Big Plans. No Energy.

I had big plans for today. I was going to start off by visiting the Corvallis Farmer's Market then head off to Pet Day at OSU. Just for some relief from the daily grind here.

But, I fell asleep on the couch, heat off, woke up middle of the night nearly frozen, since the weather here is behaving more like it is mid February, with cold temps, rain and wind.

I switched to my bed, after feeding the two cats from the DR, here recuperating from spays yesterday. I laced their food with wormer, and also left the carriers soaking in the carport in a bleach solution.

This morning, my own cats are disgruntled. I got some expensive anti viral meds. These drops are not just for Stinod, with her URI, probably herpes, because her best friend is Shady, from the BS colony, who came here with severe herpes. Stinod loves Shady, the mischief maker jokester. But Shady is a pain in the butt to medicate. So, I decided to confine her, and Brambles, the second cat I have here with chronic herpes, in the spare bedroom, to treat them with the drops for two weeks, see if I can get them into remission. But Shady is loud and screams like the world is ending if I try to treat her eyes, and will try to swat at me and bite me if I put drops in her eyes. Otherwise, she's a sweetheart. Herpes dries out the cornea, making the eyes painful and prone to secondary infection. That's why she hates having her eyes messed with, but there is no choice.

Dex is the third cat here with chronic herpes. Well, I shouldn't say that. Miss Daisy also has it, but her outbreaks are rare and not severe. It is estimated 66% of cats carry herpes. If only people would vaccinate their cats when young. Vaccinations help protect cats from herpes. Once a cat has it, they have it for life. But, most cats who carry herpes never show any symptoms, unless their immune systems get suppressed, like when under stress.

Brambles, Shady and Dex have frequent slurpy outbreaks. That is why all three will be confined for treatment now that I have the new anti virals. Whether Stinod has herpes or some calici or corona virus (kitty cold), not sure, but she is getting the drops and she doesn't like it. She is becoming frisky and playful but has six more days on Baytril. And she doesn't do well right now confined in the bathroom, clamoring for attention constantly.

Things have been slightly stressful here, but not too bad, I don't think. My cats here for the most are a happy troop.

I have noticed one thing since harboring cats. There is always one fall guy, picked on by the others. The "fall guy" changes. For instance right now, here, it's poor Calamity. Before that, it was Jade and Calamity joined in picking on Jade. Now she is the target. Good for Jade, who is not one of the cats who has turned on Calamity.

I wonder why the cats need one cat to pick on, to be the villain. If I leave for a couple days, then I become the villain and they all band together like one big picked on minority, against me, "the evil establishment", they the victims of evil establishment. I've come to regard this as fact of life, the way things are.

It's good for the cats when I leave them to themselves for a couple of days. They don't compete for my attention and lean on each other for support. They get along.

I think about us as political humans. If we had no political parties or big government to blame for what ails us, no matter what it is, maybe we'd get along and work together. Obama is now Calamity! Before that it was Bush as Jade. But who is really to blame for our human ills? One person? Or all of us?

The oil spill in the Gulf is not the fault of British Petroleum, it's all of us, who use oil and oil products. We create that demand. The Gulf waters, people and it's ecosystem will suffer the consequences. But it's all of us who caused that. The blame will begin, and probably has already, but when you drive your car or use anything containing petroleum products, and the list of such products is very very long, then resist the urge to point fingers away from yourself in blame. It's our lifestyle and if we don't want to change our lifestyle, these spills are inevitable results.


In other news, I just heard from the woman across the street that the man who lives a few houses down is getting married and selling the house where he lives now. I guess he and his wife to be are moving somewhere rural, out of the city. That's according to the neighbor.

She also says she doesn't notice as many cats in my window, like she's still counting. How nice, eh? This morning, more teens shooting pellet guns against the back fence. I went out and asked them to not be shooting against the fence, because they come through, when they miss, that if they are going to shoot in their backyards, which is legal in Albany, big surprise, they need to shoot a target that is against their house, so if they miss, it's their property, pets or family members who get shot, not me or mine.

They retorted, "Well, we didn't know you were in your backyard." I said, "It's not ok to ever shoot in my direction, or into my yard. Whether I am back here or not is not even a point of consideration."

I am angry.