th e world shut down. People lost jobs, small businesses went out of business, We still have the pandemic. We have people standing in long lines for food and for water. We have natural disasters that are tearing apart lives. We have people dying to the right and left of us and empty chairs at  holiday tables. Tell me, how can anyone in their right mind, in this day and age ask for donations for a non-profit for cats? The answer is I can’t. But I am right now, because I am desperate. I have gotten only one stimulus check (although I do qualify) The other two are lost in translation somewhere?

If you happen to have a few dollars tucked away in a drawer and you really don’t need them. We do need them desperately. Please forgive me for asking. But I really don’t want Pigeon to get crystals and have to have an operation that we cannot afford to fix him. He has been through to much as it is.All of our rescues have, that is why we have a high-risk rescue. Nobody else was around to help these beautiful souls. They deserve the best that life has to offer them, they deserve to live out their senior lives with dignity until they breathe no more.

Stay safe and love each other-

My goodness, these two have grown! They were gone for 31 days but they had quite the growth spurt inbetween. They are acclimating well. I found that they do remember me, so they aren’t hiding out as much as before. Nightime is interesting as both kittens want to sleep on my head or my face. Putting Kota on the down stay near my bed all night, stopped that wish list. LOL I don’t like cat hair in my mouth during the night.

But the difference between their behaviors before they left and now is amazing. Even though they have been returned, I know I made the right decision in letting them go there in the first place. Gage did amazing work with them.

I hope you enjoy the photos- as much as I am enjoying having them back here with us.

I wrote that no news is good news, but I was incorrect in that assumption. Yesterday, Jess contacted me and apologized. She said that Freddy was still peeing on things and Gage was frustrated. In an earlier conversation with Jess, I told her that when I have a kitty who is peeing on unconventional items (soft things) that it was a behavior issue and not health related. Hard items are health-related. I explained that over the years, I have found keeping a notebook and jotting down what happens before and after the pee strike, sometimes will lead to answers. Even something as simple as changing the cover on the top of the bed, can send some kittens/cats spinning out of control.

Well apparently they have been keeping a notebook. It has been noted (no pun intended) that when Freddy pees on the bed or the laundry, Gage has been paying attention to Magoo and Ash. It happened many times (they were testing the theory). She said that everyone is in tears, but would I take Ash and Magoo back?

Without hesitation, I told her yes. That’s how I roll with any adoption. No matter how old, no matter the issues, I will take a cat or kitten back. Jess owns a Foster Care and she wrote that she would take the cats there? I told her bad idea. Magoo is so scared of so much (still). She relayed to me that one afternoon after they went grocery shopping, Magoo vanished. They looked for hours for him. They couldn’t find him and Gage was in tears thinking he got outside.

About an hour later, Magoo crawled out from INSIDE their recliner in the living room, yawned and stretched and went over to Gage and climbed in his lap! I had to laugh. There were so many times that he would hide here and it took me hours to find him. But here, it is different. If he gets outside the two rooms where I will be putting them in the beginning, he can’t get outside. He can get into the house. I know the dangers of kitties underneath recliners and how bad that can get for the kitten or cat. They can get horrendously injured in some cases if the person is not aware of their hiding spot.

I am sad, that they are being sacrificed their new home in favor of Fearless Freddy. I am also not 100% sure that their absence isn’t going to affect Freddy negatively in the long run. I told Jess, please if this does not work and they can’t get Fred to stop peeing on things, please bring him back to me. She has promised she will.

I can’t say I am that sad about the return of these two sweethearts. I have missed them all so much. I will be keeping both Magoo and Ash and during the weeks ahead, I will take measures to introduce them to Molly (today is her 8th birthday!) But she is the Queen  around her, I know that I need to take my time in the intros. It will probably take about three months before they will “officially” meet. I will be installing a screen door in the bedroom, so they can smell and greet each other without a war starting.

