Whose 'bright' idea was it to change the login from account name and password to e-mail address and password? Because when I realized sofurry was back up again and tried to get in I couldn't and no combination of e-mail addresses I would have used and password will get me back in. It doesn't seem to recognize any of my addresses including the defunct ones I can't use for account recovery if they are the addresses on the account.

The cousin that prepared him for the funeral did a great job making him look like he was just sleeping and okay, meanwhile my sister and her family didn't even acknowledge my existence. I think from what I heard the florist shorted things on the $250 flower arrangement my vet arranged and we're stuck dealing with the aftermath and trying to get Granny to care for herself enough that she doesn't die soon either. Surprisingly my class's homeroom teacher actually showed up to pay his respects.

He was just 2 months shy of his 89th birthday and 3 months shy of his 60th wedding anniversary. He passed late this morning and so now we're dealing with the aftermath.

...and it's only January.

I had to rush Houdini to the vet yesterday morning as she was so congested she had to breathe through her mouth and had a piece of paper towel adhering to and covering her nose. She had an upper respiratory infection and the beginnings of pneumonia so left her overnight for treatment and observation. Then THIS morning the vet called to say she tested positive for FelV (feline leukemia) which weakens the immune system and almost certainly guarantees they contract cancer if some secondary infection doesn't get them first. Panicked (because it spreads through saliva meaning ALL the cats in her wing were exposed to it through the water bowls and her tracking it around) I brought in a total of 8 of the other cats (leaving 6 untested) and got gut-punched by Tiger (who's 16 this year), Sammie (Hunter, Jade, Ruby and Shadow's Mom), and Ruby all testing positive for FIV, the cat version of HIV/AIDS. So 4 so far have these fatal viruses and the cost of testing and vaccinating the rest is going to be insane, probably more than Jaspyr's treatments for his UTI issues (he tested negative and got vaccinated of course).

So with everything else yes this is undoubtedly the worst year ever and I dread the final results of all the tests.

So I was able to get out today and check on as many cats as I could. I found the two girls Tiffany and Dot at Granny's (no idea where the others are hold up). They were in the straw-filled dog house as their regular shelter the snow was too deep around it for them to stay there. Wading through knee deep snow I dug out around the dog house, put down a box and used the box to put dry and wet food down for them. I also excavated their water bowl and refilled it.

At Mom's I checked on the cabin first and they were all okay but some were hiding and took a bit to dig out. I went down into the basement to leave food for Ruffles in case she was there which she was, in the corner where I piled up some straw for her. Sadly though I knew she was there because she was wheezing a little. :( As a feral you can't get close to her in fact when she realized I was there she raced out of the corner in a panic before she ran across the top shelves at the back and over to a connecting air vent into the basement of the other cabin (which I never knew existed until today and Mom didn't insists she never thought the second cabin even had a basement). But at least she's sheltering and got plenty of food and no tracks in the snow showing raccoons, possums or other critters are showing up to steal it.

After all that I had to get the bedroom Dad was in set up so I could move some of the cabin cats into it because it's so brutally cold (down below 2F right now) the cabin can't possibly stay warm enough for them. Fred, Barney and Pebbles got moved into there (promptly all hid under the bed) and the remainder (Maggie their mom, Judy, Onyx and Bailey) got moved here into the central section of the building that all my cats are in. I repurposed a section of the old pen to create a gated area for them to stay in until the weather warms up and they can go back. THEY are all hiding in their carriers scared right now but at least they're safe from the cold. I'll try and clean their cabin a little every day so that when they get back it'll be at least close to like new.

I have to say it's such a good thing I got Kitty out of Granny's when I did, so much safer for her here. Mom's dog Max here though must be senile, despite not being a winter-breed dog he's running around in these brutally cold temperatures making me wonder if he'll freeze himself to death before that tumor kills him.

Lastly I've another cat I'll need to bury when the snow melts and ground thaws. The THIRD dead kitty I've seen in that one town between here and where Mom stays. He was just a road lane's width away from the last one, the calico. Already frozen by the time I came out Friday, a nice big brown tabby with obvious broken bones. Once I get a name for him I'll have to order him a grave marker like I did for Samuel.

I only has two days to try and get things okay for the strays at my grandmother's and the cats at Mom's before that winter snow came him. I transported a lot of straw and set up shelters particularly at Granny's, so far only one was being used by Tiffany and Dot to keep warm in. I dumped out as big a pile of cat food as I could manage but I'm just terrified for them. I can't ensure they have water like this and Void showed up Thursday with an injured front paw which is extra dangerous at this time.

