You know it is hot when you go to take a shower and you can’t because eight baby kittens are sleeping in the shower stall…..

You know it is hot when you run the icemaker and suddenly at your feet are eight baby kittens begging for an ice cube to push across the floor.

You know it is hot when you find two baby kittens inside the dog’s water dish just hanging out in the cool water…

The heat wave continues with not much relief in sight. I did manage to capture the new calico that has been lurking around the property and I took her to the vet to be checked out.

She had a suspicious moving mass in her chest and belly (she was not pregnant) and the vet withdrew a large amount of thick yellow liquid from her chest. Suspecting FIP- she was sadly put to sleep and is now free from pain.

She was beautiful too. I have such a soft spot for the calicos. But the vet was 92 percent certain that she had FIP so we gave her death with dignity.

I am a few months past due on one my credit cards. I have no desire to not pay them, skip out on the bill. I am not a deadbeat, we are just really struggling now like so many others. I don’t even owe them a great deal of money. So last night my elderly neighbor calls because she got a phone call from a credit rep inquiring to my welfare!

Now my neighbor is facing her own challenges. Her husband is also quite ill. She was confused and upset wondering why I would give out an unlisted cell phone number that they have.
They are not on any emergency contact list, why would they be? I was upset as well thinking what the heck kind of right do these bill collectors have to chase a debt?

I called them immediately to find out how in the world they have the right to invade someone’s privacy? How come they called my neighbor and how did they find an unlisted cell phone number?

Get this, they go to Google Earth and pull up your address. Then they target your neighbors homes, go to a search engine put in the address and lo and behold- they have all types of information about your neighbors! If calling one of your neighbors doesn’t get your attention, they keep calling all around you until you answer them? ?

I was pissed and told them so. I have been a good customer now for quite some time and until recently never late on my payments.

Once they found out how ticked I was, they put me on “special arrangements.” Once I pay this card off, it will be destroyed. I will never use it again. I don’t care if it hurts my credit. For me, they crossed the line and they should never have invaded anyone’s privacy like they did.

I will not say who they are, not publicly, not yet. I have contacted several news and legal sources to find out if this sort of tactic is even legal or ethical. But I will tell you that I will never shop at their “Specialty Women’s Store” ever again.

Last night when I was coming home from work, as I pulled into our drive, I noticed a large, dilute calico that crossed my headlights. For a minute, I thought it might be Madison, but it was way to large to be her. This girl is beautiful and pretty beat up. By the time I was able to pull in and park, she was headed at a fast clip to the barn.

Because of recent donations sent to me (thank you to all who opened your hearts) I have extra cat food stored in the tack room. I was able to leave her a large tray of food and some water.

The sad part is, she looks pregnant. 🙁 I will be looking for her in the next few days to see if I can trap her and bring her inside. Boy, but she looks a lot like Madison though.

It is supposed to be the hottest weekend here in 15 years. It isn’t even noon right now and it is already 92 degrees. Most of the kittens are laying in the shower, but a few enterprising youngsters have upended the bathroom trash can and are sleeping against the cool sides of the plastic.

The older cats are outside on the porch, on the brick, or in the living room on the cool tile. If that doesn’t tell me something, then I am not listening.

I have to work tonight. Last night was hard, my foot started to really hurt about 9:00 p.m. But I am not going to complain. I have already lost a lot of my hours already and I need all the hours I can get right now. I found using an icy hot patch helped to alleviate some of the pain. I have to go see my primary care doctor soon as my hands are now starting to get numb. Not a good sign-

We took Gretchen to the lake this morning and threw her ball out for her to fetch. I stayed in the shallow end of the shore, but a few times, the ball drifted out a bit. She is a smart puppy. She knows where the water is deep before she goes to get the ball. She will come over and wait with me, until the ball bobs closer to shore before going to get it. I don’t know how she knows where the deep part of the lake is, she just does. I guess its the border collie thinking part of her.

I had to give Racer a bath today. His Royal browness is a fly magnet in the summer time. I used a new shampoo I recently discovered that has a fly shield in it. I will let you know if I see any improvement in the fly strikes on him.

Here he is after his bath

Last night, I dropped a cardboard flat into my freezer. There was nothing on it, just the flat of cardboard. This afternoon, I took it out of the freezer and put it in the kittens’ room thinking they might like to play in it. Immediately, they all crowded into it and fell asleep in the coolness of the corrugated cardboard. Nice way for them to beat the heat.

The kittens all got dipped today in such a lovely mixture of warm water and lime sulfer dip. Such a wonderful aroma! I suppose you can combine two scents; cooked cat pee and rotten eggs, and you will have the exact smell this dip makes! It is red-orange in color, but thankfully these are black kittens so the fur didn’t show any discoloration.

They were dunked up to their neck, and then I took a sponge and gently patted the areas around their ears being careful not to get any in their eyes.

