“The problem with cats is that they get the same exact look whether they see a moth or an ax-murderer.” ― Paula Poundstone

Jackson C Bell (June 6, 2013)

I haven’t officially announced the arrival of our newest addition to the family, Jackson.  Yes, I wrote about him, Jonesie and Ellie, when they went with us to Idyllwild, but I didn’t explain how and when we got him.

Like most of our cats, Jackson was totally unexpected.  It’s been awhile since we made a conscious decision to actually go out and find a pet.  We don’t have to.  They find their way here.

One afternoon in early June I received a call from a friend.  Another friend had found a kitten in her yard.  “Can you take him until she can find a home for him?” 

I told her to bring him over.  When I saw the kitten she was holding I immediately took him and it was love at first sight.  But, I knew I was only fostering.  I brought him in and we got him settled in a kennel.  He was only about four weeks old, just barely weaned.  She had brought some milk replacement.  I fed the kitten with a syringe.  He didn’t know yet how to eat food from a bowl.  By the next afternoon, he was eating fine though.  I called him “Jackson”. 

Jackson had gotten tangled in a bush.  My friend heard him crying late one night.  Early the next morning she went out to find him.  There were other kittens too, but she didn’t know where they were.  The mother cat, a tortie, had been seen in her yard several times.  She wanted to trap her and get her spayed at some point.

I was pleasantly surprised that my friend wanted to help the stray cats in her neighborhood.  There are lots of people who catch, spay/neuter, and release feral cats.  The shelters are so overcrowded and I think if a cat is living in an area and people don’t mind having it around, at least it should be fixed.  It’s better for everybody.    

We had Jackson just a couple of days when we were told that there might be a home for him. I told her I really liked Jackson and wanted to keep him.  She was happy and I thought that would be the end of it.

Charlie took Jackson to the vet for an exam and first kitten shot.  I kept him in my computer room for a few days before releasing him into the house to meet the other cats.  He sat on my lap when I was at my computer. 

When we took Jackson out to the cat patio, he zoomed in on Buffy and they wrestled and played together.  Buffy was so patient with him.  It was amazing.  Jackson was so aggressive, but Buffy didn’t get mad, growl or try to hurt him.

He’s so cute.  He is a brown tabby.  His face and legs are striped, but his body is mottled and looks like a squirrel. His body and legs are long.  The back legs are bowed and he’s pigeon-toed.  When he walks, it looks like he swaggers.   He’s about five months old now and I thought he would have green eyes, but I think they are going to stay gray or hazel.

The only cats who do not like Jackson are the Calicos, Jezibel and Lexi.  But, they don’t like any of the other cats either!  Jackson still tries to be friends with them.  When they hiss at him, he lays down, but doesn’t run away.  He just doesn’t give up. 

Jonesie tolerates Jackson.  He’s three years old now and really has never liked kittens. He was only nine months old when we got the six week old Rhody, so he helped to raise him.  Jonesie is a sweetie though. 

Jackson

So, that’s how Jackson came to become a part of our family. 

But, the saga continues....

My middle name is Devil,
Tazzy D _^..^_

"Your paw prints will be forever on my heart."

Ellie, 5 years old

We were happy to see that the trip to Idyllwild didn’t seem to affect Ellie.  She was out of her normal routine, but since she ate well and took her insulin well, we thought she would adjust to insulin and we would get her regulated, as we did her brother, Mr. Creme.  Except for her breathing problems, i.e., asthma and chronic congestion, there would be no reason why she might not eat and gain some weight.

One of my favorite pictures of Ellie taken in RV on our move back to CA in June 2004.  It's out of focus, but it captures her face very well

Ellie was always a feisty little cat.  She was the smallest kitten of the litter.  Jezibel had 9 babies that day, which I brought home from the hospital.  Jezibel had to stay at the hospital overnight.  I bottle fed the kittens that night and early the next morning before going to work.  Ellie had a determination and will to live.  She had a strong appetite.

