Adventures of Melissa Wood ~~ Pet Sitter, Traveler, Nature & Animal Lover, Photographer

I’m noticing something strange on Riley’s face.  Of course, he is SOLID black…there is not a speck of white (or any other color for that matter) on him anywhere.  But around his mouth and above his eyes look rather strange.  A little puffy, scaly…just plain odd.  Not sure what is going on but will keep an eye on it.

It’s pretty late in the year and very hot here, to still have humminbirds flying around.  But everyday, here they are.  The hummingbird wars continue right outside my window and I have the pleasure of watching them when I’m on the computer.

Here’s a couple pictures I snapped of a female Black-Chinned Hummingbird.

Black-Chinned Hummingbird (Female)

Black-Chinned Hummingbird (Female)

Black-Chinned Hummingbird (Female)

Black-Chinned Hummingbird (Female)

The pest control people came back out today for a scheduled visit.  Still the traps are empty.   The odor in the house has been back to normal now for about the last week.  So even though they never were able to find where the dead rat was, apparently he is disintegrating to the point where the odor has left.

But this morning, when I went into the basement, I noticed the smell again.  So I took the pest control guy down there with me and he smelled it too.  So we looked around and finally found it.  Apparently, a rat had died between some garbage bags that were filled with wreaths.  One bag had a Christmas wreath in it and the other bag had the Fiesta wreath in it.  They were laying on top of eachother on the floor and I guess the rat crawled in between them and died.  It was totally gross.  Maggots everywhere which helps to explain why I had been seeing more flies than normal. 

So we got that rat out of there and cleaned up the space.  I think the Fiesta wreath is toast….it smelled unbelievably bad.  I took it outside and am having it sitting on the patio in a chair…I’m hopeful that maybe some fresh air will help it to “air” out a bit and it will be OK.  It’s an absolutely gorgeous wreath with ribbons and streamers on it for Fiesta.  Since this house is located in the historical King William area, Fiesta is a BIG deal down here!  So I’m hopeful the wreath will get back to normal so she can hang it out next year for the King William parade.

So this definitely solves the mystery of the odor in the basement but I feel like there is still another dead rat somewhere that has not been found.  At least there is no more odor in the house.  So I’m definitely grateful for that!

Well the diarrhea that Merlin had the other day has gotten worse and now all three of them have it.  I don’t even need to take them to the vet to know:  it’s Coccidia.   Since the property owners have done cat rescue work for years, she has her own little “pharmacy” of medications that she’s needed in the past.  So I go and get the Albon which is an antibiotic to treat Coccidia.  The 3 kittens will get started on it today and will be treated continually for 14 days.

I took the 3 kittens to the vets office today.  Apparently, Oreo has brought Ringworm with him. They said that Merlin was OK and that Riley was OK, although Riley had a spot on his chin that was “suspect”.  So they were going to treat all 3 of them and give them “Program” which I guess is a medicine for ringworm.  They want me to shampoo them, but they do not have the shampoo that I need to do it.  Said they are all about 4-5 weeks old and that I need to return in 2 weeks for the 2nd dose of “Program” and for their initial shots.

Merlin also has a nasty case of diarrhea.  I mentioned it to the vet who said to keep an eye on it and if it continues, I’ll have to bring him back in for a culture.  Since I just got him, and we don’t know where he came from or what he had been eating, I’m hoping it’s just that his system is adjusting to the real food that I’ve been giving him for the last 2 days.  We’ll see how it goes.

My friend Joe came at lunch to take a look at the gutters.  It’s not really the gutter problem, but more how the water flows down the roof.  He hypothesizes that when it rains REALLY hard and fast (like it did the other day), that the water just comes flooding down the roof and overshoots the main gutter, only to land in the smaller gutter which can’t keep up with the water flow.  It then overflows and backs up.  This house is old and the gutters are built into the roof, so it’s easy to see how this happens.  There is nothing he can do to fix it; he does make a suggestion to add sort of a “dam” up on the roof to force the water into the larger gutter, thereby missing the smaller one and avoiding future flooding.  So I put him on the phone with my homeowners and he explains this to them.  Since we’re in the middle of summer and in the middle of a drought, there doesn’t seem to be any urgency to get this done now.  So perhaps after they return in the fall, they can address this issue.

