Wednesday, January 13, 2016

Onward!!!

Yesterday was Jasper's post-surgery checkup and I am happy to announce that he is healing wonderfully from his oral surgery. He still has some sutures from where they had to extract the three bad teeth, but they are the absorbable variety, so he doesn't have to go back to get them out, and with any luck we are finished with the vet for a good long while! Woo Hoo!


He has his last antibiotic pill last night, so we're done with that too! And with the creative use of empty gel-caps and tuna fish, I didn't even have to resort to pilling him. Yay!


To make my sense of being done even better, I also finished up some tedious editing that I was doing on one of my webpages... that project that took several months, and I've just felt like everything was in a holding pattern until it was done.

But now it's all done!!! Hooray!


Done done done done done... dun be dooby,
done done done done done... dun be dooby
done done done done done... dun be dooby done
Wah wah wah waaaaaaah.
(that was supposed to be sung to the intro of the song Come Go with Me... just in case you somehow missed that oh, so obvious reference.)


I'm not sure why, but getting those things over and done with has filled me with a sense of openness and new possibilities. For the first time in seemingly forever, I actually feel like I can take a deep breath, focus my energies and move forward. And if feels fabulous!


So the first thing I did was to start working on finding good homes for the feral cat houses that I no longer need. 

The TNR (trap neuter & return) group that helped me trap and fix the cats said they'd take them, but I felt like perhaps there was a better way to use them to get some of the folks in my neighborhood (who are feeding but not fixing) on board with TNR.

So, inspired by something Eliza wrote in a recent post over at Happy Simple Living, I decided to sign up for Nextdoor.com - which is a networking site focused on connecting you with folks in your immediate neighborhood. 


I signed up and posted something in the free section offering the cat shelters. So far I've connected with two separate women in the immediate area who are feeding the feral cats.

I met with one of them today and she was delighted to have one of the houses. As we were chatting she was telling me that one of the cats she cares for has an injured leg, and she was at her wits end trying to figure out how to get it to a vet. So I told her all about the feral cat organization, and how they rent out traps, and about their feral cat clinic and the TNR program. She was so happy to learn that there was an organization out there that could actually help her, and was thrilled to learn about TNR.


I'm still playing phone tag with the other woman, but I'm hoping for a similar outcome. 

Perhaps this is crazy, but if I can somehow take the very painful experience of losing Gray Boy and having to give up the kittens, and use it to help other people help cats... well, I feel like it's a big win all around. 

I mean, I couldn't save Gray Boy, and I've pretty much decided that I just can't emotionally or financially take on the responsibility of caring for any more feral cats. But I can help other people save other cats. And if I can get even a few people in the neighborhood to TNR instead of just feeding... well, the impact will be multiplied many times over.

And I can't think of a better legacy for my sweet beautiful Gray Boy.


It sure feels good to be moving forward again. 




16 comments :

  1. Yeah for moving forward! A Next Door group is just getting started in my neighborhood. I've joined, but there are not many people on it yet. It sounds like you used it perfectly.

    Now the only thing to make the recent events complete is some good weather for a bike ride. :)

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    1. Hopefully more folks will sign up in your area soon. I'm surprised at how many folks in my immediate area were on there. They want you to "invite" your neighbors... which I'll try to do, but I don't know most of their email addresses. Anyhow, I'm glad to know about the resource.

      And I really, REALLY hope we can get some biking weather soon. Today would be warm enough if all else were equal, but alas, there are still big chunks of ice blocking the path in spots, and the winds are howling at around 30mph! And more snow is coming tomorrow. But eventually it will happen, and in the meantime I've been enjoying getting back into the routine of doing my daily yoga.

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  2. Hooray! I'm so pleased to hear this news. What a great way to turn a difficult time into something positive. As you say, bringing other cat-lovers on board could have a much bigger effect than trying to do it all yourself.

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    1. I think this is going to become my new motto - looking for ways to be an advocate for things I care about, rather than making myself miserable by trying to solve the world's problems on my own.

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  3. I can hear your excitement! What a relief it must be for you to know your kitties are healthy now and to have the breathing space to decide what you need the most.

    I've checked out NextDoor but there isn't anything happening near me and this may seem strange in this day and age but most of my neighbors don't even have a computer or the internet.

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    1. It is a HUGE relief to be out of the land of sick kitties. I mean, it's not that having to give a cat a pill twice a day is some huge horrible deal, but it just feels like this thing that's always lurking in the background... Did I remember his pill this morning? How am I gonna trick him into taking it tonight? yadda, yadda, yadda.

      And I was really surprised at how many folks in my neighborhood were on Nextdoor.com. Also surprised by the demographic - lots of women my age! Not sure if the neighborhood is changing, or if Nextdoor just selects for those sorts of folks based on how it works.

      Anyhow, hopefully some folks will sign up in your area soon. What I've found is that lots of folks don't have computers or internet... just smartphones. Not sure how they make it work, but they seem to. I feel like such a dinosaur!

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    2. I hope people here start signing up but I'm stuck in some weird situation where everyone wants cash for things. People are using facebook groups to post items for sale but don't use Freecycle. Anyway for now cash is king here but hopefully that will change sooner rather than later. You probably have guessed I have a plan to start introducing people around here to the concept of bartering and sharing. :-)

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    3. Oy... everybody's got an angle! Well, to be honest, I'm finding that nextdoor.com is really helpful for things that don't have anything to do with stuff. People posting about coyote sightings, burglaries, lost dogs etc. It's sorta nice to feel more connected to my neighbors.

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  4. Oh, I've never heard of NextDoor, but I like the idea. Thanks! What a great response you had to your feral cat houses. :)

    So glad you feel you can move forward. I bet it feels like a weight off your shoulders.

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    1. If you sign up for Nextdoor, let us know how it is in your area. I'm wondering if it's something that's somehow got local appeal here in Denver (Eliza - who I heard about it from - is in Denver too.)

      And yes... I feel about a hundred pounds lighter! :-)

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  5. Congratulations on being done with so many things. And using your cat houses to educate people who are interested--what a great idea!

    You might be amused to know that I read this sentence wrong: "He still has some sutures from where they had to extract the three bad teeth, but they are the absorbable variety." I read "...the adorable variety.

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    1. Ha! I'm trying to picture what an adorable suture would look like. Maybe something in a smiley face configuration? :-)

      That's totally the kind of mis-reading that I do all the time. I ran into this on Facebook the other day:

      [img]http://causemonisays.files.wordpress.com/2013/09/20130905-071615.jpg[/img]

      I'm thinking "wow... I've never had an eye exam like that... I wonder if it's supposed to help with presbyopia or something... I'll have to ask my eye doctor... oh wait... optimist, not optometrist."

      Well, at least I keep myself amused!

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    2. Ha! Sometimes I call it "fun with bad vision" or "fun with bad hearing."

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    3. I think in my case "fun with ineptitude" might be more appropriate! :-)

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  6. I am glad Jasper is feeling better.

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