The kittens are doing splendidly. We just had a weigh-in. They are now 2 ounces plus. I have started to introduce them to Kota. Most people already own dogs, so if I can get these kitties used to a dog at least it might make them a little more adoptable.

MudBug loves to pounce on Kota’s tail when he’s wagging it-which is all the time he’s in the room because he loves the babies. I trained him long ago. I knew he was going to have a lot of babies in his future. She hangs on for dear life and it’s so funny. She looks like she’s surfing the wave.

Flash just likes to box his ears. After all, they are giant ears, and they flop, she likes floppy ears. The others are gradually getting used to him being in the room. I only do it for a few minutes at a time. Once they get used to him being in there I will ask him to just jump on the couch and lay down and see what happens if the kitties come up to see him.

I have a confession to make, I am falling in love with MudBug. I have started using the kitty couch as an opportunity to elevate my legs like the doctors want me to. She seems to understand where the pain is in my shoulder and she will lay right on the sore part. She won’t fidget or run amuck like the other ones are doing on my chest. They make me feel like I’m doing kitty yoga. I know they do that with goats, so why not with kitties?

MudBug has also discovered a new game. When I am scooping out litter pans, she is sitting in the middle of the pan watching me carefully. (I have to do everything with my left hand now as my right side is now completely immobile) and will continue to be so until the surgery in March. So it’s difficult, but it’s do-able. She’s decided to test me, Right when I get to the point where I’m shaking out all the litter to keep to keep the solids in the scoop, when I lift it up, she takes her paw and she twangs the scoop! Poop goes flying. (I learned how to duck very quickly.) It’s hysterical. I know not a good trait to have when you’re trying to find her a home but honestly, I think for her she is home.

Speaking of homes, the two homes for the other two kittens have fallen short. However, this morning, when I was getting blessed out of my socks. A friend had taken me into town, when I went into the beauty shop to say hi to the girls-walking through the door, Sabine said: “Speak of the devil we were just talking about you, Mary Anne.”

I told her I hoped it was a good talk. She pointed to the woman who she was cutting her hair and said this woman wants two of your kittens! I was brought up short, and then she added: “Oh, and by the way, she’s a Veterinarian!” I was thrilled. The two kittens that she is interested in are Soffit and Flame! She said that she will call me later and talk to me about it. I am just so relieved to know that they are going to a good home. I know this vet from a friend. I hear she’s very good. I know that she will make these kittens, a wonderful home.

I am following all of the doctors orders. I am doing range of motion exercises daily. Some of them I can’t accomplish on my right side, but I keep trying. Because I can’t drive my car right now, I am walking to the creek and back daily. The doctor wants me to simultaneously do as many trips to the creek and back as I can. So far all I’ve managed is three. Kota is  always with me, while his buddy Mama  trails behind. Behind Mama her six kittens follow. I am sure my neighbors think it’s a very strange parade they’re watching. I really want to do it four times in a row, however, my legs punk out on me. Apparently, during the last car incident, the doctors believe that I must’ve jammed my feet underneath either the brake pedal or the accelerator. I don’t know I can’t remember. For the life of me, I’ve tried but It all comes up a blank.

I found someone who will stay here for the time I’m in the hospital. She is a good friend of mine. She used to be a vet tech, and she’s watched my cats before in the past so that takes a lot of stress off of me. It also means that I don’t have to board Kota. I am sure he will miss me, but he will miss me less when he’s home then when he’s at the vets being boarded or being at a boarding facility. The only thing that won’t happen is Bentley will not get his pill until I get home and I’m mobile again. I talked with the vet who said that although it’s not ideal. It will just mean that Bentley will go hyperactive again because his metabolism will be out of whack.

