2022 will soon be wrapping up. As I look back on this past year, I reflect on the losses of some incredibly wonderful felines: Dash, M.K. Molly, and Gadget. Thankfully, Old Girl did not join the Bridge Club this year. Not only is she walking stronger each day, but she no longer flees in terror every time I come into her sight. In the mornings, when I enter the shop to feed, she actually shadows me, staying near my rear legs. Quite a contrast from her past behavior.

But that is feral cats and that is how they roll. They hide their pain so effectively, and when it finally overwhelms them, their feral instincts kick into high gear. Anything bigger than they are become instant predators. Since they know they are low on the food chain, they do all they can to stay off the menu.

For so many years, she kept hidden under the house with her own clowder. Now with Gadget gone, she is the last of the “Under the House Gang.” Thankfully, when they sealed off the house, she did manage to merge successfully with the shop kitties. It took time, but it did happen.

With our temperatures slated to start plunging into the frozen zone soon (I have already dealt with a busted pipe in the pasture) I have stuffed as much straw as possible in the back rooms of the shop. The kitties, should they desire to, could build some impressive tunnels now to keep warm. The new black kitty, who I am temporarily naming Slip is still quite elusive. He slips quickly under the fence when I go out to feed and takes off to the creek on a run. I can’t even guesstimate how old he/she is at this point. I suspect once the snow and winds kick up, he will find his way into the shop joining the others.

Because of the burst pipe, I shut off the pump at the well house. Now all the water for the cats is being carted from the house. I am grateful we have two wells here. Speaking of water, the house well has been tested and nothing alarming has been discovered. It is hard water, which I already knew, and there is some acidity to it, but it is within normal ranges. The testing was tricky when you are looking for health issues. They have a huge list and each portion of the items are grouped according to the health issue they are testing for.  Each group carries its own individual pricing.  I had to be very selective in what they tested for as it could have been spendy to test for everything. This year, we only made a fraction of what we usually bring in for CATS. Testing for everything going on with Kota wasn’t possible.

I received quite the blessing this Thanksgiving. I discovered quite by accident, a cassette tape Mike made for me many years ago. By the time we got married, we had quite a collection of letters, photos, cassette tapes and phone bills (remember those?) He made the tape after I flew to Alaska from California to meet him for the first time. We had a wonderful 8 days together, camping, fishing and discovering ourselves along the way.

I listened to the tape twice. I thought I had gathered all the letters and tapes about two years after he passed and burned them on the pile giving them all back to him on his birthday that year. I missed one. God meant for me to miss one. This was the one to miss and one I will not burn. I had an Epiphany after listening to his message to me. I am weary of being sad. He would not wish for me to be sad. It’s time now to move forward—

So here’s to a Better Year in 2023 for ALL, on all Fronts.

May Peace and Love follow you through the upcoming Holidays-

Since I know that I am unable to capture Old Girl, I have been lacing tuna juice with Arnica to take down the swelling. A few days ago when I saw her in the morning, she was no longer limping. I didn’t want to say anything at first because I didn’t want to jinx it. However, I have seen her a few times now, and she’s walking on it without any issues! I am so relieved. I am still giving her the Arnica in the tuna juice in case there is any residual bruising or swelling left behind. I am so grateful for this Thanksgiving blessing. Speaking of blessing I hope all of you enjoyed a comfortable Thanksgiving with family and friends.

For several months now, I have been increasingly worried about my old girl. She has been fighting an URI. She is not one that can be easily treated or even caught. Two nights ago when I went out to feed, I noticed that she was absent. This caused my heart to skip a beat, because she’s always showing up for food. When I went looking for her, I found her under the bushes, she was reluctant to move. Unfortunately, the bushes that she hides under are very thick and I cannot get underneath easily. However, when I tried, she did move, but she was limping  Either she has been in a fight, or she has hurt herself on the icy ground.

Tonight when I went out to feed, she was out there, but she didn’t want to move. This is so not like her. I put the food out and stepped back and watched. She is bearing no weight on her right front leg.

It has become increasingly cold here. Dropping down into the 20s at night. if a predator comes into the yard and goes after her she’s going to be top on the menu.

So I once again have put out one of my top-loader carrier. There is a dark towel, which I hope I will be able to put over her to calm her as I carry her to safety.  I also have a pair of Mike’s welding gloves, which come in handy with feral cats who are not fond of being handled. I am hoping in the next few days I will be able to capture her and take her to the vet to be treated.

