I heard from the Cat Lady today. Now that Turmeric has had time to recover from her surgery, it’s time to put her profile up on the adoption list at the Cat Lady’s new rescue site. She was asking for a little write up to include, so I got one of my daughters to make one up. She’s much better at that than I am (and funnier, too!).
I also too a more recent photo of Turmeric, since the last ones I sent her were from the trip to and from the vet, so they weren’t the most flattering! :-D
I disturbed her cuddles with her mother. :-D
The Cat Lady also sent us a photo of Cabbages.
Her phone’s camera takes much better pictures than mine does!
Don’t you just want to boop that little pink nose? <3
She was cooking more chicken for Cabbages at the time she messaged me. That cat is really living the high life with them! I’m so glad they ended up deciding to keep her themselves. They fought so hard to save her life!
This morning, I managed to introduce Nosencrantz to a cozy spot in a shelf by my leaning sheep (a large stuffed sheep I use as back support when sitting up in bed). It made for an excellent photo angle!
She is such a beauty!
She even stayed there a while, where she could watch the activities in the room, but I think it’s just too exposed for her liking, and she was soon back in her cubby hole behind the night stand.
Also, she had to put up with the beast overnight.
I barely managed to shot of Turmeric’s nekkid belly.
For a cat that’s just come out of surgery, she got really active once the drugs wore off.
We’re supposed to watch if she’s going for the incision, and put her in a cone or a shirt, if necessary. She seems to be quite enthused about licking her shaved belly, but as you can see by the silver still on the incision, she’s leaving it alone. All the sliver around the incision is licked off, but not on the incision itself.
We kept her closed up with me overnight for observation. She got a bit of solid food, and there was no throwing up or anything of concern. Unfortunately, her presence meant trouble for Butterscotch and Nosencrantz. I caught poor Nosencrantz peeing in the new bed I made for her because Turmeric wouldn’t let her get at the litter box. :-(
I needed to do laundry today, anyhow.
So… it was another mostly sleepless night. At least there weren’t any all-out cat fights. The surgery did slow her down that much. Overall, Turmeric is recovering very well, and I was able to let her out and about again this morning.
Which will give Butterscotch and Nosencrantz a bit of a break, at least.
My goodness, what a day today has turned out to be!
As I dropped Turmeric off at the vet, it was just barely starting to snow. There was no snow at all as I drove home. I did, however, see 11 deer in the field by our hamlet’s fire hall, and more during the drive in!
The weather forecasts have been all over the place. Previously, this week was supposed to be about 8-10C warmer than right now, but those forecasts slowly dropped. Then we were told to expect 6-10cm (roughly 2-4 inches) of snow, then less than 1cm of snow and rain. This morning, when I checked before heading out, it was again saying 6-10cm. After dropping Turmeric off, it was saying 6-12cm.
Looking at the weather radar, I could see a huge system swirling counter clockwise over Eastern Canada and the US – many states look like they are getting walloped with rain, while snow was hitting South Eastern Canada. As usual, we looked like we’d be getting just the edge of the system.
By the time I was heading back to pick up Turmeric, the snow was falling much more heavily, though there was still some rain in it, too. Visibility was quite reduced.
I left a bit early so that I could stop to order some anniversary pizza. There’s a brand my husband and I haven’t had since we were in high school, so we couldn’t remember if we even liked it anymore. After placing the order, I went to pick up Turmeric, who was doing just fine.
Getting her was faster than the pizzas, so I waited with her in the van.
Would you look at those cracked out eyes!!! I put my phone right up against the door, then used voice to take the picture. The command I usually use is “smile”. She had been looking out the holes in the sides, but when I said “smile”, this is the look she gave me! :-D
I talked to the vet about getting more of the painkiller, just in case, but the dose is so low, and for only 3 days, she suggested I wait. If we were doing more cats soon, it would have been worth it to get a bigger bottle of the stuff, but the next cat we get done, it is likely the Cat Lady will be picking her up, and keeping her for the recovery period, instead. The stuff might expire before we use much of it, so the vet suggested waiting and just using what we have left. If we run out, we can get more.
Once we got the pizzas, it was a careful drive home. The roads weren’t that bad, but this would be a bad time for a deer to suddenly appear out of the blowing snow.
I had about 45 minutes before I headed out again, to pick up the freezer pack of beef. Time enough for supper!
The pizza was very good. I would definitely order from there again.
Due to the road conditions, I left early.
I just had to open the window to get a picture while at the stop sign. As usual, the camera cleans the shot up automatically, so visibility in real life was poorer than it seems in the photo.
The good thing is that the days are longer, so it was still light out. When we picked up our quarter beef, back in December, it was pitch black out at this time.
