Matilda of Slophouse Colony, Adoption Video

Morality Sadly Lacking In Arab Sudanese---Genocide Ignored, but Please Execute a School Teacher

These contradictions in action are why many people wonder about the sanity of the Muslim world. It is also very difficult to believe these people, condoning the genocide going on in their country against African sects, have any bit of moral ground on which to stand. Protestors in the Sudan are calling for the execution of a school teacher whose little Muslim school children named an inanimate object after their prophet.

This is insanity.

Catnip for Cops

Frustrated over the parking ticket issue, I wrote the following letter to the editor, appearing in today's Corvallis Gazette Times, offering catnip for cops, as a means to lighten attitudes, especially towards me, when volunteering. Please don't go after me for the letter, too, cops! I love some of you!


A little catnip might lighten cops’ mood

I want to offer the Corvallis Police Department, as a Christmas gift, some nice, potent, high-quality cat weed.

I offer this premium catnip with the respectful suggestion, that before they begin each patrol shift, all officers snort it, rub it all over their faces, and roll around in it on the ground.

The death of a homeless man sparked temporary good will toward the homeless.

I found a dead cat on the road near a camp and figured there must be more. When the homeless man came out, I said “Do you remember me?” He said, “You’re the cat woman. I got some cats need fixing again.”

I caught nine. Today I went to return the first five, now fixed. I retrieved one set trap, and came out to find a police officer ticketing my car.

I figured, naively, if a cop came along, Id tell him what I was doing, and they would say something like “Good job. Glad someone’s doing that.” But no.

I tried to point out I was doing community service at my own expense, that realistically, where else could I park to trap cats, without hauling them on foot a half mile or more.

Finally, I told them police are supposed to behave like friendly helpful community servants, not like Nazis.

Now, on top of the expense of this community service, I have a $45 parking ticket. Merry Christmas, Corvallis cops. Scrooge isn’t really a good role model.

So, I’m offering up the catnip. Warning: may cause playfulness; may decrease overly serious behaviors.

So Far this Week, 14 Cats Fixed

So far, just this week, I've taken in 14 cats to be fixed. On Tuesday, it was the five Whitey's from Homeless Richards plus a stray orange female taken in by an Albany family.

On Wednesday, it was two more Homeless Richard cats, a male and a female, and the three adults from the Slophouse colony. All three of the Slophouse cats were females. The kitten from there, who will be fostered by a neighbor on the street, is also female.

Today, I took three cats to Tigard for fixing. All three were Homeless Richard cats. Two were tame. He'd handed them over. The third was the black and white I trapped just before the lovely large parking ticket was given to me as an early Christmas gift, by the Corvallis Police, for my volunteer efforts. This is how Corvallis honors its volunteers--with tickets. Hohohoho.

Support Your Local Police. Boy, did you see how they wiped the smile from that volunteer's face? Hahahahhaha.

Of the ten Homeless Ricahrd cats, seven were female. Seven adult females. Think about that. Think about it. Think how much I saved the city, if, in the end, the cats over ran the area, and the city had to trap them and have them euthanized. Think about it. Then think about how the person who stopped that expense and labor and cruelty from ever happening got herself a big fat thank you in the form of a ticket. Fuck you Corvallis.

Well anyhow. I'm trying to somehow spin it humorous, so I don't cry. The payment plan I hope to set up will entail me paying 25 cents per month. Yeah. That's about what I can afford. That's what I'll offer to pay.

And, I think I overdid it trapping there. There's this big log you have to climb over, to access the trail into the camps. I hopped back and forth over that log, over and over. So last night, for some reason, my back, right knee and ankle and left ankle would wake me up in severe sharp stabbing pains. I couldn't sleep half the night due to these stabbing severe pains. I know, because of what happened before my back surgery, that this is likely caused by my inflamed back, not my knee or ankle or foot per se. It was harsh last night with that pain, however. I ended up hugging Miss Daisy tight for comfort. Finally I fell asleep.

The Corvallis Gestapo

I was back to try to trap more cats at the homeless camp today, prior to releasing the five whiteys' fixed yesterday. I trapped a black and white and went back into the camp to retrieve my second trap. I was leaving, and about to release the five already fixed white kitties, when I saw the helmeted head of a motorcycle cop by my car, as I was coming back out with the empty trap.

I hurried out, thinking they were probably just wondering what my car was doing there, although it would likely be readily evident, with cats in traps inside, and my website posted on the back of the car, empty tuna can on front seat.

But no, these were humorless human beings. The motorcycle cop had his digital camera out and was photographing my car and the no parking sign. He already had a ticket on my windshield as I walked up. He barely seemed to take note of me approaching.

I said "Are you giving me a ticket?"

He says, dryly, "Well, first I'm checking if this car is stolen." What a pile of baloney. Then he says, "Well, I guess it's not stolen" but won't say anything more. I said "Are you ticketing me?" I always figured if a cop stopped I would just tell them what I was doing and they'd say "good job. Be careful" or some such thing. I never in a million years thought they'd come along and behave really mean and awful.

I said I'm only parking here because otherwise I'd have to park way down behind the strip mall, which is like a quarter or half mile away. Traps with cats in them are very heavy and awkward to carry. I told him I'd trapped ten, I guess thinking again he'd say "good job. Glad someone is doing this."

Instead, he said I should stick to helping out in Albany. Then he snickered.

I said "You people are supposed to be helpful friendly community servants, not make people afraid of you or behave like Nazi's." The ticket is for $45. It's unbelievable, really.

Also, I think they thought it was funny to give me a ticket when I'm volunteering. They know there was no place a person could park but right there to do such work. Makes it so much more enjoyable to them when its not fair and unjust, is what I figure.

So I went down to City Hall to file a complaint. They suggested I file a complaint with the police department, a suggestion I scoffed at. Yeah right, like they care. They gave me papers to file a complaint. And then sent me to the municipal court, to ask what to do. They said I could appeal it to a judge at certain times during the week, and maybe set up a payment plan.

This was really too much. Me pay the city, when I'm doing the city a favor, at my own expense, in keeping down the cat population. What a joke it is. There is no justice, no kindness, no decency and the cops these days are very scarey people.

Five Cats Fixed Today. The Sixth Was Already Spayed.