Meanwhile because Mom refused to stay at home to watch after the cats because 'got to stay with Dad' like the nursing home staff couldn't care for him for two or three days they're all alone and I'm worrying so much about them the anxiety is killing me. I don't know if the cabin kitties will spill their water or if the heater won't be able to keep things above freezing and Ruffles outside I don't know if she can get somewhere she can keep warm and if she can get to the pile of cat food I left for her and the heated water bowl so she has something to drink. *sigh*

One thing is for sure, as soon as I can come and go again I'll be doing everything I can to ensure this won't happen again, at least not with the cats at Mom's. I'm going to work on making it possible to bring them here for future bad weather and maybe keep a few here permanently most likely Onyx and Bailey since they're rescues from Granny's unlike the others Maggie, Fred, Barney, Pebbles and Judy who're all family and born there.

So this year is already worse than last year.

Mom called just at midnight on Wednesday to say something was happening with Dad (he'd already required a 911 call and emergency room run a week before) and I needed to come help drive her to the emergency room after calling them again for Dad. So by 4am they're keeping him and Mom stays and I return home to get a little sleep before having to take care of the day. That ended up having to take Granny and her husband to get his blood drawn for his monthly protime check. Barely got him home and left before she's calling for me to come back because he fell and she couldn't get him up so I turned around and rushed back to help, except he's clearly too bad off to just put on the couch and leave so after about 10 minutes I finally got her to call 911 for him too. So he ended up in the emergency room at the hospital too.

Unfortunately her husband did break his hip and at 97 he'd almost certainly die from the hip surgery if only because of his medical issues that required him to be on blood thinners. Granny chose to not go with the surgery and he got transported to the nursing home Saturday. Well the hospital wouldn't release Dad back to Mom insisting he needed nursing home care because he'd developed pneumonia in his left lung so he was shipped there Sunday (with trouble because Dad unhooked himself before they'd even left the parking lot and required an ambulance to drive him instead). Both ended up in the same room because 'well you're all family so we'll make it easier on you.' Except being around Granny or Bill's daughter very long just ups Mom's stress instead and she was wishing they'd been in different rooms.

Sadly as of this morning though it doesn't matter as Bill passed away around I think Mom said 7AM. So they're having to work on the funeral arrangements now.

This has left me with even more stress and anxiety than I was already having and not helped by Mom saying things like 'what do YOU have to be stressed about?' when I've been the sole support they've had. I get groceries, do the laundry (which was almost every day because of Dad), look after ALL the cats and properties and I've got nobody to support me or help me out (because my sister is garbage, she came down Saturday and it was all about her husband and seeing his mother and son rather than helping her own mother out).

and left thinking even if I live to Grandma's age I have maybe 36 years left before I'm no longer here. So I'm already 2/3rd's gone now.

Last night Hope somehow managed to fall and catch her hind leg between the box springs and the bed frame leaving her in agony as she was dangling towards the floor from her leg which was NOT in a good angle at all. Naturally I rushed over to try and free her before she suffered something permanent and got savagely bitten by her messing up my dominant hand because I didn't think to grab a blanket or something to protect myself. She's already acting normal and I've got the worst injury I've ever had with half a dozen punctures in the first joint of my first finger so my hand is swollen and really not sure how useful the Walk-in clinic's medical care is when all she said was 'here's an antibiotic you don't need to do anything else.' So if it doesn't get better in a few days I'll have to consider possible Emergency room care although this weekend is going to be brutally cold down into the negatives and snow on top of that.

Honestly about the only good (I hope) thing I've seen is that between Thursday and Friday someone put two styrofoam totes with blankets in them on my grandmother's property for the cats. They even included some wet food. I just hope they aren't related to whoever took my kittens as I hate not knowing what's up with them plus I haven't seen Frigga in 4 days now and I fear the worst given Granny's was her home and she was always there.

Granny had been complaining about her now 12-1/2 year old black cat Kitty for years now, saying she wanted to get rid of her because she was scratching things up when she had nothing else to scratch at and she barely had anywhere at all being confined in the small unheated porch area. So today I finally decided I had the bedroom here sealed to where I could keep her here instead and picked her up on my way back. She went into the carrier without complaint, while she meowed a little on the drive she was a good girl and after running around a bit in the bedroom she's hiding under the bed now. So hopefully she'll settle in without too much trouble, as is got food, water and litter box all ready for her and hopefully she'll make sure to use the last since Granny never even let her have a litter box to go in, just some newspapers on the floor or when she put her outside.