We met up at the parking lot of a grocery store, so I took advantage of that and went in to pick up some cake and ice cream for our anniversary, too.
Oh! I see our usual 3 deer, including the piebald, walking up our driveway on the security camera. Thankfully, they are the only deer I was seeing this evening.
Before driving home, I checked the weather conditions, and it was still saying to expect 6-12cm of snow – but for the first time, the word “storm” was used.
We shall see what we actually end up with.
I messaged the family to let them know I was on the way, and asking someone to meet me when I backed the van closer to the house, to avoid the big lake of water between the house and the garage. I got some confusing responses about a delivery. No, not the delivery of meat I just picked up. A delivery for my husband, at home!
It was very confusing.
After I’d left, they got a phone call from a delivery driver, letting my husband know he was in our little hamlet. My husband told him I was already out to pick up the delivery in the town to the North of us.
The driver was very confused.
So was my husband.
It turned out to be the pharmacy driver, with prescription refills for my husband.
We didn’t order any refills.
It seems, now that the bubble packs are made in the city, they simply fill his prescription refills automatically, then send them out to the pharmacy in town. Since we always get them delivered, and today is delivery day, they got sent out. We haven’t even been charged for them yet, or I would at least have gotten the transaction notification from my bank app.
Once that was straightened out, my younger daughter went out to meet the driver and pick up the package. Due to the nature of some of the drugs my husband takes, there was a paper for him to sign, so my daughter was going to take it in for him to do that, then bring it back out again.
She described to me what happened, herself. Since she was just popping outside briefly, she was wearing her house sandals. As she turned away from the driver, bag of pills in one hand, the paper to sign in the other, her foot went onto slush on ice, The next thing she knew, her foot slipped, spinning her into a pirouette, before she fell, slamming into the mud with one knee and the hand holding the paper, as she kept the bag of pills high in the air, so it wouldn’t hit the mud.
The driver, of course, was quite alarmed, but thankfully, she was okay. The mud was soft to land on. ;-)
My husband signed a very wet and muddy paper, though.
Poor thing!
Needless to say, it was her sister who came out to help me bring the box of meat, and the bag of cake and ice cream, in.
Meanwhile, we continue to have a mix of rain and snow. Looking at the weather radar, the system that looked like it was going to just brush past us, is now right on top of us. We, however, are warm and safe inside, and well stocked. No need to go anywhere for quite a while, if we don’t want to.
The long range forecast has us at just a few degrees above freezing with more snow and/or rain, off and on, for the next two weeks before things turn spring-like again.
Tomorrow, we’re planning to start the next batch of seeds. I think that’s the perfect activity to be engaged in, with the weather we are having right now! :-D
With Nosencrantz insisting in spending her days tucked into an empty shelf behind my nightstand, I decided she should at least have a bed. So last night, I quickly crocheted one for her.
Before I was done, Turmeric was isolated in my room with me, Butterscotch and Nosencrantz for her fast. B & N were not impressed with the company. Turmeric is one of the cats that has been the most aggressive towards them. Particularly towards Nosencrantz. So they were both hiding in their nests, while Turmeric roamed the rest of the room.
Which is why Turmeric got to test out the new bed, first!
It looks so tiny compared to her from this angle. Trust me; it’s large enough for a cat to curl up in! :-D
When the girls did the evening cat stuff (which is when they get wet cat food), Turmeric was tucked into the bathroom until B & N were finished eating.
It was not a good night.
Normally, once the other cats are closed out, so that B & N can at least get some wet cat food, uninterrupted, that’s when they come out and eat, drink, use the litter, and play.
I don’t get a lot of sleep these days.
They couldn’t do that as much, last night. Of course, there was no other food once the bowls with the wet cat food were cleared away. Just water. At least three times during the night, I had actual cat fights happen as Turmeric went after Nosencrantz! Poor thing. Then, when I wasn’t breaking up cat fights, I was fending of Turmeric attention, as she decided the best way to get at Nosencrantz’s cubby hole was by first snuggling my face and licking my nose (because noses are delicious, apparently), then making a dash for the opening behind my night stand.
So adorable and nasty, at the same time!
I finally got some sleep, just in time for my alarm to go off. I had given myself extra time, so I figured I could set my timer for half an hour and still have time to get ready to go.
I think I forgot to hit the start button.
An hour later, I woke up and had to start scrambling! I didn’t have time to do the morning cat stuff, though once I had Turmeric in the carrier, I had enough time to put food out for the outside cats – startling away several deer in the yard – before we left.
Turmeric wasn’t too impressed with being carried, but once in the van, she settled down very quickly.
She even took a bit of a nap.
What a face.
Drop off time was for when the vet clinic opened, and I got there early – though when I checked my phone, the appointment was for a half hour later. I hadn’t needed to rush so much! No matter. They had no problem taking her when they opened.
