That Which is Given, is Quickly Taken Away

I haven't been this upset in some time and typing this post is surprisingly difficult.

Just over three years ago, I wrote a post about a kitten I'd gotten to help another cat get over his depression at his brother's disappearance. Meriadoc was a little bundle of pure joy who more than accomplished his assigned task. Top adopted Merry as his new brother with the younger cat adoring him.


Along with a neighbor's cat who arrived in a snowstorm and refused to leave, the cats became very tight companions. So tight that we referred to them as "the Three Musketeers" due to their running around outside as a unit. They were so much fun to watch together, mainly due to the fact we'd never seen male cats bond like this before.


Two weeks ago, Merry went missing during high activity by local coyotes. Multiple nights they could be heard nearby taunting the neighbor's dogs. With no sign of him, we wrote him off as yet another cat taken by local varmints. We found ourselves missing him greatly.

Then this past Wednesday, I heard a rusty hinge of a meow from the dining room. Not believing my ears, I went to see if I was mishearing things. No, it was a beat up and very happy to be home Merry who begged to be picked up. Suffering from a slight weight loss and scratches from a fight with another cat, he was very much alive.

Over the next couple of days, he was in and out, demanding and getting extended holding sessions. His bowels weren't being kind to him, but I held him despite the pungent aroma he exuded while watching a DVD Friday night. I was so very grateful for his return that it didn't matter.

Little did I know that would be the last time I'd get to hold him alive.

Dad and I decided to go see a movie and as we turned on to the county road, I saw a black cat lying still in the middle of one lane. It was Merry. He'd been run over and his corpse was frozen without a hint of damage.

As I'm typing this, we have a fire going over a small patch of soil in an effort to soften it enough to bury the plucky black cat who gave us so much happiness. It wasn't just Top's heart that had been mended by Merry's presence, but those of the humans in his household.

Right now I'm fighting for self control. When I'd thought we'd lost him earlier, it wasn't like this. Losing him so soon after getting him back is unexpectedly excruciating. I'd thought I'd gotten used to the constant loss that defines my life.

Merry won't be and can't be replaced.

May Brings Changes

It is said the one constant in life is change, so the events of this unfinished month are not surprising except when nature takes its course.

Storms have roiled the area and saturated the soil much to the disappointment of farmers trying to get their crops in. While we were spared the violent side of the weather, others were not including a fatality along with $10,000,000 in damages over in Barron County, Wisconsin. The same system left behind a beautiful sky that prompted me to get the camera out.

2017 and I’m Still Catching Up

While intentions to post were good, I failed to get anything written during the past month and a half. A great deal has happened that while not being earth shaking has been time consuming.

A few of the events in reverse chronological order:

I just purchased a new keyboard, a Motospeed Inflictor CK-104, to deal with perpetual cat hair and crumb problems. Being one of the newer mechanical keyboards with backlighting it has far easier access under the keys for cleaning. Double shot keycaps and nice Outemu blue switches made it a steal at $44 at Amazon.

So far I’ve only gamed on it without any serious typing. Writing this post is its baptism by fire…

Modifications

I find myself in the middle of December of 2016 wondering where the year went. Of course much of the elapsed time was spent being ill, yet there was even more weirdness eating up precious seconds, hours, and days. Included in the strangeness are the subcategories of politics, sports, technology, things breaking down, and celestial events. Just how many super moons can one year have?

This is starting to read like a year end post and I’m not willing to concede 2016 just yet. In the spirit of losing time…

Yet Another Cat Missing

I was going to post a generic update with cat photos for my next post, however it looks like yet another cat has been lost. It has been a miserable week with a virus leading to bronchitis that I’m having trouble getting over, so I hadn’t noticed Baron being absent for a couple of days. His brother Top has been acting weird which isn’t a good sign.

While there is a remote chance the soon to be neutered tomcat has gone wandering, this has never turned out to be the case out here. They vanish completely, most likely consumed by the out of control coyote population or some other predator. As a result, there isn’t much hope of seeing the loud and hyper affectionate tabby tiger again.

Funny, I’d just been lamenting how I’d been unable to get any good photos of Baron and his brother because they refuse to sit still. The photo above is probably the last one to ever be taken of the sweet animal.

I’ve been expecting the worst ever since getting the brothers since nothing good ever happens to me. Still hurts though it is getting harder to care about anything other than simple survival. If it weren’t for scar tissue, I wouldn’t have a heart at all these days. I certainly don’t have any hope.

Cat Follies

At the beginning of the month, my father and I picked out a pair of kittens of mixed breed. At the time we and the people who had them thought the yellow and white one was female. Well three weeks later it turns out Toph was a late bloomer and is actually a boy.

To be fair, this was a hard kitten to sex until the past week. A large growth spurt has revealed all beyond a shadow of a doubt. It helps that he has developed into a lap cat and can finally be examined without it being considered a call to wrestle.

New Year, New Kittens

Having lost a cat last may that was one in a billion, I had no intentions of ever adding more cats to the household. Watching the vitality ebb out of our home and the remaining cats, it became apparent that something needed to be done. Watching my number one cat, Snooky, gain a massive amount of weight since Ragnar’s disappearance made me realize just how sedentary she had become without a male to show off in front of.

