Saturday, December 30, 2006

The love of a Twee for her Bunny


Tweedle will do ANYTHING for Bri.. Right before this picture was taken, there was some mutual grooming going on, which made the scene all that much more amusing, since Twee is sitting in a take out box..



And then the promised pictures of Gypsy...



and Teddy (he's growing like a weed)



Friday, December 29, 2006

Update on Em


Em is still STARVING all the time. Every time I look at her, I see these big huge "I haven't eaten in SOOO LONG" eyes, and it is heartbreaking. I called the vet, and he wanted to see her, so we went in this afternoon.

She's "unremarkable" (his word for in good shape) but definitely down in the weight department. She had gained when she first went on thyroid meds, but has since lost some of it.

He took some blood to double check her thyroid, but suggested we go up to 7.5 mg instead of 5 BID. Good thing she can take cosequin twice a day, cause giving a pill and a half isn't going to be easy. But I can slip them in the capsules and just shove them in.

Her anal glands were full again. It happens from time to time on her. Pretty bad from his description of things.. I wasn't looking too closely.

Teddy and his new sister Gypsy were here over Christmas. It was a lot of fun. Gypsy isn't all that into having a little brother, so I would let him out and let Tweedle play with him. She LOVED it. Kept pouncing on him, following him around, and just generally having fun. Gypsy liked having the "free" time as well. She's a little love bug, and we spent quite a few hours cuddled up watching TV. She's a tabby like Emerald, but with some Torbie in her so she was full of attitude. Did NOT like having her nails trimmed :) I took a few pictures of them, I'll post them when the camera makes it back near the computer.

I agreed to board my husband's Aunt's cat at the end of the Jan into Feb. He's adorable, it should be fun. Hopefully, he can mingle with my own cats nicely but if not, that's ok too.

I should go medicate Em and make sure she's got some food.

Monday, December 18, 2006

like I need a hole in my head



I got a call from my husband's aunt. She has two cats, and the siamese rescue is taking one of them, and would I happen to know anyone to take the other. I'm sitting here thinking she needs a home for her kitty. Nope.. she just needs someone to watch it for a couple of months. Phew! I was thinking of adding hers to my own, which would not have been easy or fun. So I'll be cat sitting for Jan and Feb.

teddy will be staying for me for a week or so at the end of this week. I can't wait to see how much he has grown. He has an older sibling now, and she'll be coming too. Pictures will follow :D

Twee doesn't seem to smell as much after being on baytril for a while, but she is still sneezing, still snotty, and still uncomfortable. She is going to the vet, and he is going to listen to me about this.

Em probably needs to go up on her meds too. :( she's still hungry all the time. She gave up on eating the nice expensive food we bought, after buying a LOT of it. We were hoping after a few days she'd go back to it, but no luck. My goodness she annoys me, but I love her.. and she's worth it.

Everyone seems to have just ONE ear that is all gunky with black debris. it doesn't look like mites at all.. but I bet you it probably is. Will have to get some ivermectin from the vet when I go see him for Em's follow-up and twee's sneezing.

Eli was cute the other day. I rarely have Eli stories - although with static season coming I'll have more as he LOVES static so. I was on the computer playing games, and he jumped up on the desk, walked over and licked my face. it was so cute!!

Thursday, December 14, 2006

A PUPPY FOR CHRISTMAS


As Santa loaded his magic sack
filled with gifts for girls and boys,
he added candy and sugar plums
and batteries for moving toys.

At the top of the sack he carefully packed
the most special gift of all --
a darling pup for a boy named Timmy,
who from the sack tried to crawl.

Santa turned the puppy around,
he righted him right side up.
"Cause there's no more precious cargo,
than a precocious bright-eyed pup."

As he made his appointed rounds
and down Timmy's chimney slid,
he discovered all the sack havoc
what the blessed pup had done undid!

Santa looked around the room.
It was clear this family was poor.
He noticed the shabbiness everywhere
and their poverty he couldn't ignore.

He waved his arms and a tree appeared,
adorned by blinking lights.
He sneezed and holly boughs were hung,
he created a Christmas sight.

Then Santa took to worrying
about a home whose ends wouldn't meet,
and whether it would be fair to anyone
when a pup needs a lot to eat.

He scratched his head and knitted his brow,
accustomed to granting any child's wish.
And the puppy, grown impatient,
jumped up and gave Santa a kiss.

Santa sat down with pen in hand
and he wrote the following note.
He considered each word, thought long and hard
about every sentence he wrote.

