Run Away, Run Far Far Away!

I'm running away. Or the blog is.

I've moved this blog and my other ones over to Wordpress. The link is https://raincrowsong.wordpress.com

Everything that was here is there as well, and I won't be updating this one.

Cheers.

Loki: The Cat

LOKI

 

During the kitten season of 2015 we took in a lot of kittens with 

medical issues. Cases that weren't deemed to be too contagious to 

our older, healthier cats we put in cages in the house. We had a 

number of single crates as well as a three-level cage and a ferret 

cage in the living room and kitchen. The shelter also had a bad 

outbreak of ringworm, so we took in as many of those as we 

could. 

Terrie Lynn (Cat Dancing) was using an enclosed room in the 

carport as her stained-glass shop. It was finished inside and had a 

window a/c unit, so it could be made pretty comfortable as our 

ringworm ward. My office, which was in an old office trailer 

beside the carport also did double duty as the feline leukemia/FIV 

ward.

Ringworm isn’t a worm, but a fungus. In cats it shows up as 

sometimes circular areas of scabby skin causing hair loss. 

Treatments vary, sometimes involving anti-fungal dips and 

ointments. One of the better topical treatments we've found 

involves cutting the hair around the area and applying Miconazole 

7 ointment. Miconazole 7 is actually sold as a yeast infection 

cream under many brand names, but is equally effective and fairly 

cheap when purchased under the store brand.

 

There were a good many kittens of various ages in the ringworm ward. I helped to take care of and medicate them since I passed by that room on the way to my office many times a day. Some of the crates held kittens with very bad ringworm and U.R.I. as well, I believe. U.R.I., or upper respiratory infection in cats is much like it is in humans, involving bronchitis like symptoms but it also involves eye infections that can become very serious and cause blindness or eye loss. For the U.R.I., medicated eye ointments are used, as well as nebulizer treatments with and without Albuterol. We built various combinations of boxes, such as litter buckets with air holes, and cat carriers wrapped in plastic or towels to contain the cats/kittens and allow the nebulizer vapor to flow inside for treatment. I jokingly referred to the first of these boxes as a “Schrodinger Box.”

 

One of the crates in the ringworm ward held two very sick kittens, barely weaning age. They were both covered in ringworm and pitiful looking. I admit I had to force myself to touch them and put salve on them, they looked so bad. I almost cringed to touch them. It is possible to get ringworm from cats, but as long as you take care and wash your hands, etc. it's pretty safe. In large part I just wanted to get done fast and get out. 

 

One of the kittens, though, wouldn't let me. He was missing a lot of hair, but he was a black and white tuxedo kitten with a black nose and very affectionate. In fact he craved affection. When I was feeding them and medicating the other kitten he would climb the cage and try to get out. I finally started letting him roam the top of the cage and explore a bit, but what he wanted the most was to crawl up on my shoulder and rub against me. 

 

The first several times, like I said, I was like “ewwww! Leper!” and shied away. He was so insistent, though, that he won me over and I began to cuddle him and pet him more when I visited. I gave attention to all the cats, of course. They were all adorable, but sick. He, however, stole my heart with his plucky spirit and affection.

 

 I named him Loki, since, even in his limited surroundings at the time he was mischievous, into everything, and irrepressible!It seemed it took forever, but soon he and the others healed and we looked for adopters. As usual some went to rescues, and some to adoption events. Loki ran loose in the house for a couple of weeks with the other cats and was still as mischievous and affectionate as ever. Of course, we already had “too many” cats and soon we found an adopter for him. We were sad but convinced that we had found him a good home. 

 

A short time passed and we heard from the adopters. Loki had hidden the entire time he was at their house. They finally decided it wasn't a good match and brought him back. He was covered in soot. They had found him hiding in the fireplace. As soon as he got back in our house he jumped straight up onto my shoulder and snuggled against my neck. He made it quite obvious that we were his family and no other would do. We bowed to necessity and Loki became another of our “foster fails”. 

 

Loki is still with us. He grew out of his shoulder sitting phase, although he still will make a token leap up there just to remind me, I think. He’s quite a load when he lands now! There is also rarely any warning! He is still into everything. His black nose and black pattern on his face give him sort of a squinty appearance reminding me of the actor French Stewart in “Third Rock From The Sun.”

 

 He lives up to the name “Loki”. His other nicknames are “Loki Nose” and “Loki Pokey”. He is very definitely his own character and gets along quite well with the other cats.

