Latest Lebanon Horror

I went to help an old woman in Lebanon with her cat issues today. I had no idea it was as bad as it is, with kittens screaming everywhere.



Some senior helper contacted me. The 86 year old woman says nobody will help her.



Her neighbor wants to limit her to two cats and has borrowed a live trap to "deal with the others". I asked him for assurances since I'm beating myself to death helping others out, paying my own gas and bait, killing myself with such schedules, to help with these cats, and I wanted him to promise he would not harm them.



He became very angry that I would ask that, for some reason, trying to complain loudly to me about the cats, and that I should be adopting them out, etc. I was supposed to take his complaints and say nothing, promise to solve it all for him personally, like some slave I guess. And I refused. I said the neighbors should all help find them homes and should have helped her get them fixed. They are caste offs from assholes in the area, who don't fix their pets then move and leave them.



I again, voice raised, told him I'm a volunteer, a private person, laying out to help, and I see no reason why neighbors shouldn't help neighbors. He became angrier at me and ordered me off his property.



To try to limit the number of cats a neighbor has is a control freak type of thing. He'd only say that because she's very old and a woman. Real men help their neighbors and have hearts of gold and the balls to show it.



I told the old woman maybe her son could reason with the neighbor, who has tons of junk everywhere. She puts up with his junk. He puts up with her cats occasionally on his property. His own cat free roams.



Give and take.



Hard for me to deal with all this, with six newborn kittens in the dirt outside under a bush. More screaming from inside a next door neighbors shed, inaccessible to me, and five more behind a fence screaming. I was able to reach in and grab three of those five behind the fence by laying on the ground and reaching through a hole.



The Siamese mother who just had the six kittens, moved four of them, within an hour, but left two to die. I went and bought some KMR and fed them, and the older three I'd grabbed through the hole in the fence, then came home with the six adults I trapped, in my car, along with the five kittens, and stopped in at Safehaven to beg, on my knees, for help for the kittens.



Thankfully, they took all five kittens.



One of the adults in my car, who is white, has ear skin cancer. He likely will have to be euthanized.



They also asked why I now have to drive all the way to Coos Bay, so I told them what happened with the vet clinic I was using. They use the same clinic. And, coincidentally, had exactly the same problem with female cats fixed there a day or two before I took in the 8. They were told, as I was, that the problem was calici, when it was not.



That is extremely interesting that cats done probably two days earlier than those I took in, had similar problems and that the clinic was allegedly informed of these problems but did not remedy the situation, so more cats suffered. That's not right.



I have twenty reservations tomorrow and have caught only six cats. That's not good either.

The Lost

This ad caught my eye in craigslist lost and found. I have come to realize over the years that most dumped cats are not dumped by the owner but by neighbors, who either hate cats or hate the cats' owner. It's a terrible thing to do to a cat.



I wonder how in the world they know someone trapped and dumped their cat, unless they saw it happen and followed the person, or beat it out of them. I wonder if this has anything to do with the man who went missing up there a couple weeks back and was never found. I'm sure it doesn't, but how in the world do they know their cat was trapped and where she was dumped, I wonder. It's horrible. But it happens all the time. I saw some comment on a site selling live traps. Some upscale guy was bragging about buying one of their traps and trapping all the cats in his neighborhood and "relocating" them, meaning dumping them off somewhere. That's so unspeakably mean. The site ought to be turning him in to the law. It's another reason why I adopt to indoor only. There are just too many assholes out there.



lost cat (upper calipooia)

Date: 2011-08-23, 8:13PM PDT

Reply to: comm-698nq-2562904736@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]

our cat was live-trapped then dumped on the upper calipooia near weyerhouser gate.her name is ruby,she is dark grey, long haired, short tailed,manx,very friendly,spayed. we are hoping that some one might have picked her up while swimming,etc. along river.ruby lives on 2nd st. in crawfordsville. if you have any information about her please call 541-367-3451.she is dearly missed. thank you for looking.

Happy has Ringworm

My neighbor had taken Happy to the vet. He has some ringworm spots. Not much, but in a couple of places. She said she came to tell me so I'd know. But then she complained he sneezes sometimes and I felt she was mad at me, or trying to make me feel bad.



