This winter has been unusually kind to us so far, we’ve had absolutely no snow at all. Fingers are crossed that March won’t bring us an unpleasant surprise, as it's usually capricious and unpredictable here weather-wise, but hopefully we'll escape
and won't experience any nasty freezing temperatures and heavy snowstorms when spring is just right around the corner. On sunny days, all of the Felix kitties are either having fun in the yard or climbing up on the roof to soak up some sun on the warm tiles
without a care in the world and everything looks just like it should.
We are, on the other hand, distressfully aware that the outdoor enclosure (which should've been strengthened and renovated years ago) is still holding up by pure luck, but it will definitely need to be replaced in the spring. As most of you who’ve been supporting the shelter already know, the existing chain link fencing has been droopy and distorted for years while the supporting posts
are rusty, slightly misshapen and have unquestionably seen better days. It will cost a fortune to renovate the chain-linked fencing enclosing the perimeter of the whole yard and the roof and yes, maybe we bit off more than we can chew, but the safety of
our 120 kitties depends exclusively on the security of the enclosure and we can’t postpone fixing it forever.
During our blogging break (which lasted more than three years) a lot has been going on at the shelter, but the problems we had been facing before regretfully letting the blog sit idle for such a long time are still the same. Many of the kitties you knew and loved are sadly no longer with us, they passed away peacefully when their time had come. Dozens of the new
kitties you’re yet to hear about have arrived at the shelter and settled in, our bottle babies have grown into young and mischievous adults and we still take in the odd new rejected and hopeless kitty who has nowhere to go every now and then. The youngest shelter
residents at the moment are Taiga, Mish, Willa, Maximus, Ivory, Tiara, Bailey, Nina and Sheldon (who has already lost one eye due to infection; however, his surgery will have to wait until he stabilizes significantly). Stay tuned for more info, photos, and updates
on our youngsters. I know that our website badly needs updating, but taking care of the kitties comes first and everything else has to wait - we’ll get there eventually.
Even though abnormally mild and snowless, this winter brought us strong
winds and some freezing nights nevertheless. Luckily, we succeeded in raising the funds for gas in the nick of time and all of the cats’ rooms are enjoyably warm, but most of the silly kitties just love to go outside whatever the weather and with a herpes virus making
the rounds through the shelter, quite a few of them have eye discharge. That’s been happening during the cold season since we can remember and that’s exactly the last thing we need right now.
Every day is a struggle and it never gets any
easier, but even when we are feeling utterly miserable while mourning the kitties we’ve lost, when we are flat broke and pondering whether we would be able to feed the cats and when it seems we can’t go on with the battle, there is a faint ray of hope that tomorrow will be
better. And with your invaluable help, it really can and will be better.
No comments:
Post a Comment