The pest control people came again.  Despite the fact that they have set rat traps in both the main house and the guest house, there have been no captures.  And of course, every time they come out, there is a charge.  So I’m not sure how much longer we’ll deal with this routine.  But I think we’ll perhaps give it another week to see if anything shows up.

By the end of today, I’m wiped out.  Overwhelmed.  Between the rats, the smell, the various appointments to meet people, the flood in the dining room and all the kitten drama, I’m mentally fried.  This was supposed to be a “simple” house and pet sitting assignment!  I’ve done house and pet sitting for years and years; taken care of 30 horses and 50 dogs on large acreage.  And yet, I’ve never had all these issues happen within a span of about 3 weeks!  It’s very frustrating and I’m worried that the property owners are going to think I’m destroying their house!  So we have a long talk this evening.  I think she is just as frustrated.  This hasn’t really happened to them either; this is supposed to be a relaxing summer for them!  It seems like every time I call her, I have something new to report and it’s not good news!  She gives me a pep talk….tells me how much they appreciate what I’m doing and how I’m handling everything.  Said if this would have happened last year with the other housesitter, it would have been a disaster and they probably would have already been on their way back!  She also reminded me of the rescue work I’m doing with these kittens.  They most assuredly would not have survived to this point on their own.  Poor little Merlin would have been euthanized that day at the vet’s office had I not come and picked him up!  And now, the 3 of them have a chance to grow up and find a family to adopt and love them. 

So by the end of the conversation, I felt much better.  The pep talk worked!

Well we got some much needed rain today.  It rained very hard for about 30 minutes during lunchtime (so I was told).  Unfortunately, I was not home during this time.  I came home later in the day around 5pm.  Everything seemed normal at first, but then as I got closer to my computer (which sits in the dining room), I realized everything was NOT normal.  Standing water.  In the dining room.  Great! 

There is a very large beautiful oriental rug here; in the corner where the water apparently came in, it was soaked.  Since the room slopes downward, the water was literally standing underneath where my computer sits.  And the length of the oriental rug (about 20 feet) and about 2 feet into the rug, was also soaked.

So I called the property owners.  They apparently have had this issue before.  There is some kind of problem with the gutter on top of the house.  They don’t know what’s wrong, but when it rains really hard, apparently it has leaked into the house before, but certainly not to this degree.  Of course it hasn’t rained here in months, so they had no way of knowing this would happen!

My friend Joe just happens to work for a company that does gutters.  So I called him; he will come out tomorrow and take a look at it. 

In the meantime, I’ve got to get up all this water and work on drying the oriental.  So I’ve mopped up all the water, and I’ve got several fans blowing on the rug.  I’m forunate that I can just fold up the corners of the rug and blow the air underneath.  I’m so glad that the middle of the rug wasn’t wet….the dining room table is on it and it would have been very difficult!  But it’s just the two corners closest to the windows.

Ok so now I think this is bordering on ridiculous.  The housekeeper showed up today with ANOTHER abandoned kitten!  This one was apparently hanging around her son’s school….I think he is a week older than Riley and Merlin.  He was in an area that had dogs, so she was concerned he would get eaten!  So here she comes with this cute kitten.

What am I supposed to do?  I can’t tell her to go away! So “Oreo” joins our kitten family. 

Oreo

Oreo

He’s got a funny spot on his right ear.  No hair there.  I hope it’s not mange.  It doesn’t look infected or anything; just a spot about the size of a dime with hair missing.  And also on top of his head, seems there are some thinning places where the hair isn’t quite as grown in as other places.  Not sure what that’s about, but will take him to the vet tomorrow to get checked out.

I’ve called the property owners of course, to let them know there is another kitten.  She laughs.  Well, this certainly wasn’t part of the original deal…..I was just supposed to be house and pet sitting for them!  We have a good talk; I guess I didn’t know it at the time (and neither did she!), but I’m apparently filling in for her doing all this cat rescue work.  It’s OK….I love animals and these kittens are definitely keeping me busy and amused. 

