Abygayle

Welcome to the tale of how I met my dear cat, Abygayle. Before I begin, I have to apologize that this blog is rather lengthy. I have included some links if you’re interested in learning more about a particular topic.

Audubon Society and Feral Cats

Aby was part of a feral cat colony near the wetlands by highway 101 north heading up to San Francisco. In 2013, the Audubon Society said they had had enough with cats killing birds and were going to put an end to this feral cat colony. Whether or not, the Audubon Society was going to do this by mass euthanasia or by poisoning, is anyone’s guess.

The cat rescue groups who go out there daily to feed the cats and TNR (trap, neuter, release) were not happy to hear about this. One of my friends knew I had a huge rodent problem and asked me if I could use some “barn cats,” as feral cats are sometimes referred to. She explained the cats’ situation, and I told her that yes, I could take a couple in.

Two Kittens

The cat rescue lady delivered the kittens to my house. We made my outside kennel as secure as possible for them. They were still in their humane trap. She told me it would be awhile before they’d come out, and I don’t need to watch them. She left, and I continued to watch these two new kittens of mine. The boy, “Topaz” was grey with black stripes.

One Kitten

I watched them for awhile, but they were so scared. I walked into my house to get some coffee. I came back out about ten minutes later. Topaz wasn’t in the trap any more. I went into the kennel to locate his whereabouts. He wasn’t in either of the two crates that were set up. He wasn’t anywhere. 🙀 I closed up the kennel and ran around the yard looking for him. He was gone! 😿

I went back into the kennel and saw Aby – she was laying in the cuddle bed inside one of the crates. She looked so small, even at six months old. The sun was setting. The temperature had dropped significantly. I knew that without her brother in the kennel with her, I couldn’t bear to leave her all alone. I grabbed a blanket and placed it on top of her and the cuddle bed, and then scooped it all up. Carrying her close to my body, I brought her upstairs to my bedroom, where my cat, A’more was. Aby and A’more became fast friends – snuggling together, eating beside each other, grooming one another. ♥️

I never saw Topaz again. 😿

Although I set traps (humane cat traps) across the road for Topaz with fresh water and yummy canned food, I caught everything but him. I eventually gave up. I had caught a rat, a scrub jay, a raccoon, and a black cat, but no Topaz. I was scared that I was going to end up catching a skunk!

Maddie & Aby

Maddie also lived in the upstairs but only ventured out of her hiding spot occasionally – she lived mostly on the left hand side of my bedroom, whereas Aby took up residence on the right hand side, under the desk and in the closet. These two girls may have been close to each other in proximity, but they were not close in any other way. They tolerated each other. They would both sleep on my bed occasionally, but would not touch.

When A’more passed away in 2015, I felt badly for Aby. She was so close to him. I could at least pick up and love on Maddie. But I couldn’t even hold Aby. Heck, I was terrified of her!

Declaw?

I was so frightened of Aby I couldn’t even hold her to trim her nails. At one time, I was considering having her declawed. I was worried that she’d get her nails caught in the curtains and rip her nail out. (This happened with another cat of mine, but he lost his nail in the carpet and bled a lot.)

I finally found a veterinary clinic that still did declaws, and explained my situation to them as to why I needed to get Aby declawed. They told me they wouldn’t do it unless I could pick her up and hold her. Hmm 🤔 well if I could do that – then I’d be able to trim her nails and wouldn’t need to go through with such a barbaric procedure, now would I?!

BIG MISTAKE – Little Brother

So, as I was saying I felt badly for Aby because she didn’t have anyone. A’more was gone. Maddie ignored her, and I was scared of her. I decided to get her a little brother which turned out to be a huge mistake.

My friend, Callalily, had a feral that had kittens in her yard… I adopted one and named him Felipe and had him upstairs as company for Aby. Well unfortunately, Aby hated her little brother. She hated him so much that she took it upon herself to hide from him.

The queen bed that I had, had four drawers on its base. The two drawers closest to the foot had cubby holes that I wasn’t aware of. Apparently when the drawer is completely shut, there is a hidden compartment off to the side… a perfect place for a cat to sit. If the drawer is completely shut, the cat cannot climb back into the drawer. Aby has on occasion climbed into these drawers before, but usually if she’s in the drawer – I cannot shut it all the way closed.

