My precious little boy

The other night I was going through pictures on my computer and ran into several of them when Blanca gave birth to Paquito, Rudy, and Nico back in March 2018. Their baby pictures were taken in May 2018 as is the case with most stray cats their mothers keep them hidden until they are six weeks old.  I knew they were there, I could hear them, sometimes catch a glimpse of them, but not hold them.

His brothers were afraid of me but Blanca never was and upon seeing that Paquito decided to follow me around like his mother.  He was loving and adorable.

Paquito hugging his brother Rudy

Unfortunately, he was also mischievous and often got himself in trouble. He injured his eye and to this day I do not know if it was that Blanca had scratched him since she no longer wanted to nurse him or if he ran into some sort of desert cacti. The thing is he got a severe infection and when I took him to the vet he said his eye could not be saved and had to be operated on...that is how he became my one-eyed Jack.

Looking at the pictures I could not help but note how much weight he had gained over the years. I tried to feed him less but he was having none of it and would throw fits and shove Nico out of the way and try to eat his share as I fed them in the kitchen away from the other cats.

Paquito has never been late to breakfast or any other feeding. If he felt I was oversleeping he would come to my bedroom window and meow loudly until I woke up...he had me well trained!

That is why I was surprised not to see him by the kitchen door this morning. I called out to him but got no response. I would later go looking for him both in the north and south part of the property and started to get concerned. I was looking for the keys to the back bathroom/shed/junk room so I could get my ladder out and climb the fence into my lot that is infested with mesquite trees when I thought I heard a meow but with eight cats it could have any one of them.

I went out the front door to check and when I did I saw him in the front yard. He stood out because of his coloring, had it been one of the other cats it would have been difficult since they blend into the landscape.

I ran to him but I could tell even before I reached him that he was no longer alive. He was bloodied but I could not see any bite marks. Ants were already in his eyes, mouth, and ears. He must have been dead for a while as rigor mortis had already set in. The last time I saw him was at 6:00 p.m. yesterday after I fed him dinner.

Of the three brothers, only Nico is still alive
and their mother Blanca

I was afraid that I would not be able to carry him to the southern part of the property where we have our Pet Cemetery as he weighed between 12 to 14 pounds. I put a double set of disposable gloves on and after finding a sturdy cardboard box I gently placed him inside. To my surprise, he did not weigh much.

I found some potting soil and filled the box with it and then added horse pine pellets to control the smell though he did not emit an odor yet. While I was doing that Nico came around to pay his respects much like he did when I buried the kittens Molly killed.

I will miss my precious little boy. Rest in Peace Paquito...

March 24, 2018, to November 24, 2021

Cat Goodbyes

Two down and three more to go...

With the border closed, I thought it would be easier to schedule an appointment with the vet in Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila, México. I found that not to be the case in April as I could not obtain one until May at which time I took Bonnie Mae to be fixed. Unfortunately, I was not able to catch Molly and had to postpone her surgery to a later date.

I called in August but could not secure one until September. No one had any idea that the week of my appointment would coincide with the Haitian migrant crisis in Del Rio that lead to the closing of the Mexico/USA border for a week.

I called to reschedule and again had to wait for another month where I was able to secure one for Friday- October 22, 2021. I typically try not to cross the border on Fridays as the lines into México tend to be long and slow especially in the afternoon when I have to make a return trip to pick them up.

There has been this huge male white cat with beige spots that has been coming around lately and my fear has been that he would impregnate my little girls especially my beautiful Muñeca who at seven months old is still the size of a 10-week old kitten and a pregnancy could endanger her life.

This time I was better prepared and had my two cat carriers ready in different parts of the yard. My main emphasis was to trap Molly because Muñeca is very loveable and allows me to pet her unlike her siblings Barnabas and Donald.

Wouldn't you know it...I would trap Molly but I had to place her in the smaller of the crates...the one where I was going to take Muñeca! It took longer to pay at the US toll booths than it took to cross to Ciudad Acuña.