I told her she could bring him back over. I told her I"d bathe him twice weekly, which is what the vet told her to do, if that would help. Finally, I was very depressed when she kept on, and told her I can't guarantee a perfect kitten. She's had him since the day Heartland told me to come get him, which was a couple weeks ago at least. She took him home with her in her arms that day. I had told her Heartland said he had been exposed to ringworm. I didn't really believe them, but it might have been true. Not sure if it was from there, because it's been awhile and he's just now showing in two spots. I immediately had bathed the two boys, once here, in anti fungal shampoo. But they showed absolutely no sign of it.



Depressed after she left, with her also telling me I should go give out cats from a box in front of Safeway, to get rid of some of them here, I went over the other kittens here with a black lite and found not a single glow of green on them. I hope I didn't miss anything.



Ringworm is extremely common in Oregon and is most common in spring and fall.



Kittens have no immune system to fight off the spores and so if a spore lands on the right spot, or they step in moldy spores then scratch themselves, they get ringworm.



Immune depression from stress, only aids the process along.



I feel depressed I think because of lonliness and because I am not having much luck finding homes for kittens/cats and because people are so mean to me and so demanding of me. I just want to be around people who are nice once in awhile. I don't want to be yelled at and blamed all the time.



I am bummed out living here, amidst all the animal neglect abandonment and cruelty and it is not easy to try to help and thus expose myself to all these horrors day in and day out. It further does not help that i have no one to talk to, to do things with, to be around who is positive or who wants to go have some fun, to blow off steams.



This is harder than most people could imagine.



Happy will defeat the spores of ringworm. He's had a very stressful couple of months. He and two other kittens were in a hot cage the size of a large carrier for a month at the shelter. That's stress on a kitten, big time. He'll get over his fungus issue and it really isn't a big deal at all.



In the meantime, I tossed all my carpeted cat furniture, as an over reaction. They're crap anyhow, torn up, shredded and ugly.



This winter, maybe I'll find time to build some new ones.



I made the mistake of mentioning the backyard tree issue to the old man. I did so after asking if he had a chainsaw. I had hoped to borrow it. Then I quickly realized what a mistake that was, as he likes to take over such things, and would have seriously injured himself, me or crashed the tree limbs onto other people's houses.



He wanted to see the problem tree today, so I showed it to him. He decided quickly on his own he could not do that. I was so happy. I didn't want to argue with him.



He won't loan me his chain saw, however.



It's back to me, a hand saw, and a Sawzall.

Sawmill Falls

I went!!



I got a very late start. 2:30 p.m. Now that's late to begin an adventure.



I had to be back to look in on my friend's cats.



A Lebanon woman I know called hysterical, you see. Her cat, Gimpy, rescued from the 5th Wheel colony last fall, along with others I took out and did not return, died last night. She does not keep her inside and she found her dead, curled up under her favorite bush.



She at first thought she had been tortured by neighbors who do not like her family, but, when she described her, there was not a mark on her and likely she was hit by a car or killed by dogs. The killing of cats by dogs is very common, but even more common in Lebanon, for some reason. There's usually no mark because they shake them, breaking their spine. Usually, if they are hit full on by a car low speed there's no mark, but internal injuries are often severe and the cat may make it back to a secure spot, where they die of injuries incurred.



I don't know what happened to Gimpy, but she's dead. She lived to be not quite a year old.



That's not a long life.



After that call, I grabbed some stuff and headed out, determined to get away.



It took only half hour to get to highway 22 and the Swiss House, where you turn and head up into the North Fork of the Santiam recreation area. It's about 20 more miles then, to the gate at the entrance to the ancient Forest called Opal Creek.



The roads are paved through Elkhorn and on. But for many miles, I traveled on bad gravel roads. Washboard city. They were not bad washboards.



I came to the fork of forest service road 2209 and 2207. Had I gone right there, about a mile down, I would have come to Three Pools swimming hole. I went left and on and on, to the gate that blocks vehicles from driving on into Opal Wilderness.



There, I purchased a $5 forest service pass, grabbed my day pack and took to hiking the old road through the forest.



