They are shy, my two tortie girls, but slowly they are merging with the others here. It is funny when I find them unexpectedly in another part of the house (besides the bedroom). As I enter the room, they look up alarmed as if I had busted them being a cat burgler, then they both scurry, slipping and sliding across the tile back to their safety area. I suppose I must be a scary creature for them being that I am so tall.

Piper loves to be scratched and rubbed. her voice is tiny and she is a talker when she wants her way. Her sister Pippi is much shyer and will hide under the bed until she can’t stand not being noticed any longer then she slides out and stands in front of me as if to say; “Stop that! It’s my turn now!” Then, I am allowed to touch and rub on her- this kitten who looks like God spilled orange paint all over her.

After dealing with all this pain in my foot and trying to work with the doctors with antibiotics, shots, pain pills etc.. I have received no relief from the pain. The pain has been constant as if I am walking with a hot rock on the bottom of my foot, so I stopped in and spoke to the town’s holistic healer and relayed all the information about my foot and what I have done to try and stop if from hurting.

She has put me on 1,000 mg of MSM daily, a soak in collidial silver water and she gave me this oil that she made up to relieve pain. I went home and soaked my foot, applied just a tiny bit of the oil and bandaged the foot. One hour later I am able to walk around the house normally without pain! It feels so good NOT to hurt.

I know that some scoff at holistics means, but I have witnessed it time and time again saving my horses, dogs and cats from various ailments and I am a believer.

Tomorrow, I will go into town and give Brandi a big hug of gratitude for what she did for me.

Riddle is suffering from dehydration, anemia and a heavy parasite load. Otherwise, he will be fine in about a week.

On a more somber note, the cat who I believe was Shell’s mom (Delilah) had a massive stroke last night and passed away. I am sad that she is gone- as she was our bedroom kitty but I am glad her pain is over with now. Her squamous cell carcinoma had come back and I had an appointment in a few days to have her euthanized. Best guess on her age by my vet was 19 years old. She had a bad start in life, but in the last few months since arriving here, she found love, warmth, good food and comfort. I will miss her gimpy walk and her headbumps that almost knocked me over they were so strong. I knew when wounds started appearing on her from unknown reasons- and they wouldn’t heal that she was on borrowed time. I am so glad I had her in the end and she knew she was loved.

About two months ago, Riddle one of my barn cats just vanished. A few days later, I saw on the road (quite a distance from our farm) a cat that looked like Riddle. I couldn’t get to the cat – the traffic was to heavy but there was no hope for the kitty there. I cried on the way to town thinking it was Riddle and when I returned home, the body had been moved (or taken by raptors).

I told Mike and we were both sad at the loss- but as always- life keeps going.

Yesterday morning when I went to feed the cats in the barn, I saw a grey mackeral tabby sitting under a hay bale. I did a double- take but it was Riddle. There was no mistaking the light dusky grey color and black tipped tail. He looked horribly thin and was eating the kibble that had fallen to the ground. I went over speaking softly to him and scooped him up. He was crawling with fleas and had massive amounts of drainage coming out of his eyes.

He is now upstairs on antibiotics, and he is eating but only Fancy feast. I gave him fluids twice and his gums are so pale. I have him on pet tinc as well as a vaporizer going in the room as he is all congested. He will go to the vet in the morning- but he came out from under the couch to snuggle with me, so I know he is glad to be home again.

But it rings, and it rings constantly especially during this time of year.

Tonight, I get a call from a woman who has been frantically trying to find someone to take 2 tortie sisters about 7 weeks old. She is between a rock and a hard spot and her landlord has denied her request to keep any more cats than what she already has. So- we talk awhile and I find that she uses the same vet as I do and she has an appointment in the morning to get the mom cat spayed.

I look over in Mike’s direction and see how he is liking this phone call and he sees the look in my eyes (he knows I love torties) and he nods his approval.

So the two tortie girls are now in the bedroom. When I went to pick them up, I was both amused and impressed that the woman called the vet and asked about ME! Thankfully, she was told I’m okay- LOL But I think that is the first time, I have ever had someone check up on me- generally, I am busy checking up on them.

Lord help me, now I have 4 spays and 3 neuters looming in the future- and all because my phone keeps ringing.

Last night, I ran across a poem that someone “Unknown” had written- who knows how many years ago. It seems fitting to leave it here on the page- to honor a day that changed America forever. A day where we all collectively wept, then held hands and dug in- working for the good of our neighbors, hatred, politics, differences cast aside. We were all one- and we all mourned-

What did you do today? Was anyone happy that you passed their way? Does anyone remember that you spoke today? What type of a difference did you perform today?

