R.I.P. Angel

 

Here's her photo when I was still trying to find her a home, when she was a teenager.

This was after one of her many clip jobs and she wasn't too happy with me.

Angel was such a different girl.  I caught her as a teenager in a cemetery, where she, her sister and mom had been abandoned.  That was way back, 13 or so years ago.

Angel never got a home.  She had this difficult hair that would mat up horribly only you wouldn't really see it was matted until it was horribly matted because it was the undercoat that would matt.

She was built for arctic survival, not mid valley Oregon.  So I shaved her two or three times a year all these years until a few months back she began losing weight. So I wormed her and gave her fluids hoping that would do it, but it didn't.  And the spiral down had begun, being unable to keep adequately hydrated.

Two weeks ago, she began to wobble and fall and I couldn't keep her off the cat runs, which are dangerous for old cats.  I redid things to try to keep her safe.  I tried to keep her in the bathroom but she fought to get out.  She was very independent always and feral really, but allowed me to shave her hair, for some reason.  She was smart and knew when it had to be done and let me do it.

Anyhow, we spent four days together in the end, her deciding she had to have me with her, for reassurance, as she left this earth.   She laid in my arms, or on the bed beside me or on the futon.  She purr when I petted her around the ears and rubbed her chin and mouth a "meow" when I said "hello" if I'd been in the kitchen or out in the cat yard.

She couldn't walk in the end, eat or drink.  I thought I'd just take her to Heartland for her end of days shot, but then they told me they don't do public euthanasia anymore due to a drug shortage.  I was shocked because I didn't know they'd stopped doing this and had counted on it for her.  She died yesterday, after another day spent next to me, by now on a heat pad, too.

She was 13 1/2 or so.  She probably outlived both her mom and sister.  

Dear Angel, you were awesome.  We all loved you here.   

Today I went to the Cascadia colonies again.  I set a trap for the 2nd kitten at the old lady's camp trailer place and she was supposed to catch her tame male inside her camp trailer in my carrier but she didn't.   And in the four hours that trap was set, hoping for the kitten, nothing went in it and I was empty handed.

But while the trap was set for the 2nd kitten at Shorty's, I went to the new colony and over time, hand grabbed six small kittens, from two litters, some so malnourished you would mistake them for newborns.  I had a couple traps and used the water bottle to hold them open, with a string around the bottle neck, to pull when I want to spring the trap, and a lot of food in the trap, waiting for adult females, since I have three now, not two, spay neuter spots tomorrow for cats from this place.

This little guy ran inside a big container, right by a stinky deceased adult cat.  Anyhow, I was able to net the little one when he exited the container.

Teenagers everywhere

Ten or more teenagers rallied around the traps however for the longest time, starved and now happy to see food that seemed endless to them and actually was.  They ate and ate and ate, and came back for more but finally I caught two different adult females, the only two who came around, and settled for a teenager as my 3rd cat for the clinic.   I left with those three and the six kittens.

The Orphan Paws group had said they'd take the kittens and they did.  I dropped them by and was grateful and they also suggested I go to the colony in the morning, after I take the four cats I have from Cascadia, the three from the one colony, and the Siamese mom cat from Shorty's, to the clinic.  They said to trap up to ten more and they could try to fix those ten the next day at the clinic where they work.  The price is right, $15 a neuter and $30 a spay, plus more for shots and droncit, and I said "I'll go catch ten more tomorrow then."  

I am home now, and very happy.   9 kittens are now out of that colony for good and three others will be fixed tomorrow from there plus I get to trap ten more tomorrow.  I took three huge bags of food to the people on one side today also.  Previously I took three bags to the people on the side where I catch the cats.   I also took Shorty another bag and two bags of wet food.