We have had to substantially cut down the amount of canned cat food (and dry) that we are feeding the cats here. Monday, Weds and Friday are canned cat food days. But now, we find ourselves completely out of canned food and only $20.00 in the Kitty to buy any more.

For some reason, in our town I was told there is an aluminum can shortage? So canned cat food- Friskies and Fancy Feast are just not attainable right now. If anyone can help us out- please do-

I will try and straighten out my wish list on Amazon to make it easier, but if you need our physical address you can reach me at mothermary55@comcast.net

Thank you for your care and concern regarding the rescues here-

Early in the morning, even before my world is awake, the kittens have taken it upon themselves to wake me up. This early morning alarm clock can “go off” anywhere between 1:00 a.m.-4:30 a.m.

This morning, the alarm was a sudden crash of items hitting the floor. I jumped out of bed and turned on the light only to discover my bulletin board where I hang my jewelry had been displaced from the wall by active kitty paws. They were playing among the necklaces and earrings pretty happy to have found yet another toy to amuse themselves with. I, however was not all that amused.

I rescued my cosmetic jewelry that had dropped around their necks before it caused them to suffer a panic attack. I scooped up all the jewelry out of harms way for now. I will have to figure out another way to store them so the kitties don’t think they are play toys.

Lately, if I wake up before the kitty alarms are sounded, I will lie in bed and softly call to Ash. I say her name almost in a whisper, twice, two times in a row. Generally, she is laying with Kota between his front paws, so I know she is close.

She will jump on the bed and walk over to me, lay down close to my face and lick my chin. I learned quite early during this ritual that I need to stay perfectly still and not pet her, She will explore my face, nuzzle my ears and neck and when she is satisfied, she will then jump down and go snuggle with her buddy Kota. I call this my sweet spot in the morning.

I also learned during this time, to call to her only softly, because if I call to her in my normal voice, Magoo will come up and intercept our moment. He is quite jealous and that is when I will get bit. Both kitties are getting so big now- they will be a year old soon. They have several issues still based on what they experienced before arriving here. Both of them will get one mat on their back in the exact same place. Quite strange. They will not groom themselves or each other, the only thing I could hazard to guess about that inaction, is their fur or skin must have absorbed some of the toxicity of the smoke a year ago? But oh my, they love to be brushed. I could brush both of them 24/7 and they would never leave my side.

(Magoo who is an excellent flyswatter). His prey at the time? A mosquito!) He caught it and ate it too. LOL

Speaking of fires, there are currently 308 active fires in Oregon. One of them, the Bruler Fire could ultimately threaten my town. It is burning in the mountains on the other side of town and it would have to jump the lake to threaten people. Right now it is 10% contained and they just started putting sprinklers on the edge of the fire- drawing water out of the dam to soak the trees bordering the flames to stop it from spreading. Thankfully, we have not had triple digit temps in over a week and the winds have died down. This fire was caused by humans and it arrived three months earlier than the Holiday Fire last year.

The worst fires are up by Portland and also on the border of California and Oregon. My heart goes out to everyone caught in the line of fire, both two-footed and four footed. My eldest stepson called this morning, he was worried because the smoke has arrived where he lives in Alaska. I assured him that for now, we are safe. But fire season is upon us and it is concerning.

I have been concerned in the last few days, about how the 4th will affect the burn babies. Afterall, two kittens who will run in terror when I put a bag of groceries on the kitchen floor, or turn on the coffee grinder – how will all the whiz bang that goes on after dark. How or what will it manifest itself as on the 4th?

If I hadn’t seen it with my own two eyes, I would have never believed it. I’ve never witnessed it before. They ran to the chaos. They were fascinated with the noise and the lights. Instead of running away and finding a place to hide (that I wouldn’t locate in days) they loved the show!

Both of them stayed together, almost hugging each other and went to the windows and doors looking out into the night sky that was exploding with color and noise.I was texting a friend (in disbelief) at the time. She asked me what I thought they were thinking? I considered the comment for a moment and typed back:

“I think they feel like after all they have been through, this is a walk in the park.”

This morning, they are still hugging bodies and sitting at the front door looking outside.Maybe they are waiting for the second act to begin? We got lucky this year, all my neighbors went elsewhere to celebrate. That never happens, generally they hold big family gatherings and shoot off till morning. But there are other homes on the highway and they were certainly celebrating as loud as they could. It was just astounding to me watching their curiosity grow at every bang they heard.

It never gets any easier, even when you know that it’s just right around the corner.  That day when you have to make a very difficult decision regarding the euthanasia of your cat. Baker started slipping quickly downhill two days ago. It started with continuous vocalization- lasting even through the night and morning hours. Repeated visits out to his enclosure, only made him more agitated in his tone. He stopped eating, drinking, peeing and yesterday he vomited blood.

I had been holding on for a miracle. The prescription food was working for awhile, but just like the medications, they couldn’t keep what was already in motion from happening. I suppose in the long-run, while I was praying for a miracle  God delivered an unexpected one this morning. When I called the vet and told the girl what was going on, I was given the only appointment left open for the holiday weekend- the emergency appointment at 9:00..

I held Mr. Baker in my arms, as he was sedated and drifted off to sleep. I laid his 19 year old body  gently down on the table.. The  process continued. When the plunger hit home, he stopped breathing.

19 years ago, someone tossed him out of a car from the highway. He was just a baby kitten. He scrambled up one of our trees and Mike climbed up the tree to fetch him. That’s how long ago this arrival has been. He’s been with us ever since.

Now, I am praying for a second miracle, there was only $3.63 in the kitty. I wrote a check for $250.00 and they are holding it until my check comes on the 17th. I have been taking my own budget and buying food and paying the vet from its meager content. It’s what I do, they always come first.

I suppose, I could have put off this decision until Baker really started to suffer- but what kind of rescuer would that make me? Not a good one, I am afraid.

So Baker is gone and he will be sorely missed. My neighbors would get the biggest kick out of him as he did his daily walk-abouts only on our land, and then when he was done, he would follow me back to the enclosure wait till I opened the door and he would go in. Just like a well-trained dog. I never taught him this. It was just his way of saying good morning- and now good night to his world.

Yes, he will be missed…..