Transporter

A transport of ten or so California cats to Oregon has been in the works for over a month.  They were semi ferals, fed by an old woman who died, I think is the story, but I'm not totally sure.  Some were in a kill shelter I think.  Again, not sure.

I was signed on for a short part of the Oregon transport, from Roseburg to the sanctuary just south of Portland.

Today was the day.   I should have been home by noon, or by 1:00 p.m. at the latest.  I was up by 5:00 and left by 6:00 a.m.

All systems were go, I thought.  It was a two hour drive down to Roseburg and the meet up location with a transporter couple.  They have a business doing it.  I would then drive back up past Albany on up to the Sanctuary, three more hours, and then an hour or so back home.  Six hours in all.  Home by noon or 1:00 p.m.

However, just south of Eugene, I suddenly get three voice mails from them.  I hear them delivered and pull over to listen.  I have no clue why they were not delivered when the people called, but rather in the case of one call, the next day.   Seems the transporter people were delayed an hour in packing up the cats last night at the rescue who had them in Long Beach.  Then traffic had been bad, so they were, they said, four hours behind.  What?  FOUR HOURS?

Well, it was actually much worse than that.  They were over five hours behind schedule.   As a better option than waiting for hours in Roseburg, I drove on to meet them two hours beyond Roseburg but they were not there yet either. I waited another hour.  They arrived after 11:00 a.m.  They were supposed to arrive two hours farther north at 8:00 a.m.

We loaded the 11 carriers into my car and I headed out already worn out from driving so far and frazzled from too much coffee.  My car used to be comfortable but not so much anymore.  The seat is worn down to bare metal on one side of the driver's seat.   I've tried to hold what is left of the seat together with duct tape.  The seat has gone through 250,000 miles too, like the car, with someone sitting on it to drive those miles.  That would wear down anything.

My butt went into spasms.  The nerve or something gets cut off on my gas pedal leg, making it twitch and spasm.  The shoulder strap of the seat belt cuts into my neck.  Today was difficult and painful.

One cat cried almost the entire trip up to the sanctuary.  I stopped only once because something was cutting into me.  It was the seat metal.  My towel cushion had shifted.

Here are photos of some of the cats, as they rode, in carriers.  I did not know their names or take photos of all 11 of them.  The one cat whose name I recall is the huge orange tabby tux male.  They call him Terrible Tony because he's got one of those hissy spitty swatty personalities.  But sometimes those big males are just big babies waiting to come out as loves.

Terrible Tony

The farther I drove, the more uncomfortable I became.  I was very tired and crabby by this point.  I just wanted it to be over.  Finally it was.  Finally about 4:00 p.m. I arrived at the sanctuary, two hours shy of 12 hours of driving.  Those poor cats, eh?  They had endured in small carriers riding clear from southern CA.

 I was there at the sanctuary over an hour, walking, moving, trying to get the circulation going.  My friend and her workers unloaded the cats and got them set up in cages where they'll be a couple weeks getting used to things.  One little girl with one blue eye and one yellow eye was quickly talking to other sanctuary cats and very happy to be there.   It was cute!

None of the cats seemed worse for the wear and were quickly set up in big cages where they could sleep and stretch and eat and use the litter box.  I got to see some old familiar faces at the sanctuary.

Also, I heard the news those five teens that went up to one rescue, who wouldn't take them because four of them tested light positive for Felk, have all now retested negative.  I figured they would.

And I got to see the likes of Thunder and Flopsy, two of the Olson Lane cats at the sanctuary.  Thunder had to go to the Sanctuary because he is FIV positive.  Flopsy went because Thunder needed to go with someone he knew.

Thunder, from the 60 cats left behind on Olson Lane.  He's up in the rafters at OCO Sanctuary.

Flopsy, from the Olson lane colony.  She looks like many of her relatives here, but especially like Vino and Mopsy McMuffin.

I got to see Ava and Isis too from the Bone Pile Colony, that tragic Lebanon colony where they threw dead cats in a pile that became a pile of bones.  Got over 30 cats fixed there and removed every kitten as they were going to shoot them and were digging a hole to throw them in.  Something like 20 teens and kittens I took and the two mother cats Ava and Isis went to OCO.  Forest, one of the teens who didn't tame, is still here with me from that colony.

Isis.  I guess I forgot to take a photo of Ava.

I saw Bobbi from the Corvallis homeless camp too.  He's not that young anymore.

Bobbi, one of the 52 cats I got fixed at the Corvallis homeless camp.  OCO also has Trucker and Princess from the camps and I have Honey, Teddy and Starr.

The Sanctuary looks like an art project.  It's very cool and the cats seem happy and healthy.  I've never seen it look so good.   Or maybe my memory is bad because I have not been out there in a long long time.  I could not lift the carriers to carry them up the stairs due to my shoulder which was getting better until the long day today seemed to inflame it all over again.  Fortunately, I did not have to do that part of the work.

An artsy cat tree

One of  the kitties, no doubt worn out like me, set up mostly, in a nice cage.  He has a shelf too that you can't see in the photo.  It's real nice.

  I had to get back in that car and drive another hour back home.  I got home about 7:30.  I tried to stop for supper groceries but realized I was way too tired to get out of the car and do that so I just came home.  I don't need supper.

Well those cats will love it up there I imagine.  They're lucky.

My gas was completely covered by my friend who runs the sanctuary.   She'd asked me to help with the transport and I guess I'd do almost anything she requests.  She's helped me a lot, and has helped mid valley cats tremendously, especially when Poppa Inc. paid for all the spays and neuters of the thousands of cats I rounded up to take to be fixed.  She also gave me a donation that will allow me to go buy five 25 lb bags of cat food which means I'm covered in dry cat food for a month.  So the transport was well worth temporary pain or suffering of the day.  I will have it easier here for an entire month free of worry over cat food.

 I was just a transporter who got a little more today than I bargained for.  But it all worked out.  Those who drive for a living have my respect.  It ain't that easy!

Good night.