If tonight is any indication, it looks like she more than likely got into a fight and she’s fighting an abscess. This can go south so quickly I have to move fast, but I have to move cautiously. I don’t wish to cause her to flee and damage her leg anymore than it already is. I’ve tried to just talk to her and let her know that I would like to help her, but she fled the minute. I stuck my head into the room that she was sleeping in. She didn’t even give me a chance to talk to her , I know it sounds crazy but sometimes when they are hurting so bad and trying not to show it, you can reason with them they do understand that you’re trying to help. But she has seen me capture several of her friends in the last couple of months and she never sees her friends again so she’s very leery of me. She is 16 years old. I am praying that I will be able to capture her very soon.

Both Magoo and Ashley have made a full transition in with the other cats, I am still amazed at how well they took to their new living quarters. As well as a little disappointed that they were not that comfortable in the house. However, I see them more now than ever before, it’s always an early morning thrill for me to be greeted by all five cats when I go out to feed. I was even able to flea treat Ashley yesterday without any problems.

I believe I made Magoo’s day this morning because I moved Michael’s old recliner into the cat enclosure. This was one of Magoo’s favorite places to hang out and hide in the house. It was also the reason that I unplugged the electric motor that moved it. It is a lift chair and instead got a hassock to rest my legs on.

So now he has something that he can relate to and hide under if he wishes or sleep under which is what he normally did on a pretty regular basis. And I finally tested negative for my Covid. This time Covid kicked my butt. I felt like somebody threw me down a mineshaft and left me there. I am still very fatigued and my muscles just ache but I did finally test negative which is a great relief. And according to the nurse line that I spoke with, I had the omicron for the first time. I wouldn’t wish that on anybody.

Just wanted to wish everybody an early happy Thanksgiving. Be grateful that you can gather around your table with friends and family and enjoy the day. Don’t forget cats love Turkey!

I always find it fascinating when someone departs the group, how the dynamics of the group switch to compensate. Since the loss of Gadget, Goblin has taken it upon herself to meet me every morning at the sliding glass door as I go to feed. She still is quite skittish when I go to pet her, so I stopped trying. That in itself has seemed to relax her a bit,and now she escorts me all around the property as I feed. She stays right by my side, and when I finally get to her feeding platform and put the food out, she will then leave me and go to eat with all the others joining in.

I am happy to say that since she showed up over a year ago, rail-skinny, and gaunt in her face, she has now filled up to be an adorable black kitty. Sneaking in L-Lysine and diatomaceous earth crystals (when there is canned food available) has helped her as well. She really is a beauty, I might be able to, by the end of next year, break through her trust barrier and maybe even get her adopted out. That will thrill me to no end. However, I know that when it comes to adopting out black kittens, people either fear them (thanks to silly superstitions that have lasted through centuries0, or they love them. I happen to love black cats (probably why I have so many here at the rescue).

So, it is nice to have this new black shadow trailing me when I go out in the mornings. She waits as I go into each enclosure then scampers out of the darkness to join me in my morning ritual. I am not quite sure where she sleeps. I think it might be under the new observation deck, so today when it warms up, I will go out and fill a box with straw and slide it underneath the deck so she can stay warm.

Temperatures at night now swing down into the 20’s and 30’s. Because the deck isn’t watertight, when I mentioned that to one of the crew several weeks ago, he (bless his heart) slid his huge frame underneath the deck and using a large piece of flashing (I think he called it) he made a water slide so the rain wouldn’t get any cats underneath wet. Instead, it catches all the rain and because he slanted it- the rain runs down and dumps into the grass next to deck! I swear this work crew, they were amazng and their love for critters just showed their good hearts. I do miss all the guys very much. Kota still is keeping up his vigil and waits in the morning impatiently for them to walk through the gates.

