For right now, I am calling her phantom because she still is vanishing like a shadow the minute I look her way. I hid behind a blanket and stuck my camera out in mid-air to capture this shot-

Phantom

A little over a year ago, someone dumped a calico cat on our property. After about a week of trying to get her to come to me, I finally set my traps and caught her. I put her in the barn in a carrier and she went ballistic being confined. She threw herself repeatedly against the door of the carrier and screamed as if the hounds of hell were inside with her. I covered her with a dark cloth and made plans to take her in the following morning to the vet.

The next morning, I went out to fetch her only to find that sometime in the night, she had escaped. I was surprised, because she was in such bad shape, skinny, no teeth, old and her legs were like toothpicks. How she managed to weaken the door, I will never know.

I tried several dozen times to re-trap her, but she would see me coming and just take off. I tried to win her over, but she would have none of it. I just kept feeding the outside cats and occassionally would catch a glimpse of her scooting under the house. I marveled that she was still alive, even though she was eating, there was little weight gain.

Tonight, I went into the enclosure off our porch. There is access 24/7 to the outside in this enclosure and to my surprise, there she was with the other cats waiting for dinner! I didn’t dare look at her so I just went about feeding and watering the group. I did manage to pet her once as she bent over to eat. Her hair feels very unhealthy- coarse and oily. But even after I touched her, she still stayed with the group eating. I suspect our unusually cold weather is driving her inside. I hope that in ignoring her, she will start to feel safe in this enclosure and on Monday if she shows up, I will block off the exits and get her into a carrier and get her quickly to the vet.

Perhaps this unextpected Christmas gift will become an early Christmas miracle.

The fog has settled in and the river across the road, pulls the fog like a magnet over our yard. Yesterday, I visited the local feed store and they were kind enough to give me half a bale of straw for the barn cats. I miss my horses so much, the sound of them nickering at the gate, or Racer pounding across the pasture in the morning on frozen ground when he heard the grain bucket rattling. As I packed straw about the barn into comfy nests, the memories of the two horse came flooding back to me. Knowing they both went together to the same place, to a woman who loves them as much as I do eased the sorrow of them leaving us.

Brandi and I walk back to the creek and look at the beaver dam. The beavers leave in the winter. I am not sure where they go? Probably hibernate deep underground like the bears. They will be back next year when the weather gets warmer. Brandi is a brave soul and she wades into the water to pull at a stick protruding from the bottom of the creekbed. I call her back and tell her she was a crazy dog for even wanting to get into that cold water. But German Shepherds love water and she is no exception.

We walk back to the shop to scoop up cat food and pop cat food lids. The barn cats come running- like me, they love this time of day when the world is still quiet and fresh. McGee the kitty with the endless tapeworm (that’s what I call her anyway) follows me as I scoop out the food. She is intent on eating all of the canned food she can locate. I think at times, this cow kitty would eat a whole case of it if I gave it to her. She has been checked and re-checked by the vet, dewormed, de-flead and his theory is she is just a food hog! LOL She was found 5 years ago by my other german shepherd Kenai in a tree in the front of our property. To tiny of a kitten to even climb a tree, so either the queen left her there, or a kid did. I had to climb up to rescue her- not an easy feat when the limbs were so brittle. But I managed to grab the kitten finally and she has never left us. I took her a few times to adoptions, but she failed to come out of the carrier without a fight and I finally figured it out that she just must like it here. She only will come inside when it starts snowing.

It got to 32 degrees last night and I see where the straw beds have been disturbed and used to insulate the barn cats as they slept. The three cats rescued from the hoarders home months ago, are now healthy, flea and parasite free- and able to breathe again without the aid of a vaporizer or humidifier. They also showed me they preferred to live outside, so they joined the barn cats about two months ago. I am sure after being in the cramped, crowded house with all those cats and being forced to breathe the acrid air inside, the outside must seem like paradise to them. They are still shy around me but the gray and white kitty and the black and white cat are getting better and no longer scatter when I come to feed. The orange boy with the scars from burns on his fur is less trusting and who can blame him? For no one really knows what that crazy man did to him while he was cooped up inside that home.

