“Crazy Cat Woman Smothered to Death by Beloved Cat!”

Last night during another frigidly cold 20° temperature drop. Our power went out. I was sitting in my chair when it happened. I grabbed the flashlights and made the rounds, looked outside and saw that my neighbors were also dark. They had been predicting black ice, so I assumed that some of the ice must have landed on the wires and caused a problem.

I was already wearing my hoodie. It’s oversized and it’s very comfortable and warm. I grabbed a couple blankets just in case it was going to be a long time without power. I settled back in my chair, Laurel jumped on my lap. She loves to snuggle on my shoulder. She gets highly indignant if she doesn’t get her way.

I was petting her and I noticed her ears were really cold. We don’t have central heating here so she must’ve been in the back room when the lights went out. I had my hood up over my head and she climbed up on my chest, went to snuggle on my shoulder, she changed direction heading for the inside of my hood. I tried to dislodge her. She was very close to choking me. My head and her body cannot fit inside my hoodie! It’s oversize, but not that oversized!

I finally was able to get her out of it. I placed her on my lap and before I knew it here she comes again and she’s trying to crawl back into my hoodi. We had a few minutes of tussling over this before she finally understood that this wasn’t going to happen. Mom needs to breathe. These cats are so funny. Their characters are coming out and they are both a delight and a challenge. But I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Yesterday, I received a stern letter from the Health Department. It told me that I could not “euthanize, get rid of, or otherwise discard said cat: “Bently!” I had to quarantine Bentley for a period of ten days. After that they would be in touch with me regarding how he was doing.

This letter was generated, because I let my guard down. I got careless and for that carlessness, Bently bit me. He did not do it intentionally. He did not mean to cause me any harm. He did it because I was petting him while I was on the phone. He is pet- aggressive in a big way. When you start to pet him, he loves it. However, it over-stimulates him, and he will attack.

The bite ended up with me at Urgent Care the next morning. This was odd, because he did not break my skin. The bites did not bleed. It hurt like the devil when he attached to my arm, but when he finally released me, I could only see red spots where his teeth and claws had been. I just put cold water on it and went on with my day,

The next morning, my hand was swollen and quite painful. Again, no blood- it just hurt more than I thought it should. I also needed to update my tetanus. I knew before I left, that even though he wasn’t rabid, I would be required to quarantine him (Oregon has strict laws about this).

It ended up, that according to the doctor, Bently had punctured my knuckle. They gave me an updated tetanus shot that was fairly new on the market and stronger than the other pre-existing shot. They also gave me a new type of antibiotic to take. Ironically, afterward. I was sicker than a dog, not from his bite but from the injection and the antibiotic. I stopped the antibiotic the second day of taking it and just had to ride out the side effects of the Tdap injection. I still am unable to lift my left arm this morning past my waist. Bent bit me on the right hand/arm.

This is what happened because I didn’t follow my own rules with him that day. He jumps on my lap all the time to get petted. Long ago, I learned a painful lesson that I needed to let him decide it was time to jump down, and not encourage him to do so. The doctor at Urgent Care laughed when he first walked into the room and saw me.He said “So, you are here for another cat bite I bet?” This is the fourth time this year that he has treated me for cat bites. None of those bites were from Ben until now. I told the Dr. It’s an occupational hazard.

Here is Bently snoozing on my lap. Looks so peaceful, but looks can be deceiving! 🙂

Kota is in respiratory distress. I am sitting in the parking lot at the vets office right now with Kota. He started last night. His breathing became shallow and slow. On a normal dog their respirations should be 30 breaths per minute. The highest his breath got was 16 and the lowest was seven. That’s when he was at rest. When he’s active and walking around, his breaths increased to 55 breaths, per minute. Please say a prayer for this wonderful dog. I am so concerned and confused right now about what’s going on with him he was doing so well. But then all of a sudden he has plummeted. I know he’s in pain, because when he’s in pain, he will come to me and put his head between my legs and drop his head. That’s when I know that he needs comfort . He was doing this to me early in the a.m. Just pray for him please. I can’t take another hit on our vet bill. But he is my heart. Ever since Michael died he’s not left my side. He has saved my life twice, I really hope they find out what’s wrong with him finally and fix it. I hope I can return the favor and save him.

*******UPDATE*********

This morning, other than finding the regular things that are wrong with Kota- he checked out fine otherwise. After answering some tough questions from the vet, she informed me that the reason Kota is having breathing difficulties is because he is catching my stress. She said that we are both so entertwined and connected that he can smell my stress level rising even before I can realize that it is rising to the stratosphere. She’s giving me mild sedatives to give him which will help his breathing and his anxiety.

I was, I can’t even think of the word of how I felt when I realized that I was the reason that he was presenting with such symptoms. I thought when I rushed him to the vet this morning that he was having heart issues or fluid problems on his lungs. But he was just ianxious about me. I am going to try to keep my balance from here on in.

I am still missing Michael like crazy (although my primary care provider informed me a few weeks ago that I should’ve only grieved for Mike for a year.)I should be over it by now that is her diagnosis. Trust me I’m trying to be over it but I miss him like crazy. He was a big part of me for so long and not having him here is still extremely difficult. I don’t care what my doctor says about that.

So I left the vet office, feeling grateful for the diagnosis, but guilty for causing it. It was an expensive lesson that I won’t soon forget. Thank you to those who prayed, I was really concerned driving to the vet as well as very confused  after looking in all my books to see what he might have going on, he had none of the symptoms of anything such as poisoning, shock lung disease, or any respiratory illness, other than the fact that he was struggling to breathe.

Thank you for your prayers

This morning, at about 4 AM, I let Kota outside for his bathroom break. My outdoor lights were on, however, unless I go to the barn and switch on the main switch, all my property does not light up at the same time. Instead of going to his potty spot,  Kota vanished into the darkness.

This is not typical behavior for him. So I called him back, he returned immediately, but to my surprise he was not alone. He was accompanied by a fawn! He wasn’t attacking the baby, she was just coming with him out of the darkness. I quickly called him inside and grabbed my robe,  slippers and a flashlight. By the time I got back outside and had my wits about me, she was vanishing with mom across my pasture.

In a world that is seemingly feeling like it’s spiraling out of control, it was so calming to just have a moment of relief. To see two creatures, who normally would not get along very well, coexist, even just for a few seconds next to each other was like a breath of fresh air which I really needed especially right now.

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Last night without any invitation on my part, Addie jumped up on my lap. I quickly took a selfie. She looks quite proud of herself. It’s a slow process but she’s finding her way to totally trust me.