It was in the winter when I couldn’t find Aby – January 2017 to be exact. I looked for her everywhere upstairs. The upstairs isn’t that big, but by golly there are a lot of hiding spots for a cat!

Where Is She?

I looked everywhere. I looked behind the curtains of all of the windows. Five windows in my bedroom. I looked behind the desk, under the desk, behind the bird cage, behind the bookshelf, in the closet, in the drawers of my bed, in the crevice between the wall and my bed. She was nowhere! I called for her. She didn’t come, she didn’t meow. I searched the drawers again and shut them. I didn’t take the drawers out though. I searched everywhere again. I was getting rather desperate.

I cannot honestly say when I first realized that she was missing. It could have been a couple of days before I started looking, or it could have been a few days. My cats are free fed. I just happened to notice that I hadn’t seen her around. When I still didn’t find her on the second day, I started tearing my room apart. I took the drawers out and that’s when I noticed that darn hidden compartment. She was just sitting there.

She was severely dehydrated and her skin was jaundiced. Once a veterinary technician, always a veterinary technician, I knew what I needed to do. I couldn’t immediately take her into the hospital as much as I wanted to due to the road closures. I had medical supplies on hand and after wrapping her up in a blanket, I gave her subcutaneous fluids. I also offered her some food which she did eat, but didn’t finish. (When I first found out she was missing, I put Felipe downstairs.)

Hepatic Lipidosis

It was January 9, 2017 when the roads finally opened up and I was able to bring Aby to the hospital. She was diagnosed with hepatic lipidosis which is also known as fatty liver disease. It is very common in cats who stop eating for whatever reason. The liver breaks down stored fat for energy and eventually the cat can become icteric (their skin and mucous membranes take on a jaundiced or yellow appearance.) She would need to have an esophageal tube surgically placed so that I could get enough calories into her while her liver healed. We had a long journey ahead of us.

Aby isn’t the easiest cat. She is a feral. Or maybe I should say she was a feral. I had to wrap her up in a blanket to give her her medications and feed her. Little, by little, Aby started coming around. I think by having to give her these meds and feeding her through her tube, I got used to her, and she got used to me. I was finally able to trim her nails which I hadn’t been able to do since the day she came to live with me. Eventually her tube slipped out, and we had to drive back to the hospital to have it replaced. But after awhile, she got better and started eating on her own again. 😻

Now

Aby is a love bug. I cannot believe I was ever scared of her. She allows me to set her on my lap and trim her nails – on all of her paws. She still growls, but it’s all talk. She loves sitting on my shoulder like a parrot, telling me all about her day. She also loves to drool 🤤 on me. It’s quite disgusting. I’m not talking about a little bit of saliva either. She will leave a huge wet spot on my arm, neck, or wherever. When she shakes her head, spittle goes flying everywhere.

Thank you for reading about Abygayle!

Meow 😻

August 17, 2020 0

Declawing Cats

This blog is about the barbaric procedure known as declawing or onychectomy.

What is Declawing?

Declawing is not just removing a cat’s claws. It’s actually an amputation surgery where the cat’s first joint is removed along with the nail bed. This is so the claw doesn’t grow back.

Behind-the-Scenes

Prior to the cat’s procedure, the cat comes into the veterinary hospital for a fentanyl patch placement. This is usually done 24 hours beforehand. Not all veterinary hospitals use fentanyl patches for pain control.

The day of the procedure, the cat is anesthetized and may be given a preanethetic (as long as it doesn’t cancel out the affects of the fentanyl patch.)

The cat’s paws are shaved – free of fur, scrubbed, and a tourniquet is placed on whatever leg the technician/veterinarian will be working on. This is to prevent bleeding from the toe amputation.

The cat’s toe is clipped off at the first joint using sterile guillotine clippers, the joint is then sutured and sometimes skin glue is used. At the hospital I used to work at, the technician also gave the cat a pain block in each toe for extra pain control. (This is also not normally done.)

Once all of the claws have been removed, the cat’s paws are bandaged. CATS DON’T LIKE STUFF ON THEIR FEET. They are woken up from the anesthesia and then placed in ICU.

Monitoring Post Declaw

As an ICU tech, I monitored a lot of cats post-declaw. I needed to make sure their bandages stayed on their paws, that there was no blood seepage, that the bandages weren’t on too tight, that the cats were comfortable – not in pain, screaming and thrashing around in their cages.