Because Jezibel had so many kittens, seven, to nurse, we had to supplement formula as well.  We have pictures of Ellie nursing from the bottle and her ears wiggled.  That kitten was very strong and we knew she would make it.

When it came time to find homes for the kittens at 8 weeks old, we kept Ellie, along with her sister, Lexi and brother, Grady.  I reasoned that we had to keep Ellie because she was attached to Charlie, but I knew it was because I liked her spunkiness, strong will and courage.  She was so tiny, but she was fearless.

Checking out her birthday cake

Oh cool! Balloons!

I see 7 names on this cake!

Happy 5th Birthday, Miss Ellie and all the babies

Even as she got older and had the muscle atrophy in her back legs, she would go wherever she wanted to go.  Sometimes she looked like a jack-knifed truck going down the hallway, but away she went.  If her “space” was violated by another cat who she didn’t think should be there, she had no qualms chasing that cat and cornering it.  We rescued cats from Ellie’s wrath many times. 

When we were in Idyllwild, we decided to let Ellie outside on the deck with us, thinking she would just stay up there.  But, before we knew it she had gotten down and was underneath the deck.  She ran all the way over to the other side.  Charlie was able to reach under and get her.  If she had decided to go underneath the cabin, I don’t want to think of what horrors Charlie would have seen.  But, he said he would have gone under to get her if needed.  So even though she had the leg problem, she could move when she wanted to.

A couple of weeks after the Idyllwild trip, we planned to go up to Nevada for a weekend to see some of our family.  Our nephew lives there.  His Dad & Mom, my sister, were coming to visit him for a week.  He invited us and my brother and sister-in-law from Utah, to come up for a mini family reunion.

We were going up on Friday and coming home on Sunday.  We talked about bringing Ellie with us since she had only started the insulin 3 weeks before.  We were staying at a motel which allowed pets.  She had done fine at Idyllwild.  But, this was an 8 hour drive.  We were afraid it might be too much for her to be in the kennel that long. 

We decided to leave her at home and give our pet sitter explicit directions on the meds she needed.

Ellie was always very wary and shy when people came over.  At other times when we left her home with a sitter, the sitter would say that she never saw Ellie because she hid.  That was okay because she was not on meds then.  But, now, it was different.  Ellie had to be available to get her meds.  Our sitter was sure she could take care of Ellie and we felt good about it.

We went to Nevada and enjoyed the weekend with family.  When we got home Sunday afternoon, everyone seemed fine.  But, when it was time for dinner, Ellie didn’t eat much.  In fact, not enough to get her insulin.  We thought she would be back to normal later.

The next morning she would still not eat well.  I gave her the asthma meds and the other meds which helped her chest congestion.  She was definitely not the same little cat we had left on Friday morning.  She seemed more congested and was not walking as well as before.

The vet called and said that Ellie’s test from a few days ago showed her blood glucose was still high and she wanted to go from 2 units of insulin to 3 units/day.  I told the doctor that Ellie wasn’t eating and I couldn’t give insulin.  She suggested Cyproheptadine to stimulate appetite.  We picked the pills up and started Ellie on it.

Ellie seemed hungry, but we couldn’t get the congestion cleared up.  She couldn’t smell food.

I decided to try syringe feeding so at least she would get some food in her stomach.  Once it was in her mouth, she swallowed and seemed to want it.  I finally was able to give her a dose, 2 units, of insulin.  By now, we were really becoming concerned.  She had done so well just 3 weeks ago and now it didn’t look good at all.  Of course, I regretted not taking her to Nevada with us, even though there were reasons why we didn’t.  I’m always second guessing decisions made.

I syringe fed breakfast and dinner and if she ate enough, she got insulin.  But, it was not easy.

All week long we tried to get her to eat.  On Friday, we could see that she was getting weaker and weaker.  It was so hard to see her like that.  Her weight was down to 6 pounds.  She didn’t want to struggle anymore.  We knew it and we knew we had to make a decision to let her go.

We had an appointment to take her to the vet on Saturday.  When I went in to see her that morning she was lying on her blanket, weak, and her breathing was labored.  I didn’t try to feed her or give her any more meds for congestion or asthma.  I just wanted her to be comfortable.