I took up the five whitey's from Homeless Richard's cats today. Three of them were females, two were males. One of the females was in heat.

The sixth cat I took in was from a woman who had fed this cat not far off Old Salem in Albany for awhile, then they took the cat with them when they moved. They live in a camp trailer. The orange female stray was already spayed. In a way, that is heartening. She was abandoned by someone, but at least she was spayed. And at least someone kind looked after her, feeding her, and now sort of claiming her as their own. That's very sweet and inspiring. They don't have much money at all.

Tomorrow, I will take up the long hair brown tabby and the short hair brown tabby tux, from Homeless Richards. And I'll take up the tame black and white male, too. And I'll take in the three adults from the Slophouse colony.

After I take the six cats up, I will return to the homeless camp to try to trap anybody still out there, before I return the whiteys tomorrow evening.

I was contacted by a group of very nice old women, who live in a senior only complex in Albany. They have been feeding a delightful beautiful torbi tux female, and her four kittens for a couple of months and can't find anyone to take them. The management says they must go.

So I told them I couldn't take them in, being overloaded, but maybe I could get them fixed. I picked up the kittens this evening. They are a very cute brown tabby male and brown tabby tux female, about three months old. Unfortunately, when I showed them to my vet, he would not do them, since he will only do cats that are four months old.

When I met the old woman tonight, she looked familiar. Turns out, she is Dr. Anderson's wife's mother. Dr. Anderson is the former owner of Countryside Vet. He and his wife, this woman's daughter and also a vet, have moved to Tennessee.

I trapped cats for this old woman when she lived above Countryside, in a trailer. She knew it was me she was talking to on the phone. I didn't know it was her. She said to her friend "and when she waiting on traps, she even cleaned out my freezer." Yup, I did that. It was overstuffed and heavily frosted and I had time on my hands.

So, I called KATA, who originally was going to take the two kittens and the mother, and asked if they could do that. V didn't think they could, since they are overloaded in cats, but said she'd try to find somebody willing.

At least, in talking to V, I can vent some, because she understands. I told her about the problems I face taking care of all these cats. I told her, "you know, I've never had even one bag of decent cat food donated by someone in Linn County." I told her how I hate going to Costco to buy cat food, because, invariably, someone, when I'm in line, starts in on the fact I'm buying a couple bags of cat food, like I have lots of cats, that it's my fault for having too many cats, etc.

V said they had the same problem. Once, when some nosy shopper in the checkout line made some nasty reference to how much cat food they were buying, her cohort, D, said "We rescue, fix and adopt out Linn County cats. What the hell do you do?"

Now, to avoid these issues, they have cat food delivered, in large amounts, occasionally, so they don't have to go through the nosy berating shopper checkout line harrassment.

I told her how wrong this is, that we work so hard as volunteers, and help so many scores of people. For SafeHaven and Heartland, people and businesses do food drives for them. Us, don't get that. In fact, we get the opposite type of treatment. This can be hard to take. One must be extremely dedicated to face such things day in and day out. But the abuse takes its toll.

In the meantime, I called Tigard Animal Hospital to see how soon I could get them fixed there. Thursday, they said. So Thursday it will be. I will also take up Matilda, the black and white Slophouse colony kitten and maybe the kittens mother, too, if I catch her. I have reservations for four there.

Friday, I will take in the tame Homeless Richards female and a female from Peoria road that was dumped there pregnant and promptly had seven kittens, who can for now wait. And I'll take in anybody else I catch tomorrow at Homeless Richards. If I don't catch anybody else there, I'll catch a couple more at the Slophouse for fixing.

Matilda, after her spay, is going into foster with a neighbor of the Slophouse colony. Jack and Jill, the two Queen street kittens fed by a really nice bunch of old ladies, will go to some relative of one of the women, if KATA can't take them in. The nine Homeless Richard cats now in my garage room, will return, once fixed, and so will the three Slophouse adults.

Right now, I'm insanely busy, caring for all these cats, prior to their spay dates. Nine in the garage room. Four in my spare bedroom. Two in my bathroom. And then all the rest of the crew. It's not easy, I'll just say. It's stressful. An entire job in itself. I worm everybody. Deflea everybody. Vaccinate who I can afford to vaccinate before returning them.

I ain't rich and all these things cost money. I got nobody backing down my driveway unloading a nice van load of high quality cat food, cat litter and boxes of vaccines and wormer. Nope, haven't seen that. I'd like to see that though. Maybe the van driver would be extra jolly and wearing a santa hat! I'd be ho ho ho'ing and popping the champaigne bottle for sure!

But, the good thing about this week, despite my exhaustion and stress is-----a whole lot of fixing is going on.

Albany Forensic Psyche Group Home

There's been huge controversy even a large protest in a residential district in Albany, where a contractor for the state, that provides mental health services, including group homes for forensic psyche patients, has bought a house they intend to use to house five forensic psyche patients.

After seeing the massive protests and anger this has sparked, I wrote a letter to the editor. I suppose the tongue in cheek nature of the letter, did not come across. It was also severely edited.

What I wanted to get across was: you're not safe anywhere, really, in Albany; you don't even know, if someone is labeled a mental, if they deserve such a label, more say than your average joe blow citizen, and, finally, that you can't trust the psyche system or state to monitor anything.

I wrote the letter too hurriedly. Besides, sarcasm really doesn't come through well in word.

So what is up with this state contractor repeatedly buying houses in heavily middle class residential districts to use as group homes? They spark everywhere exactly what is happening in Albany. In the end, they never locate the group home in that neighborhood and the house is sold. In Portland, the house this contractor bought was eventually, after protests, bought by the city or county. So I begin to wonder sometimes, if they use this as a ploy, and make money when the house is sold.

Could they be that stupid? To try to locate a group home in a middle class neighborhood on a cul de sac? BEcause that's dumbshit stuff. It will only harm those people, trying to integrate back into society. Middle class people don't want anybody "different" in their neighborhoods and they are going to automatically fear for their children when the words "forensic psyche patient" is used.

When the state list of sex offenders first came out, I typed in my Albany address and found that three sex offenders live within a few blocks of me.

