I am waiting for the vet to open this morning. I need to go in and get some advice. One of my outside semi-feral cats is jumping into the huge dumpster parked in my backyard and eating insulation mixed with vermicelli! How do I know this? This morning, when I went to clean the outside sand boxes, I found a pile of poop with a substantial amount of this insulation sticking out. 🙁 Also investigating further- I found some emesis with the same.

The problem is that I have no clue who it might be. No one is off their feed at the moment, all cats showed up for morning chow and all ate vigorously. But we are talking a substantial amount in the waste and vomit. I have taken a tarp and climbed into the dumpster and covered the insulation piling boards on top of it. But cats are determined creatures and I am worried.

As mentioned before, this house was built in 1943. The insulation came from the ceiling when the tiles were torn down. The vermiculite, who the expert initially told me generally tests 90% for lead- well we got lucky. Mine is lead-free. I just need to talk to a vet and find out if they have any idea on what this old time insulation is made of. It’s not the pink stuff, it is actually green and yellow and white. Of course the vermiculite is also an issue, it looks like dirty popcorn kernels.

Yesterday, I took Bella in for her re-check on her jaw and her incision. Her jaw has completely healed itself and her stitches are almost all gone. Apparently she has decided she doesn’t want to wait for them to be dissolved! But she got a big thumbs up from the vet and I have to say, that she is much more loving now than she was before.

I do feel bad though, because her owner is elderly and in bad health. Her son does live with her, but I get the sense that he is just waiting for her to fall down again so he can stick her into a convalescent home. The house is a wreck, she is practically living on cement floors. She is not a hoarder (although she has 11 cats) maybe more? They aren’t the healthiest looking- but she does feed them and care for them the best she can. There is no doubt that her and Bella belong together. There is real love between them, but I still feel bad returning Bella today back to her. . Her cats are not feral, they are all loving and socialized. It is just sad to me that her son doesn’t want to improve his mom’s living conditions.

They started doing the demolition yesterday. I have to say that these workers are very conscious of my request to keep certain doors closed so that I don’t loose any cats now in the house and the main enclosure. In the past, the guys that have been here will leave doors open so the feral cats get inside, the inside cats get outside. I was dreading that part of wrangling cats. Nothing like that happened.

My bedroom is now stripped down and exposed and the ceiling is in sad shape. Right above my bedroom (that sounds so odd to say instead of our bedroom) 🙁 is the attic and investigation has revealed that the water was coming down off the part of the roof that is attached to attic and sitting in the rafters decomposing everything. And I do mean everything. All rafters, joists everything will need to be replaced. Apparently, when Mike built this bedroom, he put illegal plastic behind the drywall. The type of plastic he used for a vapor barrier although legal in some states, is only allowed in Oregon under floors. So all that had to be removed as well. It’s spooky to walk in there now and look directly into the attic above.

This team of contractors and builders are all Christians and so helpful and patient with me. I am now living in the living room, and boy do the cats and dog love the fact that my California king bed in now flat on the floor! LOL It is going to be an adventure. Last night, I had one dog, and 6 cats sprawled on my bed, so I gave up and slept in my recliner!

For the last several months. the weekly donation of cat food and cat litter has been dismally small. What is left in our storeroom is the heavily dyed dry cat food that I won’t feed my cats unless it becomes necessary and sadly, now it is necessary. I have been buying cat food when I can, but we are still trying to whittle down our vet debt that stands at $500.00 currently.

This Friday (today actually) they are starting work on my home with the tear-down of my bedroom. They will be here during the time I run to pick up the cat food. I called a woman who told me recently that she would be happy to help out with picking up this food. I asked her if she could pick up this morning’s food and she said yes. Then I cautioned her that she might drive all the way to the store and find out that there is little or nothing to pick up! Without missing a beat, she replied: “Well then, I will just drive around to the front of the store and buy some!” I almost started crying when she said that. I feed the best food I can afford as far as dry goes:Whiskas, Cat Chow, Purina Indoor seems to be the cats’ preference. I am so grateful for this woman’s kindness right now. I’m currently finding several piles of emesis in the yard now that I have resorted to feeding 9-Lives and Meow Mix.

Yesterday, was the ending bid day for the three contractors who are interested in helping me repair this home. One of the contractors who initially contacted me came out. We sat down, and we went row by row, item by item through a 10 page bid! There is a lot of work to be done to this home built in 1943.

It was a bit overwhelming. I kept wishing I could channel Mike somehow and make sense of all the technical details, but Richard was very kind. He also sweetened the deal. He told me, if I chose him, he had just done a big tear down of a luxury kitchen for a client. Said the cabinets and countertops were beautiful and really didn’t need replacing, but the new owners didn’t like them. He would donate all the cabinets and countertops and install them in my kitchen and only charge me for a new sink! Guys, I have 48″ of counterspace in my tiny kitchen. I have cupboards that are so high, that even my 6′ can’t reach them without a step stool. I have low cabinets that I can’t use because the kitchen is so small, the cupboard doors smack into the stove, or additional roll away shelfs that I need for storage! LOL It’s crazy, but I have dealt with it for over 30 years- just as I have dealt with having a water closet instead of a true bathroom.

I am also leaning toward this gentleman and his company because he is just incredibly kind, and patient. Not like some of the contractors who have blown through here. Is his bid high, yes, but this house is a mess. My bedroom is the worst of all the rooms and it leaks horribly. That started right after Mike passed. There is condensation up there right now that is so bad, the joints are sweating and decomposing. It is pretty scary.

I am supposed to see the remaining two bids today and then make a decision on who to go with. I feel so out of my element and I think back on the one contractor who “redid” my bathroom and left it bad enough, that one of these new guys is coming in to turn it into a finished bathroom. All of this going on while by brain is trying to just get through the day. I need a drink! LOL Just kidding! I just need prayers that I make the right decision and find the person who can make this house that is so wrong- right again.