I was told that immediately after my surgery, there will be four physical therapist at my bedside and I will go straight into physical therapy. Depending on how I do with them will depend on how long I stay in the hospital. I saw my husband be very noncompliant in the end, especially with the physical therapists that were visiting at our home. He would tell all of us that he was doing all the exercises, but I knew he wasn’t because I never saw him do any of them even the easy ones. They knew just by watching him go through their maneuvers while they were there that he was not doing anything to strengthen himself or give him more stamina. By that time he had given up.

I wanted to also thank the two people who recently sent me a donation through this website. However, I just sent my final closing forms in for my nonprofit. So I have refused the donations and refunded them. I do appreciate all the support that all of you have done for me over the years. It really means more than I can say. I am sad to put this behind me. It almost feels like part of me is missing. But it’s unfair to the cats because I can no longer do the work. Even simple things like scooping a litter pan becomes a problem. I’m learning to do it with my left hand though while watching out for MudBug and the flying poop! LOL

Don’t you dare think about it. You stay put!

This meeting will now come to order.

?

Just remember-I am the sheriff around here!

I was told to watch out for you. I take my orders, seriously!

Don’t you try to escape!

You need to stay here because we love you!

This team is on the case. Someone is always watching me!

Had quite the scare day before yesterday. Because of that I went to see my orthopedic surgeon. I called them after the incident and although they were fully booked, they got me in quickly.

I want to thank James for that steady voice on the phone that grounded me. I value the friendship that we’ve formed through this blog. Helping me get through the scare of the moment, helped me to face reality.

I am concerned about what I’m going to do with my kittens, my cats and Kota. He was in the truck when the incident happened. So he was in the truck both times. Once when my brakes failed. And again when my body failed. He is altered, but not painful or hurt. Now, every time he sees me, he tries to jump up on me. (He has never jumped up on me not even when he was a puppy). In the mornings when he follows me out of the bedroom, he will start to talk to me. It’s almost like he’s trying to comfort me. I can’t explain it. I know we are connected in ways that puzzle some people. We’ve been through alot together.

Now, my next visit will be March 6. On this visit, they will explain the procedure and everything surrounding it. The rest as they said is up to me. I intend to follow all their instructions to the letter. There are too many valuable beings who depend on me, not planning on letting them down anytime soon.

Hospital stay can be up to up to five days. Directly after surgery there will be physical therapists working with me. Watch me to go home the second day!

My faith in God grew stronger in that parking lot.I saw Him move many times in order to keep all parties safe. Glory to God-

On the eighth, I re-injured my shoulder. I had discovered that mud bug was wedged into the sofa bed and he could not get out. He was screaming at the top of his voice. Oh boy, don’t you love kittens? What I ended up doing was locating him within the arm of the couch, just by following his heat pattern. I couldn’t see where he was because there wasn’t a way to do it unless I opened up the sofa bed and that wasn’t happening.

what I ended up doing was feeling where his bottom was through the fabric. I took my cutter and gently lifted mud bug up. He stopped screaming, which made me feel just a little bit better because that meant that I was taking some kind of pressure off his body. As I lifted him up as high as I possibly could under the circumstances, I took my cutter, and I cut the bottom of the fabric of the arm of the couch. Silly me I was thinking once I did that all I had to do was reach in and see if I could disengage him. I completely forgot about all the insulation. Instead of feeling a kitten, I felt a thick wall of insulation. That caused more concern for me because insulation and kitties do not go together not by any means.

I stopped what I was doing,  gathered up all the remaining kittens and put them inside the cage. I moved the couch forward just a little bit and then the only way I could see getting out of this was to tip the couch forward. It was too early in the morning help was asleep no matter who I called. So I just prayed, and I tipped the couch. It was leaning on a scratching post so it isn’t like I lifted it. However, my shoulder did not like what I did. I did get mud bug out of the situation. He had got his leg pinned at the corner of the couch. The way this couch is constructed. There is actually a wooden tunnel. That’s just little enough that kittens  could think it was a cool place to hang out.I put him inside a cat carrier to decompress.

