Thursday, December 30, 2004

All about the Twee


Well I previously mentioned we were considering taking Tweedle down for an ultrasound. She stopped wheezing, and hasn't started up again despite being taken off the medication. I'm hoping she just had something stuck up her nose, and nothing more will come of it. (although she does tend to 'snore' when she's sleepy) I figure if it happens again I'll take her down.

Tuesday, December 28, 2004

kitten games


The kittens have "invented" three new kitten games. The first is wrestling. Not new in the world of kittens but they have just really figured out the bonus of wrestling with each other and will go to town on it. The second is Kitten Boxing. I wiggle my hand in front of them, and they will stand up on their back two feet and bat at me with the front two. Cheryl likes to stop in the middle of boxing to lick me. The third is Kitten Pong. I bought some ping pong balls for them, and they are obsessed about batting those things back and forth. I can be in the middle of a big boxing match, and if someone flings the ball to the other side of the room, the kitten will fly in that general direction :D

On a side note, I got bit by a cat at work today. It was just a peanut of a cat, about 6 lbs. The owner said she had been close and cuddling with it the night before. She looked a little freaked so I was taking extra precautions, but while putting her in the cage I got nabbed. Just enough to break the skin and make me bleed. I have not been vaccinated against rabies (but I am against tetanus according to my doctor who didn't call me back for over 5 hours, then didn't mention anything but tetanus) but I'm not all that worried. The owner said she had been with her for a month previous to this (quarantine is for 10 days), but to be on the safe side we are quarantining her for 10 days. I feel bad. Not to mention my finger (where I got bit) hurts. *sigh* I think I really need a vacation.

Friday, December 17, 2004

major happenings


I took the kittens in to work the other day for an exam on "Mona"'s legs, and for them to get their shots. While weighing them, I introduced Mona to "Owen" a dog of one of the staff. Mona did NOT like Owen at all and proceeded to growl the rest of the afternoon. We did take an x-ray of her, which she did not like, and bit me as I was holding the top end, so I put on heavy gloves and tried again. The Dr. thinks it is hip dysplasia, and there isn't anything really they can do about it. They might try to get a better x-ray when we sedate her to spay her in a few weeks. They weigh about a pound and a half, which is a little on the small size for their nine weeks.

I have pictures of the trip, but I'm not really in the mood to edit them. Two reasons, one being Tweedle's health, the other is the moron clients I have to put up with. I'm in a major bah humbug mood... so I'll get to the photos soon. I promise.

Tweedle, however, well I don't know what I'm going to do. Wednesday morning I was checking my email, and she came up to me wheezing. I took her right in to work. They took an x-ray, and nothing abnormal showed up on it. Because of her history when being spayed, they are recommending an ultrasound. For the time being, she is on Prednisone and Clavamox. Not the most fun thing in the world trying to pill her... and worse I have to pill Eli too who is still on meds for his UTI. It is a free for all here in the morning!! We are trying to set up an ultrasound with the clinic in NH, but they aren't getting back to us. In the meantime, I was playing with Twee, and she quickly runs out of breath. :( Hopefully, it is nothing and clears up before we can even get an ultrasound appointment!!

Wednesday, December 8, 2004

It's amazing what the right food will do!!


I have been stuck feeding the kittens low-quality adult wet cat food cause that is all there was at the shelter. I have been angling for a year now trying to find a supplier of kitten food at cost. Well, I finally found one! I bought a couple of cans and put in an order for 17 cases. I have enough money for 35 cases, but I didn't want to overwhelm the shelter.

I swear in the few days they have been on kitten food they have almost doubled in size. Okay.. maybe not doubled, but they are HUGE!! The wonderful owners of Downeast Pet Supply have agreed to sell me the food at cost. And I didn't even have to ask!! I mentioned I wanted to buy for the shelter, and the owner just gave me the price at cost!!

Not only that but they are going to donate 10 cases as well!!!

Now if we could just keep the shelter in kitten food I'd be happy! I can't imagine constantly buying it for them. I raised about $500 through Ebay selling off some items I had around the house, and a few I found at a local clearance house.

Wednesday, December 1, 2004

cute picts


Mom, there are kittens behind this door!!

Let us OUT!!

I weighed them last night and they are 1 lb and about 3 ounces. I so need some good quality kitten food! will have to make that a priority tonight. Mom's belly is nice and full, but you can feel all her bones. 

Friday, November 26, 2004

six weeks


Wow.. six weeks already?!?! I was thinking more along the lines of somewhere between four and five. Everyone but Reagor knows how to eat. They don't all want to. Mona is the best eater.. Cheryl is the worst one who will eat. All the kittens like nutrical, and have figured how to suck that down. They are all about 1 pound now, which isn't that great of a weight, but it isn't horrible either. They look all fat and chubby, and are active and happy, so I'm not going to worry.


Monday, November 15, 2004

Eating on their own.... sorta


For the past few days, I have been giving the kittens tiny pieces of wet food in their mouths to get them ready for wet food...

Well, today two of them took it one step further and actually started to eat the food on their own. One did it out of the container, the other would only eat it out of my hand. They are so cute!!



Saturday, November 13, 2004

Update on Eli & kitten surgery


ok.. well this boy is apparently destined to have nothing but trouble in his life. Poor thing. Last night he was straining to go, so I brought him in to work for a check up His bladder is spasming, so he is on yet another medication. The surgeon also is thinking he needs a "PU" which is surgery to remove his penis and widen the opening from his bladder to his penis. basically "making him a girl". *sigh* poor boy has been through so much in his short little life.

Dealing with Eli, I forgot to mention that one of the kittens needed surgery last week. the little boy had a hernia, and it abscessed. They fixed him up good and sent him home. Well, it abscessed again. I pulled a little corner off the scab, and puss oozed out. I talked to the dr, and he recommended pulling the entire scab off. That worked ok. I didn't like the way his belly looked, it was quite red and raw, but I figured that was just what it should look like. I tried to let it air dry before putting him down. Apparently I didn't though, cause he crawled through some litter on the floor and it stuck to it. I gently pulled it off, but it made him bleed pretty badly. Fortunately, I have liquid bandaid here, and I put a towel on his tummy till I could get the band-aid ready. I covered the incision with the liquid bandaid, and it looks MUCH better now. He doesn't like the antibiotics he is on, but other than that he seems fine. I finally took a sharpie and marked the ears of the girls so I could tell them apart at a glance. They are wicked cute.. they jump out of the cage, and run around for a second or two, then start climbing Mt Connie :)

I really miss Fifi. The new foster mom wants to call her Nicolette, even after I told her she could only take her if she called her Fifi.

Friday, November 12, 2004

Updates


Eli came home yesterday. He originally pulled out his catheter with his Ecollar on, so they put a second one on over the first. He also had chewed out his IV, so they put vet wrap all up his arm. Very attractive! he was quite grumpy to the girls, hissing at them, so they asked that I pill him. He continued to eat the whole time, but his urine was quite bloody. Wednesday night someone took his Ecollar off him and so he pulled out his catheter again, but they were going to take it out anyway and see if he could pee on his own. He eventually did so he came home. He is on special food which he loved at the clinic but doesn't seem too thrilled with now. I think it is because he's paranoid that we put something in it. We have to separate the cats out at dinner time, so everyone else gets locked downstairs with their food and Eli has the run of the upstairs. He hasn't eaten well, but again, I think it is because he is paranoid. I am hoping tonight he will.

After I got home Sunday night, the shelter called me about an abandoned kitten. It was left outside with two others, and unfortunately, the other two died. She was flea ridden and totally emaciated. I think she's a week older than my other kittens - because of her teeth, but she is actually smaller than them. She took a while to figure out how to eat, but once she did, she ate with a vengance. Which also spurred her to finally start having bowel movements. She hits the litterbox about half the time. Because of the fleas, I kept her separated out.. and I had her living in my bathroom in a laundry basket. Once she figured out how to get out of that, I put her in my bath tub. It is so cute!

Unfortunately I'm going to hand her over to another foster mom. I love her to pieces, but having two rooms of kittens going is a lot of work, and we are becoming WAY too attached to her, and we can NOT have seven cats.. really :D




Sunday, November 7, 2004

Poor Eli


Eli is currently having some major hallucinations. My boss called me at around 10 and met me at work. I gathered up Eli from the bathroom I had put him in to see if he would pee and found a few drops of urine with blood in it. Dr. A said he was blocked. We put him to sleep using stamina valium and got a catheter in him. It was hard as he was blocked well. We finally got it in, and streams of red urine came out. Poor thing must have been so uncomfortable. They tape up the end of the catheter and then suture it in his scrotum. Which was not fun, cause he was waking up at the time. We put an e-collar on him, and left him with his IV catheter and his urinary one, and he is at the clinic for a while.

Worst part for me was when I became faint. I don't know why. All of a sudden the world got very bright, and there was a large snowflake looking thingy in my vision. I have a feeling I had a reaction the ketamine as I didn't feel majorly stressed out at the time. I knew Eli was in trouble, but I knew that it was solvable and he would be fine.

So now I have to figure out how to deal with the crystals. The recommended course of treatment is to put him on urinary food which increased the PH of his urine. The dr yesterday who tested his urine said it was already acidic. The food he is on has cranberries in it, so I'm not quite sure what the switch will do. One issue around the house though has been the lack of fresh water. I have tried and tried, but with six cats it takes two of us to make sure there is always fresh water down. The hubby wouldn't listen to me before, and it would often run out. When I would fill it, there would be a line of cats waiting to get water. Hopefully, this will spur him to be better on that end.

arrrgh!

Oh great!


The Eli saga continues. Hubby found him squatting in the litter box not producing urine. We went to catch him to see what was going on - cause it takes two of us - and we found him squatting in the sunroom still not producing urine. Looks like he is blocked, which is deadly. I confined him to a bathroom while I'm trying to get a hold of my boss (cause I work for a vet) and see if we can get him help there as opposed to dragging him 45 minutes up into the big city to get him help at the emergency clinic. (not to mention I don't like the idea of the cost of that)

I'll keep ya all posted (I know you are hanging on the edge of your seats on this one) :)

Friday, November 5, 2004

gratuitous kitten picture


Kittens at 3 weeks

Eli's trip to the vet.