We said goodbye to Miss Ellie a little while later.  She peacefully went to sleep at the vet clinic.  We cried and the doctor cried.  The doctor told us that if she was a cat and it was time for her to go, she’d want to belong to us.  She thanked us for loving Ellie enough to let her go. 

We did let her go, but it was very hard.  We feel at peace knowing that Ellie is now running with strong legs again and is breathing easily.  It’s been a long time since she could do that.  And she is with her brothers, Grady and Toby.  Rowdy, Calvin, Taz, Mo, and Chelsi are on the playground nearby.

We have so many pictures of her and memories of her.  She was that tiny black and white kitten who at 4 weeks old, was the first one of the 7 kittens to have the nerve to climb up a 4 foot fence to escape, jump down on the other side and run over to Charlie.  She had kept her eyes on him the whole time.  She was unafraid to run between the long legs of our dog Chelsi while Chelsi stood eating her food or drinking water.

We love you, we miss you,  and we’ll never forget you, Miss Ellie.  Like the others, you will always be in our hearts.

Lexi and Jezibel (left) Taz and Ellie on right

Ellie May Bell 3/22/00  - 08/03/13  (picture taken 8/3/13)

More later.....

My middle name is Devil,
Tazzy D _^..^_

If I tried to tell you how much I love my cats, you wouldn't believe me - unless your heart is also meow-shaped and covered in stray fur. -- Lexie Saige

I was getting a pedicure the other day.  A lady walked by outside.  The dress she was wearing reminded me of a nightgown my granny made for me when I was 2 or 3 years old.  I don’t remember it, but my mom said it was striped.  Granny had some left over material, but only enough for something my size.  The stripes didn’t go up and down, they went around.  Mom said I looked like a little worm.  I could picture it and it made me laugh.

The stripes on the lady’s dress went around. So much for my fashion news.

Last month we decided to take a couple of days and go up to Idyllwild.  It’s in the mountains a couple of hours away.  Actually the idea occurred to us when my sister asked us to help her get something shipped to her.  The item she bought was in Hemet, which is only about 45 minutes from Idyllwild.

Our plan was to go to Hemet, pick up the item, take it to UPS, with the packaging box she sent to me, ship it and then go up to Idyllwild.

When the time we planned to go was near, Ellie was diagnosed with diabetes.  She started her insulin on Friday, July 5.  We were going to Idyllwild on Tuesday and Wednesday the following week. 

Instead of taking Ellie to the vet to stay or have our petsitter take care of her, we decided it was best to take Ellie with us.  She was just starting on insulin and we felt better giving it to her ouselves.  We also took Jonesie and Jackson.  Sheila was boarded since she is not a real good traveler.  Pets are allowed at the cabin.  We have been going there for 10 years. 

The last time we were there was not long after Taz died, October 2010.  We took Jason, Kaci and Sheila with us.

We packed up the cats that morning and headed out.  It was hot, 106 degrees, in Hemet, a desert town.  The cats were patient in their kennels, Ellie in one and Jackson and Jonesie in the other.

We picked up the item and took it to UPS to be shipped.  There was a little delay in the process when UPS said the box exceeded size limits that they could ship.

While I was in UPS talking to them, Charlie stayed in the car with the A/C running.  I went out to tell him about the shipping problem.  He went in to talk to them.  Then I stayed in the car with the cats.

After awhile he came back.  It was all taken care of.  I had called my sister and told her about the shipping problem and she said, “If it fits, ship it!”  Her and her husband were enroute home from a trip themselves.

So now we could get the cats up to Idyllwild.  We got to the cabin, set up food, water and litter boxes for the cats and after hiding under the bed for awhile, they were all settled in.

Cottage in the Woods

The cabin is set back away from the other rentals.  It’s very cute.  There are birds, squirrels and rabbits all around.  We’ve seen raccoons there at night.  There are windows all along one side.

