Last week I worked on removing some ground level side roots on a tree stump in the front yard.
https://tallpinesranch.blogspot.com/2021/06/tree-stump-17-for-year.html
Rascal came out to "help" me. It was hard to get a decent photo as he kept moving around.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NVv7IzEVf3M
Well... Daisy never did this.
Earlier this week I thought Rascal was outside when I was. It was that I got sidetracked doing something and was gone longer than I expected. When I got back to the house I called for Rascal. No Rascal. When I opened the house door there he was inside the house waiting for me at the door. Oh. I guess I remembered wrong. You were inside the whole time.
Later I noticed by kitchen window screen was loose and cockeyed. Odd. But okay.
Last night Rascal would go out briefly. Then wanted back in to get a quick bite to eat. Rascal doesn't eat a lot at one time, but quite often he will eat a quick bite. Then he wanted back outside. Okay. A short time later I was on my computer and I heard a sound from the kitchen. What? Something fall or break?
I went to look and then saw Rascal standing in the narrow window sill and he was pushing on the screen to try to get inside.
What?! How did you get up there?!
I opened the door and he jumped down and came inside the house. So, the previous time I was right. He was outside and then he figured out how to jump up and push on the screen to get inside the house.
So now if Rascal is outside and I'm not around I will have to only have the window open a crack so he can't jump up and push his way inside the house.
This morning after 6 am Rascal was interested in going outside. I usually fall right back asleep. But this time I didn't as I knew he would want back in the house after a short time. I closed the kitchen window to a crack. Rascal came around to the other door by my bedroom window and meowed. I let him back in the house then went back to bed. He ate and then he wanted back outside again. Really? Okay.
So again I didn't fall back asleep as I knew he would want back inside after a short time outside. After a while he again came to the other door and meowed. This time he wanted to stay in the house and jumped up on my bed to sleep next to me. After at 7 am I was able to go back to sleep.
This evening Rascal was outside with me when I did some grass removal from around a fruit tree. After an hour or so he headed back to the house. I then headed that way to do something. I looked over and Rascal was standing at the house door but he was also looking up at the window. I didn't have it open. Whew.
What a cat.
The window doesn't open that wide. The distance up is quite a bit. The window sill is not that large. Who would have thought.
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| You talking about me? |
Today Rascal sat on the couch and talked to the birds as I ate my lunch.
It's been a long time since I posted about my new cat, Rascal. He is not Daisy, but we are getting along fine.
Rascal no longer hides under my bed. He is comfortable now in the entire house. His favorite spot is on his blanket on my loveseat. At night he usually sleeps on the bed when I do. Daisy had his spot and he had to lay right against me at all times. If I moved over in bed, Daisy would then move over to continue to be right against me. Rascal lays near, but not against me at the start of the night, but by morning he lays closer. He likes his neck rubbed and when he is active at 7 or 8 am often he wakes me and I have to pet him around the neck or side of his head for a bit until I fall back asleep. Later he goes back to sleep and will then sleep closer to me. If I have my arm stretched out on top of the covers he will lay against my wrist and hand. Since my accident in 2019 I sleep more. Over nine hours. Now that I have Rascal I sleep even more. Often 10 hours. Rascal would prefer if I kept sleeping and laying next to him. He would be fine with all day. It seems when I try to get up in the morning Rascal will move around and on top of me to try to keep me laying there.
Rascal now has gotten my routine down a little bit. Initially he wanted attention almost all the time I was around. Now he will give me a break when I eat a meal. He will go and sit on the floor watching me or go lay on his blanket and watch me. When I am done eating he will come back to me for more petting..
Daisy would lay on my lap and go to sleep when I was on the computer. Rascal will jump up on my lap a number of times when I am on the computer. If I rub his neck he will stay. When I stop and start retyping he will then jump off my lap and go elsewhere.
