Tears, tears, and more tears

Dear friends,

Things can always be worse. I am truly thankful for all that we have. However! I am at my wit's end.  The dictionary says the meaning of "my wit's end" is "the natural ability to perceive and understand" and folks that's it, that hit the nail on the head! I don't understand any more!

I'll back up a few days to explain.  Remember the excitement of the little Bantam Hen Olive hatching the one egg...and we named her baby Sweet Pea, and the proud little papa, Popeye.

This tragedy began unfolding last Tuesday morning when I found Olive lying on the ground dead. Then Popeye took over the raising of Sweet Pea, literally taking the baby chick under his wing. For two nights Popeye flew up into the raggedy old nest and waited while I lifted Sweet Pea up to him and the two of them snuggled up together for the night.

Early yesterday morning I found Sweet Pea dead on the ground. Sadly, I buried the baby next to his mama, Olive. 

Last night at the edge of dark Poppy and I both, at different times, checked on Popeye. He was alone in the pen now.  We found him safe, back in his usual spot on the roost which is about five feet off the ground. Here's the kicker...this morning I found little Popeye on the ground dead. 

But wait...the day gets worse.  On the verge of tears, my day ruined, another little grave to dig and I hear this loud pitiful crying of a tiny kitten.  I yelled for Poppy. We begin looking and found the kitten between two large tree roots in our front yard. Poppy picked it up. It was tiny and looked to be about five weeks old. One of the kitten's eyes was completely closed and the other eye half closed and filled with mucus. I got a warm wet cloth and wiped the kitten eyes then put him in a box. All I had to give him was a little half and half, which probably wasn't the best thing for him.

Friends, the last time I cried, really cried, was when my Mother died. I wept today. I could not control the tears. I cried over everything that's happened this week  and cried about things that happened weeks ago, and I cried about things that might happen tomorrow.

When finally I had cried about everything worth crying about, I pulled myself together. We had to find  a home for this kitten. A big part of my tears were shed because Poppy said that we absolutely could not keep this kitten..and this kitten needed me so badly! 

There's a couple living down the path, probably a mile or so from our place. Just recently they stopped to tell me they had lost their beloved cat who was twenty years old. They were planning to adopt another cat, one that needs a home. So Poppy took the kitten and down the path he drove to their place...all it took was one look. Thank goodness there are still some kind good-hearted people in this world. The kitten now has a home with Kristine and Robert. They plan to take the baby to Petsmart tomorrow to see the vet.

We have since learned from another neighbor that last Thursday someone dumped a mama cat with young kittens out on our road. By the time he and his wife saw the kittens they were scattered. They caught and kept one kitten, the mother cat disappeared and they found another kitten dead. We will never know how one survived and made it to our yard. 

Part of the tears that I cried today were for all the abused, mistreated, and unloved animals out there. How could anybody in this world drop a mother cat with her tiny, innocent, watery-eyed baby kittens out on a dirt road to suffer and die. All I can do is hope that, as my sister Shelby says, people who do these things get what they deserve one day.

As for Popeye's little family...we are trying desperately to find out what killed them. Poppy has set a trap for a weasel and also a rat trap. It is strange that Popeye and Olive have lived in the lot for nearly two years with nothing bothering them. Then Sweet Pea comes along and within a week's time they are all dead. I have wondered about the feed, the medicated chick starter feed that I bought for Sweet Pea. I plan to call the company tomorrow and ask it there have been any complaints or problems with it. Things like this happen.

Thank you for listening again. Gosh, what a week!

Love,
Henny