The only problem with this veterinary practice is that he has a lot of patients making parking close by almost impossible. I had to walk four blocks with two pet carriers. Thank goodness Molly and Muñeca do not weigh that much!

This time I did not go shopping I came back home and took a two-hour nap since I slept very little the night before. I went back at 5:00 p.m. and unlike back in May, there was very little traffic for a Friday...likewise to cross back to the USA.

Both of my girls are doing well. Now we still have Donald, Barnabas, and Grayson to take care of.

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Cat Humor

Fat white cat with beige spots

A couple of days ago I thought I had seen Blanca...she is Paquito and Nico's mother...she has not come around in a long time. I walked over to the northern part of the yard but she ran away...something odd for her since she is not afraid of me.

I called out to her but the cat that emerged was not Blanca but a fat male white cat with beige spots sporting a collar and tag. He is the same cat that comes around and makes horrible sounds like he was getting ready to fight. Paquito being the alpha cat hates him and they both start making that sound. Only Molly has had the guts to run him off the property but that was because at the time she had just had her litter and was protecting them.

Yesterday he showed up but without a collar and tag which makes me wonder if their owners decided I needed a NINTH cat...grrrrrrr!!!!  I wish I had taken a picture of his tags so I could find out who his owners are but I did not want to get close to it.

It rained on and off all last night so this morning I went to check out how much rain had fallen on my rain catchment containers. I could hear this darn cat who has a very peculiar meow on the next street over heading this way but the two neighbor's dogs were barking loudly upon hearing him. He somehow made it unscathed and started following me around just like he did yesterday.

Even though I fed the cats early and they ate well...I found the carcass of two dead birds by the side porch. Even Grayson was eating some of it...😝...that is the one thing I do not like about cats but I know it is just in their nature.

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Cat Humor

Forgetting my cats names

When I was a little girl and we would go visit my aunt I found it puzzling that she could never remember my cousin's names. I asked my mother about it and she said it was because she had a lot of kids which looking back on that now as an adult...ten children were a lot.

Not that you can compare cousins to cats but with my eight cats and my CRS I can finally relate. My two oldest cats are siblings Paquito and Nicolás, one is white and has one eye and one is gray and black and I still confuse their names. 😊

Katie who came here as a grown stray had Bonnie Mae and Molly at Mom's house.  Bonnie Mae who thankfully I had spayed this past May gave birth to Donald, Barnabas, and Muñeca.  

Molly had four kittens from her first litter and she killed them all. Her second litter I believe she had four kittens as well and murdered three of them. The only reason she did not do away with the fourth one is that I captured the fourth one and kept it in the cat carrier in the kitchen.  At the time I did not know what sex it was so I gave it a unisex name...Grayson...now I think it is a male.

Grayson used to let me pet and hold him but after saving his life has decided that he no longer likes me or the pet carrier though I only held him there overnight. In the morning I would bring him out so his mother could nurse and groom him as I kept an eye on Molly to make sure "murder" was not on her mind that day.

Grayson is adorable but is growing so fast he will soon be as big as his cousin Muñeca who is abnormally small.

Getting back to the point I was trying to make at the beginning...I can't remember their names so I just count them and make sure there are eight of them in the morning so I know I have fed them all.  I am sure if there is an afterlife my aunt is probably having a good chuckle. 😄

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The kittens turned 4 months old

Muñeca, Barnabas, and Donald turned 4 months old on Tuesday, July 27th.  I can not believe time has passed so fast. Donald is huge, Barnabas is average, and my little Muñeca is still small and looks like she was six or eight weeks old but she now runs and climbs trees like her siblings but can not go up as high as they do.

Here her mother Bonnie Mae is stretching out trying to reach her as she could not get down from the tree.

She did not give up though so decided to run along the cinder block fence and forget the trees.

What is wrong with this picture?

Answer...that is NOT their mother nursing them...but Murderous Aunt Molly who has taken over that role as Bonnie Mae wants nothing to do with them especially nursing them as old as they are. See how big Donald is in comparison to Muñeca.

