tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-106859862024-03-16T03:08:16.552-04:00Knatolee's WorldLove me, love my animals. While there is tea, there is hope.Knatoleehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03809822081515082096noreply@blogger.comBlogger2070125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10685986.post-11681504984351756802021-11-06T07:59:00.004-04:002021-11-06T07:59:45.467-04:00November<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2lRpMGBCyXw/YYZmzbg63fI/AAAAAAAAiJE/dgw-h-XS6hA_0nus2WJllztPsvFxx5yswCLcBGAsYHQ/s1050/Ralph%2B1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="788" data-original-width="1050" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2lRpMGBCyXw/YYZmzbg63fI/AAAAAAAAiJE/dgw-h-XS6hA_0nus2WJllztPsvFxx5yswCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h480/Ralph%2B1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><br /> <p></p><p>This is my foster kitty Ralph. His elderly owner was diagnosed with terminal lung cancer, and he asked me to take in Ralph. Ralph and his human Dad were very closely bonded; Ralph has been very sad since arriving here, but the dark cloud over him is finally starting to lift a bit. Yesterday, for the first time since I got him several weeks ago, he started eating his food right away when I put it down in front of him. He had his first vet check last week and while he does have a heart murmur, he is otherwise healthy. He will be neutered December 3rd, and I hope to find him an amazing home. These are my favourite intakes... it is a privilege to be able to help people who are in palliative care or (moving to long-term care homes where they can't have a pet.) Being able to put someone's mind at ease by taking in their beloved cat and finding him or her a home is just so gratifying.</p><p>I think, however, that after I adopt out the cats I currently have, I will have to stop fostering altogether. Or I may take a long break and see how I feel. I absolutely love helping cats and spending time with them, but although most of the people I deal with are great, the ones that aren't are really wearing me down. I have literally never been so exhausted in my life, and if I'm not burned out now, I will be soon. I am going to think about other ways to help cats besides doing this. I have talked about quitting before, but I am honestly coming to the end of my rope. I don't want my health to start to suffer. I also want to have more time to devote to our own enormous collection of felines!<br /><br />I find that with fostering/adopting/rescue, people are constantly testing your boundaries. I have strong boundaries after all these years, but it is nonetheless tiresome to have to reinforce them all the time. I would quite frankly rather be leading a quieter life with my animals and art.</p><p>As an introvert, I also find the constant stream of people coming to our farm utterly exhausting. I am not cut out to deal with people all day. I need lots of quiet time to myself to make art and write, and that is not happening at all right (the exception being this blog post!) Plus of course everyone wants to visit a farm, but some people don't consider that it's our home, and sometimes we don't want guests. I mean really, would you invite yourself over to someone's house? We had a neighbour showing up unannounced last week with his kids, wanting a tour! On a day when I already had construction going on AND a kids' birthday party happening. But people do that to us all the time. As it stands now, I am not getting enough rest and that really has to change. It's just incredibly difficult, as I find it so fulfilling being able to help cats in need. I think I need to find other ways to help them.</p><p>And of course, we are still dealing with the aftermath of the criminal we employed here for six years. He was finally charged with two counts of theft, one count of fraud, and one count of intimidation. He told the police he is completely innocent, which is a complete lie. He's actually just a sociopath. His girlfriend (my former hairdresser, ugh!) enables him, and has already been sending her "flying monkeys" after me, to do some victim-blaming. So everything gets recorded, with screenshots for the police file in case they persist in being complete *ssholes. The officer who has been working with us has been so great. This will take a long time to wend its way through the system, especially if it goes to trial, but I am so glad we reported him. Apparently he has been stealing from employers and clubs for years, but no one ever went to the police about it. He was fired, he was banned from a club, but he went on his merry way, ended up here, and completely betrayed our trust. It has honestly made me quite bitter. I hope to move past that soon, but it is hard to trust anyone right now. We are dealing with two awful human beings choosing to make the world worse, not better.</p><p>My days have just been a blur lately and I'm getting two old for this. But on a happier note, so far this year I have adopted out 38 cats, and taken in 43! I know that's a drop in the bucket given the issues we have around here with unwanted cats, but I am happy to have been able to help those cats. And my adopters are just such wonderful people. I had someone adopt a 5-month-old kitten named Richard this week. Richard will need considerable work to become more socialized as he was not handled enough by humans as a young kitten. But this woman was ready and willing to take him on. I appreciate all my adopters, but there is a special place in my heart for those that will take on a cat or kitten that is not "easy." </p><p><br /></p><p>Here are some of the beautiful kitties I have right now. Have a great weekend!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J3VWcRrZY8k/YYZtI7sdySI/AAAAAAAAiJc/QBbmp_sziqgDWnSOdzI8SmaVz6udeVJ8QCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Dixie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-J3VWcRrZY8k/YYZtI7sdySI/AAAAAAAAiJc/QBbmp_sziqgDWnSOdzI8SmaVz6udeVJ8QCLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/Dixie.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Dixie, 10 months old. She has already had a litter of kittens! :( Richard was hers.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mHl7CKO4w2A/YYZtI_mmG4I/AAAAAAAAiJY/lZ6oA_3Izu8AiNWmTxgck_w9g3EJIut0wCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Franklin.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1536" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-mHl7CKO4w2A/YYZtI_mmG4I/AAAAAAAAiJY/lZ6oA_3Izu8AiNWmTxgck_w9g3EJIut0wCLcBGAsYHQ/w480-h640/Franklin.jpg" width="480" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Franklin</div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LaToWsoN3fM/YYZtHsaWj8I/AAAAAAAAiJQ/DGFKfs31CC0rtX1soFRf4NfYHWhcRYIVQCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Jamie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1553" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-LaToWsoN3fM/YYZtHsaWj8I/AAAAAAAAiJQ/DGFKfs31CC0rtX1soFRf4NfYHWhcRYIVQCLcBGAsYHQ/w486-h640/Jamie.jpg" width="486" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Jamie</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ned1LOZnkNQ/YYZtIl6MdOI/AAAAAAAAiJU/o5008EaJx-UoIxrPiE0xaut0RJr1rtOowCLcBGAsYHQ/s960/Sarah%2Bbed.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="696" data-original-width="960" height="464" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ned1LOZnkNQ/YYZtIl6MdOI/AAAAAAAAiJU/o5008EaJx-UoIxrPiE0xaut0RJr1rtOowCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h464/Sarah%2Bbed.jpeg" width="640" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Sarah - has a home lined up!</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ve1oKa2V9Rc/YYZtLfx7sgI/AAAAAAAAiJg/BwIbW9CS67gFwmB461LFMs_r9fA2NxKSACLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/Wendy.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1576" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ve1oKa2V9Rc/YYZtLfx7sgI/AAAAAAAAiJg/BwIbW9CS67gFwmB461LFMs_r9fA2NxKSACLcBGAsYHQ/w492-h640/Wendy.jpeg" width="492" /></a></div><br /><p style="text-align: center;">Wendy - still figuring out what to do with her. She is at best semi-feral. 5 months old</p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">My life has changed so much since I started this blog in 2005. We'll see what comes next! Always an adventure...</p><p><br /></p></div>Knatoleehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03809822081515082096noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10685986.post-19943186678445669182021-03-29T14:24:00.003-04:002021-03-29T14:24:52.142-04:00"I don't know how you do it!"<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><b>"I don't know how you do it!"</b></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I get that question a lot, regarding the times I have to euthanize a foster cat, or a precious pet of our own. I am a little bemused by the comment, and I don't really have a response for it. I don't have any superpowers for avoiding sadness and grief. It breaks my heart every time an animal needs to be put to sleep, but I am absolutely committed to being there for them right until the very end. When you work with as many animals as I do, loss is constant and inevitable, and you must find a way to deal with it without falling into depression. It's not easy for me, and honestly, I can't really tell you how I do it. I just do it because it needs to be done, because I want to do it, and because those animals need someone to make these decisions for them and to be there for them, and I manage it without letting it (so far) break me. I love these animals, and it's not like I can shield myself from the pain their passing causes; I don't push away or ignore my sadness. Sometimes it washes over me like a tsunami, and sometimes it's like the last ripple from a pebble being thrown in a pond; just a quiet kind of sadness that you knew was going to roll over you. It's the hardest part of having pets (and fostering them): the time when you must accept that improvement is impossible, and acknowledge that the kindest thing to do is ease an animal's suffering through euthanasia.</div><p></p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">And all the foster cats who have been euthanized while under my care, become, in my mind, my own cats. Ours is the last (and sometimes only!) home these beloved kitties had, and while I had dreams of bringing them every one of them back to health and adopting them out to loving homes, sometimes it ccould not be. So my euthanized fosters are forever mine, buried here in the woods at our farm. I loved them as much as I could while they were on this earth; I loved them as much as I love my own pets; I love them still.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OGjp3cc5KGU/YGIIVcX1jSI/AAAAAAAAh8Y/o06K4AzT39UwVAHo2sD-FK8gU1ROBw4PgCLcBGAsYHQ/s960/Bobby.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OGjp3cc5KGU/YGIIVcX1jSI/AAAAAAAAh8Y/o06K4AzT39UwVAHo2sD-FK8gU1ROBw4PgCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h480/Bobby.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;"><i> This sweetheart is Bobby, an incredibly lovely cat who came here last July after his owner passed away. He was a big grey love-bug. Sadly, he developed liver failure, and despite the extraordinary care he received from my vet clinic staff, and my own efforts at tube-feeding him, he deteriorated to the point that we had to euthanize him. I cried many tears over this dear cat. My consolation is hoping that in some way, he has been reunited with his loving owner. Bobby came to me to me with his friends Harley and Mama when their owner went into hospice care.</i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></p><p style="text-align: center;">The past year has been really difficult in terms of losing animals. I have had to euthanize three foster cats, plus a stray that had been hit by a car and was left with a pelvis shattered beyond repair. On top of that, we had to euthanize our sweet pony Esme, and then fewer than three weeks later, we found our most beloved cat Naomi lifeless in the bathroom. When I found Naomi stretched out on the floor, a dead weight behind the door, I broke down and cried in a way I have not done since each of my parents passed. I did wonder that morning how I could bear to lose even one more cat. Then I had to euthanize my foster kitty Scarlett in February. Somehow, you just get through these things. I have to remind myself that the good outweighs the bad, and no one gets through life without suffering. </p><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7LmH_iOIkZ4/YGIIVc-n5LI/AAAAAAAAh8U/roAN7ZHZlJUXP2sz2FBfmk8J2KCn1BFJACLcBGAsYHQ/s960/Lucy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7LmH_iOIkZ4/YGIIVc-n5LI/AAAAAAAAh8U/roAN7ZHZlJUXP2sz2FBfmk8J2KCn1BFJACLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h480/Lucy.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;"><i>This little kitten is Lucy. She had FIP and when her seizures became uncontrollable, I had to have her euthanized. She was just six months old and was perhaps the sweetest little kitten I have ever known. She was found in a ditch in poor shape. I nursed her back to health, only to find out she had FIP. I am grateful for the time I had with her.</i></p><p style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V6xI2l1aq2k/YGIIWE-WVLI/AAAAAAAAh8c/kP7yVDNaN04F3-ImBWnL1ZMPawU7uAZMACLcBGAsYHQ/s960/Periwinkke.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-V6xI2l1aq2k/YGIIWE-WVLI/AAAAAAAAh8c/kP7yVDNaN04F3-ImBWnL1ZMPawU7uAZMACLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h640/Periwinkke.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><p style="text-align: center;"><i>Periwinkle was brought to me by my friend Liz, who runs another cat rescue. Periwinkle was very traumatized and frightened when she arrived here. She has been found injured and was kept in a dog cage for MONTHS before her "rescuer" finally contacted Liz. Her back end was covered in her own excrement, and she has urine scalding on her legs. We got her cleaned up and feeling better, but a couple of vet visits in, we realized that Periwinkle actually had a fracture in her spine that meant she had little control over her bladder and bowels. There was just constant leakage going on. The kindest thing to do was to euthanize her. The one thing I am grateful for is that my friends Katie and Joey took her in to foster for a while, and won her trust, allowing Periwinkle to know human love and kindness before she had to pass over. Periwinkle refused to trust me, but she sure loved Katie!</i></p><p><br /></p><p style="text-align: center;">For me, being there at the end of an animal's life (or a human's, for that matter!) is a privilege and a blessing. To be in that quiet room, stroking an animal and expressing love as they pass over is, while sad and difficult, also very moving and special. For me, the most important thing is to let the animal know that they were so very loved.</p><p style="text-align: center;">Animals have done so much for me that I feel it is a gift to be able to do things for them, like be there in the final hours. I had a terrible childhood with a neglectful and emotionally abusive mother, but through all that, animals were always there for me. (In fact, my Mum was a huge animal lover and that was something she was able to impart on me. Her own childhood was worse than mine, and animals were her refuge too.) If things were bad, I could always talk to my dog, or cuddle my guinea pig, or laugh at my gerbils playing in their cage. My dogs and cats have always been the most excellent listeners! They don't judge, and they never lie. </p><p style="text-align: center;">I've loved animals since I was very small and I will always do whatever I can to help them. It's not heroic or brave or selfless... it's just what I want to do. It's the thing that gives me, for the most part, joy, and that joy outweighs the inevitable but sadness that come with rescuing animals in need. You can't always have a happy ending.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zXbzIsLdl68/YGIIWeewGBI/AAAAAAAAh8g/cJi6C-N1LdofOmtGuE5RECrwashxtx4KACLcBGAsYHQ/s960/Scarlett.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="700" data-original-width="960" height="466" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zXbzIsLdl68/YGIIWeewGBI/AAAAAAAAh8g/cJi6C-N1LdofOmtGuE5RECrwashxtx4KACLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h466/Scarlett.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Scarlett, euthanized in February. My vet clinic staff fought long and hard to try to save this beautiful girl. She had a truly sh*t life on the streets before she came here. My friends Joey and Katie fostered her for a year before she came back to me for her final months. She had a horrible, intractable case of calicivirus that no treatment would overcome (and believe me, we tried absolutely everything!) At the end, her mouth and tongue were still covered in horrible ulcers, and she was constantly losing weight because eating was so painful and difficult. Yet despite her horrible discomfort, she was a sweet, loving cat who always had a purr going on. She loved being brushed and she was an excellent <b>Bridgerton</b> viewing companion! I am still working on clearing out the room we kept Scarlett in (calicivirus is highly contagious) because I can only do so much before I start to cry. We all wanted so much for her to live. She was just a young cat of around two years of age, and so beautiful.</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">I have a lot of admiration for vets and vet techs, who must routinely euthanize animals. They are giving a precious gift to those creatures, a gift of compassion and love. And I have seen more than one of my vets cry at a euthanasia, particularly with an animal they have worked with over a long period of time. I am just in awe of their ability to release animals from their suffering in such a compassionate way. It is deeply moving to share tears with someone who has worked so hard with you to save a cat in need, only to have to put them to sleep. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xZnzE-y48wk/YGIIVVpeFHI/AAAAAAAAh8Q/OVO8aV3yVDganY6cT6ij4h8oZbcMlU9gQCLcBGAsYHQ/s960/Kwazii.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="480" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xZnzE-y48wk/YGIIVVpeFHI/AAAAAAAAh8Q/OVO8aV3yVDganY6cT6ij4h8oZbcMlU9gQCLcBGAsYHQ/w640-h480/Kwazii.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i> Me and my Kwazii. He was an FIV+ street cat with a heart of gold. We brought him a long way, and we enjoyed some wonderful times together, but he developed intestinal lymphoma that eventually necessitated euthanasia. No one who met this amazing boy can forget him. Just a precious little bent-eared being with all the love in the world to give.