Three Down, Six to Go

I arose earlier than usual this morning to begin the first stage of burying a cat.  

Off and on, throughout the night, I had strategized the best method, especially in this frigid weather which appeared to be too much for one of our cats late yesterday afternoon.    

First, I planned to take the cat in the carrier, where I'd wrapped her almost lifeless body with a warm towel and set a heater directly in front of the carrier.

Next, I would find a box big enough for her to fit inside. 

Then, wait until the temperature warms up.  Get the tractor and scoop up some of the berm north of the barn for her ultimate burial.   

Other thoughts came to mind, but the steps above seemed the wisest.

After all, when the weather gets this cold, burying animals is challenging. I remember a neighbor a few years back telling Bill that he'd buried a sheep in a snowbank on his place. Before winter ended, he moved away, and we wondered if the new owners found the sheep in the spring. 

Somebody else we know put their deceased dog in a freezer.

Not the kind of stuff we like to think about, but when the time comes at a bad time, our choices are limited.

So, with plan in mind, I took my time, walking to the kitchen,  hitting the coffee maker switch and downing my two glaucosamine-chondroitin pills.   

I did not want to go out there to the shop to find a dead Fuzzy Wuzzy. Finally, I opened the laundry-room door, walked across the garage with dread, only to notice that the breaker, powering the heaters for dogs and the heaters for cats, had flipped off.

My dread increased as I flipped the switch back on, figuring all the overnight heating network had gone for naught.

Punching the breaker allowed the garage heater to switch back on, along with the yard light just outside the door.

Too little too late, I thought, as I opened the door to the shop.  The light was on; the heaters in front of the cat shelter were buzzing.

And, SO WAS FUZZY WUZZY!

She stood looking at me from inside inside the carrier, which I had shut last night to keep her from crawling out on the cold cement floor.  Her buddy Jonas stood next to the carrier; he had been very concerned about her last night.

I opened the door, and, later, Fuzzy Wuzzy drank some warm water.  Then, Jonas joined her in the shelter, and they snuggled up together.  

A few minutes ago, I came upstairs from kicking Fuzzy Wuzzy's buddies, Jonas and Festus, into the garage and giving her some tuna fish, which she was happily lapping up when I left.

I don't know if the cold got to Fuzzy Wuzzy or if she had an event similar to whatever put her near death this past summer.  She bounced back nicely from that situation and appears to be bouncing back again. 

Time will tell cuz she's an old gal, but she sure appears to have a strong will to continue the next of her nine lives, and, for that, I am most relieved and happy this morning. 

If we could just figure out how to keep those heaters going and that breaker switch from flipping, all cats and dogs will be in good shape.

For now, I'm just thrilled that our old cat made it through the night to have at least one more day----and the temperatures are finally rising.  

A kitty scare, for sure, but so far a good ending.

Happy Monday!