It was a beautiful hike through old forest, huge trees, thimble berry bushes with ripe and unripe berries, huckleberry and salmon berry bushes, and ferns of all kinds along the path. This undergrowth reminded me greatly of forests I'd known as a child.



It was two easy miles to the Merten Mill debris that signaled I was close to Sawmill Falls. I picked through the well preserved metal machinery pieces of days gone by to find the trail down to the falls. The rocks down to the pool were steep.



I only had on rubber sandals, not the best choice for climbing.



Once at the pools edge I ditched my day pack and waded in. The water cold and translucent green and beautiful. Already, most of the pool lay in shadows. It was after 4:00 p.m.



Nonetheless, I submerged in the water. The cold took my breath away at first. I swam through a channel upstream to the falls and pulled myself under one of the water avalanches. The force against my back was brutal, but I liked it. I moved to another fall zone, then another. I then launched myself out in the current, which was only slight, back through the channel to the lower pool. I stood on rocks, chin deep, and peered into the pool's depths and saw fish swim and nibble at my feet.



Others there told me the North Fork is much warmer. This is Opal Creek and the water is cold. A man told me if I hike on up to Opal Pool, another 45 minutes, there is a 20 foot water shoot about 3/4 way there. That sounded fun, but today I had not time to walk another two miles.



When I climbed out, I knew I had to get back. I didn't want to go. My sandals were soggy and slippery. The sun was flickering low in and out of the giant trees, cascading through in spots like an opening from heaven, as the light reflected off dust particles in the air.



I passed a lot of people coming and going. Not so many when I was hiking out. Most had already left.



The two miles went quickly. On the road back, I stopped in at several parks along the river. One was Salmon something. I did not get out of my car there. A group of rough looking young men were surrounding a red SUV. I thought they were leaving and was going to wait until they were gone, but after I arrived, they milled around, coming and going past my car, glancing at me. I was nervous. These were not church kids or even college kids. They looked like gang bangers. I determined my best bet was to get the hell out of there, which I did.



Past Elkhorn I stopped in at the Elkhorn Recreation area, which includes a campground and a campground host and a day use area. I had little time, but I wanted to scope it out. I walked down a lengthy stairway to the river. This is a fantastic place to swim, to jump off rocks and to picnic, even to camp.



I then stopped at another park and hiked down long stairs to the river. This spot is better suited for families with kids, as the river here is slow and shallow. I skipped stopping at two other parks including the very popular North Fork park, because I needed to get back to care for those cats.



This recreation area is the same distance from me as Foster Reservoir and so much nicer. I will return.

Changes

Last night's concert told me something about myself. My idea of fun probably isn't the same as other people's idea of fun.



Sometimes I like a little zing to entertainment. Sometimes I don't.



But I need to do something for stress relief. I need some exercise. I've become a slug, an inanimate object. I need to change that.

Joan Jett

I went over to the concert. Tons of people were arriving as I did, so I figured there were likely places to sit.



I found a spot, although there were long placed blankets spread out everywhere, with no people minding them. I think that's rude, to come, lay out a blanket to take up massive space, then not show up til the last minute. It's lazy and should not be allowed.



The space I found was about two feet wide and four feet long in front of someone's small blanket, between it and a chalked line, delineating the walkway people use to get into and out of the Festival. This walkway was crammed with people going two directions.



Not long after I sat down, a couple put their small blanket in the same amount of space in front of an adjacent huge blanket with equally HUGE people laying out on it. 400 pounder type people, two of them, with their cooler. They immediately became angry over the couple occupying the space between the chalk line and the front edge of their blanket.



The couple who had sat down there, seemed to not understand the concept of selfishness at first going on behind them in back and forth remarks between the fat couple. After all, it's a rock concert, not a private picnic.



The fat angry lady was saying their daughters wanted to lay out there. The daughers were not there at the time. The couple could have held their ground, but they got up.



I said, "You can put your blanket here, there's room for three." There was, too. It's a rock concert. People jam together, jump up and down, dance, I was thinking. Not in Linn County.



Soon, the people who had laid out the tiny blanket behind me arrived. A bunch of them. Too many for the small blanket. Pretty soon, one of them wanted to block their area off and did so with pop up chairs, still in the canvas bags. I'm thinking, 'OMG'.



