daily dose of dogs (aka cats with your coffee)

That Amazing Annual GetAway

So here it is.  We are about to leave for the Land of Palm Trees.  So hard to go.  Impossible not to go.  I will worry about everybody, of course.  Twinkle in particular.  But I will go.  I have to.  I have ONE time a year when I am not working seven days a week.  I will go.  I will re-charge, relax, recuperate. 

Older Daughter worked hard to get our current three groups of foster kittens into other foster placements.  Naomi and her Nest of Newbies are going to the same home as are Twinkie and her Dessert Tray.  The Feral Five are going to a different home.  Even Vinca has a foster placement while we are gone.  All of my kennel runs will be filled with our own dogs.  Then there are cats (ours and the cathouse gang), the donkeys, Younger Daughter’s bunnies, and Arnold the Pig.  The person staying in our home this year is the same one we had last year.  He is wonderful, practically a family member.  He does a good job, but more importantly, he knows and loves ALL of our animals.

We aren’t able to take on any new fosters at this time for obvious reasons.  But on Friday, Older Daughter brought home a cat that she herself took into the shelter.  He looked so bad that she just knew he would test positive for FIV or FeLV or both.  The vet saw him just at closing time.   And she did the test.  NEGATIVE.  Whew!  Thank goodness.  She treated him for fleas, ticks (!), and ear mites. He was vaccinated and Older Daughter brought him here to get some super-duper heavy duty feeding and lovin’ for a few days before he becomes a resident of the shelter.  He is going to be absolutely stunning when he becomes healthy.  A long-haired white cat with a floofy black tail and black markings on the face.  He is scared right now, but starting to respond to love with a little purring and a little pitting.  He will return to the shelter on our way out of town.



Mindy’s commentathon (Slimmer Pugs) gifted us a donation in honor of Socks’ birthday.  Thank you Mindy.  Thank you Socks.  Thank you to everyone who went over and left a comment.  And Mindy posted a plug for my book on her blog on Friday.  Thank you AGAIN, Mindy.

I will be back to blogging (and back to Facebook) in June.  The bricks are here, so we will get to start those stories right away.  If you have a brick in this current group, would you please email me the story that goes with the brick, along with pictures if you have them. 

A heartfelt thank you to those of you who went to Amazon and wrote a review of my book.  What wonderful reviews!!  Let’s all hope those reviews encourage a few somebodies to order the book.  Please - anybody who has read the book, if you would like to post a review on Amazon, it would be greatly appreciated.  Thank you so much to those of you who already have!!

My aunt recently sent me this.

What do you think?  A gigantic, thermos mug for my coffee.  Perfect for traveling.  Thanks, Aunt Madeline.

This is where I’ll be in just a few short days. 





See you in June.  Love ya.

 

No Post Today

Out of town today.  Back tomorrow for one last post before vacation.  People - THANK YOU so much for your wonderful comments about Shaggy.  You are ALWAYS so amazing, so comforting!  See you tomorrow.

Shaggy Was Assisted to the Bridge

The vet appointment on Thursday was tough.  I can’t honestly say it was a total shock.  I had a sinking feeling about where we were with Shaggy, but I guess because it came on so quickly, I thought we still had some time.  We didn’t.

My wonderful Dr. O examined Shaggy and even before a blood test, he said we were at the end.  I knew at seventeen years old, Shaggy had outlived every other animal that has been a part of our family.  But in a matter of less than 48 hours, Shaggy went from her normal (two meals a day and lots and lots of sleeping) to NO eating, NO drinking, and a sleeping pattern that wavered between coma-like and restless.  Dr. O said this was the natural dying process.  He explained that there were no options and that this is as it should be.  Animals, apparently, are a little smarter than people in this regard.  When it’s time to go, they stop eating and drinking to move the process along.  He explained that Shaggy was dying, but that it would take a few days.  My decision was only how long to allow the dying process to go on.  She had started having diarrhea.  She had vomited three times on Thursday, each time absolutely racking that tiny little body.  And in addition to all-around organ failure, her electrolyte balance was off badly which Dr. O said would be causing a great deal of discomfort (thus the restlessness).

