December 12 - LIZ~! December 13 - ROBIN! December 14 - NANCY!!!

Congratulations to Liz (December 12), Robin (December 13) and Nancy (December 14)!  All three of you!  Liz fed a cat on Saturday, Robin fed a cat on Sunday, and Nancy fed a cat this morning!  Thank you all so much.  Do you realize, that combined, all three of you actually fed 210 cats?  That's over 70 cats per day that I feed.  Its amazing.  Nancy donated in memory of Baxter, a kitty I rescued and that she adopted who passed on Thanksgiving day. Her note read 'I miss you so much Baxter."  I remember each and every one of these sweet souls that are lucky enough to be rescued and rehomed.  Thank you Liz, Robin and Nancy, for all you do for the kitties.

PATCHES

I know you are all wondering about Patches.  First off, Dr. Gryshey is wonderful.  What a great man.  He certainly knows his stuff, and all about stomatitis.  He shook my hand upon entrance, and began to talk about the disease in general.  He then had a look at Patches mouth, and said he had not one, but TWO ulcers.  He said Patches was in a great deal of pain, which was why he was gulping down the dry food now, rather than wet food as he was.  He went to great lengths explaining this and that, but my feeble mind couldn't grasp it all.   He told me that I had two choices, basically.  One, he could remove all the teeth, and that would be well over $700, even at rescue rates, and hope that out of the 80% that cats with this condition are successful, that Patches is in the 20%.  He said it was not a guarantee, and even with that, he would be on medication for the remainder of his life, IF it worked.  I then explained to him how he was now fearful of me going into his room thinking I am going to put something painful in his mouth.  He hides under the bed.  He then said the only other choice would be euthanasia.  He said that cat is in a great deal of pain.   The tongue is what cats use to eat, and he can't do that.  At the end, he mentioned how my situation is like a herd mentality.  He said imagine you are a farmer and you have a herd of cows, and one of them is very sick.  Are you going to put all your resources into that one cow and the others suffer?  He mentioned how there are people that will use up a huge amount of resource to help a cat that has even a 5% chance of total recovery for any illness or injury.  I could not do that.  As he said, I have a lot more to save. 

I love Patches.  I love him so much.  We have obviously bonded since I rescued him way back in early October.  I am constantly second guessing my choice, but I know in my heart he is better off.  He has a debilitating disease.  But he allows me to pet him, brush him, and hold him for moments. Then I see what pain he is in, day in and day out.  He cries just looking at the food he cannot eat.  So I will make the appointment this week, and won't speak of this again.  Thank you to all of you that have supported me making this decision and those that support me now.  I am also thankful to those of you that recommended me getting this second opinion.  It was the right thing to do.  I also want to thank those of you for calling in to donate - Laurie H., Nancy, Liz and Pat.  I had them rip up your credit card numbers, as the bill was $50 and I paid it from a rebate Visa card I had received.

On to other news.  LOOK who was adopted!!!  The girl that took Stan a few days ago, called and said, if you can get the other two at that location, Stan's brother Stevie, who I had TNR'd two weeks ago, and Stewie, the black kitty that head butts me until I put his food down on Short Street!, I will take them!   So sure enough, Saturday morning, I grabbed them.   :)  Did I get lucky, or what?  This girl works for the same hospital as I do - you just never know, eh?

That makes .....  OVER 80 cats I've rescued and found homes for THIS YEAR!  But who's counting?  :)

STEVIE

STEWIE

Now we must get Buttons, Buddy, Nora and Violet a home!  I can then get Parsley, Prince, and his two cohorts off the street and into warmth before the winter sets in.  Please spread the word! 

PS, Great news on Francie, she is fitting right in to her new home! 

Have a great day!

"This is the beginning of a new day. You have been given this day to use as you will. You can waste it or use it for good. What you do today is important because you are exchanging a day of your life for it. When tomorrow comes, this day will be gone forever; in its place is something that you have left behind...let it be something good."