I wasn’t gifted with tiny satellite collars to stop the kittens from licking this toxin, so I laid out plates of egg whites and milk and refreshed their water. This is what is recommended on the package label. They love egg whites, and so far, only one kitten has hurled food on the bed. So i am hoping they will be okay.

McKinley will be ten years old soon. Over the past few weeks, I have watched this wonderful barn kitty turn from 20 pounds of glory (He is part Maine Coon) to 13 pounds. Visits to the vet have been unsuccessful in determining what is going on with him. He is reclusive with me, hiding from me in the rafters, and fleeing from my presence instead of greeting me with headbumps and bonks.

This morning, as I was feeding the boys, he came out of the bales and head bonked me. I sat down immediately and he jumped in my lap. I wanted to cry. It has been quite awhile since he has allowed me to touch him.

As I gently stroked him, I grew alarmed at his pencil thinness state. I could feel his ribs and his tail bones. But, I made no attempt to capture him up and whisk him once again off the vets. They don’t know what is wrong with him.

We sat in the early dawn, cat and caretaker, loving on each other, until he decided he wanted no more. He jumped off my lap and ran out the barn door. Before he got to the horse fence, he turned around and looked at me. I know that look well- it is one I have seen before. He was saying goodbye. Then he ran as fast as he could across the pasture back into the woods by the creek. I watched him go and attempted to call him back several times, but he never faltered. I know with certainty, I will not ever see him again. He has gone off to die.

He had a great life here with us, with the exception of when I adopted him out to someone who tricked me into thinking he was going to be a cherished pet and he almost turned into pit bull fodder! Only by the grace of God did I get him back in time to rescue him from this gruesome death. Now, he meets death on his terms. He has said goodbye to me, and so like many before him, he will find a place where he can feel safe, lie down and sleep forever.

Goodbye my friend- run free in the heaven’s grasses and give J some special headbonks from me.

Dearly Beloved Cat Lover,

We are gathered together here today, in the midst of a ringworm invasion and in the face of a highly infectious fungi to persuade this parasitic fungus to leave on its own accord.

This is not an affliction to take lightly, but a battle to be waged with forcefulness and purpose.

A journey one must dedicate themselves to, consisting of topical ointment, boxes of rubber gloves, hand sanitizers, buckets of bleach and hot water and pills to place on resisting kittens’ tongues resulting in battle scars of scratches and bites.

If anyone can show just cause why these kittens should not be separated from this fungi, let him never speak and go forth instead into the library and research this pesky hitchhiker known as ringworm.

Ringworm is a skin condition caused by a group of fungi found within the environment. Typical on kittens, though not rare on older cats, studies have shown that short-hairs are easily infected, but long-hairs generally are the carriers.

This fungi whose technical term is dermatophytes attacks the skin, hair and claws of kittens attaching to the skin and spreading its spores leaving hairless patches of scabby skin in its wake.

Ringworm invasions can easily be spotted by your vet with a Woods lamp, but also a regular black light will show the battlefield as the kitten will glow fluorescent yellow-green wherever the invader has landed.

Typical areas of infection are: the face, paws, belly and neck. Once taking hold the spores can live in the environment for over 13 months causing re-infection to occur.

Kittens born without receiving the benefit of mom’s milk or who are malnourished are susceptible to this group of fungi. High stress situations such as crowded catteries, busy active households or cramped quarters of animal shelters hasten the spread of ringworm and infected kittens or cats need to be separated from the other resident cats within the home as soon as possible.

In certain breed cats, such as the Persian, the kittens have a higher rate of infection and a lower tolerance to this disease.

You can identify ringworm not only with the benefit of a Wood’s Lamp, but also by the growth pattern ringworm leaves on the coat. The fungi moves downward in a vertical fashion causing the kitten’s hair to fall out, there will be a circular patch of missing hair that will begin to scab over, or in severe cases, ooze from the lesions left behind.

If the ringworm invades the face (and that is the most common area that ringworm starts) once it gets close to the eyes, it can cause a type of conjunctivitis to occur, the kitten may also lose whiskers and eyelashes. Treatment needs to be done carefully in this case so that none of the prescribed medicine enters the eyes or the mucous membranes. In extreme cases of infestation, a complete body might be required to stop the spreading of the ringworm through the hair.
Generally, the fungi run themselves out within 30 days if treatment is applied.

Ringworm is not painful for the kitten, but it is an unsightly condition. Untreated, ringworm can lead to complications and when treating severe cases of ringworm, care should be directed toward the drugs given to you by your vet. Some of the drugs carry substantial risks in just the side effects alone. Boosting the immune system is advisable as this will help stem the march of the fungi across the kitten’s body.

About three weeks ago, we got hammered by a surprise rainstorm with hail included! In July- it was totally amazing.

I went outside to feed the horses when I lost my footing in the pasture and I slipped and fell on my back. My right leg went straight, my left leg bent at the knee and went behind my back- OUCH!

