Everything sublime is as difficult as it is rare. Baruch Spinoza

Wednesday, February 15, 2023

They Are Only a Memory

As close to drunk as a cat will get.


Gatto was home by 4:00 and wobbly. Today he's back to singing the song of his people, just not with the same gusto. Over time I think he'll stop. I will need to keep checking along the baseboards for his musk, it may take some time for that to stop, too. I put lavender essential oil in the mopping water, I thought maybe it would be calming for Gatto. Frieda was fascinated, she stayed close to me the whole time I was mopping, then she walked along sniffing the floor. I don't know if it did anything for Gatto but Frieda got a little pleasure.

Mark spent four hours on the road yesterday taking Gatto to and from the clinic. This is a valuable service provided by a non-profit to spay/neuter stray, feral and barn cats in an effort to encourage people to bring them in. It's not free, but it is a greatly reduced cost. I have brought so many stray cats there over the years. If I could get a hold on them they got altered. Most stuck around, at least for awhile. Several times pregnant cats had their kittens here and we took them in. Mama, too, if we could get her. The three barn cats and Mark's tripod kitty were born in the barn to a stray mama. Frieda was a stray kitten we had spayed who decided she wasn't living in the barn. Gatto can't be a barn cat because he wouldn't survive, his cat skills are not good. I don't know his story, but he's lucky he lived until he found us.

It rained all day yesterday. It didn't get too cold last night so there wasn't ice to contend with this morning, but the temperature is dropping throughout the day and it will become a problem. The freeze/thaw cycle is difficult with hoofed animals. 

So...I'm off to make soup. I have the stock from a few days ago waiting for me to do something with it. Dumplings are sounding good. Maybe matzo balls. I'm strangely hungry lately.




13 comments:

Far Side of Fifty said...

The kitty looks relaxed, just as well that he sleeps it off:)

e said...

I hope he winds down soon and enjoys life in your household. I like your soup plans.

Sandra said...

Far Side, he did sleep well last night. He is quieter today than usual. Hopefully his hormonal ways will wind down.

Sandra said...

e, I didn't get soup made, I overdid yesterday and black energy today. Best to just go with it and hope I perk up tomorrow.

I hope so,, too. He's a good cat and kinda dumb, so he wouldn't last out in the world.

Sandra said...

That would be lack energy today.

Val Ewing said...

I think -- black -- energy is a good enough description of low grumbly dark energy that saps you. Lack works also.

Yesterday was a wash with rain. I agree.
We are dealing with lots of ice in the lower pasture too. Thankfully the woods are not like that.

Hope you perk up tomorrow.

Pixie said...

We're having the same sort of weather, freeze, thaw, repeat, slip on the ice. Not a fan.

Boud said...

What a lot of animals you've saved, and what numbers you've avoided through being so good about trap neuter release. You really deserve a lot of credit. Mark today, too, since he was the driver.

Beatrice P. Boyd said...

Thanks for the update on Gatto and hope that he will be much calmer in a few days, although he certainly did look so in that photo. Rain expected here on Friday and so the pea soup made this week will be enjoyed again. It is the best thing for these weather days and sure yours will be wonderful as well, Sandra.

Sandra said...

Val, I thought the same thing as I was correcting it! I is a black hole.

We are 8 F with a low of -5 F tonight. Kind of rollercoaster weather.

Sandra said...

Pixie, it's miserable weather. We save fireplace ashes and try to cover the icy areas to make it safer for the horses.

Sandra said...

Boud, many of the cats are a result of an attitude in farming communities that they are just cats. They let them breed, get sick, starve and eaten by raptors and coyotes. I have a drive-in hay loft that I had a small opening cut into on of the doors. Cats can find shelter in there. over the years I've been able to get a lot of them altered. I have rescued and adopted many dogs, I was the crazy dog lady, now the how is filling with cats!

Sandra said...

Beatrice, Gatto is better, he stills prowls and sings his song, but with less intensity. I'm hopeful it will stop. It's cold here, I would like soup. I just have to make it! Enjoy yours.