photo of the day

Newfound baby, and a follow up

/ Re-Farmer / 3 Comments

I have been avoiding going into the pump shack for the past while, because I was pretty sure there was a litter in there, and didn’t want to disturb the mama. They tend to move their litters further away when that happens.

Last night, I figured it was long enough to check things out.

Look what I found!

I only saw one, but could hear others. This one looks a lot like most of Rosencrantz’s babies, except smaller. Which makes it pretty clear who the daddy is! I’ve been calling him Sad Face, because he has this permanent tragic expression. I found out recently the girls have another name for him.

Shop Towel.

Because he is the daddy of Tissue…

*face palm*

Given the size of the kittens, I decided to bring one of the kibble trays over. I was going to leave it in front of the hole at the bottom of the pump shack door, but it was still raining and the roof overhang isn’t enough to keep it dry. So I tucked it inside for now.

I still think there is at least one more litter we haven’t seen yet, either in the collapsing log building or the threshing machine, near the fire pit. All I heard was maternal “mama is here” type noises, though, not kitten noises.

Being born so late in the year, these babies are going to be at much higher risk over the winter, no matter how many shelters we provide for them. Hopefully, we will be in the area expected to have a mild winter this year, rather than the area expected to have exceptionally cold temperatures. We’re in a sort of ambiguous border between the two areas, and the lake effect can change things dramatically.

On another note, my brother is taking the roofing estimates to my mother today. I pray my mother will actually follow through with her promise to pay for a new roof, and not choke once she sees the numbers and back off, as she has in the past. She still thinks things should cost what they did, 50 years ago. I well remember how, as part of our deal to move out here, she agreed to pay for the movers, only to try to back off when it came time to actually fork over the cash. Even when she finally did, she refused to pay the full amount, and my brother was kind enough to cover the balance. My mother can be very cruel and manipulative. My brother has already told her that if she starts doing that sort of thing again, he will not put up with it, and will stop the process completely. The last thing we need is to hire a company to do the roof, only to have her refuse to pay after it’s done. Neither my brother nor I can afford to cover the cost if she does that sort of thing again.

If she does follow through, we are looking to have the roof done in November. Which would be so amazing. I am afraid to hope it will get done, though. I’ve got too many knives stuck in my back as it is.

The Re-Farmer

A puddle of fur

/ Re-Farmer / 5 Comments

After doing my evening rounds yesterday, I spent some time in the sun room, being violently cuddled by two kittens.

Other kittens were not so aggressive in their cuddles.

Of the three in the box, only one of them is socialized, though the calico does sometimes let us pet it.

I’ve found at many of six kittens shmushed together on the pillow in that box, including some of the oldest, biggest kittens squished in with the smaller ones!

What an adorable puddle of fur.

The Re-Farmer

From above

/ Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

With the cooler nights, I finally closed my bedroom window yesterday.

This was more complex than normal.

The cats like to sit on the window ledge, but with the window open, they could attack anything that blew or flew by. Nosencrantz in particular was getting very destructive. Even when I got the window fan and set it up, she kept trying to get at the window, knocking the fan down. I had cord running through the handle, and more across the window, to keep the fan from being pushed off the ledge, but she would jam herself in behind. I finally had to grab some of the old window screens we used for drying mind leaves, needing 2 of them to cover the window and the fan, along with a cut-to-size piece of 2 inch Styrofoam between the top of the fan and the top of the window sill. She still kept clawing at the screens (which, thankfully, we metal mesh and stronger than the window’s screen). I had to come up with a rather elaborate barricade to block access to the window, and still allow air flow and use of the fan. That included creating a barricade around the shelf near the window she likes to curl up in, because she would actually pull one of the screens out of position.

I was able to take the fan down a while ago, but still had to keep the barricades. Nosencrantz was very, very determined!

To finally close the window, I had to remove cords, that piece of Styrofoam and the extra screens. Then, once the window could finally be closed, I had to remove its screen and tuck it behind the other ones to further protect it. Then I could finally move away the barricade around the shelf.

Which meant that Nosencrantz could now access the top of the shelf again.

This is what I get to see, now.

She has such and expression. Like she’s analyzing, and trying to figure things out.

The Re-Farmer

Morning kitties

/ Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

The cattens were out in full force this morning.

The oldest of this year’s litters are almost adult size now. The cat with the plaid pattern on its back is one of the mamas.

Sadly, the older they are, the hard it is to socialize them. 😟

The Re-Farmer

I give up. A bit

/ Re-Farmer / 4 Comments

As I was finishing up my evening rounds, I noticed this mama.

Well, that explains why I keep finding the netting pushed in at that spot!

What was really funny, though, we seeing this as I was going in through the sun room.

It’s a kitty hammock!

At least it’s not touching the ground. The spinach is struggling to grow, and the first seeds I’d planted had germinated, only to get flattened by cats. They did not recover. The second sowing is coming up, but very slowly. The netting is the only thing protecting them from being rolled on by kitties!