As an aside I can't believe they've actually added ratings to even the Journals now.

Well it was a very long Friday but I and all my kitties are finally moved in here at the other place. I moved Misty and her kittens first (along with Nyx) after getting all their furniture and other things moved to make things more familiar for them. Oh God did nearly everyone cry so pitifully though all the way here and a few like Nyx and Aurora were a handful to catch and get into a carrier. But they're all moved in now and mostly hiding under the beds in each room, although some are doing better adjusting than they did with the first move and already running around cautiously, although mostly they're hiding unless I'm in there.

Jaspyr was one of my biggest concerns as he got another UTI. :( Overnight from Wednesday to Thursday morning he didn't do his usual routine of trying to sleep on my pillow next to my head and was hiding in a box in a corner and wouldn't even come when I called him like he usually does. Worse by the time I got back in the afternoon he hadn't eaten ANYTHING or had any water, so I had to do an emergency vet run for him made even more difficult because Dad needed to get to his skin cancer doctor's appointment at the same time and Mom's just not good at those drives anymore but she understood and managed to get there and back okay. Meanwhile Jaspyr had a fever and the vet gave him subcutaneous fluids as she felt he was a bit dehydrated along with antibiotics to give him so he can recover. I guess I've let him around to eat the other non-prescription food too much so will have to not slack off anymore and ensure he only eats his urinary care food so this doesn't happen again.

I'd had to take Tiger to the vet a couple weekends ago and there was a dead 4-6 month old black kitten in the median of the road so I stopped to give it a proper burial on the way back. Someone deliberately drove over her squashing her when I was almost back to her (I saw the tires going over her body). Most of her bones were broken, she was like a limp dishrag or ragdoll on my hand. Her head was in awful shape and picking her up to carry her back her intestines fell out and were dragging the ground. :( I got her back together as best I could at the car and buried her the next day and ended up digging up the edge of Sylvester's coffin in the process. She's buried now though and laid to rest with a marker like the others. That's 5 kitties I've given burials to from the highway now, with her the second pure black one. So an orange boy started the year out, black kitten, black and white kitten, gray kitty and now this black kitty.

So in the eleventh week of a six-eight week wait we FINALLY got the building we ordered at the start of JULY to house the kittens here at the other property in. It cost around $25k and I'm not sure how much the crushed rock pad cost for its placement but at least $1700. We had to move the propane tank which they only finished moving and hooking up last week just barely in time for the winter warranty check of the furnace. Meanwhile the power company also finally completed its part of running power to a pole next to the building last week and the electrician did the last of the hook-up from the meter/breaker box on the pole. THAT cost $3800 but there's now a 200A breaker box on the building not counting the 200A box at the meter and it's finally fully powered. He talked us into installing an electric furnace for heat instead of trying to rely on space heaters to the tune of $4800, so in a few weeks the building will have almost everything you'd want for living in outside of plumbing. We'll also be having linoleum laid down for cleaning and other purposes to handle the cats living in there, since we can't have them living on that original flooring.

Meanwhile the original house Mom finally called someone in to inspect the roof. The cheap estimate only repairing the directly damaged area is $32k roughly, to fix the entire roof structure (he said he almost fell through the roof several times walking on it) around $45k. That would include the ceiling damage in the kitchen and living room. While that wouldn't make the house livable (still needs the water damage that took out the power repaired and that's probably at least $10-20k) it'd at least improve its winter weather tolerance if we can manage it.

Hopefully though once that building is done at least I'l be moved in here at the other place with my cats, even if I can't let any loose in the house yet but at least we'd have something more stable than current housing for us.

So 2 weeks ago I'd fed everyone on Monday as usual and come the next day only one of the black kittens was left. The kitten that was still afraid and would hide from people, all four I'd gotten socialized and friendly had been taken by someone and I fear the worst for them I caught the remaining one a few days later and named her Bailey. She's slowly coming along in Cabin 1 with the other 3 Faith, Hope and Charity (who're also all doing well).

Meanwhile Frigga had her latest litter last weekend from somewhere after I fed her Saturday afternoon and when I returned Sunday afternoon. Hopefully more of the will survive and I'll be able to catch and find homes for them so someone doesn't take and harm them too.