Rascal has started to go outside the past few weeks. For the most part only if I go outside also. Initially it was only on the porch and near the door. Now that he would like to occasionally eat grass he will go around the house. And a time or two last week he started to go around the yard a little bit and check out a few buildings. He even went to the barn. So I left open a side door on the barn so he could go inside. I want him to catch the mice in the barn. I think he will be a good mouser. He just need to be comfortable with where he is.
Rascal prefers to have his neck rubbed or the side of his face rubbed. Not so much back past his front legs and shoulders. I have to watch that he doesn't bite my hand if I pet too far back. About the only time I can pet him back behind his front legs is when I am standing and using both hands, starting from under his neck and then go back along each of his sides. He will turn his head looking up at me or else turn his head side to side watching my hands.
Sometimes I think Rascal has AHAD. He doesn't keep too still when I pet him. He changes positions often.
Now that it is hot outside I would like to trim some of his neck fur. But he doesn't sit still, or like to have his fur cut.
He does like to play with his toys.
Earlier I had mentioned that Rascal was caught in a junkyard. No one is sure how long he lived there. A person placed a trap to catch other cats she had seen in the junkyard since it was the beginning of December and getting cold, and after the trap was out for only one day also caught Rascal. The former owner of Rascal also owned a motel in Columbia Falls and said Rascal lived there. But she said that Rascal liked to roam around.
Rascal likes to lay under the bed in my bedroom. He comes out when I go to bed so I can pet him. I don't think he spends the night on the bed as he isn't there when I wake up. But when Rascal hears I am awake in the morning he jumps up on the bed. Other times of the day when I enter the bedroom and sit on the bed he will come out from under the bed so I can pet him. This afternoon when it was time for me to go and do some work, Rascal put his claws into my flannel shirt and tried to stop me from leaving him. Some times he seems to hear something I can't hear as he looks to be hearing something, and then he will go back under the bed.
Rascal will only go out of the bedroom to eat and use the litter box. This evening I tried to coax him out of the bedroom to join me by the woodstove in the hallway area. He would come to the door but not out of the room. So I picked him up. As soon as I exited the bedroom Rascal panicked and squirmed out of my hands scratching one of my fingers. As soon as he hit the ground he took off. Since I had closed the bedroom door he took off to another room. I waited and waited and called for him but he wouldn't come. Later when I looked for him I saw him run back to my bedroom as I had now left the bedroom door open.
Patti, a friend of mine, said Rascal looks like a Norwegian Forest cat.
"He is a more little like a “normal” long hair around the face, but the cat sites on the internet say that one way to distinguish the Norwegian Forest cat from other long hairs is that they have a mane."
I looked at photos of Norwegian Forest cats, and Rascal does look like one. Especially when he sits. His fur around his neck looks like a mane. This afternoon I tried to trim some of his mane as earlier I had seen the long neck hair got in the way of some of his grooming. I was able to only trim a little of his fur as he is almost constantly in motion.
So we are working at increasing our bond together. Hopefully it won't take much longer for him to relax and go about the entire house.
I feel a little guilty. I somewhat feel like a person whose long term spouse had died and within weeks they get remarried to someone else. Not a good image. I miss my Daisy. I also miss having a cat.
The weekly newspaper had photos of cats for adoption from the county animal shelter, Humane Society, and the Flathead Spay and Neuter Task Force. The Spay and Neuter Task Force had a photo of a white and black cat for adoption. My friend Donna and I went to look at the cat. He seemed nice. But he was a long haired cat. I never had a long hair cat. For some reason - too many cat food commercials? - I had the idea a long haired cat was an indoor cat and needed extra attention and pampering.
I looked around at the other organizations in the Valley. The humane society had a back and white cat but I had to wait a few days to be able to look at the cat as viewing was only by appointment due to COVID restrictions. When I called later I was told this cat also had a sister and both needed to be adopted together. A later photo showed the cat to be more black with white, and I wanted a white cat with black, more like Daisy. And I wanted only one cat.