"Dear Timmy, you are a splendid lad,
and I hoped to fill your request,
but for the animals of this world,
they each only deserve the best.

"One day, you'll grow to understand
that not every wish may come true,
but I know there's a dog in your future,
who will love the best of you.

"The time right now was not to be,
I hope my other gifts make you smile.
One day you'll be a fine young man,
but for a dog, you must wait awhile.

Santa sighed as he folded the note,
and the pup again pawed Santa's knee.
Santa patted the puppy's head,
lost in thought, absentmindedly.

The puppy worried about something amiss,
and whether he'd have a home.
Perhaps with someone to love him for life -
maybe love with toys and a bone?

Santa looked into the little dog's eyes,
in those eyes, love plain to see.
He said, "I've always wanted a dog myself,
and you'll be coming home with me!"

-- Jim Willis
http://www.crean.com/jimwillis

Monday, December 11, 2006

what to do about Twee


Oh my.. PHEW!! My poor Tweedle has ALWAYS had a stuffy nose. Lately, it seems to be getting worse, and her sneezing fits are harder and harder on her. After one, there is a foul oder.. so I started her two days ago on Baytril, hoping to clear it up. She had sneezed out a wad of snot, that oddly did not stink.

Just now she had a huge sneezing fit than ran. She left behind a strong stench. It was like a really gross passing of gas.. but it was the same smell I have smelled from her nose..

I've mentioned to the Vet before about her sniffling and sneezing, and he's mentioned antibiotics.. They never seem to help in the past, so this time, I went right for the strong stuff. If this doesn't help.. I don't know what to do.

Thursday, November 30, 2006

is it panic, or is it real?


It is so hard to know when I really should listen to that little voice in my head that says my time with Em is limited.

I got home last night, and Em had vomited something pink. She hadn't eaten her food. She wouldn't eat her new food.. wouldn't eat her treats, wouldn't eat turkey baby food. She pretended to eat dinner, so we injected her, and so by 11 pm her BG was 160s. I was so afraid she'd go lower, and I couldn't get anything else in her. (I COULD have forced her, but she wasn't that low and I didn't want to upset her)

So I locked her in her room (with her food and litter) with a nice kitty bed and a wide selection of food items. I woke up at 3am, and checked on her, and she had eaten a few of the treats, and she was interested in breakfast.

So I'm not running her to the vet..

but the other symptoms she has keep poking at me.. they are nothing specific.. so it is hard to bring her in and sound like a reasonable human being. She fell once, but she was jumping to a precarious place, so that wasn't completely out of the norm.. she stumbled once, but again, it was a place where you could say any cat might.. She's still vomiting liquid too often for my comfort, but it is the same as when we last went to the vets..

I planned to take her in after the holiday.. I don't want to run her in every time "I" have an issue.. it is a vet, not a psychologists office :)

Monday, November 20, 2006

Mom, are you crazy yet?


I swear.. that Em is going to drive me insane!! Two am she threw up and woke me up. It was the "I'm hungry" vomit (why can't she just lick my face and wake me up like a good kitty??) So I walked her into the bathroom where her food is, to a) remind her where it is and b) to make sure she hadn't let someone else eat it. So her night time snack hadn't opened (timed feeder) so I opened it for her. She took a bite then looked at me. I pointed to the food, she looked at it, looked at me, and pleaded with her eyes...

Mom, I MUST have dry food.. Wet food is yummy, but I NEEEEEEEEEEED dry.. please mommy, please... beg beg beg.

So I pointed to the food again.. no go. So I took her in the other room and tested her BGs. 130! wench. She got the dry food. Seriously.. that cat is going to put me in the NUT HOUSE!! (for those of you who don't know yet - and why not?? - I hate feeding dry food, I equate it to McDonald's food for kitties)

I hate doing it.. but I am actually considering the dry timed feeder for her.. (don't want to mix wet and dry due to possible contamination of the wet with the bad icky dry food and the contaminants it comes in contact with)

and the other thing on the crazy front.. Tweedle. She's such a special child. I have to medicate Em, and have found that sometimes it is easier to give her a treat afterwards instead of making sure she goes and eats. Well, the second I open the treat jar, I have five kitties clamoring for treats. So I toss them down the hall, and in the other room, so I only have to give out one each without seeing the beg for more. Only Tweedle doesn't get it. I throw treats at her, she sniffs and walks away. I try to hand feed her, she runs away. I feel guilty that she doesn't partake, but I really should learn she's not feeling deprived.