Well, since he peed in the bed, there wasn't much urine to get out of him this morning, so they waited till just about closing time. We stuck his bladder with a big ol needle and pulled it out. This, of course, made him have to go pee, and vomit. Poor thing. He vomited in his bag on the way home, so then he needed a bath. He screamed so loud you would have thought I was pulling his arms off. I feel so bad that he had to go through all that.

He has a raging urinary infection and actually has crystals in his urine. They recommend a special diet for that which will increase the acidity of his urine. The dr mentioned that his urine was acidic. I explained how it would be difficult to not put them all on it and he suggested we just do antibiotics for now (baytril 22.7 1 SID) and recheck him in a couple of weeks.

Again, I'm certain this has been going on for a month or more. I feel so bad, knowing he must have felt uncomfortable all this time. I just wish there was a way for him to say "Um.. excuse me, but it hurts when I urinate. Could you fix me?"

On a side note. I just got back from Target. They had some of the cutest pet things in their dollar spot. I got all the kitties Christmas stockings. I'll have to take a picture when I hang them out :)

Oh yeah, about the fosters.. :) I gave mom some more pyrantal for roundworms, and this time, it made her drool so badly that she looked rabid! but she ate all her wet food and drank her water. The kittens weren't as hungry today as they had been, so it looks like things are on the incline.

ok then..


Ask and you shall receive.

I had a thought yesterday while blogging, that if I didn't catch the peeing culprit in the act, I'd never figure out who did it. Well, just now, while I am laying in bed waking up slowly, Eli squatted and let loose a nice puddle.

Thank you.. I think.

At least now the mystery is solved and we can get him some help.

Thursday, November 4, 2004

who peed in my bed!?!


After blogging last night, I immediately went to bed. There was a huge urine mark in my bed. SOMEONE peed in my bed right where my head goes. This is the third instance of improper urination. The first was while I was on vacation. I assumed that was Muffin since it was on my chair. The second was in a laundry basket last week. We assumed that was a territorial thing since it was kitten laundry. Now this. I don't know if I have a physical problem here, or if it is just Muffin being annoyed that Tweedle is here and is telling me so.

One more instance, and we are going to start trekking kitties into the clinic for check-ups.

(update 2016 - I find reading these posts so interesting, because I completely forgot about the incident with Eli licking his genitals when Ollie was so sick with constipation. If I had just remembered that, this all would have made so much more sense.  It kinda hurts me now to know he lived like that for almost two months before we figured it out)

Wednesday, November 3, 2004

Happy 3 week birthday!


The kittens are 3 weeks old today. They are doing pretty well. Mom is looking a bit worse for the wear. She has had some pretty bad diarrhea, so I took a stool sample in. She has coccidia. We are treating her with albon, and doing some nemex to help get rid of any roundworms. Hopefully, she'll be filling out soon. She looked a bit dehydrated, so I mixed up some KMR to help her out nutritionally. I gave some to the kittens too. They loved it. I left them with a clean cage and fully bellies. One of the girls purred. It was uber cute!

The boy had a hernia and it began to develop what looked like scabbing. It didn't seem to be affecting him, so I let it go, but it got progressively worse over the weekend, so I brought him in on Tuesday. I had brought him in the week before because his cord hadn't fallen off, but the dr wasn't worried, but when he saw it Tuesday, he said it had to come off. So he had surgery. He is doing very well, except he hates the antibiotics they put him on. They make him foam at the mouth.

One of the girls has a bum leg. We aren't sure if it is deformed or if it is just dislocated. The dr isn't worried about it at this point, and suggests we look further into it at 8 weeks. She is the chubbiest one, so she is not suffering because of it. One of the other girls is a bit antisocial. She screams whenever I pick her up. The others used to, but quickly came around. I'll have to work harder on this one, but it is hard, as all the girls look a like. Maybe I'll get a sharpie and mark her head :)



Kittens at two weeks

Sunday, October 17, 2004

Updates


Tweedle went back to the clinic for surgery. We used Iso on her, and she still turned quite blue. They did get her spayed, but they highly recommend that she never go under anesthesia again. She has been living at my house now for a while and is trying very very hard to become a member of the family. We are resisting, but she is a pretty unstoppable force! She takes no guff from the other kitties and fits in very well. We'll see.

I brought home a pregnant cat on the 8th. The shelter named her Dixie. She was extremely pregnant and not eating, so I assumed she would go at any time. After five days, I was pretty concerned and brought her to the clinic where I work for a physical. She showed no signs of distress, and her x-ray showed five or six kittens. Her temp was down, which is a sure sign of impending birth. I brought her home and spent the evening with her, but still nothing.


The next morning, there was one kitten and part of the placenta in the cage, so I brought her in to work for observation. Considering my past history with pregnant cats, I wasn't taking any chances.


She gave birth to one kitten an hour. She loved having her belly massaged. The first time I did it made the weirdest noises like there was air and water inside her. I would massage till the noise went away, and the next time I would check in there would be a kitten. By 11:30 we had four kittens, all looking exactly alike.


Then nothing. She pretty much stopped being in labor. I could feel what I thought were two kitten heads, but I wasn't sure. They just put in the new x-ray machine at work, so I volunteered her for an x-ray. There was one kitten left in her. At four PM there was still no progress and I was getting concerned. I massaged her belly more, and this time heard the squishy noises again. At 4:30, I went back in to check on her. I couldn't see things very well because she had her butt to the back of the carrier, but it looked like she was in the middle of delivering another kitten. One of the other kittens that was delivered breech, I found half way out of her, and I was concerned she stopped half way through this one too. I unscrewed the carrier and found this to be the case. She was cleaning the kitten off but didn't seem to be pushing anymore. I got a doctor, and the doctor pulled the kitten out, but things just didn't seem right. She was stiff and unmoving. We rubbed her, and she breathed, but I was still concerned. There is so little you can do for such little kittens, so I left her with Dixie to clean and stimulate. At 5, I took them home, and she still didn't look right. Her arms were out in front of her and stiff, so when you went to put her on her belly, she'd fall over. She had no suckling instinct and was cold. I stimulated her by rubbing her and moving her arms back and forth. I even made up some KMR, thinking the warm food would help "bring her around" Nothing really helped. At one point she did seem to want to suckle on my thumb, so I put another drop of KMR in her mouth, but she didn't seem interested. I had to go out, so I put her with her siblings and left, expecting to find her dead when I got back.


I was wrong. She is doing really well. Four kittens that look exactly like their mother, and one black one. Four girls, one boy. The boy weighs about an ounce more than his sisters. I was weighing them, and mom got a little concerned. By the time I was done with the last one, she came over, and picked her up, and brought her back into the cage. It was the cutest thing.



Now if I could just get Tweedle off my chest, I'd go give Emmy and Jack a bath. Emmy has tons of dandruff, and Jack's fur is so thick, that he still has flea dirt on him. But she looks so sweet, half asleep.. I can't bring myself to disturb her.

Monday, October 11, 2004

Bits and bites, and kitty footprints


Apparently everyone survived my going away without any lasting side effects. Muffin (at least I believe she is the culprit) went pee on my favorite chair. Emmy survived her trip and is doing much better with her cough. Ollie appears to have put on all the weight he lost right before the trip, although his fur has yet to grow back in, so he looks like he's walking around with a boot on.. :) it's cute.

Tweedle is still here. I brought her in on Friday to be spayed, and she had yet another reaction to the anesthesia. This time, it was Iso, which is very safe, but she still turned blue. I was going to bring her in for adoption on Saturday, but they had a lot of kittens there, and I just wanted to keep her a bit longer. Muffin isn't happy she's here, but what's new. She is such a sweetie. Will have to find just the right home for her.

I brought home a new cat from the shelter. Dixie. White with a smudge of grey on her head. She is quite pregnant but isn't giving up her kittens yet. Although she's not that interested in eating either, so it could be soon.

Im also thinking of officially changing Muffin's name to "Bad Kitty" seeing as that is what I keep calling her. Today she walked through an art project of mine, and now there are little grey kitty footprints all over the table (which she is NOT allowed on in the first place) and the chair. If it weren't so freaking cute, I'd be annoyed. I knew it was her even before doing the investigating and finding the paint on her foot. I so know my kitties :D

Friday, October 1, 2004

purrs for the kitties


Ok. I'm leaving in about half an hour. Here's hoping the kitties get through this and don't miss me too much. I know some of them will be ok with it. Muffin is so needy sometimes that I'm a bit worried.

I'm sure they will do fine.

Wednesday, September 29, 2004

awwww


when it rains, it freakin pours


I brought the four kittens that were ready to be adopted back to the shelter today. It hurt that I couldn't be there. K offered to stay late so I could come in and say goodbye again, but unfortunately I couldn't.

See... I also had to bring Emerald in this morning. She has been coughing for a few weeks now, and it is starting to sound worse. I figured before I went on vacation I'd get her checked out. Well, she has fluid in the lungs - the doctor things it might be pneumonia. Although her heart is a little out of whack, and her lymph nodes seem a bit enlarged, so this also might be the beginning of the end. (NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO) So she is on baytril (antibiotic) and lasix (for her heart aka to help drain the fluid out of her lungs) He wants to recheck her in two weeks. (when I say beginning of the end, I'm not talking something imminent)

Em was supposed to spend the next week with my mother, but I was concerned how she would deal with the three pills a day she has to have. I am beyond fortunate to have a woman at work who also has five cats who knows my pain at this, and she has offered to take Em to her house for me. Her bedroom is off limits to her cats, so Em has a place to go. I'm torn up about leaving her, but I know that if she can't be in my care, my co-worker is the next best thing.