And so my day starts. Inside the house now, Bentley is let out of his cage for the day, Jedi is purring up a storm on Mike’s chest and all the cats are waiting to be fed. I am sitting here with my first cup of coffee at my side looking at the fog still creeping across the road. For the first time, in such a long time, all is right with my world and winter awaits.

My vet assures me that the kits that survived are healthy enough for adoption, so they are listed online. I received three phone calls in the first fifteen minutes of the ad being placed.

I took all the kittens to a lovely home in Springfield and the family decided that Lacey is the kitty for them. She now has two parents, and two kids to love her and care for her. The older boy was enchanted by her, the younger one (6 years old) not as much.

Here is Lovely Lacy- distemper survivor…

Lace

They left her on my front porch this morning with a note and $5.00. The note said “Found in lawn mower bag, please help.” Needless to say, I was hesitant at first to open this box up!

Thankfully, a kitten about four-weeks old looking purrfectly healthy squealed hello to me. I put her in my car and took her right to my vet.

God was looking over my shoulder and He found someone right away who was willing to take this cutie into their care.

I was so glad, because I do not wish to expose a kitten so young (too young to be vaccinated) to this lurking virus. I could have put her inside the new isolation room (off the barn) but not a good option for this cutie.

I will be putting a sign up on our porch about the distemper virus to hopefully stop the dumping of future kittens on us.

If you scroll down the blog on the right-hand side, you should see a minature banner displaying the photos of the kitties/cats who lost their life to distemper. Thank you Kathy for your admirable talent and time it took to put this together. Sometimes photos do speak louder than words.

Tomorrow morning, Kojo, Cagney, Lacey and Sophia will go in for neuters. Although they have survived distemper and have been fully vaccinated, I am hesitant to offer them up for adoption right now. I think, I will wait a bit to be sure they really have missed the bullet. Except for Cagney’s URI all kittens are healthy. I believe Cag is allergic to the cat litter I use here. As soon as I can, I will go and get just the plain clay litter and leave the donated (scented) stuff for the other. That litter is made for our noses, not for kitties. But right now, I am still chipping away at the remaining vet bill.

Jedi is getting better. She has had no accidents today in her cage which is such a good sign. I have her on probiotics right now, took her off the antibiotics because sometimes, those do more harm then good- which is what Bentley’s issue is now. They had him on so many different types of antibiotics that it killed all the bacteria in his gut, both good and bad. He is also getting this special probiotic.

A few weeks ago when the Craigslist Posse contacted me about what they deemed a puppy in need- my first thought was “I am a cat rescuer, what do I need with a puppy?” But, when I visited the post and saw this dog, it was love at first sight and off I went to the home to see what was up.

The couple were more intent on selling the dog then concerned about his well being. No questions were asked of me of what type of home I had, what I had planned for the dog, nothing… Soon, several hundred dollars lighter, I had a “mutt” in my truck and was bound for home. I couldn’t leave him where he was, it was not a good place.

Once home, after a first initial few fights with Roscoe an alpha kitten, he settled into life with the Miller’s. But being a cross-breed- we soon ran into trouble. Remington had a huge prey drive evident especially when we were outside and he spied barn cats by the droves.

His first trick after being scolded for running after them was to discover where they hid (usually a thick cover of brambles in the middle of our yard) He is one smart puppy. So, he would take off in a run and do laps around the brushes until he “flushed” one out of hiding- then the game was on!

Disciplining him became a challenge because he was already showing signs of being mistreated. He was playing, he wanted to run- it was the husky-lab mix playing tug-of-war with his reasoning. He knew it was “wrong” but it was “oh so much fun!”

My cats were not amused and I was already stressed. This was not a good match. Everything I tried to curtail this game failed. We ended up building an enclosure for him so he couldn’t go after the cats. He didn’t chase them inside the house, just the ones outside.

He had been here long enough to learn the rules. He knew he couldn’t go past the creek, that the front yard was “off limits” and the sound of my keys meant he could go for a drive with me. he was smart, trainable (except for the chasing) and sweet as could be, but not for us. I was beginning to wonder why I was so crazy to think a puppy is a good idea at this time.

Finally, I decided to put him on craigslist, and because of his age- the fact we had him neutered, microchipped and vaccinated, he got plenty of interest. I turned down four families who wanted him. He is a puppy with challenges and needed the right home.

