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ragdollcatlady
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This is Raspberry III AKA "Beastie"
She originally came from the little country church on the corner. On his first day of highschool, I walked DS1 to the church to catch the bus. This little brown tabby came up to us wanting to be petted. After a few minutes of letting me hold her, she bit me and jumped out of my arms. She was clearly a bit wild, but likely used to people from the revivals and meetings they occasionally held there. The bus stop was moved to just across from our house the next day.
That Christmas we were putting a baby Jesus in an a little cardboard manger on our front porch with a Christmas star/light when who should appear, but the scrawny little cat from the church. Normally I wouldn't feed generic strays, but it was Christmas. And I figured that with the church closed, she came to be with Jesus on the front porch.
So we fed her....Then of course she didn't leave. The neighbor across the street asked me a few weeks later if she was ours because she was feeding her too. I admitted to feeding her, but wasn't ready to accept that she was ours...she wasn't tame and only came around to eat sometimes. If she was then I would have to spay her/shots/the whole nine yards.
A few weeks later the same neighbor asked if I had gotten her fixed yet. We didn't have the money at the time so she offered to pick her up and get her fixed, since she was really still just a stray. I jumped on that. When she came back from getting fixed she had the hardest recovery I have ever seen on a cat in my whole life. She was fine at first, but she ended up bleeding heavily from the stitches. It took about a week and a half to get her looking good before I tried to put her outside. She turned and bolted back into the house and straight to the cat cage I had her in. For a halfway feral cat I knew that something wasn't right with that. A few days later I finally got her outside. She was doing OK. Then 3 weeks later I came home from work to the neighbor in tears in the driveway and my DH told me that the cat had been hit and was on the side of the road in the neighbors field. I ran to find her. She was pretty well mangled and staggering in a circle. I grabbed her, ran home and doped her up with torbutrol syrup (cat pain control in a syrup). The speed limit is 55 outside our house, but cars easily get over 80 out here. Later we learned that another neighbor had found her in the road earlier and kicked her to the curb assuming she was dead and not wanting to see her smashed up more. His wife feeds all the strays that show up their way, but he thought she was ours.
Being a sunday, I couldn't afford the $250 vet fee (just to be seen) to go to the emergency clinic to put her down, so I decided to drug her up for the night and take her to the vet the next day. I called in the morning and was given an afternoon appointment. So I drugged her up good and went to a work meeting I had that morning.
At that meeting one of the managers found out that Jasmine, a little kitten, was still at the house and was going to take her to the pound. This little cat showed up a few months before on the back porch and just hung out. We (the staff) fed her scraps we normally put in the trash, cooked chicken skin, left over egg, fat from steak.....She slept on the back yard chairs and when we took a break was sweet as sugar and loved to be picked up and petted. Most likely, one of the neighbors had gotten her as a pet, but they all have dogs, so she found the quiet backyard of our work a safe haven. I was already distressed about having to put this other cat to sleep and couldn't stand the thought of such a nice little cat going to the pound. I said I would pick her up as soon as I left the meeting and take her home. She was a little worried when I set her on the seat of my minivan, but I talked to her and put my hand on her, when I went around corners, and she just watched me. When I got home, I took her to the porch and set her down. I thought for sure she would end up at the neighbors, but she stuck around.
I took the other cat to the vets. When I would pet her, on the side of her cheek that wasn't smashed up, she was responsive. I asked the vet for an estimate, to give her fluids, pain control, anti inflammatories, antibiotics, would be 2x as much as putting her down. We couldn't afford surgery...but as responsive as she was, I couldn't put her down. I am usually pretty quick to the draw. I would far sooner put an animal out of it's misery. I called DH to ask if it was OK. I so love him at times like this. He told me to do what I felt was best. I let him know that I couldn't promise that we wouldn't be back to put her to sleep in another week ....but I didn't feel right not giving her this chance.