I also have a new foster here for the night. A little peanut of a thing that came into the clinic today with seizures. They weren't sure what was wrong for a while. His blood sugars were too low to register and he was severely dehydrated. It turns out that for some reason he went into kidney failure, and that shot his blood pressure up so high it detached his retinas, and burned up all his glucose, thus resulting in everything else. We have given him fluids and A/D, and he has perked up 100%. He's still not perfect, and by no means out of the woods, he is here in my bathroom at the moment hopefully sleeping away. I'm giving him food and fluids every hour or so. We'll see what happens in the AM. I'll have to take a picture of him... although he's a mess from all the food. I'd give him a bath, but he has a catheter in him.

Friday, September 24, 2004

no spay for tweedle


Well, they didn't spay Twee today either. They felt it would be better to give her more time and the tech on duty wasn't comfortable giving her gas after what happened. I can't blame her. So I'll send the troops all back together on Tuesday, and have to trust the shelter to find them good homes.

I helped the staff at the clinic give birth to puppies today. We had a bulldog go into labor at least a week early. There were six puppies all together, three made it.

Ollie seems to have a URI now. *sigh* I'm trying to decide if I should medicate him or just let it be.

Thursday, September 23, 2004

Emotional rollercoster


Well.. Ollie is back to his old self. We had poop the other day (he kept getting constipated) and no vomit now for several days. I had to wonder if it wasn't the herb I was giving him to make him less grumpy. I had increased his dose to what the vet had recommended originally. I had been giving him one a week simply because I had been forgetting about it, but I had gone to once a day until pretty much the day he started vomiting. Regardless, I doubt I'll be giving him any more of those on the remote chance it was that.

So good news there.

More good news was Tweedle had put on enough weight to be spayed. I had brought them all in because the surgery was light today. However....

Bad news was she had a reaction to the anesthesia that they used, and they couldn't spay her. They started reversing it when I noticed that something was going on, so I stepped in to find out. She was breathing rather heavily, and that is a sign that fluid is building up in the lungs. All of a sudden she seemed to stop breathing. I asked the surgeon if she had, and he felt her heart and said it was beating just fine - but I know it can after the lungs give out. He then put on his stethoscope and asked the tech to pump some oxygen. I then said I had to go, and headed back up front. I told a co-worker that Tweedle was having a bad reaction. I had another one die on the table before, so she asked if it was the same kind of reaction. I said it looked like it, so she went out back to check. While she was gone, I heard a major kitten scream. Tweed is very very vocal when you are making her do something she doesn't want to do, so I had hoped it was her. My co-worker came up front a few moments later and told me she was fine. They had taken an x-ray to make sure her lungs would be okay, and she woke up half way through, having hallucinations. I so wonder what kitties hallucinate about.

so good news is she's fine. Bad news is she isn't spayed. Good news is they can do it tomorrow. Bad news is she's still got a problem with the anesthesia, so whoever adopts her has to be very careful. Good news is I can bring them in on Saturday and do their adoptions myself. Bad news is there is no guarantee that they will be adopted on Saturday.

Yes.. I am exhausted.. :)

Tuesday, September 21, 2004

So.. now what do we do.


Okay.. so Eli was fine. He MIGHT have a urinary issue, but I don't see any other signs, so I'm not going to worry about that right now. Ollie, however, is a totally different story. He spent Friday, and he didn't eat at all, but he did move his bowels, and the barium came out. This means he is not totally blocked. One vet is thinking irritable bowel or a food allergy. I don't like either of those. Another is thinking pancreatitis (I can't believe I spelled that right). This I don't mind so much, but again, I don't like the options (ESPECIALLY since I'm supposed to be leaving town on the first) The third thought is that there is a reason his intestines aren't moving - because they aren't. The barium showed the intestines were smooth. When they move food down, they pinch up to push it through. The question would be is it mechanical (aka something he ate that is blocking the solid food) or neurological. I don't like the neurological options either. So sadly I'm hoping he's eaten something he shouldn't have. The doctors are thinking they should do an exploratory tomorrow. He's home tonight to see if he will eat and move things through tonight - since he won't eat at the clinic. He has lost about half a pound during all of this and has been on fluids for about 24 hours now.

I could deal with this SOOO much better if I just knew what was going on.


Friday, September 17, 2004

Ollie, would you please stop vomiting!


For the past week, Ollie has been vomiting nightly. Violent hairball hurls, that wake us up in the middle of the night. I took him to the clinic on Thursday, and the dr didn't notice anything out of the ordinary. I brought him home and he proceeded to vomit four more times. Back in he goes, and we take more X-rays, and do a barium study.. nothing is moving in his intestines nor in his colon. so we do an enema. A small amount of movement at that point.. but I doubt we are out of the woods yet. At least he is still wanting to eat, and he's not dehydrated, so I caught it early.

THEN.. get this, cause when it rains it pours... I went to feed the kitties tonight, and I cleaned out the litter box. Doing so is a radar to all kitties to come pee. I don't know why, but it is. Muffin got in first. Eli climbed in a few moments later. I was intent on watching Emmy eat, cause she was slow to start, when I realized Eli was still in the box. I walked over near him and sat down, which didn't phase him. Which in itself is odd. He continued to sit there, as if in a trance. a full 10 minutes past, and he finally got out and started licking his gentiles.. I hope to all get out he isn't blocked!! So he'll be going to visit Ollie, who had to spend the night at the clinic. Guess it's a darn good thing I started working for a vet! two surgeries, two dentals, and now this!! Who's smart idea was it to get 5 cats anyway?? (oh hush.. of course I want more!)


Tweedle, Dennis, and Google.

Saturday, September 11, 2004

I apparently have a problem


I was searching through my draw of cards that I keep so I can send them to my friends when the occasion or spirit strikes me... and I realized I have a draw full of kitty cards that I can't bear to part with. I'm not kidding when I say a draw full. I have some that are from collections so I have several of them, so I could send one of those, but I was planning on sending a birthday card to a friend of mine who doesn't like cats (yes.. I know.. it doesn't seem right does it?) So now I'm going to have to go out and BUY a card, when I have a draw full of them.. but not one generic birthday card in the bunch.

On the kitty front, I brought mom and the kittens to work the other day for a quick once over. Mom has been hacking badly, and I wanted a full work up on Tweedle. Mom was put on pred and baytril, and tweedle is apparently in perfectly good health. X-rays showed nothing wrong with her although her belly was still full of food - despite not being fed since the night before and it was food no one liked. She's just the runt, and slow going. She is 1.5 lbs, where her siblings are 2.

On a side note, I'm not quite sure what is going to happen to them. See, October 1st, we are going to Florida for a few days (yes... hurricane season, I know, but it is a spa resort hotel and the room is paid for.. how can I refuse?!?) All of the kittens except Tweedle will be big enough to be neutered and go up for adoption, but I doubt she'll put on an entire pound in three weeks. I did joke that I was going to bring her to FL with me, sneak her into my carry on, but I don't think that will go over well. The resident cats are going to have fun. I have a friend from work coming over to feed them, and Emmy is most likely going to be staying with my parents (because of her insulin) It's going to be so hard to leave them! I did it for one night a few weeks back, and it hurt. What am I thinking leaving for five days?!?! (SPA RESORT! oh yea.. that's it.) they will be fine.. I know it. I'll just miss them.

Monday, August 30, 2004

birthday suit dash


Last night, at midnight, there was a huge cat fight in the house. I dashed out of bed and ran to the noise, giving not one thought to the fact I was naked. I assessed the fact that the fight was coming from the kitten room. Whitney and the new mom cat (that we are calling Joan) were having a row. I THINK that Whitney ticked Joan off somehow and that Joan was the instigator. They were running circles around the room. I cornered Joan, Whitney crawled in behind the treadmill that is in the room. Joan went after her again, and somehow I separated them. Joan sat under the table, Whitney behind the treadmill. This is the point that I realized I was naked, and blind, cause I didn't grab my glasses either. There are no blinds on the windows, so if I had turned the light on, I would have flashed the entire neighborhood. I called out to my husband to help. He came in. I moved around and found that Joan was calm enough to be taken and put into the cage. This is when my hubby realized the kittens were missing. He panicked and wanted to find them NOW. I told him they were fine, but he wasn't willing to hear that, so again, naked blind and in the dark, I'm now searching for kittens. Tweedle was hiding on one side of the room, the other four were behind the couch. Not willing to leave them exposed to whatever Whitney had done, again naked blind and in the dark, I'm throwing kittens into the cage with mom. At this point, I stopped and told him to keep an eye on Whitney, and left to get some glasses and some clothes. I threw Whitney into her cage. She slunk to the back. We sat and watched them for a bit. Whitney started slinking to the front of her cage, and Joan saw her, and again screamed at her. A toe-curling scream. it scared the kittens. I blocked the view totally and gave it a few more minutes, and things seemed to settle down, and I went to bed. I brought Whitney into work for a quick double check before bringing her back to the shelter. Although this morning I found she had escaped from her cage, and Joan totally didn't care, so it might have just been the full moon.

Mia and Prince Charming went to the shelter on Saturday. The shelter was deader than a door nail.. three adoptions total. I had the perfect client come in to adopt a cat but she could only take one.. so sadly they spent the night. It broke my heart. I found out this morning that they were adopted by a family nearby with no other pets, and K said it was a really good adoption. The woman went into the shelter today because she forgot something, and K told her that I worked at the clinic, and I'd love an update. She mentioned it, cause when I talked to her after finding out about the adoption, I asked if it would be horribly rude to ask her to come to Mann for their care.. :) I so miss them. I hope they are having a wonderful time and are bonding to their new family and don't miss me too much!

*sends out kitten kisses to Mia and PC*

Lastly, we had a woman come into the clinic with some four week old kittens that were anemic because of fleas. One was so much so, that the kitten was almost unresponsive. It totally broke my heart and I just wanted to steal them from her. We treated the fleas and gave her some A/D and hopefully they'll pull out of it soon. *sends more kitten kisses out to the kittens*

sometimes I really hate people!

