Took Baker and the two calico girls in tonight for a check. The girls passed the ringworm test and are now in their new wonderful home with Glacie and Baker, sadly will be put to sleep this Friday. His mouth is totally destroyed.  Then during this vet visit, I was told some news in regards to the clinic. The tried and true senior vet  is finally retiring.  The bad news is they want all accounts receivable to be paid in full ASAP.

I am asking with great humbleness for your help. Could you spread the word using all you know about social media. The total bill is $1,700.00 please let people know anything sent is tax deductible.

If you can help in a small way, the small ways add up quickly, We will take your mad money, your rainy day, “I want coffee money,” your aluminum can money. It doesn’t matter. I do not wish to lose the good standing our sanctuary has with this clinic.

In the past the bookkeeper worked with me on small payments. I have a feeling she isn’t going to part of this changeover. We just need help and quickly. If I can just make a dent in this it will truly help all the cats out there still waiting for our help.

I figured it out, if we can raise $125.00 a day then I can meet their 2 week deadline. I have to wonder though if Someone upstairs might just be trying to tell me something? The timing on this couldn’t be at a worse time.

Thank you deeply to anyone who can help us get clear of this.

Someone just emailed me and asked me to post the amount we are working on at the vet’s office. That amount is $980.00. It is actually more but the increase is because of B-Dog being put to sleep and my wish to have her ashes returned to me so I could set her free in the forest she loved so much.

I know it is a bad time to ask for donations. Typically, this time of year donations are way down because of Christmas and travel and taxes coming up. The amount will clear the books and if I decide we can handle 13 more cats then there will be additional charges I am sure. I’ve done some calling to rescue folks that I know and no one can take on this black cat colony at this time. I’m still formulating things in my head. I know that we can’t help them all, but we do help the lost causes.

Hey Guys,

I am asking for prayer and good thoughts as I wrestle with a recent challenge presented to me.  I have been contacted by an elderly woman who has made it her mission to befriend a colony of black cats taking up residence behind a restaurant. For the past few years she has neutered this inbred colony (thank God) and she has been feeding them although where she is located, it is against the law to feed strays!

There are 13 (hope that isn’t an omen) left feeding among the grasses, a creek nearby provides them with water. Her husband (who passed away now) built them custom cat houses so they can be kept warm. I have been out there twice at feeding time with her and it is clear that they LOVE this lady. They come running at the sound of her car engine. She has names for each one of them and she has vetted them to the best of her ability without actually taking them to the vet. I see an ulcerated eye on one, several with snotty noses, one is limping she thinks he got caught under a fence. The cats are feral in nature and have several hiding places in the trees behind the restaurant. For a cat it’s a decent life.

But she has recently been diagnosed with cancer and as the fates would have it, the restaurant has been sold and the new owner hates cats. He has told the employees there will be repercussions if they are caught feeding them!  He is planning on expanding the parking lot and want these cats gone.

She has asked me to take all 13 cats! She said that she has contacted everyone and no one will help her (they are older and black on top of that). I am her last resort.

 The challenge first is to trap them- Then it is a matter of addressing the health issues these colonies face. She can’t deflea and deworm (she lives on a fixed income) and parasites untreated can lead to real mess of things.

They would have to be to be vetted, evaluated and treated. Then there is still the matter of the outstanding vet bill CATS Inc is slowly paying down. Good Heaven’s it never ends around here or everywhere else.

We currently have 2 empty enclosures (lots of adoptions last year)  and three large empty  cages to house them in- but I also have in this mix the  outstanding vet bill, a new puppy, a husband missing a leg, cripes.

I start physical therapy next week because in my car accident I really messed up my neck and shoulder. They tell me that my muscles are still in protect mode from being jostled so much during that “fun day.”  This is why I have had to endure some strange electrical type charges running through my left arm that leave me just for seconds incapacitated. I can’t even talk when it is happening, it hurts so much. According to their tests I have a pinched muscle who is now running the whole show so I have to retrain my muscles to not protect me quite so much.

So much on my plate but I know that when they start bringing in the earth movers in as soon as this weather clears to plow up that field and these cats will be  history. I just need prayer as I sit here and juggle all the variables. You know me, I want to run out there right now and start trapping, but I can’t. I have to really think about this and all the variables in my life at the moment.