My daughter usually has been doing this part, since the mask thing because an issue. The restriction is lifted, but there were still signs all over, stating that they were a “health care facility” and required masks.
They had zero issue with my maskless face.
The paperwork was done. The Cat Lady and her new rescue are covering the cost of the spay, while the tattoo is a clinic freebie. The pain meds for afterwards is not covered, but we might still have enough left over from when Beep Beep and Fenrir were done. I checked the bottle when I got home, and I think we’ll pick up more, just in case. The doses are low – especially for such light cats (Turmeric weighed in at just over 5 pounds) – but I’d rather have extra than not enough.
As I write this, she should be out of surgery and recovering. We’re set to pick her up at 3:30, though they’ll call us when she is ready.
Today also happens to be my and my husband’s 34th wedding anniversary. He’s not up to going out for dinner, so I’ll be picking up some pizza on the way home, courtesy of my daughter. We’ll be trying a different place this time. I’ll have enough time to drop off Turmeric and the food, then head out again to pick up our meat order. I just got the invoice this morning, and will be picking up the order this evening.
Now that’s my kind of anniversary gift! :-D
We do get a giggle out of the fact that we’re meeting up in a parking lot to get meat, like it’s some sort of drug deal. :-D
It’s going to be quite a day for running around from town to town! Worth it, though.
I got a phone call from the Cat Lady this morning.
Cabbages finally made it in to the special vet to be spayed this morning, and she is recovering nicely. So that is good news.
The other good news is that we have an appointment for Turmeric to be spayed, early next month.
Turmeric will be coming back to us for recovery, while also being added to the adoption list with the Cat Lady’s new rescue organization.
That’s the good news.
The not so good news is that the organization she left, with them wanting to send Saffron and Nicco to BC being the last straw for her, isn’t too happy with her. As a large organization, they have access to lots of resources – and they are making it difficult for her to access those resources!
Which is making things more difficult for her in general. As you can imagine, things are incredibly stressful for her right now!
You’d think they would be more interested in rescuing cats and be glad to work with other organizations with the same goals, but apparently not.
This isn’t necessarily a bad thing. One of the things they did was stop accepting intakes through our local vet. The vet was taking in “too many” really sick cats, and the bills were really high, so they basically cut off that clinic temporarily.
Well, guess who is the vet that agreed to work with the Cat Lady?
Yup! Turmeric is going to the same local vet we’ve been using all this time!
They have become incredibly busy, though, so it’s hard to get an appointment in. I noticed a while ago that they have extended hours, and are even open on Sundays, which had been their one day off, a few months ago. Clearly, people are happy with this clinic!
The other news is with Saffron and Nicco. Using what resources she still has access to, she has worked something out with another rescue in the city. They have adoption facilities in a non-franchise pet store that is very busy. It’s not an ideal situation, but it’s still better than being sent half way across the country! She’s known the woman who runs it for 20 years, so she knows they are a good place. The fur-girls will be going there, now that they are recovered from being spayed. With how successful and busy this place is, she’s expecting them to be homed within a week.
I found out something else when she contacted me about the appointment for Turmeric.
While her new rescue organization has lots of support and is getting donations, most of this is being bankrolled by her husband right now. Thankfully, he owns a business that didn’t get destroyed by government restrictions over the past two years, and can afford it for now. So all the out-of-pocket stuff they’ve been doing has really been out of his pocket! So when we bring Turmeric in to be spayed, and will not be getting any bill for it, it’s because HE is paying for it!
What an amazing man. Her whole family has really been all in with her cat rescue operations!
All the more reason I want to help out with the fundraiser I’ve got through Ko-fi.
The only problem is, as with the rescues, not a lot of people are donating. I’ll keep the fundraiser going for a while longer, but if people aren’t interested, I’ll just shut it down and refund the (much appreciated!) donations currently made. Everyone is going through hard times right now, and I understand that they have priorities that are higher on the list than cats! We shall see how it works out.
As for myself, I’m just in awe of the Cat Lady, and all she is going through right now, trying to do right for the kitties.
We have another day that is turning out to be warmer than predicted – again, by only a degree! We were supposed to reach a high of 1C/34F but, as I write this, we are at 2C/36F, and for this time of day, we could potentially warm up a bit more before cooling down for the night.
Unfortunately, I wasn’t feeling very well this morning, and one of my daughters was sweet enough to do the morning outdoor chores for me. It seems we all had rough nights last night, though with the girls, they are having issues with the roof leak coming in at one of their windows. They ended up having to move their computers (they have a double sided desk that they share) and other electronics. Unfortunately, one of the only 2 outlets in that room happens to be under that window, and it’s the only one that takes 3 prong plugs, so they don’t have a lot of choice on where to set up. For my older daughter, that means a delay on her being able to work on commissions.