I am just so angry right now! My sister insisted on cleaning that house despite the rain and predicted thunderstorms and for a change her husband stayed to carry trash bags out. She mouthed off about how she felt only she and her husband were doing anything (mind you they put on protective gear like they were going into a nuclear reactor) and after starting something I shot back at her. Well her husband when I went to toss trash into the trash bin threatened to break my jaw if I raised my voice to 'his wife' again. I told him his wife MY sister and if he wanted to I have no problems sending him to jail. After repeating himself he actually had to gall to talk like I should be GRATEFUL that they were so 'magnanimously' helping clean up, yeah right grateful some <censored> tells me he's going to break my jaw.

Honestly I don't want to ever see either of them ever again. She's never acted like we're family and none of her husbands ever behaved like they had a brother-in-law and she's sure to mouth off again to provoke things and I won't hesitate to press charges and insist on her husband going to jail where he belongs if he assaults me and sue them for everything possible.

There was a little black kitten dead in the center of the road when I came down to get some Internet use yesterday. About 3-4 months old she looked otherwise healthy and well-groomed with a broken hind leg with the bone sticking out. I retrieved her and buried her next to Mr T this morning so she could at least receive someone's love and care in the end, as I hope she wasn't tossed from a vehicle and that she died instantly instead of people driving by ignoring her as she lay dying.

IMPORTANT NEWS:
GOOD NEWS: I and all the cats are safe.
BAD NEWS: Tree fell on house rendering it uninhabitable for the foreseeable future.
WHAT HAPPENED: Back on Wednesday the 18th a severe but short (probably just 20 minutes or so) storm ripped through causing a lot of damage. I wasn't home and had a hell of a time getting back due to all the trees down, including only barely having a part of driveway available to pull off the road onto. The tree I'd been telling mom for years was going to come down and needed cut out finally came down across the cat pen, crushing the roof over the kitchen and living room.
Then to top things off removing the tree broke through into the living room area and apparently today the ceiling in front of the kitchen door (which is where a lot of water obviously came in and on the floor) fell down.
Everything is a horrible mess and while I've got the cats out and temporarily in a habitable place we're frantically trying to make things workable more long term which includes the restoration of the other house Mom's used as storage as a place we can live. When the Internet got turned on here today I rushed to let everyone know what's up. So that's what's happening currently.
In the meantime I'll have limited access since it's a 15 minute drive from where Mom and my cats are at to here and it's not someplace I'd want to stay without cleaning it up and at least getting the computer and basics comforts taken care of.

Didn't see the one I saw yesterday but when I was coming out of her house I saw several black kittens even younger than the previous one in a corner of the old house. Seems like Dot's kittens apparently survived because they're all black (one mostly black tortie in the mix) and definitely younger than the other. So now I've seen 5 ktitens there looking to be from Frigga's litter several months ago and Dot in the last month or so. I have to find better for them because they can't just live there as strays and Granny promptly started hating on them saying how she had to get someone to 'carry them off' and ranting how someone could report her and other things. So I need to find someone decent to take them to and get them proper homes.

Looks a few months old, pretty healthy and I think is a surviving kitten from Frigga's litter looking at the fur pattern that's kind of calico like she's kind of calico. Hissy of course but I still managed to pet it a little so it's not lost to being a feral that it let me actually touch it. I'll have to watch for it and see if it has other siblings around and do what I can to socialize it and maybe find someplace better for it than living as a stray.

Barely had Mr T buried yesterday it seemed like when Mom called because a relative just dropped 3 three-week old kittens in her lap because their mother got ran over. So I had to race out in the late evening to go help her which included a race to Walmart before they closed to get kitten milk for them. Then today to the vet to get checked over. I'll have to feed them every 3-4hrs for several weeks at least until they're comfortable eating solid food and can pee and poop on their own. No idea where they'll end up (Good Lord I can't imagine adding three more cats into the house on top of the rest) but right now just trying to ensure they have futures. Two calicos and an orange-and-white kitten that are tentatively named Faith, Hope and Charity for the Orange-and-White one.

Got the call shortly after they opened for work this morning. I don't know what happened but he's gone now and I'm just so heartbroken. He was a good boy even if he roamed a lot and came home sick and injured from fighting other toms and now every day when I go to Mom's to feed the kitties I'll be looking for him everywhere before realizing I'll never see him again. I have to prepare his burial and deal with the fear of taking Ruby and Puck to be fixed in the morning and try and get through the week without falling apart.

