daily dose of dogs (aka cats with your coffee)

Analeigh and Evers

I am writing again with sad news.  I sure wish I wasn’t.  This time, I seriously did not feel like writing.  But I have never failed to write a blog post for one of my sweet fur babies at their passing.  Today I will be writing about two.  Forgive me if I don’t write at length.  I’m mentally/emotionally tired.  I just want to pay tribute to two sweethearts who have been in my life for years.

 

the last time the two of them sat on my lap together

 

Analeigh lived a long life here.  She came as a tiny kitten; I fostered her and the group she came in with.  Younger Daughter fell in love and we kept her.  Then when Younger moved out, Ana was supposed to go with her.  But Ana loved it here and she was pretty attached to me so she stayed. 

Ana has been losing weight for months now.  She was 15 years old.  There was nothing wrong with her that could be diagnosed.  Her body had just finally worn down. 

 

 

 

Evers came as an older kitten who literally just showed up in my yard.  He had bobcat fever, a disease many cats don’t survive.  He did survive, but he has been plagued with various health conditions his whole life.  Over the years, he conquered each condition.  About six months ago he started having breathing issues.  Asthma was the diagnosis but it didn’t always act like asthma.  He was able to cope without any medication initially.  Then he started needing asthma medication; unfortunately, it never seemed to help much.  About a month ago, the vet listened to his lungs and said they sounded clear.  Yet he was having even more trouble breathing.   There is no way to know for sure, but maybe this was yet another complication of having been SO sick as a kitten.   His medication was increased (doubled) to no avail.  Anyway – his breathing became so labored that he could no longer eat or drink, he couldn’t walk through the house or even sleep without struggling for every breath.  So I assisted him to The Bridge.  He was eleven years old.

 

 

 

Analeigh and Evers – FAREWELL.

 

I don’t get around to writing here much anymore so let me take this opportunity to end this post with something positive.  mr and her husband adopted Felicity (Frosting) and Hershey from me eleven years ago.  Every year on their Gotcha Day anniversary, they send a gift to Winnie’s Wish.  Getting supplies is even more precious now than ever before.  Thank you so much mr and husband for this very needed and very appreciated gift and for giving such a wonderful life to two Winnie’s Wishers.

 

mr says the gift this year is also in memory of Andrea and Tinkerbell

 

 

Hershey

 

 

Felicity

 

 

 

A Quick Thank You

I wish I could have posted this last week.  We have been in the middle of a nightmare.  Younger Daughter had her baby at the end of February and she has been in the hospital ever since.  Things have been really bad several times over.  So getting on the computer was the last thing on my mind.

But I need to give some thanks to some folks.  Winnie’s Wish has received another Paypal gift in memory of Andrea.  I want to say again how much this is appreciated.  Of course because Winnie’s Wish needs these gifts so much.  But also because I KNOW that Andrea smiles every time a gift comes here in her memory.  I was SO lucky to have Andrea’s amazing support for Winnie’s Wish.

Midori – THANK YOU.

 

Winnie’s Wish also received this gift of supplies. 

 

Jessica – THANK YOU.  (Would you please email me.  I don’t know you and I want to thank you personally and also find out for sure if your gift was in memory of Andrea.  ([email protected])

 

Also, thank you for all of the kind comments I received on the loss of little Wisher Tinekerbell.  I appreciate you all more than you’ll ever know.

 

Tinkerbell

I lost a Wisher a couple of weeks ago.  At the end of my Valentine’s post I said that I would be sharing this loss on the blog the next week.  But then – I lost my dear friend Andrea.  Time sort of stood still for a bit there.  Andrea always knew about any little souls who had moved on to the Rainbow Bridge before I wrote my Farewell posts to them.  We were in contact so much that she was always informed of any kitties about to move on.  She did not, however, know about Tinkerbell.  During the time that I was losing Tink, Andrea was in the hospital.  Then Andrea moved on herself.  I wrote about that last week.

Before I write about Tinkerbell, let me thank two more people who have sent a paypal gift to Winnie’s Wish in memory of Andrea.

Terry – THANK YOU.

Mary – THANK YOU.

As I said in last week’s post, I know the two of you just made Andrea smile.

I want to also say thank you to everyone who emailed me and who left messages on the blog and on Facebook.  I appreciate your condolences so very much.  It will be a long time before my broken heart mends.