</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;">All to say, I don't know how I do it! (I don't know why I still have Valentine's chocolate left at Easter, either! LOL) I hate having to make the decision to end an animal's life. Even telling myself it is easing their suffering doesn't really help. I worry about doing it too soon, and I worry about doing it too late. It's just something that will always be hard to do. But I think the difficulty of it is made up for by the amazing fun I have caring for and being with these furry beings. They give so much love. Whatever I can give back to them, I will.</div><p></p><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div>Knatoleehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03809822081515082096noreply@blogger.com16tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10685986.post-69883291177283724642021-03-26T17:58:00.003-04:002021-03-26T17:58:35.424-04:00Finding time for art<p> I constantly struggle with balance in my life... I tend to do the things that scream out at me for attention, not necessarily the things that are good for my soul. To that end, I have really been trying to make time for art and poetry (although lately I have been struggling with poems... I have a terrible writer's block at the moment. This too shall pass!)<br /><br />I started painting in acrylics in 2018 after taking a fun pet portrait class at a local studio. I had previously done a lot of drawing with coloured pencil, and I used to love using water colours and chalk pastels. But I needed some practice with acrylic technique. </p><p>I've been having a blast with it, and of course I love painting animals! As much as I adore coloured pencils, and building up layer upon layer, the acrylic painting go MUCH faster and I find I am a lot looser with them!</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xihzYTlJC5c/YF5W8c55SWI/AAAAAAAAh7g/L_aB1gZR0Bs39TLSkIJqyF4L3MCTZkqwgCLcBGAsYHQ/s1400/Monty%2BLO.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1372" data-original-width="1400" height="393" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xihzYTlJC5c/YF5W8c55SWI/AAAAAAAAh7g/L_aB1gZR0Bs39TLSkIJqyF4L3MCTZkqwgCLcBGAsYHQ/w400-h393/Monty%2BLO.png" width="400" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;">Our Maremma dog Monty</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VqI3pHYDCT4/YF5XD96mgbI/AAAAAAAAh7k/7m0yQhLuuR4yMVyzPVaRvbs2pUM2SjZ8ACLcBGAsYHQ/s1800/Tabby%2BCat%2BLO.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1800" data-original-width="1424" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VqI3pHYDCT4/YF5XD96mgbI/AAAAAAAAh7k/7m0yQhLuuR4yMVyzPVaRvbs2pUM2SjZ8ACLcBGAsYHQ/w316-h400/Tabby%2BCat%2BLO.png" width="316" /></a></div><div><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Cat portrait I did for the OSPCA's "Portraits for Paws" fundraiser</i></div><div><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nQH5vJ5w11w/YF5XGe3a9LI/AAAAAAAAh7w/lktfcH_pZxoUe1OVF8VYf1IFccWlzXpzwCLcBGAsYHQ/s1207/Cookie%2BLo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1207" data-original-width="1200" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nQH5vJ5w11w/YF5XGe3a9LI/AAAAAAAAh7w/lktfcH_pZxoUe1OVF8VYf1IFccWlzXpzwCLcBGAsYHQ/w398-h400/Cookie%2BLo.jpg" width="398" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>My barn helper Joseanne's lovely horse Cookie</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2lCbBudonW0/YF5XQoYxTpI/AAAAAAAAh78/WeOX5DCu87U2eWC_KVS9BhPFTuVDYc3FgCLcBGAsYHQ/s2048/EmmaDog%2BHi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="2048" data-original-width="1644" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2lCbBudonW0/YF5XQoYxTpI/AAAAAAAAh78/WeOX5DCu87U2eWC_KVS9BhPFTuVDYc3FgCLcBGAsYHQ/w321-h400/EmmaDog%2BHi.jpg" width="321" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><i>Otis</i></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br /></div><br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Pp-_E0QLE9k/YF5XFLGjWJI/AAAAAAAAh7s/iNmk8jrbHFMWjtQQcyzSxjxq3O8wFTRoACLcBGAsYHQ/s960/Enya%2BLo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="938" height="400" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Pp-_E0QLE9k/YF5XFLGjWJI/AAAAAAAAh7s/iNmk8jrbHFMWjtQQcyzSxjxq3O8wFTRoACLcBGAsYHQ/w390-h400/Enya%2BLo.jpg" width="390" /></a></div><div><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Sweet senior girl Enya</i></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i><br /></i></div><div style="text-align: center;">What I really love about painting is that I get into that "flow" state where I don't even notice the passing of time. I am so absorbed by what I'm doing that two hours will fly by, and suddenly the cats are at my feet harassing me for supper. I always feel so much better after spending some time on my art. It's like when I ride my horse; I am always in the present moment, completely involved in doing something I love. (Well, sometimes I'm completely involved in a battle of wills with my horse, but you get the idea.)<br /><br />Here's to spending more time painting and less time doing mindless chores! </div><div style="text-align: center;">Have a great weekend.</div><p><br /></p><p><br /></p>Knatoleehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03809822081515082096noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10685986.post-42453140964724049822021-03-25T12:23:00.006-04:002021-03-25T12:23:58.366-04:00Catharsis<p style="text-align: left;"> I can't tell you how many times over the past year I have sat down to write a blog post, then walked away from the computer. The things I wanted to write about all seemed sad or whiney or complaint-riddled, and I know absolutely everyone is having a hard time during this pandemic. Why add to the misery? Gordon and I have been fortunate; although sadly G lost his cousin to Covid last March, touch wood we have both remained healthy, and my mother-in-law just received her second vaccine, which allows us to worry a bit less about her. We are financially solvent, and my barn helper Joseanne has been an absolutely godsend. She makes me smile every day. Things overall are going well, and we are managing to keep our heads up.</p><p style="text-align: left;">But the past 14 months have been hard here at the farm. Many animals, foster and otherwise, have passed to Rainbow Bridge, and worst of all, in December we had to euthanize our beloved pony Esme. Then, fifteen days later, I woke up to find my heart kitty Naomi dead on our bathroom floor. (Still don't know why, but she had had some heart issues earlier in life and I think at age 12, her heart just gave out.) Every time I thought to write about these things, it was just too painful, and I walked away. It has all been too much.</p><p style="text-align: left;">To top it all off, just before the start of the pandemic, we found out that the person that had been working here for six years, my right-hand person, someone I thought cared about our animals, someone whose partner (my former hairdresser and someone I considered a friend!) had recommended to work here (knowing full well the truth about him)... well, that person turned out to be a thief, a fraudster, and a lying, lazy cheat. I shall call that person Bloodsucker.</p><p></p><div style="text-align: left;">I now have recurring nightmares about Bloodsucker, including a very bad one last night. I think that's what prompted me to write this today. I need to get it out ad I don't care anymore who knows about it. I need catharsis. Not a lot of people know what happened to us here. I really haven't wanted to spread it around. I know how foolish it makes us look to have allowed someone like Bloodsucker into our lives. We should both have known better. Gordon is a lawyer, for God's sake. He knows full well what criminals are like. I realize these manipulators know how to target their victims, and I get that, but I have been through enough in life that I usually am able to see through narcissists and sociopaths. Not this time.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I am now convinced I had a sociopath working alongside me for six years, which is absolutely horrifying. It makes me want to vomit. In fact, I <i>have</i> vomited over it. This person not only stole (and damaged) many, many things from the farm (including the spotting scope and tripod Gordon gave me for my 50th birthday, now gone forever), he routinely claimed hours he hadn't worked. He went to the local hardware store where we had given him signing authority to buy construction materials (AFTER he had worked her for a couple of years) and bought himself many goodies, including a circular saw, a parka, winter overalls, and perhaps most offensive, $2.50 worth of SNACKS on a Friday night. Going over a couple of years worth of receipts, we realized he had been going there two to three times a day, wasting time on our dime. Why buy a pack of screws when you can buy three screws on three separate trips and get paid for doing so? How could we have been so naïve? In my defence, that kind of gross dishonesty is so out of my mindset, it never even occurred to me it could be happening in my own proverbial backyard.</div><p></p><p style="text-align: left;">Of course, this is in part our fault for trusting too much and not insisting on matching receipts to invoices, which is what we did in the early days. But that's how sociopaths work. Bloodsucker gained our trust over several years, then completely f*cked us over. It was so awful to discover all this. Neither of us can believe we were so stupid, and of course looking back, we realize how many times we ignored gut feelings and warning signs. It has been a hard but important life lesson. I will never trust anyone like that again. I honestly don't want to trust any human being ever again.</p><p></p><div style="text-align: left;">Not only that, once we fired Bloodsucker, he presented us with an outrageous, fabricated $6800 bill that he could not back up with hours and dates. We therefore refused to pay it. This bill included a $300 excavator fee for burying our foster cat Kwazii (actually buried with a hand shovel!), and another charge for burying a goat with an excavator that was in fact buried with our own tractor, something I witnessed with my own eyes. But I guess if you are making up an exorbitant fake bill, it can be hard to come up with realistic details. He actually admitted to us that although his last bill included $3000 worth of his hours, he had not worked all those hours. He actually ADMITTED that to Gordon, but still demanded the money!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">And keep in mind, we are talking foster and rescue animals here. Bloodsucker basically screwed over a rescue farm for six years, on top of being paid a hourly amount that is so outrageous, I am ashamed to tell people what it was. He has also painted himself as the victim in this situation. Fortunately everything he stole from us came from our own bank account, not the rescue's. Still, I remain ashamed to have misplaced my trust so horrifically.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">After he was canned, Bloodsucker started staging sit-ins at Gordon's office, until Gordon finally threw him out. (All this in a pandemic!) Then Bloodsucker's girlfriend came in one day, making demands and threats. She was threatening to smear US! Gordon refused to see her, and she is now also banned from the office. She is a very pathetic woman propping up a truly evil man. I am as betrayed by her as I am by him. These two use people to their advantage, then throw them aside when they are done. And frankly, they aren't even very good at it. Like a lot of unintelligent people, they both think they are a whole lot smarter than they actually are. They don't even know enough to cover their tracks.</div><p></p><p style="text-align: left;">The day Bloodsucker came back to the farm to pick up his things after being canned, he was so angry, I ran to hide in the barn with my cat Emerson in my arms. Bloodsucker was so irate, I had flashbacks to my former spouse, and I could not stop shaking and crying. I called Gordon to come home immediately. Unfortunately, while I was hiding in the barn, Bloodsucker and his helper were busy stealing and trashing our things. We found tools (including power tools!) thrown in garbage cans, things broken, things missing. This is when my spotting scope disappeared. Sadly, it took me too long to notice it was gone, because it has been hidden upstairs in our granary under a sheet while renovations were going on (renos supposedly being done by Bloodsucker, when he deigned to work.) Later someone told me it was Bloodsucker's trade mark to trash a place after being let go. Too bad we didn't know that sooner.</p><p style="text-align: left;">It didn't stop there, though. After we let him Bloodsucker go (he was never anything more than an hourly contract worker), his hate campaign stepped up. He began calling my friends to see what I was saying about him (nothing!) He stopped people we knew and demanded to know what we were saying about him (nothing.) He tried to tell "his side of the story" to anyone and everyone, which of course painted him as the poor abused fellow and us as the callous con artists. (He actually called us con artists! Talk about projection!)<br /><br />He stopped the guy who mows our lawn and started telling him lies about us until our guy said he didn't want to hear it. He sent "anonymous", threatening hate mail to our mailbox. Our beautiful farm sign was mysteriously egged for the first time in 14 years. </p><p style="text-align: left;">When Gordon and I were walking down our road one day last summer with the dogs, Bloodsucker came up behind us in his truck, honking and accelerating and veering over the centre line to startle us. It was not long after this that we went to the police. The OPP have warned Bloodsucker to stay away from us while they investigate our complaint. Now when Gordon occasionally drives by Bloodsucker (small town, hard to avoid), Bloodsucker backs down the road in his truck in an exaggerated and dangerous manner. </p><p style="text-align: left;">Unfortunately Bloodsucker is not one to let things go. He has been harassing his next-door neighbour for years over a fenceline dispute. The neighbour once called the police on him, and Gordon actually went over there at the time to help Bloodsucker deal with the police. That should have been our sign to cut and RUN. I heard so many stories over the years from Bloodsucker himself about people he hated and wanted revenge against. I think part of the reason we kept him on as long as we did was that we were afraid what would happen if we ever stopped requiring his services. Turns out our fears were justified. I know for a fact that Bloodsucker likes to go as close as possible to his neighbour's house and run his chainsaw just to be annoying, because the township ruled against Bloodsucker in the fenceline dispute. That's the level of ridiculousness we are contending with.</p><p style="text-align: left;">We have now spent $3000 on security cameras for the farm, and for the first time in my life, I thought maybe I WOULD like the own a gun for protection. That thought has now passed, in part because I would probably accidentally blow off my own foot if I had a gun.</p><p></p><div style="text-align: left;">I'm not sure what hurts more; knowing that I treated this criminal well and trusted him with my precious animals, only to discover he was screwing us over, or the fact that his girlfriend, someone I let cut my hair, someone I considered a friend and ally, saw us as an easy mark and sent Bloodsucker over here to work for us, knowing all about his criminal past and thieving ways. Of course it's only now that Bloodsucker is gone that everyone is coming to me with the stories about him, and her. I'm just in a world of hurt, although I am working hard at moving on. I just want the nightmares to subside. I don't know who I am angrier at: them, for using and abusing us, or me, for being kind to both of them for far too long. I will never be that stupid again.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;">I do believe in a sort of karma, in that you get tend to get out of life what you put into it. I know these two particular people are not happy. How could anyone like that be truly happy? My hope is that the OPP will at least lay some kind of theft/fraud charges, because Bloodsucker has gotten away with a lot of things in the past, and he is very cocky. He truly thinks he is smarter than everyone else. And no one has ever stepped up to stop him, short of one criminal charge when he was younger.</div><p></p><p style="text-align: left;">His evil then came to rest on us.</p><p style="text-align: left;">I am trying to move on from it all, knowing the outcome of the police investigation is pretty much out of my hands. I treasure my animals and get much joy from being with them. I still want to believe there are good people in the world, although those I trust are few and far between. I have been spending time writing poetry and painting and riding my horse. I am doing all I can to make sure I listen to my gut and keep these kinds of people out of my life in the first place. Really, it's all we can do now. Learn and move on. Be with the people who truly matter and have your back, as you have theirs.</p><p style="text-align: left;">On a happier note, I finally have a pet cow. I have wanted one forever, and it was in fact Bloodsucker who refused to accommodate a cow here, because he would not build a stall or fencing for one. That's how bad things got; he ended up dictating to us like he owned the place. It is so much better here now that he is one. It's like a dark presence is gone from the farm.</p><p style="text-align: left;">My cow is a Simmental named Eve who was given to us by Joseanne on Christmas Eve. She was born on November 24th and is simply a pet to be enjoyed here. I just happen to love cows. Eve was not suitable for Jo's uncle's breeding program, so she came to us. She is growing like a weed and is so fun to have around:</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tvSbOXlm954/YFyxLDg6I_I/AAAAAAAAh64/2PWy37Fe1CohMPkFNlrbtclvHkhG-16wQCLcBGAsYHQ/s960/158455894_2942142612683652_1269340141511750559_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="634" data-original-width="960" height="316" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-tvSbOXlm954/YFyxLDg6I_I/AAAAAAAAh64/2PWy37Fe1CohMPkFNlrbtclvHkhG-16wQCLcBGAsYHQ/w479-h316/158455894_2942142612683652_1269340141511750559_n.jpg" width="479" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;">And here is my other reason to smile:</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-amsBQEOXrJ8/YFyxb6UtQeI/AAAAAAAAh7A/e05F-hW92mYSRrEG2I5aWGmGb7GCvmlEACLcBGAsYHQ/s960/161072166_2947710015460245_1016198795135954715_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="934" data-original-width="960" height="439" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-amsBQEOXrJ8/YFyxb6UtQeI/AAAAAAAAh7A/e05F-hW92mYSRrEG2I5aWGmGb7GCvmlEACLcBGAsYHQ/w451-h439/161072166_2947710015460245_1016198795135954715_n.jpg" width="451" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><p style="text-align: left;">This is Hannah. She is about five months old now. I found her in a barn with her eyes crusted over. At one point, we thought she was going to need her left eye removed, but both eyes have recovered sufficiently that she can keep them, and she has vision in both. Like that wasn't bad enough, shortly after we got her, she fell off my desk and broke her rear leg! She has a pin inserted and has healed up great, as have her eyes. All she needs is an eye pressure check every three months to make sure she isn't developing glaucoma.</p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xLNPfeDtKek/YFyyLkS4_QI/AAAAAAAAh7M/GCVevKGqdIAO8E_NEbfEu_-K3LNPfXy-wCLcBGAsYHQ/s960/155386178_2935531916678055_7669753020129548215_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" height="459" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-xLNPfeDtKek/YFyyLkS4_QI/AAAAAAAAh7M/GCVevKGqdIAO8E_NEbfEu_-K3LNPfXy-wCLcBGAsYHQ/w459-h459/155386178_2935531916678055_7669753020129548215_n.jpg" width="459" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>That cast is gone and she is running all around like a little kitten should!</i></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rEYWw-U1C10/YFyyLv7qz6I/AAAAAAAAh7I/rmbCuh6Ck6IuQTtg-25SNeBWgsgKwoXfwCLcBGAsYHQ/s960/156397962_2939865429578037_3134943724794818641_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="702" data-original-width="960" height="394" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rEYWw-U1C10/YFyyLv7qz6I/AAAAAAAAh7I/rmbCuh6Ck6IuQTtg-25SNeBWgsgKwoXfwCLcBGAsYHQ/w539-h394/156397962_2939865429578037_3134943724794818641_n.jpg" width="539" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: center;"><i>Her eyes have improved quite a lot since this picture was taken!</i></div><p style="text-align: center;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;">Hannah is fearless and she loves the dogs! She makes me laugh and I love her for it.</p><p style="text-align: center;"></p><div style="text-align: left;">I hope you are all well and healthy and managing okay through these difficult times. Life will get back to normal eventually, whatever normal is. I try to keep that in mind. It is true that nothing lasts forever.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br /></div><div style="text-align: left;"> I wish you well, and if you have read this far, thank you. I will try to get back to regular, happier posts. I have missed writing in my blog!</div><p></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p><p style="text-align: left;"><br /></p>Knatoleehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03809822081515082096noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10685986.post-12046968542984343262020-01-03T10:44:00.002-05:002020-01-03T10:44:31.096-05:00Chase<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Our newest feline acquisition, lol...</div>
