Things I miss...

A hairbrush, gray.

Another hairbrush, pink.

Kitchen knives: 20 or more, the latest set less than 3 months old.

Socks.

Shoes.

Headphones.

Cell phones.

Scissors.

Nail clippers.

The door to a kitty-carrier.

These are just a few of the things that go "missing" around our house, absconded by my wonderful children (also known as the famous "not me's") never to be seen again, but of all of them, it is that last one that I miss the most.

We technically live in "the country," although in the last 5 years or so many houses have sprung up around us. Anyway, even though we're now in a neighborhood, the area is still decidedly rural. The first year we moved in, our new neighbors across the street had kittens. "Why, YES! We'd love a kitten!" It'll help keep down on the mice.

Back then we were continuously strapped financially, and so we didn't really have the money to get said kitten spayed. She rapidly grew up and, before you knew it, had a litter of kittens of her own. We found homes for all the kittens but one, a sweet-hearted little thing we named Google because Savannah, only 3 at the time, said she had "googly" eyes. Now mom and daughter were on a race to see who could be the most prolific producers of kittens. I almost always managed to find homes for most, but it seems there is always at least one that ends up being left behind.

All this to say that, at present, we have FOUR mama kitties who seem always ready to pop out another litter. And while I love kittens, enough is enough! It has been my goal since February to get them all fixed so that we can put an end to this kitty-cascade, but have you seen how much it costs to get them spayed?!!! The cheapest I could find here in our area is $85 per female cat, which I think is highway robbery.

Every-other month the "Big Fix" mobile clinic comes to Logan for one day to offer dog and cat spaying/neutering for much-reduced rates: $25 compared to the $85. Every-other month since February I have locked a kitty in a crate the night before, starved it, listened to it yowl loudly and mournfully all the way into town, stood in line with hundreds of other people and their pets, only to be turned away because they can only take the first 40 or 50 pets. The first time I was only two people behind the cutoff. Arrggghh! I then drive my yowling cat back home and let the poor, bewildered thing out of the crate. I'm sure that they all think I've lost my marbles. I don't understand WHY they can't just let people make appointments, as I'm told they do in other areas.

I've finally given up on the mobile clinic, so last week I called and made an appointment at the local vet clinic for today. I'll do a cat a month. We got home fairly late, so I went to grab the kitty carrier, only to discover the missing door. I still cannot figure out WHAT possible use there could be for a cat carrier door, without the cat carrier, but it is gone. Of course no one KNOWS where it went, or why, and, "Oh geez, here mom goes again..." I finally kicked Stitch, our goofy black lab, out of his crate that he sleeps in. Door? Check. But, what's this? Even though there's a door attached, it doesn't actually latch.

Great.

I finally got Stitch out and the cat in, held the door shut by bracing it with garden implements, and went to bed. I'll deal with it in the morning. So, here we are: the day of reckoning! I still couldn't find the cat carrier door, and I couldn't get the large dog crate with meowing kitty into the Tahoe without help because I had to hold that door shut. I finally got to the vet and went inside to ask if they had a smaller carrier that I could bring her in with. They handed me a tiny little crate that looked like it might hold at least half of her, and off I went. I opened the back doors of the Tahoe, scooted the large dog crate around, held the new crate (with a door!) in front, and proceeded to TRY to stuff her in. Man can she put up a fight!

It ended with her making a leap up and over the smaller carrier, over my shoulder, and off into the parking lot. By this time, the two vet assistants had come out to see what the obvious hold-up was. The three of us circled the clinic from different angles more than a few times. I'd finally catch her, stand up and start for the doorway when she'd dig her claws into whatever appendage happened to be closest, and then launch herself back into the bushes again. One of the assistants finally grabbed her and held her in a great hold that I'm thinking I may actually try on the kids when they start lipping off.

Anyway, one cat down and three to go! I'm exhausted...

July 27, 2009