Iona Update

I've been completely tied up this week working with Iona. She went in for a check at the vet Thursday. He thought he could get her out of the carrier by wrapping her in her towel but he changed his mind when she started hissing and growling. He looked her over in the cage and said everything looked good so far. Next Thursday she goes in for x-rays to see how the healing is progressing.

Working with a completely feral cat is quite a challenge. It took a few days before Iona would use the litter box regularly. She still greets me with a hiss most of the time but I think she is starting to gain a little trust that I'm not going to grab and harm her. I am feeding her Wellness kitten food. It is probably the best canned food, containing no additives or byproducts. She is about 10 months old but only 5 pounds due to malnutrition so I'm trying to build her up with good nutrition. She is eating very well. Iona has made tiny increments of progress. She touched noses with a couple of our cats through the baby gates so far. Here she is today giving me that famous "eat poop and die" look that she uses when she thinks I am going to get too close.

After the surgery

The vet put in a pin to hold the broken humerus. The shoulder popped back in as he was working on the humerus and seems to be stable so he left it alone. Iona was bandaged and the arm was placed in a sling. She was given a long term antibiotic and a pain patch. She ripped off the E-collar about 30 minutes after she got back home but has not been picking at the bandages. Iona is eating well now and she is apparently feeling ok since she hissed and growled at me when I brought in her evening meal. She goes back to the vet for a checkup Thursday.

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished

While I was at my chiropractor this week one of the workers told me about a cat she was feeding behind the building who had a badly hurt leg. I could not turn away from this poor feral kitty so I brought a trap to the chiropractor and got the cat Wednesday. She was so feral she was throwing herself against the cage violently so I took her to the closest vet there. She scratched the vet, pooped on the floor, and tried to climb the walls before they sedated her. They took x-rays and found she had a dislocated shoulder and a fractured humerus, probably due to being hit by a car. They also treated her for hookworms and fleas. I then took her to my vet to evaluate her for possible surgery. We have a good orthopedic surgeon there who said he could do 2 surgeries in 1 day. Monday he will pop the shoulder joint back into place, holding it by moving a muscle and putting in a plate. He is then going to rebreak the old humerus fracture and put in another plate.

We named her Iona and have her isolated in a room at home. She is completely feral and I have started working to gain her trust. So far she hisses and growls a lot and has not figured out how to use a litter pan. She is at least eating well so that is a start. It may take months to get her somewhat tamed since she has never been touched by a human before. Here is Iona's first photo at home.

The total cost of her medical bills will be around $2000. As a retiree on a limited income this is really draining our bank account. We asked our vet to let us put in a donation jar but they refused. I am asking for your help. Please buy a nature photograph or greeting cards from my site at Fine Art America. It will go to help pay for Iona's medical bills. I know she is only one feral cat but it is everyone's responsibility to care for these poor creatures. Please help.

The Toilet Bowl Incident

The other morning after I suddenly woke up with Sam's claws in my feet I went to the restroom. When I raised the toilet seat Sam the Man promptly jumped into the toilet. I dried him off and he immediately chased another cat through the house. Here is Sam after he finally collapsed from exhaustion.

Silver Springs - Last Photo Set

Here are the last of the better photos taken recently at Silver Springs, Florida. It was a very enjoyable outing though I am sad that the park was almost totally vacant. The economic collapse has really hit parks like this one hard and I only saw about 10 cars there. My fear is that places like this will fold up over the next year and we will lose some of the true nature gems in Florida.

My photography is available as framed,matted prints and greeting cards at
Fine Art America.


Yes, llamas have an attitude! You can see the smugness in the face of this guy.


This rhea certainly was not shy. She followed us around and was very curious about the camera.


Yes, I know they were just enjoying the morning sun but I can't help but think of this as a reptilian conga line!


Flocks of migrating white ibis were just starting to fly into the park.


Though it's not a nature photo I couldn't resist throwing in this shot taken from a glass bottomed boat. It is a set of underwater statues used in several of the old I Spy television episodes. They also wound up in a James Bond movie as well, serving double duty. They are fiberglass but the scene reminds me of those photos you see in National Geographic of sunken Greek statues.

Silver Springs #2

As promised, here are 4 more shots taken at Silver Springs, Florida. My nature photography is available at my website on Fine Art America as prints or greeting cards.

This set includes a cormorant, a goat with a smug attitude, a screech owl that was injured and could not be released back into the wild, and a giraffe. Hope you like them!

Silver Springs Trip #1

All of the photographs seen here can be purchased as greeting cards and prints at my website hosted by Fine Art America. Of course the art site photos are higher resolution. Please consider supporting a starving retired teacher by purchasing a nice nature photograph professionally matted and framed.

Well, I took a day trip to Silver Springs, Florida Friday. It's been ages since I've been there and I knew I could get some interesting photographs. In fact I have an embarrassment of riches in the number of nice captures so instead of choking the post with a large number of photos I will break them into several posts of 4 shots each.
Please bear with me as I share these over the next week and I hope you like them.
The first set is a flamingo, crocodile, barn owl, and yellow-bellied slider turtles.