Lucy and her Kittens

I want to come up with better names for Lucy and her kittens. The temporary fosterer gave them the names Lucy, Sunshine, for the gray girl kitten, and Frankie for the black tux boy kitten. I need something much better for Lucy especially. Black cats are terribly hard to find homes for. I was thinking about "Jamaica" or "Maui" or "Marley" or????? Well, give me suggestions out there, something exotic, something worthy of a sleek beautiful, slight, young and playful mom, who is also a fierce defender of her kittens and perhaps abnormally attached to her little boy kitten.

Likely dad of the little blue girl kitten? You guessed it. Tiny Tim, no less, now of Huntington Beach, CA. I guess I could call her Tiny Tina.

19 Cats Fixed This Week

The Flamepoint male, fixed today, from S. Albany.
The rural young female, fixed today.
Double crypt male, fixed today.
The double crypt again.
Three of the four kittens, who spent the night in my garage, from same location.

The younger black and white male, fixed today.
This is the Siamese male fixed today.
The Siamese male again.
Who do you think was daddy to this kitten? There were four kittens living under the house, born to the black and white female fixed Wednesday. The two black and whites had visible ringworm, one far worse than the other.
This kitten has some ringworm visible but nothing like his sibling, a black and white male kitten with ringworm hair loss on its belly, feet and face. I donned latex gloves and rubbed in antifungal meds. I also roundwormed and flea treated these kittens before returning them. They can't be fixed until over the ringworm. The Siamese kitten and the black kitten had no visible signs of ringworm.
This black and white male from same location was also fixed today. He looks just like his sister, who is mom to the kittens and now fixed also.

19 Cats were fixed this week. All but one were from Linn County. There was a total of $135 in copays. The cost to fix all 19 cats was $775. Seven of the cats were kittens, three males and four females.

Of the other 12 I took in, six were females and six were males. One of the females was pregnant while another was in heat. One of the males done today was a double crypt orchid, meaning two nondescended testicles and so the cost was equal to that of spaying a pregnant cat, to go into his belly and locate those testicles.

The copays came from three parties. The Corvallis feral got a $30 copay from the FCCO coordinator, which was nice of him. The seed warehouse man donated $100 to Poppa, which more than covered the cost to spay the pregnant young feral they had caught. For the other 17 cats, I got one $5 copay from the owner of a male who was fixed today.

The total cost to fix these 19 cats this wee: $775. Minus the $135 in copays: $640.

This does not count my out of pocket costs for transport. Nor for trap bait. Nor for flea treating the cats and worming some of them. Nor for other costs, including laundering cage covers, cleaning, etc.

Nonetheless, the costs down the road, if these cats had not been fixed, would be significantly higher, to someone out there. Nothing is free.

Today, I took in five of the 19 total. Four were males and one a female. Three were outside fed males from the house where Too Many Litters lives. That's the name I've given that poor old black female who had lice and worms. She's going to feel so much better now. The biggest male of these three was the double crypt and I got a great price from the vet for going in to locate those "lost boys".

The fourth male was a young owned flamepoint from south Albany. The female was a KATA referral from just outside Albany. They thought she was pregnant but she wasn't, thankfully. They're real nice folks, renters, and the cat came with the place. She has two kittens from a previous litter who soon will be big enough to be fixed.

On another note, a lost cat posted about on craigslist over and over, numerous fliers and a paper ad has got me feeling the lost cat blues. I've been searching some for this lovely Medium to long hair orange male with some white on his face, it appears, because I'm often in the area where he went missing. It is so hard to tell from pictures, however, what he looks like in real life. Makes me sad to see lost cat fliers or ads and I do what I can to look for such lost kitties. I hope they find him or that he comes home.

Be on the watch for Bailey, an orange male, I believe medium to long hair, white on face, light orange to white on chest, photos on craiglist ads, which are many, about him, lost in the area of Waverly, 34th street and Grand Prairie on October 24.

Graduating Idiots Knowingly in Lebanon

"Lebanon school board members voted 4-1 Thursday to end a requirement that current juniors and seniors pass eighth-grade state assessment tests before receiving diplomas."

Can you believe that Lebanon is giving diplomas to seniors who cannot read, write or do math at 8th grade level? Those board members who voted to allow this need fired. What a bunch of bull! Click post title to go to this very sad state of affairs in Lebanon education story.