 

I will dedicate this week to my little princess Tinkerbell.  What a little doll she was!

Some of you might remember the stories on this blog about the abandoned hotel in Florida that my family and I discovered while on vacation.  I became involved with some rescuers in the area, and I even ended up with some of those “hotel” cats.  Cheryl is the wonderful person I was in contact with the most.  And one year, when I had space at Winnie’s Wish, Cheryl trapped three kitties at the hotel and between the two of us we were able to get them on a transport from Florida all the way to me.  You can read that story in these two posts:  the Florida hotel cats and Florida hotel cats (conclusion).

 

Tinkerbell and Peter Pan in my bathroom when they first arrived here

 

 

 

Cheryl named these guys Quinn, Peter Pan, and Tinkerbell.  Peter Pan and Tinkerbell were brother and sister from the same litter.  They were all three feral, but Quinn ended up adjusting well over the years and Peter Pan and Tink were young enough that I felt sure I could tame them.  They did come around and I hoped they would be chosen for adoption.  At one point, Tinkerbell was one of two Wishers that was being considered for adoption.  The other cat was chosen and Tink stayed here.  Looking back, I’m really glad it worked out that way.  She ended up being a true joy in my life.

Peter Pan died at the age of 3 years from what I was told by the vet was probably a congenital kidney disease.  This made it likely that Tink, as the biological sibling, could succumb as well.  But Tinkerbell lived to be 11 ½ years old.  It was still kidney disease that took her life in the end.  But she lived a great life here during those years.  Tinkerbell and Peter Pan lived together until his death at such a young age.  After that, Tinkerbell didn’t really have a bond with another cat.  She did, however, get along fine with everybody.  Then Theo came along and for some strange reason, these two hit it off.  They have been roommates (in their kitty condo) ever since.  I’ve described the kitty condos here before.  They are dog runs in my kennel that I have converted to cat areas.  There is an indoor area and an outdoor area for each run.  The cats who live in these kitty condos LOVE them.  They can be inside or outside any time they wish.  (Of course, all of the cats here have access to outdoor areas – the cathouse has an outdoor deck for each room.)  What I can say about Tinkerbell is what is true of all of the Wishers.  She would nearly break her neck to get to a hiding place when anyone other than me came into her world.  But she sure did love me.  And I loved her.  Of all of the Wishers, there have been two who pour out more love onto me than all of the others.  Tinkerbell was one of those two.  We had a whole ritual which I called our “love fest” each morning and each evening.  This sweet baby would run and jump to a certain shelf on her one of her cat trees and start meowing and reaching out for me.  I would pet and pet and pet and we would talk to each other and when I would finally start trying to move on, she would grab me with one or both paws to get just a little more attention.

 

 

Tinkerbell died on February 12.  This is a picture from the next to last day she was with me. 

 

I was so lucky that she could die at home.  The Wishers are feral-background cats and any time they can stay here – in the only home they’ve known – it’s a blessing.  

I sure miss those love fests with my sweet little girl.

Tinkerbell – Farewell.

 

Andrea

As most of you know by now, Andrea passed away this past Friday morning.  She has been battling health problems for a while.  The holidays were especially rough for her with a couple of bouts in the hospital.  Then she went back into the hospital the very end of January.  Because she had been hospitalized before, I never dreamed for one minute that she would not come out of the hospital.  The only word I can use to describe my shock at this turn of events is “devastated.”  I was not entirely sure I could write about this yet.  I’ve told you all that when I lose one of my furry family members (Wishers included), writing about the loss has always helped me.  As you might imagine, however, this is certainly not the case with a person, a friend, my Andrea. I feel like I’m in the depths of grief.  But I also know that I am not the only one who loves Andrea and that anyone who reads here knows Andrea because she’s been a part of this blog (and my work) for years and years and years.  So I know I need to pay tribute to this wonderful person.   Here.   On this blog.   Now.

It was because of this blog that Andrea and I met.  I started blogging in March of 2010.  In March of 2011, I received my first emails from Andrea.  She was interested in adopting a Wisher.  Here is text from the post I wrote on this blog (Mar 2011):

Leo has been chosen!  I have been emailing with Andrea for a few days now.  She and her husband have decided to adopt Leo into their family.   I first heard from Andrea via a comment she left on the blog.  Her comment was intriguing, alluding to the possibility of adoption.  So I emailed her.  Some time later, I received another comment on the blog from her, this time she asked me to please email her.  So I did - again.  Finally, last week, Andrea left me another comment.  I sent yet a third email and, tah - dah .  .  .  .  she got it!  My emails must have been going to her junk mail or something.  Anyway, that first email that she received from me was the beginning of a dialogue about her strong connection to Leo.  She had only just discovered this blog about a month before we took in the feral litter.  She has been in love with Leo since she first laid eyes on him.