Today, I need to organize my office and get ready for their return. Yesterday, I concentrated on the bedroom- I brought in several items where they can hide effectively. I am sure this move back here will effect them negatively at first, they will both return to hiding until they know that they are safe, and loved. Nothing will be “expected” of them. Molly’s nose is going to be bent out of shape, as she sleeps with me every night. Kota has learned that he can no  longer sleep on my bed. I was too afraid that he would accidentally injure Molly in the night again. It was a two-week training program with Kota and I for me to let him know (sadly) the bed was off limits. This was a result of a lot of tasty treats when I told him to go to bed, and he would go lay inside his kennel. Lots of praise and love and beef jerky treats offered to him for doing the right thing. Gentle scolding when he tried to jump on the bed while I was sleeping. He is smart, he knows now, the bed is off limits. Molly helped in some respects. If he jumped on the bed, she would rush him and try to bite his leg. LOL! She does not want to get injured either.

I received my vaccination and dealt with a three day horrendous headache and chills. I had heard that the side effects only happened on the second Pfizer shot. But doing research from out of England, they got the Pfizer shot before we did- I found that 38% of adults vaccinated the first time, suffered as I did. The headache finally left yesterday but the sore arm is persisting. I barely felt the shot going in and did not even stand in line for 20 minutes. It was well-organized once you stood in the line. Everyone got their temperature taken, we filled out and signed a two-page form then split into two lines (socially distancing) to go into the building. I was talking to a woman behind me, and she, much like me, said she was relieved to finally be here and get vaccinated. We talked about the frustration of people who claim that this is “just a flu.” Also those who still refuse to wear a mask even when offered one. One more shot to go. This one will be on March 30. Then 6 weeks later, they will send an official card that you have to carry with you at all times and protect it like you would “you drivers license or your credit card.” Masks will no longer be necessary, but they do encourage that you wear them inside public areas. But it is your choice. If you are challenged, you show them your vaccination card. I think I will just wear a mask until told otherwise.

Well I better jam. It is 31 degrees F and I was waiting for the weather to warm up a bit, but it isn’t. The temperature is plummeting and I have kitties outside to feed. Take care of yourself and each other-

Twist has changed in the last day or so. She is hanging around here more than usual. She will start to come up to me, then hang back as if she is changing her mind. Then she will start towards me, shake off the feeling of trust and scamper away. I read the recent comment of putting a tracker on her. That would be interesting indeed to see her world from her eyes, but the fact that I can’t even get flea treatment on her every month means I have no idea how to put a tracker on her. I’m not sure I would anyway as she goes in and out and under objects. This may impede her movements and even put her in danger. To many times in the past, I have had cats here who have been hung up with their collars catching on fences and other objects. I am such a fan of collars but only if they are break-aways.

Not having access to social media anymore has been quite strange. This was my choice to walk away from it all. At first, it felt like something was missing in my day. But now, the stress level has lowered distinctly. No, I am not privy to what is trending, but I am also spared the negative part that social media now plays in most lives. It’s a freeing moment. My youngest stepson, who is an IT specialist has never even been on social media. He distrusts it and well he should. It does have good moments, but lately under such a tumultuous social climate, the bad is outweighing the good.

I thought the weather was changing, but we have gone back to frosty mornings and predictions of snow. I have so much work to do once the weather gets warmer. We need to take down one of my tallest of trees which makes me sad. But it is losing its large limbs every time we have a storm. The expert tells me it is suffering from root swell. That is when the roots are showing above the ground near the base of the tree. This tree has to be over 60 feet tall! If it did fall during a storm, it would crush my home in a minute. As it is now, the branches are falling into Kota’s huge enclosure. He won’t even go inside his enclosure anymore. The last limb, took out his gate.

Life goes on without Mike. I have passed our wedding anniversary this month and his birthday is in a few days. He would have been 81 years old. I get a sense that people around me want me to just move on. I believe I am getting to that stage where the grief doesn’t have the capability of stopping me in my tracks (no matter where I might be). But I am working on it. It has been three years, but it still feels like yesterday that he left us. Every time something goes wrong with the house or outside, I just wish that I had paid more attention to what he could do and how he did it: frozen pipes, flood in the house, well house roof collapsing, to name a few things that have gone on in his absence.

