Blogs

I got the call from my Vet that Bob would be ready to go home around 6 pm tonight. I had no other details, save for "Dr. Larry wants to talk to you." Okay. Sure. Does this mean "have a talk" or just "talk to me about how things went?" I've had both types of talks and the former is not one I'm fond of having.

Bob had a rather long procedure. He had "fun" at both ends. Since he was sedated, I figured they better check his anal glands (see my article about the horror of anal gland expression!), so they did that, then he had his remaining teeth cleaned. With FIV+, Bob has crappy gums and teeth. Until he started living with me, he had NO Vet care at all and his diet was pretty bad, too. Needless to say, this is why I've had to spend so much time and money on Bob. He's come a heck of a long way in three years and I know he would be long dead by now, if I hadn't taken him in when my Mother died in 2006.

I spoke with Dr. Larry and he showed me two of Bob's teeth. They were no longer in Bob's mouth. One was broken, the other whole. They both showed signs of disintegrating near the gum line. They must have been VERY painful. Dr. Larry said that Bob reacted to him touching the teeth, even though he was unconscious. Poor Bob.

I asked how many teeth Bob has left. He's almost down to none, but he has a few, just for fun. He can start off eating mooshie food (which he already gets, then he can eat whatever he likes after a few days. He's on Metacam, a short dose, to keep him comfortable.

All that was left was for me to pay the $450. bill (anal gland expression went up $4 since last time I noticed!), hide my pedicured toes from Dr. Larry (he HATES seeing bare feet for some reason! What is so wrong about toes? Maybe he got ambushed by naked feet when he was a little kid or something?) and get Bob home.

Bob's already eaten, but his back legs are very weak. I see he got a butt shave, oo la la! Tomorrow it's pain meds and observation. Hopefully in a few days he'll be like his old self, only not in pain.

Quit being so cute or I'll have to adopt you! Then I'll have too many cats and be accused of being the crazy cat lady, but "they" never call people "crazy baby lady" if they have too many kids!

Life is so unfair.

I dread tomorrow. Bob Dole has to go in for a dental procedure. Normally, this wouldn't be a big deal, but since Bob is who-knows-how-old and he has FIV+ and he has bad gums and worse teeth, that I flat out worry he won't even get through the surgery.

I must have the dental done. Since Bob's immune system is compromised, infected gums could kill him. He also has a mysterious head shake. He's had it since he came to live here 3 years ago, but it's worse now. I wonder if it's a dental issue? We can't seem to figure it out.

Bob may lose the rest of his teeth tomorrow, too. I hope not. For his sake, but that said, the food he likes is mooshy so he should be able to manage it all right. I guess we'll see.

The other thing on my mind is that Nicky flared up with a URI. Not too bad, just juicy sneezes. Now Spencer may be sick and Bob, too. It's hard to tell. I guess I'm so worried about him I want to be extra safe. I got him a shot of a new antibotic called Convenia on Tuesday as a precaution to help him fend off any URI secondary issues and to help him with the aftereffects of the dental.

Bob's three year anniversary living with me approaches. I'm so glad he's here. I sure hope he'll be here lots longer. I love you, Bob! Hope you have a great day tomorrow and all goes smoothly.

Angel caught mid-air bouncing from my lap onto suspecting kitten, Tweetie, below.

It's official. I'm a cat toy. I have the claw and bite marks to prove it! My skin, all over, is starting to look like drunken etch-a-sketch drawings. I feel like a human pin cushion.

Oh but they ARE SO CUTE, right? That makes up for it?

I wrote not long ago that I felt like I couldn't do enough to help save these homeless kittens and cats. I think I'm about to a point where it's feeling like, okay, I can't do more than this.

Right now I'm planning an Adoption Event, going to design collateral material for that event, am fostering two litters of kittens, four of them get meds every day, plus caring for one nasty mom. I'm also networking and trying to find some folks to adopt the kittens we have or consider being a foster family. I have one friend from High School who's shown interest in fostering and another is making a donation to our group. I also wrote an article for the paper and am thinking about contacting the folks at the local tv news. They love animal stories and having 38 kittens who need homes is a story, if you ask me!

Fluffy (left) and Angel (right)

This is also an exercise in balance. My own cats are not getting what they need. One of the peed on a rug this morning. I caught her in the act. Good old Petunia-the one with territory aggression. She peed right between where the two foster rooms are located. If that wasn't a message, I don't know what is. I'm going to have to try not to kill her, first, then try working with giving her more attention. I've also got two sniffly kitties-Nicky and Bob and I need to be watching them more carefully, as well. I don't want them to get a secondary infection!

Honestly, this nuttiness is, in theory, just for another week, then I'm back down to one litter. That said, I have even more compassion for our Director since she takes on the brunt of the litters. It has to be a ton of work, keeping it all straight and still finding time to have a life outside of cat care. I need to work on some design projects and get back to writing my book.

