Update on Doug & Boots

Well I checked in with Claudia, and Doug is doing well in his new home.  He was in isolation for a few days, but she noticed - much like I did - that Doug really wanted company, so she slowly introduced him into her home sooner then she was planning.  He integrated very well, and is enjoying life with other cats again.  He's still on insulin - and about the level I was giving him, so I don't feel like I completely failed him.  Learning a new insulin on a cat I had no history with was very challenging mentally and emotionally.

Boots is ... well he's Boots.  He loves to yell at me as most Siamese cats tend to do.  He's eating a lot.. DH feeds him a can of fancy feast in the AM and if it is all gone when I go down to see him I give him another one.  He gets a third can in the PM.  DH doesn't mix the food with water which is good to know he will eat straight food.  He's still drinking a lot (to me) and peeing a LOT (again to me) but he's putting on weight (although it is a bit slow for my taste) so I'm not going to push that he see a vet.  His mom will be back soon enough, and if he doesn't take a turn for the worse, I'll let his health be.

It's funny how I keep thinking of Boots the cat, but I keep calling him Doug.. I am constantly having to correct myself.

well at the least, he is eating better

Boots seems to be doing better.  He weighed 8lbs 4 oz when he first showed up, and then a few days later he was 7lbs 14 oz. I think I hit upon the trick to get him to eat more - by mixing his food with a lot of water to make a soup.  He was 8lbs 2 oz the other day when I weighed him.

But then my DH fed him a can of food this morning and he ate the whole thing despite the fact that it wasn't mixed with water.. so who knows.  Maybe the water isn't necessary??!?!?

I also noticed he isn't hunkering down to eat, but standing upright and leaning over, so I put his bowl up on a box to help him a little.  Some days he likes it, and some days he doesn't.  Poor thing probably has a ton of arthritis.

I must remember he isn't my cat.  What his mom wants to do for him is what will be done for him.  At least I got him eating a bit though so I'm not all that concerned about weight loss.. although I'm still not sure he isn't peeing excessively.

I'm kinda hoping he'll be up to 9 pounds by the time he goes home.

Boots

Well don't know what was up with Boots yesterday. When I went to feed him breakfast, I startled him. He was sleeping on the cat condo, and didn't wake until I was in the room and had my hands on him. He yelled at me for several minutes - as if to say I woke up and was expecting to be at home and I'm not, where am I??

I went to feed him, and noticed a small drop of vomit. Not great, but not bad. Then I noticed several more. And several more larger ones. THen two huge ones on the couch.

He seemed fine though.. so maybe he's just got an upset tummy from the transition and the new water.. *shrug* will keep an eye on him.

Welcome back Boots

Wednesday we took in my husband's aunt's cat Boots. We cat sat for him last year. Last year I had kittens in my kitten room, so we put him in the office. He's loud and pretty much made a pest of himself there last year, so this year we cleaned out the kitten room and he's in there.

Which is nice for him, it's big and there is a nice comfy couch to lay on, and big windows with window seats in front of them for watching the birds play in the snow.

Its nice for me, cause I got to sleep through the night.

But *hangs head* he's so far away I don't want to go spend any time with him.

Hey, he's only been here a short time, I shouldn't feel that guilty.

and for those of you who remember him from last year, no, my aunt did not keep him on the limited ingredient food, and yes, the scabs on his body are back. And since he is front paw declawed, his back claws are horrendously long again.. *sigh* I wonder if they ever got clipped during the past year.

Boots goes home

Tuesday I had an eye exam. I had heard from Boot's mom that she would be back on the first, but she wasn't sure when she'd be able to get him, if she be in town soon enough to get him on the first, or if she'd come on wednesday etc.

well eye exams put me out for the whole day, so I was asleep for most of the day. I had let Boots have the run of the house. He came and sat on the bed with me and cuddled for a good long while, putting his head on my chest, and hugging me from time to time, it was really sweet.

DH came home said his aunt was in town (she's about an hour away) and she wanted to come get him. He offered to bring him home. Which was very sweet of him. But at that point Boots was being so cute I didn't want to let him go.

but go he did. was vocal the whole way home, and spent the rest of the evening cuddling up to his uncle and to DH.. which was funny since it was his aunt that wanted him home so much and missed him.

she also over reacted to his healing scabs. was going to rush him right to the vet, despite how well he was doing. oh well, no stopping that I guess. Hopefully the vet will have a light bulb moment and be supportive of the food change and the assumption of food allergies on my point. Boots was getting steriod shots for his flair ups.. but apparently it wasn't even considered that it could be a food allergy.

so, for the moment, it is just the 8 of us again :D

Licorice is available for adoption

The grumpy ol guy went back today. I really shouldn't call him that, as he is really sweet. was just really grumpy that his fur was all matted. Can't blame him for that.

He likes a cuddle, he likes being groomed, and he likes a lap.. well to be near one anyway.. he is food picky.. hopefully he'll get over that.

He came out of the foster room last night. He wandered around the basement for a while, then started pounding on the door to get back into his room (Had to shut the door or my cats would have gone in and messed up everything) He is so ready for his fur-ever home.. and he so deserves it!

Kitten season is upon us. I got a call to take more kittens, but I was at my limit with Licorice and my aunt's cat.. speaking of which.. I've got a story to tell about him too!