The temperature changes fluctuating above and below freezing have been absolutely brutal on my husband. He’s had to resort to “take as needed” medications he’s been able to avoid for months, just to be able to stand up more or less straight. The down side is that one of those medications causes drowsiness, and while a deeper sleep may seem like a good thing, it isn’t when one is also on a water pill.
Among my disturbances of the night was dealing with the mess Nosencrantz made. She has been using the litter to pee in just fine but, for some reason, she prefers to poop in my closet, near where we’ve got a cat bed set up in an old laundry basket; one of her favorite places. I’d already resorted to using carpet cleaning powder on the area and leaving it there instead of vacuuming it up (the replacement band for the new vacuum cleaner still hasn’t shown up, so we’re not able to properly vacuum right now, anyhow). It seemed to be working but, last night, I discovered her pooping right next to the powder.
*sigh*
So at 2 in the morning, I was cleaning it up, adding more carpet powder, and re-arranging things stored on the bottom of my closet to protect some of my longer clothing, like my summer dresses, that the cats were mucking about with. Then, since I was up anyhow and she was cooperative, I checked out Nosencrantz’s surgical site.
The stitches they use are supposed to dissolve, but for some reason, only with Nosencrantz, some of them aren’t. We could feel them when brushing a hand across her belly, but this time I took a closer look. One piece with a knot at the end that stuck out seemed to be loose, so I thought I could gently brush it out – only to see skin being tugged in another spot!
After getting a better look at it in daylight, I decided to call the vet about it. They asked for a photo for a technician to look at it, so I sent this one – at full resolution, so the tech could zoom right in.
My daughter’s fingers are pointing at the 3 spots of concern. On the right, that purple dot is the knot. It sticks out surprisingly far. In the middle, you can actually see a stitch joining two reddish spots. On the left is another slightly reddish area. We couldn’t actually see anything there, but we can feel something. That spot seems to be the other end of the thread.
I got a response from the vet very quickly. The technician said that sometimes, stitches just take longer to dissolve. It should be fine, but if it seems to be irritating her, we could make and appointment and they would remove it.
So it still should dissolve away. Nosencrantz seems utterly oblivious to it, except when we are checking it. The slight redness is a bit of a concern to me, but it isn’t getting infected or anything, and the knot doesn’t seem to be catching on anything.
We decided not to take her in, but having been assured that it will, indeed, dissolve, I did snip that bit in the middle, and was able to pull part of it out, from the knot.
It was almost an inch and a half long! That doesn’t look at all like it’s in the process of dissolving, either. :-/
The main thing is that there is no longer a piece sticking out, and no loop tugging her flesh together, which is likely the cause of the redness we could see.
We will keep monitoring the area, of course, but I think it should be fine, now. We could have done it earlier, but I didn’t want to remove only part of it, if the rest of it wasn’t going to dissolve away.
I also have some news that I’ve been sort of waiting until I had more information to share.
There have been some major changes in regards to the Cat Lady that has slowed down the adoption process for a while.
The Cat Lady has left the organization that was covering most of the vet bills to get the cats spayed, examined, vaccinated, etc. There had been an intake freeze with the clinic we use, because of the vet costs of so many sick cats, but now there is an organization wide intake freeze. This organization is completely by donation, so I can understand that needed to happen at times.
The Cat Lady was also having issues with them. There was, of course, the usual issues that seem to plague any organization; gossiping, internal politics, etc. The final straw, however, involved out of province adoptions.
They wanted to adopt Saffron and Nicco out of province.
It would have meant a THREE DAY van ride!
The cats get stressed out enough just with a ride to the vet in the city! She couldn’t let them inflict that on Saffron and Nicco. Since they are still with her, instead of a with fostering household, she simply quit her job and is hanging on to them longer.
She is now going independent, and Saffron and Nicco will be the first cats up for adoption when her new website goes live. Cabbages is the model on her flier, though Cabbages is not up for adoption. Her daughter is too attached! She already has 10 foster families lined up, has the support of the local shelter, and just worked things out with a vet, but she has to get things live quickly. She’s picking up another 10 or so cats from the area this week! In the middle of all this, she was also able to get another pair of cats settled into a new forever home. She has placed a priority on getting our cats adopted out, though, so as soon as she can, she will be taking on the next pair of cats for a trip to the vet, recovery time, then adoption.
Now, we could continue to work with the organization she left, as they do have a lot of resources she doesn’t, however I’m not keen on the possibility of cats being adopted out of province, so we are sticking with the Cat Lady! Her organization is going to be specific to our region, too, not the entire province.
