Moving Forward Painfully

I am in a lot of pain, nights usually, from whatever is wrong with my back or hips or legs.  I was told it was likely pulled tendons or ligaments, and given exercises, but those exercises are either making whatever is wrong worse or not helping.  Nights are the worse, with pain setting in or waking me up, and getting sleep has been problematic.

Thunder and Vino did not yet go to Portland, but will, as soon as the sanctuary caretaker gets over the flu or a bad cold, whatever she caught. Their  trip may be as soon as tomorrow.

 I want to recruit donations, sponsorships for the pair going, as the sanctuary is full, and she is accepting the two cats, so Thunder doesn't have to die, as an FIV positive feral boy.  Vino goes also so Thunder doesn't go alone from the colony.

 Let me know in comments if you can pledge something per month for Thunder and Vino.  The sanctuary is run under Poppa Inc., the nonprofit that funded thousands upon thousands of mid valley spays and neuters and many mid valley cats call the sanctuary home, as they had nowhere else to go.

Sponsors would mail checks once monthly to Poppa Inc. or donate on their not up to date website, but the donation buttons still work.  When Poppa closed their spay neuter mission, the board member who kept the website up to date retired also.  A replacement has not been found, to up date the website and to turn it into primarily Odd Cat Out's page, although Poppa Inc. remains the nonprofit name.

I'm hoping to come up with $30 per month per cat, for Thunder and Vino, for Odd Cat Out, but whatever I can get pledged per month would certainly help!

Another six of the Lebanon cats will likely be leaving shortly, maybe this week, or first of next.  That will leave only 7 left to find a place for.  I will keep here the cats I could tame, if nothing else comes up for them, like Huckleberry, Mopsy, Blueberry and Rosy.  Blueberry is the delightful flirtatious long hair gray with the white chest spot and very much would like to turn tame.

Moving forward and on, from that huge situation.  Patience is the key.   Been hard, tough, on my body also.  But there's nothing that can be done but to keep going, keep trying, hope for a good ending, for the cats, and for me with the pain in my back and hips.

I had a disturbing encounter at a local store.  A man was outside, talking to a clerk, and when he went in he approached me and asked if I remembered him.  I did, but I didn't want to.  He had let his cats breed and free roam unfixed.  They then bred with strays, he'd feed.  He never fixed any of them and some woman associated with another nonprofit asked me to help.  She knew a neighbor.

The police had been there, after complaints from neighbors.   The guy is highly degreed with a high salaried job.   But he won't fix his cats, and thinks somebody else should do it at their cost.  I tried three times to clean that up.  Shaulin is one of three kittens I grabbed there with bellies so enlarged from roundworms, I knew they would not live if I didn't take them.  The two boys got homes.  Shaulin did once but was returned after one day.

The last time I was there, he had a woman following him inside, as I sat there, trapping his cats, he an able bodied man.  She glanced back with a look of "what is going on here", but followed him inside nonetheless.

Across the street a neighbor yelled at me, that I should not be returning these cats.  I defended myself saying I was a volunteer, unpaid, that the neighbors should all be getting their cats fixed.  The neighbor across from the man who doesn't fix his cats, joined in, with the other neighbor about it, as her owned unfixed male cat sprayed down my tire.  I yelled at her to get her cat fixed.

Later her teen kids were jumping up and down on her mini vans bumper, bouncing it til I knew something would break.  And still later, bored from no action I guess, they began throwing things at me, in my car, and trying to sneak over to pull the drop trap trigger string on cats that were already fixed.  I warned them away twice, but when they threw a ball at me, then a shoe, when I got out of my car, that was it.  I threw it back at them, gathered my things and was gone for good.

To encounter that man again, to hear him start at it again, about how its not his fault, that I should come help him, while I still am caring here for one of his cats and all the others from similar assholes, well it was too much.  I told him, concealing my despair and anger, how he needs to take responsibility and get those cats fixed. I told him to use the FCCO clinic and get it done.

 He made poverty claims again, with a brand new car parked outside, next to mine, dilapidated now with 250,000 miles on it from transporting other people's cats, like his.  He complained Safehaven wouldn't help.  The big problem is him, that he won't lift a finger and get it done, take responsibility.  I left shaking, sad, angry that people like him harm so many cats, manipulate, play victim, while the cats suffer. It affected me to see him, hear the same old, find out he's still not taking action or responsibility, when he easily could. I used to e-mail him, to alert him to deals on cat fixing, like when the FCCO was in Corvallis, but I finally gave up.

I can't take walks in Albany.  Every street has its memories, most bad, of people and how they have treated animals.  I am PTSD'ed from living in this town, with animal issues on every block.  I tried so hard when I had Poppa funds, to make a difference for these animals.  But if people don't change their ways, it is hopeless here.  I don't know what would help.  I have done my duty on this block since moving here, getting 48 unfixed cats who roamed through, fixed and found homes for the ones I could who didn't have them.  I wish everyone would do that, in their areas, at least.  Would sure set back the assholes and help the animals.

 Miss Daisy is back to her old self, trying to wake me up early, as she wants me up, with her howling and face tapping, and jumping on me.   Why she does this, I don't know, because within an hour after we are all grumpily up drawn too early from sleep hard gained laying as I do on aching legs, she is fast asleep again, while I am up, moaning and blistering about.

The self-important deaf Miss Daisy!

Old Electra is still with me, ancient and creaky and still full of spirit.  She has passed into the somewhere over 15 stage in age.

Rosy, Patches daughter, from the Lebanon colony cats, and one I am working to tame.  She's looks hungover, maybe from catnip I gave the colony cats last night.  You can see it around her.

Willy, one of the younger colony boys.  Look at those huge front feet he has not yet grown into!   He is going to be a huge cat one day.