He was the type of man that was hard to work with on projects. He built a whole house in Alaska with his boys and no blueprints and no outside workers. The house was beautiful and he was simply amazing. I am being asked out, but I have no interest right now. The man is persistent (which I don’t find very charming). He has been a widower now for 10 years. I am just not to that point where I want to engage in dating. Besides, how do you date during a pandemic? All our theaters have been taken over by churches, restaurants are just now trying to open. Walking on the beach six feet apart with masks? How romantic can you get? LOL  So I am just home with my animals and working on my book.

The burn kitties are doing great. They are settling in and I have had offers to come and visit, but I am staying away. Let them have their new life without reminders of their old one. They deserve that. I haven’t heard anymore about Fearless Freddy peeing on things, so I hope that just like when he was here and he finally relaxed, he grew out of that behavior. Jess promised me she would never just put him outside or give him to someone, she would return him to me. So no news is good news.

I finally have gotten a vaccine appointment. I am so relieved. I go in on Tuesday to a local fairgrounds. I am told to bring my ID, my medical card, and a bottle of water. I am told I can prepare to stand in line up to 45 minutes maybe longer. I plan on taking Kota with me for this new adventure. They say, I will have to stay in a certain area for 30 minutes after the Pfizer shot to see if I have any reactions. My sister, who lives in Florida recently got her shots. But Florida is so unorganized when it comes to giving out shots, that her and Frank decided to drive to Georgia where they lived before for 15 years and that’s how they got their two injections! Something that should be so simple has been over-complicated by so many. The ones who need it the most, are either afraid to be vaccinated or aren’t able to figure out the system. Sad state of affairs. They tell me that once I do get the first shot, they will make an appointment for the follow-up dose.

A few days ago, I decided to let Twist out of her cage and give her freedom. In the days that I have been working with her (she has let me pet her twice) I can only pet her with gloves on, and only with the back of my hand. If I turn my hand over, she will nail me. I realized that I was trying to change her for my benefit, and her cat-like way, she completely let me know that she likes who she is and doesn’t wish to change.

The Introduction cage sits in the middle of my bigger cat enclosure. The minute, I left her cage door open and stepped back, she flew out of the cage. She made a beeline for the door to the back yard. She did not just come out with caution, investigate the other cats who were watching her with curiousity. Nope, she did a straight run for the door of freedom. I followed her, opened the door, said a quick prayer that she would not become sicker. Opened the door and she flew outside and vanished under the gate.

Two days later, she reappeared. She did not seem to be in distress and she left me the head of the biggest mouse I have ever seen, She is back to her ways.She will now lurk on the back steps. If I open the door, she will quickly make herself scarce. If I have food for her now, it goes on the feeding table and not on the stairs. Warmer weather is approaching which means the feeding schedule will soon change.

I will be feeding the cats on the platform now due to the fly and yellow jacket population here in Oregon. During the warmest of days, there will be no wet food put out until well after dark. It will be picked up before morning, so nothing is left to entice flies to lay their eggs or yellow jackets to want to hang around. I am really hoping that I won’t see those large Japanese Hornets that have recently been seen in Oregon. Yellow jackets and wasps are about all I can handle.

So although Twist is still not able to handle human socialization, she will be fed, given water and I will love her from afar. I see her eating and it warms my heart. In captivity, her appetite was almost non-existent. She was letting me know in the only way she could, that she was not happy. My neighbor, Ben has reported that he has seen her in and out of the grain barn. He was getting overrun with rodents in her absence. He is glad she is back on her hunting grounds.

For me, I am glad that I had a chance to at least show her that I meant her no harm. To be able to actually keep track of where she was and monitor her brought me peace. She did not share in my peaceful feelings and now she runs again free on our land.

