Category Archives: Uncategorized

Powers of observation

I’ve been in the thick of a challenging situation for the last several days that’s caused me to think extensively about the skill of observation. In ten years of doing this work, I’ve concluded that you either got it or … Continue reading

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Without Pokey

I woke up this Sunday morning at 6 AM with a fluffy and sweet grey-and-white face looming above me. As as I opened my eyes and started to focus, the Maine Coon chirping began. wake. up. now. please. hungry. i.  It … Continue reading

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The equation of hurt and joy

In my ten years of doing this work, I’ve learned there is  definitely an equation that tells you how upset you’ll be to adopt out a cat, based on length of time you’ve had said kitty and how difficult they were … Continue reading

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Pippin’s first purr

You rarely hear anyone dismiss the canine species by saying an individual is “just a dog.” And yet you hear it all the time about cats. Why bother feeding homeless kitties? Why keep their population down? Why not just exterminate … Continue reading

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The charting of hope

This summer and fall I embarked on perhaps the second-biggest rescue/trapping project yet – the biggest having been the farm where we found 21 cats running amok a few years ago. This one was still sizable – 12 or 13 … Continue reading

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Out of the mouths of babes

My sheltering-in-place bubble was burst in early May, with my granddaughter’s third birthday. I was so miserable with loneliness that we decided we would do what it took to resume visits and continue safety measures when out in the world. … Continue reading

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The saints have their timing down

Since returning on March 8 from a brief trip to Oregon, I’ve been marooned on the Island of Misfit Toys – AKA the Island of Unadoptable Cats – trying to keep my sanity while missing family hugs desperately. And make … Continue reading

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And the gods of animals said… give this woman a break!

After Ginger’s death, I started looking at my remaining four cats with renewed scrutiny, not wishing to be sneaked-up-on by another sudden meltdown. Three of four have physical challenges: colon blockages, restricted sinuses, inflammatory bowel disease… it’s all worrisome and … Continue reading

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Life lessons from a case of unwanted food

I came home Tuesday around noon after holding Ginger as she took her last breath at the vet’s office, hollow-eyed from grief and disbelief that two days earlier she was purring happily on my lap. The first thing I saw … Continue reading

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Playing God, not always accurately

Rescue work often puts you in the uncomfortable position of all-knowing, all-deciding deity, charged with determining the direction of a cat’s future. The trouble is, we don’t know all, and sometimes our decisions are less than sound. This is a … Continue reading

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