The Re-Farmer

I touched some babies! Plus a Leyendecker update. And Updated

/ Re-Farmer / 1 Comment

Three of five…

The grey and white and orange and white kittens were hungry enough to come over and eat, while I was still there. I paid attention to Rosencrantz, who basically just sniffs my outreached hand, maybe gives it a head pump, then tries to bight my fingers.

When the grey and white clambered into the food dish and ignored me, I was able to pet it. It eventually noticed, looked at me, but didn’t leave. It was similar with the orange and white. The tortie eventually came over and climbed into the bowl, too. I was able to pet it a bit before it realized what was happening, and started to run off.

The other two were apparently not as hungry. One stayed on the other side of the chain link fence, snoozing. The other sat in the grass nearby and watched me, but that’s it.

Being able to touch any of them is huge progress, though!

On another, less cheerful note…

Leyendecker is not getting better.

I don’t think he’s getting worse, but that’s not good, either.

He keeps trying to pee and has the littlest dribbles, but that’s it. He has been yowling and complaining. He’s also getting ticked off at being give his meds twice a day and becoming less cooperative. He is also not eating much. Of course, once the meds kick in, he basically just sleeps, but it would be good if the muscle relaxants would give him a chance to pee, first!

I hadn’t heard from the cat lady in a while. I know she’s been in and out of the hospital, so I didn’t want to bother her. I did send a message to her today – and she has a blocked cat, too! He’s in the hospital now. Her bill has already been more than twice what ours was. When her cat’s catheter was removed, he immediately blocked again, so he’s been transferred has been put under for a larger catheter. As in, it’s being done right now, as I’m writing this! 😟 Poor baby!

As for our situation, I’ve called the clinic and the doctor will call me back today. The vet that worked on Leyendecker has the second shift, so she came in later. The problem is, the bill has already pretty much wiped out my daughter’s savings. If he ends up needing another catheter and overnight stays, we just can’t do it. The alternative it to have him put down, and that is a very real possibility. It’s not just about immediate costs, but that he would likely end up having permanent kidney damage and being on meds and a special diet for the rest of his life. It’s hard enough to pay for our own meds, never mind for a cat, too. And how could we keep him on a special diet, separate from the other cats? Having him isolated in my room now is only adding to his stress. He wants out, and the more uncomfortable he is physically, the more he wants out. Add to that, he’s started going after both Nosencrantz and Butterscotch. I’ve already had to break up a couple of fights.

It’s not a good situation.

Well. We’ll see how the call with the vet goes.

Poor Leyendecker.

The Re-Farmer

Update: I just got off the phone with the vet.

I told her what was going on with Leyendecker and we talked about his meds. Sometimes, they just don’t respond to them. She didn’t even suggest bringing him back in. With no crystals in his urine, and how well he voided once the catheter was in, that’s not the issue. The block is muscle spasms at the tip of the urethra. The muscle relaxants should be doing the job, but they’re not, and they can’t just keep putting in catheters.

There is a surgical option. I’d read about it while doing research, so I was already aware of it. It is to open the urethra higher up, essentially making him anatomically female. However, it’s a bloody surgery, and is not without risk. It can result in both urinary and fecal incontinence (she’s actually had that happen after one of her surgeries). He would be at increased risk of UTIs, and there would be lifelong problems. Even if we could afford it, I wouldn’t want to do that to him, and she didn’t sound like it was an option she favoured, either.

However, there isn’t much else that can be done. There is another muscle relaxant that is administered by syringe. It can’t be used for long, due to risk of liver damage, but for the length is can be safely used, it might work. So we will try that. It should be ready to pick up this afternoon.

If that doesn’t work, there is nothing else that can be done. At that point, we would have to put him down.

Damn.

Broccoli Baby

/ Re-Farmer / Leave a comment

I still needed to use zoom to get the photo, but at least she didn’t run away immediately.

She was hunting something in the grass that was interesting enough to let me get a photo. Which was made more difficult, because the one super socialized kitten demanded to be carried and was clambering all over me while I was trying to handle my phone to take the picture. 😄😄

The Re-Farmer

Morning babies… including a green baby!

/ Re-Farmer / 4 Comments

Going out in the mornings is such fun these days! There are so many babies to see.

Granted, most of them are not as willingly photogenic as this little model of mine!

What a cutie!

These ones are willing to pause for pictures, as long as I don’t get too close!

I’m not sure where the tortie was hiding.

The love to play in the holes in the shrine’s base.

As these little guys aren’t up to going to the kibble house, yet, I brought over a bowl for water as well as kibble. Now that they are eating solid food regularly, I figured Rosencrantz could do with less kitties still nursing because they are thirsty.

While working in the garden, I spotted an adorable little green baby on a corn leaf.

Can it be any cuter? 💚🐸

It was about as big around as a quarter.

My daughters have been getting tree frogs visiting their window for most of the summer. The same three frogs, in small, medium and large! 😄 This one falls under the “small” category.

I love tree frogs. They are so adorable!

The Re-Farmer