I also have an older cat- Baker who is 16 and his teeth are so bad he has to have them all extracted for a mere $500.00  I love this cat even though he has sprayed his entire life which is why he is out in the barn. I have had him since finding him in a tree on our road soaking wet and screaming his lungs out. No one claimed him, so I had a friend climb the tree and fetch him down. He was 5 months old at the time.

Thanks for listening. I appreciate the comments you all make on my strange life good and bad. I’m not like most folks, and I accept that. I laid awake all night last night listening to the winds and worrying about these cats. Finally, I just took Zara out of her crate (she does need to be crate trained) She can’t be with me 24/7 she gets in a lot of trouble following her puppy nose and we snuggled together and we slept that way till this morning.

And in among all the concerns lies peace as Zara meets Porter for the first time:

Until I caved and invited her on the bed with me. She was SO good. She snuggled in so close to me and we both fell asleep being a comfort to each other. She woke me twice by whimpering and licking my chin. I got dressed for the weather- heavy storm, lightning, thunder scary and cold. But she has courage and although she trembled the entire time the thunder was booming, she did her business and we came back inside. This puppy has some pretty active dreams once she nods off. I finally had to put her back into her crate where she slept until this morning.

Our training philosophy for pups is ignore the bad behavior, reward the good. If we discipline it is with voice only and she is tuned in to me when I tell her “NO!” This morning she was pumped full of energy and wanted to play with Blake. He was not amused and bit her! But Blake doesn’t have teeth so she just got pinched. Right now, her tennis ball is being played with by Blake, and Zara looks so sad at the loss of her toy. But she knows not to try and go and get it. LOL

It’s so rewarding to watch Mr. Blake play like a kitten. His life before he came here was dismal. He shared a small dog kennel with 52 other cats! He’s the one whose ears on the inside look like a mushroom forest. We can’t seem to get rid of the growth but so far it hasn’t bothered him, so just like a cat he has adjusted. I was petting him this morning and along his back, he has this lump that looks like a clear bubble after I shaved the area? It is about the size of a dime, so I will keep an eye on it and if it doesn’t go away or if it gets bigger- I guess we go to the vet. They estimate he is around 15 years old so it is nice to know that he can hold his own against this rambunctious puppy!

to NOT have a dog here in our home. It will be a long time before I will get over the loss of Brandy, but I think she wants me to help another dog just as she helped all those cats. There are so many dogs in need of a good home. So in her honor after running the gauntlet of Craigslist and all the people out there trying to make a living by breeding puppies and saying it’s just a rehoming fee. I mean come on- a 3 month old German Shepherd male, they wanted a mere $1,500.00 He was unregistered, which is not what Craigslist stands for at all.

I have seen 12 dogs in two days and this morning, I fell in love with a beautiful mutt. She is 9 weeks old, she was more than affordable. She is a cross between a Weimaraner and a Collie. They called her Ella, we are calling her Zara.

She’s smart. she has met all the cats and Glory smacked her, so Zara is very respectful of cats now. They race by her nose and she watches, but she doesn’t chase. Those of us in the dog world know that she should still be with her mom and littermates, but the woman who originally adopted her has had her for only two weeks. So she has some separation anxiety, she is not potty-trained nor crate trained. We are working on crate training at the moment. Right now, the door stays open and she runs in to get toys and treats but shut that door and she howls like a wolf! LOL

She has had a big day. She went to the hospital to meet Mike, she met my friend Haley and her two boys, she went to Wilco and to another store that allows dogs. She will balk on the leash at times, but I can coax her along. I don’t know if she rescued me, or I rescued her. I guess time will tell. But I really didn’t want a puppy! LOL She has huge paws, the long legs of the Weimaraner.It will be interesting to see how she develops.

Here she is exhausted from her big day.