Riley and Oreo have instantly bonded.  If I didn’t know better, I would say they were littermates.  It’s almost like they know eachother.  They play, play, play together!  Constantly.  So much so that I think it’s freaking out Merlin who only wants to be in my lap!

Merlin in my lap

Oreo & Riley playing

Oreo & Riley playing

They sure are cute together!

Well….what’s one more kitten?  Riley already thinks I’m his mother and his playmate as he’s been isolated from the other cats that we have here.  So I think this is a fine idea.  It’s about time he had some exposure to other cats! 

So I head out to the vet’s office to get this little guy.  We’ve decided his name is Merlin and here he is:

Merlin

Merlin & Riley

Merlin and Riley are playing together like they’re old friends!

Merlin and Riley

Mittens

Also, snapped some pictures of some pretty flowers that are blooming right now.  Despite being in the middle of June and in a drought, here’s some pretty flowers:

Flowers

Purple Coneflower (Echinacea Purpurea)

Flower

Flower

I’m only able to identify the 2nd flower, Purple Coneflower.  Since I am a Naturopath, I recognized this plant easily because it’s botanical name, Echinacea Purpurea is an herb that I am well familiar with.  I use it in my practice and of course, take it myself when I’m feeling like a cold or the flu is coming on.  It grows well here, because it does enjoy full sun and that’s a good thing in our Texas weather!  The leaves can be steeped in a tea to help build strong immunity.

So I walked into the kitchen this morning and it’s significantly warmer than the rest of the house.  Great….what’s wrong now?  So I go to the temperature control and it’s flashing “FILTER” and the temperature is stuck on 85. 

Well it’s Saturday.  So I called the AC people; they had me to do some checking.  There are actually 3 separate air conditioning units in the main house.  So I go down to the basement to check; all looks well there.  Then, they had me go outside and check the outside units.  That’s where the problem is…one of them is not running.

I’m fortunate in that the guy was able to come within a few hours.  The downside is that I had plans to go shopping and go to lunch with my sister.  Had to cancel…..they said they could come around lunch so I have to be here.  But I’m so thankful that he’s able to come.  AND that he was able to get to the parts store to get the part that he needed to fix it.

So now it’s cool in here once again.  With the smell from the dead rats, and with no air conditioning in part of the house, the smell was REALLY REALLY bad in the kitchen!  But at least with the AC running now, it’s starting to go down a bit, but it still doesn’t smell good!

It looks like I *might* have a new home for Riley! Of course, he’s still barely 3-4 weeks old, and still being bottle fed, but I’m excited that perhaps there is someone that would like him.

Apparently, since the property owners have done cat rescue for such a long time, they have lots of contacts in the area.  Last year, they had adopted out a kitten to a woman who lives very closeby; she’s got a friend who at the time, had just lost her black cat. She wasn’t ready then to adopt one, but now some time has passed and she’s considering getting a black kitten. And I’ve got one! So this is good news and I’m going to start giving Riley some wet food and slowly weaning him off the bottle. We’ve gotten to the place where I don’t have to get up every 2 hours; it seems as though feeding him every 4-5 hours is working OK for him and it sure is helping me get more sleep!

Here’s some updated pictures of him:

Riley

Riley

Riley

Well yesterday when I was in the guest house taking care of the cats that live there, I heard a noise up in the attic. Oh no. Not again. Not here too! The cats also were very interested in the noise in the attic.

So the pest control people were back again today. The original plan was to have them come back to the main house to see if they could find the source of the smell. But now in addition to that, they need to address the rats that apparently are in the guest house too! GEEZ!!!!!  So now, instead of setting the bait boxes (which we now know DON’T work!), we’re setting traps. Of course, this means they have to return every other day to check the traps.

They still can’t find the source of the smell in the main house. And I explained to him that the “air freshner” lasted about 12 hours, instead of the “days” he told me. Ooops. Not much was offered instead. Basically, I’m going to have to suffer through it. I guess eventually it will dissipate…..sure wish it would hurry up!

