Tag: cats

It was a hectic July! We had the grandkids all month, and I was busy every minute. I lost some weight just following them around. Then the last week they were here, we picked up another family member, quite unexpectedly.

Doug was mowing outside, and a teeny kitten came running up to him full-tilt, with no concern apparently for the mower or for interacting with a human. His eyes were all matted, and he was skin and bones. We recognized him as one of the kittens of a feral cat that my cousin has been feeding. We knew she had had babies and they were living in an old, unused barn. But this baby was all alone and starving, and upon checking the barn, we found Mama and the other babies had departed and ditched him.

Doug brought him in and fed him milk with a syringe, and a couple of days later, Mama and his siblings moved underneath our shed, so we tried to reunite them. Again, they all moved and left him behind, and so he became part of our family. His name is Oliver PeeWee, or Opie for short! We still need to get our two dachshunds on board, however. Hopefully, they will accept him soon. They are starting to warm up. Cautiously.

The vet said he was about four weeks old, but only weighed 9 ounces! He has quickly gained weight since then. He has his own room and a much better living situation. He’s eating solid food as well. Some eye drops are clearing up his eye condition quickly.

We are going to try to trap the mama cat and get her spayed once she’s done feeding her kittens so this doesn’t happen again. We’re hoping some shelters will take the other kittens, but who knows?

Here are photos of Opie, both when Doug first found him and after he started improving:

I’ve also been busy with my reviews editor duties for Historical Novels Review, the magazine of The Historical Novel Society. The August issue just came out, and I’ve been sharing the reviews with the authors and publishers. The next issue comes out in November. There are four issues a year, and the mission is to share recently published (and forthcoming) historical fiction novels with as many people as possible.

THIS WEEK ON THE BLOG

On Tuesday, I’ll be reviewing The Long Shadow by Beth Kanell. This is the first book of her Winds of Freedom series, which has three books so far. I’ll be reviewing the whole series. On Wednesday, I’ll be reviewing My Great Aunt’s Diary as part of a Bookouture book tour. I’ll participate in Top Ten Tuesday, time permitting. I’m also trying to get some Indie reviews out now that the hectic part of summer is over

I hope you all had a great week!

*Sunday post is hosted by The Caffeinated Book Reviewer.