R.I.P. Li'l Bugger

Li'l Bugger was one of the original kittens that I brought home to the ranch with their mother, KitKat, in July 2006. I brought KitKat, Bugger and her six brothers and sisters home because the folks in town weren't allowed to have pets in their rental house. At the time, we had a huge mouse problem, and we needed all the cats we could get. And these cats were free.

We tried to keep the kittens in the house for a while, but despite the overwhelming cuteness, it was just plain overwhelming. We moved them outside, and they eventually found their way to their own territories on the ranch. And all the mice went away. One of the orange boys was a casualty on the main road. KitKat, not eager to cut the kittens loose, but frustrated by the constant nursing of grown kittens who just wouldn't give up, finally ran off a couple miles down the road to the hay barn. The two other orange boys stayed around, and we still see them occasionally. They don't really like each other.

A couple of the girls, Smokey and Princess, made their way up to CG's house. Bugger chose a different path. She moved down to the long shed, and she would come to our house occasionally for food and petting. (and when I say "occasionally" I mean it: my dad still laughs when he remembers the day we were down at the long shed corral, and Bugger ran out to see us. "Well, Bugger! I thought you were dead!" I exclaimed)

She was named Bugger because when you were walking, Bugger would attack and bite your feet and trip you up. Bugger would also jump up, rubbing against your knee, if you weren't paying her enough attention. She was pretty much alone down in the long shed. But when we got sheep, Bugger got company.

Bugger snuggled right up to those sheep. She jumped up, rubbing up against their wool, eating corn with them, and we're sure that's how she made it comfortably through the long, cold winter.

Bugger had a batch of kittens last year, or I guess I should say she had one kitten. We could never find it, she never showed us where it was, but she only ever had one "used" nipple when she came around for food. Unfortunately our dog Stanley discovered the kitten before we did, and put an end to it. H-Bomb saw Stanley carrying it in his mouth past the sliding glass door, the same time I did. To answer his "what does Stanley have," I quickly said, "a baby bunny."

Anyway, this year, Bugger must have been pregnant, although she never looked it. She must have had some complications, of which we weren't aware until last week when she came around, asking for help when we had dinner guests. One of H-Bomb's preschool friends and his family were down, and H-Bomb came in and said, "Bugger's here and she has poop coming out of her butt and it's bloody" (sorry for the graphic description, he's almost five years old)

I took one look at her, shooed the kids away, trying not to freak out in front of our guests, and got Number One. He found that she had prolapsed, meaning her uterus was inside out, coming out of her body. Normally, he could have pushed it back in, but she had waited too long to ask us for help and it had begun to dry out. There was nothing he could do for her.

Bugger hung in there, hanging around the sheep and the long shed for several days. When I would go to feed corn to the sheep, she was there, wanting attention. I was hoping she would somehow get better, but she didn't. And of course when I found her tonight, Number One was up in the Basin. Luckily for me, Farmer was here, so I asked him to take care of her before one of the dogs found her. I haven't told the boys yet, although H-Bomb wanted to know what I was talking to Farmer about.

We'll miss ya, Bugger.

Fresh Snow

We awoke this morning to fresh snow on the ground and sunshine! It was a perfect day for photography, so I left the boys with Number One and headed out. I took more pictures with my "real" camera, but since Costco is so far away and we have no plans to get up there any time soon (March?? April???) you'll have to settle for these digital shots.






The sheep are so cute when their backs are all snow-covered. They don't mind a bit. I took better photos of them with the other camera, but I couldn't resist posting this one. And below, our cat Li'l Bugger, laying in the sun. She has taken to living with the sheep, and it is the sweetest thing you ever saw. She rubs up against them, and they nuzzle her with their little black noses. Bugger's trademark is kind of a jumping rub--she'll be rubbing on you the way cats do and then sort of leap into it while rubbing. She does this with the sheep and the dogs also. Precious. Living out in the long shed the way she does, there's a chance she's starved for attention. At least she has the sheep to keep her warm at night.

Animal {non} Sense

I am constantly surprised by people who don't know a lot or even a little about animals. Especially if they live on a ranch like this one, surrounded by animals.

Wifey just came over to talk to me because she is going up to the mountain today. C.G's little dog has to take some antibiotics, a pill, every morning, and Wifey asked me if I could give her the pill tomorrow. I said, sure. Wifey went on to tell me HOW to give her this pill:

"C.G. says you have to take the little pill, cut it out of the cellophane, and SHOVE IT WAY DOWN HER THROAT, then GRAB HER MOUTH AND NECK..."

I interrupted to say, "yeah, I'll just wrap it in a piece of cheese or something. That's how you give a dog a pill."

She said, "Well, that's how I do it with my dog, but I've just been doing it C.G.'s way, because that's how she told me to do it."

[I can't say that I've ever in my life met someone so, shall we say, obedient...]

I said, "Well, that way is mean and too hard. I'll do it with cheese."

THE END.


Oh, and also, Wifey said that Mia bit her shoe as she was trying to come in the house. I asked if she kicked at Mia, and she said, "I did stick out my foot to keep her out because I know you didn't want her in the house." Well there ya go. Mia's the guard dog.

Oh, AND...Wifey said "those cats of C.G.'s need a huge bowl of food Every Day!" I said, "that's okay, I'll just put out TWO bowls."

I am nothing if not efficient.