So there I was, standing in that examining room AGAIN, faced with another one of these decisions.  I knew I wouldn’t keep Shaggy alive to get another day or another couple of days.  I wish I had better prepared myself for the fact that Shaggy might be moving on so quickly.  Dr. O always gives me a few minutes, and as I stood alone in the room with my sweet Shaggy, the tears poured down my face.  Not because I wanted to bring Shaggy back, but because of how I would miss her.  We found Shaggy on a deserted country road when she was only a few weeks old.  She had been dumped along with four kittens.  She was the tiniest puppy I had ever seen.  She was with us her entire seventeen years.

1995

  On Thursday, the only thing Dr. O said to me was how sorry he was that I was here again, going through this again.  But on the way home, I thought back to what Dr. O had said to me when Pitter Patter left us.  It was worth repeating to myself:

 Look, Chrystal.  With numbers come probabilities.  You might need to consider that this is the way of your future.  Your own pets are aging.  And you take in young ones in terrible shape.  It isn’t going to get tons better.

I do have an aging fur family.  I can only hope that those yet to move on can do so as easily as Shaggy did.  Our other ancient one - Twinkle - has battled health problem after health problem, some that go back more than two years.  She is on four medications.  We aren’t sure how old she is because she was an adult when we found her.  That was fifteen years ago making her at least sixteen years old.  In the Winter, I said I thought she would be gone before our May vacation.  But here she is, still with us, ancient but quite happy with her life.  And little Shaggy is gone - just like that.  I wonder if Shaggy did this as a favor to me.  This would have been a nightmare had it happened while we were on vacation.  My heart dog Scroungy left for the Bridge just before vacation last year.  Maybe Shaggy afforded us that same blessing.

Five months ago, when she was still quite chipper.

Shaggy - Farewell.

 

May I Ask A Favor?

Actually, I have a couple of favors to ask of you: 

One of our ancients - Shaggy - stopped eating yesterday.  There was no food that would convince her to eat.  Fearing the worst, I called for an appointment.  Absolutely nothing has changed in her world so the anorexia is unexplainable.  Shaggy is seventeen years old.  I know what I could be looking at here.  Her appointment is this afternoon and I am hoping for good news.  At her age, however . . .  well, just keep her in your thoughts please.

Our ancient girl, Shaggy

Second, Mindy Slimmer at the Slimmer Pugs is having ANOTHER birthday commentathon over at her place.  Once again, a dollar per comment comes to us for the rescue work.  All it takes is a comment from you on her blog AND WE BENEFIT.   I hope you’ll go over and wish Miss Socks a happy 15th!   Click here.

Finally, for anyone who has read my book - would you be willing to follow Julie T’s lead and write a review of it on Amazon?  I’m sure the more reviews the better.  For people who just happen across the book online, and who don’t know me or the rescue work, it seems that hearing what other readers have to say would be helpful.   Obviously, it’s still better if I sell through Xlibris, but to be honest, I’m really excited for ANY sale through ANY bookseller.  Thank you to anyone who would be willing to write an Amazon review for me.   

Now here are some new pictures of the feral five in my office.  Wouldn’t leave you without something good for your brain.

Marble and Pearl

 

 

Bunny Boy

 

 

Duckie

 

 

Cookie

 

For a couple of weeks, I have been posting on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday.  There are some other things going on that I have to devote some time to.  Next week, however, I will be posting on Monday.  See you then.

Mega Moon on the River

By Saturday of this past weekend, I was feeling better.  A full kennel for the weekend, along with loads of fosters and all of our own was keeping me hopping.  And of course, I was catching up on lots of stuff that went by the wayside Wed thru Fri.  But my husband insisted we make time for the river on Saturday evening.  I LOVE to go down and walk the river’s edge looking for driftwood.  And Saturday night was Mega Moon night.  (Did you hear about it?  Did you go out and see it?)  We would go just before sundown, search for those perfect pieces of driftwood, and then stay to see the gigantic moon over the river.  It was a beautiful night.  Perfect for relaxing and remembering to stop and smell the roses.