This is a huge leap, but she’s got 13 years experience in animal rescue, and clearly cares deeply about the cats, and where they get adopted to. I think she will do fabulous.
Which brings me to our ongoing fundraiser. I’d set a goal of $1500 to surprise reimburse the Cat Lady for Cabbages’ vet bills, knowing it likely would be more than that. I’ll be keeping the goal at $1500, but anything above and beyond will still go to the Cat Lady, to help with her new cat rescue organization.
If you would like to contribute to the fundraiser, you can go to the fundraiser page though this link, or click on the button below.
It was another bitterly cold morning today BUT this should be the last day of it. We’ve already warmed up considerably (it’s late afternoon as I write this), and it should keep warming up and stay very mild, well into March.
That will be nice!
I topped up the kibble inside the sun room – then took a hammer to break the layer of ice that had formed at the top of the heated water bowl! Yes, it was on and working, but it is warmed from below. It got so cold last night, the top froze over.
Chadiccus is so done with this cold!
I got some updates on the kitties the Cat Lady took.
Nicco and Saffron are doing very well after their visit to the vet. They were found to be quite healthy, for all their tiny size.
The two of them are getting along well, and they are looking to adopt them out together. Which is interesting, since Saffron has been one of the more aggressive ones responsible for the scratches on Nicco’s nose. It’s just the two of them, though, which changes things dramatically.
I let the Cat Lady know that the two of them are only a day apart in age, and that Nicco is Cabbages’ older sister, by a few months. :-)
Cabbages, meanwhile, as discovered how to open up drawers! I’m not too surprised, as most of the cats here have figured out how to open most of our cupboards, but we don’t have many drawers they could get into. They’ve shown no interest.
I did warn her about Cabbages’ love of digging in dirt.
They’ve already discovered that, apparently, and have had to lock their spider plant in another room!
I should send her a picture of the cage we had to build around the smaller jade tree.
Gosh, Cabbages is looking so great!! Hard to believe she came so close to dying, and all the other vets were recommending euthanasia!
If you would like to contribute to our fundraiser to reimburse the cat lady for Cabbages’ vet bills, click on the button below, or click here. If you would like to read more about it, click here.
This afternoon, I got a phone call from the Cat Lady. She had just gotten off the phone with the organization that’s helping with the cat vet visits and adoptions, and wanted to call me about it right away.
Things are going to be set back for a while.
The vet clinic/hospital we’ve been using is off the list for about a month. Apparently, they’ve been taking in an unusual number of sick cats, and the vet expenses are getting too much. (They run entirely by donations and adoption fees, so the money is always tight.) So no appointments are going to be made there in March, though the Cat Lady is going to look at other towns as possibilities for our cats.
There has also been an issue with one of their fosters. They had taken in kittens that turned out to be sick with something I can’t remember the name of. The kittens were lost, and how the foster has to disinfect their entire home, and the home cannot have any cats in it for at least 30 days, to ensure no other cats catch this. This was one of the fosters lined up to take cats from our place, which obviously is not going to happen for a while.
So it looks like things will be set back at least a month before the next pair of cats goes out.
Which just means nothing much changes for us. As it is, by the time we would be starting on the outside cats… well, the males would be going, but from the activity I’m already seeing outside, there are already new litters on the way. Usually, they start giving birth around the end of April, early May. I don’t even know how many females we have out there anymore, though there are now two fewer, with Butterscotch and Nosencrantz now spayed and indoors.
In other things, I cleared it with the garage, then arranged to have my mother’s car towed in. Much to my surprise, I was asked if I needed a ride in, too! Some drivers are taking passengers now, though masks are still required. I mentioned I have a medical exemption, so I was put on hold while that was looked into. It took so long, she finally just made a note of it on file and left it to the driver.
They don’t wear masks themselves, so I’m not worried about it.
Of course, they had to ask the usual questions, and I just had to laugh out loud when I was asked if I had to isolate. No, I don’t have to isolate. That’s our normal state out here!
After an hour or so, I got an automated call assuring me that no, they had not forgotten about us. Things were just that backed up.
Then I got a call from one of the two companies, telling me that they still hadn’t found an available driver in our area. I reassured them that we were in no hurry; it could even wait until tomorrow. I had just been messaging our mechanic and, while he had the part, he was so busy, he couldn’t be sure when he’d be able to get to the van today.
After updating the garage about the tow, he suggested doing it tomorrow afternoon, instead. So I called CAA back and ended up cancelling the tow for today, and will book it again tomorrow.
I’m glad I double checked with the garage. Otherwise, I might have gone into town with the tow truck, only to have no way to get home again, if the van wasn’t ready today!