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Chase</div>
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This cat is magnificent. He is 11 months old, and his former owners wanted me to take him as a barn cat because he kept peeing on their basement floor. I agreed to, but when he arrived, I decided to put him in the large cat cage I have in the granary, with pee pads and a drop sheet covering the floor, since it was cold outside and I needed to figure out a spot for him to get used to living in the barn.</div>
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But he was good as gold about using his litter-boxes and never once peed anywhere else, so I decided to let him loose in the granary with the resident cats. And guess what? No accidents, no misbehaviour. Just a delightful young cat who got along great with the other felines.</div>
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So I decided I would not consign this youngster to life as a barn cat. I thought about adopting him out, but two things stopped me: I had promised his former owners that I would keep him, but more importantly, we adored him!</div>
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And now he has become a therapy cat...</div>
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I regularly take cats and kittens to two seniors' residences in Cornwall. A couple of months ago, I decided to give Chase a try.</div>
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He has turned out to be an absolute star! He is so gentle and sweet, and he is just as happy to be held and cuddled as he is to play!</div>
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He also doesn't give a rat's ass if we dress him up in hats and neckwear...</div>
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He saunters around the room wearing that turkey hat like he owns it!</div>
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Or perhaps you're in the mood for some cyclops?<br /><br />He is SUCH an amazing cat, and brings a lot of joy to the people we visit.<br /><br />I'm not sure why he was having urination issues at his past home, but doesn't where at our place, but I presume that enough has changed in his family dynamic that he feels less stressed. Regardless, he has turned out to be a superb cat and I love taking him on these visits!<br /><br />He also likes to supervise when I run on my treadmill...</div>
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"Make sure you work off all that chocolate you ate over the holidays, mama!"</div>
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Chase is definitely a keeper!</div>
Knatoleehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03809822081515082096noreply@blogger.com20tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10685986.post-85632959226390863572019-12-31T07:58:00.000-05:002019-12-31T07:58:11.526-05:00Don't let the door hit you on the way out, 2019!<br />
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I know it looks like I completely abandoned my blog, but I have come here often to write a post, then found myself unable to... 2019 was a hard year. Although I was optimistic in my April post, we lost Kwazii on September 5th. His immune system was just too depleted by his FIV to withstand treatment for lymphoma and we had to euthanize him. It was extremely hard.</div>
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<i>RIP Kwazii. You were one of a kind.</i></div>
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Many people had come to love this very special cat, and I still can't look at his photo without welling up. We only had him for a relatively short time, but I treasured every moment. He was one of a kind.<br /><br />I started the year losing foster kitten Lucy. Then we lost Kwazii. I also lost Henry the pig (who died inexplicably in his sleep) and my goats Daphne, Harry and Daisy. I lost my new barn cat Chai. And then our tripod kitty Alex was diagnosed with the EXACT same lymphoma that Kwazii had...</div>
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Alex has started the same chemo, and happily he seems to be responding well. He had his first blood tests yesterday and everything was perfect! That is a decent way to end the year!</div>
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This fall my horse Roo colicked, but fortunately recovered. (My first experience with colic!) Then immediately on the heels of that, we nearly lost our donkey Saul to a bile duct problem. Fortunately he also recovered! But it has all made me a bit too weary to write, which is unfortunate, because I feel emotionally constipated when I stop writing. But this year has been a bit much for me. I have taken in 39 foster cats and adopted out 35, which is fabulous, but I am also exhausted. But I didn't really come here to complain... this was just supposed to be a short preamble (if anyone is even reading!)</div>
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I think a lot about the work I've been doing taking in and adopting out cats. 99% of the people I deal with are amazing. It's the 1% I struggle with, who seem to think they can be as rude and abusive as they want. I deal with them, but I don't enjoy it. And the good people do far outweigh the bad! And it's the people part of cat rescue that I thought to write about...</div>
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People generally seem to realize that taking in cats, neutering/spaying, vaccinating and adopting them out to loving homes is a good thing, and the prime motivation for a cat rescue. But what I've noticed is how important this endeavour is to the happiness of humans.<br /> </div>
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<i>Foster kitty Chinook</i></div>
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I get a lot of joy out of helping cats in need. I adore animals, but I have a particular soft spot for cats, and anytime I am able to help them, it is immensely satisfying. I am an introvert, and at a party, I'll be the one in the corner cuddling a cat. I can make small talk and be surprisingly social, but it's never easy for me. I find being with animals far easier than dealing with humans. Animals never lie and they never let me down. They have always been there for me, so I try to be there for them.</div>
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<br /> But I have come to realize that it also makes me happy seeing how my work benefits humans. I have taken in cats from all kinds of situations... there was an elderly man going into a seniors' residence who couldn't take his beloved cat with him. There was a terminally ill woman who wanted to be sure her cat would have a safe place before she left his world. There was a woman who adored her kitty but had to go into permanent care due to severe mental health issues. There were many people who were trying to help homeless and sometimes injured cats, but whose resources were limited, so they asked me to help. There were people who desperately needed to rehome cats due to allergies, or divorce, or life-changing circumstances of an epic scale. The list goes on...</div>
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I have come to realize that helping humans is as much a part of cat rescue as helping cats! And that is extremely gratifying. I also take cats to visit seniors' residences... some people seem to view that as an act of charity on my part, but I do it for my own selfish reasons: I get a lot of happiness from seeing seniors light up when they cuddle a cat. I love listening to their stories about their own kitties from the past. Sometimes they will cry when they tell these stories, but I can see how comforting it is for them to be able to cuddle a purring cat or kitten. Visiting these places doesn't make me a saint; just makes me happy! I highly recommend it.<br /><br />I don't know how much longer I can continue with cat rescue. At the very least, I think I need to scale back. While, the majority of people are excellent, there are those ask too much of me. They get pissed off if I don't reply to emails and messages instantly. They come and dump all their emotional shit all over me like I'm a therapist. They should up at my door unannounced on Sunday morning with three cats in their car, demanding I take them. They get angry when I can't. It is incredibly hard to say "no" to a cat in need, but it's what you have to do if you want to keep your sanity. Boundaries are so important!<br /><br />And then there's the people who stiff me for adoption fees. Only two to date, but it really burns my ass. Although I receive many generous donations, I am still spending a crapload of my own money on cat rescue, and for someone to refuse to pay me $175 for a cat they've adopted, a cat I've spent triple that on, well, it just makes me mad. I am now demanding fees before people leave the farm with the cat. I've mostly had good luck with people not being assholes about paying adoption fees, but now that I've been screwed over twice, of course I have to change things. </div>
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And this is why I haven't written here for a long time... I didn't want to write a whiney, complaining post about how hard cat rescue can be. Yet here I am!<br /><br />Still, it has brought me so much happiness and satisfaction. When I see a cat go off to a fabulous new home with loving new owners, it fills up my heart. One more kitty who won't reproduce. One more kitty who won't die outside alone and unloved. What I do is just a drop in the bucket, given how many cats are suffering in our area. But I try to focus on the fact that I can at least help some, with amazing support from my community.</div>
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For the people out there who think saving cats is a waste of time and money, and that cats are expendable, and not worth caring about, I would say this... caring for cats = caring for people. You can't do one without the other.</div>
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That's all I've got right now... I need to eat breakfast! </div>
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Wishing you all a happy, healthy 2020!<br /><br />•••••</div>
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Throwback to 2018... foster kitten Jack's amazing metamorphosis...<br />
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Knatoleehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03809822081515082096noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10685986.post-74556842152067972942019-04-07T09:27:00.002-04:002019-04-07T09:30:05.368-04:00Kwazii<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
To paraphrase Monty Python, I'm not dead; I'm just resting. Although really I'm not even resting... I keep meaning to blog, then my day goes by and it's time for bed. But here I am!</div>
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This cutie-pie is Kwazii...</div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Zw0aSHTHgmo/XKnwdOx4alI/AAAAAAAAhvI/ise4T9XpkgA9PfRpKXuuL0my5Pgo3cbBgCLcBGAs/s1600/52669945_2322535941310992_7943700665748946944_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="866" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Zw0aSHTHgmo/XKnwdOx4alI/AAAAAAAAhvI/ise4T9XpkgA9PfRpKXuuL0my5Pgo3cbBgCLcBGAs/s640/52669945_2322535941310992_7943700665748946944_n.jpg" width="576" /></a></div>
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Last August, my friend Elizabeth from <a href="https://www.facebook.com/FurrGetMeNotCatHaven/">Furr get Me Knot Cat Haven</a> took Kwazii in. He was an absolute wreck. He'd been living rough outside for some time. Someone had taken him in at some point and shaved him (likely he was covered in mats and this was likely an act of kindness.)</div>
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Here's how he looked when Liz got him:</div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NI9scJV5ees/XKnw6j8RWgI/AAAAAAAAhvo/7LwQqNhbYX8hSWyG-n39wPKtSEgAGYMSQCLcBGAs/s1600/53764486_2336753219889264_5984174175420416000_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="183" data-original-width="275" height="425" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NI9scJV5ees/XKnw6j8RWgI/AAAAAAAAhvo/7LwQqNhbYX8hSWyG-n39wPKtSEgAGYMSQCLcBGAs/s640/53764486_2336753219889264_5984174175420416000_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Skinny, flea-infested, bad upper respiratory infection, explosive diarrhea, ear mites, a crumpled ear due to haematomas, rotten teeth... he was not at his best. But he was SUPER sweet and just happy to be in a safe place with lots of food. He was so affectionate and laid-back and just plain happy. This cat deserved a chance!</div>
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Kwazii became our joint project. Liz found him a foster home, but would send him down to me for vet care. Our friend Debs volunteered to courier Kwazii back and forth to the farm (Liz lives about 45 minutes away from me.)</div>
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The day of our first vet visit, we got the sad news that Kwazii is FIV+. But happily, he didn't have FelV. And <a href="https://www.vet.cornell.edu/departments-centers-and-institutes/cornell-feline-health-center/health-information/feline-health-topics/feline-immunodeficiency-virus">FIV</a> need not be a death sentence! Cats can live long lives with this illness, and they can live with non-FIV cats so long as they all get along. (FIV is transmitted mainly through deep bite wounds.)</div>
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So we got to work on Kwazii. We cleared up his URI with antibiotics. He started on weekly B12 injections. He started on a diet of special gastro food.</div>
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His coat started to grow back and things slowly began to improve for him.</div>
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We had him vaccinated and dewormed. We had him neutered, and had all his bad teeth removed and the remaining ones scaled.</div>
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Amazingly, the GoFundMe account we set up for Kwazii covered all these bills. People were really generous! Kwaz is an easy cat to fall in love with.</div>
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Kwazii was doing great except for one thing: he continued to be afflicted with explosive diarrhea. Nothing really seemed to help for long. And Kwazii LOVES to poop in his crate and roll in it, so he was getting a lot of baths....</div>
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Finally the vet suggested a comprehensive diarrhea panel. So we went ahead with that. Turned out the Kwazii had clostridium in his feces, despite repeated treatments with Flagyl. Dr. Barb was suspicious. He also had coronavirus in his poop. Was is FIP? We sure hope not; FIP is deadly and awful. But we had kind of reached the end of the road with diagnostics, unless we were willing to have Dr. Barb perform exploratory surgery on Kwazii, and take some tissues. This, we were told, would yield a definitive diagnosis. But if something WAS going on, it could also make Kwazii crash.</div>
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Liz and I talked. We decided to go ahead with the surgery. Happily, Kwazii came through it like a pro and charmed everybody at the clinic. His abdomen was sliced open, and Dr. Barb investigated everything and took tissue samples. She found that a section of his intestine and some lymph nodes were enlarged but otherwise, things looked okay. She closed him up and sent the samples to the lab.</div>
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When she called to update me, she was laughing. When she went to check on Kwazii the evening, he was "face down in his food bowl" eating like he'd never seen food before. Apparently cats are often uninterested in food after abdominal surgery. Not our Kwazii! Hours after surgery, he had bounced back like nothing had happened.</div>
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He came home with a delightful cone. We decided that Kwaz would stay with me for the foreseeable future. If he had a terminal illness, I would keep him, but if it was something treatable, I'd fix him up and do my best to find him a home or long-term foster home.</div>
