The last of our original Seattle cats, Missy, died today in our vet clinic in Helena.  We’ve had her for ten years, after getting her from a cat rescue group that hadn’t been able to adopt her out.  Missy had short, twisted back legs, a stumpy, Z-shaped tail, and she kind of waddled like a…

Here’s a photo I took yesterday evening while Alayne, Mariah and I were in Lena’s Barn finishing up the chores.  Our three barn cats began arranging themselves very artistically on the grain sacks behind us as we stood there talking.  I had just taken the other photo of the three blind horses with their heads…

I took this photo this evening while we were out feeding the horses.  The pasture grass is brown and dry this time of year, which means it’s also low in protein, so we feed the horses some hay after we bring them back from pasture at the end of the day.  I’ve always liked this…

When our vet Dr. Brenda Culver came last Friday for our annual "cat day," she also brought three animals back from the clinic:  Claude the blind Great Dane puppy, Spirit the paralyzed Yorkie, and Oscar the elderly, deaf miniature Dachshund.  We got so caught up with Cinder the pregnant blind cat over the weekend I…

We discovered early Saturday morning that blind Cinder finally had kittens.  Well, only one.  And she didn’t want anything to do with it.  Uh oh. We had Cinder staying in our isolation cottage, and when we checked on her that morning, we found a tiny kitten lying by itself in the one place in the…

Dr. Brenda Culver, our primary care vet from Montana Veterinary Specialists in Helena, came out today for our annual health exam and vaccination day for the cats.  (Brenda was here a month ago for the dogs.  You can see that post here.)  In this photo Brenda is doing a heart check on wobbly Mink, while…

Here are blind Widget and blind Callie, snoozing away on a cot behind our dining room table.  Yes, both of these girls are on a strict diet.  And no, it’s not having much effect, as you can see!  If these two were in a band, it would have to be called The Plumpettes. The interesting…

Mariah took three dogs to the vet today that spanned the range of breeds at the ranch, from smallest to largest.  She’s holding Oscar the miniature Dachshund, who is going in for dental work and oral surgery.  In the crate on the left is little Spirit the paralyzed Yorkie, also due for dental work.  On…

Lori and Chad Holbein, owners of Doggon’ Wheels in Bozeman, Montana, came out to the ranch today to measure Spirit for her wheelchair.  (See our post about Spirit’s arrival here.)  I took the photo of Chad and Lori measuring Spirit in our welcome center.  If I recall correctly, I think Spirit’s chest — the distance…

This is our wonderful volunteer Kim R. from Great Falls, who came out over the weekend for some power dog walking.  In the course of five hours, she walked — we kept track — a total of 14 dogs.  Each dog got at least a 1/2 mile walk, some more than that, and you can…