Christ and cowboy boots....

This morning my sister called me at 9:30 am and asked me to go to the 10:00 am church service with her.  Truthfully, all I wanted to do was to sleep in, but the more I laid there coming up with excuses as to why I didn't want to get up, the worse I felt.

My feet hit the floor at a run because Abby said she was going to zip past my house and pick me up on her way through.  I dashed into Katzya's room, told her we were going to church and asked her to hurry.  She, like most teenagers, grumbled and stumbled her way down the hallway semi-dressed and I hurriedly finished getting ready.

Abby pulled up in front of the house, honked her horn and we ran outside to greet her.  Katzya got in the front seat while I got in the back seat and truthfully I never noticed what Katzya was wearing.  Until we got to church....

As we were waiting for Abby to grab her morning cup o' joe, I looked down at Katzya's feet and said:  "Seriously?!  You wore your boots to church?!"  In her 13 year old way, Katzya rolled her shoulders and said:  "What?  I wiped the dirt off of them!"

As the sermon wrapped up, I realized the most important part of the morning was the message about joy and not sweating "the small stuff".  Perhaps the cowboy boots this morning were a lesson from God, in that I sweat too much small stuff and need to look at the world a little differently....

Look at him go!

Brent Lou got a visitor today after lunch.  His Aunt Abby came to visit him!  She was surprised just how much he had grown in the last week and how much better he looks.  (The last time she saw him he was near death....) 

Yesterday he went to visit Dr. Kelley Young at Stonyridge Veterinary Services for a recheck and she was amazed by how well he was doing too.  She sedated him and debrided some of the scabbed area over his penis, and stretched his sheath to make sure that he would continue urinating.  She gave us instructions on keeping his penis moist with ointment and shaved his fur so that we were no longer fighting the battle of keeping hair out of his wounds. She did say she thinks he will have to have a sheath reconstruction later, but for now as long as he's urinating, all is well.  I couldn't be happier!

Honesty, joy and independence

Tonight I went to my friend/publisher's house to deliver a birthday present to a very vivacious 3 year old, Emma Rose.  We "ate" plastic ice cream and brownies, and decorated each other with stickers.  There is nothing more refreshing than seeing the honesty, joy and independence that is a child....

Half pound heart thief

It's hard to believe the kitten that has taken up residency on my kitchen table (The only dog free zone in the house....) is the same kitten that was knocking on death's door 5 days ago.  He is gaining weight, his eyes are bright, there is no more nasal discharge coming from his nose, and he is starting to play.  The change is unbelievable!

We do know a little more about his situation now...  Evidently he was brought into our local animal shelter by a woman who wanted to have him euthanized, however she didn't want to pay the $2.00 fee to turn him in, so on her way out of town she threw him out the window of her car while going over a bridge.  Her throwing ability must have been no better than her "moral compass" and the kitty landed on the bridge instead of hitting the water.  Some consider it bad luck, but I am going to consider it fate.  What is the probability that my sister would be going across this bridge at nearly the same time this kitten was thrown out of a moving car?  What is the probability that no one else hit him?  And what are the odds that this tiny being could survive such an ordeal being as sick as he was?

My prayer is complete and total healing for Brent/Lou (He has many names as most of our pets do...).  I didn't need or want another cat (We have two already.) but I guess God knew this cat needed a soft touch and kindness, so here we are.  I won't lie, he has kneaded and purred his way into all of our hearts.  I hope he is sleeping better at night than the less than stellar woman who tossed him out the window!

Moving forward!

We have named the kitten Brent, after our great friend Brent of the Remy Homestead.  Brent always talks a mean game about cats and how he doesn't care for them, but under his 6' 4" tough exterior is a marshmallow of a person, usually kept in line by his wife Christie.

On Friday night as I was at the vet's office, I called Christie to bring me a phone charger because my phone charge was at 10% and I was on call for the hospital.  Christie promised me she would be right over and with the phone charger, she brought Brent.  They visited me and I showed them the lifeless kitten that was laying there, and Brent said in a very joking way:  "For a lot less money I could get you a cat with no maggots and already litter box trained!"  Christie promptly elbowed him in the gut and told him to shut up, and I was laughing at the two of them when I realized I had never had an animal named Brent.  It only seemed fitting that I would name a cat after him.  (Besides, I could only hope that this kitty would turn out to be a big, strapping man of a cat!)

Brent the kitten is doing good and is on the mend.  We brought him home last night from the animal clinic, and have been medicating him and nursing him along.  The biggest challenge at this point is his groin/rectum/penis area.  This was where the maggots did the most damage, eating away at his flesh.  If you can imagine, a kitten that only weighs a few ounces has a very small genital region.  The sheath of his penis is severed horizontally on both sides, and if it doesn't heal then he will have to have a surgery to reconstruct it. 

If the damage actually affects his penis then there is another surgery, and I will be honest I won't put him through that.  In that surgery you actually re-route the urethra and remove the penis making him pee like a female cat.  He is so small, it would be like micro surgery, and the veterinarian isn't sure if she could perform that surgery on a patient his size.  I'm not sure if I could afford that surgery either....

