Happy Fourth of July

It's a holiday, middle of the week one, too which throws me off kilter for a few days.

Oh well.

I went or was going, to go cherry picking up in N. Albany, for any cherries I might want, and a piece of pie afterwards, after we pitted them.

The cherries did not look good.  Many were half rotted and lots of the others were black spotted.  Ugh, I thought. I helped pit them but didn't eat any.  I thought of my own cherry tree that had become diseased, infected with a new bug, that lays eggs inside the ripe cherries, creating black spots.  I took them to the extension service to find out what was wrong.   They recommended I take the cherry down and its gone now.  I don't know if that cherry tree they have is infected with those same bugs or not but I wondered about it.  My back was hurting so I didn't pick that long.

But before I went to pick cherries, I was invited over to a friends house.  I thought that was strange and wonderful but didn't go, not right away, since I was trying to get all my cats flea treated.   Then another text comes my way from her, that the neighbor wants me to call her.  "Oh," I thought, that's why she invited me over." I called her neighbor and sure enough, they had a mom cat in a live trap already plus three kittens.  I tried to get more information but was about to go cherry pick and just drove over and texted my friend with the cherries I'd be late.

I can't believe people trap cats or kittens with no plan for where they might go after that.   The mom cat had escaped twice, I guess, but was so starved she went back in twice more.  Now she sat in an uncovered trap down in the brush.  Beside her was a big carrier, with three tiny kittens cowering at the back.

I got her in the trap up to my car.  No easy feat since I was in my thin worn out sandals and berry vine thorns pierced my feet through the sandal soles.  I had to take the sandals off and pull out the thorns.  I've got a bad back and a bad shoulder right now so some of these things are not that easy for me.

I set two more traps down in the brush and carried up the kittens, then drove the kittens and mom home to set up quickly in a cage in the garage.  First I treated all for fleas, worms and gave the kittens sub cu fluids as they were terribly dehydrated and mixed up some of my last KMR powder and fed these poor starving waifs.

Even before I got out the door, the plate inside the big cage, where I'd piled two cans of wet food, was empty already.  I piled on two more cans of wet food and headed out to cherry pick.

My cherry tree friends might (crossing fingers) adopt one of the kittens.  I'm not sure.  Maybe its wishful thinking.  They'd sure make a good home for one of them, if they decide on it.

I went up there to the place the kittens were living super early this morning after not a lot of sleep.  I had to bottle feed again last night after getting home, clean litter boxes, play with the two bathroom trailer park kittens, etc etc.  One more kitten was in the trap by then, and I don't think there are more but I don't know.  This one, a little gray and white boy, was in a dehydration stupor.  I gave him sub cu fluids, bottle fed him, put him in with his mom and siblings.  He was so relieved to see them again.

Then I went to bed. I had to have a nap.  I'd left a note by a trailer across the street from where the mom and kittens were.   Pretty soon I got a call from them.  They have two fixed cats but knew of the gray mom, had seen her around, and had found a kitten they thought was dumped a few days back, but their kitten is same age and color as the other four.  They're keeping her, thank goodness.  They lost one of their own cats a few weeks back when she was mutilated by windrower blades in the grass field.  Her two rear legs were severed.

Anyhow here they are.  Mom is feral so I have no idea what I'll do with her, once fixed.  Nobody where she was trapped wants her around or will feed her.  Poor unwanted sweetie.

I am supposed to be on a break but some things I can't ignore.