The Three Stooges of Summer

Last week we were cattle farm sitting for a neighbor who was out of town. We were driving the dirt road to their farm at dusk when I saw something in the middle of the dusty road. It was a small orange kitten laying in the dirt. We stopped to see if it was still alive and I got out of the truck to check. The kitten looked at me and meowed, I saw no blood, no bones and it got up and climbed me meowing loudly. And then I heard more meows coming from the woods/pasture to my left. Out pops two more kittens from the tall grass. They all are meowing and climbing me like a tree. They are not feral, love humans and were very dehydrated. As it was getting dark and we still had to check cattle, back to our house we drove. Three hungry kittens climbing all over our diesel farm truck bouncing along the country roads. At home, I grabbed my kitten zip tent from the garage, put the wards in there and a bowl of water until we got back.

This is called a puppy tent and it is a lifesaver for me. You can unzip the top and bottom, easy to clean, drys in the sun, the animals can breath and stay cool but also stay caged as needed. The fabric is strong and the zippers well made. I have fostered 4 litters with this tent and it is great shape. I can fold it up after use. I got the 4ft in diameter and can place 6 kitten in here with litter and a bed. The fabric is easy in their paws, no metal clanging  cage rattle to traumatize me nor them. I can put this in any room of my house and the kitten mess stays inside the tent. The kittens can see out, are safe from the older cats and they seem calmer inside the tent. Worth getting this if you foster or raise baby animals.

That night I evaluated the three kittens. They were thin, covered in fleas and ticks. Into the tub with the blue Dawn for a bath. After tick picking, ear cleaning, bath and dusting of DE powder I put them to bed in the kitten tent. The white and tabby kitten has a swollen neck an infection from ear mites and needed antibiotics. Luckily, I had some in powder form to mix with H2O. She had a rough 3 days then the swelling went down and she could eat. I checked the kitten tent and saw more ticks dying inside the tent. I cleaned that out and bathed the kittens- again. Seed ticks, blue ticks, red ticks, lone star ticks - just about every single kind of tick out here was on them- hidden in their fur, anus, paws -everywhere. We put the collected ticks in an alcohol filled jar. Seed ticks are the hardest to get out. But the Dawn works best for cleaning infested kittens. 

I took the stooges to the vet to get their weight, shots and wormer. They are 9 weeks, weigh 2.5 lbs and had a heavy worm load. As I foster I have wormer on hand along with flea drops. Now I am looking for homes for these kittens. We have enough adult cats as it is in our own farm. Kittens are plentiful here in the Ozarks right now. This will be an issue. But we are getting these kittens fixed in 3 weeks and will figure out where to bring them after that.

Cancer be Thy Name

I have been very busy in the month of July. I have had one friend my age die after an aggressive three year battle with the big C. She had the genetic marker for it. Her two adult children have to find out if they also have that genetic marker. I had another musical friend who made it clear through her first round of chemo. I have a male friend who has liver cancer and is on hospice. He is also my age and he is dying. He has had to move in with his mother so she can take care of him. I have a horsewoman friend who has lung cancer thanks to her smoking habit. She is in the same hospital as another friend. She is dying as well. I guess June -July is the sign of Cancer. It is all around in its various forms. So many people under the age of 50 have it. So much death and dying.

My solace is that when they die they are suffering no longer. They get to go into another life. There pain is over. Sure the family hurts and still feels pain, that never goes away. But the death is a blessing. I do not have the answer for the cancer. I hope I do get an answer as to who is doing this to our fellow humans. I have my suspects. But that is not my mission. I am here to help those left behind as best I can. But when there are so many at the same time it is like stopping the ocean from moving- you just can't and you get swept up into it. 

They Could be Heroes...

My rant for the day is where have all the good priest gone? We have had 4 priest in less than 2 years come and go in our small church parish. They can't cook, clean a house, mow nor even do laundry. They can minister, preach and do church things but that is about it. I was even told that when they were in the seminary they did not have to cook nor clean it was all done for them.

As a child I had Jesuit priests who could build a house,drive, fix an engine, put in a 3 season garden, sew and coach/teach all in a single day. And they expected you to suck up get to school and then home for chores, sports, tutoring or whatever was expected of you. They could mend a broken bone, milk a cow, teach several languages and you had to get in line and follow their example. They were men of a high standard. I thought all priest where like the Jesuits. But then Vatican 2 set hold in America and we traveled through the country from church to church as a family. Gone was the Latin, lay people were servers on the altar and priest got fat and very lazy. I have yet to meet a priest that can measure up to what I had growing up.
The strong, fit, intelligent and diligent priest has been replaced by a priest who wants his television set up for him ASAP. He can't even do that for himself. I do not think the apostles would have asked for a TV to be set up for them. If you have time to watch TV you probably are not doing what needs to be done. And this rant is not just about priest but Catholic Bishops, Cardinals and all the men of cloth.

When did the global catholic seminary start doing everything for their baby priest in training? It is not fair to the priests and it is not fair to the churches they serve. How can you shepherd men when you do not even know what it means to be a man? Our priests used to be men we could look up to. They could have been heroes. End of rant.