The fat couple's daughters by this time had returned and they were also huge. One began picking her nose. She was deft at picking her nose and complaining at the same time.



But that was not the end of it. Other people began massing across the walkway behind the blankets and chairs of the section closer to the stage. They were standing up.



The people behind myself and the couple began to loudly complain about people standing up, so they couldn't see and how rude that was. Then they began yelling at the people standing up and the people standing up yelled back at them that they were not sitting down. The people on three blanket areas behind me were yelling for security to come and make them all sit down.



At this point, I'm thinking, 'No joy allowed here. I bet they'll try to get me carted off by security if I so much as move a toe to the beat.'



You would not want to be caught in a hurricane, say, and be forced to take shelter with the likes of these folks.



I wondered if they thought this was a chamber concert or a symphany playing. However, I am even terribly moved by classical music. Who is not?



"This is a rock concert, gosh darn it", I wanted to scream at them, "get off your blankets and onto your feet and move to the beat!"



These were not your normal rock concert goers. I finally told the couple, "I'm joining the standers now, to get it out of the way." I got up, and went forward to mix into the crowd standing.



Let the fat kill joy complainers with their blanket territories scream their gripes and sit there, lifeless really, defending the sacred edges of their blanket kingdoms. I wanted to dance.



No one else seemed to want to dance, however.



For awhile, I danced in my tiny crammed space. People were constantly coming and going, getting up, leaving, others squeezing through. I did not recognize a single song. Or person.



I decided to leave. This was not easy as many others were leaving too, even though the concert continued. The crowd pressed together, one massive body press one way, across a narrow foot bridge, and almost as many going the other way. People were congenial about the body pressed crowd.



Finally I was far enough through that the crowds thinned and I hoofed it back to my car and home.



That wasn't much fun. Glad I went. I know not to go again.

Days Cut Short

I had been planning to do something fun today. I haven't done anything fun yet this summer.



My first plan was to head out to Opal Creek for a hike then a swim at Sawmill Falls. Sure, I tried to find someone to go with me. When that failed, I resolved to go alone. I wanted to get an early start. Click the post title to go to a website showing Sawmill Falls and how beautiful it is.



However, I've had stomach issues, from the long marathon I experienced Tuesday and Wednesday, rounding up then transporting cats. Stress, heat, dehydration and lack of sleep combined to roil my stomach into knots that wouldn't move. I still thought I could salvage doing something today.



That too has been cut off. I agreed to watch a friends cats. Her neighbor checks in on them in the mornings and I in the early evenings. This pretty much takes out the day and has been now for a week and will for another week. The entire day is hijacked by the need to be somewhere for even a very short time in the early evening.



These are the last days of summer. I feel a panic setting in that I have wasted the only sun time Oregon gets. I haven't been swimming even once.



I'm not a fan of huge crowds. I do like rock music and to dance at concerts. I thought, "Ok, I'll go to the Joan Jett concert at the Arts and Air Festival." Problem: the venue is tiny for a big name, about half a field in a park. It's a free concert and people set up blankets and save their space half a day at least. I have tried to find anyone to go with me, who would be there to save the space while I go do the mandatory cat check in for my friend. I can't find anybody.



There's no sense going over there at 7:00 p.m., paying five bucks to park to be unable to find anywhere to sit.



I wanted to get away so badly this summer and do something, see somewhere outside of this concrete car heavy jungle crammed with unfixed and neglected cats that is the town where I live.



I need to get away!



This town offers nothing as far as hiking or exercise parks. Corvallis has many hiking parks. Most of the parks in this town are square block grass fields, maybe with a sports diamond for baseball or basketball hoop or a bench. I should get it together to at least go over to Corvallis to get in a hike. I have not done that. I like hiking those parks but I have hiked them so much, guess I'm bored with them.



When I lived there it was convenient to walk over to then up Bald Hill. But now that it's a twenty minute drive one way, it's not so attractive, since I hiked them mainly for exercise after the first few times. For exercise, however, they are excellent. But to drive so far for an exercise hike, I don't know, I just don't get it done. Lame!



I quit going up to Foster Reservoir to swim. It's an hour drive and once there, you battle jet skis and motor boats to swim and even the thought of heading up there has become decidedly not pleasant with more and more motorized boat traffic.



