The cat is eating on her own!!

I held her down to feed her last night and stuck some tuna in her mouth which she quickly spit out. Well she must have liked the taste, because she then picked it up on her own and chowed it down. I was feeding her from my hand and she was eating with such gusto that she bit my finger.

Once she got a small taste it is like a flip switched on and she realized she is so hungry. She has been scarfing her wet food. (Small amounts at a time.) And I seen her sniffing around the kitchen floor and picking up crumbs! I am so relieved that I wont have to worry about her on my trip.

She still isnt eating hard food, and I cant blame her. She is still gagging and coughing a bit, especially after she eats, but I think the worst is over. She will get wet food until her throat is all healed up.

We are leaving tomorrow morning and I am excited, but nervous. We still have so much to do, and the unknown of driving across country is a little scary. But I think we will have a great time! Hopefully we stay in budget. Prayers for a safe trip!

I took the cat to the vet yesterday. I am glad I did! It was the strangest thing. I told him that she has been gagging and having trouble breathing and the first thing he did was look down her throat, and sure enough there was something in there! A big abscess!

So they put her to sleep and took a look and she had a big hole about the size of a dime in the back of her throat where she must have punctured something through it. It had become infected, and was really raw, swollen, and had made an abscess.

So on Thursday she probably couldnt breath and just passed out in the yard, then had the heat stroke due to laying out in the sun too long.

They cleaned it out, gave her iv fluids, and gave me an antibiotic. They wanted to put a feeding tube in, but it was going to be a few hundred dollars so I told them no. I did feel like they kind of made me feel guilty, because I told him I had a low budget, and they kept saying things like Well she should probably have a blood test, but since we are so limited on budget I guess I wont. etc.

Anyway. That is why she is not eating or drinking because it hurts! The fluids will keep her alive for a couple more days, but if she doesnt start drinking by then I will have to bring her back in for more fluids. I keep trying to force feed her, but she bites, claws, and spits. Everyday she is making me bleed, and I am to the point where I just want to shake her and give up.

Now its just a waiting game until her throat heals up, and I will keep praying that she starts eating on her own. I spent $150 at the vet. Which kind of stinks, but it had to be done.

The cat is still alive by some miracle. She is up and walking around and acting about 80% normal. BUT she has not ate or drank since Thursday! I have been trying to syringe feed her and shove tuna/canned cat food down her but she scratches, and chokes, and spits it all out and throws such a fit I think it is making her worse.

I can not believe how mean and strong she is for being at deaths door.

When I first called the vet they said not to bring her in, that we would just have to wait and see if she had organ damage or not. Well it seems like maybe she aspirated on her drool during the stroke, and has rattly lungs & sinus drainage and cant smell which is making her not want to eat. So now they want to see her, maybe give her sub q fluids, and some antibiotics for her lungs.

I am praying that this cost doesnt set us too far back. Its $45 just to walk in the door, and I dont have time to run to the cheaper but farther away vet, so I have to take her to the local one, which is known for being pricey. I hate to say it, but I just can not spend hundreds of dollars on a mean barn cat. Both my husband and I are covered in scratches from trying to save her.

As for the trip, my parents are going to look at a truck today. I am praying that it is a good one, and they buy it, so we will have truck to take on our trip in 3 days! If not, we will be taking a 15 passenger van. And riding in a van for 4 days with 8 goats does not sound pleasant at all.


The camper shell which goes on the truck had to have a new lock, and while it was getting put on the locksmith busted out the window! So now we ALSO have to get that to the shop to repair it. There is not enough time to custom order glass, so they are putting plexiglass in it, if we even get time to get it there.

I did get paid for a freelance job. So I was able to put $175 more towards our trip. We now have above our goal saved, and hopefully that will be enough.

I also put another $250 towards my car! Hurray!

I am so stressed right now, with the sick cat, planning and packing for the trip, figuring out transportation. I cant wait until everything is sorted out, and we are on our trip, relaxing!

The good news is that I got paid for a new freelance job, so I put $230 towards to the trip. After payday today I will exceed my goal!

The bad news is....