 

I admit that I have a soft spot for these guys. I was sick with asthma almost every winter as a child. I missed a lot of school and was in the hospital quite a bit. I was also for all practical purposes a orphan. I knew my parents but was raised by my grandparents and my status as “not theirs” was made clear. These hurt and orphaned kittens pull at my heartstrings every time. When I pet Loki I remember again how sick and lonely he was and my heart melts all over again. 

 

A (MOSTLY) FELINE MENAGERIE

 HOW IT BEGAN

 How do these things ever begin? I love animals and have always had pets. In my last bout of bachelorhood, though, I decided not to have any. I had a fairly nice mobile home at the time. Yes, I know. That's not the accepted term for them now. The dealers at least want you to call them “manufactured housing” or even nothing different from just “house”. It took me a long time to get past calling them “trailer houses” though, and it's getting a bit late to change for me. 

Anyway, I decided on no pets. They were allowed in the park I lived in. However, I enjoyed not having dependents for once. Over something like 33 years I had been married twice and raised five children. I was fairly recently divorced and the kids were mostly grown. 

I had a short commute to work and was enjoying the ability to eat out, go to movies, even take a long weekend away from home without needing to arrange care-taking for pets or kids. 

I missed my kids, definitely. I missed them a lot. I missed my wife bitterly. It was a bad break-up for me. Still, it was a new experience for me to have no commitments for once except to myself. I still had the occasional company of an affectionate Siamese cat that lived in the neighborhood, so I wasn't totally bereft of furry friends. 

 I actually had a couple of years of bachelorhood before two things happened, almost simultaneously. My mother moved in, and I fell in love. A cynic might say that the first thing may have forced the second. I won't speculate. My mother had mobility issues and needed a place to live. I had never actually lived with her after I was about 4 years old, so it seemed nice to get to know each other. I turned over the master bedroom and bath to her and she settled in. 

About the same time I met Terrie Lynn (AKA Cat Dancing). We were both members of the same email group, though we hadn't met before. We had crossed paths a couple of times without meeting. She noticed my email address in my response to another member and liked it so we started emailing and set up a meeting. It was only partially a disaster. In fact it was pretty much love at first sight! 

 Things progressed and got serious and eventually I moved out of my house and turned it over to my mother. I moved about an hour away. She later got into a subsidized housing arrangement and I sold the mobile home. 

Back to pets. 

Terrie Lynn had a son, Michael, three cats, (Simba, Isis, and Salem) and a dog (Sky) when we got together. While we lived there Isis was killed by dogs and Sky disappeared. We also adopted two kittens. A black named Panthera and a siamese named Pongo. Pongo ultimately was also killed by dogs or maybe coyotes. All three losses were pretty traumatic for us. 

In 2011 we moved over near Bastrop, Tx. We rented a place with six acres and a nice little house. We also built our own vending booth at Sherwood Forest Faire, a rennaissance faire nearby. Cat makes Intarsia wood art, and I make flutes, mostly of the Native American Style. 

 Cat became aware of conditions at the Bastrop County Animal Shelter. This was a kill shelter but volunteers were able to take at-risk animals and foster them to adoption. Cat took in a cat named India that needed medical attention and became friends with several of the staff and volunteers. 

Over time we fostered more and more cats. A few them became “foster fails”, or as I call them “Velcro Cats”, as they velcro themselves to your heart and are hard to let go! 

We worked a lot with Bastrop Animal Rescue and after a time Cat teamed up with a friend and started Bastrop C.A.T.S. a non-profit TNR organization. TNR stands for Trap Neuter Return. They help people trap ferals and strays, get them neutered free or cheaply and return them to where they were if possible. As such, in addition to the regular fostering, we often overnight feral cats on their way to or from neutering. 

These organizations as well as other volunteers have brought down the numbers of euthanized animals at the shelter considerably in the last few years. 

Over time we’ve reached a point where we don’t directly foster as many cats ourselves but network with other volunteers and rescues to manage it. With lots of friends who also foster or donate time and funds we manage to cover the need. Currently we’re toward the end of kitten season and we have a few visitors. 

We, ourselves have a resident population of around 20 cats, a few of which are outdoor cats. Some of them have medical issues that make them hard to adopt out. Others we just couldn't bear to part with. We also have a wonderful dog and two less wonderful macaws, all rescues of one sort or another. 

 And chickens. We have chickens. 

In future posts I plan to tell the stories of some of our furry family, in no particular order, just as they occur to me. 

Stay tuned!