After two more days of digging, they have finally found the 3rd leak in the sprinkler system. This one is now fixed as well. Keeping my fingers crossed that this is it for the sprinkler for the rest of the summer!

Last night when the pest control guy was here, he told me that by spraying disinfectant spray in the attic and on the AC filters, that it would relieve the smell for several days.

LIAR! It BARELY lasted 12 hours and this morning upon awakening, it’s back in full force. Oh well. We tried. They are set to come back on Friday to continue to look for the source of the smell.

Sprinkler Leak

Ok so in the process of trying to fix the leak from several days ago, the plumber uncovered yet ANOTHER leak.  This one, being significantly more insidious than the last, is alluding him as we speak.  This is the dig up so far:

Sprinkler Leak 3

As of yet, he can’t find where the water is coming from, so they keep digging up along the sprinkler line.  The Aziatic Jasmine plants are literally being laid back along his path, so they can figure out where the water is coming from.  And of course, we’re back to not having water again…he’s turned off the water main that controls the sprinkler system, so I’m back to carrying water in buckets to water the plants and flowers.

 

As if that’s not enough, the pest control people were here again today.  This time, the original guy came, the one that set the bait traps.  He went up to the attic; can’t find the source of the smell.  It would be great if we could actually find the dead rat and remove it.  But he looked EVERYWHERE.  Can’t find it. So the next step is to spray disinfectant spray into the attic and also to spray down the filters that go into the AC units.  Since there are 3 separate AC units in the house, this takes him quite awhile.

But OH MY GOSH…does it smell SOOOOO much better in here after he leaves.  Actually, it’s really great and almost back to normal.  I go to sleep for the first time in a long time, with pleasant smells to inhale.

Well last night, I was preparing food for one of the cats, when I heard all this racket outside.  The Mockingbirds and the Jays were going crazy.  I’ve heard this before and I know they have a particular call when they are mad and when the Hawk is in the yard.  I’ve seen this Hawk numerous times; but always on the go.  I can never get near him.  Well today was different.  I went out the backdoor and he was perched in the tree just a few feet away from the backdoor.  I ran back in to get my camera.  He saw me right away, but never moved.  I eventually made my way to directly underneath him; about 6 feet away.  He didn’t seem to care and I snapped so many pictures that my battery started to die in my camera!  (especially after all the picture taking the day before with the Lesser Nighthawk).  

Red Shouldered Hawk

Red Shouldered Hawk

After exhausting my picture taking, I grab the binocs and the bird book again.  This is a Red Shouldered Hawk and he was just beautiful!

Yesterday when I was outside watering some of the flowers and plants they have here on their property, I noticed some more water in a different spot on the grounds.  So I called the plumber; he came out today.  Says we have another leak in the sprinkler system.  This time, it’s not so easy to fix….has to dig up the ground to figure out where the water is coming from.  Great.  Here we go again; the water is OFF yet again.

The pest control people came out.  This time, it is a different person.  He cannot find the source of the odor.  Nor can he find the bait boxes, but then again, he didn’t climb up in the attic, but merely climbed up on the ladder, took a cursory glance around and basically called it a day.  So now, I have to set up yet another appointment with them to come out on Wednesday.  This time, the original guy that put the bait traps up there, will come back and look.  And today is Monday, so I have to wait for 2 days for them to come back out.

In the meantime, what about the smell?  He left me with some air freshner.  Oh boy!  So I’m busily spraying around the house.  Admittedly, it does help.  For about 15 minutes.  As long as I don’t leave the house and get fresh air, after awhile, I’m becoming immune to the odor because I get used it.  But if I dare go outside and come back in, it’s another story.

Going back to spraying now.

Well today I have noticed a very distinct odor.  It’s not good.  Apparently, the rats DON’T go outside when they die as this odor can only mean one thing:  They have died somewhere in the house.  And today is Sunday, so there’s not much that can be done today.  As they day has progressed and the heat escalated, the smell is getting worse and worse.  It’s especially noticeable when I’m outside for a bit or away from the house; then when I go back in it’s like BAM!  It hits you.  YUCK.  Calling the pest control people tomorrow first thing!

