I wanted to pause for a minute and update this blog. I try not to let what goes on behind the scenes here, affect my cat rescue. However, recently, those two worlds collided in a very big way. This caused me to have to post a very desperate plea for help. I am so grateful for those of you who pitched in and helped us out.

The kitties are doing fine, there are several new bags of dry cat food, waiting in the wings, which makes me feel extremely less stressed. Right now I have Mr. Bentley crying at the back door. It has been oppressively hot here and I’ve been letting him out of the cat enclosure early in the morning. he likes to be out in the coolness. It was 103° here at 8 PM last night. But there is oppressive heat everywhere, if not oppressive heat there are relentless storms and tornadoes and we just can’t seem to escape the craziness.

Yesterday morning when I went out to feed my irrigation pump quit flowing. I’ve been told by the doctors I need to minimize stress. That’s quite the joke. Anyway, I realized that in the recent brownouts we’ve had, the pump switches may need to be reset. So I went out to the panel and started flipping switches and thankfully an hour later I had water again!

It’s pretty scary when your ground is so dry it’s upheaving into deep crevices. My trees are so thirsty. Their limbs are almost touching the ground. Our creek is once again dry, thank God our well is still running. There is heavy smoke laying in the air. I’m not exactly sure where the wild fires are, it almost smells like burnt tires here.

The doctors are still trying to find out what caused me to fall. I fell inside the house. A few days later I ended up in the emergency room. That was quite a wake up call. At any rate, they been putting me through the wringer trying to find out why I fell. I guess in the long run, it’s pretty nice to know that at the age of 68 my ticker is still strong. My blood work is good. I just passed out for whatever reason. That’s why I posted what I did. That desperate plea for help. I was under strict orders to be a 48 hour couch, potato. This wasn’t a hard order because my truck was also giving me fits. But I had no way to get any food to my kitties. They matter the most. So thank you those of you who helped out. You have no idea how grateful you made us by your generosity.

So, life goes on in fits and bumps (as my daddy used to say.) I have not seen Elusive for several weeks now. I do not see him on the highway so I have no idea if he’s found a new home or if he’s found his old home or what happened to him. It very well could be that he’s hiding underneath one of my outbuildings and coming out at night to eat. I hope that’s the case because that’s the safest place for him. Instead of darting back-and-forth across the highway on a daily basis.

May we all stay safe during this time of crazy weather

Tomorrow evening, I will be completely out of dry cat food. I have tried everything I can think of to come up with the funds to buy one bag of Purina natural 16 pound cat food. Nothing is panning out. I don’t know what else to do, but ask on my blog for help. It’s not a good place to be in right now. But right now this is my reality.

****just wanted to update this and thank those of you who helped our cats during this difficult time.*****

Often, as kittens, go, these two have captured up my heart. They have also taken over the lower half of my home, commandeered my faux rock wall in the living room. I have gladly given them this wall. They have claimed it numerous of times. They love being on it and it’s also helping to keep their claws less sharp They are adapting well to their final change in their routine.

When I decided after the last build, to put all the cats inside the main enclosure, afterward, my life felt more out-of-balance than it ever had before. The emptiness in the house became more pronounced. Yes, Kota was by my side, he still is occasionally trying to get up in my lap, but a 95 pound German Shepherd halfway on my lap, does not compare to the comfort you get with the cat, curled up and purring on your lap.

Then came the arrival of these two kittens, who, even though they were now somewhere, safe, there were still so many changes they would have to learn to adapt to before, finally coming to how they will live the rest of their lives here with us. I would say, for the first time since their arrival, they have settled down into a routine they are starting to trust won’t ever change on them again.

Their personalities are starting to emerge. Aspen is very needy. They are very jealous of each other when it comes to my attention. When she is on my lap, she is chasing my hands constantly. I have to literally took my hands under my arms, so that my hands vanished from sight. I know from past experience, dealing with pet aggressive kitties, that if she continues to grow, her consistent chasing of my hands will grow aggressive. She will become a pet aggressive cat. I am doing everything in my power to not let that happen. I try to limit my petting time with her, trying not to create a monster however, she is quite persistent in the chase.

Laurel (turns out) she is my great hunter. She is on the alert starting at dusk tracking the mice within my walls. Despite my best efforts, I still have a mouse issue. I see her at night, perched by the stove. For some reason even after all of the barricading and insulating that was done behind my oven, I still have mice coming in. I know that once they make a mistake and get out in the kitchen, she will make short work of them. She has the same tendency as Twist when it comes to meeting her true prey. I have no doubt she will go to work the minute she sees a mouse.

So there is balance again in the home. Nathan and I are in the process of putting up a linoleum splash guard around the litter boxes to catch all the overspray. Currently the kitties are vigilant about me. On the 20th, I experienced a health scare that landed me in the emergency room. Within 10 minutes of arriving there they did an x-ray, they started an IV pushing fluids and antibiotics and painkillers. I also had a CAT scan. All of this was surreal and not connected to any way to my shoulder injury. When I woke up that morning, I was in so much pain I thought I had had a stroke. When I looked in the mirror, I saw a face that was unrecognizable . I drove myself to urgent care who immediately transferred me to the emergency room across the street.

The doctors told me they wanted to admit me, but there were no available beds.I was sent home with an arsenal of pills to deal with the infection and told to do nothing for at least a week. When it came to getting things done during that week, my mind was willing but my body would not respond.

I am better now, part of my healing. I am placing on these two kittens, who immediately sense to my distress and wouldn’t leave my side. Their prayers were comforting and much-needed medicine for my soul. The bacterial infection that had invaded my body is leaving (albeit slower than I would like it to) but it’s all good, made much better with cats in my lap.

This infection has wiped me out on so many levels. I am currently taking nine anabiotic’s today at 150 mg of peace. I will say one more thing about the medicine they sent home. With all the controversies surrounding the opioid, oxycodone, when it comes to pain relief, it rocks!

When they told me that I had to take this, I told them to only give me 10. I was suddenly taken back to when Michael was so sick. The doctors put Mike on hydrocodone for 17 years! Not once reducing the dosage, sometimes increasing it. Never stopping it. Michael was so addicted that at the end, when I would present him with his bag from the drugstore.(what an appropriate name that is!)he would dump the pills out on his desk and hand count them to make sure that he hadn’t been shorted! It was painful to watch.

At any rate, onward and upward. If anyone reading this right now, can help us out by sending dry cat food or money for the Kitty, this would be much appreciated. I wish all of you the best of health, the brightest of spirits, and I hoping your day you find someone or something you care about and you let them know how important they are.

God bless you all. Enjoy the pictures of the kitties in their new habitat.