Riley aka Stryker began to act rather strangely this last week. Initially, other than hiding under the blanket all day and only coming out to eat at night (temptations and nothing else) he wasn’t showing any signs of aggression. Because of his declining weight and his picky appetite, we did a full work up on him: blood-work,x-rays, checked for infectious diseases, UTI all we could humanely do to track it down. Nothing remarkable reared its ugly head and I figured he was just in deep grief and missing his life.

I started going in to sleep with him which was successful for a few days. The minute my head hit the pillow, he would jump on me and nudge me, head bumps, purrs, almost knock me off the bed for goodness sake.Then he would settle down and sleep. It was peace at last (or so I thought). I was wrong.

After about three days of this sleeping arrangement, he would jump on the bed- nuzzle me, want to be petted but then he would withdraw. No coaxing would bring him close which was confusing, so I drifted off to sleep.

Because of so many past surgeries, I sleep with a pillow at my side. It just made things easier for me. I am also a light sleeper as I get up several times a night to check on Mike (who has sleep apnea and only sometimes uses his machine). So, I heard the noise before I felt the attack. It was a full attack by a pissed off cat. It was after midnight and when I heard him take off,  he wasn’t growling- he was mewing, very softly- continuously and then he leaped right for my face. My instincts kicked in and I held up the pillow over my face which he latched on to and started rabbit kicking and now he was growling and tearing at the pillow with his teeth!

At this point, I was out of bed and had the light on. I had a blanket wrapped around me for protection- but right now- his foe seemed to be my pillow. He shredded that. I flew out of the room and sat in the living room trying to come to grips with what had just happened and why? Finally, I fell asleep in my chair with gentle Molly purring the way into sleeptime.

The next morning, I shared with Mike what happened and he said maybe something set him off- but what? No cat was in the room with him, I was sound asleep- no cat can even get to the door thanks to our screen doors we have up all over the house. I decided to give him the benefit of the doubt and figured it was just a bad night for him.

Well the next night, after I had again fallen asleep after the pet fest, Riley attacked again. The blanket saved me from most of the scratches. He was not biting but he was scratching the living daylights out of my arms

I called the vet the next morning and asked him to go over the results again to see if we missed anything. Nope, nothing, all it good, all is “normal.’ I told the vet what happened and he seemed to think that the cats caused Riley to react so aggressively. Again, no cat can get close to him. he does not like other cats which is probably why he had 9 bites on him when he was first rescued.

My vet said to find a special needs home for him, so I carefully worded an ad and put it up on the rescue sites. I got two calls from interested people, but when I shared about the attacks- they never called back to confirm the foster home. What a surprise.

I finally called my vet and asked him to please put this cat out of his misery. Long story short- he refused. he said because nothing healthwise is wrong with the cat- it was my obligation to find a home for him where the “people can just lock the cat away at night and let him out in the morning!” I was so stunned- was he serious? I might as well have adopted out a time bomb and told the people, by the way, the detonator may or may not go off! What if he escaped from the room when he was in night terrors? God forbid, my biggest fear was if he got out of our room at night and went for my cats or worse, for Mike- we would all be in a world of hurt.

I decided today, to call my old vet and ask him for help. I told him some of the story and just said that my vet wouldn’t put this cat down. My old vet told me to bring the cat in and we would talk. I told him what had happened once we were in the room and when I told him about the attacks (four total) and showed him my arms and that my vet wouldn’t let me take this cat out of his anguish, he was incredulous.

15 minutes later, Riley had reunited with his former owner and was out of pain. I also talked to my old vet and asked him if he would accept me as a client again. he said of course he would. He said he has the utmost respect for me and what I do for the stray and feral cats here and if he can help, he would be glad to. He is also the only vet who has ever been inside my enclosures and he was here for several hours observing me with some feral cats he had turned over to me. I left him only for one reason. When I had to sell my horses, it was to painful for me to see him even with just my cats because it made me remember all we went through with Racer and Trav over the 13 years they were here with us.He loved Racer as much as I did and because of the constant founder the three of us bonded.