Looking on the positive side of things though, this is a picture of Brent this morning.  We are keeping him in a dog kennel with his litter box, food, water, and he has a stuffed friend for support.  He is "making biscuits", meowing, and eating like a horse!  The best part though?!  I got up this morning to urine and feces in his litter box (Otherwise known as a disposable pie pan...), so we know that up to this point at least all of his parts are working!  Please say a prayer that this will continue.  If his "boy parts" continue to work, he will most likely live.  I keep reminding myself, that if he has to go, at least he will be humanely euthanized and he will have known he was loved, by me and many of you too!

You found a squirrel?!

Yesterday as I was leaving work, my sister called me.  Of course the call came in just as I was stepping onto the elevator to go home, making my sister sound like she was talking under water.

I said:  "Hello?'

Abby replies: "I found a ... crackle, rustle, static... squirrel!  What should I do?!"

I asked:  "You found a squirrel?!"

She shouts back at me:  "No!  I FOUND ... crackle, rustle, static... squirrel!  What should I do?!"

After what seemed like a ride to the moon, I finally reached the top floor of the parking garage and asked again:  "Did you say you found a squirrel?!

She brazenly yells in my ear, "NO!  I FOUND A CAT!  

I am still confused and stupidly ask, "Well, why did you tell me you found a squirrel?"

She is reaching the point of being annoyed, and yells at me again:  "I SAID, I FOUND A CAT THAT I THOUGHT WAS A SQUIRREL!  

In my head I thought, "Of course you found a cat that looks like a squirrel.  That happens to people all the time!"  (I did not verbalize this thought though because Abby was on the edge of loosing her patience and I could tell she was a wee bit frantic...)

I asked where she saw the cat/squirrel and she explained it was sitting in the middle of a bridge that she was driving over so she called me, and wanted to know what to do.  I told her to pick up the cat and drop it off at my veterinarian and I would meet it there.  Abby calls me back within minutes and says the mission has been accomplished and I let her know I would be there shortly.  

At this point my phone vibrates.  It's the veterinarian:  "This kitty has maggots and several lacerations.  Do you want us to proceed?"  Maggots?  Really?!  Sigh....  I explain if the kitten is negative for leukemia and feline AIDS, and she thinks there is a chance the little guy might pull through then I would like her to proceed with fixing him.

I arrived at the vet office and they ushered me back to see what had to be the most sickly animal I have ever laid eyes on. This kitten was so malnourished and emaciated that it is impossible to even draw the 2 drops of blood from him needed for his testing until he ate and his body temperature was higher!  Paired with the number of adult fleas on the kitten plus the maggots literally eating him alive, saving him was more of a miracle rather than an reality.  Still, I prayed......

After the leukemia/AIDS test came back negative, he was given a bath to rid some of the fleas and the rest of the maggots.  He was so pathetic, and as I watched him lay there something deep inside my soul hurt.  IF he had been positive for leukemia or AIDS, I would have contributed part of his condition to underlying illness but this boy was just flat out neglected.  That is inexcusable.

After the little guy was cleaned up and dried he passed out.  He had antibiotics on board for several lacerations on his front leg and around his rectum, the blood sucking and flesh eating insects were at bay, and his belly was full.  His life was good for the moment and I felt comfortable that if he died during the night, at least he died with all of his basic needs met.  

  

I thought of the little kitty all night long and I didn't sleep very much because I wondered if he was still going to be alive in the morning.  Then I remembered a picture I took that morning before heading into work. 

 Minutes before I went inside there was the most beautiful rainbow in the sky, and I said out loud:  "Today is going to be a great day!"  If you are a palm-sized kitten that was given the chance to cheat death, today wouldn't be a great day, it would be the best day of your life!

State of our government...

For the past 2 days I have listened to people fret over the fact that their spouses don't have jobs, that their foster children can't get their welfare checks, and that their vacations might have to be on hold all because our government is shut down. 

I have listened to people complain about the Democrats, Republicans, and Obamacare.  I have listened as the break room erupts into chaos, filled with confusion and fear of the unknown.

I have also had so many shocked people ask me, due to our lack of outside influence:  "What do you mean you hadn't heard that this was going on?!  This is why you need a television!"  You are wrong.  This is exactly why I don't need a television!  I don't need the hysteria, fear, and negativity that is being thrown around worse than Miley Cyrus' underwear.

When I was using the outhouse tonight, I got to thinking.  Life could be so much worse.  If you are still updating your status on Facebook from your iPhone, are complaining because you can't get your hair or nails done because your husband is furloughed, or are worried about how you will send little Suzie to her private school, then know you aren't dying.  You're just being mildly inconvenienced.

I'm an American, folks. The government may be going down the "shitter", but I will survive.  In fact we all will survive!  Perhaps not unscathed, but we will make it.  I can't help but think that this is the time when we should start reaching out to our neighbour, start living a more sustainable lifestyle, and just slow down....