This morning, with tears in my heart, I surrendered sweet Pumpkin and Autumn to the Heartland Humane Society. They finally were cleared of the dang ringworm! I said my goodbyes to the girls last night, so I could just hustle out of there and go home. But, before I left, I inquired about Nutmeg and was told that she was so “antisocial” they moved her to the back part of the feline sanctuary. 🙁 I went back to visit her and I opened her cage and laid my hand inside. She came and sniffed me and licked me, head-bumped me, oh she remembered me. Nothing anti-social in her behavior at all. I was petting and loving on her and telling her I was sorry she was still there. They had her on the top tier of four cages (no body ever looks up there) So I gathered her in my arms and we snuggled a bit.

Eventually, I put her back in the cage, but didn’t want to just leave her there. I stood on my tiptoes and noticed she had thrown her blanket over her food, so I uncovered her food and she started to eat.

When she was here with me, I only fed her wet food, or dry food with water because she didn’t chew her food, she would gulp it and occasionally she would choke. I was watching  her and I saw her back away from her bowl, her head was up she was gulping for air. She was choking! I heard the door open, figured it was an assistant, but it was an elderly woman. I grabbed Nutzy and swung her around almost bumping this lady and apologized, laid Nutty on her back on the table, opened her mouth and stuck my little finger down her throat to trigger her gag reflex. It worked, and she swallowed the nugget.

I was holding her and the woman asked me if I worked there and I said No Ma’am, but I brought this kitten here to be adopted out and we just know each other. We started talking about Nutmeg and before I left, the woman was still in the room. I bent down on my knees and prayed “God please let someone adopt this shy girl.” Then I left because even though I asked to take her back home and socialize her and bring her back, they weren’t keen to do that.

When I got home, I went to their page to see Autumn and Pumpkin and Nutmeg was gone and in the adopted column!!!!!  YAY! Guess it was kismet that I was there this morning even though my heart hurt to turn those two orange girls over to the shelter.

Here she was on her worst day-

And here she is at the shelter. Fingers crossed she and Autumn find homes by next week

Just an update: Both Pumpkin and Autumn have been adopted into the same home! Nutmeg went home with an elderly woman. My job is done, my bedroom devoid of kittens for now!

Brandy in her early days with her good friend Benson

She was my best friend, my keeper of secrets. At night she would jump on the bed and lay next to me and we would fall asleep. Any number of cats or kittens would play with her tail or climb on her belly and she wouldn’t care. She would look slightly amused and then wash the cat down thoroughly with her tongue. At times, she would nibble a cat’s neck or back but they were only love nibbles. She never broke skin.  This beautiful German Shepherd who we named Brandy was one-in-a-million.

She was our service dog and at 123 pounds just the appearance of her in a crowded hospital lobby would make people gasp. They always thought she was a male. But she was a registered German-bred not American Bred German Shepherd dog- so her prey drive was non-existent. The only thing she ever attacked anyone with was her tongue.

When my husband Mike was going through his cancer treatments, she would accompany us to the hospital. Once the waiting room started of fill up she would somehow (without being asked) find her way underneath the seats so that she wouldn’t get in the way of all the people. One time, there was an elderly woman asleep next to me. She had been asleep when we came in (she was waiting for her husband) so Brandy just settled by my feet, the waiting room filled up and again without being asked, Brandy maneuvered all of her 123 pounds under the seating. The woman was still sleeping but Brandy’s large frame wiggled her chair fairly aggressively. The woman’s eyes sprang open she jumped up in her seat yelling “Earthquake!”  After I stopped giggling, I assured her that even though Brandy could rightly carry the name of “Earthquake”, she was harmless. It broke the tension of everyone in the room and they all had to come over and admire our long-haired earthquake.

When I would take her for walks and let her off leash, there were several times she would break into a run and vanish into bushes, or start sniffing up a tree. At first, I thought she was on the scent of a squirrel, but each time, she would bring me an injured cat or kitten! I never taught her this, I rescue cats, I don’t need any more help finding lost or injured cats. But Brandy must have thought I needed more to do in my day. It got so I could read the signs and the pattern of her investigative prowess. She would first circle where the cat was hiding, her nose would go straight up into the air- she would actively sniff the area- her tail would go erect and she would hone in on the helpless kitty. She was clearly meant to be my dog- not only for what she for my diabetic husband but for all she gave to me of her heart and soul.