I ended up pulling all of the insulation that I could out of the one arm of the couch. There was quite a lot. My next quandary was how do I seal that area off so no other kitten gets stuck there? One of the local ladies has been dropping off these cloth  blankets. They are rolled into a tight bundle and covered with cardboard. I stuffed as many as I could into the area blocking it off (or so I hoped). I put a large piece of cardboard over the hole I cut. Duct taped it down as firmly as I could. Every bone in my shoulder was screaming at me. I ended up at urgent care the next morning.

my shoulder was so swollen. The night before I couldn’t get any type of sleep, I tried everything I knew to calm down the shoulder, but it wasn’t happening this time. Even after all they did for me the other day I’m sitting here in my chair and I am just in trouble. I have a pretty high pain tolerance, but this is taking me above and beyond. Thankfully, they did not see any dislocations or brakes. But all the x-ray shows is bone. They want me to make an appointment with my orthopedic surgeon ASAP and they told me to get ready to have an MRI. I don’t like those things. So I’m gong to call on Monday and get it going. I think I’m going to surprise him when I get there because I have decided to go for the reverse right shoulder replacement. It’s not a decision I make lightly and if anyone reading this has gone through that procedure. I would really appreciate it if you could reach out to me through email and tell me your experience with the aftermath of the surgery MudBug Is fine. He is no worse for wear. I decided to leave the slit open this time because they are getting back there regardless of what I do. While it was tipped forward, I was able to really look in there and see what was going on. I think my idea would’ve worked except I ran out of blankets. Now it’s just a really nice place where they can snuggle down and sleep together.?Point for this game? One for the kitties.

This morning I had made a previous appointment with my vet for Aspen. She has a repeated problem with her anal sacs clogging. Unfortunately, one person cannot easily express anal sacs without help. It’s gotten to the point that I need help because she’s growing up and she does not like the process we go through.

I called the vet’s office yesterday and told them about the kittens asking if I could bring one of the kittens in to have tested. I planned to take Soffit, but she was inside the couch comfortable enough to not want to move, so I opted to just pick Flash Instead.

I am so relieved to tell you that Flash is negative! So now the kitties are available to meet just not to adopt. Not even the vet could tell me what sex they are right now. It’s way too early. So I don’t feel bad about the fact that I can’t figure it out either. Vet said that she could not tell, she thought female. I told her I thought male!  So we have a five dollar bet on it! LOL! I told her well that’s the least amount of money I’ll ever have to pay you guys!

I also want to think an absolute Angel who came to my house yesterday and handed me an envelope. I had just finished doing some much needed kitten and cat food shopping from another donation that someone sent me through PayPal. (Thank you to that person as well.) I was unloading the truck when she arrived. My apologies because I did not recognize her (and she has been here before.)I wasn’t trying to be rude by any means. She acted like she knew me and I was embarrassed to not be able to place who she was.

The doctors had told me after my CAT scan, following a pretty bad spill I took, that I had sustained brain damage, and although it will be progressive, it is not operable. They told me that I will have spurts of time where I will think that I’m coming down with Alzheimer’s. They assured me that it’s not Alzheimer’s. It’s just the nature of the damage when I hit my head twice during that fall. So please know that I have gratitude in my heart for what you did yesterday.  I loved your German Shepherd and your Australian Shepherd absolutely beautiful dogs. I also love you, and I am grateful that people such as yourself are still walking around this planet.

There are two people currently interested in a Meet & Greet with the Rooftop Kitties. I am going to try to get my vet to work with me an offer a deal if I bring them all in at once when the time comes for them to get cut. As well as asking the interested parties if they would help, however they can to cover the cost of the spay or neuter. That’s my plan, Stan! (Sorry my daddy used to say that all the time.)

Currently, I am exhausted physically and mentally so I’m going to turn into a couch potato before I continue on with cleaning the house that’s been tossed to make room for these beautiful babies. I’m so grateful they are still here.

I just received this. This was taken two weeks after they were born.