She slept in a laundry basket in the living room for over a week. She couldn't get out of her urine, so I had to mover her 2 to 3 times a day to change the towels/or add some to keep her dry. Her brain was so scrambled, that when she would smell the food, her head would move in the wrong direction looking for it, but her eyes didn't work enough for her to know that what she was seeing was food. I literally had to use the fork to feed her her canned food. She wouldn't drink water. She sucked her antibiotics out of the eyedropper, same for her pain control...I have never had any cat however sick do that. DH and I talked about what ifs. I said that if she couldn't get out of her urine, I would still put her down, but if I had to hand feed her 2x a day from now til forever, that was doable. A little over a week later I came home to a dizzy but sitting up cat on the couch with a nice pile of poop right next to her....also on the couch!
She moved out to the porch again but she wasn't able to find her food or water. However, when the new little cat Jasmine, went to the water bowl, Beastie followed her there, then swatted in her general direction to get rid of her, and drank her fill. Jasmine, just quietly stepped back and let her be. I had to let a friend that was going to take Jasmine for her little girls know, that Jasmine was now a seeing eye cat and as a working member of this family, had to stay here. Beastie can get around the whole yard now and even gets up on the cat tree in the laundry room and swats at the other cats to get out of her way. They all know she is retarded and only give half hearted swats back occasionally, usually they just lean back a little since she has so little depth perception, she can't reach them that way. She is much more affectionate than when she first showed up that is for sure. Her eyes are messed up so she always has that blank look nowadays. Sometimes she gets stuck in the turtle pose...on her back, and can't figure out how to get back up for a few minutes....That is pretty funny.
Jasmine, my little seeing eyed cat. She also follows me around when I am working and goes in all the chicken pens to check for mice. She would catch a mouse, bring it to me, then put it down and catch it a few more times. If the chickens or ducks saw her mouse, they would snatch it up without her seeing it and she would still be looking around "where's my mousy...I know I put him down right here...he was here...just a second ago....????"
She originally came from the little country church on the corner. On his first day of highschool, I walked DS1 to the church to catch the bus. This little brown tabby came up to us wanting to be petted. After a few minutes of letting me hold her, she bit me and jumped out of my arms. She was clearly a bit wild, but likely used to people from the revivals and meetings they occasionally held there. The bus stop was moved to just across from our house the next day.
That Christmas we were putting a baby Jesus in an a little cardboard manger on our front porch with a Christmas star/light when who should appear, but the scrawny little cat from the church. Normally I wouldn't feed generic strays, but it was Christmas. And I figured that with the church closed, she came to be with Jesus on the front porch.
So we fed her....Then of course she didn't leave. The neighbor across the street asked me a few weeks later if she was ours because she was feeding her too. I admitted to feeding her, but wasn't ready to accept that she was ours...she wasn't tame and only came around to eat sometimes. If she was then I would have to spay her/shots/the whole nine yards. A few weeks later the same neighbor asked if I had gotten her fixed yet. We didn't have the money at the time so she offered to pick her up and get her fixed, since she was really still just a stray. I jumped on that. When she came back from getting fixed she had the hardest recovery I have ever seen on a cat in my whole life. She was fine at first, but she ended up bleeding heavily from the stitches. It took about a week and a half to get her looking good before I tried to put her outside. She turned and bolted back into the house and straight to the cat cage I had her in. For a halfway feral cat I knew that something wasn't right with that. A few days later I finally got her outside. She was doing OK. Then 3 weeks later I came home from work to the neighbor in tears in the driveway and my DH told me that the cat had been hit and was on the side of the road in the neighbors field. I ran to find her. She was pretty well mangled and staggering in a circle. I grabbed her, ran home and doped her up with torbutrol syrup (cat pain control in a syrup). The speed limit is 55 outside our house, but cars easily get over 80 out here. Later we learned that another neighbor had found her in the road earlier and kicked her to the curb assuming she was dead and not wanting to see her smashed up more. His wife feeds all the strays that show up their way, but he thought she was ours.
Being a sunday, I couldn't afford the $250 vet fee (just to be seen) to go to the emergency clinic to put her down, so I decided to drug her up for the night and take her to the vet the next day. I called in the morning and was given an afternoon appointment. So I drugged her up good and went to a work meeting I had that morning.