When I first started blogging I included a lot of pictures of trees.  For me, trees are one of Nature’s many forms of artwork.  The willows at the river are special works of art. 

Of course a picture of the moon, no matter how mega, doesn’t do it justice.  But you might be able to see the moon’s reflection on the water in the second pic.  It was truly beautiful.




We found lots of great driftwood.  The same is true for driftwood, in my opinion, as is true for trees.  They are artwork - sculptures designed by Nature, waiting to be discovered.

Now, quite unrelated to rivers or mega moons or driftwood - here is Naomi’s Nest of Newbies.  Yep.  That’s two little Siamese ones in there.

Naomi and her Nest of Newbies

One tabby & white in the group

Ear-biting appears to be the favorite pastime

Two white and two Siamese make five

See you tomorrow.

A dose of down - Then Dessert

Last Wednesday afternoon, I quite suddenly became very tired.  I kept pushing, telling myself I’d go in for a quick break and some caffeine.  An hour later I could feel it.  The inside of my head was cloudy.  Nose beginning to drip.  Slowly, my entire body started to ache.  Oh, no.  I knew what this was.  Younger Daughter had it a few days before.  Some type of virus that, unfortunately, came with enough fever to make you feel AWFUL.  Within hours, I was down.

I got through the rest of that afternoon and evening the best I could and went to bed that night earlier than usual.  At three thirty in the morning, I woke up hurting.  Tested temp - yep, fever.  Thursday was a day of fog - get one thing accomplished, sit and stare.  One more thing, then sit and stare.  That afternoon my family pitched in where they could, but everybody was gone for the first half of the day.  So I started the morning routine, finally finished the dogs and went to my office to do cat cages.

During the night, the feral five had spilled ALL of their kitten chow out of their bowls, and then dumped their water bowl on top of that.  These cages have a deep ridge all around the perimeter of the base.  The cage part fits down into this ridge.  So the food and water had collected and floated and softened and mushed into three quarters of the ridge in the base.  You can’t leave it.  It will mold.  You can’t clean it without dismantling the entire cage. Wow.  I stood there staring at that cage for a  l-o-n-g  time.  This wasn’t the most ideal morning to have to do this.  When I finally got that very long, extra job accomplished, I got the rest of the cages cleaned and went to the house to sit for a minute.

I decided to try to collect up a little energy.  I went to the refrigerator to get orange juice.  I pushed aside a large jar of pickles so as to reach behind for the juice.  As I coaxed the pickle jar to the right, it slid into a FULL pitcher of tea.  I felt the splash on my legs before I comprehended what had just happened.  The tea pitcher hit the floor.  The tea became an immediate lake moving in all directions at once and managed to splash onto the front of the stove, the lower cabinets, the inside of the refrigerator, and my legs from the knees down.

You know how when you’re sick everything requires MUCH more effort than usual?  And if anything goes wrong at all, it feels gargantuan?  I just stood there as the tea made its way across the kitchen floor, slowing at the edges as it spread as far as it could reach.  I wanted to cry.  I tried to laugh.  Then I tried to just smile.  But I couldn’t muster either of those.  So I started telling myself “that” story - you know the one.  This isn’t serious.  Good grief.  It’s spilt tea.  NOT important.  SO many things ARE important.  This isn’t one of them.  Well of COURSE this wasn’t serious.  Looking back on it as I write this, I can chuckle.  The only reason I tell you this days after the event is because I KNOW you can relate. 

By Friday evening, I could feel myself coming back to life.  And hey, the kitchen floor got a good cleaning without there even having been any muddy paw prints. 

Jan has been working Facebook for me.  I took over a small part and tried out her instructions yesteday.  I managed to get a Winnie’s Wish kitty posted on my wall and the main Facebook page ~ would that be the timeline?  Anyway, slowly I will get it.  Again - big THANKS to Jan!

