We have in our bedroom an 8 foot tall shelf that runs along on wall over our closet space. Unless a cat climbs up the clothes (which has happened more times than I wish to count!) There is no discernable way for a cat to get up to that shelf because it holds things that cats can get in trouble for playing with:shoes, purses, fur hats etc.. I have caught Delilah up there several times now in the past few days. She has taken a liking to mike’s Alaska fur hat! I remove her immediately and look at the clothes which are not hanging astray nor are the hangers swinging in the breeze and the clothes they were holding were not in the litter pans below. How the devil was this cat doing this?

Last night, Mike’s on a new CPAP machine and it is noisy, so I went into the bedroom to sleep and the mystery is solved. We have motion detectors in the room. Delilah will jump on a small dresser that is about 4 feet away from the shelf (near the door of the room) From there, I watched her gauge the distance to the top of the doorframe. The door was propped halfway open. She leaps to the top of the door. And because it won’t budge, she started rocking slowly back and forth until it disengaged from the door opener and swung over to the closet (no doors on our closet) once it was all the way opened- she merely had to step over and get on the shelf! Now how do you combat that intelligence? LOL

Now she has a ladder:

I am waiting for 8:00 for the vet to open. Raleigh started gurgling last night. I thought at first he was purring. He had been outside and I scooped him up in my arms and he was making this noise- but then I realized it wasn’t a purr. He also has a deep intermittent hacking cough. I tried to stick him finger down his throat to see if something was obstructing his throat and he bit me. My fault totally. I used to be able to do it quicker. Guess I am getting old. I put him in a the small enclosure with a humidifier and heater going where he spent the night. He is eating and drinking. My guess is he is coming down with pneumonia, his eyes look wonky to me. Vet opens in ten minutes. I pray they can work us in.

1:00 update- pneumonia has been ruled out. No discharge from eyes and nose- no sneezing just the hacking cough. Lungs sound full so they gave him a cortisone shot and some antibiotic. Ben said if the antibiotic fails to help with the issue and the cortisone does not decrease the inflammation than this 1 year old kitty has asthma. He was just like his color- solid gold with Ben. I am not sure where he was for 48 hours but with all this rain somehow fluid got into his lungs. He is home now and picking fights with Coop so I think he is feeling better! LOL

She came back  yesterday and she may not have gotten along with Clancy, but last night, when I was previously occupied, she got out of the bedroom. I held my breath when I discovered her escape but knew she couldn’t get out of the house. This morning, she was back in the bedroom sharing the cat post with Delilah. In the photo, she is on the bottom and Delilah is on the top.

Here, she has no choice. She can’t not get along with the other cats because there are nine currently roaming the house. If she causes conflict, it will come back and haunt her because the other cats will school her. That is just their way. There has been no bloodshed and in my experience if there was going to be trouble it would have happened already.

A past adopter has contacted me and said she will pay for the ultra sound for Jet-Eye, but really, when I think about it- why put out hundreds of dollars to confirm what we already know? This kitty has a weak heart. They can’t do anything about it, so I am going to decline the kind offer. Jet-Eye will stay here unless I find someone with a big heart that wants to take a chance on a kitty with a heart murmur and a horrible allergy to dry food. He will be treated with kindness and love and want for nothing, but I still hold fast that keeping him an only kitty in the enclosure is the right call. I feel sorry for him- but again we humans often interject human feelings into cats and they just aren’t wired that way. And Life does indeed continue on-

She took her last breath early this morning and passed on leaving behind her all the medical equipment standing by to prolong her life and a daughter and four grand-kids devastated by her loss. As I watch the FB page fill up with condolences and words of comforts, I know that Jeri would be amused and pleased that her life touched so many people. Technology can sometimes be a crazy, wonderful thing.

I first met Jeri in 1979 when we both went to work at Millett Sights in Southern California. Jerie was responsible for painting the sights on the guns and I was the shipping clerk. We became instant friends.

At my “Thank God You are NOW Divorced” Party (I was previously married to a really bad guy for ten years) she presented me with my gift (a coffee mug proclaiming I was now single) and admonished me to not tear the paper opening it! I think back in those days, I was on my third margarita with my friends when I opened up their gifts. I was puzzled and asked her why and she explained that she had gone out and bought this paper called the Singles Register and gone through the entire thing (which was crazy because one thing Jeri did not do was read well!) She had highlighted several ads that she thought I might answer, because as she said “You are a writer after all!” So I carefully found my way to the gift without tearing the paper much. Mike’s ad was one of the four she had found.