Well, I suppose removing any requirements for actually learning anything in school, in order to graduate, is so tempting and easy.

Five Cats for Tomorrow

I have five cats lined up to go to be fixed tomorrow. Three more I trapped at the same location as the lice infested worm infested older female came from, who was fixed on Wednesday.

To catch one of the males, I had to contain four little ringworm covered kittens, who live under the house, to keep them out of the trap. They were starved so it wasn't hard to trap them one at a time. They won't be coming inside my house tonight, that's for sure, to spread ringworm spores. I wish there was a way to help them.

I left two traps set to catch the one big male left. I had no sooner gotten home then they called to say he was in the trap out back.

But would the many young people there, sitting on their butts in front of the TV, go haul the trap with the big cat in it around for me? No, they wouldn't. They sat on their lazy butts staring at the TV. I let them have it for such behavior.

I called them lazy ass young people, and "tv zombies" who would let a woman close to 60 with spinal cord issues haul their own cat around their slick dark berry vine enshrounded backyard, to the front, while they sat like lumps of dead lard staring, like zombies, and that's my best description of them, at a flickering TV screen. It's pathetic.

I heard on OPB today that 75% of military aged young people in America are unfit to serve. The number one reason: health. And that means obesity, the report said. The other two reasons: felony records and too stupid. By that, they explained, they meant they had almost no schooling and could not pass any basic tests. I think those are the people who should be going, and on the front lines.

I heard about the shrink who went nuts and shot a ton of people at the base in Texas. More senseless violence. I wonder what will come out as his reasons. I guess he has a Muslim name. Wonder if it will be a jihad thing. Such senseless loss of young lives. I can't fathom what the families must be going through.

166 Cats Taken in Through Albany Cat Grant

Since mid July, when Poppa got the second Albany cat grant, I have taken in 166 cats, from within city limits of Albany, to be fixed on the latest grant.

These have included 79 males and 87 females. 7 of the females were in heat. 8 of them were pregnant.

I have taken in other cats from Albany, but gotten them fixed through other programs, like the FCCO clinics and the Neuterscooter. This total does not reflect the number of cats I've taken in since mid July. Unfortunately, even cats just barely outside city limits, like the first two of nine needing fixed from just off Three Lakes, can't be paid for by the grant.

These cats are fixed through Poppa's general fund, which is low. I do ask people for a copay. Most do not donate even a dollar, however. Then I'm left trying to decide if I hold out for a copay, when I know they will never donate or just get the cats fixed.

Most people claim they will donate later but I"ve never had even one person follow through on such a promise. I wish I could figure out how to raise money for Poppa, that's for sure. It is a benefit to society and neighborhoods as a whole, when cats get fixed, besides helping that particular individual who cares for that particular cat I'm taking in, on Poppa Inc. funds, to be fixed.

So if there are or were funds to get the cats fixed despite owner negligance on copays, there is a strong argument that these funds benefit a community as a whole, and are not just used to subsidize someone who did not fix their own cats.

The week before last I took in 11 owned Corvallis cats, just that week. This certainly helped the two parties who owned these sets of cats but I need to find a grant to help fix Corvallis and Benton County cats.

14 Cats Fixed Today! Great Day for Mid Valley Cats.

One of three girl kittens, from Albany, rescued by a family, fixed today.
Another of the three girl kittens.
And the calico kitten of the three, rescued by an Albany family, but their landlord would only let them stay if all three were fixed.
One of three boys kittens, and one girl kitten, and their mom, taken in by a woman whose friend had to move, and was going to leave them behind.
There were two fuzzy gray males among these four kittens.
This is the mom of the four kittens, also fixed today.
Black tux female kitten, the only girl of the four.
Beside the two gray males, the black tux female, there was this guy, an all black male kitten.
One of two females fixed from near Three Lakes road. She has had way too many litters and is seriously run down, with a severe worm infestation, fleas and lice. I treated all these things and hope she'll have a better life now.
Another female from the same location as the run down older female. This one is young and has kittens, who look like they may have ringworm, living under the house. The kittens are close to 8 weeks old. Tomorrow I'll worm them also.
Sweet torti from the highway 20 location where I already caught ten outdoor ferals and took them in to be fixed. Just four more to go there, but they're small kittens, not growing well, need another month or more, before they can be fixed.