Thursday, August 26, 2004

Update and cute picts


Well it looks like Mia and Tubby will be heading back to the shelter this weekend to be adopted. The people who were going to are dragging their feet big time, and frankly, it's not fair to the kittens, nor to me, nor to my own kittens, nor to the shelter. I called the other family who was interested to let them know, and since I'm not working this weekend, I'll go down and find them a good home.

Tuesday, August 24, 2004

hi.. I'm Connie and I have 8 cats


Just trying it on for size.. Mia and Tubby are sitting in my lap purring away.. they are sooo cute and they love me sooo much.. - but alas, muffin hates them, and frankly, 5 is pushing it sometimes..

I say eight cause of the kitten in the food bowl that my hubby has fallen in love with.. hopefully, he won't stay with us, cause frankly, that will be one heck of a lot of work!

Yes yes.. I need more pictures.. I also need to name the new ones too.. don't I? how about Ennie Meenie Miney and Moe. nope.. that's only four.. darn

Sunday, August 22, 2004

And now there are 14


Whitney, Mia's mom, is back in the fold because she came down with a cold. Tubby is currently trying to catch the cursor on my screen, so this will be a difficult post to create :D

Anyway. Mia and Tubby are still here.777777777777+ (really.. see). They will be going soon. I will miss them terribly, but Muffin will be uber glad to see them go. She is beyond jealous of them. She'll often sit between me and them and hiss at them. I have forgotten the havoc that the pitter patter of little feet can create. My five all have fairly good manners now.. unlike these two. the other night they were playing at 3 AM and knocked over the baby gate, creating a ruckus. But oh they are so cute doing it. Tubby is now just sitting next to my monitor purring away.

I went to feed them yesterday. Since they are still kittens they need kitten food - and I didn't want them bugging Muffin by eating with her, so I went into the bathroom to feed them wet food. All five of mine were sitting by the door asking for theirs. lol.

The new five are doing rather well. The little girl's eye is much better. The runt is getting the hang of feeding himself. They are going through quite a bit of food and thus quite a bit of litter. I think I've reached my limit on names, though, cause they are STILL nameless. I feel bad. I'm pretty sure I have two girls, three boys and of course the mom.

speaking of which.. I really need to get in there and feed them.

Friday, August 13, 2004

What is it with kittens and food bowls?


oh the guilt!


I have to go out for a little bit, so I didn't have a chance to medicate the kittens, so they have been stuck inside the cage now all day. I went in to throw them some food, and they haven't stopped crying since. hey.. let us out!! hey! hey! out!! OUT!!

Four-weeks-old and already they know how to lay on a guilt trip!

Still no takers on Mia and Prince Charming. *sigh* Hopefully soon. Although, I am totally enjoying having them here!

Wednesday, August 11, 2004

kittens for sale.. sweet sweet kittens for sale


Oh my goodness, Mia and Tubby are so sweet!! I picked up some new kittens and a mom on Monday night (five four week old kittens) and they are sneezing up a storm and had ear mites, so I moved mia and Tubby out of the room so I could bring them out of the cage to clean them up and medicate them. the kittens were NOT happy about having their ears cleaned. after I was done they all screamed like I had ripped their legs off. Goodness, four-week-old kittens are cute. and the mom is an absolute sweetheart! but painfully thin. I'm feeding her three times a day.

but back to the twosome. I put them in the bathroom while I had the kittens out so they wouldn't sneeze on them. I let the room settle after returning them to the cage, and I just opened the bathroom door and the kitten room door and told them to go back into their room, and they just trotted across the hall to their room.

they are SUCH good kitties!! I posted a notice about them at work. Hopefully, someone there will offer to adopt them. I so want them to come back to the clinic. Tuesday a very good client of ours is coming in. she recently lost one of her kitties. I'm holding out hope that she might be ready for a new one. If they aren't adopted by then, I'll bring them to the shelter. This one is going to be hard. very hard. you sure you don't want some really cute, sweet, people orientated, smart kitties?? :)

Tuesday, August 10, 2004

Major disappointment


The people who were going to adopt Mia and Prince Charming backed out. Their dog is not neutered, and they think it is too much of a hassle to find their old vet who said it wasn't a good idea to neuter it. So they are going to disappoint their kids (and me) and try to find a free kitten on the side of the road. This time of year those kittens aren't in the best of health. *sigh* I so want to adopt them myself.. but I won't. Maybe I'll make up a nice sign using their picture in the basket and put it up at work.

Thursday, August 5, 2004

Yes, I over react


This morning I went in to feed the kittens, and Mia wasn't eating. This isn't unusual, but I assumed with her ovaries not pushing on her stomach, she'd be more willing to eat, but she wasn't. she was just looking up at me wanting attention. Her coat was a little ratty, so I checked her tummy and her incision had a hard spot at the bottom of it. I decided not to worry and went off to work. I checked on her at lunch, though, and she still looked off, so I brought her in. The doctor that did her surgery was there and gave her the once over. he thought she might have a fever, but she didn't. In fact, she even put on weight. So she must be eating.

Yes, I over react, but better to over do it, then under do it.

Wednesday, August 4, 2004

Things that make you go wow.


I brought the kittens in today. Mia seemed to have gotten to the 2.5 mark. She was two pounds seven ounces, so she was just shy of the mark, but they did her anyway. Princess Emmy and Ariel weren't thrilled in the least to be there. They kept hissing at everyone. Surprisingly they had fleas too. No idea where they came from, as I have been trying to keep an eye out for it. Guess I figured since I didn't see them after the first few weeks, then I was safe. oh well. The kits don't have ear mites they have yeast.. which would explain why mom's ears were fine.

The oddity of the afternoon though was Mia. She had cystic ovaries. They were enlarged to the size of a grape. They are normally the size of a tiny baby pea. I'm assuming this would explain why she wasn't eating as much, as they were probably pressing into her tummy. She should start gaining weight now :D. Dr. said there isn't anything to worry about, now that they are removed, but if she hadn't been turned into the shelter and spayed so young, there is a chance they might have ruptured and been a very bad thing. (we spay for the shelter at 2.5 lbs - about 2- 3 months. Most spays are done between 4-6 months)

Tuesday, August 3, 2004

update


Well, the little tiger kitten went into work with me today and we got someone from the shelter to continue fostering it. I miss being able to care for orphan kitties, but it's so hard to get up every 3 hours and expect to function rationally during the work day.. something I did not accomplish today.

I weighed Mia this morning, and she looks to be 2.5 lbs, so in they all go tomorrow for neutering, then we'll contact the shelter about bringing them back. I kinda hope whoever adopts Princess Emmy takes the mom, Whitney, too. she really likes her.

*sigh*


so hard to not become emotionally attached. I brought them home knowing that the little black one would probably die, but he seemed to have some spirit in him after the last feeding. But sometime in the night he gave up the fight and died. He was so cute when I was cleaning him up, looked like a little ol man. Guess he just couldn't do it.

I was worried about the other one for a bit. He normally fights the feeding tube, but he took it no problem. After I took it out he started to wake up a bit and was even trying to walk around.

man I'm tired

Monday, August 2, 2004

Close call


I walked into the back bathroom totally expecting the little black one to be dead and was quite shocked when I found him totally overheated. He had crawled into the back corner of the box where it was the warmest, and apparently could not get himself out. He was panting heavily and his tongue was bright pink. Almost a bubblegum pink. A quick bath in some cold water and some lukewarm food seemed to have set him straight. I put him in the lukewarm corner. He flomped around, finding the warmest spot again, then before I was finished with the other, he had flomped back into the middle again.

Two more feedings to go. Hopefully, someone else can take them tomorrow.

What, am I stupid??


Well, I think I can officially be called an idiot. Why you ask? I brought home two more very ill kittens. One of the shelter's foster moms has been coming in with her cat and three kittens. The cat was very very ill and was unable to care for her kittens. One of them died last night, and the foster mother was unwilling to tube feed them every three hours, so they gave them to me. So what did I do? I took them. A little solid black and a black tiger. The little solid black kitty does not seem to want to live anymore. I have to stimulate him a lot to get any sort of response. its heartbreaking. Right now they are in my bathroom on a blanket on a heating pad with the shower going. They are gasping for every breath. *sigh* I'm an idiot.

Sunday, July 25, 2004

Catching up


It has been a bit, now hasn't it?? my apologies. I was feeling like I was getting annoying talking about how cute the kittens were. :) Yeah, that's it.

The family came over and saw the kittens. They spent the time playing with Prince Charming, but in the end, they decided they wanted Mia. I'm trying to convince them they need to take both of them... I think its working. I sent them a really cute picture of the two of them and hopefully, that will work some extra magic. They have two girls, a four yr old and a six yr old, and a dog. The kitten needs a friend for some protection. The four yr old was actually better at handling the kittens than her sister. Mia, Princess Emmy, and Ariel were a little frightened of them, but PC was having a ball to have someone to play with.

In general, the kittens are eating well, and growing nicely. They have ear mites, and I'm having the worst time getting rid of them. Ariel HATES having her ears cleaned.. it's a total battle. Oh well.. pretty soon it won't be my fight anymore. I wish the shelter would spring for Acarexx.. it's a one-time treatment for mites.. works well, but it is expensive.


It was "day of beauty" here for my own kitties. Okay, if you talk to them and they'll call it day of torture. Especially Ollie. He HATES it. no.. that is an understatement.. but I digress.  I clip claws, brush teeth, and comb fur.  No one really likes it. Muffin thinks the combing is a big game and tries to eat the comb. Ollie.. I needed to break out the muzzle for him. He did really well till the combing. I actually hit the quick when cutting one of his back nails, and he didn't care... ok, so he cared, but it was just his usual growl. I got so much fur off him during the combing, though, it wasn't funny. It was about the size of Mia and PC combined. His poor tail is a little ratty, but it needed to be done. I need to make sure I do this more often... that way it won't be so nasty next time.