As you close your eyes in slumber, do you think that you can say: You have earned one more tomorrow by what you did today?May God continue to watch over us and may our leaders find that turning to God not only in times of crisis but in every day life is the answer to the ills facing us right now-

Now if you will excuse me, I need to go and hug my cats-

Written by someone I was honored to call my friend- this is a fitting piece for the day..

Pawprints in the Dust

Something must be in the air this year, because the phone calls from people wanting to adopt my cats have been decidedly odd. Here is one that I received last night- the caller was male:

“Hello?”
“I wanna a kitty”
“OK- I might be able to help you- can you tell me what you are looking for?”
“I wanna purty kitty!”
“A purty kitty?”
“Yeah a purty orange kitty, not an ugly kitty!”
“Why are you looking for a kitten right now?”
“Because!”
“Because why?”
“Because!” (angry)
“Well, because doesn’t cut it for me or the cats who are with me. I guess you will have to find your purty kitty elsewhere-”
click…..

LOL- I have no idea what this man’s idea of a purty kitty is centered on. If he thinks only orange kittens are “purty” or what, but in my experience I have found that when you work with someone with specific color or characteristics in mind when it comes to kitten adoption- it can turn into a nightmare for you and the cat or kitten in question.

When the kittens first arrived, they were so nutritionally depleted (due to parasite invasions) that I started cooking and giving them organ meats for some added nutrition. Although organ meats are certainly rich in certain minerals, it isn’t a good idea to feed them this all the time. The meat even though it was cooked- was always a bit tough to cut, so I would use my kitchen shears and cut the pieces small so they can manage them.

Well just like Pavlov’s experiment- my kittens when they hear those kitchen shears cutting anything, they come on a run crying and circling my heels. I could be cutting carrots, celery, onions, whatever, but they hear those blades open and close and they circle like sharks smelling blood in the water!

Silly kitties- I am feeding them PetSelect right now so I have to open up another container and appease them with a bit of the good stuff to get them away from my feet when I am using my kitchen shears.

About a month ago in the middle of the night, I stepped down hard on a cat toy (a tract ball with the cardboard insert missing) It was a hard step, and when I stepped off of it, I felt nauseated (which was wierd). The foot wouldn’t heal and I tried all types of drawing ointments and epsom salt soaks hoping to draw whatever was left in my foot out. Didn’t work. Mike dug on it a few times, and I tried digging on it and still it was painful. Last Sunday afternoon I had enough of the pain and went into the ER.

They did two ultrasounds. The first one the tech swore there was a piece of something in my foot 10 mm long and quite narrow. The doctor got ticked off because no one marked on my foot where the item was so I was sent back for a second ultra-sound. They couldn’t find the item then! Back I go to the ER room and the doctor decides to numb my foot OMG the pain was so intense on that shot! I had my hand in my mouth while I was screaming.

The doctor treated it as an abscess and drained just a bit out of it and I was sent home. I fell asleep exhausted on the couch. It was 8:00 p.m. when I got home.

I woke up at 3:00 a.m. screaming- rocking back and forth in pain, my foot was on fire. I am not a wimp to pain. I generally have a high tolerance, but this was excruciating. Mike panicked and ran me back to the ER where I was told I could pay for a CAT scan or an MRI- no way (no insurance). So they told me they would numb my foot again and dig some more. I told the doctor in no uncertain terms that if he put that shot back in my foot, I would kick all his teeth out. I was serious. So they decided to do it while I was sedated and they started an IV and knocked me out. I don’t remember much after that but Mike said even under sedation when they went to shoot my foot- they had to call another doctor in to hold my foot down because I was trying to kick the doctor in the face.

They didn’t find any object, they drained it a bit and it hurts like the dickens. They said I either punctured a nerve when I stepped on the toy or a bacterial infection entered my foot from the toy. The doctor thinks I have pasteurella or bordatella but I don’t have any of the symptoms- just major pain. The only time this feels better is when I am soaking the foot in warm water and GSE.

Hopefully, the pain will vanish soon and I can get back to my life. Right now MIke (who also can’t walk very well) has to do everything around here. The pain just needs prayer so it will go away and life can continue as normal. Though around here normal has its moments! The cats know I am doing poorly and are clustered all over me day and night. As long as they don’t step on my foot we are good.