Andrea has had cats her entire life, and she has dealt with the more timid, scared type.  She assures me that Leo will have all the time he needs to adjust.  He has come around so nicely here, but he does have that feral background.  Leo will be given all the love and time he needs to become a member of this family.  We are emailing now concerning a transport day and arrangements.  What a glorious thing to have happen!  I know all of you get nearly as excited as I do when an adoption comes through.

. . .  And that was the beginning of a 13-year relationship.  The rest is history.  For anyone who has been reading this blog since the beginning, you know that once Andrea and I connected, things only got better and better.  She adopted Leo.  She started a blog of her own (Celestial Kitties).  She left wonderful and supportive comments on my blog.  She eventually adopted TWO MORE Wishers – two kitties who had unfortunately been adopted initially by someone else and then neglected.  I was lucky to find out and to get them back.  And Andrea took them into her home.  Leo, Glitter and Cashmere were three very lucky kitties!  But even beyond adopting three Wishers, you all know that Andrea became THE biggest cheerleader that Winnie’s Wish has ever had.  She was constantly shouting our name and encouraging people to support this rescue.  And then there were her auctions.  Wow, I mean Wow!!!!!  She poured her time, energy, and love into those auctions.  She brought in funds for Winnie’s Wish over and over again.  There has been no greater friend to Winnie’s Wish than Andrea!

 

 

If that was everything, it would be enough for this tribute blog post.  But it went MUCH deeper.  Over the years, Andrea and I became the best of friends.  All of those years ago we emailed mostly about cats.  But we soon started sharing little bits and pieces of our lives with each other.  That only grew and grew and grew.  Before long, we were sharing nearly everything in our lives with each other.  Long emails.  The occasional phone call.  And in recent years, texting for every reason and for no reason at all. 

Andrea and I have been married to our husbands for nearly the same length of time.  We shared with each other about our husbands, and I have to say – we have both been lucky to have the husbands that we have.  I have mentioned Andrea’s husband Greg on this blog, mostly in association with her auctions.  It became a standing joke that Greg didn’t know how to “round up” properly when they sent the auction funds to Winnie’s Wish.  Somehow, he would always round too far up and the funds raised would grow due to the insistence of Greg that he and Andrea add to the take.  I’ve always loved Greg for that.  His generosity was deeply appreciated.  And now I worry about him so much. 

I was, of course, in touch with the family in Andrea’s final days.  But it wasn’t until the night before she passed that I came to the realization that she might not come back from this.  I was informed on the morning of her death about 50 minutes after she passed.  I felt like the life had been sucked out of me.  I’ve spent the ensuing days thinking about and missing Andrea so much.  It’s hard to imagine that I’ll never get another call, email, or text from her. 

If this is so devastating for me, I cannot imagine what her family must be going through.  I send them peace, and strength, and my love.  To Greg.  To the rest of her family.  And to Leo (Andrea’s heart cat) and Glitter and Cashmere.  (Her kitties loved her so much and she loved them with all of her heart.)

Andrea will NEVER be forgotten.  Those of us who knew her knew a genuine, compassionate, and caring individual.  I only hope my broken heart will begin to heal at some point.  I will literally miss her until we meet again. 

My dear dear Andrea – Farewell.

 

One final note.  Winnie’s Wish received two paypal gifts - one from someone I’ve never even spoken to, a friend of Andrea’s sister.  The gifts are in memory of Andrea. 

Jill – THANK YOU. 

Dee – THANK YOU.

I KNOW you just made Andrea smile.

 

 

 

Happy Valentine's Day

 

Wanted to wish everybody a Happy Valentine's Day.  I have, however, some sad news from Winnie's Wish.  I will post next week about the most recent Wisher who has gone to the Rainbow Bridge.

 

 

Duos and Trios

My animals are constantly being cute and entertaining.  I find them in pairs and groups of three all the time.  Most of the time I don’t snap a picture, but sometimes I must – because the cute factor is just way too high.  Some of these guys are my own family members.  Some are Winnie’s Wishers.  All of them are just way too cute.

