Oppressive heat has settled on the Pacific Northwest. I have lived here for over 30 years and I have never seen it hit triple digit numbers in my backyard consecutively. Yesterday, I drug out Kota’s old kiddie pools (there are three of them all have holes.) I stacked them up together, filled them with water and put the pool in the middle of my backyard. I put several large boulders in the pool so that the birds and other critters could get a much needed bath or drink. Our Little Creek is quite little- it is completely dry.

Last night, I woke up to these strange sounds outside.so I looked out the back window. Most of the motion detector lights were on by the barn, and the glow reflected the most amazing sight. There were several critters in the pool! A skunk was bathing, a racoon was washing his hands and a possum was perched on one of the boulders drinking.

I knew that my cell phone camera light wouldn’t carry that far, and if I turned on the porch light, these dehydrated critters would scram. So, Kota and I perched at the window for about 20 minutes watching this wild pool party taking place. Kota was a bit out of it- I had to take him to the vet yesterday as his allergies had gone up into another level. They have him on an antibiotic, a painkiller and prednisone as well as a special antiseptic spray for all his inflamed areas of skin. The pred makes him over-pant (just what he needs right now!) it makes him eat more and sleep more. I was glad he didn’t bark or react. From the look of the critters in the pool, they seemed to really be enjoying the exposure to the pool.

Today it is 111 degrees F and I have refilled the pool and added a few more rocks. I went out to check on the cats earlier,  two of them were perched on the rocks drinking out of this pool. They have bowls of water all over the property but maybe they just wanted to get their feet wet.

We are supposed to continue with the hot weather all next week. At least the local wildlife know where they can come and take a dip without worrying about traffic when crossing the highway on their way to the river.

Kota and I set out fairly early in the morning (before the heat hits) and go for a walk. It helps me to clear out the cobwebs that accumulate in my brain. I talk to God and try to find His answer in the beauty of the Pacific Northwest. So much is going wrong so quickly right now with our rescue. The challenge is to find the balance within to solve the problems that have developed in the last 72 hours. I found out that I stand a strong chance of losing my place if I can’t make the much-needed corrections (according to my insurance company). I have managed to make it on a list for home repairs- but I only have one year to get my carport rebuilt. My contractor did not finish the original build. He claims he ran out of money. I wanted to have the carport demolished, but three contractors (one retired and just offering his advice) have all told me that if I do that, one section of my wall of my home will just collapse.

Added to that pressure, the DIY flooring that I so proudly accomplished myself, well it was not “approved” and therefore, I need to replace it with approved flooring within a year. This all slammed into me a few days ago. I am still trying to sort the issues out in my head. Walking and talking to God helps. One of the other benefits of wearing a mask is you can talk to yourself and no one will notice.

We are also spending $152.00 every two months for prescription food to keep some of the seniors from dying  of kidney issues. The dry food is working, but it cuts severely into the budget for the regular dry and canned food and paying the vet debt. But, the fight continues, and the walking helps.

Yesterday, this was our walk-about. The one thing that I regret is my cell phone ran out of charge. I missed taking a picture of the deer coming down to the river to drink, the immature bald eagle tearing open a trout and the gathering of over a dozen swallowtail butterflies that came down to the river to get water. That was amazing. But here are the photos that I did take for those of you still in lockdown. We are almost a week (supposedly) of opening up all the way here in Oregon. I’m not holding my breath though, because it seems like every time the Governor decides to open up, people get sick and we shut down again.I wish we had taken a page from Australia’s attack on the Coronavirus. But everyone is doing their own thing (or so it seems).

At any rate, I hope you enjoy the photos as much as Kota and I enjoy our walk-abouts. in the very last photo, Kota is alerting to big Crawdad that was busy burying himself into the mud.

As always, stay safe and keep loving and living-

Working with PTSD kittens has its many challenges and bumps along the road. Yesterday, it was time to de-flea everyone. I generally use Revolution as it not only kills fleas, but also earmites. The clinic was out due to Covid, so I switched to Advantage and administered all the doses. No problem until it came to Ash’s turn.

A few minutes after she received her proper dose, she let out this shrill series of meows and started foaming at the mouth. Still screaming, she raced through the house, foaming as if she were rabid and poop just flying out of her rear. I have never encountered such a reaction. Foaming, yes, if they lick at where the application spot was located, but she was dosed (as were they all) on the back of the neck. It took me 45 minutes to corral her into the bathroom and examine her.

She was in a high state of agitation, pawing at the ground, shaking her head. I was scared. I grabbed the DAWN and gave her three baths in a row. Needless to say, she was not compliant in getting a bath although they had many baths when they first arrived here due to the exposure of the ashes and toxins from the wildfires.

