September 3, 2018
Meet Talon Michael and Boogerz Boy, Please be advised, as I take you on this journey, in the day of the life of fostering, some pictures will be graphic, some will make you smile and some may break your heart. I beg you to continue following this journey, not for me, but for them and all the others out there that need you to understand. My mom asked me, “what is your goal in doing this?” Well, educate people was my answer, but thats not the truth. My goal is to grasp onto peoples humanity and maybe just maybe more people will open their hearts, their homes, their time and yes ultimately their wallets. Not for me, of course, for rescue groups. I want people who don’t give these animals a second thought to maybe see things a little more differently. Show the ugly, the sad, the happy and every other adjective out there. Maybe through this blog, more awareness is created and our side of this war will be the majority. And now the journey of Talon Michael, Boogerz Boy and me begins…… 06/15/2018 5:48 pm : I received the text of 2 little kittens, approximately 2 weeks old in need of rescuing. It was a Friday night and the day had been a long one, as they usually are, but I didn’t hesitate and responded back immediately with yes. I was given all the details and the address where they were. My mind and body turned on autopilot as I mentally ran down the checklist of what needed to be ready on the return trip home. My car is always ready for those phone calls but the baby nursery (that’s what I call the rescue room) needed a once over. Fresh towels, kitten incubator, formula, baby bottles, cotton balls, bottled water, monitor, spare pillow for me if needed, dawn, medications, salves, sand bag, heating pad, kennel and of course 14 assistants ready to go. (our 4 legged children are always up for helping, especially Du). As always, the drive for me to get them, is the longest part of this journey. I can never seem to get there fast enough and 9 out of 10 times I get lost, even with GPS. Don’t ask, I don’t know. Preoccupation maybe. I never know what I am driving into or what will be on the other end of it, hostility, genuine concern, stupidity, a pride of ferals, resistance, etc. I won’t give details of the humans involved. What I can tell you is that it didn’t go well, but when it comes to animals…bring it. My thought is biased I guess, “you just cant teach stupid”. Don’t get me wrong there are so many people who are sincere and caring but when its a rescue more oft than not you get the ugly. I have one objective and one objective only, get the animal in need of help and that’s exactly what I did. I have to tell you, there were approximately 20 to 25 adult ferals running all over and they were a pride no doubt. One jumped on my car, back arched and growling and the others were swarming. I knew one of two things were going to happen if I didn’t work fast. I was about to get my ass kicked by a lot of cats and those kittens weren’t going to make it thru the night without me. Pepper spray in hand and a foul mouth prevailed in the end and away i whisked two helpless, flea infested, anemic, starved babies who were to weak to even mew. Both kittens had horrible URI (upper respiratory infections), their eyes glued shut with a green yellow pus, hardened snot clogging their nose holes down to their lip and although it was mid June they had very little body warmth. I quickly wrapped them in towels and put them in the carrier lined with a sand bag that was heated before leaving home (just in case). The ride home was by far way quicker than the trip there. My one thought…God, please help me to help them. Warm dawn baths helped to rid them of the hundreds of fleas that infested and drained their little bodies. Warm towels fresh out of the dryer was rubbed on them over and over to help circulate the blood and dry them. Still wrapped in their warm blankies I attempted to clean their eyes with saline solution and cotton balls. Buppies were made and the little boys each ate about 1/2 oz of formula. Sand reheated, towels out of dryer and my alarm set for every 2 hours. Welcome to the first 24 hours.