When fentanyl patches came into the veterinary practice, and we started using it on our cat declaw patients – it was a vast improvement for pain control! As were the pain blocks. But before those two were used, those poor cats. 😿 I was constantly trying to get their pain under control. It was awful to watch them even when they weren’t in pain, trying desperately to get those bandages off their feet.

The Next Morning

Then the cat needs to have the bandages removed. Oh my gosh. Trying to get a bandage off of a cat without causing it more undue stress and pain… not easy.

Then there’s the post operative care… the owner needs to use shredded paper in the litter box for at least two weeks post surgery, monitor for any bleeding, continue pain control, etc.

No Defenses

If a declawed cat ever gets outside, they have no weapons to fight off any wildlife. They are sitting ducks.

Is It OK To Declaw?

There are some circumstances when someone may need to declaw their cat. If it’s a life-death situation, then yes, I’d say go for it. But all four paws? No.

I hate declawing. But if a cat is going to be euthanized… Or an older person is being scratched… then make sure you ask that the cat gets a fentanyl patch placed on 24 hours before the surgery.

Tendonectomy

I’ve never had any of my cats declawed, but one of my cats did get a tendonectomy. It’s less painful for the cat, and they still need their nails trimmed. But with this surgery, the cat isn’t able to retract it’s claws or use them as weapons. I didn’t have this surgery done to protect me, but rather to protect anyone that came near him.

Kit Kat was a grouch to everyone but me. He was vicious, ferocious. He was an attack cat. When he got diabetes, he had to go to the clinic often for blood draws to check his blood sugar. He knew how to bite, scratch, and make people very scared of him. Having the tendonectomy, my colleagues had an easier time handling him. He didn’t need to be anesthetized as often as before. I certainly didn’t want to euthanize him just because he could sink his claws into someone.

What About Soft Paws? 🐾

These seem like a waste of money to me. If your cat will sit while you glue plastic nail caps onto his/her nails, why not just trim your cat’s nails down? What’s to prevent the cat from attempting to chew these off?

Further Reading

Worse than a manicure

Onychectomy

Pet Web MD

Has anyone used soft paws? What are your thoughts? 👍👎?

August 15, 2020 0

Winter 2016-17

The winter of 2016 to 2017 was the worst winter that I recall while living in the Santa Cruz Mountains. After five years of drought, California was pelted with rain again and again, thanks to the Pineapple Express. Although Santa Cruz County as a whole received a total of 37 inches of rain, Boulder Creek had over 80 inches of rain for the winter totals. That’s over six feet! There were landslides, trees down and tangled with power lines, sink holes, and of course, flooding. I, along with the rest of my neighbors were pretty much stranded in our neck of the woods. We couldn’t get to either the towns of Boulder Creek or Los Gatos as both directions on the main artery were impassable. It was nightmarish.

To get to Bear Creek Road (BCR) which is the main artery to the nearby towns of Boulder Creek and Los Gatos, we could go one of two ways. But these storms knocked off half of the road for going the “back way,” which left us with only one route. There are three roads connecting to BCR going the “front way,” and none of these roads are paved. (The back way isn’t paved either.) On a dry sunny day, it takes about fifteen to twenty minutes to drive eight miles, going at about 15mph. Now, add some rain – it’ll take about five to ten extra minutes to drive those eight miles. Add LOTS OF RAIN, and turn those roads to complete mud… where when even in 4WD, you’re slipping and sliding – oh my gosh – SCARY!

Bear Creek Road heading towards Boulder Creek

I’ve been driving for a long time. I’ve driven through snow, blizzards, hail, dirt, mud, and have done my fair share of hydroplaning – nothing has measured up to driving up and down those muddy roads over and over again throughout that winter! And then when we were cut off from both towns for a couple of weeks… when I was having a true emergency. Talk about feeling absolutely helpless. It was horrendous.

Abygayle AKA: Aby

Aby is my barn cat failure. She lived in the upstairs portion of my house with my other cat, Madeline. But when Maddie died unexpectedly, Aby was all alone. I got her a kitten as company, but she hated her little brother and hid from him. It was about five days or so before I had found her in a hidden compartment inside a drawer!