He also didn’t charge me an arm and a leg to put Riley to sleep- but because so much money has been invested in this renovation- which is still going strong- I was $46.00 short of covering the check. I am going to check my donation boxes tomorrow and do some juggling and praying to cover the cost. I didn’t want to put this lovely boy down- I cried all the way home- but I have also decided to go back to the vet who listens to me and respects what I do, even though he is 20 minutes farther from my home. I am still so angry that my regular vet told me when I asked him to put Riley down, that I needed to “be nice to him and not ask him to put down this cat,” Even though this cat after midnight was in pure aggressive agony. I will never forget as long as I live, those plaintive meows Riley was quietly pasting the room with. I could hear the meaning clearly- “help me, please help me.”

Riley- you were broke and I couldn’t fix you. I did try though and I did love you even though your nighttime terror scared the living daylights out of me. I am sorry so many failed you-

This is part of the train ride through the property.

They have also re-created an old mining cabin, a gold mine and a church on the route.

And this is the house

Yesterday, Ms. Sierra went to her forever home and she scored! The couple they are retired and they have built a railroad that encircles their 5 acres of land. I got to go on the neatest train ride! Earl, the gentleman used to be a long-haul trucker and he got into a massive accident when a dump truck plowed into him almost destroying his rig and his life. His son swore if he would fight- he would build him his own train and lay tracks and that is what happened.

They are the nicest folk I have met in a long time and I called this morning to find out that Sierra must know this too. She was in bed with them before they were ready to go to sleep last night! She is following them all over the house. I told them she likes to get underfoot and the house is beautiful- huge, larger inside than it looks on the outside. I took photos with my new IPhone but I can’t figure out how to get the photos off the phone and into the cloud- or whatever they call it. I am just so thrilled that this beautiful kitty has such a wonderful place to grow old in. They initially wanted two kittens, but Shimmer and Benson are way to unsocialized still to risk an adoption. Benson is only just now able to trust me enough to leap on my lap at night. But he still nips at me when I pet him.

Goodbye Sierra, I shall miss you being underfoot but I know you will be good company to these wonderful people who instantly fell in love with you! Just like I did.

We have survived 2 of 8 storms of “historic proportions” according to the experts. The last 6 are headed our way. All we have lost so far are large limbs in the back. I think we might be in for a challenge though, because this morning in our blackberry thicket there were over 20 turkeys hiding. They weren’t hiding from predators, they were trying to get out of the wind!

Our next project is the deck enclosure which looks pretty unstable at the moment- Don’t you love the greenery on top? LOL

First order of business was to cover the walls inside:

This is the stall enclosure way before any build:

Just so you can see the finished Stall Enclosure- this was one wall before:

And this was after:

The other wall before:

And now after:

It’s come a long way in a very short time. I lost George for 3 days due to a personal emergency on his end which is now all okay. His roommate is Diabetic and like Mike doesn’t always want to take care of matters of health. Nick slipped into a diabetic coma for three days and George stayed near him through it all. He still has more projects to do here and I have him for another 4 days before the  monies runs out. but I am confident he will finish all the builds.

Now that her royal feral-ness is home, I have had a chance to really look at her face. She has scars all over her lovely face, she looks like she has been in a sword fight for pity’s sake. The vet had no idea what might have caused such scars and is simply thankful that the scars are old and healed. I put her in the deck enclosure since she likes to climb walls. She can’t climb them in there because the walls are lined with plastic to accommodate the Olympian sprayers that occasionally arrive here. She did try, but slid right down.

I draped a blanket over one of the cat condos and she was hiding in the corner when I left. George built the air lock doors today- but he is going to have to rebuild them tomorrow. I can fit in there, but had a terrible time trying to get into the space with a cat carrier. Poor Pirate (the name of the new lady) I had to stand the carrier on end to get it into the narrow space. Either he is going to have to have the door open outward on the first entry door, or he will have to widen the entry way hall so there is room for everything. I can see litterpan scrubbing day to be a real nightmare if I keep the doors the way they are now.