Sunday, November 19, 2006

Old and set in her ways


and no, I don't mean me :P

My poor Emerald.. She's so confused. See, we are doing some construction in the house (I can't believe we are actually doing it!!) and so this sets us humans up to try to fix the house up in general. See hubby and I aren't the neatest people in the world. We aren't bad, just general clutter, but it gets on our nerves from time to time (but obviously not enough to actually keep things clean 100% of the time)

Anyway.. one thing that has been driving us both nuts is Emmy's bathroom being in OUR bathroom. For a quick reminder, Em refuses to eat the raw food that the other kitties get, so she gets her own feeding of a high protein low carb canned food in our bathroom. We put a magnetic cat door in the door so she could get in and out on her own. To help her with her litterbox issues, we put a litter box in the room too. Well, keeping the door shut all the time caused that room to be VERY cold, and VERY stinky (the high-quality food produces HIGH stick factor poops) So we moved the door, as well as her food and litter, to another bathroom of ours, and are now leaving 'her' bathroom door open.

It's funny to watch her because despite the fact that she knows where the food is now, and where her litter box is now, but she also still expects it to be in the old bathroom as well. She gets obviously confused when it isn't there. This morning she went in there to 'use the facilities' only to find them missing. That didn't faze her, she went on the floor. It's a darn good thing I love her.

I wasn't feeling well the past couple of days and missed giving her thyroid medication. Now her weight is down under 12lbs again. *sigh* When she gets it regularly she gets to about 12lbs 2oz.. miss it for a day, and she's 11 13. grump grump grump.

I will say that Muffin is thrilled to be able to get back in the master bath. She always did love 'digging to China' in the bathtub.

I just wish I was feeling a little better, I am actually in the mood to clean a little. ButI'mm cold, and I'm achy, so I think I'm just going to crawl back into bed for a while and play kitty

Saturday, November 11, 2006

and now they are gone


This was tough. Sometimes it is very tough, sometimes it is easy.. this was the former. Teddy went and got adopted on Friday. It is a great home, and I'm glad for it, but I am very sad he is gone. Friday night I went down to the kitten room to feed them. There is a couch in that room, and I always make it a point to count kittens before I sit down to make sure there isn't one in the couch. I found Bru and Cru, and NoMi, and I kept looking for the fourth, till I realized I was looking for Teddy. That was hard.

The kittens were fine.. they were playing and not really needing lovin yet again, so I went off to bed. This morning I packed them all up, and off I went to the shelter, feeling horribly guilty that I wasn't keeping them. I walked in and the shelter wasn't ready for me. No matter how many times I tell them when I am coming, they are never ready for me. One of the girls was headed off to the local pet store where we have a presence and asked if I wanted to bring the group down there. I wasn't thrilled, but it seemed the best option, and they seemed optimistic that they would find homes, so I agreed. Well, when the shelter was ready to open, they weren't ready to leave, so I stayed at the shelter to talk to people for a bit. Several were looking for dogs, and I directed to people to talk to or just to look at dogs. One woman was looking specifically for cats... a pair of cats, kittens in fact. She had previously gotten two kittens that turned out to be FELV + and after a few months one died, and the second died recently. I asked the questions I like to know the answers to.. indoor? yes, declaw? no.. so I introduced her to my pair. I really wanted Bruiser and Cruiser to go together. It was so important to me, that I actually put it in my prayers the past couple of days. I didn't know how on earth I'd handle them being separated. They really did love each other very much, and I so wanted to keep both of them. She rents which is a little scary, but what impressed me was the previous cats were diagnosed when they were neutered, and she kept them to the end. That is hard both emotionally and financially. Most people PTS when they get the diagnosis regardless of how the cats are doing. The other thing that concerns me slightly is the mother smokes. I couldn't tell if she did. Cats suffer from second-hand smoke just as humans do. But she was willing to listen to my radical speech about cat care, seemed open and cared about doing the best, so if it couldn't be me, this wasn't a bad home.

I almost got NoMi adopted right after, but I stupidly suggested to the couple they look around to be sure. They came in looking for a male, and they found a cute one and went with him. He was a cutie, and a love, I can't fault them for choosing him, but it would have made my day if they had taken her.

After Bru and Cru's adoption was final, I went off to the store. TONS of lookie loos, but no one serious about adopting. It was a bit hard on NoMi to put up with all the people wanting to pat her but she did really well. I set her up in a cage, and all she did was hide. Later on in the day, I gave her some wet food, and I think that settled her a little because she started peeking around the corner of her hidey hole.

