I just got the call from the vet. Autumn could not be saved. Her sphincter muscle had been completely lacerated and separated from her colon. She would be unadoptable because she wouldn’t be able to control her bowels. I have a candle in the window lighting her way. Such a sweet girl who went through some incredible pain before she was rescued.

I just received from the police department, the cutest little mack tabby kitten. It was found in Sankey Park and someone reported a kitty in distress. Looks to me like not only are we dealing with a prolapsed rectum but it has been hanging out in the wind long enough to rupture. Kitten is super skinny and had a flea collar on that was pretty tight- collar has been cut off and I see where the neck has been chewed by the chemicals. I hate flea collars with a passion! The damage is so extensive that even though this baby is about 6 months old- I can’t tell if it is male or female. Already inhaled three small cans of kitten food (wet) and doesn’t appear to want to eat dry.

I just learned this afternoon- that Sterling- a Russian Blue mix kitty who was rescued late last year- has now passed away. He died of unknown causes. He was the kitty I asked recently for all of you to pray for after he had been diagnosed with FIP. he died on  his owner’s lap. His body just couldn’t handle life anymore. Robin will let me know after the necropsy if there are any answers as to why this sweet boy (January’s calendar boy on our Rescue calendar) passed away. But usually, necropsies leave you with more questions than answers.

Goodbye Sweet Boy, you left Robin at about the same time that Hardy left us. I am sure the two of you have met by now and are romping pain-free in Heaven’s grasses. Sometimes, Life is just to  hard to figure out.

At the midnight feeding, she had passed. Hardy is hanging on. he is fighting the feedings but he is also the biggest one of the litter and the only one left. I am  hoping he has the strength to keep on fighting.

Hardy is back from the vet and the vet said I should consider changing his name to Bruiser. The poor little guy is one solid  bruise from top to bottom! But he was active and playing and sucking any fingers that came into view- so when we got home, we had a food fest. He should be okay in a few days and the bruises will fade in time. He weighs 3.5 ounces.

Also this weekend, I trapped a nuisance cat and took it into the vet to be tested. Sadly, Jeffers tested positive for FeLV and we put her to sleep. They said she was about 14 years old, so she was a carrier- not actively sick. 🙁

I have to be selective with what I am taking right now, as the enclosures (except one) aren’t quite finished. Our phone has just been ringing off the hook today. “No, ma’am, I am sorry, I cannot take your 12 feral cats that are fighting among themselves. No Sir, I cannot take your 9 outside stray cats that you have been feeding for five years and have just decided you can’t do it anymore.”

I broke many hearts today that is for sure. but there was one call I couldn’t ignore. A queen just gave birth on Weds. 6 kitten- 3 stillborn. She was being a good mom until this morning when she leaped back into the nest and grabbed one kitten and disposed of it quickly. The family, they were stunned. They had this stray kitty set up on their dining room table in the middle of their busy kitchen, with no cover over the carrier that was apart. They have 2 small boys and a daughter not very old and they wonder why the mom went into stressville? Come to find out when I went over there to pick up the remaining two kittens- although I told them to keep her away from the family- she jumped into the nest again, picked up a kitten and tossed it in the air. It landed on the table. 🙁 She pounced on it- but the dad intervened and took it away.

These are two very fragile kittens. I am calling them Laurel and Hardy. They are pitch black and I pray they make it till the morning vet appointment. I have given fluids- tried to feed- one can latch on to the bottle- he is a little chunk so he isn’t as worrisome as Laurel who can’t eat because she has no energy. I have done all my tricks: karo syrup, coffee, warming beds. I wish I had those new heat lamps they have come out with specifically for baby kittens. But I don’t. I will do the best I can and hope for the best.

There is also another stray in the new enclosure but he is still in the trap they caught him with. He is an old black boy- and I do mean old. I have a 10:20 appointment tomorrow and the story is he got hit by a car about 3 weeks ago. He drags his back leg and  has road rash on his belly. I am calling him Jefferson-

Please pray for these cats tonight before you go to sleep-

Thank you all

This weekend, we got a distress call from a woman who said she had 63 cats and needed help! I don’t go on these calls alone, so I called another friend who also rescues and off we went with our arsenal of tools and help.

The woman lives near a pretty big park that accommodates round-the year campers. People dump off cats at this park all the time- we just pulled 10 kittens out of there someone left in a box near the trash can. The kittens were fine- just a bit wet.

