Emma is the hunter, the terror of small furry rodents - she's about 2 and a half yrs old, Sherry. The other two are 11 and 12. All came to us as rescues.

If I had the money I spent on having all of the abandoned cats neutered, I could buy all of the new intros this year and then some. Seems like people think I'm just the right distance from the city to dump their unwanted cats. I try to find homes for them, if not they become barn cats.

I know what that is like, Tom. I have one neighbor that also cant stand to see something suffer so between the two of us we manage to get dumped dogs to a vet, feed them, get their photos on facebook and most of the time find them a home. Cats are a different story. If they are sweet I take them to the vet and make a home for them. If they are wild I just feed them and hope for the best. Our vet works with us on dumped animals and it costs us very little. That is a blessing. Food for the animals cost more each month than food for people in my house. Two years ago Little Rock passed a law regarding pit bulls. Every weekend that spring and summer I had great big scared dogs wandering up to me in the yard. It was soooo sad. They were without their people and did not know how to live in the country and it was impossible to find an adult pit bull a home. Our county does not have an animal shelter. We tried everything and finally another neighbor, one that does not tolerate animals well, called the sheriff and they came out and shot them. In truth we were getting a large number of them but it was so sad anyway. We had taken their picture and put it on facebook, put up flyers everywhere and nothing worked. I just did not have a solution. There are not many people I can truly say I abhor but people that abuse babies and children, old and disabled adults and helpless animals...... I could easily..... got to get some coffee now.

Sweet babies...so cute.

Bonnie, I'm with you. Grrrrrr...coffee, please.

We live in a rural area too, and also are targeted for dumped animals. Sometimes it's a blessing -- last fall someone dropped a beautiful kitten off, a long-hair calico with a beautiful face. Not long ago a tom cat showed up -- also long haired, white with tabby spots and tail -- he's a stunning cat. I'm going to let the calico have a litter of kittens before having her spayed. If the tom becomes friendly enough for me to pick him up, he'll be taken in for neutering -- after he romances the calico!

But sometimes it's anything but a blessing. A very skinny young (I thought) cat was dumped here last fall. A real sweetheart. I adopted him immediately and tried to feed him separately so that he would gain weight. One Saturday afternoon he was acting very lethargic and not well. The only vet open was an emergency clinic. I didn't think he would live until Monday when my regular vet was open, so that's where we had to go. The emergency vet examined the cat, told me he was not a kitten, but a very sick adult -- old enough to have tartar on his teeth -- and likely had Feline Leukemia or Feline HIV. It cost me $160.00 to have someone else's sick cat put to sleep. Our vets do not work with us on dumped animals, but I can't stand to see an animal that's sick or hurt -- and not do something about it.

We have a clinic in Madison called "Shelter From the Storm" and they sometimes get donations for spaying cats, so we can at times get it done for about $25. or so for females, and $20. for males. But ususally they charge their normal $60. which is still less then average. Usually the females that get dropped off here are about ready to have kittens.

If people would pay to neuter their animals, there would not be so many dumps.

Mary Ann: If that cat feline Leukemia, I hope you got shots for your other kitties because it is very contagious. When I lived in Washington state they were very pro-active about cats and kittens getting the shot. Down here in NC, they don't seem to think it is necessary, so you have to ask for it as part of the regular series of shots.

Bonnie, that is just heartbreaking about the dogs.

yes it is, Leslie. I don't like a lot of people a lot of the time. We are stewards of everything on this earth!!! and dogs have been domesticated to the point that they cannot survive without humans. Can you imagine how scared we would be if our family took us on a long road trip into unknown country where we did not understand the language and dump us?

Sadly, no Leslie. My cats are barn cats -- and I can't afford vaccinations for all of them. They are fed, they are neutered and they go to the vet if they're sick or injured. And that's that. So far, we've been really lucky and have avoided deadly diseases. Just had a cat go through a very nasty sinus infection -- and when I took him to the vet for help, I had him titred for FL and FHIV -- he was clear. If he's clear, then likely the others are too because he was born here five or six years ago. Antibiotics cleared him up and he's fine.

Those diseases are difficult because the cats can be exposed to them, and carry the inactive form of the disease for years before it shows up. My vet said that it's virtually everywhere -- and the next best thing to vaccination is to keep your cats healthy. That's what I try to do.

Bonnie -- that's the way that I think too. I feel so sorry for animals. They are subject to humans.

So far (knock on wood) - no serious illnesses with our cats. They usually live to be around 14 or 15 and then die of old age.. Sometimes I think they
purge themselves of any bad organisms by chewing on various grasses on the land. Then they erp. All are neutered. Finding homes for kittens would be more
than I could manage nowadays! However, I am sorely tempted by the new baby Nubian goats in our valley. So cute. I'll resist, however. There are predators around - but our dogs keep them away:
Here are our dog rescues. Our protectors! (So glad we have a "mindless" thread!')




:



Chico




Juno





Tasha (she was about to be euthanized at the pound when my daughter saw her and brought her home...to me!)

all are neutered.

While we're waiting for the irises to bloom, I'd love to see pics of Tom's horses, or others' dogs! Or cats! Goldfish? Grandchildren?

I have TONS of kitty pictures. Lol

This was Isis whom we had for many years. She passed away from megacolon. She had more problems than any cat we ever had. Prone to infections, bad teeth(she had to have 7 pulled), growths on her skin(pictured after removal of two large ones), internal tumors twice...that girl was expensive but cute as could be.

I'm not good about taking pictures of the critters. I do have a couple of pictures of one of our barn cats, because he loves Irises too -- and walks with me when I'm strolling around my beds. This is Crash:


And here is a picture of our Panda:

We do what we can for them, don't we Celia?

Yes! pet pictures!!

Mary Ann - nice photo of Crash with the irises! Panda is a cutie!
Celia - I always loved black kitties too! Sorry yours passed away. There's
an Irish saying that goes " Give a dog your heart and he'll tear it apart.) That
goes for cats too. We do miss them.

I have two black kitties too -- Eeney and Miney. They were two of the four kittens in the litter -- Meeney and Moe met an early demise -- they didn't believe me when I told them it was dangerous to cross the road.

Mary Ann, that's so cool in the first photo how the Iris and cat match! And there's a short, bushy red flower behind them (that matches the falls beautifully). What is that red flower? I thought Marigold at first, then realized it was something else...

At our age, hubby says 'no more pets'. I miss them. I had a childhood cocker spaniel who died after we were married & we used to show them. A total of 4 cats (1 at a time) & of course the horses. It is really tough when they go.

On my way from the house to the pottery studio, I pass by the iris beds. I'm probably weirder than most, but I
am positively thrilled to see the increases popping up from rhizomes I planted just last summer and fall. Florentine Silk has
five new "babies" and Cat's Eye lives up to it's vigorous reputation with many increases.