Jonesie and Jackson

Jonesie and Jackson had a ball sitting in the windows watching the birds.  We were so relaxed just being there.  Ellie did very well too.  She had a good appetite and took her meds well.  We brought her pre-filled syringes, which worked very well.

Cool cat, Miss Ellie

It was warm and Ellie, being the smart one, found a cool place to lay on the tiles in the shower.
 

Ellie was very tolerant of the youngsters, Jonesie and Jackson, for a change, so I know she enjoyed our mini vacation as much as we did.  It was good for all of us to get away from the routine for a couple of days.


Stay tuned.......
My middle name is Devil,
Tazzy D _^..^_ 

You will always be lucky if you know how to make friends with strange cats.-- Colonial American Proverb

Calico and Siamese don't mix, and when you add a worried Dad and an anxious Mom, things can and did get out of hand.

Jezibel, looks are deceiving

Jezibel is the matriarch of the family. She is our oldest cat at 14 years. She's a calico with brilliant orange, black, and white markings. The top of her head is divided like a straight razor between black and orange. She brought nine kittens into the world when she was barely six months old.  Two of them were too weak and we lost them within the first week.  That left seven.  We kept five of them, two girls and three boys.  The other two boys were given to close friends.  That was over 13 years ago. 

Three of Jezibel’s “kittens” have passed on, two of our boys, Grady and Toby, and our friend’s boy, Pinto.  The three we still have with us deal with various age related maladies: asthma, diabetes, thyroid conditions, high blood pressure, neuropathy, and endemic congestion. Jezibel is slightly asthmatic, but other than that remains in good health.

Jezibel became attached to Charlie during her pregnancy. She is domineering, irascible, and fairly and equally hates the rest of the cats in the house.  They know it and give her a wide berth. Underneath that bullying exterior, though, she is a sweet cat who likes attention, but doesn't want you to know it. Of course, Charlie sees her that way.  He may have a biased opinion about that.  She and I have this relationship that I call “a mother/daughter thing”. 

Since Taz was my cat and Jezibel was Charlie’s, there was forever a jealous rivalry going on between the two of them.  They both were alpha and both ran the house.

Buffy, outside before we brought him in

About five months ago, a stray cat scaled the seven foot fence that surrounds our back yard and took up residence on the concrete of our unfinished, soon to be enclosed patio. We could not get within thirty feet of him before he would swiftly depart, but he kept coming back. Since some of our cats have back yard privileges and do not leave the yard, we were worried about contact with that stray.

Our fears proved founded when 13 year old, Mr. Creme, one of Jezibel’s “kitten” was seen chasing the stray across our yard. Mr Creme is pretty spry when he wants to be, but the stray managed to get away.  It looked like he was saying, “You young whipper-snapper, get out of my yard!”

We couldn't let that continue, though, and decided we would have to catch him, fix him, get his shots, and then release him where he could no longer worry us.

Of course, we had to keep him for a few days after his surgery to make sure everything was all right.  He was 100% feral.  I would swear that no human had ever touched him.  When we first put him in a large crate right after we caught him, he practically destroyed it trying to get out.  I don’t think he had ever been confined before.  Despite our long history of working with cats, we were a little intimidated at what he might do in his effort to get free.

We soon discovered, however, that the little guy was mostly just bravado. He was actually timid and frightened. That didn't mean he was any less feral. The vet said he was about two years old. We named him Buffy. He had a lot of Siamese in him and I could tell (having once raised my own Siamese cat) that his Siamese markings would get more distinct over time and with good food. We thought someone might want him if we could get him to that point of domesticity.

We contacted a friend who knew a friend who worked with feral cats. We thought we could give Buffy a better chance for adoption if someone could tame him down. The short of it, though, was that the friend of a friend said she wanted to help, but was going on vacation and would let us know when she returned in a couple of weeks.   While we waited, we worked with him ourselves. Good thing we did because the friend of a friend finally said she couldn't take him. 

Over months of effort, Buffy, who clearly wanted to have a home, worked as hard as we did to learn how to be a domesticated cat. Since Charlie worked with him the most, and since Siamese tend to connect strongly with just one person, Buffy became attached to him.

