Scooter

Scooter Then

Scooter Yesterday 

My baby boy.  Today is his last day on this earth.  Today is his last day to being a big brother to Mary Jane.  Its his last day to play, eat and sleep.  Actually, he gave up eating two days ago.  I tried to syringe food and water in his mouth, but he wasn't having any of it.  I knew things were getting worse on Saturday morning, when he was making this eerie meow sound.  His eyes have sunken in...  you just know when its time....  My baby boy I rescued, with his sister Mary Jane, from East Main Street at 4:30 in the morning, maybe 14 years ago.  His sister is next.  Next week or so...  She is showing a few of the signs.  And has been.  She weighs less than a few pounds, but she eats like there is no tomorrow.  Indications of a cat dying include:

• Weight loss progressing to emaciation
• Dull or spacy demeanor
• A sunken or vacant appearance to the eyes
• Little movement, or sometimes agitation and restlessness
• A foul odor
• Very rapid or very slow breathing

Of course, Saturday morning, I had to say my goodbye to Joey and Junebug also, as they were being adopted by a wonderful woman named Judy, who knew they were shy, and was willing to take the time to let them acclimate in her home with her.  That was tough.  They were so used to my house, and their step siblings, it was hard to tear them away from that, but they were never meant to stay.  When I rescue, I don’t keep.  But Junebug was so sick at first when I rescued her, it took months for her little body to recuperate.  

I was also dealing with – what I call stress.  I arrived at one location at 4:45 am. Saturday morning, and the shelters underneath a tarp were destroyed.  It looked like something dropped from the sky and landed on them and crushed them.  But in truth, they were bags of sand, or dirt, that were thrown on top of them – very heavy bags.  It was a mess. It took Kings and I a while to put what we could back together.  And looking at the sad faces of the seven cats that live there, well it just made my blood boil.  It’s got to be the man in the yellow Humvee who has been stealing my boards on the other side of the building out of spite.  That’s all it is.  Because I feed cats there.  I have his license plate number and that’s all I have.  The police can’t do anything unless he is caught in the act.  Thank you to Kim who arrived early this morning as I got there to see if the damage was done all over again.  She was my undercover agent who sat there and watched, in the dark, to see if this person would show up after I left.  Nothing so far.

I also had a message from the girl that adopted Monty.  She wanted to return him.  So I had to scramble to figure out what to do with that one.  So Saturday, Kings ran around to pick him up, bring him back to original foster Gaye, take the cat Gaye was now fostering, Garrett, and bring him to foster Max.  Talk about stress.

I was also nervous about the Paint and Purr party.  Not so much the actual event, but my body was in agony, and I had to put on a smile and greet over 40 people.  Thank God for the bar in there, and for Maree, my sweet friend, who filled in for me to be the bouncer.  The event was not coordinated as well as it should have been – my fault alone.  But thank God Kristin had her part organized, thanks to her many helpers – mostly fellow art teachers, they had so many tools set up on the tables for each person to be sure the picture they painted would be perfect.  And thank God Paula had her part organized.  The food was to die for.  She had little cupcakes with colored circle sprinkles, she had cookies shaped liked a painters palette, she had cake balls, she had cat shaped chocolate cats, she had mini quiches, homemade corn and bean salsa, cheese and crackers, it was all good.  And her granddaughters and daughters helped immensely.  I am so grateful to these people that took a Saturday out of their busy lives, for me.  The people that showed up – family, friends, acquaintances, former adopters, friends of friends, all had a good time, from what I could see.  And they were all, for the most part, quite gifted when it comes to painting!  There were some beautiful paintings!  I am so grateful to all.  Thank you for such a great event.  Here are some pictures.  I am hoping to get pictures of the food from Kristin's friend Susan.  Will share them when I have them.

Sunday, thank God for that extra hour of Daylight Savings …  I was useless.  My body is failing.  I hope something changes, soon.  But my poor Scooter, he just got worse.

I have to make that call as soon as my vet opens.  I am dreading it.  I sat and held Scooter and had tears streaming down my eyes.  He is such a good boy.  But I know he is suffering now, and as his mom, I must do what is right and end his suffering.  Its so hard to lose them! 

That’s all folks.  Thanks for listening.