I checked around western Montana. Other organizations had a few white with black cats. Or that was what the photo showed. I called and tried to get more photos as the distances were 70 and 100 miles away. I never did get any more photos.
So I defaulted back to the Spay and Neuter Task Force cat. This cat, and two other cats, had been rescued from a junkyard in Columbia Falls. The cat has a microchip and they found who the owner was. The owner agreed the cat could be adopted. The cat had a habit of roaming and disappearing from its previous home. I talked to the owner about the cat. The cat is named: Rascal.
A few days ago I adopted Rascal. For now I think I will keep that name. He is a male cat and is 5 years old.
The first day Rascal just wanted to sit in the corner of the living room. When I came back in the house later Rascal was missing. I looked and looked all over the house before I found him in the basement. Then he ran upstairs and hid. Later in the evening I found him the basement as I hadn't closed the door. I let him be. I figured he would come out later to eat or explore.
The next morning I couldn't find him. I used a flashlight and looked everywhere. After the third time I looked for him in the afternoon he came down to me in the basement. This time I closed the basement door after we left the basement.
I was able to pet him. When I took a break and cleaned the ashes from the woodstove Rascal went to my bedroom. Later I couldn't find him. Eventually I found him under my bed. He found a spot to lay there in between the stuff stored there. And he stayed there the rest of the day.
Last night he was under the bed when I went to bed. He came out and joined me on top of the bed. Since I was falling asleep and not petting him he left the bed. This morning after I woke up he came back on to the bed. I was able to pet him and he liked it. He mainly stayed in the bedroom and under the bed today. When I came into the bedroom he would come out and I was able to pet him.
So Rascal is taking his time getting used to his new home. I wonder if he prefers under the bed, or that part of the basement, as those were about the only areas Daisy didn't go.
Petting Rascal is different than petting Daisy. Rascal keeps moving over and over and around and around as I pet him. He doesn't sit still. He also prefers his head to be rubbed by me, also prefers to rub his head against my hands and arm.
So I am getting used to my new cat. He seems nice. I haven't updated his microchip to me as the owner. I am waiting to see if he will adjust to living out here, and me to him. If not I can take him back. I won't let him outside for a number of weeks so he can get set in his ways that this is his home.
Today I was finally able to get a few photos of Rascal.
Today I got another sympathy card. This one was from Daisy's normal veterinary clinic, All Creatures Great & Small. This one has wildflowers seeds in the card for planting this year. Nice.
Today I received a sympathy card from the Flathead Pet Emergency clinic that cared for Daisy.
Inside the card was a sheet with paw prints on it.
I called the clinic to thank them for the card. I asked if the paw prints were Daisy's, or if they were a generic set of paw prints. They told me the paw prints were Daisy's. Which is nice to have. They told me Daisy was a nice cat.
I'm still very sad over not having Daisy around anymore.
This afternoon I buried Daisy. The night Daisy died the Flathead Pet Emergency clinic gave me the option of them disposing Daisy for me, have Daisy cremated, or I could take Daisy's remains home.
Cremation is ok, but I preferred to have Daisy's body buried in the front yard. Of course the ground is now frozen more solid than anything this Winter. The clinic said they could keep Daisy for me until the weekend.
Thursday I asked my neighbor Curtis if he had a blow torch I could use so I could thaw the ground. He asked me, "Why not have a fire to thaw the ground?" Duh. Of course. I still have lots of tree branches piled for burning tree stumps later.
Thursday I put the pallet forks on the tractor and got some tree branches. I wasn't sure how much fire I would need to thaw the ground so I got two loads of branches. It turns out I only needed less than one load of branches.
The end of Thursday afternoon and evening I had a bonfire. I figured the ashes would continue to heat the ground overnight and I would start back up with a fire today.
Overnight it snowed once again. Not what I wanted. But fortunately it was only an inch or so of snow. This morning the ashes were still a little warm.