I fed him and tried to pet him, but for some reason, he didn’t trust me like he did Charlie.  He would slap me and if his claws were out, he really nailed me good.  I bruise easily anyway and he left some nasty bruises on my hand or wrist.  That’s when we decided that if we were going to keep Buffy, we should have him declawed like our other cats.  We have found that when declawed, temprament changes.  Charlie was hesitant, but he realized that it would make a difference in the taming process and Buffy would be calmer. 

Other than slapping me, with other cats, Buffy is one of the least aggressive cats we have ever owned. He creates few problems and avoids confrontation. Unfortunately, when confrontation comes to him, all he knows to do is run. We have a theory about how and why Buffy ended up with us. We think he belonged to a local feral colony, but because of his nature, he was eventually driven off by more aggressive cats, and went in search of a new colony and since our cats are in the yard during the day, he found us.

Everything was going along fine, until the first time Jezibel saw Buffy. Not only was Buffy a new cat in the house, he was horning in on Jezibel's territory -- Charlie. Jezibel had no intention of sharing. Jezibel attacked, and Buffy ran.

The first time it happened Charlie separated Jezibel from Buffy and things went ok for awhile. A couple of days later, she attacked him again, and this time it got serious. Jezibel would not back down, continuing a furious chase and attack. Buffy just wanted to get away, but if truly cornered, he could strike back at Jezibel. Neither have front claws, but Buffy is young and very strong. He could hurt her out of fear.

Charlie separated them again.  Jezibel, trying to get at Buffy, bit Charlie’s hand.  

Charlie’s hand was swollen the next day after Jezibel bit him.  He went to the doctor.  They gave him a tetanus shot and penicillin to fight the infection. His hand was so swollen, he couldn’t make a fist. Maybe a good thing for Jezibel!  Lol Two of his fingers were so sore he couldn’t use his hand for a few days. 

We now monitor the two of them and make sure there is always separation between them so Jezibel can't get at Buffy.  Buffy stays on the “catio” and it's off limits to Jezibel.

I'm hoping that over time, with Charlie spending a lot of time with each of them so they don't feel slighted, they might one day be able to pass each other without a fight.

But, if they manage to get at each other again, I know we’ll wade right in. We couldn't bear to see either get hurt.

Stay tuned.......
My middle name is Devil,
Tazzy D =^..^= 

At nighttime, they roam around the house, searching for a new hiding place. At dawn, they yawn and stretch, pretending they slept all night. At noon, they bask in the sunshine that streams through windows. In the evening, they settle down in their favorite chairs. It's just another day in the life of a cat.

So much has happened that I don’t know where to begin.  But, I will try to catch up on things.

I’m still working at the acupuncture clinic and I don’t know how much longer it will be.  I have so many things to do at home now that I really don’t feel like I can spare that one day a week away. 

Mr. Creme is doing fine.  His weight is good and for now he is stabilized on his insulin intake.
He’s so used to getting his injections that he waits for it after he eats.  The Zobalin B12 pills are working well to keep his legs strong too.  For a 13 year old cat, he looks good.

Ellie still has that congestion.  The Veraflox we tried didn’t work.  Then we started her on Doxycyline.  In a few days, the congestion improved.  We gave her the Doxy twice a day for 10 days.  Then just a few days later, the congestion was back.  Mucous in her nose, etc.  The doctor said we could put her back on Doxy.  This time for 20 days, twice a day.  She improved, but not like the first time.

She was losing weight so we took her to the vet to have a blood panel done.  The vet called and gave us the news, she has diabetes, like her brother, Mr. Creme.  That was last Friday, July 5.  We started her on 2 units of insulin.  She also gets the Zobalin for her legs.  If they were to get worse than they are now, she’d not be walking at all.

So far, in just a week, she seems to be improving.  Her appetite is very good.  She’s still on the Doxycyline too. 