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The next week, we got the diagnosis: Kwazii had lymphoma in his intestines, with a tiny amount in his liver: a low-grade, small-cell carcinoma that not aggressive and was very treatable. There are no guarantees, of course, but with treatment he could live years with this. It is not uncommon for cats with FIV to develop lymphoma. I was actually happy about the diagnosis because (a) now we had an answer and (b) it wasn't FIP!</div>
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We decided to go ahead and put Kwazii on chemo. Cats do a lot better with this than humans. So a week ago, Kwazii began his regimen of Chlorambucil and Prednisolone. So far, he's acting like nothing has changed. He could possibly lose his magnificent whiskers, but not his fur. I've been keeping a close eye on him and so far, touch wood, he is doing great!</div>
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And he loves to snuggle.</div>
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We'll see how he does, but my hope is that when the chemo ends, I'll be able to find him a loving home. Of course I would always take care of him here, but it would be so much nicer for him to be in a home with fewer cats where he can get all the love and attention he deserves.</div>
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Some people would think it crazy to spend so much time and money on one cat but I say WHY NOT? I can never save all the cats, as much as I want to. I have to pick and choose my battles in fostering. This six-year-old boy is a truly lovely fellow who deserves a chance, and a loving home. And there really are no guarantees with any cat. In a year, I lost my Millicent, Mootie and Keaton, and none of them was particularly old. They'd all been seemingly healthy until they all died suddenly of different kinds of cancer. It was just bad luck. Kwazii could live for years. Or maybe he won't, but he has a much better chance of it now that we've taken him in and improved his quality of life.</div>
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And he has so much love to give! Plus he's devastingly handsome.<br /><br />HUGE thanks to all the vets who have cared for Kwazii, especially Dr. Barbara Tomlinson of St. Lawrence Valley Animal Hospital and the Cat Clinic of Cornwall. You've all been so wonderful to this guy.<br /><br />The BIGGEST thanks goes to Elizabeth, though. She took this sad and ragged boy in when no one else could or would. If it weren't for Liz, Kwazii would surely be dead by now; he could not have made it through another winter outside. Liz is an angel to kitties.</div>
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Go Kwazii Go! We are all rooting for you.</div>
<br />Knatoleehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03809822081515082096noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10685986.post-42882471144505020212019-02-15T14:32:00.000-05:002019-02-15T14:32:05.023-05:00Jampups at play<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Yes, I am still heeeere!!</div>
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<br />We got over 30 cm (a foot) of snow the other day. Yesterday I took some pics of the Jampups frolicking in it. They play hard!</div>
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Some interesting dog body language going on here! Chloe, Dodger and Gigi.</div>
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Chloe and Gigi having fun</div>
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Dodger, a gracefull gazelle. LOL!</div>
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Hmmm not sure what Chloe is saying here.</div>
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There are a lot of teeth involved when they play, but it's all in the name of fun.</div>
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My handsome boy!</div>
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Gigi, the brains of the outfit.</div>
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Have a great weekend!</div>
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Knatoleehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03809822081515082096noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10685986.post-24085969446001857042018-12-25T06:55:00.002-05:002018-12-25T06:55:57.271-05:00Merry merry!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Yeah I know, I'm on a roll! Three posts in a week... what is the world coming to? Wishing all of you who celebrate it a very Merry Christmas!</div>
Knatoleehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03809822081515082096noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10685986.post-56143084449361713452018-12-24T07:10:00.000-05:002018-12-24T07:10:25.732-05:00They were not impressed<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Happy Christmas eve! The equines are not feeling it, lol...</div>
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Sandy refused to look at me.</div>
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Gen was patient about it all.</div>
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Jimmy was rocking it.</div>
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Roo preferred a hat.</div>
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Saul was long-suffering.</div>
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Whatever you celebrate this holiday season, hope it's a good one for you! </div>
<br />Knatoleehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03809822081515082096noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10685986.post-44053475091048244592018-12-23T08:31:00.000-05:002018-12-24T07:11:53.119-05:00Ash<div style="text-align: center;">
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<i><b><span style="font-size: large;"> Ash</span></b></i><br />
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The year is drawing to a close, and I am reflecting on all the cats I have adopted out this year. It is MADNESS! I was a bit shocked to add up the numbers and discover I took in 60 cats and kittens, and have adopted out 55 (and that doesn't count the 13 kittens that died in April!) This is why I am now my veterinary practice's second biggest client after the OSPCA, lol.<br />
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The five felines that haven't left are Taya, (failed foster, now a permanent resident!) Peaches (being fostered by my friend Sharron), Lucy, (in a room in my house while we deal with her medical issues), Artemis (5-month-old kitten who was shot in the leg and will be here for the foreseeable future; it looks like she will need her front right leg amputated), and Oliver (who was returned to me after a year and a half because... don't get me started! He is my idea of the perfect cat and everyone who has met him here agrees with me.)</div>
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At the start of 2018, I took in five kittens with absolutely no intention of taking in another 55 felines in the ensuing months. This year has been insane, but I have learned so much. I have been sorely tested and disappointed by a couple of people, but for the most part, I have dealt with a lot of really amazing human beings who have given me help along the way, not to mention the fantastic people who have adopted all these beautiful cats. It was never my goal in life to run a cat shelter, and yet here I am, doing what I thought I could never do, and finding it very satisfying.</div>
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My goal for next year is to do a better job of balancing everything so that I can spend more time doing the other things I love: writing, making art, and riding my horse. Also there have been times this year when I have been exhausted, which is not something I need at my age. So I am working on that too. You need really strong boundaries to do this cat rescue work, and I am getting better at defending my boundaries all the time, but it can be really difficult to say "no" to a cat in need, But you must! A person can only do so much. It's tough for an introvert like me to be dealing with people all the time, but at the same time, I have been so amazed and touch by the support and kindness I have received from so many in 2018. </div>
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And then there's my friend and right-hand cat-woman, Sharron. I can't say enough good things about this beautiful being, Sharron has been there every step of the way this year, volunteering her time to help the cats she loves. She comes to the farm many times a week to clean litter-boxes, wash cat bowls, clean up the granary, and most importantly, to spend time with the cats. She has the most amazing way with them, and I truly believe her love for and care of this kitties is a large part of the reason I do so well adopting out these cats to great homes. She is amazing at socializing them! She understands cats so very well, and is an absolute godsend to me. She will even do things like surprise me with tacos and chai lattes and all manner of things that brighten my days. She is also the person who adopted the Georgie, the one-eyed kitten I fostered for the OSPCA in 2017. I told Sharron the other day that I couldn't do this without her. She said I could. Well, maybe I could, but it would be a lot more difficult. I am so grateful to have her in my life.</div>
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There have been some beautiful adoption stories this year. Let me tell you about Ash...</div>
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Ash was found shivering on a porch in Cornwall. He had lost weight and has a nasty bite wound on his leg. The person concerned for him contacted me. It's funny; I didn't really have space at the time. On top of that, I hate talking on the phone (introvert!) and usually let it go to call answer unless it's someone I know. Yet on this one particular day, I picked up the phone when it was a number I didn't know. It turned out to be the call about Ash. It was a nurse who worked at the nearby hospital. She wanted to help him, but couldn't keep him because she was in a rental and already had a cat. My first impulse was to say no, but as she talked, my resolve weakened and I agreed to take him in.</div>
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I'm so glad I did!</div>
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I got Ash off the vet asap. Sadly, he tested positive for FIV (not the end of the world, but he would need some special care.) And the vet took one look at the deep hole in his rear leg and scheduled surgery. While Ash was under, he was also neutered, then sent home with a fine set of sutures along his back leg...</div>
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I really wasn't sure how easy it would be to adopt out a FIV-positive cat but I figured I'd give it a shot! And within a week, I'd received a message about Ash from an older gentleman who had lost his beloved wife to cancer last year.</div>
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He owned two geriatric dogs, and was looking for a cat to keep him company. Would Ash fit the bill? I invited him to come for a visit. And it turned out the man shared my last name and was from England, like my parents. His accent so reminded me of my father's.</div>
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Mr. Rowe and Ash hit it off immediately. Mr. Rowe used to rescue ferals, had a good understanding of FIV and was undaunted by it. Ash would be an indoor, only cat, so no worries about transmission of the virus. While he sat cuddling Ash, I learned a bit about Mr. Rowe. He was a former RAF fighter pilot who flew Spitfires. At some point he had lost his leg and walked with "a stick." His lovely wife had succumbed to a genetic breast cancer at the age of 65, and it was clear to me how much he loved and missed her. Now he was looking for a feline buddy to keep him company on the couch while he watched TV, and bring a bit of kitty personality to the household.</div>
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Mr. Rowe left with Ash that day.</div>
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The dogs and Ash needed a bit of time to get used to each other, but they have worked things out in short order. Ash now sits next to Mr. Rowe at night while they enjoy their favourite shows, and he sleeps on Mr. Rowe's bed (and sometimes chest!) at night. I could not be happier with how life has worked out for this big, affectionate grey cat.</div>
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Stories like this are what keep me going; for every nutjob you meet in cat rescue, there are 100 kind, caring, fantastic people to make up for it. </div>
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And happy endings like this one.</div>
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<i><br />Update: Oliver's former owner took exception to my characterization here of her relationship with him, and sarcastically called me "Saint Natalie", so I have removed the offending reference. For all of you who are interested, I am not and have never claimed to be a saint. I just like cats. I do, however, think Oliver is a perfect cat and I stand by that statement. Clearly he was not the right cat for his previous owners. Also, yes, I want to take cats back if their owners no longer want them, and it's in the adoption contract, but that doesn't mean I have to be happy about it. Oliver was in his home for a year and a half, and now he's back here, while his feline sister got to stay. I am sad for Oliver, not for Oliver's human.</i></div>
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Knatoleehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03809822081515082096noreply@blogger.com25tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10685986.post-91503742024275734162018-11-25T06:42:00.000-05:002018-11-25T06:42:04.270-05:00Kitties 'n' stuff<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
My friend Debs of <a href="https://www.facebook.com/Deborah.Wilson2016/">Deborah Wilson Photography</a> came yesterday to take photos. Here's a teaser! :) Emerson was SO into it!!</div>
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Deborah can make anyone look great... it's amazing! And she takes such beautiful photographs. I can't wait to see the rest of the pictures from yesterday. She took photos of us with the goats, the dogs, the horses, the foster kitties...</div>
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Speaking of foster kitties, James is still looking for a home...</div>
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He was born here at the farm to foster kitty Valerie on July 11. He's a very sweet little boy with a wonderful purr. Just a happy, well-socialized little soul.</div>
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And I took this poor lad in last week...</div>
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Ash was freezing on someone's porch for a week before he came here. As it turned out, he had a deep bite wound to his rear leg, plus an upper respiratory infection. He was also in possession of a large pair of nuts, and unfortunately he has tested positive for FIV, but he can live with other non-FIV cats so long as they get along (no biting!)</div>
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I took Ash in Thursday for his first check-up. On Friday he was neutered, and his bite wound was cleaned out and stitched up. Poor guy has to wear a cone for two weeks. He's the sweetest cat! 13 pounds of mellowed-out loooove. I am looking forward to finding him the purrfect home.</div>
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I have eye drops for that winky eye!<br />
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What a sweetheart!</div>
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Meanwhile, I need to get cracking on Molly....</div>
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Molly is a sweet, quiet, affectionate brown tabby girl about three years old. She has been spayed and just needs her final booster shots. She's in the granary with my "tabby trifecta" right now (Pip, Fanny, Taya) but Fanny is a bit of a bully towards Molly, so Molly tends to hang out upstairs. She is a perfect little cat! Just such a nice girl. She would probably be fine with other cats if they aren't pushy beeyotches like Fanny! LOL</div>
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And little Lucy...</div>
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...Lucy is off the market for now while I get her health issues sorted out. She is being treated for toxoplasmosis and we are crossing our fingers that that is all that's wrong with her... she has responded extremely well to the Clindamycin she is on, and has not had a seizure since we began that treatment. It will be another couple of months before we have the full story on Lucy, but for now she has a big room to herself in my house, with a view of the birdfeeder. We try to give her lots of attention; she can't be with other kitties right now. She is the sweetest kitten and if her health checks out, my friend Beccy will be adopting her.</div>
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James, Michael and Jack (rear.) Aren't these three the cutest? James and Michael are brothers born to Valerie and Jack is their adopted brother, who was taken on by Valerie when he was just a little fellow. Jack and Michael both have great homes lined up. Now I just need to find one for James!</div>
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Hope you are enjoying your weekend. We are going to "Cats on Your Mats" yoga today in support of the Stormont, Dundas & Glengarry OSPCA.</div>
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Knatoleehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03809822081515082096noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10685986.post-58177451676926753372018-11-09T17:59:00.000-05:002018-11-09T17:59:09.038-05:00Second annual Spay Café at Bee Meadow Farm!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ePUbpFP5nCg/W-YQ6UwX8dI/AAAAAAAAhp8/stmZjVzPsLYXuJIn751C3Aa-b79SYF5CgCLcBGAs/s1600/Spay-Cafe%25CC%2581-2018-Poster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ePUbpFP5nCg/W-YQ6UwX8dI/AAAAAAAAhp8/stmZjVzPsLYXuJIn751C3Aa-b79SYF5CgCLcBGAs/s640/Spay-Cafe%25CC%2581-2018-Poster.jpg" width="494" /></a></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; color: #14171a; font-family: "Helvetica Neue", Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 27px; letter-spacing: 0.27px; text-align: start; white-space: pre-wrap;">Our 2nd annual SPAY CAFÉ is Saturday, November 17, 2018 from 2 pm to 4 pm at the farm! Delicious lattes served up by baristas Viv and Ang, along with baked goods. Gift basket raffle! All proceeds go to the spay/neuter fund for our foster cats!