Sunny and Bright Eyes have gone to the shelter.  Frannie has gone as well.  Frannnie is using her leg now and her physical wounds have healed.  She is SO much better emotionally, too.  She was tested, and darn it - heartworm positive.  But here's the good news.  A lady has offered to take Frannie into her home while she goes through the heartworm treatment.

Now here are the pictures of the dessert tray that I had planned to post last Thursday.   Ready?  Here come your feel-good brain chemicals.

Vanilla Wafer, Gingersnap, and Orange Marmalade

                                                                          And a Marshmallow

Vanilla Wafer (Van) - boy.

                                                      Gingersnap (Ginger) - girl - has white feet.

Marshmallow (Marshall, Marsh) - boy.

                                                            Orange Marmalade (Marley) - girl.

 

Tomorrow I'll get some pictures up of Naomi's Nest of Newbies.  See you then.

No Post Today

Down with a virus.  Younger Daughter had this a few days ago.  Fever.  Sinus.  Sore throat.  Be back next week.  Thank you again, to Jan, for her GIANT help with Facebook.  And thanks to those of you who made your way over and "Liked" my book page.

Facebook

Jan took over my Facebook page and FINALLY I am there.  Oh, Jan.  THANK YOU. 

When I made the decision to go ahead and get on Facebook I was sure I could figure it out.  I knew I wouldn’t really know what I was doing at first, but heck, I have been blogging for over two years now, right?  So this Facebook thing couldn’t be THAT hard, right?         Remember who you’re talking to here.

Couldn’t do it.  Couldn’t find my way through.  Couldn’t see how to get started.  Jan was trying to help me, but between my lack of time and my lack of technological prowess, it was a lost cause.  Then Jan offered to take over for me.  Whew!  Finally - A WAY.  It’s pretty bad when the only way you can do a certain thing IS TO HAVE SOMEONE ELSE DO IT FOR YOU.  (smile)   Anyway, I am now on Facebook, with a separate page for my book.  And that is ALL thanks to Jan.

Yesterday, as I would make my way to the computer here and there, I would see lots of activity in my email inbox, all labeled Facebook.  Lots of people were “Liking” my book page which Jan tells me is the only way the page can stay.  I suspect Jan asked everybody she knew to come over and “Like” the page.  Anyway, I have continued to look at my personal page and the book page to try to understand what is happening.  I haven’t really caught on yet.  For now, I’m just reading (and resting in the knowledge that Jan has control).

Speaking of the book.  Kat (Kat & the Teenage Mutant Ninja Kitty Horde), who adopted a Winnie’s Wish kitty (her Audrey - Sparkles in my sidebar), did a really nice post about the book. 

Also - my understanding is that Andrea (Celestial Kitties) put a spot on the CB for me.  Andrea - THANK YOU.

I haven’t mentioned the book much since I first told you about it.  But I want to talk about it - or rather your response to it for a minute.  Many of you have emailed me or left comments that you bought the book.  I just want you to know how much that means to me.  You have said many nice things about the book and some of you have now purchased the book to give as a gift.  THANK YOU.  You are my continuous support system.  As I’ve said many times before, this rescue work can be a lonely business.  But I am embraced by a WONDERFUL community of fellow animal lovers.  You guys are the greatest!

The hope is that having a Facebook page about my book will bring sales.  Keep your fingers crossed.  And let’s just go ahead and hope that having Facebook will ultimately bring us more homes - more loving, wonderful, forever homes for the Winnie’s Wish kitties in the cathouse.

Now.  I wouldn’t leave you with a post about only Facebook.  Everybody needs a brain boost of feel-good chemicals.  So here are the most recent pictures of the feral five.  (The dessert tray tomorrow.)

             Cookie (you’ve already seen this picture, but I don’t have any other good ones.)

                      Duckie

Bunny Boy (Started calling this one Bunny before I found out he was a boy, so the name has now morphed into Bunny Boy.)