This is the torti fixed today, caught in Corvallis by someone who had not caught her for the FCCO clinic of Oct. 25. Nick, the coordinator, asked if she could be fixed using Poppa funds, so she was fixed today.
This is the last cat from the Ferry street group, fed by a couple who are moving. They found a barn to take the other four, but are going to keep this guy, whom they've fed since he was little.

Well, 14 cats were fixed today. 14! And I came down with a cold in the night. I've been sneezing and snuffling but the worst part is mouth open breathing due to congestion which inflames my facial nerves. Oh well.

In other news, an Iowa cat caught swine flu from its owners. Yesterday, the news was full of stories of ferrets catching swine flu when handled by their infected human owners.

I'm sure there will soon be reports of dogs catching swine flu too from close contact with sick humans. So be careful if you are sick with your pets, any species.

The 14 cats came from several situations. The seed warehouse caught the last cat needing fixed there. Number six, a female, and pregnant.

A woman in Corvallis who had not caught one cat she fed for the FCCO clinic, caught her yesterday so she too was fixed today.

The folks in town here, a very nice couple, who are moving and had fed five strays, finally caught that last one, whom they have loved very much, since he was born to the stray mom. They had found a barn home for the other four, after they caught them, and they were fixed. But this guy, neutered today, they're going to keep him.

It was good timing because they are moving in just a few days now.

Then, I got the young torti from over on highway 20 fixed. She's indoor. I had already trapped ten outside cats and gotten them fixed. They contacted Poppa after finding four kittens in their driveway. They decided to keep the kittens, too, if they can be fixed once big enough. So everybody there is now fixed, 11 so far, except those kittens. They need another month.

Then some folks contacted me about their friends who have outside cats who need fixed. I started with two only. Two females. One female is the mom of all, and is older and has had litter after litter after litter. Poor girl was pooping out worms, both types, before I even got her home. She is so run down from constant litters she also had lice. So, I took care of all those problems for her. She'll go home tomorrow. The other cat from there is a younger female. I also flea treated and wormed her.

Then, a woman off Knox Butte had a friend whose cat had kittens, then the friend was having to move and was going to leave them behind. So she took them in. Mom and all four kittens, three boys and a girl, were fixed today. They are beautiful kittens, especially the two blue boys! She is trying to find them homes. She's really nice.

Someone else who rescued three girl kittens wanted them to be fixed so her landlord would let her keep them. They were beautiful, too, of course. What kitten isn't? All three girls were fixed today also.

So it was a very very productive day, I'd say, for mid valley cats. Ten girls and four boys were fixed. But this cat trapper is worn out and snuffling and dripping from the nose and signing off for the night!

Low Jury Award for the Homeless Man Shot by Wicked Gun Freak Frat Boy

Two years ago a homeless man, Dennis Sanderson, was in an alley behind a frat looking in a dumpster for cans. Inside, at least two frat boys were frantically rushing to get their guns, so they could shoot at him. Again. He'd been shot at before there, with BB guns. This time, the frat boys used a .22 and shot him in the groin. He still carries that bullet as the surgeon was unable to remove it.

Click post title to go to story about the jury award. It's another slap in the face to this man, and all those like him. It's an endorsement again of the crime.

What did frat boy get? Five months. That's it. Five fricking months for his campaign of terror against the homeless, from the safety of his gun loaded frat.

When I heard of his sentence I was furious, knowing what I had faced, when homeless and considered a societal worm, when in the mental health system. Injustice. Frequent abuse. It's unbelievable what people see as ok for those at the bottom of society, especially if they think they can get away with it. I drove over to Corvallis, after the light verdict, with makeshift signs and protested in front of the court house.

Two years later, the homeless man brought a civil suite against the criminatl frat boy and the frat itself, in part to help pay his medical expenses. The low jury award won't pay off anything, probably not even his attorney's fees.

A woman who spilled hot coffee from McDonalds on herself got millions. Dennis Sanderson was deliberately shot by a frat boy and gets 41k, most of it likely will go to his attorneys.

During the publicity surrounding the incident, church people came forward to defend the fricking shooter as a good church boy. What a circus of clowns dancing to defend a criminal, without apparent moral compasses to guide them.