Unfortunately, the staff member wasn't feeling well and left early when another volunteer showed up. also, unfortunately, I ended up ticking the woman off with my "I'm against declawing" opinion since her cat is declawed. Not sure why, since she was against it herself, but was afraid that the cat was on its way to destroying the house (ripping up carpet). While I am personally 100% against it, and personally would recommend a wide variety of solutions to problems, if it is done, it is done. I don't think less of people if they do it. When I think less of people is when they don't even consider what it is going to do to the cat, when they don't think of what the surgery actually is and think it is the same as being neutered. way too many vets downplay the pain and the depth of the surgery because it is expensive and money in their pockets if they make it seem to be no big deal. Lots of people once they know what it is, refuse to do it. If you make the decision to declaw knowing what is involved, and how it will hurt the cat, and know the possible complications to the cat in the future, and you are able to weigh all of that against whatever reason you have for declawing and truly feel it is for the best (and honestly, no couch is worth it) and or it is a case of the cat staying in the home then it is your decision. I wish more people would make the decision as she did. It was something she didn't want to do but felt she needed to. I'm okay with that... okay, so I'm not, cause I do know there are other options, but MOST people don't, don't know where to look for those options, and are not given those options by their vets. It's sad, cause cats really need their claws to get a proper stretch, to walk properly (they are finding declawed cats are more prone to arthritis) and to generally be a cat.

Sigh.

I don't think less of people who have already declawed (unless they don't care) I think less of people who hear the reasons not to, who hear the options, and feel that what they want is way more important than the health and well-being of the cat. I think less of people who get cats to be property, and expect it to conform with what they want out of life, and not respect the cat for what it is, for what it needs, and what it wants. Too many people get ticked off with their cat for not using the litterbox, instead of being highly concerned, since it is the first sign of ill health.

I'm ranting. I should stop. Let me just say there are people out there who get cats, who should have stuffed animals, not living beings. I wish they came with labels. Those are the people that bug me.

If you are still reading... thank you. And if you wouldn't mind sending up a quick prayer that NoMi finds a perfect home, I would so totally appreciate it.

Tuesday, November 7, 2006

Surgery


The kittens went on Monday for their neutering. *sob* they weren't ready to come home on Monday night, so I picked them up this morning. I can't help but wonder if they were neutered early this morning, as all the boys were completely drunk. poor Teddy couldn't walk straight.

I brought them to the office for a little fun, then went home and set them up with a little food and water. The boys all hurled while at the office, so I know they weren't feeling well. Wonder how much vomit I'm going to have to clean when I get home.

Sigh.

sometimes giving them up is so easy..

Sometimes it is SOOO hard.

I'm going to bring them in on Saturday for adoption. There is a huge cage of black and white kittens there already. I pray they all get GREAT homes on Saturday!!

Thursday, November 2, 2006

*sob*


Well, I did it. I called the shelter and the fosters now have an appointment to be neutered. Monday.

I am so sad.

Foster Coordinator said they still had kittens needing fostering, but I can't.. I'm still quite frustrated with the past treatment of the kittens. I'll get over it soon enough, but not at the moment.

Besides, we are going to be doing some construction in the basement, and it is probably best not to have kittens while we are banging around down there.

Bruiser is such a momma's boy, he LOVES to cuddle up on your lap. Cruiser has the perfect name because he is always off doing something. He jumps and pounces and runs like the wind. No-Mi is a pretty typical kitten.. Teddy.. well Teddy is just shy of a belly slut. I haven't seen one of those since Kodi.. One of these days I'll find that again, and there will be no stopping me. I will own it. Teddy's eyes are still pretty watery. Not sure why. I'm not going to worry about it.

Letting them go is going to be hard. who am I kidding, it is always hard... but I am glad I don't have 100 cats.

Wednesday, October 25, 2006

why I cant have more cats


Because three of my current cats loved me so much last night they almost killed me. (there might have been four involved)

I woke up in the middle of the night to Jack and Emmy on my chest, and Muffin trying to muscle in to get on top of me. that is almost 40lbs of cat.. I finally realized what was going on, and the fact that I was having a hard time breathing, so I got them off me, and went to the bathroom. When I got back to the bed, Ollie was right smack where my stomach/legs would have been. I think he was there before, making that 50 lbs of cat

I kinda like living.

Tuesday, October 24, 2006

falling in love


I haven't posted about the kittens because I am falling head over heals for them. I do NOT want to let them go. I'm afraid if I spend even MORE time thinking about them I won't be able to.

