Monday, April 28, 2008

A Sad Night

My Heidi died in a terrible accident tonight. I'm horrified and traumatized and very, very sad. She was six and a half months old and I've raised her since the day she was born. Please don't ask me to tell you about her death; I may feel ready someday, but I'm not now. Instead I need to remember her life. Oh, Heidi.

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Photo Sharing and Video Hosting at Photobucket


Heidi Heidi


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Heidi

Heidi

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Tuesday, April 22, 2008

Sunday, April 20, 2008

An anniversary.

One year ago today, I became a little bit more myself again. I brought in my first foster cat from the animal shelter, and I've had a foster cat (or 12) every day since then. 60 cats later, more than 60 lives changed. I still love it. I don't know if I'll ever be able to stop. They all have a story and I could tell you something about all of them, even now. Others could fill a book, and maybe someday they will.

I have 6 fosters right now, but it doesn't feel like much. The mama cat does all the work for her four babies, and Bubba is practically family. I won't say how many cats I have who aren't fosters.

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Ah, that picture always makes me feel better.

Saber-Toothed House Cat

The pictures really don't do it justice, and his lower canines are even longer. He only has one on top, and those saber teeth are the only three teeth in his head. Three massive white fangs surrounded by healthy pink gums as smooth as a baby's.

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Tabby's independent 18-year-old owner is moving to affordable on-campus marital dorms at an Arizona college, and can't take him or his roommate Phil along. No pets allowed. An ugly little phrase. Tabby and Phil's human is having a very hard time, which makes it doubly important for me to love on them as much as possible while they're at the shelter.

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Both are large, friendly, neutered males and available for adoption. Feel free to spread the word.

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Saturday, April 19, 2008

Unexpected company

Yesterday I took a beautiful 35 minute walk along the Rio Grande near sunset. The sky was lovely, the grasses were fragrant. The cell phone cam just doesn't do it justice.
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Only five minutes into my walk, my solo became a duo. A large gray cat with a white moustache joined me, meowing companionably and weaving around my legs as much as I'd allow. Anytime we passed another traveler he disappeared into the reeds, only to resurface as soon as we were alone and rejoin me on my walk. Of my 35 minute walk, I had the pleasure of his company for 25 minutes. Thank you, my new four-legged friend. I'll keep an eye out for you.

Friday, April 18, 2008

I'm too sexy for my blog.

Well, too busy anyway.

Today I spent a wad of money on a cat that's not even mine. My long-term foster, Bubba, has the worst luck, man.

First I tamed him as a feral kitten, along with his sister. A couple weeks later, both were back at the shelter and his sister was quickly adopted. Bubba, on the other hand, came home with me when ringworm marred his little brow. I treated him, and just as he was better, his previously benign crooked tail began causing him pain and he had to get all but a couple inches of his tail amputated. While they had him knocked out to get his new cute nub of a tail, they also stole his testicles, poor guy. While it was nice of the vets to neuter him for free, I do wish they hadn't exposed him to ringworm while he was there. Yes, poor Bubba battled ringworm while convalescing from both tail amputation and castration. (And you think you've had a rough couple weeks!)

His ringworm cleared up and his stitches came out, and right at the tail end of the 2 week post-ringworm quarantine, he caught a monster of a respiratory infection that resisted weeks of treatment. Finally, on his first day feeling 100%, he escaped out the back door that my four-year-old left ajar. He was gone only 24 hours when I heard him yowling under the house and I went out into the cold night to retrieve him. Grateful and purring, he gazed into my eyes, and.... eeeew! If you've never seen a nasty corneal ulcer, google it now and when you find the grossest picture out there, it'll be close to what I saw. Poor little dude got his eye punctured by something when he was out there.

I took him into the vet, and they have me an eye ointment to put in his eye. FOUR times a day. Okay, I know you don't know Bubba, but this is no easy feat, and to facilitate the process, poor Bubba had to go to jail aka cage. He's the worst cage kitty ever, pulling all the poo out of his litter box and onto his blankets so he can tip his litter box over and perch on it. And of course this endeavor results in him knocking over his water 8000 times a day, so he yowls at me around the clock to attend to his every need. Lordy.

Anyway. The eye worsened, the ointment became even more painful to him, and it was clear more was needed. The shelter is underfunded at the moment and I couldn't make Bubba wait for me to haul my ample ass through hoops and over red tape, so I rolled out of bed at 8am this morning and drove my bleary self and a yowling Bubba to the vet for surgery. They stitched his eye mostly shut, leaving an opening for me to squirt ointment into twice daily, and a weird contraption above his eye to prevent him ripping his stitches out. He looked more than a bit affronted (er, pissed) when I picked him up, but is now happily hollering from the top of his once-again upturned litterbox for me to refill his water bowl.

Please wish Bubba luck. If his eye doesn't heal over the next two weeks of it being stitched up, then he'll have to get it removed and I'll have to find a way to pay for it. Perhaps I'll invent a Bubba-proof cage set-up and pay the vet bills from my earnings. Although I doubt there's more than one Bubba in the world.

Bubba has been with me almost non-stop since December 21, 2007. He's stolen my heart and my money. No, I won't be adopting him. No, really. Not convinced? Well, neither is Bubba. But I'm a hard-hearted bitch, so we'll see who comes out on top in the end.

Bubba
Bubba, mostly before. (He still had a tail.)

Tuesday, April 8, 2008