I received a text yesterday from one of the guys (even though they have left the build because they were finished) several of them told me before they left that I was much more than a client. I was now their friend. They are on another job and there was a cat who had been hanging around for weeks. She is a beauty, she is a long-haired cow kitty. The neighbors told the men that she had been dumped weeks ago. Now she has a home with Nathan and his family. He sent me her photo where she is snuggled down into his daughter’s furry hoodie. I couldn’t be more pleased that she has found a loving home and has been brought out of these severe weather elements we are now facing. I am sharing his photo:

Kota is ill again, it has been determined that not only does he have a rare type of ulcer, but he is now prone to struvite crystals. They will retest him in two weeks. Now there is  a list of food ingredients he can’t have: chicken, beef, spinach, sweet potatoes, brown rice, organ meats, ammonia (found in beef products) magnesium and one more ingredient that escapes me right now. The vet tells me to get him to drink more water- all the tips I use when my cats are dehydrated and not drinking (such as rubbing a bit of salt on their gums) is not working for him. They have all fallen flat. He doesn’t even want to eat salty cheetos! So, I started thinking it and wondering if it might be not the food, but the well water? Next week, I will go into Albany and get the test kit and have them run an analysis of my two wells. I know that our irrigation well has hard water- not sure about the house well.

Unable to find any food locally that didn’t have any of those ingredients (and was under 15% protein) last night in desperation, I called Chewy. They were so kind.  Brenda helped me figure out what canned food Kota could safely eat. It was quite the search though, i so admire her patience. Good customer service is so hard to come by anymore, but Chewy comes through every time. I remember when Mike died, they even sent flowers to me. I had one of my unexpected grief moments on the phone with a rep right after he passed. Today marks the day when four years ago, they dismissed him from the hospital and put him on Home Hospice.  This time of year is still a bit tough for me to get through, but I am working it out. The kitties help, especially helpful is Goblin my new black shadow!

At 10:30 this morning, Gadget had her Rainbow Pass  validated. After bloodwork and three sets of x-rays taken on different days, it was determined that she had a stricture of her ileum (last part o the small intestine) which, according to a friend of mine who is a Feline Specialist, in cats, this is a common place to find intestinal cancer there’s. Sure enough, under that stricture was lymphoma.

I pulled her file a few days ago to refresh my very fading memory. I’ve had three Gadgets here, and this Gadget was one that arrived with Shell. There were three kittens,  that were taken from this hoarder. One died an hour after she arrived here, it was found that she was riddled with cancer. Shell, although she fought valiantly, she also succumbed to cancer. The fact that Gadget was able to survive as long as she did is a miracle. I really want to bury her on my property, but I can’t. It’s not that I don’t have the room, but it’s been raining so hard I won’t be able to dig a decent hole. It would just fill with water. I can’t afford to get her ashes back so she will be sprinkled in a farmers field somewhere. I guess that’s fitting end for a cat who lived outside for her entire life.

I know that having outside cats is not ideal, but sometimes it’s the only way these cats can or will live. I saw her every day. I never saw her go off property. She had three areas here that she loved to stay in. She never went anywhere, and although I could never get near her, I saw her every day and I knew her normal. When I saw her walking across my property or trying to, that’s when I knew her normal days were gone

Now she is with God sitting on Michael’s lap. I’m sure they were happy to see each other. One of the places that she used to hang out in was his shop. I am devastated. At least I know she’s no longer in pain.

I told my vet that I felt like I let her down. He told me: on the contrary, you saved her from a great deal of pain. You caught this early and you knew something was wrong and you fought for her. You were her voice. Had you not brought her in, she would have been losing weight soon, not eating and if she vanished again and didn’t reappear, she would have lingered on until the stricture just choked her.

Here we are spending the last moments together before the vet arrives with the final solution:

God granted me a 15 minute lull in the storm. Gadget has been laid to rest by the barn she loved to hang out in.

I just spoke with my vet, and there are no clear answers as to what is going on with Gadget. She is very depleted energy wise. She is very docile, and he even had her on his lap for about 20 minutes, and she was accepting of his pets as he was quietly examining her! He is concerned at the consistency of her stool, so they are keeping her for a few days on fluids, and giving her his cocktail to stop the pudding like consistency of her stool. They are also going to put her on A/D

I almost have a feeling now, that she came close to losing one of her Nine lives, and in the process she met God and He told her: ” Go ahead and give Mary Anne a chance because Mary Anne is really a nice person.”

For her to be so altered in behavior is the most baffling thing I have ever encountered  he thinks it just might be something neurological. As if she got struck on the head and it has rattled her. I asked him about her inability or unwillingness to walk and he said that he wouldn’t really call it walking right now she sort of scuttles out of the way when she’s left in a room.