The good news was the ground was thawed and I could dig a hole for Daisy. This afternoon I got Daisy from the clinic and buried him.
I'm still heartbroken over Daisy's death. The ranch will never be the same without Daisy to help me.
I had Daisy put to sleep Wednesday night. It was another up and down day.
The call from the vet, Dr. Dean, before at 8 am was that Daisy was still the same. Her urine was less yellow and her skin color was less yellow. Dr. Dean was going off shift and a new vet would call me in the evening around 7 pm with Daisy's status after his blood test. Dr. Dean had hopes it would be good and they could send Daisy home with me.
The vet didn't call until after 8 pm. She had done extra tests. Daisy blood count was 20, up from 19 the day before. The vet said this was the only good thing about Daisy's health. Her bilirubin rose. The count went from 6.7 to 7.8. Not good as that would indicate more red blood cell destruction. She also said Daisy's potassium level was low. She didn't know why, or what was causing that.
She said Daisy seemed to be breathing harder, and seemed to have extra fluid, so she did an x-ray and an ultrasound. She said a cat has 5 lobes in the lungs. Three on the right side and two on the left.
The medical page on the Internet says cats have 6 lobes:
The right lung is formed by four lobes: apical (cranial), middle (cardiac), caudal (diaphragmatic) and accessory (intermediate) and it is larger than the left lung, which has two lobes: an apical (cranial) and an diaphragmatic (caudal).
In Daisy the vet said, three of the lobes were clear and only had air. Which is good. Two were "white", meaning they were full of either fluid or some sort of mass. Not good. She had texted me the images but I don't have a cell phone.
The fluid build-up may be because Daisy was on an IV for fluids and the extra fluids in her body means she wasn't processing the fluids correctly. Eventually the fluids would make her heart stop, and could be a painful decline. Daisy still wasn't eating, but it could be because he was nauseous.
Overall the vet thought the prognosis for recovery wasn't good. She thought Daisy appeared to be sad. She didn't explicitly say Daisy should be put to sleep, but built the case that this was the best thing to do. Eventually I reluctantly decided this was the thing to do.
I had the option to come to the clinic to spend some time and to say my good-bye to Daisy. And if I wanted to attend Daisy's euthanasia. So I went to the clinic right away Wednesday night. It had snowed during the day and the roads were slippery. At the main intersection the light was green and the car in front of me turned right onto the far lane of the 4-lane highway. Then a car coming on the highway didn't stop or even slow down and went through the red light. Fortunately the car was in the inner lane and missed the other car. I waited to make sure the next car was a distance away before I turned onto the highway. The highway was slick and slippery. Earlier in the day someone driving slipped into the ditch and came to a stop before he could hit my mailbox.
At the clinic, after I signed a release form, a technician (as the clinic calls the people help the vet and care for the animals), brought Daisy into the room. Daisy was wrapped in a large red blanket with his head sticking out of the blanket.
Daisy has his eyes open. He looked tired. He was wrapped in the blanket so he couldn't move. I petted him on his head which he liked. I started to think that maybe he could still recover. After a while when a technician asked if I was ready now, I asked if someone could go over Daisy's condition with me again. The vet came into the room and re-explained her diagnosis and Daisy's conditions. She showed me the x-ray and ultrasound images on her phone, and the clear lobes and the white lobes.
I asked if they couldn't drain the fluid from Daisy, and they could, but not knowing exactly what was causing the fluid build-up, it more than likely would build up again.
I could try to wait longer in case Daisy's condition turned around, but was told he could still die, or could have a painful decline. Daisy could recover, but the odds were very slim.
So I spent me time with Daisy thinking about it. A little while later another technician came in the room. She said she had cared for Daisy since Saturday. Initially Daisy had resisted them when they did the tests, etc. Now he didn't resist. Now when he used the litter box, and after going, he would then lay down in the litter box as he didn't have the strength to leave the litter box. The technician said she liked Daisy, and Daisy was a very good cat, but Daisy was declining in health.