After multiple attempts and days of frustration at not being able to trap Twist, I was all out of ideas. Or, so I thought. I sat back and just analyzed her as much as I could. Although she has been here for years, and I did rescue her initially, she would not hang around except to eat and sleep. In all the years that I have had her, I have never seen her poop or pee. It seemed to me, that in her way, she was asking me for help by openly trying to pee in front of me, and I was letting her down.

Following this chain of thought, I know that she haunts my neighbor (two doors down) grain barn. They have a small grainery in their back pasture as they keep exotic birds. I learned from the wife, that they loved having her back there. She is the best hunter I have ever seen in all the years of rescue. Her trophies that she would bring home for me were the heads of the critters only. I have seen her hunt and she is skilled. The majority of cats when they encounter mice, will play with them before eating them. Not her- she would jump and immediately kill and eat all but the head.

That’s when it hit me. That’s how I can get her in the trap.. I went to feed store and got a feeder mouse. When I told them what I wanted it for, I asked them if they had a small container or cage that I could put in the back of the trap to keep the mouse contained. They put the mouse in a plastic container with holes in it. That’s not what I was hoping for, but it would have to do.

When I got home, I put the container in the back of the trap. I ran a strip of duct tape and taped it down so she couldn’t drag it off. I set the trap and waited. Watching from the window, I saw her come in for her afternoon snack under the gate. She went over to the trap and was interested (probably the smell) but she wouldn’t go in. “Now what?” I wondered,

I prowled around the house and found a small box. I poked holes in it. This box was a bit bigger than the container, I put straw, food and a bit of gravel in the box (so Twist could hear movement). Once again, I set the trap and returned to the house. I had denied Twist her accustomed afternoon snack, so pretty soon here she comes again. She made a beeline for the trap and went inside! I was holding my breath. But she did not trigger the trap and turned around and left. I was really bummed, but I was not going to give up. Whistling for Kota, we both jumped in the truck and headed for Bi-Mart. If they did not have a suitable box in receiving, I was going to buy something in a box that I needed.

My plan was to cut two big windows in the side of the box. I was going to cut some pet proof screen big enough to cover the windows and duct tape them in place. That way, Twist can see the mouse and smell the mouse better. I was told at Receiving they did not have what I needed. So I started to prowl the store and when I went by the gun section, there were clerks putting products on the shelf. And there in the cart was the perfect size box. They gladly gave it to me. They wanted to pet Kota, so I broke my rule that when he is working gear, he is to be left alone. I think he enjoyed the love he got as much as I enjoyed getting the right box.

I designed my box and put it in the trap. Going back into the house, I waited an hour and went back outside. Mr. Bentley was crying, he was in the trap. I had to put him back in his enclosure and block all the doors that allow him access to outside. Back I go to the trap, reset it. This time I put it on the top step where I typically feed Twist. I waited an hour, went outside and there she was yowling, turning in circles and totally miserable, But she was in the trap.

I dislike the word “feral.” This word has the ability to make most folks shiver in their shoes. I am sure that people who stumble on a “feral” cat on their property are thinking” “Oh my God, it must have rabies, or it might bite me. It’s dirty, will I get sick?” All sorts of negative words are wrapped around one word “Feral.”

In my long time of rescue, I have only encountered three true feral cats. Unfortunately because of disease, or the verocity of aggression all those three cats were put to sleep. When people call me and tell me, they have a “feral” cat on their property. I tell them that if they can see the cat, and it comes out in the daylight, it’s more than likely a “stray with feral tendencies.” That is how I think and talk about “ferals.”

Years ago, and the story can be found online still (I think). If I can find it, I will look and see if I can link it here. But I got a call from someone who lived on the border of Oregon and Washington. The woman was hysterical. They had gone on vacation and come home to find a “feral” cat in their barn. I was told she went online, typed in feral cat and found my blog. It was 10:00 p.m. when she called. Mike and I arrived at her ranch at midnight.