I once knew an angry woman on 5th Street in Corvallis. She had over 100 cats. She was in continuous wars with neighbors, all judged sane. They'd come scream at her. She'd scream at them. One neighbor and his wife for some reason thought her backyard should be communal property, like a neighborhood park. First they allegedly poisoned one of her cats or dogs, then allegedly stole one. Once they came over in their pajamas to scream at her or something and she hosed them down, then showed off in glee a photo she snapped of their shocked faces. Pajama clad and getting soaked with a garden hose on her property. The guy across the street, a professional, allegedly slashed her tires, in the ongoing hatred of that neighborhood. I called it the 5th Street War Zone.

The sanest quietest people on the block? The ones in the mental group home on the corner. It was funny as hell.

Most people have little knowledge of what goes on in the mental health system. There are some areas, that have mental health courts, and if the cops or DA think a person needs treatment, whether it's even just for depression, they can pressure a person into mental health court, where a person pleads innocent by insanity for the most minor of offenses, say open container. These folks then, unfortunately, become a "forensic patient", and sometimes languish in mental hospitals, that are basically horrendous warehouses, for years upon years. They can never shake these destructive labels.

Nothing changes unless it comes under a spotlight. People do not want light on what goes on in the mental health system, because it might need changed and change is so damn hard, you know.

But, I still wonder why this contractor with the state, for mental health services, repeats this behavior, of buying houses for group homes in middle class kid heavy cul de sacs, when they know it will spark protests and fear. Why do they do it? Are they stupid? Or is there some underlying financial incentive for such behavior?

The people who bought the house who would be backyard to backyard to the group home need to sue their realitor. And they need to wait. My guess is the group home plans will suddenly disappear.

Nominations for Sainthood

I have sent a letter to the Pope, nominating several people for sainthood. I believe they are deserving.

L can cuss and swear like a trucker. She could drink both John McCain and Hilary Clinton under the table. She could arm wrestle that nasty Iranian leader and win, with the burkha clad Iranian women he wants forced into the dark ages, cheering to beat the band. L took care of her folks as a child. She is one hell of a hard worker and now, despite working a grueling schedule at a thankless blue collar pay job, she also traps, fixes, and rescues cats. Saint L! Deserving soul. Although she's not Catholic. Too bad. I'm not Catholic either. I nominated her anyhow.

Then there's D. Do is taking on the unbelievably difficult task, as a volunteer, of trying to change Lane County Animal Control. She wants them to work for the animals, not just do the least possible to get their paychecks. She wants the unfortunate dogs and cats who end up at LCARA by the score to be treated kindly, treated for what ails them, and get a chance to be adopted, not just killed immediately, and their dead bodies hauled off to a rendering plant to become the gel in tylenol gel caps, among other things, and ground up to become pet food.

She is constantly yelled at and berated, yet she continues to try to change things, with an optimistic spirit and a belief in the basic core goodness of even the people insulting her efforts, despite having a long commute to her pay job, which doesn't pay a lot, often caring for her grandchildren, and rescueing many animals in desperate situations.

She asked me once, "how is it that when there is a need in the community, for animals to be helped or fixed, it's low income volunteers who scrounge to come up with ways to do it, not the paid, and sometimes well paid, employees of the county, or even animal shelters with sometimes high paid directors and other well-salaried employees."

I don't know the answer to that question. I don't know. But, I am nominating D for sainthood.

There will be more nominations.

Mention in the DH

I love it when my name comes up in the DH, even when someone is complaining about me in their online comment section. I think it's probably my stalker or one of our lovely elected local government politicians. Or god knows who. Someone with issues, that's for sure. It may be a man, however, because this person attacks in online comments, a lot of woman. That's usually but not necessarily, a control type man. You never know.

This person CL I believe has written letters to the editor about how much she or he hates cats. If my memory serves me correctly, in one letter, this person identified himself as somehow connected to law enforcement or formerly connected to law enforcement. I could be remembering that wrong.

Well anyhow. I don't think it is ethical of the DH to allow someone to liable someone else by name in their online comments when they do not give their name, nor a factual basis for their statements.

That the DH allows such comments from registered users, attacking people by name without factual basis, states quite a bit about their ethical character.

Isn't it funny, how chickenshit some people are, that they will put down another person by name, but not use their own. There's a word for such people. Cowards!

Slophouse Cat Photos. The Four I Caught.

Yesterday, I trapped the first four of about a dozen cats living under an abandoned broken down old house near the HTN colony. Currently, they are set up in cages in my bedroom, because I can't get them fixed tomorrow. Tomorrow I am getting Homeless Richard cats fixed. Of the four, three are adults--a brown tabby short hair, a brown tabby tux long hair and a black and white medium hair. Then there's the kitten--a sweet little black and white long hair with a little black mustache. She began purring about two seconds after I pulled her out of the trap tonight. I vaccinated her, treated all four with donated Revolution (thank you Ann), and also gave her droncit for tapeworms. She is all cozied into a blanket now, and going to sleep. One of the neighbors on that street is going to foster her.

Homeless Richard Cats

Today, after retrieving Aces from Eugene, I met a woman at my place, from Salem, who wants to volunteer. Yahoo. I had asked her by e-mail the night before, "Are you up for trapping in a homeless camp?" She was gung ho!

So, off we went in my car to the homeless camp in Corvallis. She stayed in the car while I went back to see who was in the camps and if it was safe. She had a cell phone. I had a whistle. So anyhow, all was good. Richard was there and ready for me.

We trapped nine cats in not very long. There are a few more. Five of the nine are white! Two, the black and whites, are totally tame. These cats are healthier looking than many of the house cats I run into. We had to quit. No more traps.

My new volunteer then helped me out at home in getting the four cats from the Slophouse colony, settled into cages in the spare bedroom. That's because I now have 14 cats who need fixed in hand, and three days of reservations this week. Top number of fixes I can get done this week: 18. And I want to return to the camps while these nine are gone for surgery, to catch anybody out there left. Easier that way. I have three more, an abandoned mother and her two teen kittens, needing fixed at an Albany complex, fed by senior citizens, and another 8 or 9 off Peoria Road on the list waiting. More, too, at the Slophouse.