My sister’s quest for a long hair tiger tabby for the holidays ended up roping me into things including a visit to a pet store. Eventually she got a short hair tabby tiger after no luck.

Ragnar Vanished

It is hard to write this post. About 48 hours ago was the last time we saw Ragnar, the almost full grown kitten I rescued back in November. While an avid hunter who loved going outside, he always stayed near the house so he wouldn't miss anything we were doing. Odds are that he was torn apart by coyotes while hunting rabbits.

Rags was an exceptional cat, one of two brilliant little animals I've had the privilege of knowing over the span of nearly five decades. Fiercely loving, he had to be involved in everything we did. If we hiked up to the mailbox, he's accompany us. If there was any labor around the house, Rags would be there to either check it out or try to "help", if help meant playing with the tools involved.

I've lost more than a pet, Ragnar was a buddy, a friend. In the short amount of time, he brought such light and life to a beaten down household. With his death, my heart has died as well. One too many wounds to the soul in a very bad life had turned it into scar tissue. It truly is the last straw.

No more pets, I can't go through this again. Ironic, I was planning to take pictures of him this week and write about what an incredible cat he was. Now all I have is memories.

February Already?

“Tempus fugit,” said the Romans and indeed that observation still applies two millennia later. January turned out to be a bear of a month to get through, so next to nothing got done other than what was required. Hopefully, things will get easier as the temperatures warm and winter weather slowly departs.

That may be awhile, as I was snowed in yesterday and didn’t make it to church. Great irony could be found in the fact that I had asked to be covered for my Sunday school lesson the week before due to a forecast of snow that didn’t arrive. So of course the boy that cried wolf (NOAA) wasn’t listened to this time and I awakened to heavy drifting across our steep drive.

Christmas Eve 2014

Hard to believe it is the 24th of December, yet here it is. Though Christmas has degenerated into a materialistic if not secular holiday, a little of the real spirit has manifested itself here and there.

Helping keep things in perspective is the kitten I rescued a few weeks back. Ragnar the Viking Kitten (as I’ve dubbed him) has responded well to antibiotics and now terrorizes the house with great glee. He was big for his age to begin with so his growth spurt has been impressive since getting healthy. Consequently, the little tiger feels like he can throw his weight around which has led him to discovering what being disciplined is about.

It is something he takes to heart. His wetting my bed in retaliation for our being out for an entire morning got him a smacked rump to accompany a nose rubbed in his own product. Since then, nary a problem of peeing where he shouldn’t. Rags doesn’t like me being angry with him which is a rare quality in an alpha male.

Still, the varmint likes to climb me when playing video games, especially ones where I’m playing online and talking to friends. Yes, he has gotten me virtually killed like a proper ravager out viking should. So far he’s winning that battle.

Other than that, Rags is an utterly endearing kitten filled with love and affection. He’s very grateful to have a warm home, kitten chow, and people to sleep on. Unexpectedly, he turned out to be good with the somewhat terrifying two year old niece of mine. She’s not a huge fan of cats despite being around ones in her house, yet she and Ragnar hit it off after awhile.

In turn, I’m grateful for his presence that has breathed new life into the household. Due to his attitude, I’m trying to improve mine and get some of the holiday spirit going. In the end, it is all about being with the ones you love, right?

At least as far as the secular side goes. There’s a lot more to it when you understand the immense gift given to all of us when the Savior was born.

So a merry Christmas to all, may you find that which is truly of value and share it with others.

RIP Jazz

To describe 2014 as a bad year would be a gross understatement. About a month ago, my father and I noticed one of our cats was having health problems again. Jazz was afflicted with periodic bouts of upper respiratory infections since his birth and usually managed to shake them off. This time he lost a lot of weight before getting over the bug, but he’d always been a very strong animal.

The weight loss continued in dramatic fashion and we took him to the vet two weeks ago. From the symptoms and sky high calcium in the blood, it was surmised he had a tumor hidden somewhere in his stomach. Such irony, given my father’s lymphoma in the same location.

Refusal to eat followed and he began to decline rapidly. What’s amazing is that he held on to the point of being in absolute misery. With no other choice, I had to put Jazz down today.

An Unwanted Kitten

 

Having rescued many a kitten and cat over the years, I was in no mood to do so again.  The last two rescues had to be put down after trying to kill another cat and cleaning up blood stains from the murder attempts is not something I wanted to repeat. With the object of the attacks now full grown, I found myself praying not to have to deal with another kitten anytime soon.

Enter one abandoned kitten on the property with no sign of siblings or mother.  This happened two weeks after the afore mentioned prayer, so let no one tell you that God doesn’t have a sense of humor. After howling for two days in the barn (loud enough to be heard from the kitchen) my dad decided to let me know about it.  He said he heard a cat in the barn and that it had been going on for some time.  The moment I heard it I said, “That’s not a cat, that’s a kitten.”