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My beautiful failed-foster cat Fanny will be keeping a close eye on the baked goods!</div>
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<br />Knatoleehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03809822081515082096noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10685986.post-50143528260215309512018-10-25T11:08:00.002-04:002018-10-25T11:08:41.473-04:00Crumpets 'n' stuff<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
My Dad was a big crumpet fan. He made me a big crumpet fan.</div>
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There's not too much to them, so I don't know why I like them so much. But I do, along with a cuppa tea. Maybe because it's an excuse to eat butter.<br /><br />I was toasting crumpets yesterday and I heard my Dad's voice telling me to make them "nice and crispy!" As in almost burned. Of course, he was the one who left his Marks & Spencer Extra-strong teabag in the mug as he drank his extra-EXTRA strong tea! He liked things well-done, except for his meat, which he preferred medium-rare. He was an excellent cook, and I can still taste his chili and his split-pea soup. </div>
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My Dad's been gone for 26 year; I still miss him. My parents split up when I was eight, but I spoke to my Dad on the phone every single day (in the days before cell phones!) until I was well into high school. As I grew older, he was the one person I could turn to for support and advice when I had a problem, and I always knew he would listen well and give me the help I needed. I knew he had my best interests at heart. Sometimes I still want to call him up to talk to him... we always used to start out conversations talking about what we were having or had just had for supper. Food was important to both of us! I still have his phone number memorized, even though he died when I was 28. He lived in the same apartment for the last 18 years of his life. I had a dream about him the other night. I was trying to call him, but I couldn't get through. I often have that dream about him and I just see it as my desire to talk to him coming out in my subconscious.</div>
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Meanwhile in foster-kitten land...</div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/--QJkdQa8csc/W9EJWmy7B6I/AAAAAAAAhow/kpl1w-S8zdQblU8y2U8ALV9mmOINtaNGQCLcBGAs/s1600/75F52AEC-6D80-42EC-A06A-B284898BE4A6.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1200" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/--QJkdQa8csc/W9EJWmy7B6I/AAAAAAAAhow/kpl1w-S8zdQblU8y2U8ALV9mmOINtaNGQCLcBGAs/s640/75F52AEC-6D80-42EC-A06A-B284898BE4A6.jpeg" width="480" /></a></div>
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...Jack thought he'd sample a power tool.</div>
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And this week I have gotten in some horseback riding...</div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ppPkp3C7eKw/W9EJZBl03SI/AAAAAAAAho8/dZAv6Lu6-qc9fHZhMrX9oZu_8e0L41IxACLcBGAs/s1600/1A3B03A7-5274-411D-B438-55D4856920B3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1497" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ppPkp3C7eKw/W9EJZBl03SI/AAAAAAAAho8/dZAv6Lu6-qc9fHZhMrX9oZu_8e0L41IxACLcBGAs/s640/1A3B03A7-5274-411D-B438-55D4856920B3.jpeg" width="598" /></a></div>
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...the best place to be!</div>
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Everybody had burrs in their tails and manes when we got back from our trip. but I have them all sorted out now. I wish my hair look as good as Roo's!</div>
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Knatoleehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03809822081515082096noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10685986.post-45455625373561851272018-10-20T06:18:00.004-04:002018-10-20T06:18:57.262-04:00Back to reality....<div style="text-align: center;">
Not that reality is so terrible, but I could have done with two more weeks in Spain. The trip was great; I love Spain, plus we get to visit our friends Mitchell and Jerry (of <a href="https://mitchellismoving.blogspot.com/">Mitchell is Moving</a>) which is always wonderful. And as Mitchell notes in a recent blog post, we all forgot to take pictures of each other. Instead we just photographed the delicious rice pudding cake three of the four of us had for dessert! :)</div>
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I met Mitchell through blogging and met him (and Jerry!) in person for the first time on our last trip to Spain two years ago. It's amazing how it can feel like you have known someone forever, when you've only met each other in person twice! I wish we were geographically closer, but we'll definitely be visiting them again the next time we are Spain.</div>
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I loved every part of our trip, but our two horseback riding trips were the highlight for me. Here are pics from my very favourite ride....</div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Dx4M-9Xmhas/W8r9a0GlfAI/AAAAAAAAhnM/05-OZakDfBk1LAga6kIQf1T-V7IZlQb5gCLcBGAs/s1600/44399632_2274511272620744_5807026612914356224_o.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1020" data-original-width="1600" height="406" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Dx4M-9Xmhas/W8r9a0GlfAI/AAAAAAAAhnM/05-OZakDfBk1LAga6kIQf1T-V7IZlQb5gCLcBGAs/s640/44399632_2274511272620744_5807026612914356224_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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We went with an outfit called <a href="http://www.ridingfuninthesun.com/">Riding Fun in the Sun</a>, led by Jo. It was fantastic! One of my fav holiday rides ever.</div>
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Wind turbines in the distance</div>
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We rode through these herds of cows, which I found just hilarious. Because the cows are herded by men on horseback, they are inclined to walk or run away from horses, and so don't cause problems on rides. Occasionally a young, curious cow will come up to the horses, but they are easily shooed away.</div>
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That said, near the end of the ride, one of the cows actually wanted to play with one of the horses! The cow was jumping and frolicking, until he got sent packing by Jo. it was pretty cute.</div>
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Riding makes me extremely happy. I came home vowing to make it more of a priority in my life, particularly since I was so burnt-out and exhausted at the start of the trip. My goal is not to let that happen again. I love rescuing cats and kittens, but I also need to be more careful about looking after myself, because I'm no spring chicken anymore! :) One of the things I have let slide is writing on my blog, which is something I really enjoy, so I am also going to try to make sure I make time for that!</div>
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Another two weeks in Spain would have been great, but we were both definitely more relaxed by the time we got on the plane home Thursday.</div>
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Have a great weekend!</div>
Knatoleehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03809822081515082096noreply@blogger.com22tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10685986.post-35318214623963893042018-10-06T15:19:00.000-04:002018-10-06T15:19:00.902-04:00Another day, another cone<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Poor Redford... the MOnday of the week Keaton disappeared, Redford showed up with a large gash at the base of his tail. It was a clean cut, not an animal bite; he managed to slice himself open on something. He needed ten stitches, a drain, painkillers and antibiotics! And he had to stay in the granary for two weeks (in fact, he's still there. Indoor life seems to suit this barn cat!)</div>
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He was remarkably tolerant of his cone, almost proud of it!</div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-c4JrD4oU7Q8/W7j_xY2BJhI/AAAAAAAAhmQ/yQOtTPDdhHEaq4Opcox_FdAdDNbdx39hACLcBGAs/s1600/42484868_2229585407272713_5176960863415828480_n.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="960" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-c4JrD4oU7Q8/W7j_xY2BJhI/AAAAAAAAhmQ/yQOtTPDdhHEaq4Opcox_FdAdDNbdx39hACLcBGAs/s640/42484868_2229585407272713_5176960863415828480_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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The cone came off last Tuesday, and he has healed up really well. I would LOVE to know how he hurt himself. I hate having any outdoor cats, but we have such vermin problems in our barn without a few barn cats on patrol!</div>
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Meanwhile, Monty got skunked for the first time last week...</div>
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THat's mud on his ruff. My theory is, a skunk paraded itself along the fenceline, and Monty was trying to dig under the fence to get at it, but failed and instead got a shot of Pepé Le Pew parfum!</div>
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Meanwhile in Spain, things are smelling much sweeter. Today we walked around the beautiful town of Estepona...</div>
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People here take a lot of pride in their homes. It really is a very beautiful country!</div>
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And flashback to earlier this year when we did Cats on Your Mats yoga, and dear Keaton had the time of his life!</div>
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Knatoleehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03809822081515082096noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10685986.post-49730342215153240082018-10-05T15:00:00.003-04:002020-09-05T05:51:32.197-04:00Hola!<div style="text-align: center;">
Yes, it has been a very long time since I have posted. This is not for lack of wanting to post... my life has become too busy, and I am trying to sort that out and get back on track. It is hard to get any time to myself at the farm these days, and I need time alone to do my creative work. Fortunately I do have some amazing people helping me, especially my friend Sharron, who does a lot of work with the foster kitties, giving me some beautiful chunks of time.<br /><br /> I can't remember when I was ever as exhausted as I am now, so obviously something needs to change. I am reflecting on all that while we are in Spain for two weeks...</div>
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<b>Genalguacil</b></div>
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I love love love spending time with animals and foster kitties, but having to deal with so many people every day is wearing me out. I am an introvert! I like people, but I need time to myself to recharge. So I am enjoying a good recharging in Spain with just my Gordon for company.</div>
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Just before we left for our vacation, we discovered that our beloved boy Keaton had a huge tumour wrapped around his kidney.</div>
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<b><i>Keaton gave the best hugs and had a purr like a babbling brook</i></b></div>
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A couple of weeks back, Keaton (a barn cat) disappeared for three nights, which was totally unlike him. When he returned, he was unwell with a fever and weight loss. He spent four nights at the vet, where his blood tests all came back normal. They managed to get rid of his fever, and he seemed well enough to return home. We put him in the granary so he would be safe inside while he continued to recover. After a week on Clavamox, I saw he was deteriorating and picking at his food, so he went back to the vet where he finally had an x-ray and the tumour was discovered. In a week, he had gained 2 kg of water weight, and the tumour was actually pushing his colon way out of place. </div>
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There was nothing that could be done. Even if we'd found out about it a couple of weeks earlier, the results would have been the same. Cats are remarkably good at hiding illness.</div>
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Keaton was having difficulty with his breathing and had stopped eating much, so we made the decision to send him to Rainbow Bridge on Tuesday, the day before we left for our trip. He was only five and it was almost a year to the day since we lost Millicent, and of course we just lost Mootie in July. It has all been a bit too much for me.</div>
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Keaton was a one-of-a-kind cat, and the farm's meeter-greeter and mascot. He was also the favourite of our farm manager Luc, who had a very special relationship with Keaton. He brought him treats, and gave him a daily cuddle, and called him the king of cats. Which he was. A wonderful king indeed.</div>
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I wish he could have had many more years with us. I miss him more than I can say.</div>
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So I am taking it easy here in sunny Spain, reading and eating and enjoying some quiet time with my husband, and I am hoping that when I get back home, I will be able to manage my life a bit better and not get so exhausted again, and have time to post on my blog, which I do as much for me as anyone else.</div>
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Wishing you all a peaceful and happy weekend, and happy Thanksgiving to my Canadian friends!</div>
Knatoleehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03809822081515082096noreply@blogger.com12tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10685986.post-5974195138444622822018-07-23T19:41:00.000-04:002018-07-23T19:41:32.279-04:00Good bye, Mootie<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Today we lost our sweet Mootie!</div>
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Mootie and her friend Pip came to the farm in 2014 after their owner fell ill and needed to rehome them.</div>
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They were supposed to be barn cats (back when I had some silly rule about house-cat numbers!) But it wasn't long before they were living in the house.</div>
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Mootie had a particularly hard life before coming to her last owner. She languished in a shelter for a year, labelled "unadoptable" due to her cranky demeanour.</div>
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But her former owner Susan took a chance on Mootie. It was discovered that Mootie was actually in pain from a mouthful of bad teeth and gums. Once all her teeth were removed, her true affectionate happy character showed itself.</div>
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After I got her, I had her umbilical hernia repaired. At that time, they found out that after her spay, her interior stitches had let go, so all that had been holding her abdominal organs in was basically some layers of skin! So that was repaired as well. She hated wearing a cone, so I put her in a baby onesie, but she kept ripping that off too! (See above photo.)</div>
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We recently finished up the deck off our granary and got some furniture there, and Mootie had been enjoying sitting out there with me, soaking up a bit of sun. This pic were taken just over a week ago.</div>
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I took her into the vet this morning because her breathing was laboured. They did a bunch of tests... by the time they called this afternoon, Mootie was intubated and unconscious, and the vet said our only option was to euthanize. He didn't want to wake her up as he thought she would not be able to continue breathing on her own. So I got down there as fast as I could and was with her when she passed. Unfortunately Gordon was in Brockville all day and couldn't be there, but I told him what was happening, and I also said good-bye to Mootie for him.</div>
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This little cat will leave a great big hole in our hearts! Rest in peace, Mootie girl. I hope you meet up with Millicent (who we lost a year ago) and you play together in fields of catnip. We love you, Moot. xoxo</div>
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Knatoleehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03809822081515082096noreply@blogger.com15tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10685986.post-31567904385918819452018-07-02T09:39:00.001-04:002018-07-02T09:39:23.406-04:00Thank you!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
First off, thank you for all the beautiful comments you left on my last post, and for allowing me to get that off my chest. The whole thing touched a nerve for me, but I am okay letting it go now. I needed some time. And I feel a lot happier now than I did in May! THANK YOU. xox<br /><br />Meanwhile, the fostering continues on...</div>
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My shy beauty Taya is still here but making progress! She takes treats from my hand now and I can stroke her while she is eating, and best of all, she now "talks" to me every day! She is quite bonded to her granary friends (Mootie, Pip and Fanny) and at times it is hard for me to imagine letting her go, but I will if the right home comes along. She definitely needs to be with at least one other cat. She just adores other cats and I feel that she would be terribly lonely without them.</div>
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And I have some newbies... </div>
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Last Friday the 22nd, I took in this beautiful tuxedo girl named Peekaboo... and her SIX BABIES! Peekaboo was a stray who would show up for food the home of a kind man. He noticed she was pregnant. Then one day, she came back "deflated" and he knew she had had her babies. He followed her for THREE hours until she went back to her next, which was just a spot in the middle of a field of tall grass. He brought Peekaboo and her babies back to him place in a big Rubbermaid bin, then called my friend Elizabeth for help. She called me, and I agreed to take the little family.</div>