But if not there, where to go? I can't think of places. Not close anyhow. Do people have suggestions?



There are plenty of wonderful Oregon lakes and rivers I'd like to visit and camp beside. I can't do river floats because I'd need two cars, one at the start site and one at the end site. That leaves swimming holes and lakes. Most are quite a distance from where I live.



I waited too long. Now I have this lengthy obligation, a promise I made without really thinking about. I did not think I would be checking in on the cats in the evening, but rather in the morning, which leaves a person the day.



By the time she returns, the summer is gone.



I'm mad at myself.



I had told myself this summer I'd go for one hike a week, in a different location, to see some new territory.



Maybe we'll have an Indian summer, with warm weather extending far into October.



I still plan to visit Opal Creek at least and swim at Sawmill Falls or Three Pools. Anyone want to come? Cutting through Scio and Lyons, via 226, makes it close.



I tried calling both brothers today. They are not interested in my life. They are too busy with their own families. Sometimes I want to tell them "I exist! Let's do something together before we all die!"



I get so lonely. I go for weeks without any meaningful human contact. This is hard to withstand sometimes. It's my life though. I really don't need someone interested in what I do in my day to day struggles.



I do want to spend time with the people I've met whom I love, if I can. I have lots of friends, but most live a long long way from here. I cherish them from a distance. I long to visit them or spend time with them, but if I can't, I can't and that's how it is.

Rumba, Pebbles and an Update

Remember the born in the trap kittens? A Siamese mom I trapped at a seed warehouse south of Corvallis had kittens in the live trap. Three survived birth, except Mini, with flat chest syndrome, later died. The other two, now at a cat rescue in Milwaukie, are thriving under Kathy's expert care. Kathy makes and sells a great cat litter, Kitty's Gone Green. Click post title to go to Kitties Gone Green website. 10% of purchase price goes to help cat rescues with medical expenses, so if this product takes off, Oregon cat rescues could vastly benefit.Above, is a photo of two of the kittens back then, when in my garage. Below, you see them now.They do everything together.



This really has been the year of the Siamese. Heartland mentioned that also, that they have had more unwanted Siamese enter their shelter this year than ever.

Grumbly Rumba from the 71 cat VV colony studies a cat toy. Rumba needs a home.

Pebbles after the cat toy.

Pebbles again.

And once again.

Rumba is gorgeous, but is not as self confident as Surri and Pebbles and cries if left alone.

Elk Spar

On my first trip to the coast with a load of cats, I was in dire need of a bathroom break. I stopped in at a familiar wayside. I have no idea its name, but it's just east of Reedsport and it's an Elk viewing area. I have often pulled in there to sleep when tired, too.



I'm still recuperating from Tuesday and Wednesday's marathon effort to round up, transport, return 21 Albany area cats. Not young anymore, but, that said, I don't see young people working that hard out there. I think I could still show up most only because of stubborn determination, not any great endurance ability from conditioning.



I had to be up again Thursday morning, to return the three cats I cared for here, after their surgeries, before extreme heat hit my garage. I then cleaned more, and slept five hours in the afternoon. I was in bed by 11:30 last night and slept another 9 hours, but need to sleep more.



I am caring for a friends cats while she vacations, which cuts into the time I can sleep. And, I have a shitload of cats here to care for and they must be cared for despite any exhaustion on my part. I am also trying to find the kittens homes before they no longer look like kittens. It's a lot of work. I wish I was paid by the hour. I'd be a wealthy person.



Mexico suffered another horrendous attack of violence by drug cartels who grenaded a casino. The Mexican president blasted the US as responsible because of easy access to guns carried back into Mexico across the border and because of American's insatiable appetite for drugs.



Drug addicts and dealers in the US are supporting extreme violence and maybe should be charged as conspirators to murder and mayhem. If the US didn't consume drugs, the cartels would be out of business and the violence would not go on. I do not know why Americans are addicted to drugs. Thoughts?



If America legalized all currently illegal drugs would that help? Some say it would.

The Littlest Kittens

I've had no more luck with adoptions since Bambam and Giggles went to a home last weekend.