...that said, there are really cute, fluffy and non-fluffy kittens upstairs and they need some play time. Who can resist?

This sweet muffin is available for adoption. She was bottle raised and is extremely affectionate and relaxed. Whoever adopts her is going to be VERY VERY lucky. She's an amazing kitten!

To adopt Penelope, visit our web site

It's almost too much work to care for 7 kittens and a mama, take photos, do write ups on them and find time to take care of my own cats or do any work and it's only be ONE day since the second litter of foster kittens arrived! Hopefully, I will find a pace and it's just for two weeks-ish, so I will deal.

These kittens are LOTS of fun! They love to play and get petted and their older than my other kittens, so they can run and jump easily. Angel (above, pardon the joke! and Twitter, below) seem to be excellent gravity-free kittens!

I gotta get back to kitten feeding, but wanted to get the ball rolling on showing off the new arrivals. There are more photos of the kittens on my FLICKr pages, so do stop by and visit if you'd care to!

Meow for now!

Uh oh! I got me some more kittehs! Our group is overwhelmed with kittens who are in need. Sadly, adoptions are few and far between. We need good adopters, badly!

Introducing, from back left: Tweetie, center: Angel, right: Twitter, front left: Fluffy

They are now living in my bathroom! Still have my other foster babies to look after, as well.

I now have 15 cats. I feel full!

If you'd like to adopt any of these cuties, visit our web site for more information.

Like millions of other folks, I just finished watching Michael Jackson's Memorial Service. It was very touching and well done. I would have preferred not to cry through it so much, but knowing a family is in pain and grieving flashes me back to the losses I've suffered in my own life. I know what the family is going through and how painfully the death of a family member reshapes that family. It will never be the same again. There will always be a sense of something missing from now on. It really sucks. It's only from "this side" that you realize how insignificant all the stupid fights were and how you never cherished being together as much as you should or could have. The heartbreak of what will never be again ripples out in small waves that rise and fall for the rest of your life.

I hope we all learn from yet another loss, but I fear we won't. Life really IS too short and it can end at any moment of any day. I'm reminded not to sweat the small stuff, or any stuff, for that matter. If you really think about it, we're all just star dust. One day all of this-and I mean ALL of it: Mankind, the Earth, the Sun. It will all be gone and be reshaped into something else. Just as there were millions of years before any of us walked upright or began to make our mark on Humanity, all that has passed has faded into nothingness. That's where we're all headed, too. None of us will live on forever.

The key is: to be OK with that and to enjoy the Ride...truly LIVE your life.

I just got this email and wanted to pass on the information, in case someone in Georgia can help out these poor creatures. Please feel free to copy the link to this BLOG post so that others can get the news. Thank you very much! Yes, we love Goggies, here, too, even if they're not...KITTIES!

A rescue caravan of dogs, and kitties, who were all going to be euthanized today at Heard County Animal Control, had set out early this morning to the receiving rescue in Tennessee when they learned that the owner had been rushed to the hospital in very grave condition. The dogs and kitties are now in Marietta Georgia for the weekend either in boarding or emergency foster care. It does not look like they will be able to go to the Tennessee sanctuary and rescuers or adopters are needed as soon as possible.

Please pass this along to as many contacts as possible - if people can only take one dog or one cat - it will help so much. These are all very sweet animals who have had such tough luck in life. Please network for them as much as possible!

All the dogs currently listed on Pet Finder as in the shelter (rather than foster homes) were pulled this a.m. except for #46709, an adult male brindle plott mix still on stray hold (even though listed as TU), and #45309, a lab/hound pup with adoption pending. I don't think the chow who's scared of thunderstorms was pulled either but am not sure.

All the dogs are at Dr. Good's in Marietta temporarily, but the need rescue or adoption as soon as possible.

If you can help, please contact Emily at cherryharleysavinganimals@yahoo.com

#38109--Plott mix, adult female, very sweet, has injury on her back that's healing well (someone poured something caustic down her back)

#39209--Baby black lab, 6-8 mos., very sweet, friendly and goofy

#40109--Male shep mix, shy but nice, not growley

#42209--Ace- -owner surrender--male adult lab/hound mix, nice dog (they moved and left him)

#42309--Abbi- -owner surrender--young adult female Plott mix, very sweet (dumped with Ace when owners moved)

#43509--Staffie- -young adult male, very loving

#43709--Young male boxer mix

#43809--Female shep mix pup--sweet, dumped at church

#44009--Shep mix pup--dumped=2 0at church (male?)

#45209--Adult male Aussie Shep mix--very nice dog

#45109--Adult male white Shepherd

#45509--Young black lab mix (male?)

#45609--Young female Rottie mix

Animal Rescue Georgia blog:
http://animalrescue georgia.blogspot .com/

Heard Co. Animal Control Blog (mostly)
http://houndsgood. com/heard- county-animal- control/