Oh my gosh, she was just sitting there. She was dehydrated, she was icteric – her skin was jaundiced. I have no idea how long she had not eaten as all of my cats are free fed. All I know is that she definitely hadn’t had any water or food for at least five days! This was an emergency – I needed to get her to the veterinary hospital STAT, but the roads were closed.

Luckily, I am a veterinary technician and have over 25 years experience working in emergency triage/ICU. I also have a stockpile of veterinary meds, fluids that were not unwrapped, fluid lines, and the like. I called and spoke with Callalily who’s also the veterinarian to my pets. I let her know what types of meds I had on hand, and she gave me the dosages. I started Aby on subcutaneous fluids and a mishmash of medications, but I knew that she needed to be seen as soon as the roads opened up.

On January 9, 2017, I was finally able to traverse the roads to the veterinary hospital… but it was later in the day, and it was still raining. Normally I’d just take Bear Creek Road to 17, but that was no longer an option. I had to take BCR to the cutoff of 35 to Gist to Black and then to 17. These roads are very curvy and because of the recent storms, many were down to one lane. Driving them was arduous. What would normally take me about 45 minutes to drive to the hospital took about three hours, but we finally made it. Aby was seen.

WINTER 2016-17 PHOTO ALBUM

The road connecting to BCR

My truck, “Turtle” approaching the scary part of the road

Had to hug the mountain and drive very slowly in 4WD low; the orange cones are sheer cliff

Looking back from driving scary part of muddy road

Black Road

Shortly after I drove Aby to the hospital, this road was closed down

You can see this in the image above further in the distance

Bear Creek Road

I drove under this on BCR the night I took Aby to the hospital.

Highway 17

Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk

It’s difficult to see in the bottom image the very small amount of sand so I tried to get another picture from the web to show the comparison.

This is a better image to show how very little beach there is – none! The boardwalk was actually flooded. The parking lot which isn’t shown was also flooded.

Somewhere in the Santa Cruz Mountains 2017

August 14, 2020 0

Vivid Varenicline Dreams

For so long now, I’ve been waking up multiple times a night due to pain in my right shoulder and left ankle. If I happen to awake and the sun is finally up, then I give up on sleep and start my day.

Three nights ago – that changed.

Last night’s sunset – photo by Beth Malbon

Vivid dreams. Ever since starting Chantix (varenicline), I’ve been sleeping deeper, and now I dream.

Three dreams, I remember. No, they don’t make sense.

First Dream

I’m in a parking lot with two of my friends. One I haven’t seen in a long time – Francine, and the other is Callalily – she comes up in a lot of my blogs. This parking lot is near stores, a pet store, and other large brand name stores.

Francine is in my truck bed (a blue Toyota – a truck I’ve always wanted,) and she’s scooping out cat food from a bowl inside a litter pan full of litter.

Meanwhile, Callalily and I are going around the parking lot collecting crates and carriers that belong to all three of us. There are several different kinds and some are contraptions that need to be flattened down. I keep looking back at the pet store, calling for Jason, possibly a dog, but I’m not sure. I’m unclear in my dream if that’s his name.

Then there’s a strange looking wire crate that has an inner door inside a larger door. The inner door has a metal doorknob. I’ve never seen anything like it before. None of us have. We’re scratching our heads, trying to figure out where it came from and how to open it.

Poof – Francine and Callalily disappear.

A man appears where my friends disappeared. His name is Chris. He’s wearing a green, white, and yellow plaid shortsleeved button down shirt with sage green board shorts. He says he’ll open the cage. He says the trick is to walk into the little door, grab hold of the knob and keep walking, the crate will open up bigger.

And then it did – there was a staircase. I told him that I would walk up the staircase and grab a hold of the poles so we could get the crate flattened. The staircase was seriously rickety. It was scary. I had to grab ahold of the poles and swing down from them. Me, in my present state. Ha! But by grabbing hold of the poles, the crate flattened.

Second Dream

Suddenly we were on a beach. I was walking with him and his two children. We were headed to a castle. His daughter was in a black one piece bathing suit with a flowing skirt attached. I was skipping with her, following him and his son.

I saw a beautiful butterfly. It was huge – bigger than my hand! It was peach and yellow and was hovering over the sand. I reached into my pocket for my iphone to take a picture, but my camera phone was back at my truck. I looked back to see if I could run to fetch it. But when I looked for the little girl, she was a dot. When I tried to catch up to her – I lost her, her dad, and brother. There was a huge lake of sea water in the middle of the beach. I didn’t have directions to the castle. I didn’t know what to do.

