Last night on the way home from work, I found Jetta. My neighbor called later and told me he saw it happen and that Jetta never saw it coming. It was over, he said, before it started.

Jetta I am sorry that you didn’t realize that inside this home lies safety and love. I wish you had not been dealt the hand in life that it threw at you. I know you are whole, and happy and joined by so many other kitties who went before you. Forgive me for failing you and not cracking that tough veneer you put up for protection-

Well now I really need vibes. I came home from work earlier and went upstairs to freshen her food bowl. She wasn’t in the room! I looked everywhere, but the room is small and there is little places to hide. Nothing seemed amiss until I moved a small stack of books and saw the panel- it had been pushed up and broke. The access to this small cubbyhole is directly into the attic. One place NONE of my cats are allowed to go, because once in the attic, it is an easy escape to the roof and then outside.

I can see that she has indeed gone outside There is black and white fur at the one access hole by the attic fan. As large as she is, she managed to squeeze through the hole and escape!

I can’t look for her right now. It is wild wind and rain. I can only hope she is under the house or close enough and will come out soon. I will set traps tomorrow. Our home borders the woods, and if she gets into there, I hate to think. Not having claws she has little protection. Poor kitty, she must be so scared. But it is dark and rainy and a thorough search won’t be possible till morning.

The only thing I can think is she must have jumped into the cubbyhole to hide- it is shaped like a triangle and she wedged herself down into it. A smaller kitty wouldn’t have been a issue, but she is huge. her size must have dislodged the panels and off she went.

Jetta is going to be a challenge. She shows immense distrust to all things human. She is quick to respond aggressively when I am trying to help her. I moved her upstairs this morning when it became clear that being in a room with a bit of traffic was unnerving to her. I have seen cats who dislike carriers, but Jetta takes this dislike to a whole other level. Poor kitty. I have no idea how her past owner even got her into the tiny carrier she came with, because it was such a struggle to get her into my larger one. My top loaders have been loaned out, had they been available this morning, the stress level would have been much lower.

I feel so sorry for Jetta. She has had to put up with situations that no cat should have to endure. I hope as time goes by, she can relax and understand she is in a good place. Mike said she reminds him of the Queen Mother, a calico cat we rescued years back. I just have to work slowly with her and let her acclimate to her new home. She is also not cat-friendly at all. I can understand why the shelters told Janice that this cat is unadoptable. She only trusts one person after a long time and now, that person is gone. Her world is rocked and it will be up to me to steady her. Wish me luck-

As expected, Jetta is staying under the bed for now. She is a big, wide-eyed kitty wondering what in the world happened to rock her world so. Here she is now in a new environment, surrounded by the smells left in the room by previous kitties, because there is no amount of scrubbing that ever removes pheremones. She has to adjust to the rhythm of the house. She hears the other cats, hears the dog padding about, has to deal with the scheduled visits I have started to see to her needs.

Knowing she would be under the bed for a bit, before she arrived yesterday- I piled soft blankets along the front wall. It can get cold under there, even with the heat on, because we are still in the remodeled frame of mind in the bedroom. When Mike grew so ill, remodeling stopped as we were doing all of the work ourselves. The outside wall that we wanted to knock out and make into a master bathroom still opens to the porch and that is where the wind and cold find a way into the room. So the blankets stop the drafts.

I did peek under the bed this morning just to be sure all is well. Seems to be, she is just scared. It is clear that Janice loves this cat and has taken excellent care of her. So, I just slid the food and water underneath my bed and let her be.

Making the bed, I just talked to her gently so she can get used to the sound of my voice. My sweaty socks also went under the bed, so she can adjust to my smell and know that I am a friendly.

It will take Jetta few days to realize that this home is safe for her. For now, she is here, she has her needs met and it is only a matter of time before she decides to join her new world.

The other night, I got home from work late. As is my routine, I fed the cats and then settled down in front of my computer to answer emails. One email came in as a comment from my blog. The message although a bit long was pretty clear; the woman was looking for help with a feral cat. She wanted to know who she could contact.

I wrote back immediately and told her that it would be helpful if I knew where she lived? By this time we were approaching midnight. I was about to click off the computer and call it a day, when her reply showed in my in-bin.

“I am in Portland, Oregon.”

So I ask you dear readers, what are the odds?

I have a full inn right now, but after listening to this cat’s plight, I see no other alternative but to rescue her. This kitty who is a three year old cow kitty was originally found inside the engine of a Jetta along with four other littermates! How they survived during the trip to work inside the engine without considerable injury is nothing short of a miracle.

The kittens were found homes and I believe two ran away right off. The one woman who took Jetta, decided to declaw her and then she became upset that the kitten turned out to be a bite-monster after the surgery. She ended up giving the cat (now 2 years old) back to the woman who found them in the first place.

The woman (janice) has kept Jetta for a year, but the other day, Jetta bit the FIL. The husband demanded that Jetta be put outdoors until a new home could be found.

Jetta will be here on Saturday and she will be our bedroom kitty. I know I can’t put her with the group, it wouldn’t be fair to her or to my group. I understand she dislikes being held or petted, which is fine. I have several cats like that here already. I let them be cats, be who they are, respect their boundaries and we live together happily. I have one old girl Ms. Dash who I rarely even see. I know she is here, I catch glimpses of her every now and again and even though she is long-haired she will come indoors from the enclosure when it is cold outside. She was in the living room this morning in fact, although when I got up and walked by her, she bolted down the tunnels.