I sat down on the floor and dried her off. She was violently shaking for about 30 minutes after the bath even though she was bone dry at the time. I promised her it would never happen again. I apologized over and over for hurting her. She was not impressed. All she wanted to do was escape her jailer. When I opened the bathroom door finally, she streaked out and ducked into her cave,

I don’t like putting chemicals on cats, but I also know first-hand the real damage that fleas can do to kittens and cats, Just that knowledge, cancels out my feelings about these flea treatments. I’ve tried the natural remedies,  most of them out there do not solve the problem effectively when you have so many cats- some of them being unapproachable.

I didn’t pursue her, nor did I force her out of hiding and demand of her  to stay on my lap. I just let her be and let her decompress from her horror. She has not once since being here, jumped on my lap or even made an appearance from her cave until sunset. I wanted so badly to comfort her, but I also knew that forcing things on her is a bad move.

I had fallen asleep in my chair when I felt a cat jump on my lap. Woke up and it was getting dark. I figured Magoo (who just recently started testing out my lap) was asking for food. I turned on the light and to my surprise, Ash was on my lap! I did not make eye-contact, just turned the light off and waited to see what she would do next. She laid down on my lap, I covered her up with my lap quilt. It was 3:00 p.m at the time. I put my world on hold and sat with her until 8:00 p.m.She wasn’t trembling, I got the sense that she was thanking me. She did not try to bite me or hurt me. On her own accord, she jumped down at 8:00 and ran over to the food bin. It was past time for dinner.

This morning at 4:00 a.m. (always my wake-up time to feed the ferals outside) She jumped on the bed and woke me up by walking up to my chest, snuggling down and kneading her way into my armpit. It hurt like the dickens to be kneaded there, but I took it all in and thanked God for this “breakthrough.”

As i sit here processing the events of yesterday and this morning, I have to wonder if her sensitivity to this chemical might have something to do with the toxins she inhaled during those awful first days of her life? I can’t figure out a few things:  How when they both were trying to survive, searching for mom (who died in the fire), they both suckled the environment around them. Unhealthy as it was, it was the only thing available for them to eat. Although both of them (when first stimulated) were pooping ashes, dirt, gravel and small twigs- Magoo was never as sick as Ash. He was also able to be stimulated and fed without vomiting up the formula or trying to shred my hand and going ballistic anytime a moist cotton ball was placed on his rectum. Their eyes were still shut  when they first arrived here. Perhaps Magoo had been able to get some nutrition from mom before Ash did? We will never know.

What I do know is that Ash will never have Advantage touch her skin again. In such a shared horrible experience for both of us, she has finally decided to trust me. I am also glad although she fought the multiple baths horribly yesterday, that I decided it prudent to give her three baths at once. Hopefully I got most of the toxin off her body before it did irreparable harm. I never purchase store-bought flea treatment. I always buy from the vet. Some of the flea treatments sitting on store shelves are counterfeit and can cause great damage. With the vets you know that it is coming straight in from the source. Yesterday, there was finally a breakthrough, but not one I would ever hope to experience again…

I believe that Ash is coming out of her shell. She’s such a funny duck. If I pet her more than a minute or two, she will sit up on her rear and box me with her front claws like Mike Tyson going in the for the kill. She has done that since coming back from the vet, the final time. Only now, instead of her claws being out and trying to bite me, she keeps her claws sheathed. (Thankfully) so my hands do not look like shredded meat.

If I keep the front door open to bring more air into the house, she stands guard at the security screen. Should Bentley or Twist come up to say hello, she will back up and charge the door. Funny thing to witness how brave she is when there is a screen door between her and the outside world.

It still feels as if there are no cats in the house. They both spend a lot of time still underneath the coffee table. If they jump on the bed at night to sleep with me, it is short-lived and they jump down almost immediately. Just working with them slowly so they can understand nothing here will hurt them. Both of them, I have discovered have the beginnings of stomatitis (gum rot). We have never seen one-year old kittens with such bad gums. It’s quite sad and painful to both. We need to get the special veterinary dry food- but $37.00 for a six pound bag is not attainable at this time. The challenge is how do you brush the teeth of kittens who already have so many private demons they are chasing? Especially Ash who is still deathly afraid of hands. We will figure it out.

The latest arrival, Maverick who arrived yesterday, dumped in my driveway did not make it. Her gums were yellow indicating liver problems and she went to the Bridge last night. But Life goes on, one day at a time.

Stay safe everyone-