The truck we were suppose to take on the trip has a bad engine and can not go.

We are panicking and have no idea what to do. It is over 2,000 miles there and back, and we have to have enough room for 8 goats! No one is going to loan us a vehicle for that kind of trip!

Our options are:

Rent a truck and not tell them we will be hauling livestock.

Borrow a truck.

Take our jeep and pull a trailer behind it.

The jeep is the last resort, if husband will even let me take it. It has over 200k miles on it, and he is scared it wont make it. Besides driving with a trailer is going to be so stinky on the interstate, and traffic.

Pray for us!

The other bad news is that my cat had a heat stroke yesterday. She is not eating or drinking, and right now we are just waiting to see if she has organ damage or not. Pray for her.

$50 to car
$100 to trip

Hay expense was $60 less than I had put back. I just left that money in the animal fund for now, but I may pull it out later if I need it.

Sadly, we got a 20 minute unexpected down pour while my hay was sitting out. So it may all be ruined.

Have it drying now, and praying that it will dry out and not mold. Otherwise it will cost me about $1,000 to replace. We should know in a couple days.

Way behind on trip savings. But I am starting a new freelance job today, and hopefully I will get some of the money from it before the trip.

My Cobalt engine arrives today!! The mechanic said he should get it in within a couple days. Prayers that it goes in easily, and works great! I couple really use some good news.

Mortgage payment hit to bring me down to $50,328.04!

We are going to blow past my goal of getting it under $50k by the end of the year. That would be great if we can get it down to cover our closing costs when we refinance and still be under $50k.

I sent payment for the cobalt engine. No going back now!

Prayers that it arrives quickly, and is put in easily, and runs well as expected! I can not wait to get this car fixed and sold, so I can pay off all my debts.

Right now if I get $3,000 for the car when fixed, that will cover the repair cost, and my Neon loan. But I may be able to get as much as $3,800 for the car, in which case it will help me complete my other savings goals.

Payday!

I put $100 back for the hay I need to buy. Now all my misc expenses are covered! Hurray! It is possible I might not even need all that I put back, but I wanted to be safe.

$50 to car payment.

Only able to put $35 in trip fund. But now that the misc expenses are out of the way, hopefully I will be able to put more back before the trip. Only a few more weeks to go.

Cobalt engines are turning out really hard to find! We have been looking for months, and none of them have been suitable. Finally found 2, but can not decide which to go with.

#1 has $85k miles and will cost $1,250 counting shipping. Has a 30 day warranty. From salvage yard.

#2 has $50k miles and is only $650. It is within driving distance, so we can go look at it, and watch it run. No warranty. From individual.

I am scared to go without a warranty... But #2 is half price, and we can go see it in person, so surely if it runs okay there, it will be fine... Ugh. I am not sure.

Opinions?

Shame on me. I spent money on something that is not a need. Welcome to the family, little girl!



Meet our new puppy. I have not picked her up yet, but will sometime this week. We have been casually looking for another guardian puppy to join Kuzco our Anatolian Shepherd. He needs a friend, and a partner to help guard the large goat herd. Anatolians are so hard to find, when this ad popped up on Craigslist I knew I had to snatch her up. Otherwise I would of had to wait until next spring when more puppies are born, and I didnt want Kuzco being alone that long.

I hate spending the money, but I think its a very worthy investment. Herd protection, and entertainment for Kuzco. Plus who could resist that cute face! I will update with more pictures once she gets home. Any ideas for a name?

Very small payday this week, but with the change I cashed in I still had enough to put money towards the current goals.

I put $50 in the car payment, and put $50 in the trip fund. Which means I now have enough cash to pay for the goats I bought. The rest of the trip money is just for gas, food, and spending money. Whoot!

I also put back $50 for some of the unexpected expenses coming up. I already took care of $150 of them. So now I just have to come up with $100 more over the next few weeks.

I am counting down the days until our trip is over, and the car is paid off and I can start contributing to our EF again!

My car had to be jumped twice, and we tested the battery and it was dead. But my mom was very nice and bought me a new one! Thanks mom!