Minnie Got Her Angel Wings Today (1999 - 2015)

I have not blogged much in the past few months because of Minnie.  Caring for her has been a 24/7 job. She had stopped eating on her own about a week ago and even though I was assist feeding her, she was fading away.  Yesterday she developed a URI and her nose became congested. making it hard for her to breathe on top of everything else.  Just two months after being diagnosed with late stage chronic renal failure, we let her go this morning.  She was sitting contently on Pop's lap when the vet gave her the sedative and injection.  Minnie slipped away so very quickly and quietly - we knew it was time.

Minnie at about 7-8 months outside.

 This is our third loss this year - Lily, Ivy and now Minnie. Minnie was the next to last of the feral colony we inherited when we moved to the mountains.  Sweetpea is the only one left of that group. (To read Minnie's gotcha story click here.) Minnie was tiny at six pounds but long and lean and fiercely independent.  She did everything her way or not at all.  She was not a lap cat but allowed you to come to her to give her loving.  She did enjoy the attention.

Another shot of her as a youngster

She was very vocal if you tried to make her do something she did not want to do.  She had a raspy meow, similar to Ivy's quack and would not put up with much.  She would reprimand the younger cats if they got too rough near her with a growl and firm paw whap.

Minnie watching over Joey

She was incredibly devoted to her litter mate Joey.  When we caught him and brought him inside to live with us, she was there through it all, even sleeping on his kennel where he lived for the first few days.  They were inseparable, together always, sleeping, wrestling and grooming.  When Joey passed in 2012, Minnie was there with him to the end. 

Joey and Minnie

Minnie disliked having her picture taken for some strange reason.  She would turn her head or look down when you pointed the camera at her.  I had to snap shots of her when she was not looking.  Because of this I don't have many good close-up shots of her.

Napping in Mom's fern.

Minnie walked between the inside and outside window.

She was a curious intelligent and mischievous cat, always getting into something.  She loved boxes or any tiny space she could get into for that matter.  Just this past summer, she crawled into a dresser drawer I left open and because she is black I didn't see her when I shut the drawer with her inside, asleep.  Hours later I wondered where she was but it wasn't until Pop came to bed and shut the lights out that we heard her raspy meow and scratching coming from the dresser.  She was fine, just a bit put out from having been stuck in there. She loved to play and did everything with such abandon.  She certainly kept us amused with her antics.

Minnie loved the Christmas holidays and got into the action of decorating the tree, wrapping gifts and of course unwrapping the presents.  She loved to dive into the discarded paper, sliding on the floor scattering it it all over. 

Minnie gave me the gift of living in the now, this moment to the fullest.  She was chock full of joie de vivre and it spilled over into our lives.  Minnie is buried with her favorite catnip toy on our land with the others. I will miss her terribly but I know in my heart that she was warmly greeted on the other side by all the beloved cats from her feral colony - Big Guy, Mamma Kitty, Leroy, Ivy, Nick, Bob, and especially Joey.

If all of these wonderful cats are watching over me as my angels now - how lucky can I get? Until we meet again sweet girl..

I am taking a blog break - I had Halloween and Callie and Snowball's Gotchas Days set to post but I will let Minnie's story stay here and do the others at a later date. Snowball's Gotcha Day post will be on the blog Thurs. Nov. 8 so come back then.

Belated Gotcha Day for Mamacita and Rosa

Oops, Mom forgot our Gotcha Day yesterday!  Oh well.  It was a hard day anyway since it was two months since Ivy went to the Bridge. We can forgive Mom that slip.  We know she will make up for it with lots of love and treats today.

Rosa

 It has been a whole ten years since Mom rescued us from her yard when I was about six months and Rosa was  a tiny kitten with her brother Angel Manny.  Both kittens had URIs and were very sick so Mom trapped all three of us at once.  She inadvertently caught Ivy a few weeks before that  but decided to keep her inside too.

Mamacita

 We are very shy kitties but have come a long way.  I will sit on the sofa next to Mom or Pop and let them love me up...but don't try to pick me up or put both hands on me at once..I will run away so fast!  Rosa loves to be petted but she won't sit next to them like I do. She gets overstimulated quickly and ends up whapping me or anyone else around and then running of!

Mamacita and Mr Kitty

I have kind of taking a liking to Mr. Kitty -  he is a plus sized cat like I am and very handsome.  He likes to sit next to Pop too so we both get lots of loving and enjoy that time together.  Thanks in advance for all our good wishes .  We look forward to many more Gotcha Days!

