zonkerville

nap time!

Sadie

Occasionally it's nice to take a break from the cat rescue work and take on some dog rescue. Such was the case yesterday when on the way home from the plumbing shop, a little dog darted in front of us across the busy 7-lane road we were on. I quickly turned across traffic and was in pursuit. Little dogs can run fast, very fast, thankfully, I was in an agile little car that also can go fast.

The dog turned on another busy road and started down that way. I got ahead of it and tried to cut it off with the car, but that only made it dart out into the road once again. Cars narrowly missed hitting her, she was so small and her coloring blended in with the road. By then a few other cars were in pursuit as well, we formed a rolling blockage to keep other cars from getting near her. Then I tried to divert the dog away from the road into an apartment complex, but she wasn't having anything to do with that and again darted across the busy road. Cars slammed on their brakes, narrowly missing her. Meanwhile there was a woman running down the sidewalk, holding a small child and yelling at the dog. I assumed she might be the dog's owner.

The dog was looking tired with her tongue hanging out, but she kept running. She tried to lose me by reversing course and running down a perpendicular bike trail. I would have lost her too while I turned the car around, but thankfully there was a guy on foot in hot pursuit and I saw him turn the corner down the bike trail. I drove into the school parking lot, in hopes of cutting the dog off in a secure fenced corner. I ditched the car and joined the foot pursuit. The dog managed to break through our human blockage and kept running.

But this time she was running into the back fenced corner of the school property, she would be trapped. During this whole pursuit the dog's human-mom was running after her screaming her name, Sadie. I heard the lady yell that the dog would only come to her, that she's scared of other humans. My goal was to get Sadie cornered and then running toward her human.

Sadie, exhausted, took a breather in the bushes near the fence. That provided just enough time for her human to catch up before she took off again, but this time she ran right to her human. The lady immediately leashed the dog and the drama ended in tears of exhaustion and gratitude that her dog, Sadie, was still alive.

It's crazy how fast those little dogs can run. In the end, I bet Sadie ran about 1 mile (1.6 km). Apparently the dog had jumped off their apartment balcony and took off running. It's lucky to be alive as several cars barely stopped in time.

When this was all over with, Laura commented that apparently when an animal is in danger, all my safe driving practices go by the wayside. Yep, I suppose that is true!

MK's HOME!!!!!

Guess who was waiting for me on the back porch this morning? MK!! He was hanging out in his bed as he had always done before! I'm filled with joy! MK's home! MK's home!!!!!

Thank you everyone who has been purring and praying for his safe return. I'm so thrilled he's alive and well.

Possumlady posted a comment on my previous post about sending out a notice to the people in the neighborhood, asking them to open their garages and sheds. I've been feeling so powerless about him being gone, and feeling like there is nothing I can do. So I printed up some flyers last night and walked around door to door. I met lots of neighbors who were sympathetic and happy to help. I don't know if that was what brought him home or not, but I'm grateful to the Possumlady for the great idea!

MK's home!! MK's home!!! MK's home!!!!!

black and white

I wish I had some good news to report about MK. Still no sign of him. I called the local animal shelter and asked if his description matched any deceased cats that animal control may have picked up in the area. Thankfully, there was no match.

Thank you everyone for your kind, supportive comments. I greatly appreciate your thoughts and prayers for MK. I'm trying to hold onto hope that maybe he's locked in someone's garage and they are away on vacation for the week. Meanwhile, I keep looking out the window for him but all I see is Pierre by himself, looking rather lonely.

Oliver was hanging around the yard all day Wednesday, looking very picturesque.

Oliver LOVES to roll around in the gravel. 

When he gets up he looks more like a gray cat than a black cat!

MK is missing

It's been a difficult week here at the Fourwhitepaws Hobby Cattery. It is with great sadness that I report that MK has gone missing. I last saw him the morning of July 4th when he was with Pierre and Oliver for breakfast, as is typical. But after all the crazy simulated war experience from that evening, (idiot neighbors shooting off fireworks) he has not returned.

April 12, 2014

MK is semi-feral, like his brother Pierre. MK loves Oliver and Pierre and would often spend the evenings and nights with his best friend Pierre. It's extremely unusual for him to be gone so long. I fear something may have happened to him or he got scared and hid in some tight space that hasn't been able to free himself.

 Theo watches from the window as Pierre, MK, and Oliver enjoy time together. April 26, 2013

I've looked at the shelter intake registry and nothing matches him and nothing is posted on Craigslist. I hung some posters around the area and posted something on Craigslist in case someone has seen him. I also did the long walk all around the neighborhood looking for some sign of him.

MK - please come home, we miss you!

Oliver was safely inside the night of the 4th. He was beyond terrified. As is the norm for that night, I pitched my sleeping bag in his room and cuddled with him all night so he could feel safe. He cuddled in until the crazy subsided. Pierre somehow survived the night, I'm thankful he's safe and sound.

MK and Oliver hanging out, last photo of MK from the day he went missing

I haven't given up all hope that MK might return, but he's never disappeared for this long before. He's not friendly at all, so no one's going to snatch him. I'm feeling torn up inside as my heart is broken. I so wanted to keep Oliver's family safe and together, and now I feel I have failed. I'm sure Pierre must be heart broken too, not having his buddy around.

Odyssey update

Thank you everyone for your purrs, it really helped!!

For much of Sunday Odyssey's temperature continued to rise and she refused to eat. More sub-q fluids.

The rescue group I volunteer with, has a vet who makes herself available when there's a need. So, thankfully, she has been advising the treatment of little Odyssey. She was given a shot of something to help reduce her fever so that she might start eating. Well, I think it worked.

Later on Sunday, her temperature had fallen and by evening she was at her normal temperature, 100.3°F (37.9°C) and she was back to eating like a miniature horse with lots of kitten-energy!

This morning, she is still enthusiastically eating, although her temperature has climbed a little, 101.8°F (38.8°C). We were so relived to have her temperature drop last night and for her to return to her normal kitten-self. We'll keep nursing her along. I'm not sure I'm ready to say we are out of the woods quite yet, but I sure hope so.

purrs for Odyssey

Odyssey's not feeling very well and needs your purrs.

Saturday we noticed she was running hot and she seemed much less active. We kept watching and noticed she wasn't eating and had diarrhea. We were able to get her to eat a little baby food. Last night we took her temp and it was 105.1°F (40.6°C). On Tuesday when she was spayed, she weighed 3lbs (1.36 kg), but now she's down to 2lbs 13.5oz (1.29 kg).

After consulting with some cat rescue folks we decided to try to administer sub-q fluids and amoxicillin. In the last 9 months of Max's life we had gotten rather adept at "juicing" Max, as we called it then. It has been quite a few years, but we figured it would all come back to us.

Well, Max was a giant compared to this little girl. So that little needle when held next to Odyssey sure looked like a massive needle. I couldn't hold her still and with her wiggling and screeching and that needle sticking in her - yea, you get the idea - not something I want to be in the same room with. After many failed attempts, we called for help - and Sue came right over even though it was nearly midnight. (Thank you Sue!!!)

Not much change this morning, still no interest in food and just wants to sleep. We took her temp again and it was 105.4°F (40.8°C) - it's going in the wrong direction. She expressed interest in Laura's breakfast, so she got a little bacon and eggs. She enthusiastically snarfed that down, lets hope it stays down.

She's super cuddly and really loves sleeping on one of our laps. And her purr motor seems to be working just fine as she purrs and purrs.

Please pray, purr, or whatever you do, for Odyssey's well-being. We are all worried about her.