Dennis Sanderson has a record. The frat boy felt so superior to him, because he had a home, was in college and had lots of guns he wanted to shoot at something he felt above, bigger than. Little penis syndrome is one good explanation.

However, shooting with intent to harm, as these men did, just because they have a home, and Sanderson didn't, says nothing about the comparitive states of darkness in their souls. Grimes soul harbored far more darkness than Sanderson's ever had. The evil of his soul was cloaked to this jury and to others by his circumstance. Grimes was nicely dressed, clean, was in college and had a home. These outward trappings fool so many! Pathetic.

Sanderson's no saint. But Grimes and his cohorts, who tried to hide the crime and those who stood up for him and defended his actions, well you people are a special breed of self righteous hoods.

The other ridiculous part of Grimes sentence was that he had to do community service at a homeless shelter. That is like decreeing that a child molestor do community service working at a school cafeteria. It's stupid.

Justice is supposed to be for all.

Beautiful Fallen Leaves for Sale

You can't blame me for trying:


For Sale: Beautiful Fallen Leaves - $5 (Albany)

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Date: 2009-11-02, 6:06PM PST
Reply to: sale-wm34f-1448932132@craigslist.org [Errors when replying to ads?]

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I have a bountiful crop of beautiful fallen leaves piling up around my house and yard--maple, birch, poplar and a few cherry tree leaves. A mere five dollars will get you all the leaves you could ever want. Picture children jumping gleefully into large piles of leaves! Come get your gorgeous fall leaves before they're completely dead and crinkled and ugly and a fire hazard. Fall leaf pickup by the city, is still weeks away, due a calandar mix up, in which officials in charge of leaf pickup, mistook spring for summer, summer for fall, you get the drift. So.......leaves, for sale. If you cannot afford a large pile of leaves, I will consider granting you free leaves or a leaf voucher so you can get your fill. Thank you.

Cat Photos

Shaulin, from the Bengal Group colony. She's still here, waiting for a home.
Shaulin again. Both her brothers were adopted immediately, but she is more standoffish than they were, shyer.
Calamity, formerly a stray kitten on Lyons street.
Calamity again.
The seed warehouse caught their sixth cat. Three others we caught there were fixed at the Neuterscooter clinic. Two of those were kittens. Subsequently, they caught two more kittens. The seedman and his wife fostered all four kittens, and found homes for two, and they are keeping two. The teen male was returned. They have been after the mom and maybe this is her.
The seed kitty again, who will be fixed on Wednesday.
I thought the fake tree visible from their patio was interesting, sooooo, Kate took a photo of the tree with me in the foreground. It's how they make antennas more palatible I think.
Kate and myself, right before I left. Kate and Ned are great people and will give Tim the best of homes.
Here's me, in Huntington Beach. I did forget to take my own camera. Kate took this on theirs.
Sam, relaxing.
Sam, irritated.
Jade, from Conser, in October.
Jade again. She needs those claws trimmed!
Calamity, abandoned on Lyons, still here and getting big.
Calamity again.
Teddy, from the homeless camp, also still here and getting big.
Lucy, from downtown Albany, with Frankie, her boy kitten. I brought back Frankie and Sunshine, her blue girl, from the Wilsonville fosterer. She still has Tiger Lily, Lucy's black kitten. Tiger Lily is much bigger and more self confident than this pair. Frankie likes to stand on his back legs and touch his mother's face with both paws. It's so cute.
Lucy and Frankie.

Lucy Takes Her Kittens Back

Lucy accepted her kittens back just moments ago. She had been severely stressed, saw enemies in everyone, when she first returned here. She literally screamed in rage and aggression if she saw a shadow. I thought if her kittens returned, she would be happier but she also had attacked them. I removed them for their safety.

But, today, and last night, after I got back, she relaxed somewhat. She was dehydrated, from stress, and hairball afflicted. I used catnip and lots of petting and play to induce sleep for her, which she needed. When I slept most of the day today, she did also.

I just woke up actually, after falling asleep on my couch about 9:00 p.m. I'd also slept away much of the day. I took in Frankie, her little boy first. She huffed and hissed and growled, but then flopped on her side, showing her teets, like she wanted him to nurse. Her eyes were dilated in confusion. I let her sniff Frankie's tail. She growled and huffed again again, but sniffed at his butt.