Monday, July 12, 2004

clean clean clean, scrub scrub scrub


We are having company tomorrow to see the kittens (see previous post) so I wanted to clean up the kitten room nice and pretty.. so I shoved everyone in the cage (which they haven't been in since like week one) and cleaned the floor. I had to wash it three times, and there is still a cleaner residue on the floor :( but it's as clean as I'm going to get it, and of course the kittens have walked through their dinner and the water and then the litter, so I don't want to let them out!! I feel bad, but in the morning they'll be clean again, and I'll let them out.

I have to admit, they have been some very clean kittens in general. There were a few poop smears on the floor from time to time, and a lot of food footprints, but on the whole, I can't complain. I've had some really messy messy kittens before.

Sunday, July 11, 2004

unexpected phone call


I just got a call from a guy my husband works with. His daughter's birthday is today, and she wants a kitten. I suggested he come see mine.. they are coming on Tuesday!!

New favorite toys


Mia's new favorite toy is the broom I use to sweep the litter off the floor. It is a riot cause the bristles alone are twice her size, but she still spends all of the time that I am sweeping attacking it. It makes it rather difficult to sweep, but then again so does all the laughing I'm doing watching her do it.

Prince Charming's new favorite toy is me.. silly boy. but I have to love him for it.

Ariel jumped on the couch while I was fending off Mia from chewing my finger off, and I reached over to pat her.. she let out the loudest purr.. it was so sweet.

Princess Emmy had fun eating and wrestling with her siblings, then got her ears cleaned, which she did not like, then she proceeded to fall asleep. She most of all spends the most time sleeping. I have to wonder about her, but she does eat, and she does play.. she's probably just a quieter kitty.





These little kittens sucker you with cuteness, So you take them home
Then they take your house and make you buy them kitty toys and sand

Rick Cowling

Thursday, July 8, 2004

Can you say jealous?


Yesterday I was in the kitten room and I was having a good quality cuddle with Princess Emmy. I wanted to go into the other room to watch a movie, so I brought PE with me. She was still in a snuggly mood, so I wasn't concerned. We laid on the couch together, and she just snuggled up near my neck and went to sleep.

A few minutes later, Jack appeared. He saw PM on my chest and jumped up on the couch to have a closer look. I kept a hand free to stop any issues, but let him do what it was he wanted to do. He leaned in closer and got a good sniff of her. He then backed off and let out a very long loud hiss. I called his name and he looked at me, then sniffed her again. He hissed again, backing off a bit. He looked at me with utter jealousy in his eyes. Those of you who think cats don't have emotion should have seen it. He was so hurt. I told him that if he had been in a cuddly mood I wouldn't have had to get Princess Emmy. He sulked away.

Ever since then he has been by my side, begging for attention. It's wicked sweet.

Wednesday, July 7, 2004

How many posts about cuteness can you stand??


I was just in with the kittens cleaning, and once again I was overwhelmed with how amazingly cute they are. yeah yeah yeah.. I'm sure you are thinking I'm bias.. well.. after 150 kittens or so, you can trust me when I say these guys are special. The last set was nice and all, but these guys rank right up there with Jenna. For those of you who don't remember, Jenna was a little grey kitten I had a while ago that was beautiful and she knew it.. she spent almost all of her time posing. It was a riot. Well, these guys are beautiful, and funny, and sweet, and playful, and once again, horribly people orientated. Whoever adopts Mia better be able to devote a ton of time to her, or get a second kitten. I was giving them their shots this afternoon, and she's sitting on my lap hugging my arm, and nipping me asking that I give her attention. Even after I injected her, she still wanted me to cuddle her.

The distemper shots went really well. Princess Emmy seems to be a little sleepy, but then again she often has a reserved manner, so it might just be that. I went all the way through prince charming's skin and out the other side.. he didn't care.

Mom is still not eating as I think she should be. She seems a little on the thin side, so I dewormed her for the last time and force fed some food into her. If she doesn't plump up, I might bring her in for another check up. There is nothing obviously wrong with her - save her horribly waxy ears - but it just bothers me. it's odd. very hard to explain. I should probably just let it go as long as she's eating, and the kittens are doing well.

Sunday, July 4, 2004

By jove I think she's got it!


For a while now, all of the kittens, except Mia, have been eating solid food. Mia tended not to care about eating at all. While everyone else was mowing down, she'd go off and play. A week or so ago I forced some food into her mouth, and she liked it, but she couldn't make the leap from the food in her mouth was the same in the plate. Tonight I forced some food in her mouth and she LOVED it. She licked my fingers for more. I put the plate in front of her, and she started eating out of the plate. Looks like she might have figured it out :)

Mom still isn't eating all that well. She likes to lick the juices off the canned food, but that's about it. She is eating.. but she's getting thin. I think she just doesn't like what I'm feeding her, and I'm not quite sure what to do about it.

Friday, June 25, 2004

the unbearable cuteness of kittens


I'm telling you, these kittens are too cute for their own good. They are so cute and sweet and adorable it is scary. I keep expecting them to turn into something other than kittens. Little Robot kittens someone pawned off on me for whatever reason. Every time I go in there I'm mobbed by kittens.. they just want me to hold them and pat them. Honestly. You'd think they would be more into playing with each other - which they do, which again is unbearably cute, but nope.. they just want to climb up me and have me rub their little tummies. -no Connie.. you may not keep them!!!

On a resident cat side note. I brought Jack and Emmy into the vet today. I got a postcard that Jack was due for vaccines, but he's not really due till almost September.. so he was really there for moral support for Em. I have been noticing lately that she doesn't want to jump up on things as much. So we took her in, and the new doctor looked her over and thinks she might be having trouble seeing. We took her blood pressure, and it was 130, which he says is high. But she was in a cage for several hours, so it might have been from stress, so we are going to bring her in tomorrow morning for another one. He also examined her legs, and her right knee seems to give her some discomfort. She's 12 yrs old and almost 17 lbs, diabetic w/ a heart murmur. I have to give her a world of credit for getting around as well as she does :)

Tuesday, June 22, 2004

Precious Pictures



I love this kitty.. she sits on my lap, and just licks my hand. Its so flippingly cute! 

and the fun with Jack at dinner time :) 

Then muffin deciding she wasn't getting her fair share. 

Friday, June 18, 2004

Bath Time for Tubby


Went in the kitten room last night and the kitten bed / box was covered in kitten poop. We took it out and cleaned it off, but this morning, the litter box had quite a bit on it, and so did Tubby. I'm thinking he has decided he can go on his own. Not yet Tubby dear. Even Mom wouldn't clean him off. He was covered in it.. so I cleaned up the cage, and took him into the bathroom for a little swim. He did amazingly well. He wasn't too fond of the running water, but he didn't even make a peep when I stuck his tushie in. He cried a little when I tried to clean him off, so I turned the water on and just rinsed him off, he was ok with that.

I got him clean and tried to dry him off. I also wanted to put some ointment in his eyes as they have been getting goopy. He cried, and it made mom restless, so I put him back in the cage before he was fully dry. He headed right for the clumping litter. *rolls eyes* I put him in the kitten bed, which is a litter box without litter in it. I actually covered it with a pillow case to help keep things clean, but mom doesn't like linen, I guess, because she is now sleeping in the litter box again, with all the kittens. *sigh* Silly kitties, litter is for pooping, not for sleeping!!

Wednesday, June 16, 2004

Wet kitten butt


I was in feeding / cleaning / playing with the new kids on the block, and the little black kitten was exploring near the water bowl. Somehow she "fell" in butt first. I watched to see what she'd do, as she was in no danger, and she just sat there. After a few moments, she crawled out and into the scoopable litter that mom threw on the floor in the cage. I picked her up to dry her off, which made her cry, which got mom's attention. She looked up, so I offered her the baby. She took a few half-hearted licks at the wet butt, and then I took her away and started drying her off. Mom kept looking. I told her to go back to dinner, which she did.

Of course, when she was done dinner, she started panting - more on this in a bit - so I offered her some water. She totally refused. I had to wonder if it didn't smell like kitten butt. (but then again, most mom cats enjoy that)

So mom is quite strange. She's incredibly vocal. At first, I didn't think she was going to be a very friendly cat, but she totally is. She just likes to growl and moan and hiss. She also has a collar mark, like someone left a too small collar on for way too long. Have to wonder if she wasn't abandoned when she kept going into heat. Her info says she's about 2.5 yrs of age. I feel bad for her. Going to have to make her up a nice write up wh\ ]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]]/ (Eli says hi) write up when she goes back.

Hershey got adopted yesterday, but so far it looks like Hannah and Tanya are still there :( When I went to see them Monday, they seemed a bit more adjusted to life at the shelter.. I'm not going to worry about them. really. I'm not. yea.. that's it.

Saturday, June 12, 2004

sob sob sob / new kittens


Well, I went to the shelter today, and there was almost no one there, and those that were there were only interested in dogs :( Two kittens went home, but none of mine. So they are still there.. probably not having a clue what is going on. Hopefully, people will come along tomorrow. *crosses fingers*

I took some more photos of them yesterday, but this one I had to share.



I also took home new kittens today. They have a mother. She is obnoxiously vocal. Has something to say about EVERYTHING. The kittens are probably 2.5 to 3 weeks of age. Uber cute. All wobbly on their legs. I can tell the little tiger one is going to be a world of trouble. One boy (gray) and three girls. The mom's name is Whitney I think.. Think I'm going to rename her Gabby!

Friday, June 11, 2004

Wish them luck!


Well.. its almost Saturday already. The threesome will be going back tomorrow for adoption. I hope Tanya's parents come and get her tomorrow, cause if they don't (whoever they are) I don't know if I'll be able to leave her there.. Afraid it would kill her. *crosses fingers*

they have a new set picked out for me already. Should be fun.

I'm also ordering a new cage. I was keeping moms w/ kittens in my old rabbit cage, and orphan kittens in a ferret cage. Although both are quite rusty. So I've been toying with the idea for a while, and the cage I'm thinking of is on sale.. so it looks like it is time.. that and the bottom of the ferret cage is so rusty it's disappearing.