It took me several months to get up the nerve to write that letter. I look back and think if we had cell phones then, she probably would have been texting me every day “Have you written him yet?” Well, I wrote him and I remember when the letter came, I called her and she came over- and over hot chocolate and salsa (I know yuck right?) LOL I read her his letter and the rest is history. We wrote for four years, I went twice to meet him and his kids and finally in 1987 left California to marry him and start our life. She was able to come and stay with us for the summer and we went fishing in Homer and up to Denali and saw all kinds of wildlife usually not seen.

I loved her like a sister and I will miss her laugh, her directness and her sense of humor. Like me, she had many rescued animals in her life (especially birds) so I imagine at 2:39 a.m. there was a lot of activity going on in Heaven waiting for her arrival. The Bridge had to be crowded with both people and animals waiting for this new angel to arrive.

I will miss you my friend, but the only certainty in life is death and you will live on and we will meet again. Goodbye Jeri- God Bless You and I will be here for Jodie should she need me. I love you-

I received an email this week from a former adopter. She took Hanna about a month ago, but Hanna isn’t liking the resident cat Clancy. Apparently, she has gone so far as to drive him out of the house and force him to stay outside under a car! It happens, and as I told the woman (who I have learned to dearly love). Sometimes, when two cats are separated by death- Clancy’s former feline friend died recently- it isn’t necessary to get another cat right away. Yes, cats grieve but not like we do. They don’t get caught up in the details and they can move on in time. I told her that maybe because she is so lonely- she might be projecting that emotion onto Clancy. he may be perfectly fine being the only cat and having her give him more attention. So she is bringing Hanna back to me next week. I did explain about pheromone collars, feliway, and the flower essences that she could use- but it sounds to me like it isn’t a good match.

My nights have been broken up in the last few days by jet-Eye challenging the other cats. Before he went to the vet, the only cat that he couldn’t seem to get along with was Quinn. Now he is spitting and hissing at most of them including me! I am hoping he is just feeling punky and once we get the test results back and figure this out- he will be okay after meds. I did get him a pheromone collar which he is wearing. Just hoping it calms down soon.

A dear friend of mine is now on a ventilator in a hospital in Texas. She is in final stages of COPD. I met Jeri in 1982- we both worked for a gun sight company in California. We became instant friends and have weathered many a rocky storm in our lives. She is the one responsible for Mike and I to even be together. She is 64 years old and a force to be reckoned with in her day! LOL Please send prayers her way and to her strong daughter Jodie. I kept trying to get her to stop smoking cigs. But in those days, everyone was doing it and she started at 13 years of age and never could quit. Now she is paying the price of that addiction.

I just heard that they are taking her off of all life support and she might live out the week.

The test results are back- Jet-Eye has giardia. I will go in the morning and pick up the medication to get him better. I had to put him by himself into the stall enclosure. He’s been beating the snot out of the cats since he came home so for the sake of peace in the house- I had to separate him which broke my heart. It is supposed to get to 32 degrees tonight, so I have two heaters going in there right now.

Yesterday one of the vets called me to “discuss” Jet-Eye. I have to say up front, I don’t care much for this one vet. This vet leaves me with the impression that what I do with my life concerning these cats is just simply a waste of time. Some of the things this vet has said to me in the past causes me to just shake my head. The exam had been done on Jet-Eye and what was relayed to me was that this cat was “perfectly healthy.” *aside from the heart murmur and being blind in one eye* Good weight, active, playful no other alarms going off. When I mentioned again the fact that Jet-Eye easily eats 10 cans of cat food a day and still wants more- this is what the vet said to me. “He’s a kitten, he’s in a growth spurt!” I didn’t say everything that was crowding in my mouth to tell the vet back. I just kept my counsel and said please keep him until he gives up a fecal then run the fecal. Exasperated sigh on the end of the line but this was agreed to. I have never in the many years with these cats run into one who eats that much food and NOT had something health-wise going haywire inside.

Five minutes before they close, I get another phone call from a vet tech telling me that Jet-Eye has eaten but not used the litterpan. Again, I said to please keep him so we can get a fecal and maybe some answers. So this morning, my phone rings and I am told that he did indeed finally supply them with a fecal. BUT he did not use the litterpan, he used the towel in his cage and his food and water bowl to deposit in and the poop did not look “normal.” Gee imagine that? It wasn’t a growth spurt.