 

Here are two of mine IN the grandbaby's bassinet - Enoch and Pipes

 

 

A trio of Wishers - Pippin, Gandolf, and Smokey

 

 

Another trio of Wishers - Blue, Binks, and Kizzie

 

 

Annie and Arnold

 

 

Wishers Finnick and Slate

 

 

Binks and Blue

 

 

Family members Rolly and Arby

 

 

Rolly and Arby

 

Oops! That's a trio of beds, but not a trio of animals.

 

This next group of pictures cracks me up.  This is from four different days.

 

Cole, Soft Kitty, and Raven

 

Raven, Soft Kitty, and Cole

 

Soft Kitty, Cole, and Raven

 

Raven, Cole, and Soft Kitty

 

Duos and trios of some of these great animals here in my life!

Hope you and yours are having a great January!

 

Here’s to a New Year of Peace

 

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas.  Ours was delightful!  Winnie’s Wish was blessed with gifts from some beautiful Friends.

 

June, I know there’s another case on the way but wanted to get this into today’s post.

June – THANK YOU.

 

 

Most of this gift is specialty food that is so expensive but needed every day for some of the Wishers.

 Beth and Mike – THANK YOU.

 

 

 

mr and husband and Felicity and Hershey – THANK YOU.

 

Also Heather THANK YOU  for the Christmas card and gift.

 

Happy New Year to you all!

 

 

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays

Andrea is home and doing better.  It was nice that so many of you commented about her.

 

I want to thank Karen for her paypal gift.  It’s a huge financial responsibility caring for the cats of Winnie’s Wish and I’m deeply grateful for the help.

Karen - THANK YOU.

 

Also Annie - THANK YOU for your card and gift.

 

A reader of this blog emailed me and asked me to post my Christmas Cat story.  I know you have all read it in the past.  But it really is a great story for Christmas.  You can read it here.

 

I'll leave you with a couple of pictures of our Christmas season.  I start with a picture of our tree - if you'll notice, there are no real gifts beneath our tree.  That's because the cats tear the paper, shred it actually.  So I have the lighted glass block "gifts" until actual gift-giving time. 

 

 

 

 

 

I wish all of you wonderful holidays and peaceful times with your furry family members.  And here’s to a New Year filled with love and peace.  We can keep hoping. 

 

 

 

Gifts

Let me start this post with a thank you to everyone who left such kind comments about the loss of our Amelia.  Your comments were truly gifts   She’d been here so long.  It’s very strange for her to not be here.  I found a picture of her from Christmas 2015.  It made me sad.  And it made me smile.

 

 

Speaking of gifts.  I’m sure many of you have noticed that Andrea has not put on her Holiday Auction to benefit Winnie’s Wish.  Andrea has recently been in the hospital and she is struggling to feel better.  Many of you know Andrea.  She is a wonderful person who has literally helped keep Winnie’s Wish up and running over the years.  She’s done too many auctions to count.  Her auctions bring in lots of money that helps me keep going.  She’s been such a part of Winnie’s Wish for so long and she is a DEAR friend.  Please keep Andrea in mind at this time of year when she is usually working herself to death with an auction (SO much work).  She’s such a good person and I know you join me in wishing her well!

 

Now let me share my gratitude for some gifts that arrived via Paypal for Winnie’s Wish. 

William – THANK YOU.

Pam – THANK YOU.

William and Pam – you can’t imagine how much your gifts are appreciated.

 

Finally, let me share my gratitude for the gift that arrived here Monday.  Gifts don’t come like they used to and without Andrea’s holiday auction, all gifts are even more needed and so deeply appreciated. Maria is a friend and long-time supporter of Winnie’s Wish.

 

Maria – THANK YOU.

 

Hope your holiday season is bright and magical.  See you soon.