Boots has been staying in my office, and not really minding that much at all. He isn't too fond of other cats. Hisses at them - and that's about it.. well after a few days of intros, we let him wander about the house. More hissing.. fortunately no other issues.. more of a "Get Out Of My Way!" kind of thing. He'd wander down to the sunroom and lay on the sofa, or the living room and do the same. So this weekend we tried an overnight - left him out all night. Everyone did really well, so on Saturday morning when we had an errand to run, we just left him out.

Well when we got home, I thought it time to see if he was hungry. He eats a different food from my guys, and since two of my cats have the nick names garbage disposal and dishwasher for a reason, I tend not to leave his food out if he's wandering the house. So we went in search of Boots to lock him back up with some food for a while. Well.. no Boots.

He wasn't anywhere. My Dh was frantic. He said he is NOT in the house - well that wasn't really an option. he isn't a sneaker, so he didn't get past us and get outside, and if there was a hole in the house somewhere, one of my cats would have found it by now. I said there must be 4,582 places for him to hide, and we've only looked in 4,581! well hours of searching went by, we were feeling quite stupid and looking in places he couldn't even possibly fit.. finally I said lets give up and he'll show up. DH went to store to get chicken to make cat food with, and I went into the bedroom and opened up a window - something totally irrisitable to our own cats. Every single one of them showed up and sat in the window for a bit. but no Boots, and I froze my tushie off.. so I shut the window and went in the basement and watched TV, figuring he'd show up for a cuddle. Still no Boots. Well DH came home, and after a few trips in with groceries, there was Boots, sitting in the middle of the kitchen like nothing had happened *rolls eyes* Silly cat.

updates

So, I go and get "Reese" the diabetic cat. She's cute, and sweet, and a belly slut. She has more fur than a bear, and loves rolling around on the floor and picking up dust and debris for me.







I didn't have any test strips, so I followed the shelter's regime for her for three days. Got test strips, tested with the control - got 114. tested her, got 74. No insulin. Licorice still wasn't home from being shaved, so I gave her only the prescribed foods. tested in the morning, under 100 - no insulin. Kept on prescribed foods. Licorice came home that night. Gave some different canned food. tested in am, under 100 no insluin. Gave regular ol dry food that licorice liked, still under 100. Stopped testing. Tested a few days later, still under 100. I have NO idea what is going on with her, but that's ok.

Cause I found her a home. I post on a board about diabetic kitties, and before I had even posted a pict of her, she had a home. :) now it is in Virginia, so getting her there is going to be interesting. we've lined up four people to chain her down there. We are driving her to MA on Saturday.

Licorice is doing very well with his silly shaved tushie too. I think he's a bit embarassed by it, but since he's feeling better, he's eating better and slowly putting on weight.






Boots however is a completely different story. I don't know what to do with him. He has allergies to something, so I didn't feed him any beef products.. although I'm sure the food probably has some beef in it, because he's got scabs on his upper body, and the space between his ears and his eyes are all red and scratched up. His eyes are also a little inflamed. Not my cat, so I'm kinda limited in what I can do. His owner has brought him to the vet, and they've given him cortisone shots for it.. but apparently no one has thought to put him on an ingredient restricted diet. how can a vet not have suggested that?!?! he's with me for a little over a month more. I tried again to introduce him to my crew, but he is steadfast against it. It was a riot watching him hiss at Eli Kit and Jack. Kit just thought it was fascinating - but then she thinks EVERYTHING is fascinating. Jack had this look on his face like "Hey! that is MY line!!" and after getting hissed at three times hissed back. :) Eli just kept reaching out to Boots, as if to say, don't worry, it's all good, but boots wasn't buying it.. so he's still locked up in the office. Muffin is very determined to get in there, knowing there is gushy food in there.. Kit made a break for it this morning too, trying to rush past me.. was just too cute!

I wish there were more hours in the day to give everyone all kinds of love..

but now the shelter wants me to take more Bunnies. I'm going to look at them tonight, and will probably bring them home.. but OMG, my life will be overwhelmed if I do!

Somewhere there must be "Sucker" written on my forhead

really..

A few weeks ago I took in Licorice, because my kitten room is just too cold for kittens.. Poor thing is holding his own, but is miserable.. So I've contacted the shelter about getting him shaved and said it might be a good idea to get him a companion..

In the mean time, my husband's aunt reminded me that in November I agreed to cat sit for her.. so now I have "Boots" at the house.



Let me remind you that I do not like cats that talk to me. I do my best not to encourage meowing for no particular reason. Tweedle does it, but she'll usually stop if I tell her to. Being Siamese, Boots enjoys the sound of his own voice, and at 3am he started singing opera.. *sigh* some attention and some food for distraction got me through the night. Last night we gave him lots of love, and held off on the food as long as possible, and I did get through the night. Not sure if he'll intergrate into the house because he smelled the previously used scoop and hissed. But I'll probably try it this weekend because he is going to be living at the house till April.

So then after the night of broken rest, I get an email from the shelter regarding getting Licorice in for a shave. and btw, how would you like a diabetic cat to be his companion :) Will be nice to put my knowledge to work again, but like I need this kind of additional work.. *sigh* But they need the help, Licorice needs the companionship and he absolutely needs to get off dry food and on to wet.. Maybe I can even get the new kitty Reece (haven't gotten her yet) off insulin.. it's been known to happen..

Oh to have a sick orphaned kit.. I miss little kitten licks..