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THe babies are now about three weeks old and are fat, healthy, lovely kittens! And mama is just a sweetheart. She will be highly adoptable once the babies are weaned. I am really enjoying this little family. I had to put them all down in the barn room as my two foster cat rooms are full (and I have overflow cats in my granary!)<br /><br />Because on that same night, I took in this girl...</div>
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Meet Valerie, named after my friend Valerie of <a href="https://wanderingcatstudio.com/">Wandering Cat Studio</a>. Valerie not only sponsors my barn cat Keaton monthly, she has done many amazing things to help me with fundraising for my animals, such as donating beautiful hand-knitted items to my annual silent auction. So Valerie gets a feline namesake. A PREGGO one at that!</div>
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I had Valerie into the vet last week. She is due within a week or two and has two or three kittens in there. She is doing very well. She was a stray wandering the streets of our nearby city of Cornwall. She's very affectionate and chatty. I hope everything will go well with her birthing. She is my first pregnant cat! I've dealt with goat and pig births, but never a kitty one. Send good thoughts for this lovely dilute Calico gal.</div>
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And Jewel's kittens are doing great!</div>
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Jewel and babies have all had their first vaccines. Jewel and four of the seven kittens already have homes lined up. The kittens can be spayed/neutered when they weigh 2 kg.</div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rZXM9cz5a9M/WzolM19LQQI/AAAAAAAAhjc/wcfMgGDW8ScVL8ORqt9hC07UcAKjRqK7gCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_E7535.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="640" data-original-width="872" height="468" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rZXM9cz5a9M/WzolM19LQQI/AAAAAAAAhjc/wcfMgGDW8ScVL8ORqt9hC07UcAKjRqK7gCLcBGAs/s640/IMG_E7535.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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It is wonderful to see this family doing so well! That dilute Calico (Star) and the tabby/white girl (Nova) are still waiting for homes, along with tabby/white boy Boomer. They are awesome, extremely well-socialized kittens. And I am so pleased Jewel has a fabulous home lined up in Ottawa. She'll be leaving August 11th.</div>
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And then I have this tiny beauty!</div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-O38qHZG_YjY/WzolLQASqRI/AAAAAAAAhjY/ijN2MhecVIIZzfsrADLFL0_YnLe_ZEpBwCLcBGAs/s1600/IMG_7755.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="900" height="640" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-O38qHZG_YjY/WzolLQASqRI/AAAAAAAAhjY/ijN2MhecVIIZzfsrADLFL0_YnLe_ZEpBwCLcBGAs/s640/IMG_7755.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Meet Frances! She is about a year old. She was dumped in a farmer's machine shed after having kittens. I don't know what happened to the kittens, unfortunately. THey weren't with her, but she was full of milk and had clearly been nursing for some time. I'm hoping whoever dumped her just kept or rehomed the kittens, but I will never know.</div>
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Frances will be spayed and adopted out. She is just the sweetest little honey-pie of a cat! SO affectionate, and so tiny! I've got her in running around with the granary crew right now. She's very chatty and adorable. </div>
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And Mootie...</div>
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...prefers egg crates as a bed! She has MULTIPLE fluffy soft cat beds to choose from but no. She likes to sleep on egg crates. Love this old gal!<br /></div>
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And in other news, we now own TWO quarter horses... </div>
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Gen, the bay mare on the left, has been boarding here for months. Her mama has decided Gen needed a stable forever home, so she has given Gen to us and we are thrilled to have her. She has heaves so she lives outside year round, but she's a gentle, lovely girl who is easy to care for and ride. And Roo loves her (sometimes a little too much when she is in heat! For a gelding, Roo can be awfully, er, randy!) So now we've got ourselves THREE horses, three ponies, and of course, this guy...</div>
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...Saul now has a fly mask! I had to special-order it from our local tack shop, but he is very good about wearing it. The flies really ravage his ears in summer, so I'm glad he's got protection. And yes, he can see through the mask. I didn't know anything about fly masks until I got equines, but they are made of breathable mesh, and most horses don't mind them at all. That said, Jimmy the pony likes to rip his off in the pasture and make me hunt for it.</div>
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So things are good here at the farm. Thank you for reading! Peace and love.</div>
Knatoleehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03809822081515082096noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10685986.post-86897410569342748282018-06-13T22:27:00.002-04:002018-06-13T22:27:43.303-04:00Still covered in kittens<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Yes, I'm still here... I got pretty bummed out after my last post, what with losing so many foster kittens in such a short period of time. And right after that, a few militant vegans decided they would come to my farm Facebook page and start attacking me for not being vegan. One young woman called me a "killer and torturer of innocent beings", "a hypocrite" and "fake animal lover" because I dare to keep rescue animals while not being vegan. She was so awful, I had to have Gordon send her a lawyer letter telling her to cease and desist or we would call the police; this after she libelled me and posted a threat against me on a public forum.</div>
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I did not invite any of these people to my Facebook page; a herd of them just decided to come to attack me after one of their group members messaged me to tell me how confused and disappointed she was that I wasn't vegan, after which I went onto my FB page to say that I don't feel I owe anyone an explanation but I am very transparent about not being vegan, and I explained my thoughts on the subject. I did not in any way criticize vegans; I in fact expressly asked people not to leave negative comments towards vegans in response. I was just trying to make sure no one was under any illusions that I run a vegan farm sanctuary, which I do not. </div>
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And I am ready to throw my vegan cookbooks onto the bonfire.<br /><br />I know most vegans are NOT militant and are not cruel; I have friends who are vegans, I eat a lot of vegan/vegetarian food and meals myself, and if you're looking for a meat eater to pick on, I'm not your best target (although granted, I'm an easy target, until you realize I am married to a lawyer!) as I mainly eat vegetarian meals, with some fish and the very occasional piece of locally-farmed organic chicken. But even if I ate steak three times a day, I don't see how that is anyone's business, and I find it disgusting that total strangers would come to my farm Facebook page where I share photos of the animals I've rescue and am fostering and spending all my money on, and call me a "killer and torturer of innocent beings." After the sadness of losing so many kittens last month, it just made me incredibly angry and bitter to be attacked in this way. In fact, a month later I am still angry and bitter, and am spending extra time meditating in an effort to let go of that. However, the whole episode did remind of me of why I generally prefer the company of animals to that of humans. But I am not a hermit, and there are some really amazing people in my life, and I need to focus on that, and not the horrible people.</div>
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But on a happier note, foster kitty Agnes went to her new home recently. Yes, that's right, this poor young cat who lost her six babies and suffered immeasurably is now living in a wonderful home where she is loved and pampered.</div>
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I could not be happier for her. The woman who adopted her lost a son some time ago, and told me that she felt she understood Agnes and how she was feeling. This lady and her family are incredibly kind, and I know Agnes has landed in clover and will now have a wonderful life.</div>
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Meanwhile, Jewel and her seven kitten are doing great! Jewel arrived at around the same time as Agnes with five kittens. She lost two of those, took on four preemie orphans, lost those four, then at the end of April, took on another four orphans whose mother had been dragged off and killed by a coyote. A passerby witness this and saved the kittens. Jewel took them on immediately. She is a fantastic mother! And now I've got seven beautiful, healthy foster kittens. Jewel's three were born April 13, and the orphans were born around April 29.</div>
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Everybody is on solid food now! This is Jewel with her dilute Calico daughter.</div>
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These are Jewel's four adopted babies:</div>
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Boy and Girl</div>
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Boy and girl</div>
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Aren't the adorable? Everyone is going in for their first set of vaccines last week, and I feel like I will be able to breathe a bit more easily after that.</div>
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Behold the cuteness;</div>
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It is so amazing to see these little ones doing so well! And a great relief. What happened in April completely drained and exhausted me; these little kitties are making me feel a whole lot better.</div>
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And remember Grayson, aka <a href="http://knatolee.blogspot.com/2018/03/the-saga-of-grace.html">Fake Grace</a>? Well...</div>
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My friend Deb of <b>Just Cats</b> <a href="http://justcats-deb.blogspot.com/2018/05/as-june-rolls-in.html">ADOPTED HIM!</a> He is now named Wilson, and he has settled in so well to his wonderful new home. I could not be happier for him, and as you can see, Wilson is pretty happy too. He has the best smile of any cat I have ever known.</div>
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So many things are going well, and with time I will let go of my anger and hurt towards the person who attacked me, but I would say that if you claim to live a "cruelty-free" life solely because you are vegan, but then go on to call me a "torturer and killer of innocent beings" a "hypocrite" and a "fake animal lover" (me, the one who spends all her time, energy and money caring for animals no one else wants!), and you smear me on the internet and make threats, and waste my precious time, time I need to be spending caring for animals... well... how cruelty-free is that?</div>
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Here's to all the good people who DO support me in my work with animals, without caring about what I eat.</div>
Knatoleehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03809822081515082096noreply@blogger.com24tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10685986.post-81414654984675805902018-04-25T22:08:00.000-04:002018-12-09T07:11:29.416-05:00Kitten roller coaster aka the week that broke my heart<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
I have turned off commenting for this post as I am sick of Spammers leaving their crap here on this sad post. Screw you, Spammers.</div>
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So April 12, I took in a beautiful cat named Agnes, and her six adorable kittens...</div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-a7qXOaasfh0/WuEnpZgiZAI/AAAAAAAAhfQ/Br3_vj6KBOQ75ItEpO57uVv9JIyCDAEGQCLcBGAs/s1600/30705353_2101166076781314_8588042998208528384_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="864" data-original-width="960" height="576" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-a7qXOaasfh0/WuEnpZgiZAI/AAAAAAAAhfQ/Br3_vj6KBOQ75ItEpO57uVv9JIyCDAEGQCLcBGAs/s640/30705353_2101166076781314_8588042998208528384_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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...and by April 21, every kitten was dead... but not, thank God, Agnes.</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Led1EoX4tLU/WuEnprz6ogI/AAAAAAAAhfU/7qcajGN-VwYeD_8UvLdE_HqJxlaGXb_LwCLcBGAs/s1600/30712051_2102104263354162_3970838986187866112_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Led1EoX4tLU/WuEnprz6ogI/AAAAAAAAhfU/7qcajGN-VwYeD_8UvLdE_HqJxlaGXb_LwCLcBGAs/s640/30712051_2102104263354162_3970838986187866112_n.jpg" width="480" /></a></div>
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This little fellow was the first to go.</div>
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Everything seemed okay when they arrived, although Agnes was a first-time mama (who came to me from Operation Spay + Neuter in Hawkesbury) who not had the best of care before arriving at OSN.</div>
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At first, her babies were feeding well. But the Monday after she arrived, one orange baby started fading. So we rushed off to the vet. Agnes had a bit of a temperature but seemed okay otherwise, so she got a shot of long-lasting antibiotic.</div>
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By Thursday, I had lost more orange babies and was back at the vet. Agnes' temperature was higher, so she had an x-ray (to check that nothing was going on in her uterus, like a retained kitten or placenta.) Apart from her temperature, she seemed reasonably well, so she was started on another antibiotic, and Peter the vet taught me how to tube-feed the three remaining babies, who had started losing weight the day I brought them in. I would also give them Clavamox via the tube.</div>
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Tube-feeding is now my super-power, lol. I can do it when I am so tired I can barely put two words together And it is a tool I will now always have at my disposal if I ever have to help fading kittens again (which I probably will, since I intend to continue fostering!)</div>
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So from Thursday night to later Saturday, I tube-fed those babies every two to three hours, including through the night...</div>
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I learned that two nights of this kind of interrupted sleep is all I can handle. My concussion symptoms even started to recur! Althoguh I don't do well with sleep deprivation, I was determined to give it my best shot, so I hauled my ass out of bed, went to the granary, prepped the formula, and fed those babies. Sometimes around 3 am Saturday, I did not properly close the shaker bottle I was using to mix formula, and managed to spray Kitten Milk Replacer all over myself, including my hair. </div>
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It was not my best moment, but I got those babies fed and went back to bed, figuring my own cats would lick the milk out of my hair. Plus I had to get up again in three hours, so no time to waste cleaning up splattered milk.<br />
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The little black kitten and the little calico had been hanging on through several feedings.</div>
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Then the black one started to fade.</div>
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And died.</div>
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Still, I kept rooting for this girl...</div>
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She was the only female in the litter, a beautiful little calico.</div>
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I believed she had it in her to overcome what was happening (likely issues with Agnes' milk quality and supply, due to her infection.) </div>
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I so wanted this little angel to make it...</div>
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<img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="720" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-p1JZ_NDDdmw/WuEnqsx8KGI/AAAAAAAAhfg/KUi70PitreE_nJNlvJe-6R29TME9Z9WxQCLcBGAs/s640/30741219_2103775296520392_7146244376979570688_n.jpg" width="480" /></div>
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...but she didn't. </div>
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I can't even remember now exactly when she died, I was so exhausted after two nights of feedings. But when she did, I was just so sad. I really thought she'd survive. Well, I hoped she would.</div>
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And that wasn't all...</div>
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I also took in Jewel and her five babies, born April 13...</div>
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<i>Beautiful Jewel</i></div>
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Jewel's littlest died right after I got her from Operation Spay + Neuter, then her grey boy died soon after that. I was (and am) so tired, I can't even remember the timeline. But in a short time these two foster cats lost eight kittens.</div>