The doctor also said that Ellie’s heartbeat seems arrhythmic, like three heartbeats.  She thought the Terbutaline may have caused it since it can cause a fast heartbeat.  We were to keep her off of the Terbutaline for a few days and bring her back to the vet.  But, Ellie was so congested one night that she wouldn’t eat.  We couldn’t give her insulin unless she ate.  So we decided to give the Terbutaline since that’s the only thing that opens her passages so she can smell her food.  Hopefully the Doxycyline will keep the congestion at bay and we won’t have to use the Terbutaline.  We’re also hoping that it is not a heart condition.  We won’t know until we take Ellie back to the vet.

One morning I was on the cat patio cleaning and checking things.  I noticed some drops of blood on the floor.  Charlie went around to each cat to see if he could find out which cat had blood on them.  We thought maybe someone had cut a paw.  He found Lexi and she had a bloody nose.  He brought her in and her nose was still dripping.  We called the vet and had to wait for them to call us back.  While we waited, we cleaned her nose and tried to get the bleeding stopped.  It stopped.  We took her to the vet the next day.  They did some tests.  The doctor called back and said that Lexi had high blood pressure.  It was 230.  A cat’s BP is similar in numbers to a person’s.  They only use the bottom number though. 

The doctor wanted to get Lexi on blood pressure meds as soon as we could.  It was Amlodipine.  She called the prescription in to the drug store and I picked it up on my way home from work.  The pills are tiny and she gets 1/4 in the evening.

After a few days, we took Lexi back to have BP checked.  It was down to 140, an improvement obviously.  Tests showed that Lexi’s thyroid was still fine on the medication she’s on.  That medication is supposed to help keep her blood pressure down too, but it doesn’t so we will keep Lexi on meds for now.  We’ll also ask the doctor if the Veraflox that Lexi was on, could cause the high blood pressure.  She’s not on it now.

Stay tuned.......
My middle name is Devil,
Tazzy D =^..^= 

I’ve spent a lot of time thinking about what it is that makes cats and our relationships to cats so special. Yes, they are extraordinary in their wisdom and their independence and their beauty. Yes, they provide comfort and company and, of course, fun. But it’s more than that. I think cats provide permanence. Cats don’t change. –Peter Gethers

Ellie has been on Veraflox for about 3 days.  So far we see no really big improvement in her condition.  She is still very congested.  Last night I gave her a dose of Terbutaline, hoping it would help her breathing.  I held her for awhile, holding the Vick’s© inhaler near her nose.  That did seem to help her breathe better.  She managed to take deep breaths, which made me breathe better too!

I feel so bad for this little cat, who struggles to breathe and walk.  But, she does keep moving and she gets impatient if we hold her for too long.  She’s very strong-willed and knows where she wants to be and it’s not usually on a lap.  Sometimes she will come over to Charlie and “ask” to sit on his lap.  He has to pick her up because she can’t jump up.  She stays for a few minutes, enjoying the petting, and sometimes she even sleeps for a while.  Then when it’s time to get down, she wastes no time expressing her displeasure.  But, I think Ellie knows that we are trying to help her and make her comfortable.  In her mind, she has no disability at all.

If, after a week of Veraflox for her cold, she doesn’t show improvement, we will take her back to the vet.  This is so frustrating, having two cats, Lexi and Ellie, with respiratory problems.  We think Lexi’s problem is allergy related, but Ellie has gotten much worse with her asthma and she is very susceptible to colds now.

Lexi is also going through another two weeks with Veraflox.  The first time we did that, it really helped her congestion.  I was hoping that it was gone.  But, after a few days, the congestion was back.  The vet said we couldn’t keep her on it because it is an antibiotic and won’t work if it is used too much.

Buffy continues to improve and get used to his new surroundings.  We are hoping to be able to let him roam freely on the big “cat-io” in a few months.  With our last feral cat, Kiki, we left the kennel door open for her to come and go.  If Kiki got startled, she had the safety of her kennel to go to, which she did.  After snooping around for awhile, she usually went to her cat tree in the kennel and went to sleep.  That’s what we want Buffy to feel like he can do one day.  