The FCCO clinic that I was to take 16 Lebanon cats to this Sunday was cancelled last minute. They couldn't put it together. I was moved to a December 7 clinic. I wasn't real happy about the sudden change, but I'll live with it. I worry about arriving on time, at 8:00 a.m., in a weekday clinic. I don't know how much time to allot to get through rush hour.

I have reservations that Wednesday at another clinic, and unless I find a transporter, I will have to cancel at the other clinic, in favor of getting the 16 to the FCCO clinic.

So anyhow, a whole lot of fixing going on. That's good!

I got told, in a startling phone message this morning, that Hope needs to come back to me. Hope has waited forever for adoption, at the home of a fosterer who was located by the woman who took her from me originally, right after she came out of that abandoned house, with her eye hanging out of its socket and brought her kittens to me.

This woman, without me asking her, had showed up there at the house, having read my blog about what had happened. I didn't know her. I had written the blog post the night before, when I got a phone call about Hope's injury very late. By the time I got over to the house the next day, there was this Corvallis woman there, trying to catch Hope.

So when she came right out to me, the woman took her, said she would pay for her medical expenses and find her a home. I was very grateful, always being overwhelmed in cats and expenses I can't meet, and way overworked. But after that, I could rarely get a response from her, never saw Hope again, and had assumed the woman found her a home. I ended up giving her $300 raised by some bloggers to help Hope, to offset her costs, (thank you again blogospherees!). and I loaned her a laptop with wireless card someone gave me that I was not using. I was happy to loan it out to her. She said her own computer had broken down and she needed one.

This message this morning was something I never expected to hear after all this time, Hope hasn't got a home and is going to be returned to me. She could have been in a home long ago, if she'd stayed with me in the first place, I'm fairly certain. I wasn't happy.

So anyhow, I couldn't get in touch with the woman after she left the message. I finally called someone who knew the fosterer and finally got the fosterer's number and talked to her. Seems Hope did go to a home briefly, but the man's cat doesn't like other cats and there have been serious fights. He likes Hope, but his cat doesn't. He's going to try for another two days and then if it doesn't work, she'll be back here. So, after months of waiting for a home, in a fosterer's garage, Hope has briefly been in a home, but it likely will not work out. Well anyhow.....

So I've got Aces back and likely now Hope, too. I've got four Slophouse cats here, too, but a neighbor on that street is trying to locate them barn homes, or at least someplace they can stay for a couple weeks and build up their health. I can't keep any of them, I already let her know. The little female kitten is quite sweet and the neighbor is going to foster her.

So, lots of good things going on, and then some disappointments, like with Aces and with Hope. But maybe her new home will work out. Sounds like a really nice guy who is trying hard to make it work and did not anticipate his cats reaction to a newcomer. So check out all these white cats, from Homeless Richard colony.

One of five white cats, of the nine me and my volunteer trapped at Homeless Richards today.
Big white male, trapped by my volunteer from Salem! Might be her very first catch!
Another whitey.
And another.
This is a very tame young male.
Brown tabby tux, sex unknown.
Massive brown tabby. I'm told it's a female, but......
Tame female.

Slophouse Cats

When trapping Hate Thy Neighbor in late October, I'd seen a house one street down, with a dozen or more cats sitting in the driveway. I was told a neighbor was trapping those cats for fixing. This was incorrect.

Lately, there have been postings on craigslist about the cats there, and a plea for help for them. Turns out a woman who lives on that street has been trying to find them help for months. She has been told by SafeHaven there is no help available, other than vouchers through them for tame cats. This is balony.

At the time, she was attempting to get help, the county even had cat grant funds available through two nonprofits and SafeHaven knew this. They knew about the FCCO clinic in October. They knew about the Neuterscooter's visits, in both August and October. Why can't they at least direct people to help when its there?

Instead, the problem magnifies until some worker bee finds out. Some worker bee like me. When I saw a craigslist post yesterday, I immediately contacted the woman and trapped four of the cats today. She is going to work on trying to find them homes. The house is abandoned and a wreck. Hence the colonies name. I took these photos of the cats this morning.

The Cat Dead on the Road Was Homeless and so are His Owners

My friend had told me another cat had been hit on Circle. So I went, to park near a homeless camp. I'd seen a cat there who might be still alive.

I had just arrived and out of the woods came R. I said "Remember me?"

"You're the cat woman," he said. I've been hoping to get in touch with you. We got about a dozen back there need live trapped, but you got to bring them back after their surgeries. They're our pets."

He used to live beside Safeway, before all that development. I trapped, fixed and relocated about three dozen cats in that area. He fed them when he could. I ran into him there. He had to move after development hit.

I said, "Do you know that cat who got hit on the road there?" He immediately became upset when I told him it was black and white. "That's her favorite," he said. He was referring to his girlfriend. I pulled out my binoculars, and handed them to him so he could have a look. The cat was dead near a sign across the road.

He tried to focus my binoculars to both of his eyes. I said "They only work in one side, the right side. So close your left eye to use them."

He could see the cat better then and got all upset all over again. He started to cross the busy road. I said, "Here, take these plastic bags." He took them.

Once over on the other side, I watched as he knelt to look at the cat. Then he plopped on the curb with his head in his hands. I went on over and tried to comfort him.

"She's going to have a fit when she sees him," he said.

"Want me to take him then and bury him?" I offered. R nodded.

So I put him in the small plastic bag. He didn't fit. His head had been smashed by a car. His eyeball was hanging out.

Back across the road, I laid him in a towel I had and put him in the back of my car.

I asked R if they needed some cat food and he said "yes". I gave him all I had. He took off, but not before he asked when I would be back to trap the cats for fixing. I said "Monday". He said ok, and that he would be there, because he'd need to be there, so "she won't go off on you". I am slightly concerned about that. His girlfriend likes to go off on people, even though she knows I won't hurt those cats and will bring them back if I say I will.

But she might see it as an excuse, so I'm slightly concerned but I'll risk it. AS long as R is there. Otherwise their cats will draw attention to themselves and to the camp there, when they multiply this spring. And the males will keep getting hit on the road, as they roam, looking to fight and find more females.

So I buried that black and white male. Poor guy. Never had much of a chance.

Ann's Crazy Idea. Fix 1000 Cats in One Week

My one volunteer has a crazy idea. I was instantly excited. Fix 1000 mid valley cats in one week's time. That would take a bite out of overpopulation!