I still have the exotic Surri, the sweet Pebbles and beautiful Rumba, who knocked his nose during his neuter somehow. Rumba has come out of his shell and runs around the house now, happy and wildly playful, chasing after the two girls.



He's also shown his soft side by becoming big brother to the five week old fluffy gray tabby girl, from same colony he comes from and to the little fluffy Siamese boy, also five weeks old.



When I had returned to the 71 cat colony, to check to see if the three kittens out there I knew of could be fixed, they had shown me another litter, born to one of the females I took up with the last adults. In fact, she was the very last adult cat I caught out there. She was lactating at spay. After I returned her, she brought her litter out of the brush, six of them, some obviously ill.



The three kittens were nowhere near two pounds, even though way over two months in age. I urged the people to worm them and feed them. At that time, August 18, I grabbed the Siamese kitten, from this youngest litter. He was in the worst shape and the daughter put on gloves and grabbed the little long hair gray tabby. They're doing great after over a week here.



Rumba and his little brother.





Gray tabby fluffy girl kitten.

Beautiful Grumbly Rumba.

Aftermath

I had several calls from people wanting help with cats. One was from a Monroe area older woman. She had already gotten onto it, was very appreciative for the call back, was making appointments for the pair at the wag clinic and had a live trap.



The next was from an Albany business, who wanted help with a mother and her three kittens. I just assumed they were feeding them but when I called, they said they were not feeding them. I told them I am not a removal service and cannot help people who do not care for the cats. Can you imagine, getting a mother and her kittens fixed, then releasing them back where they're not even being fed? I can't do that. I told them if they decided to feed the cats, to call me.



The next call was from an Albany man whom I have helped two and maybe three times before. I don't like helping him. He never learns and although he requests help, he's not nice to me when I go.



This time, he described a kitten dying right as he was talking to me, of having three unfixed adults including the mother of this dying kitten. I went over with fluids. The kittens have been sick a long time with URI's. He took them to a vet, but said he had $60 to spend, so not to do more than that. He was given amoxi and eye ointment for them. That was a week ago. He was also given my number.



That kitten laying out there, convulsing if touched, was so skinny it was horrible to see. "Well, it's the runt and she's been sick a long time and never got much milk off her mother." That was his excuse. Right before he said two others had died. I supposed they were the runts too.



He keeps getting cats, over and over again, then he doesn't want them. "If you can't take care of them, don't get them," I told him, "and at least don't let them breed more."



For the cost he paid to the vet clinic to take sick kittens there, he could have gotten three Safehaven vouchers and got all three adults fixed. That's his responsibility, not mine, to lay out for him, because he'll do it again. This time, it won't be me. I feel for those cats but this man needs to step up and be responsible. I am going to ask a community service officer to tell him that. I don't know if one will, but I'll ask. I'll tell what I saw there.



The two males needing fixed are the mother cats from another litter.



The 8 week old female kitten was skin and bones, and looked like a four week old. She was in convulsions. I gave her some fluids, but knew she was about to die. She had suffered a long time, I could tell, starving to death, likely from a combo of the URI, dehydration and parasites of all sorts, which her mother probably also carries.



He was anxious to get me gone because he was going out to dinner.



I then went and cared for my friends cats and laid in her backyard, crying.



Too many assholes in these parts. Way too many.



I'm not helping that man again. I can't do it. What I will do is call the community service officer tomorrow.

21 Cats Fixed Today

Another long day followed a long hot day before. I had 20 reservations for the Snipped clinic in Coos Bay today. I ended up hauling 21 cats.



Yesterday, turned out to be the hottest day of the year so far, with temperatures over 90 degrees. This was not helpful in catching cats! I slept in yesterday until 9:30 a.m., trying to "store up" extra sleep for the marathon to come.



I was over on the Albany street again, trying hard to get things under control there.



I caught two teens I didn't know were there. Torti teen, fixed today.

Gray tabby tux male teen, fixed today.



The woman who feeds had said there were four cats she fed, all young adults, and did not mention the two kittens. I caught them both. Their mother is one of the four young adults I haven't caught yet, a small gray tabby tux.



