Some mysteries will never be solved

Life in the microsanctuary means that every day is an adventure and sometimes an utter disaster. It's never boring and rarely predictable.  The animals have dictated that upon waking (and they usually help me with that, too), I can run to the bathroom and brush my teeth, but after that must get right to the important business of feeding, medicating, and cleaning. Waking up and returning home both require a check-in with each animal. In the hours that I was asleep (or gone), someone could have gotten into something and created a mess or damage, someone could have gotten hurt, become sick--I just never know what I'll find, and that sets the tone for the rest of the day.

A week ago Sunday morning, I woke up (I had only slept for < 4 hours) to find Snowden had a bloody nose. I cleaned it up and examined it but was unable to tell where the blood came from. It seemed like a scrape, but I wasn't sure.  In another cat, this would have put me on alert mode, and I would have watched carefully to try to determine what happened, but Snowden has a history that made me extra concerned. In November I came home from teaching class to find Snowden a mess! His nose and mouth were bloody, he was covered in urine, and he was definitely not well.  He had been fine when I left. He's a very needy cat who spends a lot of time with me, and he had not acted different or indicated any discomfort, and he seemed quite normal when I left for class a few short hours before. I rushed him to the vet, where we determined after many tests, that he had most likely gotten a urinary blockage, which allowed toxic levels to accumulate in his kidneys, causing mouth sores. The blockage cleared itself (thus him being covered in urine), and after flushing his kidneys with IVs, everything returned to normal.  This was disconcerting mostly, because I've often had male cats with blockages, but it's always very obvious, because they cry. He gave no indication that there was a problem. He's a very sweet, mellow, laid-back guy, so it's not terribly surprising. Since then he's been in great health, but seeing the blood around his nose made me more fearful than I would normally be.  I spent the entire day watching him, following him around, trying to make sure he was totally normal and urinating okay.  Fortunately, I didn't have plans outside the house that day, or I would have had to cancel. This is part of the reason I don't make many plans ahead of time, there's always a fairly high probability that I will have to cancel for animal health reasons, and people don't always understand or accept that.

I noticed shortly after I freaked out about Snowy, that Charlie's nose looked really similar.  Under the circumstances, it didn't bring the relief that it might have. These cats are friends, and they don't fight.  Poor Charley was violated by his previous family and declawed, so he isn't even able to scratch. Snowden never fights with anyone--ever.  I am 100% certain their bloody noses were not caused by a fight. Maybe they got into something that scraped their noses; Maybe while outside in their cat enclosure a small animal swiped at their noses; I truly have no idea. I've spent the last week watching them and examining everything in our environment, and I still have no winning theories on the bloody noses. They're almost healed up now, and both cats are perfectly fine otherwise.  It's always very disconcerting to me when something like this happens, and I'm unable to figure it out.

Daffy

Tulip

She only has two teeth, so
 her cute little tongue flops out a lot.

On the cat front, Dej's four cats moved back in with her after living with us for a year. She was finally able to get a job in her field and settle into one place, so it was time for them to go home. We miss them, but I think all of the cats are happier back in their own worlds.  Shortly after they left, we took in two special needs cats with some very serious medical issues.  We have made great progress with their health in the last six weeks.
 Daffy and Tulip (mother and daughter) are tiny cats with giant personalities, and they've settled in without any fights or issues with the other cats.  More on Daffy and Tulip later...  I've never had such a hard time getting a decent picture as I have with these two.  I have taken hundreds of pictures, and this is the best I've managed to get so far.

Daffy & Tulip

Daffy napping

Daffy (eating) lives for food

Tulip loves her post

As of today, I have a young, sweet feral cat living in a large dog cage in my house until her spay appointment Thursday morning.  She showed up about a month ago, looking tiny, scrawny, and scared to death, and has been eating here and living in our (heated) garage. She made friends with my "pet" feral cat of almost three years, Sashi, which I was pretty happy about until I saw them engaged in coitus in my driveway.  I have been unable to get near Sashi (or trap him), but he lives on our property and comes to the door every day for food.  I'm STILL trying to trap him for a neuter, but he's a clever cat.  I'm thrilled that I have her safely in the house and will not have to deal with 6-7 kittens in a few weeks!  I'd love to keep her, of course, but unless I'm able to find a home, she will be released back outside after her spay, where I will continue to care for as well as one can care for an outside cat who's under constant threat and risk. :(

Special fridge poetry

da fuq?!

You know how it is, you're brushing
your teeth at 5:30 a.m. and realize
that you need to go hunt down a black
sharpie and decorate the toothpaste.

Onto a completely different topic. My husband has been decorating the house again. I do not understand the strange things he does, especially since they happen before 6:00 in the morning.  I was sitting in my living room and happened to notice something very strange on the small shelf with my Fenton glass birds--this very troubling rabbit with human legs and a saggy crotch. I don't quite understand it at all. He put it in the center of the birds, as if the birds were all worshiping the rabbit.  Naturally, I gave the only response possible--"What the fuck is that?". He tried to feign innocence, as he always does, but couldn't keep a straight face for very long.