Thursday, June 10, 2004

Digging for treasure


Have you ever made something yourself? Have you spent the time to do it right and when it was done you thought it was perfect? Well, kittens tend to think their poops are just like that. They bury them to save them for posterity.. so when you go digging for them, they are very interested in why you're interested in their creation. They have to watch you dig for them, watch you find them, then watch you deposit their precious cargo in the bag. Often they have to poke their little heads in the bag to see if you're actually snagging their creation.

And if you're truly lucky.. they'll turn around and make you a new one after you've collected all the ones they have made already.

Wednesday, June 9, 2004

The day after surgery


Well, Tannie is coming around. She seems more interested in me when I go in there. I'm so glad I'm going to be there for her adoption.. she's so going to need that special home.. hopefully, there will be someone there willing to deal with her hissing. What was really interesting is that last night both my husband and I had a dream where we kept Hershey. How many times do I have to tell that kitten he can't stay?!?!

I went to the shelter annual meeting. It was very interesting. The interim shelter manager was announced to be the new shelter manager. I've been very impressed with him.. he's only 27 years old, and he looks 16, but he's very articulate and works well with in the system.

They also talked about how they are so dependant on donations.. 65% of their operating budget comes from donations from the community. They also mentioned how high the vet bills were for last year. It was staggering when you realize that it was all done at cost.

Currently the shelter has 170 cats in its care (90 are in foster care) Staggering isn't it?

Tuesday, June 8, 2004

Snip snip


Well, yesterday was the day. One of our surgeons had a family emergency, so I couldn't bring them in later on in the week like I was hoping, so I packed them all up on my lunch hour and brought them down to see if Hannah was big enough, and she was..2.6!! yea!! So they were neutered. I brought them home and put them in the room with some food and water, and went out shopping. Came home, and Hershey was SCREAMING for attention. I went in to make sure he was ok, and he settled down a bit, but when I left he started screaming again.. We went to bed, and he was howling.. it was pathetic. It was totally breaking my heart.. so I grabbed a couple of blankets and went back in and tried to sleep on the love seat. It wasn't fun. Hershey and Hannah both appreciated I was there, but Tanya... well she was ticked off to say the least. I'm glad I've decided to keep them for the rest of the week before adopting them out on Saturday.. hopefully, this will allow her some time to relax a little before finding her a new home. I just hope I can do it sooner rather than later, cause if I have to leave her there, no one is going to be able to get her out of the cage. Well okay.. the staff will, cause they will know she's all talk, but still, I worry about her.

Thursday, June 3, 2004

No Hershey.. I can't have six kitties


I think Hershey has adopted us. He seems to really want to be here. Today I was cleaning up the room, and he kept hugging my leg, and when I left to get them some water, he wanted to come with me. I did my best to herd him out of the way, but he still escaped. He ran right past muffin who was "standing guard" at the door, and headed for the bedroom. Muffin was still staring at the door like she didn't see him. I was able to grab him before he got into the bedroom, thankfully.. but it was cute.

(update 20016 - yes, I too laugh at that title)

poke poke poke, quick like bunny


The shots went very well. Guess they were too hungry to realize what was going on. It was a little freaky to feel the vaccine under the skin after I gave it, but they didn't notice it at all.

I weighed Hannah this afternoon, and it looks like she just might be 2.5 lbs. I think I'll check the schedule and see what's on the surgery list for Friday..

Can't believe they might actually be leaving soon. They were just starting to warm up to me, and I to them.

Tuesday, June 1, 2004

awww







It's time for their distemper booster. I'm not looking forward to giving it. Here's hoping they don't notice it too much.

Sunday, May 30, 2004

bath time


I was cuddling with Emmy, and I could smell old stale urine. I was afraid she had peed under the bed, as I had smelled it in there before.. but then I got closer and realized SHE smelled bad. I had been saying for months she needed a bath.. so today she got one.. and she was NOT happy about it. She's in the living room licking herself dry. Eli and Jack are quite stunned by the turn of events, and almost seem afraid to get near her, lest they get wet too.

The kittens seem to be coming around. Nutrical is a good thing. I fed them science diet kitten the other day, and they completely turned their nose up at it. Why is it that the "experts" in cats (Science Diet & Iams) can't make an edible kitten food?!?!?

Friday, May 28, 2004

awww


I went in to feed the nongrowing three, and all three were sitting at the top of the cage.. when I opened it up to pat them, Tanya didn't run away!! yea!! There is hope for her yet.

Now if I can just get Hannah to eat something. Ok.. well only if I can get Hannah to eat a little more. She is STILL only 2 lbs.. it doesn't seem possible. I have to wonder if there is something wrong with her.. but she's active and friendly, and not vomiting.. so *shrug* I guess I'm going to have to stop by the shelter and get some nutrical.. Hopefully, that will help.

Tuesday, May 25, 2004

watch out.. lamp running by


I left the kittens out in the kitten room today for some exercise.. and there had been some very loud noises coming from there. Loose kittens are kittens getting in trouble. Well, one particularly loud noise, and I went to investigate. Seems they knocked a lamp off the table. No biggie.. nothing broken, nothing damaged... so I left it on the floor. Well about 10 minutes later I open the door to feed them, and the lamp is running to the other side of the room. Okay.. officially it was being dragged. I couldn't for the life of me figure out why they would have interest in playing with the lamp until upon closer investigation I find that a fuzzy mouse with a string is wrapped around it. The 2lb kitten dragged a table lamp across the room.. it was a riot. I had to share.

Monday, May 24, 2004

FIP and this household


A bit of background history for those of you who are new to this blog.

Last year, I fostered a group of kittens. One, Kodi, I fell in love with.. I had already said I was not going to adopt any more after Jack.. so in order to not adopt him, I said that I couldn't keep Kodi with out keeping Muffin and Eli. Well, thanks to my husband, we ended up keeping them all. Unfortunately, Kodi became very ill. The doctors decided that he had FIP, and in the end, we did what was best for Kodi and we euthanized him. It was a very hard day. Compounded by the doctors who suggested we bring in the rest of the gang for testing. I was told they all showed positive for "FIP". I was told that just because they had it, didn't mean they were going to come down with it. We retested in six weeks, and every ones titres went up. The doctors told me that it was an active infection, and to keep an eye on them.

Well to this day not one of them (okay, well Eli, but he's a different story) has gotten sick at all, and I recently had three of them retested, two have "negative" titres, and one has been reduced four fold to a barely positive status.

Again, for those dear readers who aren't privy to my rantings about the "FIP test", Just so you know, I NOW know them to be unreliable and doing them is irresponsible. The test simply checks for the presence of the corona virus. FIP is a mutated form of it.

In my research, I have come across a number of conflicting pieces of information about FIP. The doctors at the clinic told me that it is airborne. Articles on the web say it is not. The doctors at the clinic say it is transmittable.. articles on the web say it is not. I tend to take information found on the web with a grain of salt, because I usually can't verify the authors. Unless I get it from a known source, I never feel completely comfortable with it.

Well the other day I got my new issue of Cat Fancy (July 2004) and in it, is a very informative article on FIP. Unfortunately it didn't cover one of my most burning questions. Is it airborne? Dr. Plotnick DMV wrote it, and I found his email address on the web. I wrote him to ask. He replied that it is not airborne, and it can not be transmitted by people who come in contact with a cat that has it.

Didn't I break down and cry! It is so good to have official confirmation that the kittens that have come through my household were not exposed, and that the two known cases of it did not get it here.

Thursday, May 20, 2004

Caring for 8 on my own


Hubby has gone out of town to go to a concert w/ his brother. I don't realize how much I take for granted that he does when he goes away.. Actually, that's not really true. I'm really aware of what he does for me and I do appreciate it. he is the one that normally feeds the resident five.. and gives Emmy her insulin. I couldn't for the life of me remember what we are giving her for units of insulin. I 95% certain it's 6 units. the 5% is really that annoying lingering doubt of not having done something in a really long time. *shrug* oh well. At least he'll be home on Saturday..

The fosters are doing well. I've started them on another round of nemex to deworm them again.. hoping that is the reason they aren't eating well. *crosses fingers* I had another group in the past that wasn't eating well, and I took them to work to be looked at, and wouldn't you know they were eating, so the vet said they were fine.. But they still weren't eating well at all, so I had the hubby take them to a different vet, they dewormed them again, and poof, they started eating like piggies... sooo.. if past experience has taught me anything, it's to try the obvious before looking for the obscure. and of course, there is the old adage.. when in doubt - deworm!

It's that time of year, I guess


Yesterday at work, a woman came in doing her best to carry a cat and bring in her young child. The cat had been hit by a car in front of her house, and someone was kind enough to stop to tell her. Turned out the cat was hers. She was quite upset and covered in blood. This isn't the first 'hit by car' pet we've gotten in the past few weeks. We've had a couple of others, some made it. Some did not. It's so difficult to see them come in. We recently had to work very hard to save a cat named Fluerf. He was the sweetest thing. He got it full blown in the face. He ended up with wires in his jaw, and his owner had to hand feed him. It was so heartbreaking to see him, but it's always nice to hear he's doing better.

Recently a friend of mine's sister lost her cat to a car. She remembered him:
Dayo would help us when we were packing, by jumping into the active luggage, or box and sitting there royally like he was the most important thing we could take with us. If anything was important, that's where he would be. He would nonchalantly sit on your book, or your playing cards, or your homework, to the delight of the kids I took care of after school who agreed that they certainly couldn't disturb the cat just to do their homework. Except newspapers. These he would run underneath thinking he was hidden even though the lumpy newspaper you used to be reading would now be wiggling with a black tail and white edged nose sticking out.