She has located possibly enough money to fix about a quarter of the 1000. We'd need to raise money for the rest. We'd need lots of volunteers to round up cats. We'd need Dr. Peavy of the Neuterscooter, of course, since she can do 100 cats per day alone. And we'd need some comparable vets, like maybe Dr. R, if we could get her signed on.

If we decide to go forward on this wild and crazy idea, we might set our sights on the month of February, since spay day USA is in that month.

Such an event might open people's eyes who otherwise would never know about the extent of the overpopulation problem out there and how cats suffer so as a result.

Well so anyhow, this weekend, I'm going to try to nab that Siamese mom, down at the mill. She's the last unfixed cat down there I think. That is until more cat dumping occurs.

I have one more to nab at the Millersburg C&G colony. I've gotten 17 fixed there. One to go. Three more to nab at the Millersburg Country Colony. I think I got about 24 fixed there early in the summer, and removed, fixed and adopted out 14 kittens. Four or five kittens from that colony died, of chronic giardia infections.

The Hinck colony is finished. Seven cats caught. One died in surgery of congenital deformity. That colony caretaker had already fixed about 8 cats. These all came from a couple cats dumped along the road.

I have two or three more to catch at the stables.

I have many to catch at Sycamore Towers and I need to get on that.

There are five or six more to catch at the large Hate Thy Neighbor colony. That will put the total trapped and fixed on that street at close to 45.

There are three kittens, one teen, and one adult left to get fixed at the BS colony. The three kittens are slated for the Neuterscooter's clinic, with a sponsor who is paying for their fixes. The teen will be fixed next week and that one adult female, too, if I can catch her. This will put the total fixed there at over 90.

As for the Corvallis colony, I worry about that one. There were five kittens too young to be fixed still alive there, but they weren't caring for them well, so I don't know if any of those are still alive. And, after all the work of trapping twenty some adult and teenage cats and getting them fixed, the husband stated he wanted them all gone. So I worry about that, too. I need to call them.

My Canadian friend, who adopted Mickey, the one eyed boy, from Hate Thy Neighbor, sent me more photos of him this a.m., which makes me happy!

Frustrations

A kitten is coming back to me. The adoptors turned accusatory and even threatening. I hadn't heard from them since they adopted the kitten, almost a month ago, then suddenly get about three threatening accusatory phone messages left Thanksgiving Day. They claim he gave one child ringworm, although a vet they took the kitten to could find no ringworm on him. He still has no apparent ringworm and that kid could have gotten ringworm anywhere, even from the trailer itself. Trailers are often full of mold.

They got a free fixed kitten with full disclosure. Their kid got ringworm, likely not from the kitten. And I have to take screaming crap off them. I'm way too nice. I need like an inflatable doll to yell at or something, to take out all this frustration, dealing with people who want to blame, when there is no blame.

I'd never been to their place. Someone else went and retrieved him and said it was good he got out of there. Anyhow, he's coming back here next week.

I'm not psychic. Wish I was. It's crazy sometimes, adopting out rescued kittens and cats. I hate it actually.

Many people expressing an interest in adopting a kitten or cat can't even take care of themselves very well, let alone a cat. They have zero attention spans. They'll claim they understand something you tell them, and they haven't even listened. They are uneducated purposefully and would never spend a moment reading up on anything when it might take time away from a video game or TV show.

And they would never take the kitten or cat to a vet again. The kitten or cat is destined to live a parasite infested life. Maybe he'll get a litterbox but likely it will be constantly overflowing in a corner until somebody takes out their frustrations because of the dirty litterbox that they don't clean, by blaming the cat and toss the cat out or have some friend go dump him or her.

An unfixed kitten or cat adopted to such people will never in a million years get fixed. That cat, if female, will have litter after litter after litter, wearing her out, and contributing thousands of cats, down the line, to the overpopulation problem. Same with a male, because one male can impregnate lots of females. But with males, when they fight over females and territory, they also spread diseases, diseases like FIV, which is epidemic in this valley because so many people do not fix their free roaming males.

It's a hard world out there for cats.

Anyhow, I got the two HTN colony kittens to Tigard this a.m. early for their spay/neuter surgery, using the borrowed car. Finally got my car back with the used tires installed but not balanced and took it to a tire store, which cost $10 per tire, just for balancing. Yet the tires still are vibrating like they are out of balance. It is frustrating, I tell you, to try to find someplace to get something done right the first time.

It's been a hard week. I'm worn out. I still have to deal with the out of balance tires. It's just all so frustrating. I wish I could locate a trustworthy honest reasonably priced car and tire place that does excellent work. That would be such a relief to find.

I Outdid Myself on that Turkey

The turkey I cooked tonight was unbelievably delicious. Must have been the Pad Thai seasoning I added. Or the garlic cloves and just the right amount of pepper. I stuffed the bird with whole carrots, a yam, and some onions. I laid the bird in the roasting pan on whole carrots, fresh garlic cloves and cut up onions. I added the seasoning to water, mixed it up and sprinkled the mix over the vegees prior to cooking. I basted the bird in olive oil mixed with garlic powder and pepper.

I cooked.

Some would say, "But Jody, tomorrow is Thanksgiving, not today."

Well, I couldn't wait, and it frees up tomorrow for other things. Like sleeping in.

I'll be eating turkey forever and a day. No problem.

I must say, I did a splendid job. Last year, I overcooked and nearly choked to death trying to nonetheless enjoy my dinner. I should have cut my losses and made cat food out of that one last year, however. But not this year. I did a superb human grade job.

So Close to a Tire Solution

I thought I was "in" the tires. My tow business friend thought he had a set my size in a wrecked car that were in good shape. I was racing the clock by this time. I had an invite to Thanksgiving dinner in southern Oregon, with my brother and his family. But my tires are really too bald to make such a long trip.

There was a tire store in Albany willing to mount and balance the used tires, if I could get the tires there by 4:30. So, my friend pulled them off the wrecked car for me and left them outside his business. I ran over and got them and threw them in the back of my car. They had lots of tread, almost like new. That made me smile.