So I spent a little more time petting Daisy. I could have stayed and petted him all night. When he began to seem to be a little nauseous, I then said it was time. I held Daisy as the vet administered into the tube in Daisy's left front leg the anesthesia. Daisy kept his eyes open. Then the drug that stopped Daisy's heart was administered and Daisy immediately passed away.
I miss my cat and wish he could have recovered. I'm so sad.
I thought I had published this post Wednesday night. But then, how I was feeling, I guess it would explain why I messed up trying to publish this post.
I had Daisy put to sleep tonight. I was there and held him.
I am so sad.
Donna sent me this.
The good news is that Daisy appears to be stabilizing.
This morning it was mostly the same type of decent morning news. Daisy's temperature was now down to normal. His urine is not as yellow. His skin color was less yellow. He still was not eating.
This evening's call was after they did his blood test. His bilirubin count had dropped a little, which is good. I don't remember the number but is was a little under 7 now. Several days ago it was around 4, which is still higher than normal. So we have a ways to go for improvement. His red blood cell count was 19, down from the 21 it was yesterday. But a far less drop that had been occurring daily. I can't remember if the vet said his original count was 49 or 41 on Saturday. But Sunday it was 29 and on Monday it was 21. So, Dr. Dean, the vet thinks her red blood cell count may be stabilizing. Daisy will keep getting the IV and steroids and tomorrow we'll see what the count is. I hope it will be at least the same or hopefully higher.
Certainly better news than I was fearing. It's been a rough day for me.
Before 8 am today the vet, Dr. Dean, called me about Daisy. His temperature was back to normal. No blood work was done yet, but Daisy seemed to be a little more active. He hadn't eaten yet, but had urinated. So all this was a good sign.
The clinic did the blood work at 6 pm. Dr. Dean said Daisy did react a little bit when they drew the blood, which is a good sign. But the blood test results were not good.
I got it wrong yesterday. Daisy didn't have a bile duct obstruction. She had a high bilirubin count. Daisy's count yesterday was a little over 7. Today's count was about the same. Bilirubin is due to the loss of red blood cells.
Daisy's red blood cell count yesterday was 29. A normal count for cats is 35. Today Daisy's red blood cell count was 21. So it is dropping, even with the steroids. The vet said a count of 12 means a lack of oxygen.
I asked him what could cause a red blood cell drop.
Autoimmune hemolytic anemia (AIHA) is an immune system disease in which the body attacks and destroys its own red blood cells.
AIHA may be primary (idiopathic) or it may be secondary.
With primary AIHA, the cat's immune system is not working properly, and it incorrectly makes antibodies that target its own red blood cells. Primary AIHA is uncommon in cats.
With secondary AIHA, the surface of the red blood cells becomes altered by an underlying disease process or a toxin. The cat's immune system then recognizes the altered red blood cells as 'foreign' invaders that must be destroyed. Secondary AIHA may be triggered by cancer, infections such as feline leukemia, feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV) or feline infectious peritonitis (FIP), blood parasites, drug reactions, chemicals, toxins, or bee stings.
The vet also mentioned a fungus could cause an infection. Daisy could have gotten an infection or fungus a few weeks ago. He fought it off in the week or two but then recently began attack his own red blood cells. A fungus? I then remembered my house has a crawl space underneath. A few weeks ago I think I had opened the door to it for some reason and checked it out. Daisy has been in the crawl space in the past a number of times and had no problems. Of course he went down for a little bit to check it out. Maybe there is a fungus down there. It's the only thing I can think of.
So, the 6 pm news was not good. The vet said we can give Daisy one more day of steroids and see if that finally stops her blood cell destruction. The odds of her success is lower now.
I started out the day in better shape. But after 6 pm it went downhill for me.