I laid there in the muck for a bit trying to catch my breath, plus I couldn’t move right away. Gretchen came over to lick my face (which didn’t help much) but she tried.

When I finally struggled to my feet, my left foot was throbbing and I hobbled off into the house. I stuck my foot into a pan of cold water with ice and soaked it a good 20 minutes. It took some of the hurt away but not all of it.

The next morning I woke up with a swollen and hot foot and ankle so I stuck it again into ice and took some Tylenol.

Since that fall, I have been fighting a foot that swells at the most inopportune times, toes that were now numb and pain traveling up my ankle to my leg. I kept thinking it had to get better, but tonight, it got really bad. Elevating it made it hurt worse than ever so Mike whisked me off the the ER.

Apparently, I have tendinitus with complications (of course) because my left arm is starting to go numb and my fingers are losing their feeling as well. They put me on prednisone and painkillers and I am to follow up in five days with my regular doctor.

I had to laugh though when Dr. Steph told me I had to rest for at least five days. When I explained to him all that I have to do in one day, how much Mike and the animals depend on me, plus the fact that I have to go to work, he just shook his head and said, “Well do the best you can!”

Now, I will be sleeping upstairs with the screen door shut so that the cats can’t come in. (Everest loves to lay on my legs and feet) I kno that I will kitty carolers at the door clamoring to come inside to see me, but I guess you can just call it tough love. LOL

I feel better about at least knowing I didn’t break my foot. I was thinking a hairline fracture might have occurred. But the numbness in my fingers concerns me (and the doc.) Mike accused me of having sympathy pains for him! I wish!

Lake, the kitten Gretchen found when I took her to the river has passed. There was to much damage done to his lungs and heart and though he struggled to stay alive, even with the help of my vet, it was to late for him.

I want to find the person who stashed her in that trash bag and stuff him inside- weight the bag down with rocks and throw him in the river! What a waste for such a precious little girl.

I am a bit worried about Catch. This morning he had a huge mess under his rear and it smelled off, really off. I gave him a bath and he still smelled pretty strange. I have him inside the large cage in the room and will watch him for the next day and if he doesn’t improve, I will take him to be checked. Being tossed that high in the air makes me think that perhaps that idiot didn’t catch him all the time? I did see him playing while I was setting up the cage for his 48 hour stay, and he was eating and drinking which is a relief.

Here is the kitten that was being tossed. Mike said he wants to call him Catapault, or “Here Catch!” I just want to find him and the others a loving home.

I so dread kitten season especially around here. I couldn’t leave them in their current situation and would like to think that others feel the same way.

But taking them in has stretched me to the maximum, not only the strain on the resident cats (we seem to have a spraying competition occurring now) but financially as well.

Don’t even get me started on Obama’s promises to folks like Mike and I (and so many others) about living paycheck to paycheck. He is no answer to the ills of our economy.

I am going to eat some humble pie and ask my readers if they can help me out a bit. On my website
kitten-rescue.com there is donation button. If you could send me $1.00 that would buy me two cans of kitten food and few pennies to set aside for cat litter. I wouldn’t even ask but with Mike becoming increasingly sicker, and dropping his extra jobs that were supporting this home, well, times are a bit rough at the moment.

Right now, I sit with a clowder of 30 and only 3 of those 30 are outside. Everyone else is inside the house or the enclosure.

I appreciate you more than you know. Your supportive words and love are what gets me through a trying day. I am sorry to ask so openly and blantantly for help, especially because I know that my story of hard times is not unique.

If you can help, please do. Visit the kitten-rescue site and click the donation button. If you can’t then just please find time to pray that I am able to find loving, caring homes for these babies so they have a chance at a better life than the one they started out with.

Thank you ~

Yesterday evening on the way to work, I took a detour through a residential area. They were doing work on Main Street, so I knew this way was shorter although the view is a bit dismal as this residential area is known as druggie alley.

As I am driving, I notice ahead of me this chick tossing something high into the air and laughing. As I got nearer, I saw to my horror she was tossing a black kitten! I skid to a stop and run over to ask her what the hell she thinks she is doing? She is higher than a kite, her face showing evidence of a meth head. She has three darling kittens in a box and God knows what she was going to do with them.

I finally get through to her and convince her to let me have the three kittens and load them in the car. I am now late for work, but have no choice but to race home and deposit these three sweeties in a not- to surprised Mike’s lap.

So now, there are eight kittens in the bedroom. The newcomers are around the same age as the others, they are so adorable, and although black, they do have browns and whites intermixed in their coats. There is one orange kitty as well that reminds me of my Bailey kitty.

Mike is asleep right now with kittens piled all over him. I went in a few moments ago to worm and deflea the newcomers and little black and white kitty (the one being tossed about) crawled up in my arms and fell asleep on my hand.

God may color me a sucker, but I guess I wear the color well.