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Agnes was a great mama but she is young, had no vet care before being take in by Operation Spay + Neuter. and of course, had an infection to boot.</div>
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Jewel is also young, but has managed to keep three of her babies going...</div>
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Touch wood, they are nice fat butterballs right now and turn two weeks old this Friday.</div>
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And then last Sunday, I took in these four premature kittens, and Jewel happily accepted them...</div>
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Crazy tiny!</div>
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Their mama was EIGHT MONTHS old and had zero interest in them after giving birth. Their birth scene was a bloody mess; one kitten was still in her placental sac, and two of the six kittens died right away. We decided to give it our best shot, but by this morning, I'd lost three of the four, and tonight the last one is very weak. I think they were just too premature to survive, but it was worth a try. I have read that any kitten under 90 grams is considered premature; these four weighed from 72 - 85 grams. Still, they were nursing off Jewel so I had some hope.</div>
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In the past week, I've dealt with 11 kitten deaths, and probably will have another in the morning, which not only makes me sad, it makes me angry. I am so pissed off at all the irresponsible, uncaring people out there who refuse to spay/neuter their cats, and treat them as disposable items... people who do not care about the suffering of animals, nor the suffering of the people who end up caring for them, only to lose them. Not only does the world not need more kittens, it does not need more kittens born to poorly-fed, unvaccinated mothers who have never been to a vet's office because the owner couldn't be bothered to take them there.</div>
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I am well aware of the fragility of kittens, but even so, 11 is a lot, and every death made me sad. By the time I got to bed Saturday night, after the little calico died, I was exhausted, angry and crying. It just felt really raw. For someone who cares about animals as much as I do, it was a bit much to see these kittens fading away one by one. I am so sick and tired of irresponsible people who don't care about their cats and don't spay/neuter. We have WAY too many cats in our area, and all of these needless suffering is utterly preventable.</div>
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But then, I still have these three...</div>
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Jewel's orange-and-white baby today</div>
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Jewel's dilute calico baby today</div>
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Jewel's tuxedo baby today</div>
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Please send good thoughts for these three. Like I said, they are doing well, but they are young yet. Their eyes have just opened and you can see they are getting ready to explore. I want them all the have long, happy lives with excellent families!!!</div>
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And another bright note, look at Grayson, aka Fake Grace...</div>
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He has been here for something like five weeks, and in that time I've had him neutered, microchipped and vaccinated. And in all that time, he never made a sound: not a hiss, or a purr or a meow. He didn't scratch or bite or even struggle. He was almost catatonic, if you'll forgive the pun. But on Sunday, he cracked.</div>
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Grayson pushed his face into my hand as I scratched him. THen he rolled on his side. Then... he PURRED!!!</div>
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And today he gave me bologna tongue...</div>
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<a href="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0ahMKOi61_E/WuEntJ2Yk3I/AAAAAAAAhgE/a2daXtg1-EYboYmq7vYjYXmAiWEK40SWQCLcBGAs/s1600/31253118_2106412222923366_5902305978430259200_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="720" data-original-width="960" height="480" src="https://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0ahMKOi61_E/WuEntJ2Yk3I/AAAAAAAAhgE/a2daXtg1-EYboYmq7vYjYXmAiWEK40SWQCLcBGAs/s640/31253118_2106412222923366_5902305978430259200_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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So for all the sadness this past week, there is some happiness too! Such is life.</div>
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Please, spay/neuter your cats!<br />
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PS: I got another poem published, this time at <a href="https://www.lovesexecutiveorder.com/new-page-1/">Love's Executive Order</a>!</div>
Knatoleehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03809822081515082096noreply@blogger.com14tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10685986.post-6260114751894984552018-03-22T13:48:00.002-04:002018-03-22T13:48:43.146-04:00Poem anyone?<div style="text-align: center;">
Looking for something to read? I have another poem up on Mused...</div>
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<a href="http://www.bellaonline.com/review/issues/spring2018/p008.html">http://www.bellaonline.com/review/issues/spring2018/p008.html</a></div>
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This is me and Nanny, my paternal grandmother and the inspiration for my poem. </div>
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I remember that kitchen very well.</div>
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Mother to six children, and the only grandparent of whom I have memories.</div>
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Knatoleehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03809822081515082096noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10685986.post-70395722150647441122018-03-17T08:00:00.001-04:002018-03-17T08:18:15.730-04:00The saga of Grace<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Well! It has been quite the week... </div>
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So back at the end of December, I took in a shy but lovely foster kitty named Grace.</div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WIton-0dD84/Wqzz6RDi3gI/AAAAAAAAhdQ/3v2eH7a0c2cvP6Lt9kjPcbsO11XDqLKiACLcBGAs/s1600/28870304_2080836512147604_1158417572530417979_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="900" height="640" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-WIton-0dD84/Wqzz6RDi3gI/AAAAAAAAhdQ/3v2eH7a0c2cvP6Lt9kjPcbsO11XDqLKiACLcBGAs/s640/28870304_2080836512147604_1158417572530417979_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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At first, she was very timid, hiding up in a tire on the cat-room wall. But with patience and love, she came around, with the help of sardines and some extra TLC from my cat-whisperer friend Sharron. Grace started to purr when we pet her, giving us a glimpse of her sweet personality. It wasn't long before Grace was offered a fur-ever home. I was thrilled when my friend's mom-in-law and husband adopted Grace. They are seniors, and it would be a quiet, loving home for Grace. And my friend, who was smitten with this grey girl, but whose own hubby is allergic to cats, would get to see Grace regularly!</div>
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So this former denizen of the <i>Miss Hawkesbury</i> restaurant parking lot went off to live in her beautiful new home. My friend's son (Grace's owners grandson) built Grace a wonderful big scratching post. They bought Grace an amazing cat tree and put it by the kitchen windows, and she perched there as she dreamed of assassinating the fat mourning doves and twitching Chickadees that came and went form the feeders just beyond the glass. Grace's new cat-parents absolutely doted on her.</div>
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Then just over a week ago, the front door was accidentally left ajar. Grace saw her chance, and scooted out in search of adventure.</div>
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And didn't come back!</div>
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Search parties were arranged. Posters were stuck to poles. "LOST CAT" posts flooded the internet.Veterinary clinics and the OSPCA were called, and everyone in the village that Grace lives in was alerted to her absence. Sharron and I went down to look for her one day, and then Sharron kindly went back on her own a few more times to search for Grace in the snow. Grace's owners also continued to call out to and look for her. They put her bed and litter box outside, hoping that her own scent would show her the way home.</div>
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Then they heard reports of a new grey cat hanging out at the feed mill down the street. So they borrowed a live trap from me, and set out to catch this cat. Which they did, last Saturday.</div>
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Grace took the lure of tuna and went straight into the trap. Her owners picked up the trap and noted that Grace was, well, a bit wild, but what cat wouldn't be spooked by such an experience? Trapping is hard on cats. Grace had been trapped before when <i>Operation Spay + Neuter</i> in Hawkesbury rescued her from a restaurant parking lot. So Grace's humans put the cage in the trunk and drove home,. They brought the cage inside, and let Grace out.<br />
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Grace freaked out a bit, which really wasn't like her, but still, it had been a traumatic experience. She bolted from the cage and made a beeline for the TV cabinet. Then she left there and booted it for the bedroom., where she again promptly hid. Her owners put a litter box and food nearby. The box was used, the food disappeared, but still Grace continued to hide. And then, just a soupçon of doubt... Grace's hu-mom emailed me:</div>
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I<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>t may be Grace. I'm still not sure.</b></span></div>
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Grace continued to hide. Suspicion continued to grow.</div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>It may be Grace. I still can't see her whole body.</b></span></div>
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The village Grace lives in isn't very big. Really, how many new stray grey cats could be showing up there the same weekend that Grace disappeared? But something wasn't right. Grace's hu-mom emailed me again:</div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>I still can't get a good look at her. Bedroom smells "feedmill". I'm not
sure if a cat can pick up the scent of where it has been or if this cat
has lived there for a while.</b></span></div>
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We all wanted this cat to be Grace. Everyone was devastated by her disappearance, and just wanted Grace back in her cozy bed. But instead, Grace was hiding out under the bed and refusing to interact with her humans. There was no growling, hissing, or spitting, but there was no purring either. When her hu-mom reached under the bed to stroke Grace's back, she closed her eyes and cowered. They could touch Grace, but she made no effort to move towards them. Another email arrived...</div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>1:30 on Monday.Grace (if it is her)continues to be elusive.</b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b> </b></span> You can see where this is going. At this point, I was pretty sure we were dealing with:<br />
<b>FAKE GRACE.</b></div>
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Then, another message:</div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>I don't think this cat is Grace.</b></span></div>
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Yeah, me neither. Much as I wanted it to be Grace, much as we all did, unless she had had a lobotomy, this cat was not Grace. But then, a glimmer of hope! Another email arrrived:</div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>There is another grey cat that comes toward the house every evening ,
sometimes goes under the deck. It looks more like "Grace" size-wise but I
have not been able to catch it or get really close to it.</b></span></div>
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Whaaaaat!? That HAD to be REAL GRACE! Once again, Sharron went over to help. She suggested that Grace's owners set the live trap next to the deck where cat footprints had been seen. The trap was baited with delicious, stinky tuna. At 9:30 last Thursday night, a week after Grace had disappeared, I got a call from her hu-mom.:</div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>I caught a grey cat! I'm SURE it's Grace. When I stick my fingers in the trap, she meows and comes over to me.</b></span></div>
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Jubilation! Grace was home! My friend Sharron, who had by this point lost hope, woke up at 11 pm to read to my joyful text message: </div>
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<span style="font-family: "courier new" , "courier" , monospace;"><b>She got Grace in the trap! And if it's not Grace, we will soon have caught every grey cat in the village!</b></span></div>
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We all slept well for the first time in a week.</div>
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But now what to do about FAKE GRACE camped out in real Grace's home? Sharron did manage to get a photo of him/her, hiding under the bed...</div>
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<b><i>Fake Grace</i></b></div>
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<b><i>Real Grace</i></b></div>
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Well, I messaged my friend Elizabeth at Operation Spay + Neuter, who had originally trapped Grace. She came down with me on a mission to catch the imposter. </div>
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Elizabeth is very experienced with catching cats: ferals, scared kitties, you name it. She's a pro. She came with me down to Grace's place, and quickly sized up the situation. The kitty under the bed was scared. not feral. Kitty also had a substantial set of testicles! And within ten minutes, Liz had gently scruffed him and put him in the cat carrier. </div>
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And he is now in a room in my barn, awaiting a vet visit and neutering. What comes after that, I'm not sure, but we named him Grayson, and he is now safe. Still hiding, but safe. No doubt Sharron will soon be working her sardine magic on him.</div>
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And Grace has her home back to herself...</div>
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I don't think she is the least bit sorry for the worry she caused! But her family is so happy to have her back. Her hu-mom called it the week from hell. I am just so relieved this sweet girl is back where she belongs. She really does have the best family. And the front door that was left ajar is being repaired so that it closes properly.</div>
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Maybe a week on the run in the snow will convince Grace that the outdoor life is no longer for her! And things are looking better for Grayson, too, now that he's off the streets, and the credit have rolled on this feline version of <i>Trading Places.</i></div>
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<i><b>Grayson doesn't look sorry either.</b></i></div>
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In other news, check out this pic of my former foster kitty George, aka Pirate Kitty, who was adopted by Sharron...</div>
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Isn't he magnificent?</div>
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And next Saturday, March 24th, I am holding another fundraiser to raise money for the veterinary care for my foster kitties...</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FKCMqm2ouBE/Wqz1aP3A9UI/AAAAAAAAhd4/jhxsHwGM9f4Ce0JV19Y14q1_6L6Gl9c2wCLcBGAs/s1600/Cats%2Bon%2BYour%2BMat%2BYoga%2BFlyer.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1600" data-original-width="1237" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-FKCMqm2ouBE/Wqz1aP3A9UI/AAAAAAAAhd4/jhxsHwGM9f4Ce0JV19Y14q1_6L6Gl9c2wCLcBGAs/s640/Cats%2Bon%2BYour%2BMat%2BYoga%2BFlyer.jpg" width="494" /></a></div>
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If you would like to attend, let me know! Contact info is the flyer. We are an hour east of Ottawa and an hour west of Montreal.</div>
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And as you can see, cat rescue is not for the faint of heart! Many thanks for all the supportive comments on my previous post. I am going to keep doing this crazy foster cat thing! Have a great weekend.</div>
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Knatoleehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03809822081515082096noreply@blogger.com19tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10685986.post-16629807731530216552018-03-07T11:12:00.000-05:002018-03-07T11:12:00.221-05:00The downside of adopting out cats...<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