I had quite the scare yesterday morning. At 2 AM I woke up to check on the kittens and feed them. I am trying to establish a schedule with them so that they can get used to my presence without spooking.

When I went to put my hand on the door knob, it was hot! Not warm it was hot. That meant one thing (in my head anyway.) There had to be a fire inside! However, my smoke alarms weren’t even chirping.

I grabbed a nearby towel and slowly opened the door. The heat that hit me full in the face was intense. I saw no flames not even a flicker. But I also did not see any kittens. I ran to the wall and unplugged the heater. Opening the sliding glass door,  I pushed the heater onto the back deck. )If I said right here that I kept my panic down I would be lying.) I knew that all the kittens were under the couch. This realization caused more concern because that couch is a sofa, bed a heavy one at that. Moving it would certainly risk harming the kittens more than they have been already

Through my panic, I was trying to think, formulate a plan of action. I ran out of the room, grabbed Kota’s fluffy dog bed, a flashlight, and just started praying. I put those in the room, turned around and grabbed two fans while opening as many windows in my studio the entire time. I also opened the door to the backyard.. Opened all the windows in the kitten room as well as the sliding glass door.

I couldn’t tell you how I managed to somehow get down on my knees, lay on my side and look under the couch with the flashlight to see if the kittens were even alive. I saw them at the very back of the couch by the wall. They were huddled together. I didn’t see any movement.. Where they were situated, I knew that I could move the couch out just a little bit. So that I can see them clearer and try to figure out how to get them.

There is no way I could have managed to lean over the back of the couch and pick them up one by one. (The spirit is willing, but the flesh not so much.)One more trip to the kitchen to grab my grabber. I moved the couch forward very slowly. Praying all the time. Shining the light down into the pile. I very carefully used my grabber to pick them up around their bellly. Lifting them up slowly. No one struggled. My heart was crying as I got each one of them out.

As I eased my hand underneath them and let my grabber go. Each kitten felt  hot to the touch. One by one I ran them into the bathroom. I grabbed a towel from the rack and put tepid water on it, laid the wet towel out on the floor. Before I put the kitten down, I looked in the mouths to see if I saw any blood-red tongues or gums..Thankfully, other than MudBug having two thin lines of red on each side of his tongue, there were no other signs of extreme heat stroke in any other kitten.

I set up the bathroom for a long-term stay. Gave them sub cues. At their age, you can easily turn them into a sprinkler when you try to give them fluids. God was still in this room because none of them turned into sprinklers. I put rubbing alcohol on their ear flaps, and their paws. After that happened, I started to see more movement.

One thing about having such young kittens is to properly kitten-proof the room they will be in. You never let them out of an area until they have been spay and neutered, and are more mobile and less fragile. They had already shown great interest in the extension cord going to the heater. I thought I had managed to cover this extensively. By the time I was done, there was only about 4 inches near the base of the heater uncovered. My plan was the next day to go into town and see if I could find a non-flammable rug to put down under the heater.

I went in to check on the kittens and to my relief I saw that more of them were starting to move around. The litter box had been used. The only two kittens that were lethargic was MudBug and Cricket.

Back I go to the kitten room. Opened up all the remaining windows and the sliding glass door. Thankfully it was quite cold outside. I had to get this heat out out of this room as soon as possible.

Stepping out on the back deck, I examined the heater closely. I could see where the extension cord plugged into the heater the two had completely melted down! That’s when I noticed the teeth marks. Whoever had been nibbling on the outside insulated cover had broken through, their next bite would be electrocution with fire fire resulting.

This morning, I am happy to report that everybody is fine. No sign of brain damage. No one is wobbling, endlessly, circling, or showing any type of brain malfunction. They are eating, drinking, actively playing   No one is even warm to the touch.

Someone once asked me how come I refer to Rescue as a game? The comment was not a lighthearted one. It truly is a game. It’s a chess game. You are always trying to come up with strategies, trying to out-think and out-wit your opponent. You are planning your next move, knowing that the kitten has his own agenda to follow.