Daisy has been fine until Friday. Friday he mainly laid in my chair by my computer all day. A few times in the past Daisy has had a day where he just lays around all day. So I let him be. Saturday morning he still was laying in the chair. He didn't seem to have no energy. He would only raise his head when I petted him. He wasn't looking good.
Saturday, of course, his vet clinic was closed. A clinic, Flathead Pet Emergency, is open all weekend. On weekdays they are open from 6 pm to 8 am. I called them after 9 am and had to leave a message. They called back after 10 am and said the doctor was in surgery and people were waiting, so it would be best if I brought Daisy in at noon. I brought Daisy in at 12:30 pm. Due to COVID one can't go inside the building and has to wait in their vehicle. The parking lot was full and I had to park in the back until a vehicle left.
An employee came out and I explained how Daisy was feeling. She took Daisy inside the building and I waited in my pickup. And waited. I fell asleep. At 2 pm the employee came back and told me they had a few more critical injuries and it will take longer. So I went home.
I got a call at 3 pm saying Daisy's abdomen was tender and they would like to do an x-ray/ultrasound and also take some blood. After 4 pm they called. The vet said Daisy's temperature was a little high, and then something about bile duct problem (obstruction?). He wanted to give Daisy anti-inflammatory medicine and keep him overnight and check on him on Sunday. He also was given an IV as his fluids were low. And Daisy needed to eat.
Today, Sunday, I waited for their call. Finally at 4 pm I called them. Apparently they hadn't gotten around to Daisy yet. They were going to do a blood test. I got a call a quarter after 5 pm. Daisy's bile(?) level which was high at over 4 on Saturday as now over 7. The blood test showed Daisy's red blood cells were dropping and the vet didn't know why. The white blood cells were ok. He said he checked the blood to see if there were any parasites in the blood attacking the red blood cells, and didn't see any.
About the only option was to give Daisy steroids to help the red blood cell count. The downside was that if there was indeed parasites in his blood then the steroids would be damaging. Or do nothing. If I did nothing Daisy would die, and it would be painful, so euthanasia would be recommended. Since the vet didn't see any parasites I said give him the steroids and hopefully that will make him better. It appears it is a 50/50 chance of working.
So we'll see what 24 hours will bring. After 6 pm tomorrow they will do another blood test. I am hoping for the best.
So last night was tough for me, and tonight is even tougher. I have been with Daisy for 8 years and one and half months. Other than a short trip to Las Vegas with Tammy many years ago, I don't think I ever spent one day or night away from Daisy. Lately with the cold weather Daisy and I had been spending lots of time together. Daisy will come in and sleep next to me on my bed late in the morning. In the afternoon he insists on curling up right against me when I sit on the couch. When I start the woodstove fire he comes and lays by me near the woodstove. If I don't lay by him by the woodstove for a short while, later he will pester me until I do so. Last night and today I kept 'checking' as I thought I had heard Daisy at the door outside, or I would look over to see if I he was laying on the couch or by the woodstove.
This is the best cat I ever owned. I love this cat as much, or more, as anything else in this world. I spent over one thousand dollars so far on his care this weekend and it is worth it if it helps him. I hope tomorrow is a better day.
I had to get another hay bale out for the cattle. I also put the cow who I think will calve this coming week into the south part of the corral. I also put the calf who has white muscle disease in with her so he doesn't have to walk as much and gets plenty of hay to eat. To prepare for this I put a lot of straw under the shelter next to the barn.
When doing all this Daisy 'helped' me. Or at least supervised. She walked her and there with me as I went here and there. Since Donna was coming to help with the gates when I sorted the cow and calf into the south corral, Daisy decided it was time to go inside the house and take a nap as I didn't need her 'help' anymore.
Still lots of snow on the ground. Way too much. Normally we can have up to 4 inches of snow by now. We've had about 15 inches so far. The weather forecast is for rain or snow every day for the next week. 
Daisy isn't happy about this cold wet weather either.
So... here is a photo of Daisy from earlier this Fall when it was still nice outside and the grass was green.