But she is home, she is safe and she is scared stiff. I will let her decompress for 24 hours before entering her domain again- but I suspect it will be a bit of time before she figures out she is in a good place and no one will hurt her. Those scars are puzzling- one vet said they look almost man-made. 🙁

Yesterday, got a call from a farmer’s wife. They had been losing a lot of chickens lately and they figured a fox or coyote was to blame so they set a trap. They live out in a remote part of town- no homes around for miles. They ended up trapping a cat and didn’t know what to do. For three days she said she called everyone and no one would take this “feral” cat. I drove right there- three days in a trap is no fun for any animal!

It is indeed a cat, she is about 7 years old and sadly not spayed. I took her in to get her tested (negative) Usually, I just drop them off and pick them up later, but this time they led me into a room to see  a vet. Ok- I had just picked up this little lady who looks to be a cross between a Bengal and a calico- they asked me if she was feral, I told them I had no idea. So, we tested her and let her out. BAD mistake! LOL

She went straight up the wall- flying all over the room, knocking down instruments, turned on the water faucet which further scared her. I ended up taking off my coat and wrapping it around her- she bit me but she hit my thick coat and not my skin. Poor scared kitty.

I left her there to be spayed today and she will be the first occupant of the new enclosure. She is quite pretty but she does have some eye issues (they think) they had to knock her out to even test her. She apparently has had kittens recently, so I called the farmer’s wife back and we spent the majority of yesterday searching for them with no luck. At least her nipples weren’t waxing which means the kittens have been weaned. The farmer said he will put food out for the kittens daily and call me if they show up.

He is feeling much better!  I am so grateful we didn’t lose him-

The building is coming together. Enjoy the mess! LOL

And of course Coop is a Smiling Supervisor!

This little boy was adopted by the sweetest woman early this year. He is a Russian Blue mix and his temperament is phenomenal. He was doing really good- Robin would send letters every month about how he was doing- when suddenly and quite unexpectedly, he took a nose dive. She took him to several vets and was told by some that he had FIP.

She emailed me his symptoms- none which resemble FIP in any fashion, and I told her that currently there is no known test for FIP that is accurate as well as no cure. I suggested she seek a feline specialist or take him to OSU. That is where he is right now with a “mystery” diagnosis. He is to have an MRI tomorrow (which has to terrifying to even the mellowest of cats!) Please just pray for him and that they find out why his rear legs are no longer working correctly and why he falls over from time to time for no reason.

He has been to several vets and is now being seen by her regular vet, a feline specialist and being tested out at OSU- Oregon State University small animal vet clinic.

Thanks guys- he was one of my favorite rescues because he was so sweet-

This is a bittersweet post laced with a bit of excitement because of how many cats will benefit. So here it goes, me catching up a bit on all that has been happening lately.

For over 8 years, we have been receiving $4.00 a month from a blog follower. She has never asked for a tax receipt, just said she loves to help those who rescue. From time to time, there would be surprises sitting on my porch from her- not boxes of kittens either 🙂 Just supplies that only someone who rescues knows are needed: rubber gloves, litterpan scoops, trash bags, PAM cooking spray. We would email almost monthly, and I felt like we were friends although we never met.

I haven’t heard from her in quite awhile and was getting worried. I recently learned, she passed away and there was no one that I knew I could call and offer my condolences too because she was pretty much alone in the end of her days.

Her lawyer sent me a letter and she left behind a donation for CATS Inc., that will enable us to finish the renovations on all the enclosures (making the wire ones solid) insulating every single one of them and allowing us the capability of helping over a dozen more cats down the road. He said she wished to stay anonymous and that no, there were no living relatives. Her family consisted of 4 of her own kitties and she had allowed in her will enough monies for them to be taken care of till the end of their days.

I was in tears for quite awhile (both happy and sad) after hearing this news and yesterday we went to buy supplies for the renovations, once again someone went out of their way to accommodate us getting what we needed at a very handsome discounted rate.