Despite efforts that went on late, until I nearly collapsed from the heat, dripping in sweat, I did not catch anymore outside cats there on that street. Nobody was hungry in such heat. However, I did pick up the four kittens a woman had inside her house socializing, born to a neighborhood caste off she also contained inside, after they were born and she found them.





The mom could not go be fixed because she is currently grumblingly nursing two more newborns born to yet another outside mother. The mom moved her newborns, but left two behind and did not come get them.



However, same woman, the neighborhood cat saint, had kept yet another neighborhood female inside, until she could get her fixed. The cat was in heat driving everyone nuts. So she went.In heat black female, fixed today.



I also went into her garage, where she had confined three outside strays until they could be fixed. Two females were fixed last week. I had to dig out the third, a male, and he was fixed today.

Tabby on white male, I netted in a garage who was fixed today.



She will now try to find even the adults homes. The kittens will go up for adoption immediately.



I also got two of four kittens fixed from a house down the street. About a month ago I took in four adults from that house to be fixed, two females, including the kittens mom, and two males. Today, the two male kittens were fixed. The two females were still a bit under weight. So from that street, another 10 cats went to be fixed today. Unfortunately, I spaced out getting a photo of Casper and Taco, the two Siamese mix boy kittens.



I took down another mother and her four kittens. Previously, I'd taken in the mother cats' mother and her six kittens and a male from this woman to be fixed. The six kittens ended up in Portland, since two tested positive for FIV. One of those two retested negative and was adopted, which is happy news.Sammy, the mom of four kittens, was fixed today.

There are Sammy's four kittens, three girls and one boy (one of the grays). All were fixed today.



I trapped the big Siamese over in SW Albany, over off Queen. I've been after him awhile. A friend over there has a male like Sam, my peeman here, who flies into a nervous tizzy if there's an unfixed outside male roaming. And this guy has been intimidating her inside male through a window, causing him to pee mark inside and making him stressed. So he got fixed, although he won't act if for about a month.I took a photo of him prowling around a few months ago. Now, you can see him under anesthesia, below. He lost his longer outer whiter coat for the summer.

Big Siamese male fixed today.



Two Lebanon girls went.Lebanon Siamese mix Delilah, fixed today.

Lebanon teen girl Clover.



And I started in on a new colony over off Clover Ridge, with cats everywhere. Fortunately, they called the FCCO and will take most up there to be fixed in early September. One boy and two girls were fixed from there.This is Isabelle, a muted torbi, fixed today.

This handsome black boy is Frankie and was neutered today.

And wild girl Muffins was also fixed today.



So, ten from the Albany street went up. One big male from SW Albany got fixed. Four kittens and their mom, formerly of Albany got fixed. That woman who owns them moved in with her folks and now lives just outside Albany city limits. Three more from the new colony which also is just outside Albany city limits got fixed. And two Lebanon girls got fixed.



I was hot and tired by last night. I'd also had to get cat litter and I use wood pellet fuel. I'd hauled three bags of food into the homeless camp too, for them to feed those cats. Then did the round up after that, already worn out and very hot, from too much physical labor in heat.



I didn't get much sleep between trying to go to bed, and alarm wake up time, which is 3:30 a.m. I made the drive down ok and once there, a worker at the clinic took me to her house, leaving me there, to sleep the day away, while the cats were fixed and that is exactly what I did.



Oh my, that was so pleasant. The moment she left, I laid out on her couch and was in lala land. I only woke up five hours later feeling sooooo much better.



I did a good couple days work. I am so pleased with that clinic, and the job they do and how professional and friendly they are doing it.



21 more cats not breeding is a great thing for the community too.

The Price of Existing

There's a fee to be alive. Lots of fees, actually. A new fee just hit me, delivered from my nemesis, Wells Fargo. If you have a debit card, you are going to pay a debit card transaction fee of $3 per month. Maybe you don't think that's much. It is to the likes of me.



Utility rates of skyrocketed. Gas prices have sky rocketed. Sewer rates are up. Garbage rates are up.



I can't say "Cut off my sewer and water". I'd like to, since the water tastes like chlorine anyhow.



Could I live without electricity, heat, cooking, lights, hot water, refrigeration, TV? Probably. Been there, done that. I lived in a shack with a visquin roof out in Alaska for awhile.