Stay tuned.......
My middle name is Devil,
Tazzy D =^..^= 

It is indeed remarkable how much these animals can be taught if taken in kittenhood and treated gently. Even as soon as their eyes open, they can be made to understand many things. –Godey’s Lady’s Book, May 1895

Ellie

Ellie’s asthma has gotten worse.  She has more congestion and it never completely goes away.  The Turbutaline that we give her now doesn’t seem to help her as much.  We used to give her a 1/4 pill and within an hour she felt better and could eat.  Now we’re giving her 2 (1/4) pills a day and although she usually will eat and drink water, her breathing is still labored.

Charlie took her to the vet last week for a steroid shot.  She has had shots before, but the vet said this steroid should help her for a couple of months.

We noticed the next day that she seemed to feel better, but is still congested. 

It was really warm yesterday and she didn’t have an appetite.  I gave her a pill earlier.  When I went to check on her before bedtime, I was shocked to see that both nostrils were blocked with mucous. 

I brought her downstairs and gave her to Charlie to hold while I got a warm, wet washcloth to clean her nose.  After I cleaned her nose, Ellie was still breathing through her mouth.  We decided to take her to the emergency hospital because we were afraid she was not getting enough oxygen.

At the hospital, they took her in right away.  Then after a while, the doctor came out.  We hadn’t had the chance to give Ellie’s medical background about her neuropathy in her legs or her constant trembling. 

When the doctor heard that these were chronic conditions with her, she was a little relieved I think.  There were just too many variables to deal with in an emergency.

They gave Ellie “pass by” oxygen, meaning they let the oxygen flow past her nose and not directly into her nose. 

When we were taken to a room and they brought Ellie in, she looked better, though she was still congested. 

The doctor said that Ellie had sneezed in the exam room and quite a bit of mucous came out.  We have never seen that before. 

The vet mentioned antibiotics, but really preferred that we take Ellie in to her regular vet for more follow-up.  We agreed.  We brought Ellie home and by 2:00 a.m., we were all in bed.

The next morning we made an appointment with our vet for Ellie.  Her exam showed that she has a cold! 

The medication that she has to take for a week is Veraflox, the same med that Lexi takes for her allergy. 

We had actually called the vet when Ellie continued to be congested, and asked if Veraflox would help her since it had helped Lexi.  The vet said no, in fact it might harm her.  But, since Ellie has a cold and it’s not congestion from her asthma, but from her cold, she can take Veraflox.  Go figure.

We are really careful about giving our cats meds not prescribed for them, but in this case, we would have been right.

Ellie checked out fine otherwise.  She weights 8 lbs. which surprised me.  I would have guessed 6 lbs. 

Last night when we saw Miss Ellie breathing with an open mouth, it scared us.  We thought of two years ago when her brother, Toby, was doing the same thing.  We took him to the emergency hospital and he didn’t make it. So, we thought Ellie also might be close to the last of her 9 lives, but she pulled out of it and we’re very happy about that!  Long live Miss Ellie.

A few weeks ago we noticed a little cat who was coming into our yard.  He was lying on the new patio (before it was enclosed).  A couple of our cats were watching him from inside the house. 

We didn’t know if this little cat belonged to anyone.  I had seen him in the neighborhood a few weeks before.  Once I saw him down on the corner of our street.  Another time I saw him across the cul-de-sac, walking along the sidewalk.  Then one morning I saw him in our front yard.  When I went to the window, he ran away.

Since our cats go outside, we didn’t want this cat in our backyard, but he seemed to want to be there, maybe because of the cats, who he didn’t seem to be afraid of.

But, one afternoon, I looked out and Mr. Creme was chasing him, (as well as he could) through the yard.  The little cat jumped up on the fence and struggled to get over and made it.  I was afraid he would get his leg caught on the lattice, but he seemed to be okay.

We decided we would catch the little cat and take him to the vet, get him fixed, vaccinated and release him.  He didn't have a collar, so we figured he was a stray.