I started walking around the lake, closer inland and came upon a house. Maybe they would know where the castle was?

Third Dream

Upon entering the house, it was very dark. The walls were made of dark blue cloth. There were people in there – lots of gals and a few men. The men were dressed in dark clothing with hoods, almost like armor. It was cold. The people seemed to ignore me, which was fine by me. The gals were dressed in pink and blue leotards with matching face masks. They were all around a huge room and they were in odd positions. They weren’t talking to each other.

I wandered around looking for the door I entered in, but couldn’t find it. I found several doors. I saw one that looked like an exit door – it was made of wood, whereas the other doors were painted. These were actually double doors. They were super thin. I opened the left one, then the right one, then had to turn the knob on the left one, then the right one, then had to pry the left door open, then pry the right one open, there were several more doors to these doors. I didn’t think this was the way out. So, I wandered around looking for another set of doors.

I found another set, but there was a guard near them. I told him I needed to leave. He said fine, but I needed to open the doors myself. If I get to the red door, I cannot rip it. If I do, I cannot leave. OMG 😱!

I thought these were going to be trick doors. I opened the first one, by sliding the latch open. The next door was simply a twist of the knob, the third door was another latch that went through both doors. Then there was a grate looking door with another sideways latch. The fifth set of doors had the latch on top. The sixth set of doors were blue and were velcro. The seventh set of doors were red. These were attached on the bottom only – I had to go through the doors without ripping the bottom part of the door.

I made it through the doors just to land up in a big pile of powdered snow. I was wearing tennis shoes. My first thought was great, I went through all of that and now my feet are going to freeze.

And then I woke up.

August 14, 2020 0

Home in the Santa Cruz Mountains

It was 2004 when I found this gem – a one bedroom, two story cabin rental in a small town called Boulder Creek, in the Santa Cruz mountains. It was literally in the middle of the forest, off-the-grid, at 1700 feet with well water and solar electricity. The views were breathtaking as you can see from the image above. The majestic redwoods, oaks, and madrone trees provided shade and homes for an abundance of wildlife: deer, raccoons, skunks, bobcats, the occasional mountain lion, jack rabbits, squirrels, and other rodents, quail, finches, wild turkeys, skinks, salamanders, snakes, lizards – both alligator and blue bellies, scorpions, spiders, and so many more.

I still remember the ad that was in the back of the free publication, Good Times. It read:

1 bedroom cabin $950/mo 1st mo free. Views of Monterey Bay. Must have 4wd, be quiet & clean. No smoking. Fenced yard. Pets? 555-1234

My friend, Callalily and I had just finished eating lunch at the Boulder Creek Brewery. C, as I call her, actually lived in Boulder Creek and said that she’d help me search for a place. We had looked at a few places already and left messages. When we were leaving the brewery, which has the best raspberry iced tea, I grabbed the Good Times.

I showed C the ad and then called the number. Dee answered the phone and our conversation, not verbatim as this was about 16 years ago, went something like this:

Me: Hello, I’m calling about the ad in Good Times.

Dee: Yes, it’s still for rent. May I ask why you’re moving from your current place and how long you’ve been living there?

Me: I’m living in a duplex and have been for the last seven years. The lady who owns it is 90 years old and if she dies, I’ll only have 30 days to find another place. I have pets…

Dee: Well, we’re looking for a long-term tenant. How many pets do you have?

Me: (whispering into the phone) I have nine. (Louder) I work at a veterinary hospital.

Dee: Oh my (laugh), that’s a lot of pets. What kinds are they?

Me: I have six cats and three dogs – a pit bull, an older mixed breed dog, and a miniature pinscher.