Mom Cheri here with updates on the cats - Minnie is holding her own but continues to fight us when we give sub c fluids.  We ordered a harness to hold the needle in place and give fluids while she walks around - will let you know how that works.  She also is not eating consistently - never mind the rx food!  I have found a liquid supplement for picky senior kitties that she likes and also a gel with high calories.  These both seem to help her  hold her weight.

Al's eye is not better altho it does not seem to bother him.  His third eyelid shows.  It does seem to be neurological and time will tell if it gets better.  Mr Kitty is getting used to his thyroid meds (herbs) twice daily.  Georgie is off her food again so I am making sure she eats by giving her food when the others are not around so I know she eats it.

The weather is not helping my mood these days - altho we need the rain, it has been damp, foggy and rainy for five days now with the rest of the week the same.  Thanks for thinking of us and  for the good wishes Mamacita and Rosa. 

Thankful Thursday - Update on Mr. Kitty, Minnie and Al

Minnie napping in a Chewy box.

I apologize for not visiting.  Been way too busy trying to care for Minnie.  I took her to the holistic vet and she is officially in stage 3 renal failure.  Minnie will need daily fluids, an ACE inhibitor to help blood flow to her kidneys, plus a low protein food since there was protein in her urine.  Normally there is some but she had a lot since her kidneys are not able to do their job. And we give her a phosphorus binder.  I have a notebook and write it all in, checking it off as I do it.

Not having much luck to get the prescription food in her at this point so what ever I can get her to eat is fine by me.  She IS eating so that is good.  I am hoping the binder will help lower the phosphorus.  All her numbers came down initially with IV fluids so hopefully the binder will help as well.

She is acting like she did before she got sick - enjoying life and seeming to feel pretty good.  She also has IBD so that is another thing we treat with probiotics, digestive enzymes and slippery elm.  She is super about letting me squirt liquids in her mouth so everything gets dissolved in water and squirted via a feeding syringe.  I also contacted my animal communicator about Minnie - that will be another post soon.

Mr. Kitty is over his coccidia and had three teeth removed.  He has hyperthyroid but we are going the natural route for a month to see if that will work better than the drug.  His lump on his neck was just a cyst - what a relief - but it seems to be coming back so we may have to have that removed to make him more comfy.

Albert did OK with his dental - no extractions, just cleaning.  His right eye is inflamed with his third eyelid showing.  I called the vet and they said to bring him back if it didn't get better.  After using an antibiotic ointment on his eye for a few days, it is better but not healed so off to the vet we go. (We have anti-inflamatory drops for his eye and it is looking better.  The vet thinks it is a nerve issue since there is no sign of damage.  He lost a tooth on that side and the nerves may have been jangled when he got his teeth cleaned.)

I am just very thankful to have all the cats still with us even tho we have our ups and downs health wise.  I hope Minnie remains stable for a few more months, even years.  Thank you for your purrs, patience with us and for all the encouraging suggestions.  We hope to be able to get back to blogging a bit more.

Treat Yourself to a Cat Lady Box

Blog friend Dorian from Your Daily Cute has started a great cat related company - Cat Lady Box, the first ever monthly subscription box for ladies crazy about cats.  She offered to give me one box free to  review.

Sweetpea helped to open the box and check out the wonderfully presented gifts inside. Each month the Cat Lady Box includes hand picked cat themed items sure to please any cat loving woman and if you order the Crazy Cat Lady Box, it also has gifts for your cats too. The boxes can contain an array of super items - exclusively designed cat lady necklaces, rings, bracelets and other jewelry, newly released and best-seller books featuring cats, stylish cat lover T-shirts and accessories, handmade cat-themed art and unique home decor, cat lady cards, stationery, socks, hats, and more. And it is delivered straight to your door.

This month the Crazy Cat Lady Box includes a super wallet with cats on the front and cat silhouette scarf by Triple T Studios along with  temporary cat tattoos and a Cat Lady magnet.  The postcard is by pen and ink artist Carolyn Flynn.

The kitties got a catnip toy by For Mew and a sisal ball with feather by Terra Toys.

Either Cat Lady Box makes for a great one of a kind gift  for yourself or for cat loving friends.  I plan on giving a one time subscription to friends for their birthday and maybe even for Christmas.  I might just treat myself to the six month subscription.  Us cat lovers cannot have too many cat themed accessories...right?

The kitties and I give Cat Lady Box two thumbs and four paws up!  Go check them out!!!!

Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day - Aug 28

On our first, hopefully, annual Rainbow Bridge Remembrance Day we want to honor  those beloved animals who came into our lives, changed them and left indelible marks on our souls for however short or long they were with us.  Thank you to Deb Barnes of Zee and Zoey blog fame, for hosting this special day.

I have put writing this post off until the last minute not knowing where to start.  I have lost so many cats in the past few years with more to go as they age.  This, to me, is the only drawback of rescuing animals. But with each heartache comes a special gift or lesson that each animal has for us

I had one dog Bunny, a cocker/poodle/terrier mix, when I was a teenager who died at age 11 of cancer.  She was extremely intelligent, funny and energetic.  She taught herself to alert me of any new sounds in the house if I was home alone since I was hearing impaired.  She left me her gift of exuberant joy.

My first cat didn't come into my life until Chica, who found me in Florida in 1991.  Maybe because she was my first, she was my heart and soul cat.  Yoko join us two years later and then in 1998 we moved to the North Carolina mountains and my work with feral cats began.

I worked with a local vet to trap, neuter and release the ferals living in a colony in the woods behind our farmhouse.  So many were not even named, their lives with us were so brief, as it often is with ferals. Bob and Leroy just vanished on different days when they were both about six months old.  I have to think that some wild animal got them.  The ones that survived and thrived became a part of our lives and as they aged we took them into our home. 

Momma Kitty was the first to leave us in 2003 on my birthday.  She had been ill during a really hard winter but had eluded my attempts to catch her.  When I did we took her to the vet and he said she was just days away from dying.  He body was filled with tumors.  We let her go surrounded by our love. She left behind her nurturing peaceful nature.

After two hurricanes blew through our town in early fall 2004, I noticed Big Guy, the head feral mancat was getting weaker as the days went by.  He lay limp on the second level of the feral shelter we built, unable to move.  I rushed him to the vet but there was nothing we could do - his huge benevolent heart was giving out.  He died peacefully in my arms, the only time I was ever able to hold him.  Big Guy taught me compassion and benevolence, watching him rule over his beloved colony.

Two weeks later our most recent addition Clarence, a regal stray who wandered into our yard, not part of the colony, died in his sleep under the bedroom chair with a faint glimmer of a smile on his face.  He lived with us just 18 months and had been ill for the last six.  At least he knew our love  for a short time. He showed us how to live with dignity no matter what our circumstances.

Nick, one of the few ferals still outside at this point, became ill so we took him inside and nursed him.  He had lymphoma and  left us in 2006. Nick's gift to us was his eternal goofiness and love of play. Mannie followed him a few months into 2007 after a vet badly handled a urinary blockage.  He was only two years old.  This was getting harder to lose so many but we did have a few years of health and longevity. 

My main man Joey left us for the Bridge in 2012 suffering from cancer.  He was the one cat welcome committee to all newcomers. Everything was a wonderful fun thing to him. He left us his zest for life.

Then we come to the hardest loss - my dear Chica who lived to be 22 years old.  I didn't want her to leave and I guess she didn't want to either.  She passed from heart issues on my birthday in March of 2013.  She was a part of me like no other cat could ever be.  We went through so much together.  Part of me died with her but I know she lives on in my heart.  She taught me to speak up for what I want.  She never lacked for anything - she just took it.  She made me smile.

Yoko was the quiet one and her favorite was my husband. She was our Buddha cat - doing everything very slowly, methodically and focused.  She ate deliberately, savoring and chewing every bite.  She even made biscuits slowly, with her eyes closed in a blissed out state of contentment. We lost her to oral cancer in December of 2013.  Being with her, taught us patience - to sit, and not rush around, to be still and savor each moment.

Lily was another loss that was almost too hard to bear.  She was our mother figure - giving birth to all the white cats before we could trap her.  Even while living in the house with us she was forever caring for us - sitting with us when we were not well, ever on the alert to noises and the goings on of the other cats.  We lost her at age ten to oral cancer in April of 2015.  Her gift was her love and caring.

 This day falls on the day after the month anniversary of Ivy's passing.  She left this world suddenly on July 27, 2015 after throwing a blood clot in her hind leg. It is hard to believe it is four weeks since she was with us last.  I still hear her funny quack and look for her in the TV console, expecting her to be napping on the receiver snug and warm. She was funny, silly and loved to play.  Everything about her was comical.  She left a big hole in our hearts.  Her gift was the laughter and smiles she brought to us all.

We miss you all dear ones and know that you will be there at the Rainbow Bridge to greet us when we arrive.  Until then, we will see you in our dreams.