I had a flashlight, my gloves, a top loading carrier and food when I stepped inside the “scary place” where the “wild animal” was lurking! It was black as pitch. I sat down on the ground and turned on the flashlight. I swept it back and forth on a cat level. I got a glimpse of eyes glowing in the dark. Something registered within me. These eyes were not right. The flash of eyes, they were not green, or yellow. Thankfully they were not red (that would be wildlife) The flash was blue! The “feral” cat turned out to be a very neglected show Persian! I was able to walk over and pick the poor thing, who was as skinny as a rail and matted to beat heck! I popped him into my carrier and went outside and told the lady her cat problem was solved.

https://www.catscenterstage.com/stray-starlight.shtml

So going back to Twist now in capture mode. I did not want her to stay in the trap. She was terrified. Although anytime I would try to pet her and she would try to bite me. I would not say she was feral.So I decided to put her into my Introduction cage when has three levels and is big enough that my 6′ frame fits in it nicely. I left her in the trap while I pepared the cage for a lengthy stay. I know when I do take her to the vet. When I get home, I am not just going to let her go. I was going to work with her and socialize her first. Not tame her (big difference) but allow her to see me as caregiver instead of predator. So she wouldn’t be so scared of me.

This morning, I went in to visit her. She has a beautiful trill in her meow so I was grateful to hear it. She is not my only smaller framed black cat. I caught the right one. She came out of the carrier and came toward me. I was fully prepared for an attack with my gloves, heavy coat and boots.. She wasn’t even going to attack me. I did not touch her or try to. I just wanted her to decompress. I fed her and she immediately went to eat! That is the best sign of all. I can’t get her in until Thursday- so I am going to work slowly with her so she won’t be in such terror when they examine her.

When I took him to the vet, we discovered that the blackness in his ear came from a very bad inner ear infection. The infection was so deep that even after cleaning all the pus out of the ear, the vet could not see what had caused the infection in the first place. While he was being examined, the vet said (I had to stay in the car during the exam). He was animated. I asked how old he was, the vet put him at about 15 or more. He had lost both canines, and although he did not have stomatitis, he had “old man eyes.” The smell that I thought was gangrene the vet said was just all the pus pouring out of his ear. They did a thorough clean of his ear, gave him a Covenia shot and told me to take him home and “give him a week of a chance to rebound.”

I took him home, and again set him up in my bathroom. I stayed with him all night and as I did that, it was clear to me that this boy was on his last legs. He did finally pee and poop, but he did so without getting up. He laid in it, so I gently lifted him up and gave him a gentle bath. The water immediately turned red. As I put him in another carrier near the heater, I pulled his bedding out and saw all the blood there. It was not caused by parasites. There was too much blood. Morning could not come fast enough for me to call the clinic.

I took him in and they euthanized him right away. He was ready to go they said. He went quickly, with dignity and no more suffering will come his way.

He is in a better place now and the only way that I could get rid of the nasty smell of his infection was to leave a bucket of hot water and bleach in my shower overnight. This was after a deep-cleaning of the bathrooom.

Please don’t worry about the vet debt Maureen, it will be okay. I don’t want you to do without. I will always have a vet debt. That is just a given. I am about to have it increase again as I noticed this morning, my black feral girl is unable to pee. Twist is a as skittish as they come. If I try to pet her, she will strike out and bite and scratch me. She means business. She is trap savvy, so I need to come up with a plan to capture her. If she literally cannot pee, she could be dead in three days. She is an avid hunter. I am always dismayed at the amount of trophies she can collect in one day. As I can’t get close to her, I have only successfully been able to deworm her once in the many years she has lived here. I have to figure this out, her life is in great danger.

I only know this because this morning, she was squatting in the deep grass peeing (or so I thought). I was getting ready to feed my other cats, but something stopped me and I stood on the doorstep watching her. She remained in the crouch for the longest time. Concerned, I stepped towards her and she whirled around crying biting frantically at her rear end. The cry was heartbreaking. She is in great pain. Please pray that I find the means to capture her and get her in for treatment. She is on limited time.