Either Marble or Pearl.  They look a lot alike, but one is a girl (Pearl) and the other a boy (Marble).

Bunny Boy and Duckie together.  It’s been interesting - Marble and Pearl are continuously together.  Bunny Boy and Duckie are a pair.  Little Cookie has been hanging out with Bright Eyes and Sunny.  SO cute!!

See you tomorrow.

The First Day of May

Wow.  It seems like ages since I blogged.  It was only last Thursday, but ALOT of stuff can happen here in four days.  I really really like to share good things with people.  If you think about it (and I definitely have), we have been experiencing alot of good lately.  No deaths.  No deep suffering.  No hanging on the edge.  I keep reminding myself to be grateful and to drink in the good. 

With that, I can VERY happily report that our Gideon never got any worse.  It is still a mystery, but that’s OK.  The strange temperature ups and downs are not currently occurring, and there were never any other symptoms except that Gideon’s wobble got a little worse.  It seems to have locked in at this new level, but our bobble-head beagle seems to be doing fine despite that.



A basketful of kittens went back to the shelter.  These were kittens who had been here since birth and it was hard to let them go.  But Older Daughter reports that they are in the “Kitten Area” at the shelter, running, bouncing, playing, and “being on display”.  Pickles (who was discovered in a wall and had been living in our bathroom) went too.  He is enjoying the company of lots of other kittens.

Quick note to Jeanne (Random Felines).  Jeanne, you mentioned in a comment that you never got to see the kitten that you named.  For other people reading this, Jeanne wanted to name one of Paris’ Packages.  She wanted to name somebody “Ribbon”.  (I know. Perfect, right?)  So just before we sent the basketful of kittens to the shelter, we looked to see which of Paris’ kittens were females in order to christen one of them “Ribbon”.  There were two "ribbon-ish" tabbies in the group and we thought the name Ribbon would fit one of them nicely.  Nope.  Both boys.  Turns out ONLY ONE of Paris’ kittens was a girl - the little tortie.  So Jeanne - here’s your girl.  (We named one of the boys “Bo”.  Get it? - Packages, Ribbon, Bo . . .  )

                                                             That's Ribbon right in the middle.

Three of Beatrice’s kittens stayed behind - Sunny and Bright Eyes because they refuse to eat dry kitten chow.  But another little kitten stayed behind because we were pretty sure she had a home.  Well, she went to that home yesterday.  Yay!!

                                                                       Somebody DID pick me!

More good news.  Rascal (the dog my rescue friend Mere Lyn saved) has been staying in my kennel with the hope that Mere Lyn could get him onto a transport north.  Well, he was accepted into a northern facility and he left last night.  Rascal, I wish you a WONDERFUL forever home.

Now some news about some Winnie’s Wish kitties who happen to be celebrating “birthdays” this first day of May.  Let me send you over to *Cat’s Cats to wish Kip (Bagheera in my sidebar) a very happy birthday.  Cat, you know, has adopted TWO Winnie’s Wish kitties - Kip and Jimmy (Ash in my sidebar).  Cat hails from Canada, so it is a truly amazing thing to be able to report that she adopted TWICE from us!!

And please stop by *The Slimmer Pugs to wish Golden a happy birthday.  Golden and Percy just went to the Slimmer household and joined a previous Winnie’s Wish adoption kitty - Luna.  So that’s THREE Winnie’s Wish kitties in the Slimmer home.  Mindy has been having comment-a-thons to celebrate kitty birthdays with the donations coming to Winnie’s Wish, so do please leave a comment for sweet little Golden.  (It helps US!)  Also - we received a special toy in the mail from Miss Mindy - an “Undercover Mouse”.  We are about to try it out in the cathouse.  It’s definitely time for a cathouse party.