Well they have this plant here, that I believe is from Hawaii and the flowers used to make leis.  I believe this is a type of Plumeria plant.  The flowers are gorgeous and the scent intoxicating. 

Plumeria

Well that “noise” that we all heard the night before the property owners left, apparently is rats in the attic.  The pest control people came out yesterday; upon inspecting the attic, they have found droppings that belong to rats.  I guess it’s not that much of a stretch considering this house/property is located on the San Antonio River.  The question is, how are they getting into the attic? The theory is that they are climbing up the gutters and gaining access through a vent on the roof.  The pest control guy can clearly see rat streaks inside the attic, where they are running from here to there and they leave their greasy mark on the walls. 

So the plan is to set some bait traps outside and some “fake” traps inside the attic.  They said that they eat the bait, and it makes them extremely thirsty so they go outside to drink.  Then they are supposed to die outside of the house. 

I hate that we have to kill them as I don’t really like killing much of anything (well ok, I draw the line with scorpians and cockroaches and won’t hesitate to smash either one of them!), but this isn’t my house and it’s totally up to the owners.  They do not want rats in their attic/house and understandably so, as they can be very destructive and cause all kinds of problems.  So the bait traps were set.  He warned me that it could get rather noisy the first night after the bait boxes are set; apparently they sometimes like to fight over the bait boxes. 

Well it’s a good thing the pest control guy warned me!  The rats had a party last night in the attic.  It sounded as though they were literally throwing the bait box around between them like a bastketball.  There was alot of noise, but eventually settled down when I went to bed.  Fortunately, all the noise was out in the kitchen and not in the bedroom so I got a sound nights sleep!

Last night, the housekeeper showed up with an abandoned kitten that she had found.  He’s tiny, barely has his eyes open, so I suspect he’s about 10 days to 2 weeks old.  Wrapped him in a blanket and told me this story about how she heard him crying under an abandoned house; the mother apparently had left him and since there are lots of big dogs in that neighborhood, she didn’t feel comfortable leaving him.  Since she knows that the property owner does cat rescue work, she brought him to me.

Great!  Just what I need!  He’s just a baby and requires alot of attention and bottle feeding.  I tried to get her to take the kitten formula and to handle this herself, but that didn’t work.  So now I have a kitten to take care of, on top of the other duties and responsibilities I have here with the grounds and Amadeus and the 10 cats in the guest house!

Since I had just gone through this with Parker a few weeks ago, I knew where the formula was, the little crate, the stuffed animals and blankets for him.  So I set him up in the kitchen.  Made up a batch of kitten formula and proceeded to “nurse” him with a little baby “doll” bottle.  He was hungry and ate alot.  With kittens that are so young, it’s important that they are fed every 2 hours, so I feel like a new mom…had to get up every 2 hours last night to feed him.  He was grateful, I’m sure as his little body just constantly vibrates with purring everytime I touch him.  Also, it’s necessary that I “stimulate” him so that he urinates.  That is something that his mamma would have done if she were around.  So I took a soft cloth and rubbed him a bit, and then finally he urinated lots and lots. 

I can handle taking care of him during the evening time, but I can’t feed him every 2 hours during the day!  I talked to the property owners this morning; she recommended that I call a neighbor friend of theirs; perhaps since she’s retired she could help out and do “day duty” of feeding him.  So I called her and thankfully, she was willing to help out.  So I got him all ready; made her up some formula, gave her an extra bottle and she came and picked him up. 

So this is our routine; she will pick him up every morning and take the day shift; then I will pick him up after work in the evening, for the evening/night-time shift.  I’m so grateful to her for helping out; I never would have been able to do this without her!

He’s very sweet and solid black.  I’ve decided that his name is Riley.  Here he is:

Riley

Well the plumber came back this afternoon and was able to replace the part on the sprinkler system that was broken.  So once again we have water coursing through the sprinkler system so I don’t have to lug the watering can around to the various plants.  WHEW!  It’s much easier when I can just turn the hose on!

Well Amadeus’ teeth are great!  He’s even eating crunchy food now, so I’m officially stopping the Ars Alb today.  I’m so glad that he’s fully recovered.  Here he is, rubbing on my lamp!

Amadeus