Last night, after visiting yet another family (who turned out to have triplets 8 months old) and they too were disappointed to find out this high-energy pup wasn’t to be theirs. I got a call about 7:00. The man said his name was Michael. He was a recent disabled veteran (wounded in Afghanistan) He had seen the ad (now about 9 days old) and wondered if we might still have that puppy?

I was supposed to take Remy to see a lady in NE Salem the following day. She was the last on the list of interested parties. However, her dog knowledge was pretty limited. She didn’t know what “crate training” was and she kept saying on the phone that she wanted to “try him out for a few days.” He isn’t a used car, he is a 5 and a half month old puppy!

I had a feeling about this gentleman on the phone and so I called kim and told her that I wasn’t going to be able to bring Remy to her home on Sunday. That I had gotten a phone call from someone who I strongly felt needed Remington as much as Remy needed him. She was slightly disappointed, but what could she do?

I called Michael back and told him we were on his way. His wife told me later that after that phone call, he got off the phone and sobbed.

When we arrived, I let Remy out of the car. The couple were standing and waiting for him in their front yard. As I turned to get my purse, Remy pushed and strained on the leash, trying to get to Michael- so I just let the leash go. This puppy went straight to this man who was now kneeling on the ground. Rem’s tail was going 60mph and he was giving sloppy puppy kisses to a complete stranger!

I have taken Remy to a lot of places. He has met a lot of people and although he was friendly, he never acted like this. The man was crying and holding onto this pup for dear life. I was crying and looked up and saw his wife also joining in the flood of tears. It was magical.

We went upstairs to their beautiful and spacious home. The living room was so large- Michael asked permission to let Remy be off the leash. I said sure and Remy when freed started running laps around the couch. The couple, well they were now both smiling.

I finally caught Rem and told him to simmer down a bit, and Michael went to sit on the couch. The couch was in the center of the room with plenty of space in front and behind it. It was an antique with a high back. I was sitting on the floor, hugging Remy to say goodbye to him because I knew he was destined to be this soldier’s dog. When I let go of him, Remy gave me one smack of his tongue, then he turned and he leaped OVER the back of the couch to come to rest beside his new master. He laid his head on Michael’s lap and went instantly to sleep! I looked over, and his wife, well she had tears in her eyes and she wasn’t the only one.

I had put in the ad that there was a rehoming fee. They had put together a bit of money for a down payment, and gave it to me and said they would make payments on the rest. But, when I got home and thought about all that had transpired, I just called them and told them we were free and clear and Remy was theirs. Michael answered the phone when I called and said that Remington was “simply phenomenal!”

I now know that I the reason I rescued this puppy was so that he would end up with this family. There were times in the last week when I could have cheerfully given him away to a complete stranger because of his prey drive. But, it wasn’t his fault- he is a victim of bad breeding. Two mixed breeds husky and lab (should have never met!) But they did, and now my barn cats can rest easy. They don’t need to be afraid to come down off the rafters, or come up to the feeders to eat. The white puppy with brilliant blue eyes is where he needs to be.

On the kitty front- Bentley is home with a 103 fever and diarrhea ( I am told this is just the side effects of the distemper still leaving him) Jedi is getting slowly better, but she has lost so much weight. They are both in isolation and I just pray no one else becomes ill.Guess we will have to wait and see-

I am so over this and so tired of crying. Bentley is back in isolation because he has diarrhea pouring out his rectum. It started about an hour after I vaccinated him a few days ago and I called the vet who told me it was probably a “stress reaction” from the shot. Well- his stress reaction now stretches from one end of our house to the other and I am at my wit’s end.

His first “stress” reaction to the vaccine was his third eyelid showing (I have four kitties with prominent third eyelids at this time). But when he ran into the living room about an hour ago, smelling like who knows what and poo spurting out of him- I grabbed him up and rushed him to the vet. It’s Friday, all appointments are full so they will work him in and call me.

Is this also the coronavirus? I can’t see how that is possible because jedi is away from everyone and her contaminated bedding etc is bagged up before I even take it into the house. Is this just a side-effect from the distemper, or is this his body fighting off the virus again?

Everything I read about distemper says that once a cat gets exposed to distemper and survives it the cat is naturally immune to the disease so why did the vet even want me to vaccinate him in the first place?

I just want to find a hole and crawl in for awhile which is a coward’s way out I know.