I don't know how to live without a bank. The whole system is set up so you have to use them. You get paid with a check, not cash, so you have to cash that somewhere. You can't pay all utilities anymore by cash. Garbage to name one. I used to be able to pay it by cash, until they were sold to a bigger out of state company. After that, I went to pay my bill at the local garbage office and they said they don't take payments anymore, that I'd have to send payment to the out of state address.



I'd like to kiss that bank goodbye. I will look for another, without all the fees. Riles me to think of those fat cat rich ass bank CEO's, then how they look for every way they can find to squeeze out the last blood from little people.



Even the thought of banks these days brings to mind the movie "It's a Wonderful Life". How can one not think of that evil little banker who tried to force George out of business and screw the townspeople when one thinks of the big impersonal fee happy bail us out with billions, screw the little people banks of today.



I'd like to live without a bank intermediary. Our society is not set up that way.



It's set up to force us into banks.



There's a price to being alive. A high price.



I can't watch shows like Good Morning America anymore either. Not after seeing a list of their salaries.



They're delivering basically fluff not news. News delivery has gone downhill. I like newspapers. Sure, there aren't many in depth reports anymore or investigative reporters. The Gazette Times is an exception. There's a hot shot no fear investigative reporter they have named Bennett Hall. He does great reports.



When those rich news people, making $15 million or more a year, express outrage over poverty in their stories, I don't feel it. They live in completely different worlds and have no connection to most of America.



You got to pay your dues back to the fat cats for the privilege of breathing their air.

Goodbye Giggles and Bambam

Giggles, the laughing calico kitten, and Bambam, my shoulder boy, just went to a home together. A nice young couple came, made over them all, chose Giggles and Bambam, in the end.



Good luck, kids! We'll miss you here.



Happy's new name is Buzz. Happy was adopted by a neighbor. Billy's new name is Mini Cooper, Cooper for short. I forget what Humphrey's new name is. I'll have to check on that and report back.



As for Giggles and Bambam, the couple love the name Giggles. I'll have to wait and see if those two get brand new names, or a few names. Lots of names are ok, for kittens and for people. Sometimes they all fit.

Kitten Photos

Bambam on his back.

Bambam gets a bath from Deaf Miss Daisy.

Bambam on my shoulder.

Bambam delights in bath.



The two latest kittens out of the VV.



Grumbly Rumba is gorgeous and sleek.

Pebbles in a cat bed.







Suri catches sun in the window.

Mug Shots of the 8 Albany Ferals Fixed Yesterday

Below are photos of the 8 cats, all strays on one Albany two block street, fixed yesterday, along with the five kittens here, waiting for homes, from the 71 cat VV colony. Pebbles, Bambam, Surri, Grumbly Rumba and Giggles from the VV colony were fixed, along with the Albany 8 below.

Young Siamese mix male, who had a bad cold, fixed yesterday.

Muted calico fixed yesterday. She is probably the mom of the long hair tabby on white female kitten, I was told this morning.

Black tux female, fixed yesterday. The vet said she had had kittens very recently. However, she was not lactating. I asked the woman who feeds this cat and three others about that when I returned the cats. She had said the female had three kittens and they did away with them, having too many strays to care for already.

Torti teenager, fixed yesterday.

Smoke black male teen, fixed yesterday.

Medium hair black tux female, fixed yesterday. A woman had three cats in her garage, from the neighborhood, until she could find some way to get them fixed.

Black female, who had also been confined to a garage, until the woman could find a way to get this neighborhood caste off spayed. Happened yesterday!

Tabby on white long hair female kitten, sad case, but a neighbor took her in this morning, when I returned the cats, so she is off the streets and fixed!

These two cats actually still need caught and fixed. Then there are two more cats, strays from the neighborhood, one woman keeps inside, until they can be fixed, along with one of the females four kittens, who are about old enough to be fixed. Then roaming outside, besides the below two cats, is a small torti female with newborns and a skinny black male. Right now, because of the torti's newborns, there are only three more outside cats on the street, that I know of, who need fixed, plus two adults inside and four kittens. Let's say five more adults and four kittens on the list right now, including these two, below. The gray tabby is a hated male on the block because of his fighting and marking behavior. I believe the gray tabby tux might be a male.