Hop Along Hollow lost a resident today.   Marley was a big black half-lop (meaning one ear flopped down and the other one stood straight up), maybe a little on the older side...although we can never be too sure with rescues.   He had been acting strangely for a few months but we had blood work done on him a couple of times and everything kept coming back negative.  We chalked it up to old age because mostly he was just lethargic and seemed to have arthritis.   I brought his condition up again on Saturday to Linda, the head honcho here at the shelter, because he just wasn't right to me...something was off regardless of what the blood tests showed.  Linda scheduled him to go into a foster home tomorrow so he could be watched consistently, but he left us sometime late last night or early this morning.   The necropsy showed congenital heart issues, including an enlarged aorta.  No wonder the poor guy didn't want to move around...every little movement was a strain on his heart.   It just really sucks when even the ones you've rescued just can't be saved.

On a lighter note, I had an experience today that I think even most parents of human children will appreciate.
My parents are going out of town for the holiday weekend so I told them I would watch their cat, Junior, while they were gone.  We went to pick him up earlier tonight, and my step-mom is totally freaking out about leaving him (he tends to freak out a little in the car and also has a minor medical issue).    One thing about Junior is that he doesn't "do" cat carriers.  He has a little kitty leash that supposedly works perfectly find when my parents use it on him.   I, personally, find it to be a little pointless because he's normally so freaked out he doesn't budge on the short walk from the house to the car.   So we go to leave, I'm carrying Junior (in his harness and leash) out to the car.   I open the car door and the cat FLIPS OUT.  He latches onto my shoulder blade, drags himself onto my back and launches himself off into the garden, all the while still attached to the leash which is wrapped around my hand.   He is totally wiggin' out now that he realizes he's still attached and he's just literally flipping all over the place like a psycho.   I don't want to just "reel him in" because at the time, I forgot about the harness and didn't want to choke him....so I bend down to grab him and he bolts (still attached) into the garden again.   Well now, he's half hidden behind a plethora of giant leaves, kicking and clawing and just freaking out.   Then he BACKS OUT OF THE HARNESS.   I literally THROW myself into the dirt on top of him, he tries to run again but can't go anywhere, I manage to scoop him up and toss him into the car, and he immediately starts looking for another open door.  

My step-mom, of course, saw the whole thing from her kitchen window.

After I just PROMISED her that I would not lose her cat, I damn near almost lost her cat....and in her own garden.   My first thought "how embarassing" and it made me sympathize with all the parents out there who go on and on about how their child is so well behaved, or whatever, and then runs into the room bare-assed shouting obscenities.   Just....ugh!     Here I thought he was too freaked out to move and he made a run for it as soon as I moved my hand to open the car door.    Now I feel like a completely inept caregiver!    And yes, the pic at the top is Junior...perfectly fine now!