He had some mouth infection in particular a badly infected molar that had to be removed. Most likely that's why he was poorly groomed because it hurt to groom himself. As he got out of the pen this morning when she lowered her guard (happens to the best of us) and she had to sedate him she went ahead and neutered him while he was out and get it over with. She also gave him a bath and got him cleaned up. He's got all his vaccinations now, medicine for fleas and ticks and treated for ear mites and is estimated to be around 5 years old (looks older because of his injuries from fighting and being so scruffy because he couldn't groom himself well). Also has a 2-week antibiotic injection that he needs for the mouth infection.

Unfortunately he's also got FIV. This means he'll be prone to infections because of it (likely contracted while fighting other unfixed toms and spread by him to other toms if they weren't already infected). He may have infected Dot but hopefully not. He can live a full life depending on his luck and how well I can look after him in the future. Unfortunately as I can't keep him up or bring him home I'll have to release him back at Granny's and hope he remains living around there instead of run off. Just doing the best I can for him though and I hope he remains around Granny's so I can keep him fed and cared for. I'll see if they can slip a collar onto him with his rabies tag so that at least if he runs off because of this people will see he's got someone that cares for him and that he's not a rabies threat. Just makes me wonder if I should go to the expense of chipping him even though odds are nobody would check him if they did get him.

Like the headline says I caught Odin, one of the strays that's been living at my grandmother's since I started feeding the strays around her house last year. He's always looked and been sick (poor boy can't even properly groom himself and his butt looked awful due to diarrhea) but I couldn't get him into a carrier until today, so I rushed him to my vet (she was very helpful and said if I can catch them she'd work in any of the strays). He'll be staying there until sometime next week so he can be treated for whatever everything is that's wrong with him (hopefully nothing really serious) and get him him fixed so he won't be fighting other toms for females.

Sadly I have to add that a week and a half ago Dot lost her kittens (and Frigga lost hers the month prior). She was looking like she was getting ready to have them on Thursday when I went over for the usual feeding but her neck fur was wet and Odin actually was mounting her! I had to chase them around the yard but after Dot got under the one truck and I crawled under to get her she ran out and I couldn't find her after that. :( Next day she's skinny again and no signs of nursing so the kittens died or were killed soon after being born. So when I can I have to get her and Frigga fixed so that tragedy won't happen again.

Everybody else other than Mr T seems to be doing okay, but maybe we can get him caught and to the vet too because he badly needs it. He's been staying at the house every day recently so he must not be feeling well and he sure doesn't look it so need to get him cared for.

Frigga is one of the 7 strays hanging at my grandmother's that I've been feeding since late last year. She's mostly white and one of the non-TNR cats that have been there and may be one of those abandoned by the neighbor. She may also be Aurora's mother. She didn't show up yesterday but showed up today clearly no longer pregnant so she had them 4/2/25. Hopefully somewhere on or near Granny's. Won't know for sure unless/until they come out exploring at a time while I'm there and that'd be at least 4-6 weeks from now. So I need to keep an eye out for them and hopefully catch them and get her and them safely fixed then decide what to do from there.

So just to start with something positive got all the remaining kitties at Mom's fixed finally. Judy, Pebbles, Fred, Barney and Onyx (rescued from Granny's). So no more worrying about them. Also got Smokey from Misty's litter fixed as well which leaves Thor, Loki, Oberon, Titania, Puck and Ash to be fixed.

Dad's dementia several weeks ago had him wander out an emergency exit at a shoe store and not even noticing or reacting to the alarm when it went off. Then he punched a mirror injuring his knuckles (thankfully not breaking the mirror) because he couldn't recognize himself in the mirror and 'got into a fight' with 'that other guy' in the 'other room.'

Last weekend finally I had an emergency vet run for Nyx ($1300 ) because she seemed in pain and not responding normally. On top of a massive infection she's got an enlarged heart, because of that I need to find a specialist to do an echocardiogram on her to find out what's wrong with it hopefully. Annoyingly when I tried to get a price for the test at the closest vet (instead of the ones 3-4hrs away or more just one way) I was told they don't give out the cost, that the doctor has the list of prices and it's basically whatever he decides to charge which is insane. Oh, but I'd have to pay $180 up front just for them to reexamine her. So the emergency vet, regular vet and these people NONE of them will give me a straight answer for the price, refusing even a basic ballpark figure and adamant about not giving any numerical values. So I'm going to have to call the others farther away starting tomorrow to see if any of them will give cost estimates and if they don't I may just snap, refusing to discuss the costs of something and expecting someone to wait until after it's done to find out is ludicrous.