And Baby Makes Three

I have lots of news to catch up on since I've been away from home most of the last week or so taking care of Jim and Martha Marshall's home, dogs, and cats. I am their legal animal guardian and second mom to kids and pets so I spend the week there doing my best to make things run smoothly.

Since there's so much to let you all know and so many things to show you, I'm going to do this in bites as I get inspired and to keep me focused.

My first bit of news is that I now have a new kitten. I already told you all about Charlotte and posted a picture of her. She is the kitten who was deserted on the side of my road with an inadequate box for 'shelter' and an empty bowl. Charlotte is doing very well. After a dose of flea meds and tons of food, she's thriving. She still has a raging case of worms and over the counter isn't working so the vet is the next step in her recovery for well kitten shots and treatment.

Our newest member is Baby, a tortoise shell kitten. The name 'Baby' stuck for several reasons. She truly was a baby when she dumped here. Barely five weeks old, you could fit her in your hand. IF you could catch her! First she cozied up to Charlotte who was closer to her age and size. Then she cozied up to the food and clean water bowl. And finally, she cozied up to me.

To distinguish between Charlotte and her, I started saying 'baby' to get her attention so she didn't identify with Charlotte's name. And because she started to identify with 'baby' and had no preference for another name, she became "Baby". My friend Linda Conner swears that cats will let you know their names and I've found it to be true. Just as Charlotte let Cindy Miller-Ray know hers, and the neighbor's white cat let me know he preferred 'Sam' to 'Snowball', Baby IS Baby.

These pictures were taken last week. Shes' been here a bit under two months, loves to be sung to and purrs so loud you can hear her in the next room. She's a lap cat and silky soft. I wish you could see the whorls of color on her and the harlequin patterns.

New Project

Believe it or not, I'm still tweaking Cindy's stripper costume and working on another: A 1930s dress and hat for her daughter. But I also had something new come in the door. Her name is Charlotte.

Cindy and I found her abandoned on the side of the road. She's skinny, wormy and has conjunctivitus but is a sweetie. A little on the blonde side, though. If you set her down somewhere, she'll stay until you come and get her -- including the cat box. She's a toe sucker and will dive under covers to find them. She has her own method. She must put as much of the toe in her mouth as she can and then she nips. You can see how thin she is from her protruding leg and hip bones, but I'm fattening her up. She's also been wormed and I'm putting antibiotics in her eyes. I don't need another cat! Especially since all of the neighborhood cats have decided that my place is the Sandals Resort and hang out here.

I will be starting a new textile series of work soon. I'm excited!

What I Learned About Tea Tree Oil and Cats

This is what yesterday had in store for me.

I put tea tree oil on my one remaining cat, George and then went on line after she started growling and acting weird to see what the vet sites had to say about it. Tea tree is toxic to cats and can kill them in doses of just 1% in pet shampoos and I put pure oil on her!!

After her running up in the attic and me trying to get her down calling, cajoling and climbing as far as I could on my step ladder, I called DJ to see if my nephew was around. He wasn't available but DJ said she and Jimmy would come as soon as Jimmy got back.

I tried calling every emergency service, animal rescue, fire department and cop I could think of. None of them would help except the animal trappers which would come over for $250.00 minimum. Humane Society offered a feral cat trap to leave up there with her. I tried explaining that she was poisoned and needed to get to the vet immediately but that was all they could suggest.

After a frantic call, I went over to pick up Tary Peace from work (Bless her ENtire soul) and she tried getting her down. Tary actually crawled up in the attic with George। She couldn't reach her under the eaves and had to give up .

Tary had suggested I open a can of tuna which I did. After Tary went home, I waved the tuna around under the attic and she finally let me crawl up the ladder and get her down. Jeannie Miller said she'd be here to help, too. I called both DJ and Jeannie back and told them that I had her. I've got an excellent bunch of friends. To a one of them, they would drop what they're doing and come help.

I bathed her as much as she'd let me with dish soap as the vet site suggested and took her to the vet. She still reeks of tea tree.

The vet did blood work on her kidneys and liver which seemed to be within limits, gave her a shot of cortisone and something to help stabilize her and told me to watch her and wait. So far, so good. I feel very lucky and blessed. She's alive. George has stuck close by me, which is great since she ducks every time I go towards her but wants to stay close. She's afraid I'll do something else to her, poor thing!! Don't blame her.

She slept with me last night and seems to be okay if not entirely herself. She got up last night calling and looking for Loverboy a few times and that wasn't easy. She's eating a little bit but I haven't seen her drinking her water. She's also been to the cat box.

I'm staying at home and I'm going to try not to talk to anyone. I seem to have this cloud around me just now and do not want to chance 'passing it around'. Please do not use any products on your animals without first checking on line! Many vets do not know the toxicity of tea tree! Go here to look.

I don't dare tempt Fate by asking "how much more..." because I'm afraid of the answer. Please keep me in prayer and add George, too! We'll take whatever flavor you have. I'd appreciate them.

Found Him

Loverboy. Just buried him in the yard under the datura. Car probably hit him yesterday. That's why he didn't come when I called. I had asked for a time of peace before I buried another friend, two or four legged. I guess this is a test to see how much I can take before I curl up in a ball.

Pissed Off Cat

I just had to share this with you. Granted. The language is more than graphic, but it spoke to my heart. I had a drive and did close to the same thing at every car rolling by, innocent or not. When I realized what I was doing, I started laughing at myself. Talk about Road Rage!

I watch people in cars. I know that's unusual. We're set up to just watch the car as if IT was alone and making decisions to accelerate, brake, turn, hesitate or just cruise. It's a little like being in Christine, the movie about the maelific car who deliberately tries to kill folk.

So. I open the mailbox and here sits Pissed Off Cat sent to me by Martha. M says she got a note from her sister, Celia in Alabama who was tempted to do a genealogy search to see if their family was related to the cat in any way. M allowed that it could be the case.

Cars are our last bastion of privacy. We can pick our nose, sing, curse, think and even scream (ahem) on occaision - all with impugnity. That is, until Homeland Security figures out how to listen in by building bugging and homing devices in every Detroit model.