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Pet OwnerThoughts

Muñeca got her first bath

My little Muñeca needed a bath but I had not had the opportunity to find the mild flea shampoo I used to use when I had the dogs. Still did not find it so I used baby shampoo on her. She is so docile and though she did not like it she did not put up a fight either.

She looked like a wet little chick.

When I used to bathe my last "official cat" who passed away in 2007 he liked to be blow-dried. Decided I did not want to torment my little one and would let the 102-degree temperature do its thing.

Here is how she looked after she was dry. She is so small in comparison to her two siblings and can not run or climb like they do.  

This afternoon Bonnie Mae spent a lot of time sleeping under the kitchen table...she did not want to be outside either and I do not blame her.

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Pet Humor

Bonnie Mae is doing well

Bonnie Mae even after her operation on Tuesday still nursed her kittens and continues to do so. Though every time I go outside and see her nursing them I remove them except for Muñeca who is still small for her age even though they are all 8 weeks old.

I have to credit Bonnie Mae's sister Murderous Molly for helping out with her nieces and nephews. I wonder if she regrets what she did to her litter?  She is next in line to get fixed.

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Pet Humor

Bonnie Mae was spayed

Post for Tuesday - May 25, 2021

I had placed a call to my Mexican veterinarian last month to set up an appointment to spay Bonnie Mae and Molly only to be told that they did not have any appointments until late May. I had also inquired about crossing the border since it is still officially closed to "non-essential" travel. They told me that visits to the vet or any doctor. dentist or lab was permitted and since I am a US citizen they had to let me back into the country.

Monday night I could not go to sleep, I was lucky I slept two hours...a few minutes here and there. Cats have to be fasting and since these are outside cats I can not control their behavior.  If I do not feed them early enough to suit them...they simply eat a bird or like they did this weekend a baby chicken from Mr. Joe's house who made the mistake of coming for a visit.

The cats congregate around the old washing machine where I feed them. Paquito and Nico I allow to come into the kitchen since they are older and would not take kindly to sharing their food with the younger generation...they don't even like each other.

I have been bringing in Bonnie Mae since she is nursing and I feed her canned food in addition to her dry food. I did the same this morning, she thought nothing of it and once in the kitchen, I placed her in the cat carrier. Of course, she started crying and wanting to get out so I took her to my room and turned the TV to an "Easy Listening" channel, and turned off the lights to soothe her and it seemed to work.

We were soon on our way to Clinica Veterinaria Chavarria in Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila - México.

I lucked out by finding a parking space across the street from the clinic. I usually have to make several turns around the block only to end up parking two blocks away. When you are carrying an overweight Paquito or Nico that can be challenging with my bad back.  Bonnie Mae is very thin now and does not weigh much.

As I sat waiting for our turn a lot of people started arriving with their pets. This is a very busy Veterinary Clinic...no wonder it took so long to get an appointment. The phones were ringing off the wall and the two girls at the front desk could barely keep up.

She got her shots before the operation...rabies, deworming, and some other shot that I do not recall the name.  Bid her farewell and left her in their capable hands.

Since I have not been to México since 2019 much less after five o'clock I did not know what the traffic would be like so I asked the receptionist (daughter of the veterinarian) and she said there was no traffic at all. Found that hard to believe as many American citizens live in México but work in the USA...but who am I to question her as she lives there and should know.

What would be my surprise at 5:00 p.m. but to find the line to cross into México to be backed up to the old toll booths that they have yet to demolish...so much for no traffic!

Even though by now it was 6:00 p.m. the vet's office was packed.  It has a small reception area and for some reason, people feel the need to bring their whole family with them. Thank goodness I am fully immunized and was wearing my mask and face shield or I would have waited outside until they were all gone.

It was another 35 minutes before they would call my name and bring Bonnie Mae. They administered a pain medication in the form of an injection.  She was very quiet on the way home and we did not encounter that much traffic to cross back to the USA.