I have always believed that extension cords are so attractive to baby kittens because they look a lot like mouse tales. This morning if you go inside my kitten room, you will not see one extension cord anywhere. A lesson learned like this, is a lesson you’ll never forget. Don’t ever underestimate the mischievousness of kittens. I know from here on in I never will again.

Mealtime-Soffit, Cricket (formerly Eave) and Gimble

Me with Soffit

Another shot of Soffit’s adorable patterned face

Meet and greet with Cricket

Gimble- note the positions of the ears-Clearly, not in a relaxed state at the moment. Not surprisingly they haven’t even been here three days.

MudBug and Cricket

With the final name change- Muddy is now MudBug-It has always been my experience that they name themselves. I was tempted to call him Mudster. (A play on Monster) because of his aggressive streak. But I also believe if you name a kitten, a negative name, they just grow into their name over time.

MudBug  is clearly a strong Alpha. He bit me this morning on my finger when I picked him up to flea-treat him. One growl was the only warning before he was latched onto my finger. (I am thankful that I recently got my tetanus updated.) His other aggressive tendencies include being the first one at the food bowl.

It’s quite interesting during feeding time because I can have the first bowl dished out. They all run to the bowl. He’s there first. All of them try to cram their head into a very small feeding bowl. What MudBug does then is he shakes his head back-and-forth so aggressively that all of them go tumbling.

I’ve had to adjust my feeding pattern and bring in the already loaded bowls on a tray and put them all down in a circle close enough together so they can feel each other around. They still run to the first bowl but at least if they run to the other bowls ithey won’t be empty. It’s  hard to figure out who’s getting how much food.they all get 1 tablespoon of this wonderful canned kitten food  3 times a day. I found this food at the local Wilco store the foodhas 89% protein! They desperately need that protein right now in their life stage The food is Open Farm kitten food-Chicken and salmon. They are large cans for $2.99 apiece.Yikes!

MudBug will immediately turn fun wrestling into a rumble in the jungle. Dropping a towel on the aggressively fighting kittens startles them apart. No one gets hurt, including me.

Although at this point in my life, these beautiful kittens are a bit of a hardship for me. I also cherish the fact that they are here. They are my therapists. Last night when I was sitting with them quietly just observing. Gimble was behind the drape and Asphalt was in front of the drape. They were chasing each other-one behind and one in front and it looked like a double shadow and they were going back-and-forth and back-and-forth it was hysterical. Of course I didn’t have my cell phone within reach and by the time I grabbed it they quit. That would’ve been a cute video.

Gimble’s talent lies in swan-diving into the water bowls. He and my bath towels are becoming fast friends. although I can multitask it’s hard to carry your cell phone and fill up water bowls at the same time. But in a few days, I hope to get lucky.

Speaking of three days, it only took the kittens 4 1/2 hours to discover and learn that the litter boxes are the best place to potty and poop. That’s pretty good for their age.

It will probably surprise no one reading this (except myself).That I am now in my cat room surrounded by major cuteness! (as you can probably tell by the photos).

When I learned the other day that the people whose roof they landed on, were not able to bring them inside for the Winter and had also planned to shore up all the openings under the house (where the kittens could actually stay warm.) I grew concerned. Their plan instead involved keeping them outside in wooden three-sided shelters on sawdust. Not providing them with straw, which would have provided the kittens with insulation  (sawdust is not insulated.)

I knew that even though the dog kennel they were staying in was huge and one side was protected by a fence and the other side was protected by the side of the house. It wouldn’t be enough for these kittens to be able to survive. Especially so since their mom would not be there to show them how to stay warm and safe.

I went home and prayed about it. I argued with myself, I wrote down the pros and cons. But I knew in my heart that these kittens were in for a very rough couple of months just to survive.

I returned to their house and offered to take the kittens and foster them until they are either adopted out or the weather got better. (Essentially until Spring) .