I was sitting on the floor and let him play while on my lap. She turned around, from where she was, a few feet away, and made the first of several mother cat calls. I then knew it was a go, and let him off my lap. She began licking him all over. I made a bed for them, then went and got Sunshine, the blue girl, Tiny Tim's offspring.

Lucy is back to being Lucy, a loving devoted mother and wonderful all around kitty.

Take note, mother's out there. And kids, too.

Hissy spittiness is oft the result of hairballs, dehydration, stress and sleep deprivation. Take care of yourselves! Everyone feels better then.

Totally Exhausted!

I'm zonkered! There's something seriously seriously wrong with Lucy now. She left here a happy contented mother cat. She has returned pretty much a screaming ballistic monster. She occupies my bathroom and I don't know what in the world I will do with her.

I can't say what happened after she left here because I don't know. I don't know what to do with her now.

I've gotten hate e-mails after writing a joke Halloween letter to the paper, Halloween theme, about living in a development. It was a response to a dispute between a housing association and a home owner who couldn't put out her statues or was getting complaints and violation letters about the statues from the housing association. It was ironic also because the statues were representative of every religion. It's not like anybody's believes weren't included in the woman's entourage of statues.

Apparently, some didn't understand that Halloween was approaching and it was a spoof letter I wrote. That in itself is hysterical.

I stand by my observations of housing developments and the crush of personal expression and freedom enforced in many by overly zealous housing association boards who dictate rules about how people can decorate or use their own property.

Trailer parks with a higher price tag!

It's pathetic to me how people cave in and give up freedom or take away the freedom of others and find ways to justify it that make these actions seem fuzzy and a.o.k..

I'm Back. Tiny Tim's with Kate and Ned.

I am exhausted so will make this short. I'm back. Tiny Tim is in great hands, with Kate and Ned. I had a great day. I've been in Portland, Irvine, Huntington Beach, even Seattle. All in one day! And I went to the beach, down in So Cal, even went wading. The beach there was just like on Bay Watch, with life guard towers and surfer boys, blond of course, and the paved pathway, with lots of bikes and walkers and joggers, just like you see on TV! It was fabulous.

Kate drove me down to see the ocean and beach not too long after I had arrived. We took Tim to their place, visited a bit, then went to the beach with a sandwich. I didn't have long to be there and I was already tired. But, I thought, I'll never get such a chance again. So off we went. Palm trees, everywhere! And there were little small oil pumps in many side and backyards, like a lot of people had discovered oil right in their own yards and were pumping it out to sell.

Tiny Tim made friends all the way down. The flight attendant upgraded me to first class right after the plane took off from Portland. I had showed her Tiny Tim when boarding and she thought it was a wonderful story, that he was getting a home in Huntington Beach with good people after his hard luck life.

She said if Kate and Ned for any reason could not take him, she would. There were not a lot of people on that flight.

He was half out of the carrier most of the way down. He's just so laid back and lovable.

I had a nice breakfast with my brother, his wife and daughter, in Portland, before continuing to the airport in the morning, to catch the first flight out. That also was a bit rushed. My brothers' wife even set a timer, so when it went off, I knew I had to be out of there and on the way within two minutes.

Kate and Ned were just like I expected them to be, really wonderful. They were ready for Tiny Tim and he took to them instantly, making himself at home on their couch.

I got a little worn out on the trip back to Seattle. My legs hurt. I couldn't get comfortable, was exhausted but couldn't sleep. But I made it. The planes were all early getting in and the flight attendants very pleasant. I had half hour between the flight into Seattle and the prop Horizon plane out, for the short flight back to Portland. I had heard so much on the news lately about airline travel. It wasn't like they say on the news at all. It was easy and pleasant I thought.

I picked up two of Lucy's kittens on the way back, because she is not the cat who left here. She growls all the time and is on edge like she expects to be attacked and whatever happened at the house of the people who adopted her wasn't good for her, that is for sure.

She was growling and hissing at the kittens at first, but that is gradually subsiding. For now, they are protected in a large carrier inside the bathroom. I believe she is dehydrated and hairball clogged and sleep deprived also. If she will accept the kittens and they even try to nurse, endorphins will be released and she will feel so much more relaxed.

I cannot believe I have been so many places and had so many wonderful experiences in one day! And Tiny Tim is in such good hands.