She is a constant crier, so I ended up just sleeping with her tucked securely in my arms. I am a light sleeper so anytime she went to move, I woke up- we had about 8 small feedings through the night. Every time she cried I just warmed her milk and fed her.

Here she is with her new snuggle friend-

This little girl is about 3 days old. She was found in a yard alongside two of her littermates that sadly did not make it. There was no Queen in sight and the elderly woman who surrendered her to me said she does not have any cats, she only has dogs. “Eclipse” was ice cold when she arrived. Using a squirrel nipple, she was able to suckle a bit- enough so in her second feeding about 10 minutes later, she drained the syringe! Her umbilical is still attached, but she is still cold even though I put her immediately into my pocket pouch until her bed was sufficiently warm enough for her to go into. She may be tiny, but she has fight in her and prayers would really help her out here. Pray for me too- sleep will not be available to me for the next few days as we try to get her to the point where she is stronger-

Here she is in her pouch pocket: She is pitch black so I guess you could say, she is a total Eclipse. 🙂

Another store from the same chain but in a different location has stepped up to provide some food and litter for our sanctuary weekly. A few other stores have pledged $30.00 a year in supplies for us. Whatever works is fine by me. I just need to know these cats will continue to receive food without interruption.

When you are just hanging there, holding on to the rope for all it is worth but knowing a large fall awaits you should you let go- and you wonder who might catch you before that fatal fall don’t count out the Lord.

With the withdrawal of support of donations yanked out from under us, I have been doing a lot of praying concerning the last three neuters of this year: Slider, Trip and Pita wondering how I am going to provide for three more mouths to feed. They went in for their neuter today and mid-afternoon, the vet office called to tell me that one vet tech had fallen completely in love with Slider and that another client who just lost his 17 year old kitty wanted to adopt both Pita and Trip! So all I had to do was go pick up my carriers and say goodbye to these beauties. You couldn’t find more lovable kitties- and I know they are in good homes and destined to be loved the rest of their lives!

So I just have to continue to have faith no matter what is thrown in front of me to test me. Faith that the vet debt will be paid off soon- faith that someone will step forward and donate the food needed for the remaining 20 sanctuary kitties and faith that we can continue to find homes for the cats here as the year goes on.

For the last two years a major department store has been gifting us with cat food and cat litter every week. Today when I went to do the pick-up I was told that there is a new manager and a policy change. All cat food and cat litter donations to us will stop as of next week. After that the local dog control will get all the food- even though the only thing they do to cats is put them to sleep. There’s no arguing the point, It’s a done deal.

Late last night when I went to check on Quince, I noticed his face looked funny. His nose and the right side of his face was swollen. He was lying on the heated bed and when I went to touch his face, he bit me. I noticed he was burning up. His temp 105.9!  As I set him down near his bed, he couldn’t seem to walk in a straight line- he was circling and going nowhere. He also was open mouth panting and his breathing was rapid and shallow. His right front paw had split open and was dripping this gooey nastiness all over the floor. I took him to the vet first thing where it was determined he had suffered a stroke. It was decided to just end his torment and at 9:45 he took his last breath and left this world.

Quince, you only had a few weeks of love, food, cuddles and care. I wish you had been able to beat whatever it was that had you in its grasp. I wish I had been alerted about you earlier when you had a chance to recover from the abuse and neglect but it was not to be. I do know you are running free- you are breathing unencumbered and I would imagine as you hunt heaven’s grasses you are a speedy boy with those long limbs. Rest well my feline friend until we meet up again. I am sorry you are gone but grateful that pain no longer engulfs you. You blessed our lives the short time you visited and you will be missed.

First off- thank you to those of you who sent the food for Quince. I am getting the packages from Chewy (they were unable to help me cut the cost of the food) but there is no indication who sent them. But a GIANT thank you from both of us for your wonderful gift of the heart.

I learned a bit late that the combination of the drugs Quince was getting was making him worse and not better- so I stopped the Baytril immediately. I was told by my feline specialist that giving him both the Covenia and the Baytril was a bit risky and besides internal turmoil it can also cause a cat to go blind! I had not idea and apparently neither did my vet. Since stopping it, Quince has shown a bit more interest in life and is moving around a bit more and being very vocal when he sees me.