All the time at work I ask owners of new cats if they are going to keep them indoors. All too often I get the reply of "I'm going to try". I hate that answer. I have five cats, not one of them show any interest in going outside. In fact, the other day the door wasn't shut properly, and blew open after we went to bed. The kitties were sitting right by the door looking around.(but didn't I panic until they were all accounted for) Indoor cats are perfectly happy. People try to say it isn't natural, or that cats are happier if they go out. Equate it to you living in a very small apartment being perfectly safe, or a huge mansion that has dangers that could easily kill you. If you didn't know about the dangers, you'd pick the mansion too. Unfortunately, you can't explain to cats that by going outside they are risking their lives.. so yes.. cats that have gone out and know what fun things there are to do outside are going to want to continue to go.. but if you could explain to them the real risks, I doubt one of them would continue to want to go (okay.. so yes.. like humans I'm sure there are cats out there that would.. but go with me on this analogy)

So please.. consider the joys of the litterbox to give your kitty the safest longest life possible.

Wednesday, May 19, 2004

Kittens...


So.. I help organize the kitten shower, help produce it, help work it, see the wonderful results it produces.. but yet when I call up the shelter and ask them to send over kitten food for the kittens I have, I get .. cat food. *rolls eyes* Well that's okay.. maybe they'll actually eat this stuff. They are refusing to eat and put on any weight. I sent for more dewormer too.. hoping that is the problem. *crosses fingers* These kittens need to go back so I can get some friendly, cuddle in your face, lick your fingers kittens. It's hard when the kittens have no use for you... well that's not completely true.. I'm the big huge human that comes and puts the food that they hardly eat in front of them. I was laying down on the floor in there in an attempt to be less threatening. I got one of them to chew on my foot. lol. Oh, the things that are big achievements when you foster kittens.. beautiful poop and a chewed on foot.

I miss the days of being covered in kittens.

Thursday, May 13, 2004

Kitten Chow it is


Well I brought home a box of kitten chow, and that was the end of any interacting with the kittens. They were chowing away on it alright :)

I can also tell they are getting to be about ready to go back. I was saying the other day how good they were when left to roam in the bathroom they are now in.. well yesterday I noticed they took all the toilet paper off the roll, they knocked over a basket of stuff, and they even started attacking the rubber duckie..

Food issues


I'm getting perplexed. I have three 2 lb kittens.. they should be eating up a storm, but they really aren't. Combined, they won't eat the 5 oz of food I give them.. it's more like 3 or 4. (I feed them twice a day.. so they are probably getting 2-3 oz a food a day.. ) Not nearly enough for growing kittens. Last night I had given them the fish food they scoffed while they were at the clinic. Hannah took two bites and started covering it up and walked away. And the food from that morning was still half eaten. I was starting to consider deworming them again.. but I saw a jar of veal baby food, and decided to try that. Well, that was a HUGE hit. Even got Tanya to lick it off my fingers.

So I'm going to head over to the shelter today and see if I can pick up something that might be more to their liking.

I'm going to pump,*clap* them up!

Sunday, May 9, 2004

Say hello to Hershey and Hannah!


The kitten shower was a lot of fun. I rushed over to it after work, absolutely starving. There was a ton of good food and I ate way too much. We got a pretty good showing of people. I was surprised there weren't more people there who wanted to talk about kittens, but oh well, you can't have everything. We got over 2000 lbs of donations.. Mostly in litter and dry food, but that is nothing to complain about. We even had one girl scout troop donate their cookie money to make a donation of 478 lbs of stuff. We were so impressed with them. We were glad they ended up winning a trip to the local radio station. Liz from the radio was a very good host. I was impressed with her. I was afraid I wasn't going to be, but she was very warm and open and when I walked up to a group of people she was talking with she stood back to make room for me in the group.

We only got 28 names in the name the kitten game, but that is $28 we didn't have before.. so again, I'm not going to complain, and I think the kitties got some cute names out of it... was a completely random drawing as well :)

Yes.. I was hoping for more.. but I have to remember it was mother's day weekend (let's hope we don't make that mistake again) and there were a number of off-site locations to make donations and another shower at the children's museum in Portland.. So I am happy with how it went.

on a side note.. it has been a year since the first birth of kittens at my home.. the group with Ms. Piggy, Kermit, Gonzo, Fozzie, and the famous Peanut. I have gotten the most amazing picture of Peanut aka Treads. I am most thankful that his new (and Gonzo aka Miles) parents keep in touch with me.


Thursday, May 6, 2004

This should be fun!


Tomorrow morning, the kittens are going to be live on the radio.. yes.. I too wondered how well kittens would translate to radio.. but they do have an adorable squeak, so hopefully it will go well. I think they are going more for the "gush factor" getting the hosts to gush all over the kittens. They are going to promote the kitten shower on WMGX 93.1. I actually have the morning off, so I'm going to take the kittens myself.. so there is a slim chance I'll be on the radio. I'll bring the cam and take pictures.

Monday, May 3, 2004

Silly Kittens!


Ok.. how many times have I used that title?? But this story is a doozie. I put my computer in the room with the kittens, so they can spend some more time out of the cage, and because this is where I'm going to put the computer once the kitten room is created. Anyway.. they are running around being silly, then all of a sudden one of them starts crying as if stuck. It was coming from the closet, so I peeked in to find out what was going on.. I'm looking all over the floor and couldn't find him.. so I start to fear that he climbed up inside the few dresses hanging in the closet, figuring it could take a while to actually find him hanging either in or out of one of the dresses.. well come to find out he made it all the way up to the hangers.. and couldn't figure out how to get down..

now say it with me... silly kittens!!

Sunday, May 2, 2004

Thursday, April 29, 2004

More news on the home front


Ok.. so my kitties want to give me a heart attack to see what would happen if I had one. First Muffin the other day, and today it was Emmy. I have put her on the herbs for her diabetes, and I had been wanting to get her in to the clinic for a glucose curve to see what her sugars are. As you long time readers know Emmy has had a hard time getting her sugars under control. A good BG (blood glucose) is 60 to 120ish. Hers have always been in the +300's.

So anyway.. this morning she was laying on the bed, almost unresponsive to my calling her. The first couple of times she looked at me but didn't pick up her head then she even stopped opening her eyes to look at me. I picked her up and cradled her, something she hates, and she just let me... which freaked me out even more. Well after a moment she started "perking" up and started complaining - she hated it when I put her in the carrier... but alas, off we went. They were swamped at work, so I didn't get the first BG reading till about an hour later. and didn't I almost fall down when they said her BG was 140!!! They then did another one around 11:30, and her BG was 205. It should go down instead of up.. and the reason it went up was because she was so amazingly stressed by being there with all the chaos... even so 205 was an amazing result.. I want to hand out party hats and have have a winding of a party. Now granted, her sugars are still high, but with a bit more insulin, and a few more weeks of herbs, hopefully we'll get it back to a normal level.

I can only assume that someone kept Emmy up late last night, and she was just sleeping this morning. It was very unusual for her.. but she was her same ol self once I got her home. I'm going to bring Eli back in to see the holistic vet for more laser treatment on his eyes.. they have gotten bad again.. and he's not liking my cleaning off his face when they goop up. A few weeks of that and he should be back to himself.

The kittens are growing like weeds. They are kinda cute. I love the way they prance and dive through the tunnel I got for them. They really aren't "stand out" kittens though. They also still aren't very people friendly. Well, most people would think they are.. except Tanya.. who still hisses at you when you reach out to pat or pick her up.. but I know what real overly friendly kittens are like. Maybe I'll be lucky with the next batch.

We have our old house under contract. This makes me feel more comfortable about spending money, so in the next month or so we will put up the wall to the kitten room downstairs. I can't wait. Its going to be a kitten palace :) Need to buy flooring, a door, and lumber for a wall... and a window seat, and some shelving.. maybe a nice post for the kittens to climb.. can't wait - did I say that already?

Friday, April 23, 2004

Muffin is going to give me a heart attack


so.. I'm standing here huddled over my dial up and my laptop trying to get my email, and I hear a noise behind me. Muffin is on the chair, with her head through the rungs, which are about an inch narrower than her head. She is then rolling around on the chair trying to get my attention - she knows I can't resist her belly. Well, she almost rolled off the edge with her head still in the back of the chair. Didn't I panic! and I can't seem to keep her from doing it either. although just right now she seems to find getting on the forbidden counter bit more interesting. Silly kitten

Wednesday, April 21, 2004

more sad news


last week Tobin - one of my little orange fosters that included Ennui and Anika - came in because he wasn't his happy go horrid self. (apparently he was a major spitfire) He had a fever of 104. They admitted him and did tests on him, and after a few days in the hospital, they came to the decision that he was too ill to continue to live, so they put him down. The "fip test" came back with high titers. For any of you who know anything about FIP, or know anything about my opinion of this "test" you'll know I'm not a big fan of it. But he had stopped eating and was in very poor health.. I do not condone the decision to euthanize him, I do understand it.

Needless to say I'm not in a good place emotionally right now. I'm still in major transition on the house front, work is still not what it should be, and now this. Not to mention the little kitten I currently have that won't not hiss at me when I go to pick her up. Her sister and brother trust me, but she's not a big fan of being picked up. She doesn't have much of a problem with being held.. just the big scary hand coming at her isn't her favorite thing in life. *big sigh* Oh well.

The shelter is having a Kitten Shower on May 8th. You are all invited to attend, but I know most of you can't. Feel free to send them money *big cheezy grin* Tell them you heard about it here..

Thursday, April 15, 2004

awww


Well, the kittens are slowly coming out of their shell. The littler female is still a little hissy.. she also has a bit of a hernia on her belly.. something very easily fixable when they spay her. Doesn't seem to be bothering her at all, so I'm not going to worry about it. The little boy is a laugh riot. He was actually starting to play the other day. They are still eating kitten mush.. kmr mixed with kitten food.. but they are eating well and using their litterbox - to the point of throwing the litter out of the cage on to my nice hardwood floors.. lol. I don't care.. it sweeps up.