At that meeting one of the managers found out that Jasmine, a little kitten, was still at the house and was going to take her to the pound. This little cat showed up a few months before on the back porch and just hung out. We (the staff) fed her scraps we normally put in the trash, cooked chicken skin, left over egg, fat from steak.....She slept on the back yard chairs and when we took a break was sweet as sugar and loved to be picked up and petted. Most likely, one of the neighbors had gotten her as a pet, but they all have dogs, so she found the quiet backyard of our work a safe haven. I was already distressed about having to put this other cat to sleep and couldn't stand the thought of such a nice little cat going to the pound. I said I would pick her up as soon as I left the meeting and take her home. She was a little worried when I set her on the seat of my minivan, but I talked to her and put my hand on her, when I went around corners, and she just watched me. When I got home, I took her to the porch and set her down. I thought for sure she would end up at the neighbors, but she stuck around.
I took the other cat to the vets. When I would pet her, on the side of her cheek that wasn't smashed up, she was responsive. I asked the vet for an estimate, to give her fluids, pain control, anti inflammatories, antibiotics, would be 2x as much as putting her down. We couldn't afford surgery...but as responsive as she was, I couldn't put her down. I am usually pretty quick to the draw. I would far sooner put an animal out of it's misery. I called DH to ask if it was OK. I so love him at times like this. He told me to do what I felt was best. I let him know that I couldn't promise that we wouldn't be back to put her to sleep in another week ....but I didn't feel right not giving her this chance.
She slept in a laundry basket in the living room for over a week. She couldn't get out of her urine, so I had to mover her 2 to 3 times a day to change the towels/or add some to keep her dry. Her brain was so scrambled, that when she would smell the food, her head would move in the wrong direction looking for it, but her eyes didn't work enough for her to know that what she was seeing was food. I literally had to use the fork to feed her her canned food. She wouldn't drink water. She sucked her antibiotics out of the eyedropper, same for her pain control...I have never had any cat however sick do that. DH and I talked about what ifs. I said that if she couldn't get out of her urine, I would still put her down, but if I had to hand feed her 2x a day from now til forever, that was doable. A little over a week later I came home to a dizzy but sitting up cat on the couch with a nice pile of poop right next to her....also on the couch!
She moved out to the porch again but she wasn't able to find her food or water. However, when the new little cat Jasmine, went to the water bowl, Beastie followed her there, then swatted in her general direction to get rid of her, and drank her fill. Jasmine, just quietly stepped back and let her be. I had to let a friend that was going to take Jasmine for her little girls know, that Jasmine was now a seeing eye cat and as a working member of this family, had to stay here. Beastie can get around the whole yard now and even gets up on the cat tree in the laundry room and swats at the other cats to get out of her way. They all know she is retarded and only give half hearted swats back occasionally, usually they just lean back a little since she has so little depth perception, she can't reach them that way. She is much more affectionate than when she first showed up that is for sure. Her eyes are messed up so she always has that blank look nowadays. Sometimes she gets stuck in the turtle pose...on her back, and can't figure out how to get back up for a few minutes....That is pretty funny.
Jasmine, my little seeing eyed cat. She also follows me around when I am working and goes in all the chicken pens to check for mice. She would catch a mouse, bring it to me, then put it down and catch it a few more times. If the chickens or ducks saw her mouse, they would snatch it up without her seeing it and she would still be looking around "where's my mousy...I know I put him down right here...he was here...just a second ago....????"
)
Oh that was fun. The older one likes to beg from us when we have apples on our little old tree, but I don't share because I don't want to give them anything and maybe make them sick or something. If the neighbors are outside I don't mind sharing if mom and dad say it's OK. I don't want anyone feeding my critters with out me knowing so that is a part of it. DH is afraid of horses, so tomorrow, he and DD will let the neighbor dogs out and check everyone except the horses....I'll do that when I get home.
and assorted hens. Ferdie, the muscovy will likely go. 
. Last year we also had a turkey egg too. For ducks we only have muscovies and call ducks...The calls gave me 3 eggs last fall and I have found only 1 egg so far recently. What kind of ducks have long eggs? ....And of course we bring the dark brown, green, aqua and cream colored eggs from the chickens. 