So one leaves-(Torah) and one arrives (hopefully) on Saturday. But what are the odds in this world-wide Net that one comment on my blog would result in another cat coming to stay here.

I have been absent trying to get Frasier well but what we have tried seems not to be working. Today, I decided, no more stressful trips to the vets. It sounds like he has kennel cough, so I am giving him meds that are used for kennel cough. If that doesn’t work then he will have to kick this on his own.

To do further tests on him would require monies I don’t currently have, so I have to just stop and pray that God still wants this beautiful black boy around for awhile. He is eating and coughing less, but yesterday, I was anchored down on the couch all day because he was so lethargic. He slept on my lap the entire day and hardly moved. I had the day off, but my house still needs a good scrubbing which didn’t get done.

Tomorrow is the first day of Spring, but it is still very cold here. The cat’s playroom has been changed a bit to accomodate a new product currently under review: The Kitty Staircase to Heaven by felinefurniture The cats love it and it takes up the entire wall and climbs almost to the ceiling.

Last night we had a black and white visitor outside. I know the skunks are coming “home” but they are early this year. I just hope they don’t get hit on the road. I still don’t understand how a motorist can’t avoid a skunk. They are so slow moving even at a fast waddle. I think this is the last of the babies that returned last night though it is hard to tell because face it, all these skunk babies we saved a few years ago look alike.

The other cats came running in looking highly offended once the spray hit it’s mark. I ended up putting vicks on my nose so I could at least not smell the odor. Of course this morning, Gretchen decided to roll in the stink and she got a bath quickly.

She passed this morning. Her system was shutting down and there was little hope for recovery. She was losing stool and vomiting almost nonstop. I think I made it in record time to the vet as she was suffering so. In the end, she was given a little bit of dignity that she so richly deserved.

I am sorry sweet, golden girl that we couldn’t share more time together.

My cats are better at predicting the weather than the weatherman. They started acting out late yesterday and I knew a storm was brewing. The snow arrived last night, along with high winds. Gretchen loved the white stuff (while it lasted) although finding her tennis ball in the snow got a little cold for her- dumb dog.

I have been to the vets twice now in three days. Torah had a bad declaw and she has developed problems from it. The vet wants to redo it to give her comfort. But I have to weigh this carefully if I proceed with it. The operation is long and costly. She may not survive the anesthesia, and she will be unable to move for a few days afterwards. I am thinking it is better to just let the paws alone and not reintroduce her to the incredible pain she would again have to endure. Her area is the bedroom, and she spends the majority of the time just laying down in a large dog crate with the whole top removed. I provide her with soft bedding and plenty of food and water. Her litter pans are within easy distance.

I also had to take Fraisier in as he was either coughing or choking. I thought at first it was a hairball, because even short-haired kitties get hairballs. So I bought some laxatone, but that didn’t stop it. I didn’t think it was a cold because he had no discharge from the eyes or nose. Then I thought he might have swallowed something, like a thread of the carpet and it got wrapped around something causing him grief.

When I took him in, Ben showed me the back of Fraser’s throat- it was bright red but right in the back of the throat it was full of clear liquid! Ben says he believes Frasier ate something that irritated his throat. He got a shot and he is on antibiotics starting tomorrow.

He was so scared at the vet. He spent the better part of the visit with his head tucked into my armpit. I would pick him up between procedures because he was trembling so bad. He is still coughing- so I hope the shot kicks in soon.

I have been asked to review a new line of cat furniture for obese kitties. I received their starter set four days ago and it hasn’t been unoccupied since! ALL the cats love it and my larger breed cats especially love it. It is made by felinefurniture

In the interim of concentrating on Torah and her many challenges, Cyrus begins to slip downhill as well. I got his bloodwork back and some of the results are off- either to low or to high, but distemper has been ruled out! Yay God! Cyrus has an infection somewhere so he is on antibiotics. I know he feels punky because every time I get a chance to sit on the couch, he comes and leaps on me an starts kneading me fiercely- which is a new behavior for him. There are no visible signs of illness- no temp or sub-normal temp. The only thing that I see is a small amount of discharge from one eye, not enough to get a q-tip wet. I can just tell he is feeling pretty punky-

Even with a one time ear mite treatment that Torah received at the vets over a week ago, her ears are still pretty nasty. Ear mites are one of my worst pet peeves- no pun intended, because with cats tossed outside and neglected, once these mites get into the ear, they are extremely hard to eradicate.

I put Torah up on the bed to clean her ears. She hates having her ears messed with and she slipped out of my grasp and jumped down to the floor. She was in such incredible pain when she landed that she ground her teeth over five minutes. I felt so bad for her- with her absence of claws, she is at such a disadvantage in regards to jumping off of high places.

People reading this blog- please listen CATS NEED THEIR CLAWS,ALL OF THEM. IT IS HUMAN VANITY THAT REMOVES CLAWS- valuing a sofa or a chair over the health and well-being of your cat.

Torah has been sleeping since this incident and I am even hesitant to give her any pain meds as she is so fragile and still so underweight. My heart weeps for her. These last days, or weeks, or months, or even perhaps years of her life, should be easier than they are right now.