I made it over to the tire store a little late but before closing. He took one look and said they were a size too big, that they'd mess up my car and besides that, any bounce over a bump and they'd rub the wheel well.

I needed 185's. These were 195's.

Thing is, when I told my tow company friends what the tire store man said, they said "He was lying to you." 185 designates width not height. 195's would have fit just fine. That man either didn't want to put them on or wanted to sell me new tires, knowing I wanted to go someplace Thanksgiving, thinking he had me against a wall. He did show me tires, that were $120 EACH, the same tires Walmart sells for $45 less per tire. I suppose he didn't know I'd shopped around. I suppose he didn't know I already didn't trust him.

Finding honest people in this world is rather difficult. So anyhow, I still have these great used tires, I just have to get them mounted somewhere. I'm driving a borrowed Escort to Thanksgiving dinner.

Beware out there, folks. Tire stores, mechanics, some of these businesses are owned or staffed by liars. If you find an honest business in these lines of work, stick to it. You are lucky.

On a good note, the woman who adopted Little Miss Sunshine brought me a turkey. It is a butter basted turkey they bought by accident. Her husband is extremely lactose intolerant. Butter would make him sick. So, she brought me their turkey yesterday when she came to adopt Little Miss Sunshine. It's in the oven now.

Weed Adoption Video and Little Miss Sunshine finally Gets Her Home

The quality of this adoption video for Weed, the orange tabby male kitten from Hate Thy Neighbor colony, is poor. I have no light in my living room, so now, with the darkness of winter and bad weather, my living room is very dark all the time. I intend to get a lamp to alleviate living room darkness. I have been watching the thrift stores for a decent bright lamp, that is cat safe and won't easily be knocked over. But anyhow, I can't really take videos right now inside my place, until I get a light, unless I do it in the bedroom or bathroom. Hence the poor video quality. I tried to lighten it up using Windows Movie Maker video affects, but it lessened the quality.

Today, Little Miss Sunshine, the Fern Road kitten I dug out of a woodpile, laboriously, finally has a home. She's had a long haul. Little Miss Sunshine's saga began when some horrible person dumped her mother on Fern Road. The cat was pregnant and had four kittens in the corner of a tiny shed. When the shed owner found them, she talked to a woman who also had found a cat dumped along the same road and who knew me. The woman called me.

I got the tame mother fixed at a Eugene FCCO clinic. The woman planned on catching the four kittens herself and taking them "to the pound" as she called it, where, unfortunately, since they were unsocialized, they would have been killed.

When she told me this, I couldn't take it. I was in a mood, railing inside myself over how uncaring the human population can be, especially when we think we're so god damned special that god loves us humans, that we alone are important. All the sanctimonious arrogant crap I'd hear, painted in various religious and political colors, as opposed to the reality I see daily--the really darkside of humans, and the dark cruel behaviors are no stranger to the religious or liberal crowds. I'd think to myself what hypocrits the Christian crowd really is and the liberals, too. And the pagans and non believers and apoliticals, well we could still be so much more than worse than animals. I was in a mood, is what I'm saying. I couldn't take the sanctimonious words coming out of the mouths of my own species.

In retaliation for all the darkness, for the religious fakeness and hypocrisy, and for the sanctimonious arrogance of humans, I saved those four kittens.

It's not a nice world out there for little kittens sometimes.

The woman said she'd make a donation to help cover their expenses. The big donation ended up to be $30. Wow. Boy.

It's really very difficult not to start laughing out loud, when an extreme liberal you are helping, rails against injustices and inequities and so forth and so on, then cheats a person they know is poor, who has helped them out and will endure hardships and expenses beyond even the free hours of labor done that day for them. It is very difficult to keep a straight face in these situations.

Same thing when I get cheated by the Christian conservative crowd, like what happened with the wealthy woman, down at the mill. Hard to keep a straight face. Sanctimony. Arrogance. It's so funny really. With kittens in the line of fire. It's hysterical.

I want to say "Shut up and save the kittens." But I know they won't. And they'd call me crazy. They'd not see the irony at all which in itself is hysterical.

Nonetheless, I spent three hours digging those kittens out of a woodpile buried in the bottom of that little shed. This wasn't easy.

Right after her spay, when she reached two pounds, she broke out in horrible conjunctivitis. The eyelids even bled. I didn't know if she would survive it, but she did. Then, just when she was so ready for a home, I brought in Jiggles, Teddy and Scruffy, Hope's kittens, who also brought me ringworm. Little Miss Sunshine got ringworm!

She then endured every other day anti fungal baths, as did nine other kittens I was fostering. Those were hard times!

Then, a Newport woman wanted to adopt her. I held onto her and onto her for that woman, who never ended up showing up to adopt her. A WA woman, who used to live in Lebanon, now a supporter of my work in the mid valley to fix cats, had been, unbeknownst to me, watching Little Miss Sunshine disappear from my petfinder site, only to be reposted as adoptible, time and time again. In the end, she believed it to be fate that she adopted her, as she did today.

I am very happy to send Little Miss Sunshine off to the home of such a devoted animal person. Relieved is another good word for it. When you know someone does everything for their animals, loves them dearly, it's such a relief to find such people wishing to adopt a rescued kitty you've sunk your heart into saving. Can you imagine the stress of handing off a beloved kitten or rescued cat to a total stranger, when you know the odds aren't good for animals out there, that so many people fake all sorts of things and have very little character or integrity.

Today, one of the three cats, the final unfixed three of the Hinck colony, went up to be fixed. The orange boy, the second orange teen, didn't make it home. He was euthanized after a finding of abnormality in surgery. I bet his brother will miss him dearly.

It is extremely stressful to wonder how these little lives will fare in a new home, if they'll really be loved and cared for, if they really will be cherished and not abandoned like trash or yelled at and abused, or end up barely noticed or dead. People will say anything to get what they want. You just don't know anymore. To find wonderful people, like the couple who today adopted Little Miss Sunshine, it's such a relief, such a joy. I'll sleep fine tonight.

Les Schwab's Dishonesty

In mid August, I went to Schwab with another flat tire. At that time, I told the manager the tires I'd bought there were not holding up at all, had almost no tread left, despite having close to 10,000 miles left on the warranty.