We still don’t know what is going on with him, will know tomorrow and if the fecal doesn’t give us answers, then I will ask for full blood work and yes, I have already considered it could be thyroid related, but usually in kittens it isn’t that common. I am thinking more that it might be coccidia, giardia or something he ate while inside that drain pipe. So will ask that they check it the thyroid level as well.

For now, he is back home and lying with Cooper right now on the dog bed. They have become fast friends. I hope we can figure this out soon so this kitty can finally be all he was meant to be. he is just the sweetest boy ever who had a really rough start to his life.

This is Dellilah, she was left behind at a local trailer park 4 months ago during an eviction.The neighbors eventually got tired of feeding her and we were called. She is an extremely laid back and loving.

8 cans of cat food he eats daily. He would eat 10 if I let him! He is not gaining weight so I took him back this morning and dropped him off so they could run a fecal and see if he has T foetus or giardia or some other bacterial disease or G.I issue. It could just be that early in his life he was denied food long enough to just want to eat everything in sight before it vanishes again but I need to know if I am to proceed forward with his eventual adoption.

Jet-Eye is headed for the vet. He started having difficulty breathing last night and went into small spasms (not sure what else to call it) They weren’t seizures just the stiffening up of his limbs then he would relax, start open mouth panting and do it again. Not sure what’s going on but taking him to my veteran vet who I used to use long ago. Ben’s the best and I need a second opinion about this heart murmur issue as well. Two homes were offered for Jet Eye this weekend, but both didn’t feel right to me so I declined them. Now, I know why- Jet-Eye is still trying to figure out if he is a fighter or not. Plus he eats wet food like it is going out of style- at least 5 cans a day and he has been dewormed twice!

Update: The vet believes the spasms are related to the heart murmur and not much can be done about them. He completely fell in love with this kitty who is so laid back and friendly. I tried to give Jet-Eye to Ben but there were no takers. 🙂 He said the eye was likely injured a long time ago and doesn’t need to come out. He did send home new eye ointment for it though. He is a good vet but waiting in line for over 2 hours to see him reminds me of why I don’t go there anymore. And I had an appointment!

The new product I mentioned before Suro-Kitty, I finally got the schematics of it in my email. This is a warming bed that will support up to 6-8 kittens at one time to nurse! The kittens snap down into comfortable pouches and stay nursing until they are full. It is genius but it costs $175.00 which our kitty doesn’t have at the moment. This is something I wish I had invented and have over the years tried to come up with something like it- but all tries failed. If you could send a few dollars to CATS Inc so we can get the pre-order price- next kitten season it will be a breeze to nurse these babies!

Thank you very much. My fingers also thank you as they get bitten a lot when I am nursing the very young. They may be just born, but their tiny teeth do hurt!

Update:I wanted to say thank you to the special blog follower who has ordered this product for us! I have high hopes that this will work out in the long run to be a very good addition to CATS Inc.,

He is at the vet’s as I type. He is getting rechecked for his heart murmur and if all goes well, they will neuter him either late today or tomorrow. He was starting to spray. His URI has resolved and his hot spots have calmed down a lot. He is the sweetest. mellowest tomcat I have ever met. I can’t imagine what the neuter will do to him- he is sweet enough already. But I can’t have a sprayer not after trying to resolve the situation here already with rampant cat pee.

12:19 p.m. The vet just called and said the heart murmur is very distinct. Although there is a chance he won’t make it through the surgery, I gave the go-ahead. He may be a sweet tomcat at a young age, but keeping him intact is not something I can do. Please say a prayer he makes it through- if not, at least he had almost a week of someone who actually cared about what happened to him.

3:52 p.m. Jet-Eye has made it through the neuter and is home and a bit loopy but he is eating and drinking. Sue it would be a long road trip to get him to you and with his heart murmur I don’t wish to risk it, otherwise I would contact Guardians of the Road to do a long-haul for me. The vet said he could live 7 days, 7 months, or 7 years. So I am probably just going to hang on to him until the right person comes along that wants him. I will run an ad for him this weekend but he is black that’s one strike, he has a heart murmur (strike two) and he is one-eyed (strike three). Sometimes, the people who go towards the special needs cats are a bit loopy themselves so I have to be careful.

Here is the skin problem he is having. This growth is only appearing under all four of his legs.