I’m working on Facebook.  Jan (Milo & Alfie) has been sending me emails with instructions.  I am finding it difficult to devote enough time to get it all set up, but I will prevail.  This is one of the things the publishing company wants me to do.  And several of you have been insisting I enter the world of Facebook for the benefit of the rescue work (adoptions, bricks, the book).  I will keep chipping away and I’ll keep you posted on how things are going.  Jan is going to direct everybody to a special page I am trying to create that will highlight the book.  She says it has to get a certain number of “Likes” before the page can stay.  I don’t understand any of this, but she has assured me that she can make this happen in the blogosphere.  I COMPLETELY trust that she can. 

May is the month that we shut down the kennel and take our one and only break from all that goes on here.  As always, I am looking forward to this trip with everything in my being.  But I’m also completely dreading it.  The work required to be ready to leave will create the need for a vacation to recover from the preparation for the vacation.  And as I’ve said before, I have to get several hours down the road on that first day before I stop agonizing about all of the animals I have left behind.  Eventually, though, I do relax.  It is a desperately needed respite from all that goes on the other fifty one weeks of the year.  As in the past, I will probably take you with me over the next few weeks into my partial descent into madness.  Chaos is a regular visitor here, but during the first half of May, it gets much more intense.

Tomorrow we continue this gorgeous month of May.  See you then. 

My Office

The five little ferals are not currently getting the kind of attention they need to start coming out of their “feral-ness”.  My office is quite crowded cozy with the three large cages.  It takes me a VERY long time in the mornings to do the big daily cleaning of those cages and the office.  And that is only one tiny corner in my world.  But things are about to change.  Beatrice, Paris, the Babies, and the Packages are leaving for the shelter tomorrow.  I can only hope with all my heart that they will go to wonderful forever homes. 

My office will be reduced to two cages.  Two? you ask.  Well, the feral five will remain in their cage and three of The Twelve are staying with me for a bit longer.  Bright Eyes and Sunny still don’t eat dry food.  They drink formula from a bowl now, and they will eat canned food.  But the shelter won’t accommodate them in that fashion.  So they will stay behind.  The plan is to work with the ferals more and to work with Sunny and Bright Eyes to get them eating dry kitten chow.  The third of Beatrice’s kittens who is staying behind is one that a boarder of mine may want to adopt.  These are not my kittens to adopt out.  They are registered with the shelter.  But one of my boarders picked up her dog and her daughter fell in love with this particular kitten.  If they are still interested, I will keep this little gal here until a day can be arranged for Older Daughter to take her to the shelter to go immediately into the arms of a new family.

The little ferals are two marble tabbies, an orange, a yellow, and a calico.  I noticed a few days ago that the little calico (she is the smallest in the litter) was always sitting hunched over.  She also sat away from the other four.  I picked her up and looked her over, and there is a knot where the umbilical cord would have been.  I sent her with Older Daughter on Monday to be seen by the shelter vet.  She is on a tiny dose of antibiotic.  She is the only one in that litter who won’t eat dry kitten chow, so she is receiving a different diet (like Sunny and Bright Eyes are). 

With the current nineteen felines in my office, it has been difficult to give any special attention to any particular one.  Sunny and Bright Eyes have received some extra attention because we were so sure that we could lose either or both of them at any point.  Beginning tomorrow, I will be down to eight little kittens in my office.  Now the taming of the ferals can begin.  Hopefully, we will get those guys shelter-ready soon because there are two more sets of kittens still in the maternity ward (the Desserts and the Newbies) who will eventually move into the office when they are at the romping stage.

Here they are - the remaining office kittens.  The pictures of the ferals are from the first day they were here.  They look a little better now.
 






This one spent the day at the shelter on Monday (in order to see the vet).   Someone gave her a name for the folder.  Cookie.

Now here are the three of The Twelve who are staying behind for a while longer. 

The little gray one may have a home.

                                                                                           Sunny.


Bright Eyes.




                                                                I think somebody picked me.


It is a total joy that Sunny survived.

                                                  Double that joy that Bright Eyes made it, too.



Have a great Friday, Weekend, and Monday.  See you on Tuesday.