The local animal shelter has agreed to take all of the 5 chemical kitties and place them in foster care until they are big enough to spay/neuter. I take them in tomorrow afternoon and this is a big load off my heart. Mike is scheduled for a procedure next week- they are going to put a probe into his ankle that sends sonic waves up his leg to determine if there is a problem with the valves or the circulation. It will tell the surgeons if the blood is flowing correctly, or if it is flowing backward. If the valves are good then it turns out he doesn’t have a valve problem but a lymphatic one. This means (sadly) that they can’t fix it surgically. It is inoperable. The only place that does the surgery and it is high-risk and the odds are not good for it even working (or him surviving the ordeal) is the Mayo Clinic and that is a bit out of reach for us to even consider.  So with the shelter taking the five babies, I won’t be so worried about them when I have to go to the hospital and be with Mike. I am beyond grateful because I know that they are so full up right now- but I also know the babies will be in the best of hands. They also ask $185.00 for their kittens- so it’s a win-win for both of us!

Koda is settling in nicely. he has learned not to show interest in the cats on the inside of the house as well as the outside. he will start to chase them if they run BUT he stops the minute I call to him and now when he goes outside with me, they just lay there and look at him without running. They are adjusting to his presence. He’s such a goof. I went to the bank this morning and left him in the truck. I was gone all of ten minutes and when I got back in the car, I got a full face and neck wash as he dog-mugged me in his delight to see me. LOL  it is hard to hold off a 74 pound German Shepherd Puppy when he is bound and determined to have his way. Again, it is an adjustment and we are learning about all of this together.

With the five kittens leaving tomorrow that leaves me with three kittens to spay and neuter- much better than eight. I think they will fly out of the house after their spays- which is this week- because they are beautiful kittens with lovable personalities. Slider is constantly under my feet, which is how she got her name. I am afraid I am going to trip on her and slide right to the floor. Her brother Trip, he was a bit shy at first but he is coming out of his shy shell and will run up to me to say hello when I go in to feed and visit. Pita is no longer and pain in my you know what- he wants to be picked up and held at all time and has stopped hiding behind the water heater when he sees me.

Our vet bill now sits at $900.00 Little by little I am chiseling away at it- Thank you to those of you who have sent money to help out.

Ever since the last vet visit, Quince has barely moved off the heated cat bed. There is evidence he is eating and he is pooping on the floor- but other than that, this four year old’s activity level is at a very low point. I am hoping after the next 5 Baytril are taken- his URI will be on the run and he will be able to breathe again.

I know I took a chance with him being in such deplorable shape, but I wanted him to survive the abuse and neglect. It might have all been in vain- but if the worse happens, and I once again need to stamp a Bridge Pass at least he will know that briefly, he was loved and cared for and protected to the best of our ability. At least he has that-

Yesterday, Quince went to get his stitches and his staples out of his feet. he is still blowing snot like nobody’s business so they gave him an antibiotic shot (second one) and told me to continue with the Baytril as well. When they were done with the feet, and he stood up- he started bleeding from his back paw! They discovered a hole about the size of a nickel on the top of his foot- but rather than stress him out by sedating him and closing it up, I have instructions to just watch it, keep it clean and if it progresses, bring him back in. There was also concern that Quince may be just “one of those cats” with chronic upper respiratory infections. I hope not- for his sake.

The eclipse is coming on Monday and this town is going nuts.People are arriving from all over to view the eclipse. One of the farmers down the road is selling parts of his field as tent spots for people to park there and see the eclipse! The price isn’t cheap either! There’s going to be so many people converging on Oregon in the next few days. I just want to stay home and hide.

Pigeon is a great hunter and to prove this, he brought in a mouse this morning and presented it to me. Only one problem, the mouse wasn’t dead and it has escaped in my kitchen. I don’t give it good odds of surviving with 6 cats in the house and if it goes into the bedroom it will encounter 8 more kittens. I hope it found a hole and got back outside, but last seen it scooted under the dishwasher trying to escape Pigeon, Shimmer and Skya’s pursuit.  It had to have come into the cat enclosure through the wires probably to escape the blistering heat. I’m not keen to have a mouse in the house, but again- the chances of its survival is fairly slim.