But because of this location, most of the cats dumped at the park end up at this house over time. The house itself, driving up to it was one of those homes where you go “Uh oh, I should have packed my gun!” I was really hesitant at first until I turned the curve and entered the driveway and saw all of these lovely- healthy- friendly cats running out to greet me!

Turns out, one of my other friends Jodi had been working with this woman for about 3 weeks and had trapped and neutered all her cats and taken 27 kittens into the local shelter to be adopted out! On Jodi’s last trip, she told the woman about me when the woman said she needed help feeding this horde.

Although the house is in great disrepair- I feel sorry for the woman saddled with these cats- but I give her great props for the care she has put into them. She buys flea treatment from the vet every month and flea treats every one of them! But then she is broke. She has two heavily disabled teenage sons, 3 grandchildren, and one son who is a tweaker living with her in a 2 bedroom home! She started remodeling the house when they bought it- but then her husband died and she was left to figure it out on her own.

I told her I would help her as long as I am able to to feed these cats and will start trying to find homes for them one-by-one. I know they are safe there, they are cared for and so I am leaving them all there- if I get hints of people wanting to adopt, I will go over and get the woman and the cat and we go through the adoption process.

There was one cat there that someone had tried to stitch up its substantial wound with fishing line! My friend Jodi cut the line off. The wound had long healed!

A few photos show one of the new kittens Tag. When I opened my truck to leave after doing the feeding, Tag jumped in the truck! Deanna looked at me like “Well are you going to take him home?”

Tag jumped on the dashboard and demanded attention. LOL It was so cool and so unlike any distress call I have ever been on. We decided instead that Dee would take photos of him in the truck and I would use these photos to hopefully find him the right home. But I left him there. If I took him, he would be an enclosure all by himself and that isn’t fair to him. He has grown up at the place- it is on a dead end street so cars aren’t as much of a threat. It was funny when I took my food bin out of the truck and opened it up to feed- how many cats just came running. After I fed them and put the bin back in my truck about 14 cats lined up behind me- I felt like the Pied Piper! LOL If all my distress calls were this happy- I would have less stress than I do now.

Enjoy some of the photos shot along the way-

102.6 this morning! Last night, I deeply prayed over this kitten and asked God to help me find the answer. I went looking in some of my cat vet guides that I received a few years ago from a good friend who is a vet. It was suggested for cats or kittens with fevers of unknown origin to use a specific drug- which I had on hand, that is injectable or pills. I have both. I then called that vet friend– she lives back East and told her what was going on. She gave the me the proper dose to use and in 30 minutes Benson’s temp stabilized! She then told me to give him another drug to help bring him down because being confined was making him nuts. I did this, he got a bit groggy and he slept- which is something neither one of us has been doing since this  all began.

This  morning, he is eating on his own, drinking on his own and whatever he had seems to be on its way out. I am so grateful for the prayers sent and the emails of support. You guys rock in the eyes of the Lord. I know you do!

It seems to be never-ending here. Last night, benson came up to my chair and was meowing. Since he is a Siamese mix meowing is pretty routine, but this meow sounded different. I scooped him up to find him on fire! 104.5!

He has been caged and isolated. Started him on antibiotics and fluids am force feeding him, doing alcohol rubdowns and trying to just get him to take fluids. He is not a happy boy to be confined as he is still skittish and uncertain. He could use any prayers you might have left floating around. I could use a vacation in Hawaii! LOL

1:55 p.m. high temp has dropped now to subnormal 101.2F Extremely dehydrated gave fluids and force fed. he appears to be hungry just not eating on  his own.

Meet “The Headless Cat Lady!” LOL

I called him Draco. he arrived last night almost in the middle of the night and he was born on Monday. His other littermate had passed away and he and another kitten were just clinging to life barely. The man asked me to take the weakest one and to instruct him and his family how to help the other kitten who had no strength to latch on to mom.

He lasted about two hours before the angels claimed him and with all this rain, I knew I couldn’t bury him. I went to one of the local grocery stores this morning and talked to the owner about Draco. I asked him something quite unusual- at the back of his property there is a small forest. I asked if I could lay the kitten to sleep there because I refuse to throw any cat away like garbage.

To my amazement, this man said of course, I could! So instead of driving for miles then hiking off the beaten path and finding a place in the woods- I laid Draco down in the ferns and placed fallen leaves over his grave. I would have never thought this man would allow me to do this on his property because it is quite the strangest request. I think I saw him wipe a tear out of his eyes before I turned away to go and do the necessary thing for this little black boy.