Yes it was so loud only an adult could make that kind of noise, but the voice was far too young.  I figured it was a month or more old by the volume.  When we got out there, I managed to open the top half of the broken barn door and looked around.  The loud cry started again, earsplitting and right on top of me. A glance down revealed a tiny little yellow kitten – a very young kitten.

Not only did the young age surprise me, but the fact that the critter looked me in the eyes and came back to my voice after being startled. Not normal for an obviously feral kitten. Little did I know that was only the beginning of not normal behavior from him.

I easily picked him up and he began purring immediately and I knew he’d have to be cared for as the abandoned barn is not a safe place for kittens thanks to raccoons and roving tomcats.  He was strong and very feisty, but his eyes were dark blue, the ears only just upright, and his side teeth hadn’t come in.  Looking up info online, I decided he was between 3 and 3 1/2 weeks old, which meant formula as he wasn’t weaned and eating hard food.

So we gave him formula with a dropper and he wasn’t cooperative. Taking a gamble born of desperation, I soaked cat food in warm water hoping he could take that in.  Oh he liked the broth from it and had a hard time learning to drink it, but I was still concerned. 

I shouldn’t have worried. In a couple of days he had watched the hostile older cats and decided that he was a big cat now.

I’ve heard of two fisted drinkers and now witnessed the phenomena of the four pawed eater.

Precocious barely scratches the surface with this kitten.  We couldn’t find a box that could contain him and he went berserk when put in the cat carrier.   He was young enough to not be running or jumping, but his upper body strength was abnormal so he was able to climb almost anything. That meant having to sleep with the tiny character and not crush him by accident.

After a week, it was clear he wasn’t the runt of the litter and was probably the alpha. Wrestling, spitting, challenging, and tackling are his favorite pastimes being a typical boy cat.  One problem is that he bites everything and everyone.  I’ll be glad when he starts mellowing out even though he is good about not biting through the skin.

He’s come a long way despite an epic war of wills over the litter box.  Brighter than the average kitten, he understood its use right away but would only use it if I went to the bathroom too. Then he decided it would be a funny game to resist being put in the box when caught peeing or crapping in the living room.  Out he’d jump and arch his back, prancing at me before running to a corner of the bathroom.

I wasn’t amused.

At the time of writing this, it has been several days without an apparent “accident” and the litter box is needing constant cleaning.  I may have won the battle but this is a smart kitten and only time will tell.

Naming him has been a difficult endeavor and it came down to one of the following:  Zim, Johnny Rotten, or Howl.  For the moment, he is dubbed Howl, which is short for Howlin’ Cat, Howland Owl, or Howling Pain in the… well, you know.

This is what the boy looks like now.  Howl’s eyes are just starting to change around the pupil, I’ll be curious to see what color they end up.

It looks like we’ll be taking care of him for the long haul, I never did find any trace of his mother and siblings. There is a good chance the raccoons got them.  I think he’ll turn out to be quite the fighter and hope to teach him to be a protector rather than a bully.  The fact he is crushing on my #1 cat, Snooky, is promising.

I also like the fact she doesn’t run from Howl like he has the plague, but simply slaps him silly if he gets too fresh. Right now they are sleeping about three inches apart – he’s getting good at sneaking closer to her.

Welcome to the Boonedocks, Howl.

Sick Yet Again

It started with a sore throat on Monday, that lasted a couple of days before moving into the sinuses and now chest.  Oh for an immune system that worked right!

The brain no worky, so the only thing I have to post is what may be the prototype for the ultimate cat toy: levitating mice!

Odd & Ends

Trying to type with a demanding cat is what leads to today's short post. Sid is recovering from an abscessed wound with the side effect of being really demanding now that it is healing. His life has been unhappy ever since we took in another cat from a young couple who moved out West. They hate each other and have tried to kill each other when my dad and I were in Indiana for a funeral. Sid used to be top cat as far as terrorizing our property, but age has caught up to him and he's slowing down. Thing is, he doesn't think he has and has had his butt handed to him repeatedly over the past year or so. Anyway, it's good to see him happy again.

Great post at Captain's Quarters that illustrates why McCain-Feingold has turned out to be the perfect way to protect incumbents from challengers. McCain is a total piece of opportunistic work and I'm sorry so many haven't yet seen through his facade.

Found a new blog, Adamant, that has some fascinating posts of a scientific bent. I particularly liked this post on black coal vs. natural gas emissions. The other posts are well worth reading too.

Here is a good post on religion and the current conflict going on worldwide.

The Perfect Cat Torture Device

For those sadistic souls who like to torture cats, I have found a marvelous and cruel device to use on them. It is called a "weather alert radio" and can be found in catalogs or your nearest Radio Shack. Guaranteed to go off at a minimum of once a week, it randomly screeches loudly depending on the weather. The irritating sound is calculated to flay a cat's soul at a range of 50 feet and if the radio is placed in a high spot, nearly impossible for a feline to turn off. Depending on your house, it may even torment those cats outside. Yes, it is also the perfect thing to Confuse a Cat without the expense of hiring professionals.

Note: No cats were harmed in the writing of this post, including the kitten in my lap.