I know, I know, I’m nuts. But I have been in the game long enough to know what happens when well intentioned people try to do something which is out of their comfort zone or where they lack some common sense, especially when dealing with newly- born kittens.. If I had left them there, not many of them would survive. I did not want to wear that weight the rest of my life.

After I loaded the babies into a container. I stopped at Rustic Cuts to show the ladies my new arrivals. They are always telling people about my operation. I’ve gotten cat posts, cat food, cat litter, and money from their clients. I wanted them to take photos of the kitties and show them to their clients to see if they could help me find good homes.

Well, that short visit almost resulted in two instant adoptions. No home visit needed because I knew the people well. But unfortunately, the wives could not sway their husbands. So the kittens came back home with me. Before I left, both women confided-they were going to work on their men!

Right now, all the kittens “look” female.. They all look female at this age and their sex doesn’t appear until one to two weeks after their eye color changes. They have had a big day. Mama went in this morning and got spayed and she goes to her new home tomorrow. They have been uprooted from the place they have been for a little over a month. Now they have been introduced to the cat room, where they will be well-cared for spay, and neutered when they’re old enough. They will be warm and safe.

They spent about two hours hiding underneath the couch. I just wanted them to decompress so I left them completely alone except for providing them food, litter and water. I sat in there with them reading out-loud softly, getting them used to my smell and my voice. They finally came out and enjoyed a rousing game of tag. They also showed me that they have pretty bad stool right now. It’s not the right color, it smells to high heaven. I am taking a fecal and one kitten into the vet in the morning. Soffit the dark gray kitty started crashing about an hour ago. I gave her fluids, I put rubbing alcohol on her ears and her paws because she was running a fever. She sat in my lap for quite a while before she finally settled down. I’ve seen two of the other kittens having the same issue with their stool. The color is really offputting and concerning. I’m hoping it’s worms or food-related. The family was feeding them Fancy Feast Adult which is way too rich for baby kitties. So that may be why their stool smells so bad. Their stomachs can’t handle this. I made Kitty Glop for them instead.

Now they are all sleeping. Even Soffit when I took her off my lap and put her on the ground, she went over  to Mudslide (Muddy) and settled down.

They all have names now: Soffit, is the gray one, Muddy is the long-haired black, Eave is the darker Mackeral Tabby, the lighter Mackerel Tabby is Gimble.
Amur is the second black kitty- Amur could be Muddy’s twin excet for the shorter hair. They have all used the litter box. Most of them were using the floor. However, one of my many  tricks at least was successful-It only took them about two hours for Gimble  to understand that their litter pan is where they need to go potty. While Gimble was using the litterpan- three more kitties joined him. (I have found that the best litterpan for a litter of kittens is a drain pan for under the water heaters. I just put a piece of duct tape over the hole to plug it. The sides are low enough where the kitties can get into them easily. They can all fit at one time and it’s easier for them to handle then the regular litter pans.

Now it is nice and peaceful in here with everyone sleeping. So I will end with this note. If anybody would like to send me kitten, food, wet, or dry I wouldn’t be mad at it. My last donation I got, which was yesterday (before I even knew I was going to have these kittens here). I spent it all on cat litter.. (I won’t get paid for another two weeks.)

My heart is lighter tonight than it was last night, thinking about these kitties trying to survive the winters that we have here and failing through no fault of their own.

They are now up for adoption. Because I am not in control of how they’re being kept. I’m hoping they will go to new homes quickly. She has them in a warm area, but they will still be outside and we’re going to get bitterly cold soon. Unfortunately, they are not big enough yet to be spayed. They will spay at 2 pounds currently they are under that weight. anyone living in the Willamette Valley if you’re interested in adopting one of them or two of them. Please let me know.

I

there are two more but she couldn’t get a very good picture of them Due to the bad weather, we’re having. Once the rain stops, she will try again. Mom has been adopted.