Bit of disturbing news however.. two days ago little Tobin came into the clinic because he wasn't his horrible self. He was lethargic. Turned out he had a fever of 104.. went up to 105 the next day, came down to 104, but its still not good. The doctors are thinking FIP. The research I did tells me it couldn't have possibly come from my house.. especially since my own kitties have much lower titers now .. not to mention he has been out of my house since October, but I still feel horrible about it. That is two known deaths from FIP of kittens that were in my house. How many have left and haven't had anything?? wonder what the infection rate for FIP is in the "wild". (I just typed that last FIP as RIP.. freaked me right out)

They still haven't specifically determined FIP (like that is an easy thing to do - NOT!). but it is looking like that. I'm so depressed about it. He's such a good boy. There still isn't a cure, and really isn't even a treatment for it. I've continued to research and found people who are trying. I mentioned that to the doctor who is treating Toby, but she seemed very dismissive of the items they are trying. I hate that. If it is FIP, there is NO treatment.. why not try the newer suggestions.. *sigh* oh well.

g2g - I'm in a computer class at the moment and the class has caught up to me so the teacher is teaching again.. toodles

Saturday, April 10, 2004

WE HAVE KITTENS!!!


I don't remember the last time I actually had kittens. After the last two unfortunate occurrences with fosters, it just seems so long ago, but now.. I have kittens. I told Rachel at the shelter I was ready yesterday, and there weren't any to be had, and I stopped over at around 3pm this afternoon and there still were no kittens... but before I left someone stopped by and dropped three little black 6-week old kittens.. they are so adorable.. and a little scared at everything going on around them.. will need to spend some time socializing them, and getting them used to having their pictures taken.. lol

One boy, two girls.. the boy has some white on his chest and white just before his ears start, its really cute. the girls are smokey colored with some spare white strands.. they are so precious.. just hiding out in the litter box.. silly kittens.. litter is for going pee!!

I actually can't wait to get home and cuddle them.. This is what fostering is all about!

Monday, April 5, 2004

And the move progresses


So on Friday afternoon, we packed up the kitties and brought them to the new house. I put all the carriers in the kitchen in the AM, then after we signed, I came home and packed them up. at one point I had a choice between grabbing Muffin or Ollie. I grabbed Muffin, which was the wrong choice.. Ollie ran downstairs and hid in the basement. I was afraid I was going to have to leave him behind.. but after a few moments of ignoring him he peeked around the corner and I nabbed him.

I brought them over and put them in the back bathroom.. after we set up the bed I let them out into the bedroom they had a lot of fun exploring. they were a bit nervous.. but on the whole, not too bad. After we had all the major appliances over and a majority of the boxes, we let them out into most of the rest of the house.. they are having a blast running down the long hall. I haven't let them into the back bedrooms or downstairs yet.. and I won't until this house is cleared out... which hopefully will be in a few days - MAN we have a lot of stuff. The only problem at this point is Ollie keeps wanting to get into the garage..

So far they have been really good. We've been anal about keeping the 1 litter box clean, and we haven't had a single accident. Hopefully, we'll all be completely settled in soon.

Thursday, March 25, 2004

Jack is such a good boy.. Muffin however..


As I'm typing the title for this post, Muffin is doing her best to sneak her big huge cat body behind me to get to my plate of chocolate cake.. bad kitty.

So.. about Jack.. I had an extremely bad day today. Started out with a mistake I had made trying to be helpful - remind me not to do that again.. and a girl I work with decided that I should be treated like dirt because I made it. She had NOTHING to do with it, it didn't affect her in even the smallest of ways, but she made loud rude comments behind my back, pushed past me to get out behind the desk we work behind, practically shoving me out of the way, and snapping at me when I said something to a client she was helping. This particular person has always treated me very badly at work, and there really isn't a whole heck of a lot I can do about it, as she is never alone with me.. whenever we end up working alone together, she leaves to go "help out back" so she doesn't have to be near me. Which frankly I do not mind.. I'd rather work alone than work with her and her attitude towards me, but it never gives me the opportunity to tell her to back off - unless I'm willing to do it in front of our co-workers; which I have done from time to time, but I come from a place where one just ignores such things.. and lately she seemed to have backed off.. even making small talk with me about my new house.. except for this.. *rolls eyes*

anyway.. long story to get to the good stuff. I come home and rant to my husband.. and all of a sudden I feel a cold nose pressing into my hand. I reach out and pat Jack as I continue on with my story. I shift feet, causing me to be slightly further away from jack, so I stopped petting him.. then I feel a cold nose on my hand again. I pat him more.. then come to a part of the story where I use my hands, then put my hand on the counter near the stool he's on. I feel a paw reach out and pat my hand, pulling it towards him. It made me smile and I stopped talking and patted him.. he leaned into my hip and purred.. I went on with my story, again taking my hand off Jack, and again he put his paw out and pulled it back toward him.

I love that boy..

and as for Emmy.. I was feeding the kitties treats yesterday, and she was running after them..she normally will only get them if they are right in front of her... and when I gave them their vitamin C treat (I mix it in with wet food - which is the only time they get wet food) she was standing up on the counter begging for it.. again.. something she hasn't done for a long time. Hopefully, we can keep this up :)

Tuesday, March 23, 2004

one trip to the vet averted..


It was time for Em to have her stitches removed.. and I tried last night, but she didn't want to sit still at all.. so I was going to give up and bring her in to have the tech do it.. but I thought what the heck.. let's borrow a suture removal tool from work and try that. With a lot of love and some coaxing, we got them all out.. *YAY!* Of course, the others all had to stick their head in the way to see what we were doing, so it took longer than it should have.. but they are all out. bet it itches like crazy now..

and of course, you know what she did immediately afterwards? went for the food bowl.. Just like her mom.. after a traumatic experience.. soothe it with something yummy.

watch out.. Emmy is on a roll


Well we started the new dry food a couple of days ago, and this morning, Emmy is a whole new kitty.. playing with shoe laces.. jumping up for treats - well as much as an overweight cat can 'jump'.. and running after them when I was tossing them on the ground..

I don't see her joining any kitty marathons any time soon.. especially since Muffin and Eli just ran over her to get into the other room.. but she's acting better than she has in a long time..

Hopefully it's the food and not just a good day

Monday, March 22, 2004

kitten withdrawals


I am going through some major kitten withdrawals.. Could be a couple more weeks before I get any.. :(

Friday, March 19, 2004

stupid neighbors


ARRRRGH!!! I can't tell you how glad I am that I am moving. One of my neighbors has a big black dog, they have called Cosmo, that they just let run loose in my neighborhood.. I've called the ACO on them several times after we moved here.. but that didn't stop them for long. Several times I have had to send him home.. once I even grabbed his collar and walked him home, because he was up on my porch scaring the carp out my cats.

 Yesterday he ran right through my yard..

Today they are out at the bus stop, and he's out running around.. There is a TON of doggie prints in the freshly fallen snow... right out front of MY house.. he was barking at my cats.. they are completely freaked out. So I throw on my shoes and storm out there.. and he has the audacity to talk to me about the snow.. *rolls eyes* I'm walking out there in jeans and a thin shirt with my hair an absolute mess.. I told them last time I walked the dog home that I have a cat with a heart condition and so I tell them yet again.. and he said okay.. and tried to make the dog stay with him.. but I know that won't last long.. But hopefully it will be long enough that the kitties wont need to deal with him again until we leave.. Now even 10 minutes after the fact, I can see them all on alert.. Poor things.

Tuesday, March 16, 2004

and the results are in


it was just a pocket of fat.. so Emmy is A-OK.. just needs to have the stitches removed in a few days.

we are packing up the house, because we are moving in a couple of weeks.. the cats are completely enthralled with the packing process. Jack is trying to eat all the tape.. and Muffin is trying to jump in each and every box.

Friday, March 12, 2004

awaiting biopsy results


well emmy's surgery went well.. now we just need to wait to hear what the results are from the biopsy..

Wednesday, March 10, 2004

Update


Well... I took Jez into work and had the doctors look her over. We discussed all the information I had, and all the information she had from the exam, and decided it would be best to spay her and take the kittens. We figured she was lactating from a previous litter and had gotten pregnant again on her next heat cycle.. which is never a good thing.. and the kittens were so underdeveloped.. so they spayed her, and the head technician told me that the kittens were dead when they were removed and chances are they had died a while ago - and she was probably in the process of reabsorbing them.

So as sad as it is, it was a good thing we did it now.. On a side note, there was a vet student working there and she proceeded to try to guilt me because I had been okay with spaying a pregnant cat after it had already been done. I was none too pleased with her and I mentioned this to the head technician. I hope someone talked to her about that.

Emmy's big day is tomorrow.. Please wish her well. The surgery will be very minor.. but sadly I'll have to wait several days for the biopsy to come back.. Hopefully it will be fat and not cancer..

(update 2016 - years later I saw the vet student, I don't remember if she was studying to be a vet or just a tech I think it was the latter, working at the local hospital. I was glad to see she wasn't working with animals any more)

Tuesday, March 9, 2004

decisions decisions


Well.. I got a call today from my friend at the shelter. She asked me how I felt about bringing Jez in to be spayed.. yes.. that would mean aborting the kittens.. My immediate thought was that it was a logical thing to do. There are so many kittens in this world, and this would give Jez a chance to get into a home sooner. Of course, then everyone proceeded to ask me if I would be okay aborting the kittens that I've taken care of for almost a month now. Well.. I haven't been taking care of the kittens, just Jezzy.. but of course the more they asked me how okay I was with it, the more emotional I got..

so as things stand, I'm going to bring her in.. but I still have the ability to change my mind.
~~~~~~~~~~~~

as for the lump on Emmy's leg.. they checked it out and found cells they didn't like, so they are going to take it off. They couldn't do it on Monday.. so we are going to do it Thursday..

Saturday, March 6, 2004

and the saga continues


I brought Jez in today for an x-ray.. the skeletons are very small and not well formed, so it will be a while before she gives birth.

and I was just cuddling with Emmy.. and I found a lump on her leg. They are going to get so sick of me bringing in my pets.
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