Charlie called to make an appointment with our vet for the next day.  We set the trap out that afternoon and within minutes, we trapped the cat.

We moved him to a crate on the open patio.  We didn’t want him in the house because we didn’t know if he had anything contagious and didn’t want him near our cats.  He was feral.  Very afraid of us.  We don’t think he had ever been close to a human or touched.

At the vet, he was checked out for feline leukemia and was negative, which was good.  He received his rabies, FVRCP-PN, FeLV shots and was neutered.  The vet said he was about 2 years old.

He was at the vet for one day.  We brought him home and set him up in my computer room in our biggest dog crate and planned to keep him a few days until he healed from the surgery.

After a few days of good food, we noticed his coloring started to change.  He was cream colored, with orange ears, nose, tail, paws, and beautiful light blue eyes.

I went to Petsmart to meet with one of the animal rescue representatives from where we had adopted Jonesie a couple of years ago.  While I was waiting, I looked at the cats that were up for adoption.  There was a cat there who looked like the cat we had just taken in.  He was called a Flame Point, a mix of Siamese. 

I gave her the information on him, who we now were calling “Buffy”.  I was looking for someone who worked with feral cats, and might want to foster him and try to tame him, but was told, frankly, that they had more luck with people fostering feral kittens.  Buffy was already grown and probably no one would be interested in working with him.

Charlie and I watched him and saw how frightened he was, but at the same time, it was hard not to feel compassion for this little cat who had come into our yard for some reason.  I mean, when we went out and he saw us, he had run and struggled to climb that 7' fence, but then later he kept coming back.  We had not been leaving food outside, I have to admit, after  he started coming into the yard, I started putting some dry food on the other side of the house.

I was going out to the back patio one evening, just about dark.  As I opened the patio door, Buffy was getting ready to go under the glider there and get into the cat bed and settle for the night.  He saw me and ran away.  I felt bad, but at that point I didn’t know what to do.

We talked to a friend, who had a friend, who said she might be interested in fostering, but she had to check with her husband.  They had a trip planned and were going to be out of town for a couple of weeks.  We decided to start working with Buffy in the meantime until we found out if she would be able to help.

Charlie did some research on working with feral cats.  He started playing with Buffy and offering him treats.  Pretty soon, he was able to pet Buffy while he ate his food.

There were times when Buffy just couldn’t bring himself to trust and would shrink back into his corner, but for the most part, we could see that Buffy just had such a fear of us and he just couldn’t bring himself to trust us.

I have to say that he seemed to trust Charlie more than he trusted me.  I got nailed by his hard hitting paws a couple of times and he gave me some nasty bruises.  I bruise easy, but his hits really hurt.  I got a little disenchanted with trying to make friends with Buffy.  It wasn’t that I didn’t like Buffy, I just don’t think he cared for me and maybe I was trying too hard.

But, Charlie was progressing pretty well with Buffy.  He gave Buffy his breakfast and would come in to say, “I petted Buffy while he was eating!”  Good news.

When we finally had the enclosed patio completed, we decided to move Buffy to a 4x4x6' kennel.  We were surprised that the transition to this larger enclosure seemed more traumatic to him than when we had first put him in the smaller crate.

But, after a couple of days, he settled down.  When the cats walked by, he “talked” to them.  They hissed back at him, but it didn’t seem to discourage him.  He still talked.

We didn’t expect Buffy to touch our hearts the way he has, but I have to say, we never planned or expected that we would spend our time rescuing cats like we have.  It just happened. 

Buffy is a work in progress, but it looks like he’s our next project.  Charlie is emotionally connected to him.  He reminds Charlie of a little cat who he rescued many years ago in a barn in Cleveland, Ohio.  A feral little orange and white kitten who Charlie named “ET”, because of the way he stretched his little head up to look around. 

Like “ET”, Buffy has the innocent and fearful look of a cat who has never been handled by humans.  His trust has to be earned.  He has that look on his face like, “You’re not going to hurt me, are you?” 

No, no one is going to hurt you, Buffy.  You're safe as can be at the “Bell Haven”.

Buffy