Dee gave me the address, after making sure that I did in fact have a 4 wheel drive vehicle. C and I drove up there, taking her AWD Subaru as she had GPS. Except back then, GPS didn’t work so well. Even while I gave her directions, without any street signs, we still got lost. We drove the main road to the first sign and made a left, then drove until we came to a “1301” posted on a white sign and made another left up another dirt road, then when we came to the fork, and made a right. The next fork in the road, we made a left up the hill. Those were our directions as the roads were not marked with signs. With eight miles of roads in between, and “driveways” veering off to the left or right, it was very easy to get lost in the woods. These roads were not paved, they were more like fire roads. There were no houses like in a typical neighborhood, just pure forest. When we drove up the hill, we saw a brown painted clapboard house off to the left, enclosed in a huge yard. According to the directions, this had to be the place, but for $950/month? It looked huge! In comparison to the dinky two bedroom duplex that I had been living in for the last seven years, this place was huge!

We drove down to Dee’s house, which was grand, and retrieved the key to the cabin. We got a tour of her house – there was an atrium in her house with a wood plank walkway that curved around the atrium into her office. There was also a tree in her house! Wow! 😮

First Impressions

My American Bull Dog-Pit Bull Terrier, Brad Pitt in the living room with the old wood burning stove.

The entire downstairs was wood flooring – the front door opened up to the dining area with the kitchen on the left hand wall. Then there was a long hallway that led to the stairs on the left, and the original part of the cabin which was the living room and a full bathroom that was added on later. The living room and full bathroom had laminate wood floors, whereas the rest of the downstairs had pine wood floors. There were huge double pane windows that made up the whole right side wall of the dining room, along with one corner area where the propane stove was. The living room was wood paneling and had one large double pane window next to the sliding glass door that opened out to the deck. The deck didn’t have a railing around it, nor did it have stairs. There were 8 inch wide by 2 inch thick planks of wood that were about 10 to 12 feet long that sat on either side of the deck and were angled down to the yard. There was a claw foot tub in the bathroom with a pedestal sink. There was also a very small wood burning stove in the corner of the living room, nearest to the bathroom.

The upstairs consisted of the bedroom, a narrow hallway, and a one half bathroom that was as big as the downstairs minus the living room. The bedroom had light beige carpet, the narrow hallway leading to the half bath was turned into a closet on one side, but no doors. Speaking of doors, there were absolutely no doors inside the house – no door to either bathroom and no door to the bedroom. There was also no heat in the bedroom. (This wouldn’t be added until about eight years after I had been living there.)

After looking at the huge bedroom, the large yard, and knowing how little rent I’d be paying – I wanted this place! No walls to share with my neighbors, the location was closer to work, and it was just absolutely peaceful there. Dee called me a week later and said the place was mine if I wanted it. 🙂

Home Sweet Home

The stairs leading from the deck to the yard.

Throughout the years, Dee’s husband, Monte built a wood shed for me, replaced the tiny wood burning stove with a larger wood burning stove, built a carport, and stairs leading down to the yard from the deck. I supplied the fencing for the railing around the deck to make it safer because having a deck about ten feet off the ground with absolutely no railings of any kind around it is absolutely terrifying if a child or animal falls off of it. One night I was sitting with my legs dangling off the deck, and my Miniature Pinscher, Gwenyth was sitting on my lap. Well my Pit Bull, Bradley, came over and was nuzzling Gwenyth and he nuzzled her right off my lap, and she fell off the deck! Ten feet down and hit solid ground – boom! She lay there very still. I was scrambling to get my butt off the deck to run down one of the board planks to check on her, but then she shook herself off and was OK.

After eight years of living there, I even got a heater in the bedroom. (Mind you, I didn’t realize that this was a mandatory thing in California.) It was cold in that bedroom. In the winter, it would get to about 40 degrees Fahrenheit in that bedroom! Brr. My bed had fleece sheets, a thin blanket, an electric blanket (but it never worked right with the solar electricity,) a thicker blanket, and two down blankets. Not to mention, I would go to bed with socks on my feet, dressed in fleece pajamas, and wear a beanie on my head, and mittens on my hands. It was that cold! Having all of my pets snuggled in the bed with me just to keep me somewhat warm. The heater in the bedroom was a godsend.

But despite all of the problems with this house, it was my home. It was the longest place I’ve ever lived in my entire life. I loved it there. It inspired me to create jewelry. It inspired me to write poetry. It inspired me to learn how to draw. Dee and Monte didn’t care how many pets I had. They, at one time, were like my second parents, taking care of me – when I was their only tenant. They bought me a cord of wood one year, which isn’t cheap. They didn’t raise my rent for years!

And then 2017 happened… 😭

Next blog: Winter 2016-17

July 24, 2020 0