We rescued her off the Internet. We would discover later she was not a cherished animal in that household. The ad went up at 11:00 p.m. and I spied it instantly and answered it. The person was giving away a spayed, registered German Shepherd service dog! I sent an immediate answer and asked her what was wrong with the dog? Instead of answering me, I got back a terse message- “When can you be here?” She lived 3 hours from us. We left within 10 minutes of my answer and got there just almost at 2:00 a.m.

The woman was in a wheelchair and she had the dog in the courtyard and the dog was pulling her around. On the ground next to them was a pile of “stuff:” service dog gear, paperwork, registration papers and photos. I walked over to them and the woman handed me the leash and said “Here take her!” Then she turned around and wheeled herself back to her door!  I shouted “Wait a minute? What’s wrong with this dog?”

“Nothing,” the woman answered, “I’m just tired of her!” That was it. I loaded the dog and all her paperwork and stuff into the truck and we went home. The dog was quiet, she laid in the back of the truck the entire time home, not coming up to sniff us or see what was going on. This dog was major depressed. . The next morning, she went to the vet. That was five years ago.

She is now 10 and a half years old had been given a different name then the one on her registration papers. In the last few months, her backend has started to betray her. They ran x-rays and determined she did not have hip dysplasia, but she did have severe arthritis that heavily affected her spine. We tried all sorts of treatments and medicines, but she was slowly breaking down. She’s been giving me signals for about a week but I loved her so much. I ignored the obvious until she made it clear that in this case ignorance is NOT bliss. She left this world at 10:00 this morning and as the vet put it so succinctly, this one was rough because from the middle of her back to her head, she was a happy dog. It was the back half of her that was so miserable and failing each day to keep her in my world. I didn’t want to sign that paper and make that decision and that’s when I knew that I was time to let her go.

We have shared so much in these five years that she has been a part of my life. She has kept me from being lonely on the days and nights when my husband is in the hospital on extended stays. She knew instinctively when one of my cats wasn’t feeling good and would let me know by bringing either me to the cat or the cat to me. A few times, I used her uncanny ability so that the people (who called me about their missing cats) could find their cat with her expert nose. She had an 80% success rate on finding lost cats. We shared so many walks in the forest, so many meet-and-greets with people who just couldn’t get over her gentle nature. She went everywhere with me. She never barked at the cats or at anyone who came to our door. Although she did perform many services for my husband: alerting him to his low (or high) blood sugar, pulling him in the wheelchair, stabilizing him if she was going to fall, she bonded strongly with me. After all, I rescued her from hell. Now, with my tears still drying on her fur, she is running free of pain in Heaven.

Goodbye B-Dog, you will be so missed not only by the humans here, but also by the cats.

When the phone rang late, late last night, I knew something was up. Mike had fallen. He landed hard on his stump (Gosh I hate calling it that) He didn’t have his plastic protector on it- says it keeps falling off. They iced the leg (the nurse told me) he has a gash on his right leg from the fall which I asked to PLEASE keep a close eye on. My fear is what happened to his bad leg happened out of sight of the nurses, internally. I asked to have the call transferred and I talked to him. He said he was on his way to bed and he suddenly felt weak, then his good leg gave out on him and suddenly he was crashing to the floor. The aide wasn’t able to get him back up- it took four of them to get him into his wheelchair.  I just pray he is going to be okay in the days to come and no real damage was actually done. He didn’t tear any stiches and they have been icing his legs. 🙁

A few days ago, Taylor (Mike’s cat) stopped eating. Since he has been gone, she has displayed unusual behavior, she is restless and searching for him. She even sleeps with me, something she hasn’t done since she was a kitten. She’s 13 years old.

So this morning, I popped her into a carrier and took her to see Mike. She yowled a couple of times in the car, but for the most part she was quiet which I was grateful for because it’s a bit of a drive.

She was so glad to see him and he was delighted to see her. I didn’t tell him ahead of time of the visit. She settled right down into his chest just purring away. We stayed about 45 minutes, but then the nursing staff discovered this beautiful cat was here and she was getting a bit miffed at all the visitors snapping photos of her. She’s a Maine Coon/Persian mix- 19 pounds long-haired grey and white and black. So I finally decided to bring her back home.

The minute she got home and released, she ran to the food bowl and started eating! I was so relieved- good medicine both for her and for Mike.