What I got, shocked me. The manager told me, in accusatory fashion "We know what you do with that car." I didn't know what the hell he was talking about. I was worn out, suffering menopausal symptoms and just not expecting to be treated like dirt at a Schwab store.

He went on to accuse me of using the car like a mail truck, with frequent stops and starts on every block, when I deliver cats. He insulted the smell of my car, which of course smells like cats and cat urine, from transporting cats. I tried to defend myself. He claimed they would no longer honor tire mileage warranties, because of how I use my car. Then later he said they'd honor one more set of tires, if I bought them there, with the warranty but never after that.

I was so worn out and taken off guard with such an attack, that all I could think of to say, was "Your founder would be horrified at your attack upon and discrimination against a volunteer who spends her time and money helping others."

What Schwab was doing was intimidation, so they would not have to honor their warranty on a very bad set of tires, that were already bald and dangerous.

Someone I know told me her boyfriend truely abuses tires by routinely driving at excessive speeds. He often gets tires that have worn too quickly replaced FREE at Schwab. Is this a good old boys club or what?

I could not locate a Schwab's address on their main website which is likely why they claim there are few complaints, because it is extremely hard to find somewhere you can complain about unfair treatment and failure to honor a warranty, with Schwab stores. I finally filed a complaint with the Oregon attorney general's office. They claimed they immediately sent a letter to the Corvallis 9th Street Schwab about my complaint, but I have heard nothing.

The tires are dangerously worn. I have to get new ones somewhere, most likely it will be at a junkyard. A simple test one can do, to see if you have adequate tread is to insert a penny upside down in the tread. If any of Lincoln's head shows, you need new tires. Well, with my tires, all of Lincolns' head shows, as it did in August, when Schwab told me I had plenty of tread and treated me like dirt beneath their feet.

Hey Schwab, your customer service and integrity are nonexistant.

Hull Oakes Cats, Trapping Millersburg Country Colony, and BS Colony Pitbull Mix with Kittens

Mill cats, fixed last spring.
I trapped all four of these cats for fixing last spring.
Silver tabby female, fixed early last summer at Millersburg Country colony.
Buff orange male checks out my drop trap, at the Millersburg Country colony. He was fixed early last summer, however. I was out in search of three unfixed teens. I did trap one, a female brown tabby, but there are still two to trap.
Pitbull mix sleeping with some of the kittens out at the BS colony. The buff kitten and the orange tabby on white kitten were both fixed at the Neuterscooter's last visit to Corvallis. The gray male kitten will be fixed at this December's Corvallis Neuterscooter clinic. The dog is also spayed.

Cats Fixed Yesterday and an Albany Stray Finds His Way to Me

Four of the cats fixed yesterday, courtesy of Poppa Inc, came from a rural location between Corvallis and Albany off Highway 34. The woman feeds several strays but only seven of them were not yet fixed. She had gotten the others fixed herself, but ran out of money.

She obeyed the guidelines I gave her to a T. Most people don't. Most people won't even participate themselves.

After I took the first four off, we left traps set and caught two of the three remaining cats Friday mid day. I then went over and transferred those two to a containment cage, since I don't have reservations again until Tuesday.

I then instructed her to set two more traps and to withhold food. She caught the last cat along with the cats mother, in one trap. The cats mother was already fixed. I applied Revolution, which had been donated, to the mother, and released her, and transferred the last unfixed teen to a cage she has inside her house. I will pick up those three for fixing tomorrow. She had an old ring drop Tru Catch transfer trap in her barn and donated it to me, also.

The fifth cat fixed Friday was a torti teen from the Millersburg C&G colony. When returning her, I found her sister, fixed two weeks ago, dead, out front of their house, on Conser. People drive like speed demons on Conser. I was angry to see that little girl dead, head smashed, like that, like she didn't matter. I took her off the road.

Last winter, a woman who lives about 3/4 mile from here trapped a bunch of strays she and neighbors were feeding. I would then transport them up to be fixed. One of them was a very messed up looking white male, wild and just a mess. Well, he's found his way over here now, to eat, and for daily petting. Yesterday, he allowed me to clean his earmite infested ears. I also applied revolution, which kills earmites. When he first showed up, I didn't recall him at first, but I was thrilled to see his right eartip. You see that eartip and you know, that cat is fixed.The torbi teen, from the Millersburg colony. I took the photo when she was fixed. She is now dead. She's the young kitty I found dead on Conser yesterday.
She is to the left of the drop trap in this photo I took a few days ago, when after some of the unfixed cats left at the colony.
Whitey, the big male, fixed last winter 3/4 mile away, who has found his way to my yard.
Black tux Hinck male.
Black tux Hinck female.
Brown tabby tux Hinck female.
Orange Hinck male.
Millersburg C&G colony torti teen.

Call Me Relentless. Call Me a One Issue Person. Call Me Anything You Want.

So I'm relentless. I admit it. I'm a one issue person. I'm a spayaholic. I track down unfixed cats like a bloodhound on a fox trail, like a frat boy hunting a case of Bud, like a middle aged man needs a couch and a TV on game day, like a desperate addict hunts their dealer.

Think I'm a little one-issued? Should I branch out? Why? I haven't run out of unfixed cats to track down. I never will, not while Linn County exists.

Some people tell me I've made it in this world. These are the reasons they tell me why: I've been arrested for no good reason. I have a periodic stalker. And I've adopted a cat internationally. Some people have told me those are signs of success.

They're right of course! Imagine!

Five more cats were fixed today. The 16th from the Millersburg colony (one left to trap there) and four from a new colony of seven between Corvallis and Albany off Highway 34. Two of the three left unfixed there are also now contained and will be fixed next Tuesday. Traps are set for the seventh.


I got a call today from someone who said she lives in Lebanon, claimed to be calling from work, and was overwhelmed in her Lebanon neighborhood with unfixed cats, many coming from tenants vacating rentals and leaving their cats behind like trash. She was very upset about the mentality in Lebanon and Albany. I said "Well, I am too." Today I was really worn out, and venting about the problems in this county felt good.

