The Crazy Cat Lady

Image via WikipediaI have an adorable friend that was ever so kind as to "adopt" me as her home away from home mom.  You know what an honor that is don't you.  She is 19 going on 67 if you ask me.  Why?  Well at 19 she has moved 1/2 way across this big ol country all by herself...has her own apartment...works full time and begs for more and more hours way past what she should be doing...and is mature beyond her years.  Ok that only makes her 19 going on 40 right? But no that is not all.  She is also the Crazy Cat Lady.   Yeah that is the extra 27 years right there.  Wants all the kitties she can handle.  And currently I think the count is 4 in a one bedroom apartment.  Oh wait, I did not tell you this is in the one and only 'high rise' there is in this town.  So the sweet Meowers do not get to go outside at all.  Only perch on the windows and watch the pigeons on the window sills.  (Oh how hard is that one!)

Image via Wikipedia
Now they have their litter box and it is cleaned daily.  Not a issue.  But The Crazy Cat Lady (CCL) had some very ill kittens for a short time being.  Short...well they were really sick and just did not make it.  Had come from a litter that was never healthy to begin with.  And these lil kittens messed up the place pretty bad.  Yeah you can imagine.  The carpet was awful.  CCL cleaned it with soap and water.  Nope.  She tried vinegar and baking soda.  Nope  She did the pet cleaners from the store.  Nope.  All a lil better but not good enough.  So she came to Mom (aka Me) and asked what to do.  I passed on my Resolve Deep Clean Powder and Resolve Pet Stain Cleaner.  I have found it to be one of the better products out there.  Oh and I gave her a scrub brush!  LOL
Well I waited a week to give her time to get to work.  She told me that she started off with the spray.  And with some of the spots she was down on her hands and knees making sure to get the spot scrubbed up.  Next she blotted the place with a white towel (they bleach out).  This way she could see the stain coming up and out of the carpet.  Blot, turn towel, blot, turn, blot.  Till all of the stain is gone.  Granny M said she would use a low heat iron on the towel to help lift a stain too.  After it was all dry then she used the wet powder to clean the complete floor.  Vacumn it all up and then she was done.Image via Wikipedia

I waited a week so she would have time to do it all.  Then popped by for a visit.  You know what she was so excited.  Told me she was the CCL with a beautiful apartment!  And no odor either.  The cats where happy to have another lap to sit on too.  So now she is dropping in age...we all know that CCL tend to have smelly apartments.  I think my new 'daughter' is now in her 20's again!

DISCLOSURE: I received a complimentary bottles of Resolve to facilitate this review. No other compensation was provided.

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Roads Less Traveled

Well today is the day for that road. Not one that I would choose to travel. But what is waiting for me at the end of it will be worth the trip. I have dealt with the worry for about two months now. I think I know what the outcome will be. But we always have the unknown element there. And to not be in control is always hard for me. Also the expense. 

Whew! Sometimes you do not know where you are going to draw from. But there are things along the way that just make it work out. When I started this last venture I had taken what I could for the last two months and said this will have to do. Don't have to buy this and can make that last til we scrape together something to make us feel like we will have a start at least. Then here comes someone with an extra jump. One you did not expect. So you say thank you and then you look up and thank the other provider.

Sometimes it is just what you asked for and others times what you never would have guessed. This time it was a kitten. Yeah a kitten. I was asking for money, time, reassurance, a car and swiftness. But no a kitten called my name. I should have known my name is pronounced with a pitiful meow. I have heard it before. So hearing it this time I turned around and started looking for the owner of that sad voice. I spoke back and sure enough there was the same voice calling out meow. Tracking it I came to a car. The engine hot from the noon day sun and a crying emitting from it. You could hear the fright there. Well here I am in a parking lot 200 miles from home to start with and now I am messing with a car that is not my own. Trying to get this sad baby to understand that if you got in there you can get out was not working. So I start looking for owners of the vehicle. Finding I now am gathering others who start to understand the kitten's plight we find another obstacle. The hood release does not work on this car. So we have to find how to jerry rig the wiring to get it opened. Meanwhile some are trying to go under the car and coax the kitten out while others are trying to dismantle the front grate. 

Back and forth, men and women, English and Spanish, straight and gay we have all sorts of potential conflicts. But none of that enters in. Cause we all can hear the meow getting fainter. Of course all these people know it won't stop til we get in which we do. And there trapped by the hot battery is a small grease covered blue eyed black kitten. Panting so that a dog would be jealous. Having to remove the battery and some hoses we finally get him out. 

After time to cool off, a good bath and trips to get all the kitties necessities, I see what this really is. Not what I asked for. Not money or time or safety. No it is control. Yes control of my senses to hear a cry. Control of a rescue much needed. And now control over a kitten who needed help. In all of it I had calmed down. Changed my focus and could now see the road less traveled. Yeah there are some bumps and curves but it is just a road. And it has a destination. And I can handle that conflict once I get there. But for now I have a kitten to pet.