George will be working all week for us to get all of this done and I will be posting photos of the progress made as we go along. The once-exposed shelter off the back porch will now be made solid, insulated and the catio will be enlarged to accommodate more kitties who like to bask in the sun. The old “customized’ guinea pig cage (two levels) will be torn down and an insulated, secure “stand up and not bump my head” cage will be built in its stead.

The feral feeders will have solid wood on all three sides and electric running to them so heated water pans and heated beds will be able to run during the wintertime. There will be a small fence in the front of each feeder to keep Cooper out. Ever since he started feeling like a dog again- those cat food trays are quite tempting. I think a low fence, one I can step over but he can’t jump because of his missing back leg, will do the trick nicely.

The deck enclosure that used to be our gazebo will have a two- story catio on the side fully wired and screened. The main enclosure off the house will be half wood and half screen to create a windbreak when the winter hits and shelves and ramps will be made so kitties can get off the cold ground and into heated beds.

The stall enclosure will now be fully enclosed with wood- insulated and instead of a warming cave (that I can’t possibly fit into) there will be an actual insulated warming room within the fully insulated enclosure. We debated whether or not to tear down the big double stall doors in the back, but instead they will stay up and be insulated and closed off with wood. Beams will be added where the cracks show to keep the winter weather out. But in the summertime or the Springtime, those doors can be opened and wire will prevent cats from escaping and won’t stop the breezes from going into the enclosure. The catio will also be enlarged and run along the side of the enclosure giving the cats inside a lot more room.

I’ll be honest with you- after my parents passed away, I was wondering if I should just step down and stop rescuing once and for all. But then the phone rings and the stories start and I find myself wanting to say “No I’m sorry we can’t help you.” And instead hear myself say “We’ll be right there.”

Recently someone ditched a kitten up on Quartzville Road, it is road that at milepost 6 leads to Green Peter Dam and then the road just keeps going past the dam and into some pretty secluded forest area. It’s famous for a ditch road because no one really lives up there- it’s all government land. I got into it a bit with a woman who posted on the FB page that she just didn’t understand why “everyone” was stopping their lives and going up there to this isolated area Milepost 22 to look for this kitten because according to her: “Cats survive perfectly fine on their own in the wild and putting out food for the kitten just brings predators in to eat the food.” I tried to inform her she was mistaken, she didn’t take kindly to being told she was wrong and I was nice about it. Someone contacted me in chat and asked me “Mary Anne why are you arguing with someone who has no brain cells?” So I stopped arguing and backed out. It is common thinking here (and elsewhere I am afraid) that cats do survive fine in the wilds- but this kitten, he was near death when he was finally found. He’s been to the vet, he’s in foster care right now and I think the family has fallen in love with this tuxedo boy. They are calling him Gravel because there is gravel pit on that road.

On the Mike front- the doctors and surgeons have decided instead of having him go to wound care twice a week, I am doing “such a good job” caring for this leg that now that is all delegated out to me. I clean and wrap his leg every day. The wound on the bottom of his foot is closing up! YAY!! But our bathroom still resembles a crime scene after he takes a shower. Even the gentle setting on the shower head will cause his leg to open up and bleed now. I just keep praying that none of the superficial wounds on the leg will turn into a bigger problem.

Mr. Riley aka:Stryker the cat who lost his owner to heart disease is still only eating Temptations. I am taking him into the vet tonight for bloodwork and x-rays to be sure this 12 year old isn’t fighting something more ominous then being a picky eater. If he gets a clean bill of health- then I have a family interested in adopting him!  They initially contacted me for a kitten, but I gently persuaded them that he would swallow up all the love offered to him more than any kitten ever would.

I think that brings us up to date. The photo below shows me and George picking up supplies and yes, I know I look like I am constipated but I had just hit my knee on the trailer hitch. I’m smiling and grimacing at the same time! LOL  But it is a great photo of George the man!