She said some friend of hers, or former I guess she said, has a female with another litter, maybe two litters. She's upset because she took in two kittens from this former friend some time ago, to help her out, and now to hear she never got the cat fixed and she's had even more litters. According to her, she's low income but spends any money she has getting her hair dyed and cut, and nails done, for weekend bar hopping. Anyhow, I guess she's moving to Albany soon, but hopes to get the strays fixed before she moves. I gave her some resource lists and said she could contact me again if need be.

I made reservations for seven cats at the Neuterscooter. Am hoping to get Poppa fund help for five of the reservations. I paid out of pocket, using adoption donations, for the other two reservations, which will go to Simba and Willy.

I have a lot of kittens out there in various colonies, needing fixed. Three at the BS, two at Hate Thy Neighbor, and five at the Corvallis colony, if those are still alive. Also, two in Jefferson. That's 12 right there. I have two here of weight to be fixed now--Tulip and Weed, but I hope to get them done sooner than the mid December Neuterscooter clinic in Corvallis. 14 Kittens I need to get done, so they don't reproduce next spring, besides Simba and Willy, whose reservations are a done deal.

I still have not raised quite enough money for the 16 cats I'm taking December 2 to the Portland FCCO Flex clinic. I have to take $25 per cat. Sharon, of Lebanon, has donated enough to cover five cats. Thank you, Sharon. A WA woman, formerly of the mid valley, is going to cover two. Thank you, Midori! I have saved enough here and there for three more. So ten are now covered, with six more to go. I still have like two weeks or more. This is great!

Five Cats Being Fixed Today

Photos of the five cats up being fixed today. Four are from the Millersburg C&G colony while one is from the Millersburg Country Colony. In addition, I am returning the boiler room female today. Except, I found out just as I arrived home, one of the mill managers wants to take her home with him. This is good. Tonight, Simba, Willy and Little Miss Sunshine are leaving for a home, together. The boys will return to me December 16 and will be neutered December 17 at the Corvallis Neuterscooter clinic. I will miss especially little Miss Sunshine.Millersburg Country colony brown tabby teen.
Big dominant adult torti from Millersburg C&G colony.
Another all gray, the fourth all gray but the first medium hair gray, from Millersburg C&G.
Another silver tabby from Millersburg C&G.
Beautiful muted torbi teen, a female of course, from Millersburg C&G.

Mickey in his new Home

Check out these lovely photos of Mickey, in his new Canadian home!


Today, after returning the five cats fixed yesterday from the Millersburg C&G colony, I trapped four more from the same colony. It took some time, because most are now fixed. I used the drop trap. Those trapped for fixing tomorrow: an adult torti, a teenage muted torbi, another all gray, this one medium hair, and a silver tabby.

I also went back to the Millersburg County colony. There were reportedly three teens there, needing fixed, plus an adult male. Now, that is one huge area to attempt to locate unfixed teens, plus most of the cats, over two dozen in total, are already fixed. I did see all three teens and was able to trap one of them, at least.

Tomorrow I will return the boiler room female, and, hopefully, try once again to trap the mother of the four tiny kittens, three of them Siamese. Willy Wonka and Simba's mother.

I also have a new colony, seven cats in total, I need to start, for Friday's fixes. And, a family wants to adopt all three Siamese I have: Willy Wonka, Simba and Little Miss Sunshine. I've been hanging onto Little Miss Sunshine for a woman who has repeatedly missed appointments she made to come get her. And now I haven't heard from her again, since she missed Sunday's date, due to illness. So I think it's now time to let Miss Sunshine go to someone else. The family sounds wonderful. Hopefully, they really are. And they will return Simba and Willy on December 16, so they can be fixed December 17 at the Neuterscooter clinic.

I will miss Little Miss Sunshine. She's been here since mid summer. She would have adopted out quickly, but, after her spay, she came down with severe conjunctivitis. She got over that, only to catch the ringworm that went around amongst the kittens. She endured 10 weeks of three times weekly anti fungal baths, and got over the ringworm, too. So she's had a rough time, and now, at last, is getting a home. I sure hope it's a good one.

Seven Cats, including Hull Oakes Female and Calico from Calico Triangles, being Fixed Today

Today, seven cats are up being fixed, courtesy of Poppa Inc. Five of the seven hail from the Millersburg C&G colony. I had first trapped five cats from the colony. Then I trapped a sixth quickly last Friday, when an Albany woman who said she'd have two porch kittens confined for pick up that morning, had neither confined. I was shy on cats, didn't want to screw the vet, with whom I make appointments, and I was running late, so I quickly stopped by the colony and nabbed one, the silver tabby male.

Today I meant to trap only four more. But the first trap slammed shut on two--an all gray and an adult torbi. I seperated them into seperate traps as an adult orange tabby was caught in a third trap. I set my last trap and it snapped shut on two more all grays. I took all five.

I already had with me the calico from Calico Triangles and the Hull Oakes mill boiler room female. Seven in all. Plus I have been updating rabies vaccines on all the cats here, including those up for adoption. I generally do this once a year, for anybody not yet adopted out who has passed the magic four months of age mark. Last week I took in Thor, Scooter, who had been vaccinated last February, but was going to a barn home, so likely would not receive another, and Shady, who still awaits a home here. She has reached four months, however.

Thor and Scooter are now in a barn home with Zelda, from 34th street.

So today, I took in Little Miss Sunshine, who was supposed to go to a home last week, then when that got mixed up, this Sunday. But the adoptor became ill with food poisoning and was unable to come get her Sunday. So she got her rabies vaccine, along with Mooki, the only remaining Spicer Boy, now seven months of age. Brambles, One-eyed Mickey's sidekick from the HTN colony. also received his vaccination today. He is four months of age. And I took in Cattyhop, from the Slaughterhouse colony, who has been with me 16 months now and was due for a revaccination on rabies.

So it was a busy cat morning, getting all those cats ready to take in and trapping five more in Millersburg.
Bioler Room Female from the mill, being fixed today. She's very sweet.
Calico Triangles girl. This is the calico I pursued for almost a week, who was trying to survive in the triangles of grass between on and off ramps at the junction of Highway 34 and 99E.
Adult torbi being fixed today from Millersburg C&G Colony.
This is one of three DSH all gray cats being fixed today from Millersburg C&G.
Very loud adult orange tabby tux male, being fixed today from Millersburg C&G.
The other two all grays from Millersburg C&G up getting fixed today.