 

Amelia

I wrote this in March of 2010:

I'm up early in the mornings.  I stagger into the kitchen, get some breakfast, and put on the coffee.  Amelia immediately joins me on the kitchen counter to see if she can assist me in buttering my toast.  How about playing with the vitamins when I dump them onto the counter - surely I would want to play this game with her.  When that doesn't work, she walks around looking for Tory (one of our older cats), and tries hard to annoy her.  Tory is annoyed with Amelia - always.  But she doesn't get annoyed enough to make it interesting.  So Amelia comes and checks to see how far along I have gotten in the breakfast routine.  If the butter is put away, she balances on the edge of the kitchen sink and stares down at the dishes.  Sometimes the water drips into a bowl or cup and this is amazing and entertains Amelia for some time.  If the faucet isn't dripping, she watches the dishes anyway.  You can never be sure.  Sometimes a lady bug dive-bombs one of the dishes.  Sometimes sitting on the edge long enough allows the aroma from the butter knife to waft up and lure her in.  And it's only a matter to time before I'm over there by the coffee pot, messing around pouring things from hot, hissing, scary equipment.  Now she knows she can follow me to the computer and walk on the keyboard while I try to check my email during my daily love affair with my coffee.

Her story is the first one I wrote about on this blog and in my book, so many years ago.  If you remember her story, you can just skip the next several paragraphs.

Last fall (this would have been November 2010) my 19 year old daughter was driving home from her night class at the community college.  She had stopped at the one intersection in an otherwise remote area to wait for two cars to pass.  As the second car approached, she watched as a cat jumped into its path.  The car hit the cat, and she was thrown to the side of the road.  My daughter feared the worst, but hurried over to make sure the cat wasn't somehow still alive and suffering.  What she found broke her heart. 

The cat was lying on the shoulder of the road, still alive but barely breathing.  She knew she couldn't leave her there.  She ran back to her car and got a towel.  (We all keep towels in our vehicles for this very reason.)  She pulled the cat onto the towel, put her on the passenger seat, and started home.  She called to tell me what was going on.  My younger daughter and I met her at the door, and we put this little cat on a folded blanket in the bathroom.  We knew, of course, that she wouldn't live.  She appeared unconscious.  She was breathing, but it was shallow and labored.  We expected the end within minutes.  But at least she was not lying on pavement in the dark and in the cold.  My daughters sat with her, speaking softly to her.  We put two lightweight blankets over her little cold body to try to keep her warm.  We had seen animals in this condition a few times, and all we hoped for was to make her comfortable until she let go.  She seemed to be fading away rapidly.  But at 4:30am, when I peaked in, she was still breathing.  I ran to her side, and when I crouched down to speak to her, she attempted a cry which ended up being a gurgle.  I felt the rush of hope and panic hit all at once. 

I ran to the phone and put in a call to the vet.  Of course, it was voice mail, but they would get back to me.  And they did.  By 8:00am, my daughters and I were on our way to the vet.  We were guarded.  We didn't know what kind of internal injuries we were looking at.  It was entirely likely that the vet would say she couldn't be saved.  After examination, we were told that it appeared that the injuries were only to the head.  Her mouth and sinuses were damaged.  It was possible that her jaw was broken but there was too much swelling to be sure.  She couldn't breathe well because of all the facial trauma.  The vet said we could give it a try.  We were ecstatic.  We left her, hoping for the best, but trying not to get our hopes up too high. 

Two days later, we picked her up, named her Amelia, and made her part of our family.  The vet said she was very young and way too thin.  She needed to eat, but her mouth wouldn't close all the way.  She also still couldn't breathe well.  We fed her three to four times a day - a sort of porridge made of special canned food mixed with warm water.  She sort of lapped it up (and then had to be cleaned up).  We had to squirt a saline solution into both sides of her nose three times a day and she was on pain medication for a while and antibiotic.  For days and days, she seemed shocked that we were there, talking to her, caring for her, loving her.  Slowly, she began to heal.  She can completely close her mouth now. Her jaw wasn't broken after all.  She did lose some teeth on one side.  Her nose is crooked to this day, and she doesn't breathe perfectly.  But she is healthy and happy and constantly into something.  Looking at Amelia reminds us that every now and then, you get to witness a little miracle.  

Amelia died this past Wednesday.  She was at least 15 years old.  She died of organ failure.  I cared for Amelia like a hospice nurse for the last few days of her life.  My huge concern, of course, was suffering.  I never want any of the animals in my care to suffer.  But I was able to keep her comfortable right up until the end.  Amelia died curled up in her bed, and she’s buried with all of the many many animals who’ve called our place home over the years.  She had been with us for 14 years.  I miss her so much.  But I’m extremely grateful that she didn’t appear to suffer.

 

One of the last pictures I took of her, in a little box she loved to squeeze into

 

 

Amelia – Farewell.