I’m actually happier with the switch to tomorrow. It’s supposed to be much warmer than today, and warmer still, on the day after! This should make it safer to drive, and do at least a smaller trip to the city. Thanks to the Cat Lady swinging by yesterday, we have enough dry kibble to last us. She even gave us more canned cat food and some treats! Cat food was the only thing we’ve been running out of, partly due to the stores being out of stock so much.
So that’s more or less worked out.
Not what was planned for the day, but that’s okay. We’re good!
The bitter cold is still hanging in there. Even with the sun shining so bright and clear, we don’t reach our high of the day until late in the afternoon. Thankfully, the deep freeze is supposed to end today and tomorrow, and then keep warming up as we head into March. I’m not holding my breath on that, since the cold has already been sticking around longer than forecast.
The outside cats have handled things well, with their shelters all over the place, plenty of food and access to warm water.
The winter sown seeds are still buried, though. I just cleared them a bit; any more than that will be done when we’re hauling snow away with the wheelbarrow, so we don’t end up with melted snow draining into the basement.
We ended up leaving the doors to the sun room partly open all night, when we saw cats using the swing bench as a bed. Potato Beetle prefers to eat in here, well away from the main crowd of cats – and an aggressive Distinguished Guest. Agnoos has a liking for the sun room, too.
Plus, sitting on rigid insulation instead of snow must be much nicer on the butt!
The heated water bowl was frozen over, though I’d made sure to turn on the power bar, so I topped it up with some warm water, too.
It wasn’t until I uploaded this picture of Broccoli, peaking at me, that I suddenly remembered something.
When I took the set up on the mini-greenhouse frame off, I had unplugged the power bar.
I never plugged it back in.
Yeah, that might explain the heated water bowl not working!
It’s plugged in now. :-D
Meanwhile, I’ve heard from the Cat Lady today. She sent me pictures of a very roly poly and healthy looking Cabbages, snuggled up with her daughter.
They watch cat videos together.
*melt*
Yeah, I’m thinking Cabbages might not be going anywhere else. She is quite bonded with Tiny Human!
At the time I’m writing this, both Nicco and Saffron should be recovering from surgery. The cat lady promised to let me know how they did. She’ll be swinging by here today to drop off kibble for us, so we’ll probably get updated then.
If you would like to contribute to our fundraiser to reimburse the cat lady for Cabbages’ vet bills, click on the button below, or click here. If you would like to read more about it, click here.
This morning turned out to be a busy phone morning. At least by our standards. :-D My husband had phoned in a prescription refill to be delivered today, so I called for my own refill, only to discover they had no refills left on file. Just last month, they’d had to fax my doctor to get more refills, and for some reason, he’d only added another 30 days.
So while they faxed the clinic again, I called them up. The receptionist figured my doctor wanted me to come in, and could I do that this morning?
Uhm. No. Even if we had transportation, they’re a 45 minute drive away.
When I explained we had no transportation, she set up a phone appointment for me, for late this morning.
That done, I tried to move on to other things, only to have the phone ring again.
It was a Jehovah’s Witness lady that calls every now and then. Normally, I don’t have any problem chatting with her, but had to cut it short this time.
Then my mother phoned, just 10 minutes before the doctor was supposed to call me!
Normally, our phone rings maybe once every week or two. :-D
The call with the doctor went well. He did want me to get some blood work done. I told him we have no transportation right now, so I wasn’t sure when I’d be able to come in. They no longer fax requisitions to other labs, so no chance of getting it done closer. Which is fine. Whenever we have wheels again, I can go in at any time, pick the requisition up at the reception desk, then turn around to the lab across the room.
I think I’ll wait until after March 15, when our province is supposed to finally open up completely.
Which has nothing at all to do with the trucker protests. Nope. Not at all…
We’ll see if it actually happens or not.
Hopefully, our van will be ready for pick up tomorrow. I want to contact the garage again to make sure they have the space for my mother’s car before I arrange a tow. Then I have to figure out how to get there myself, to pick up our van.
I really look forward to having transportation again!!
Oh, man. What a day this turned out to be. Talk about topsy turvy!
It started out normal enough.
The deer were visiting the feeding station before seed was even put out. Tissue was enjoying watching them. We had several come by today, including the piebald.
Nutmeg was waiting his turn in the cat path as I put the kibble out.
So many cats! I count 13 in the photo.
While outside, I shoveled out the last two paths that were left to do. One was the path to the feeding station. The other was the cat path from the kibble and cat house, to the storage house.
We had cleared around the cat’s house, since we needed to open the roof up to get inside, and had tried to maintain most of it. We’ve pretty much given up on the back, though. There’s no room for the snow anymore.
The cats have taken advantage of our being able to keep the side of it clear, and have managed to still access the space under the cat house. Only the smaller cats can fit into there!
This is the opening they’ve managed to keep clear to get under the storage house. With the lilac bush there, we can only shovel their path so far, but they’ve packed down their own trail to the opening.