When we got home I put her on the side porch but kept her in her pet taxi until she decided she was not having any of that and wanted out.  I noticed that her carrier had been washed at the vet's and there was still some water in it. I fed her and tried to keep her kittens away especially since I had already fed them. They now eat solid food but still want to be nursed in particular Donald who reminds me so much of Paquito when he was a baby and always wanted his mother's full attention...his siblings be dammed...but that is the way cats are.

In case you are interested here is the breakdown of today's charges. They are in Mexican Pesos. You can pay in dollars Mexican merchants love dollars but I always pay in Mexican Currency except for the dentist since he lets his regular patients pay by check.

Spay                                             1900.00

Shots                                              380.00

Pain shot                                          70.00  

TOTAL                                         2350.00  Pesos divided by an exchange rate of $18.00 

                                                      pesos to one American dollar equals $130.55 USD

To the above amount, I have to add two trips to Mexico at $4.00 each and two trips to the USA at $1.50 each that comes out to $11.00 dollars for tolls.

Today's exchange rates

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Cat Humor

I am enamored with my little Muñeca

I have always had a soft spot for orange cats. My last official cat passed away back in 2007 by that time I had also lost the only dog I ever owned and decided that was it for me...no more pets!  

I did not know that life had another plan for me and cats, a horse, and dogs would soon come into my life whether I wanted them to or not.

I am currently enamored with Muñeca (doll in Spanish) as I am 95% sure she is a little girl.

She is so tiny in comparison to her siblings that I feel I need to protect her as they play rough with her and then her murderous aunt Molly will sometimes nurse her and I do not trust her at all.

Here she is sleeping next to my solar lamp. This weekend she turned five weeks but she looks like she was three weeks old.

I had to bring her in the other day. I placed her in a small box top and it was still too big for her. Too bad I forgot to take a picture of that.  Look how much bigger her siblings are by comparison.

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Pet Humor

My little orange kitty / More Blogger Problems

I tried to compose a new post last night only to be afflicted with the same problem as on my main blog Terlingua Dreams.  This time the fix was different and I had to change to "compose view" something I have never had to change on either blog and do not understand how it happened.

I think this little orange kitty is a little girl. She has a bunny tail like her momma and though this is not scientific by any means all the no-tail cats have turned out to be girls.

She is so small she looks like a preemie in comparison to her two other siblings.

Every day I have to clean her eyes because she wakes up with so much crust on them.  I have to do the same for Paquito but that's because he only has one eye and suffers from eye infections.  He too needs to go to see the vet so I am hoping they open the border with Mexico soon.

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Pet Humor

I am so disappointed in the girls

I can not begin to express how disappointed I am in the girls. They not only turned out to be worthless mothers but now murderers and accessories to murder.

Molly from the picture I took of the cucha had at least four kittens. Bonnie Mae, I am not sure how many she had because when I realized she had birthed her litter she had already hidden some under the kitchen and the only one I got a picture of was the little orange one.

Last week I kept on hearing a kitten crying and I was afraid it had come into the kitchen when I bring in the clothes from the clothesline or when Paquito opens the door to let himself out by throwing his fat body on it...as the door opens outwards like in Florida.

I looked everywhere including the back of the stove but then determined it was coming from under the kitchen floor. This kitten was loud so I thought it was the cute one that Molly took such good care of forgetting about the others.

This cute little kitty is no longer with us :-(

A couple of days later I heard several kittens crying and both girls pretended they did not hear anything. I even grabbed Bonnie Mae and tried to shove her under the kitchen crawl space (good thing I was wearing heavy-duty gloves) but she refused to go in.

Not feeding those kitties I would like to believe led to their death...the other possibility...I do not want to consider.  I remember many years ago when my best friend's cat had given birth in the closet and a couple of days later she killed them all. I recall her youngest daughter being a little girl and crying her eyes out.

Molly no longer has her kittens and Bonnie Mae has three for now and let's hope it stays that way.  I have been calling my veterinarian in Ciudad Acuña, Coahuila - México for days and the phone is always busy and they have deactivated their American telephone line. It was finally answered by the receptionist and she has no available appointments to sterilize cats until late May 2021.

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