So, this cat adoption thing I'm doing is relatively new for me. Since 2015, I have adopted out 27 cats. 14 were adopted out last year, and so far this year I've rehomed 10. It keeps me awake at night! I worry about whether or not I am finding them good homes. I worry about the money we spend neutering/spaying, vaccinating, deworming and de-fleaing them (a portion of which I get back in the $150 adoption fee I charge, but it doesn't cover much.) I worry about them being unhappy cooped up in their foster rooms for too long. I worry about them getting enough love and attention while they are here. Basically it's a crapload of worry balanced by feeling happy about being able to help some cats in need, which is why I do it. I love animals, I hate seeing them suffer, we have a huge homeless cat problem in this area, and even though what I do is a drop in the help-suffering-cats bucket, at least it's something. And yes, it makes me feel good to find a cat a loving home. That's my prize! It makes me smile to see someone made happy by a cat they got from me. Mostly, I am happy for the cats who are getting a second chance. Truly, I don't need or seek any praise or recognition for that. However, I could do without some of the unnecessary grief I have gotten lately!</div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kNDc1JqN8oo/WqAB6azPLzI/AAAAAAAAhcc/pF_cRU-c8MAqt63f9vOh8RiHteoca1VGACLcBGAs/s1600/27858426_2066743256890263_5582304679230493451_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="626" data-original-width="960" height="416" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-kNDc1JqN8oo/WqAB6azPLzI/AAAAAAAAhcc/pF_cRU-c8MAqt63f9vOh8RiHteoca1VGACLcBGAs/s640/27858426_2066743256890263_5582304679230493451_n.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<i>Giselle and Harry, adopted out to a great home last week!!</i></div>
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Take the kitten with the ear-mite issue (NOT pictured above!) I took in five kittens from a woman who had taken in the mama cat when she was dumped, pregnant, at her place. She was having trouble finding them homes, so I offered to help her. She couldn't afford to neuter/vaccinate them all, so I did that. One of the kittens had such a bad case of ear mites, her head was tilted. So my vet gave her a treatment of Revolution, then for ten days, I put drops in her ears twice a day. She went back to the vet for a check-up and was pronounced fine. Her eye looked a little cloudy, so my vet stained it, looked at it for about five minutes straight, couldn't see a problem, then handed the kitten to another vet in the practice to be examined. No one could see any issue with her eye. She was spayed. I spent over $500 on her care. The people who adopted her had previously adopted her (healthier) sister, but wanted to see if this one with the tilted head would improve before they took her as well. I was fine with that. I did NOT pressure them to adopt her. She did improve (at least, as far as my vet and I could see!) so they adopted her as well. Her ears looked good, her tilt was 99% gone. The kittens were happy to be reunited.</div>
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A month later, I get an email from the new owners who are pissed off that cat had to go to the vet again and they had to spend $300 on her care. Her ear mites had returned, plus she had scratched her cornea (probably from attempting to scratch her irritated ear.) The tone of the letter was that it was my fault for not doing enough to prevent this, and they had not expected to spend $300 on care for the kitten. There was a comment about my intentions being good (omg, how condescending!) which made it sound like I'm some idiot who doesn't know how to care for a cat, and/or was trying to foist off a sick animal.<br /><br />Well, of course I was sorry to hear all this. Even though they signed an adoption contract absolving me of responsibility for the future vet costs, I offered to refund the adoption fee. I asked if they wanted me to pay the vet fee (which my husband explicitly told me not to do.) I asked if they wanted me to take the kitten back.</div>
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Well, no they didn't want any of those things. However, perhaps if she required further costly vet care at some unknown future date, then they would bring her back. I suggested it would be better to bring her back now so I could rehome her while she was still young. That was the last I heard of it to date.</div>
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What would you do in this situation? Because it made me want to say F**K it and stop adopting out cats. It's not like I'm in this for the money. A few months back, I paid for surgery to remove the eye of a kitten that I wasn't even keeping. I was happy to do that! I wanted to do that. I am just pointing out that I'm not here cutting corners, trying to make a profit on cat sales. (Really, some people are delusional about what goes on in animal rescue.)</div>
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And then we have the latest situation...</div>
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Jeffrey and Graham. Graham (back) is still waiting for a home.</div>
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This dude is lovely. He has been here for almost a month. He and his buddy came from a flea-infested hellhole. The Children's Aid Society was involved, and the cats had to go. I wanted to take the child with me when I went to pick up that cats.</div>
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Last week someone who follows me on Instagram asked to come see them this week. I arranged a day. Yesterday someone else wanted to come see him yesterday (Tuesday.) I contacted the first person through Instagram. Alas, I did not have a better contact method. Didn't hear back but there wasn't a lot of time. Still, I was not under the impression that we had any kind of solid adoption agreement, or any adoption agreement at all. I was under the impression that she was interested in this guy, but would come meet Graham too. </div>
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The newer couple interested in him came yesterday. They were friends of a friend. They wanted this dude. I said yes. It is a great home for him. I didn't feel I had any commitment to the first person other than that we had a date for viewing, and when I heard they wanted this dude, I let the first person know asap. It's not like I cancelled five minutes before she was due to visit. (Plus I can't tell you how many times people have flaked out on me and wasted my valuable time. I must be old, because I can't get over how rude people are these days.)</div>
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First person was not happy. First person is blaming me for causing her pain like the pain she felt when she had her elderly cat euthanized a couple of weeks back. Said person is guilting me out in public posts on Instagram. I have broken the heart of the neighbour's child who would have been the cat-sitter for this dude. Apparently I am a steaming pile of sh*t put on this earth to cause further grief to the grief-ridden. Yay, me!</div>
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So again, I wonder if I should continue with this? It's a money-losing venture that I do to help cats, not people. I am not convinced it's worth the trouble. </div>
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But them, I have some really lovely adoption stories that keep me going! Like the family who adopted the two fluffy kittens at the top. They are very, very shy. Cute, yes, but they will need a lot of socialization to come around. They are the kittens of Carly...</div>
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<a href="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ycf-hXK7mQ0/WqAB77HicvI/AAAAAAAAhco/d_f7WchVWDMPyx8onkV7LBlBrlnXLTnZgCLcBGAs/s1600/28467770_2077429655821623_5556979023010266715_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="766" height="400" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ycf-hXK7mQ0/WqAB77HicvI/AAAAAAAAhco/d_f7WchVWDMPyx8onkV7LBlBrlnXLTnZgCLcBGAs/s400/28467770_2077429655821623_5556979023010266715_n.jpg" width="318" /></a></div>
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...Carly was dumped at a rural home near me. She was pregnant. We figure her owner couldn't be bothered to spay her, and when she got pregnant, she was dumped. She had her kittens in a woodpile in a garage. A kind woman worked to catch her and the kittens, but it took a while. Carly is very friendly. The kittens were very scared and hadn't had much human interaction.</div>
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But this kind family took in these two shy kittens! They are giving them all the time and space they need. Their concern, from the first time I spoke with them, has always been for the kittens. I could not imagine a better home for them. I get regular updates on their progress. I know they are in a good home. I know they are with people who love them and who will care for them even if they get sick (which hopefully they won't, given the money I spent on vet care for them!) without threatening to send them back to me (although I do tell everyone, right in the contract, that I want the cats back if they decide they don't want them anymore.)</div>
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And their mama Carly... she is going to her fur-ever home in Toronto this weekend! This is beyond fantastic. Despite the fact that Carly has a heart murmur and needs regular meds, this amazing woman wants her. Not only that, she previously had a cat with a heart murmur and knows the score. Her concern has always been all about Carly, not about what Carly can do for her. I feel lucky to have found such an great home for a cat who was treated like garbage, but is still a sweet, loving soul.</div>
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I've adopted out 27 cats, so I guess two bad scenes isn't so awful in the grand scheme of things, but it's pretty upsetting to me. I don't begrudge these cats anything. It is a privilege to care for them and watch them become the happy, healthy cats they are meant to be. I have help from some super people with this (I'm looking at you, Sharron!) But I get angry with people who don't see how much work this takes, how little financial reward there is for it, and how I get really exhausted at times, yet continue to do my best for the cats (and my 100+ other rescue animals, because we aren't just caring for a couple of foster cats here.) They don't see my husband getting up early to ferry cats to the vet, or sitting out with the foster kitties at night after I've crashed, giving them love and attention, even though he often works 10-hour days and is tired himself. I know the world is full of narcissists and morons, but at this point, I'm just not sure whether or not to continue with this, or whether perhaps there are more things I can do to protect myself. We do have an adoption contract drawn up.</div>
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<br />Alternatively, I could just foster cats for the OSPCA as I have been doing, which leaves me with minimal risk and hassle. But the cats I take in, I take in part to save from clogging up our already clogged-up shelter in Cornwall. Some of these cats wouldn't even have made it to the adoption room there; it's a sad fact that our OSPCA in Cornwall has the highest intake of cats in the province. I feel like it's a good thing to relieve a bit of that burden, if I can.</div>
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I'm not looking for sympathy or praise, but would welcome any suggestions. I assure you I am not a saint. Ask my husband! I guess there is no way to avoid the odd unfortunate incident, but it's hurtful to me when I work so hard with these kitties. It's never my intention to hurt people, but apparently someone today thought otherwise. Which sucks. I did apologize, but that was evidently insufficient. Who needs this crap?</div>
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Meanwhile, this handsome devil is still waiting for a home...</div>
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<a href="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WvGh7Z3nTgo/WqAB7SwyoCI/AAAAAAAAhck/GY7rmruixJsoNGrrupOoW3dbI0jbTLUJgCLcBGAs/s1600/28276704_2077446432486612_427071151031485567_n.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="960" data-original-width="874" height="640" src="https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-WvGh7Z3nTgo/WqAB7SwyoCI/AAAAAAAAhck/GY7rmruixJsoNGrrupOoW3dbI0jbTLUJgCLcBGAs/s640/28276704_2077446432486612_427071151031485567_n.jpg" width="582" /></a></div>
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Graham is about 5. Or maybe 3. I can't guarantee! I can't guarantee anything. The vet gave a range. He has bald spots because he has a flea allergy and arrived totally flea-infested. He is 16 lbs and has a bald belly. However, he is also charming and full of character. LOOK AT HIS FRICKING CUTE FACE! He has a really cute little vampire underbite going on. His fur is growing back now that the fleas are gone, and soon I hope he will be a fluffy masterpiece. Unfortunately, he has been declawed but that doesn't stop him from assassinating mice. He kindly left me a mouse head the other day. He is friendly and affectionate and likes being brushed. He would prefer to sit next to you rather than on your lap. He's sick of being in the foster room! He needs a home.<br /><br />I am just venting. I needed to do it somewhere; the blog seemed a likely spot. But I would suggest that people be kind to those who work in animal rescue (and child rescue! I could NOT work for the Children's Aid Society. Those are exceptional people!!) Maybe instead of complaining, you could cut us some slack and do something to help. We all make mistakes, you know. Perhaps I should have said NO to the people who came to adopt Jeffrey yesterday, but I was thrilled with them and thrilled for Jeffrey. He has been stuck here for almost a month. No doubt there are *ssholes in animal rescue, as there are anywhere in life. But honestly, I don't think I'm one of them.<br /><br />Go take some cookies to your local animal shelter staff and BE NICE.</div>
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Thanks for reading. :) Here's a little poster I made for Graham:</div>
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<a href="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-D1I1acOTU-I/WqAPOK-m6MI/AAAAAAAAhdA/jaNl8gvApjkppCAL5dHSgUTFgf47FAH8QCLcBGAs/s1600/GrahamPoster.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1379" data-original-width="1600" height="550" src="https://4.bp.blogspot.com/-D1I1acOTU-I/WqAPOK-m6MI/AAAAAAAAhdA/jaNl8gvApjkppCAL5dHSgUTFgf47FAH8QCLcBGAs/s640/GrahamPoster.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Knatoleehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03809822081515082096noreply@blogger.com36tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10685986.post-12080717399654673492018-02-17T09:08:00.001-05:002018-02-17T09:10:00.329-05:00Foster floofs and other tales<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
Things have been busy around here, as per usual...</div>
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Did I even mention that Fanny has become cat #17? She is living in our renovated granary now with Mootie and Pip. They are having the time of their lives out there, heated floors and all. Fanny has really come out of her shelll and is a super-sweet, loving girl. She is enjoying the "Crazy Pants" and her cat scratcher.</div>
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Meanwhile, I have a new batch of fosters...</div>
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This is beautiful Carly, who is looking for her forever home. She arrived February 1st with her kittens...</div>
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...Giselle (top) and Harry. </div>
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Long story short, Carly was someone's pet until she got preggars and was dumped at a rural home near me. She had two kittens in a woodpile in a kind couple's garage. They were finally able to live-trap the kittens and bring them to me a couple of weeks ago. They are about 5-1/2 months old, and while shy, they are coming along nicely with socialization You can pet them and pick them up now! </div>
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They are being neutered and spayed next Friday, then they are off to their fur-ever home together, which makes me so happy! Just need to find a home for their lovely, friendly Mama now.</div>
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And last Saturday, I took in these two boys...</div>
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Graham</div>
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Jeffrey</div>
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They were in an awful situation CAS (Children's Aid Society.) The mother involved was told to get rid of the cats, pronto. So we picked them up last week. They were both covered in fleas and Jeffrey had a bad case of ear mites. Gordon and I took them straight from their filthy former home to the vet. Poor Graham has a flea allergy and bald patches as a result. They have now been vaccinated and treated for fleas. Graham is already fixed and declawed (UGH! I am against declawing!) but Jeffrey needs to be neutered.</div>
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Graham is 16 lbs of love! He is such a nice boy.</div>
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Jeffrey is fantastic too. Cuddly and sweet-natured. I wish I could keep them both!</div>
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In other news...</div>
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<img border="0" data-original-height="900" data-original-width="675" height="640" src="https://2.bp.blogspot.com/-RHnqbUB2v_g/Wogz2GJD0DI/AAAAAAAAhbc/oJWRVs7pJUwqEEXU2tLrO5jmz1BTyit5gCLcBGAs/s640/DWBNQFuXcAEQ6xA.jpg" width="480" /></div>
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...our big lug of a Maremma, Monty, turned two on Valentine's Day! Still waiting for him to mature completely, lol...</div>
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And Elsa and Anna the goat kids are doing great!</div>
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We are having a "Goat Kid Yoga" fundraiser here next Saturday! If you are in the Ottawa-Montreal area, think about coming. It will be so much fun. </div>
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Hope you are all having a lovely, relaxing weekend!</div>
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Knatoleehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03809822081515082096noreply@blogger.com11