I’m not happy with The Distinguished Guest. She went after Creamsicle Baby today. Hard. I had to break them apart. Poor Creamsicle Baby was bleeding at the neck a bit, though from all the black fur on the snow after they battled, he defended himself pretty well.
Since we no longer have cats convalescing in the sun room, I went ahead and cleared the frame for the mini-greenhouse and brought it inside. The cover had a couple of tears in the back, so that had to be fixed.
While trying to figure out how to secure the mini-greenhouse, I got a message from the cat lady. She was in town and we worked out that she would leave her carriers in the donation bin at the shelter, and I would pick them up later.
She also let me know that she’d left Cabbages behind, snoring with their 5 other cats. !!
As soon as I could, after it was confirmed the carriers were dropped off, I headed out to start my mother’s car to go get them.
I turned the key, there was a loud POP, and it died.
I have no clue what happened.
I opened the hood, but there was nothing visible that was out of the ordinary.
We now have zero transporation.
Crud. We’re hooped!
The first thing I did was send a message to the garage about our van. It’s booked for a new alternator on the 28th, which is when my husband’s disability payment comes in (last business day of the month. However, he does get a smaller CPP Disability payment 3 business days before the end of the month, which falls on the 24th. Normally, that would have been our day to do a big shop but, obviously, that’s not going to happen anymore! It is enough to cover the cost of the repair, though. I haven’t heard back from him yet, and just left a phone message, too. Hopefully, I’ll connect with him soon. I did mention in my message to him, that we now have no way to pick up the van anymore! I’ll also have to get my mother’s car towed to him, but I’ll arrange that after we get things worked out about the van. We moved my mother’s car into where we normally park the van, so we’ll have to get it out of the garage, anyhow.
*sigh*
My mother’s car may have the block heater, battery warmer and trickle charger, but there’s still a lot under the hood that can freeze. My suspicion is that it has something to do with the starter.
I then messaged the cat lady.
Not only could we no longer pick up her carriers, but there’s no way we’d have the van back early enough to bring the cats in to the vet.
Also, just this morning, we had decided to make a change on which cats were going in. The cats have been after Nicco again, and my daughter asked if we could have her go, instead, for her own protection. So we decided on Nicco and Saffron, instead of Turmeric and Saffron.
The cat lady responded almost right away, asking if we could get them if she came over with the carriers.
!!!!
Yup. She just took it upon herself to take in two more cats for a couple of days, then bring them in to the vet herself on the 23rd.
What an amazing woman!
After giving directions on how to find us, a daughter and I started working on patching the cover for the mini-greenhouse. We didn’t get very far, when I got a call to confirm our location. She was at the intersection, but there was a misunderstanding in my instructions, and she turned the wrong way. She was already here!
So one of my daughters snagged Nicco while I grabbed Saffron, and we brought them to the sun room for her.
Not only did she come with her two carriers, but she also brought us some canned cat food! It was left over from Cabbages, who is now turning her nose up at Tuna.
!!!
We had a chance to talk for a while, and she updated us with some surprising information.
When the vet first saw Cabbages, he thought she had ingested the poison from something like a flea and tick collar. We don’t use those. All her bloodwork had come back healthy, yet she struggled to stay alive. She’d even had a seizure after the cat lady had picked her up from us. The eventual conclusion was the toxoplasmosis somehow getting into her brain. The treatment was the same, either way, for her condition.
Well, they’ve done another blood test. This time, a toxicology test at a different, specialized lab – a $400 test!
The test confirmed this compound was in her blood. She was poisoned. The vet thinks she got into fertilizer.
We don’t have fertilizer in the house.
Somehow, the vet thinks she was getting miniscule amounts of fertilizer over a long period of time, it built up in her brain until she finally became so very ill. Our force feeding her and keeping her hydrated with the syringe kept her alive long enough for the cat lady to get her to the vet.
We are absolutely flummoxed. The only thing we’ve got is Miracle Gro, it’s kept in the sun room, and the cats can’t get at it. Cabbages has never been in the sun room, anyhow.
While she was updating us on the mystery that is Cabbages, we also talked about Nicco and Saffron. She expects Saffron to be adopted out quickly; female orange tabbies get snapped up quickly right now. Calicos, however, are very hard to adopt out for some reason.
We also found out that she doesn’t like calico’s herself, nor female cats. However, her 5 yr old daughter has informed her that if they adopt out Cabbages, she’s moving out. :-D
I know they already have someone lined up to adopt her, but it’s starting to sound like they might be keeping her themselves. Now that Cabbages is healthy, she won’t have anything to do with the cat lady or the other adults, but she and their daughter are inseparable. She gets along with their other cats – and even their blind dog! Cabbages had never seen a dog before, but not only do they get along, she even went for a ride on him! She had climbed onto him while he was lying down, and when he got up and walked away, she stayed!
Cabbages may already be in her forever home!
Meanwhile, Saffron and Nicco will be staying with the cat lady for the next couple of days, make their trip to the vet, then stay with her for 2 more weeks. At that point, they will be ready for adoption and will stay with a foster until new, permanent homes are found.
We also talked about the next vet appointments in March. It will be worked out as we get closer to the date, but the vet is saying they would prefer to have one male and one female. We have no males indoors that need to be fixed, but we do have outdoor males that we can catch. So next time we may be bringing in one indoor female and one outdoor male.
It’s a shame we can’t catch any of the outdoor females. The only ones we could were Butterscotch and Nosencrantz who are now indoor cats, and Rolando Moon, who is already spayed and not going anywhere.
Oh, wow. As I was writing this, I just got sent a couple of photos. Saffron and Nicco have arrived at the cat lady’s home, safe and sound, and are now sharing the cat cage Cabbages had been recovering in. Saffron was comfortably eating already. Nicco has her usual stressed out expression. :-D
Cabbages, meanwhile, is helping the cat lady’s daughter colour, after giving the cat lady her “equivalent to the middle finger” then went on her way. :-D What an attitude!
I knew the cat lady had already spent $1200 of her own money on vet bills a while ago, while still having weekly vet visits. Now I found out they did that really expensive toxicology test. She has easily spent over $2000 on Cabbages! That’s just in vet bills. She’s also been feeding Cabbages a special, nutrient dense, high calorie diet as she recovers.
All the more reason we started the fund raiser to help cover the costs. At $1500, it won’t cover everything, but it’ll at least cover a substantial amount!
If you would like to contribute to our fundraiser to reimburse the cat lady for Cabbages’ vet bills, click on the button below, or click here. If you would like to read more about it, click here.
Now we’ve got to figure out what Cabbages got into that caused this. We don’t have flea or tick collars. We don’t have fertilizer. I asked what else might have this compound, and she didn’t know.
Whatever it is, none of the other cats are showing signs of being sick, which makes it even more confusing. What was she getting into, that none of the other cats are getting into?
I’m at such a loss.
Meanwhile, we are now down two more indoor cats. Since we’ve brought in Nosencrantz and Butterscotch, that brings us back to 15.
The cat lady not only brought us the canned cat food Cabbages will no longer eat, but has promised to bring us more donated dry cat food, too.
What an amazing woman!
This takes a weight off our shoulders, as we can now focus on getting transportation again. I’ve let my mother know about the status of her car – reassuring her that all I was doing was keeping her informed, and not expecting her to do anything about it. She started telling me my brother will come out and fix it. No. I’m not expecting my brother to drive all the way out here to try and fix her car. Even if we did know what happened to it! But men always know more about cars than women, so I should at least talk to him.
*sigh*
Well, whatever we end up doing will depend on what the mechanic finds, after we get it towed out to him. Hopefully, it’ll be something we can afford to fix out of April’s budget. The van is already taking up every bit of wiggle room in March’s budget. :-/
Not having a vehicle is just not a good thing out here. Yes, we’re okay as far as basic necessities. It’s more about if there’s some sort of emergency, like if my husband suddenly has to go to the hospital.
Nosencrantz is adapting rather well to being an indoor cat!
We’re still keeping her mostly in my office/bedroom, while letting some of the other cats in. Not any of the inside cats that are up for adoption, though. My daughters have been carrying her around the house every now and then, so she’s at least seen them around.
Butterscotch, meanwhile, has been quite content to stay in her nest in my closet, coming out every now and then for attention. She has zero interest in leaving the room, so far! Maybe she’s catching up on some much needed rest, after all those years outdoors.
I’m not sure when Nosencrantz is going to be taken by the cat lady for adopting out. She and Butterscotch were supposed to be outdoors by now. The outdoor cats weren’t going to be adopted out until after the indoor cats were all taken in to be spayed, then taken home by the cat lady to recover before going to the fosters and getting adopted out. Which means Nosencrantz may be staying with us indoors until about May, since the other indoor cats should be all tended to by the end of April, if all goes as planned.
I haven’t heard from the cat lady about Cabbages recently, which means all is well. I expect to hear from her on Monday, when we work out getting her cat carriers to use, instead of our own, when we drop Saffron and Turmeric off at the vet on Wednesday.
If you would like to contribute to our fundraiser to reimburse the cat lady for Cabbages’ vet bills, click on the button below, or click here. If you would like to read more about it, click here.
We’re going to miss Rosencrantz. She’s a sweet, gentle cat!
The Re-Farmer 