Cruiser is doing VERY well. He's slow to put on weight, but he's an on the go - obnoxious kitten. His attitude tells me it is time for him to go, but his weight says otherwise.

Bruiser is a freakin doll. A total people person. I might even go so far as to say a momma's boy. He just wants to be loved.

Teddy... well he is such a belly boy. He loves to lay on his back and play with my fingers. We are still learning the difference between nibble and chomp. I would so keep him if he weren't promised to someone. (I'm glad this is a decision I do not have to make)

Naomi is still Naomi. we've kind of condensed her name to No-Mi, which she seems to respond to a little better. She is a terror, starting fights with her brothers, but she likes to sit off to the side and be admired.

The ears took to the cleaning, and there just seems to be debris left in it. it should work itself out in time. Cru and Ted have started getting stuffy, so I put them back on meds... that should be a quick one though, as we caught it early.

They were moved down into the basement on the 14th and they LOVE it. I hate it since I can't get the webcam working anymore. No cable outlets down there and the wireless just doesn't have enough power.

Teddy




Cruiser




Bruiser - wanting to play more than get his photo taken




No-Mi




Obnoxiously cute but short video of Cruiser. Watch twice for full effect


Much longer video of Cru, with Teddy in the end



My own kitties are giving me a run for my money. Jack's ear was bad at the vets, and it only got worse. I didn't take care of it and he was shaking his head all over the place, and scratching at it. I finally cleaned it out and started medication, and he is feeling better. I cleaned it out again this morning, and I was amazed at the junk still in it. He's getting bigger, but his ears are still tiny. Using a q-tip is so very very hard, and it seems very uncomfortable for him, but there is a tiny fold of skin that needs to be cleaned under..

Em. Em is no longer attacking me to get me to feed her. Her weight is holding steady at 12lbs 2 oz. But she is still hurling from time to time. bubbly white to clear liquid. usually with some fur in it. *sigh* I hope this stops soon.

Muffin. Oh, my little garbage disposal is so cute and so sweet, but live with her for a while and you'll realize why I still think of her as my wolf in sheep's clothing. Last night she decided to hurl IN the bed. Her vomit contained Em's food. She got some bad diarrhea the other day, I think for the same reason.

Tweedle is still quite snotty, but the antihistamine I bought for her seems to be helping. Guess she'll be getting that for the rest of her life.

Ollie. He's been avoiding me lately. I found him without his collar.. bad kitty. I like collars on kitties. all except Muffin have breakaway collars. Muffin has a really cute one, but it buckles on, so I have it really loose.

Eli. Eli has been the strangest of all. He was so ticked at going back to the vet, that he has been avoiding us. He likes to be in the same room as us, but nowhere near our reach, and between us and the exit. I don't know why, but it appears the trauma to his eye is making it easier for him to keep his face clean. either that or he equates a bad eye with a trip to the vet and is making sure it is kept clean by whoever will clean it for him. I don't really care. He looks great.

I can not have seven cats, and by no means can I have ten!!

Tuesday, October 10, 2006

updates


The fosters are all off medication at THIS point. Who knows if I'll have to start up again in a couple of days. They now have horrid ear mites.. so I'll be treating those tonight. They weren't thrilled with the ear cleaning last night.

I set up a webcam so I can watch them while I am at work. Unfortunately, they spend most of the workday sleeping. it's cesg.ww.com if you want to peek.

Eli's eye bugged me so much that I brought him back to the vet. The vet said he noticed his eye was like that during the vet visit. I thought he meant the scar on his eyes that caused the staining. *hangs head* I am such a bad mommy sometimes.. but hey.. Eli is so paranoid, I only get to pat him most days when I am half asleep. He said that Eli got it from another cat, and there is no need to medicate. thank goodness.

Em is still starving. I think being on the medication to fix it is making it worse. They say it can take up to a month to settle, so we'll keep going. I hope it settles out soon, cause I feel horrid not giving her food 24-7.

Jack seems to be filling out and getting bigger. He looks a lot like a lion now. He still has his screak of a meow.. very un-lion like. But that is ok. Jack has taken up Em's job of sleeping on me at night. I am so in love with that cat.

Will have to try to get some more pictures tonight. Will probably move them down to the official kitten room this weekend.. after I scrub it with lots and lots of bleach. *sigh*

I wonder how Kenny is doing. They went in a week ago Monday for adoption. Bug was adopted right away, Shirley went home on Saturday. When I stopped in Kenny and Willie were left. I know Willie will go, but because of Kenny's poop issues, I fear he will never be adopted. Please pray that the right home will come for him. (or already has)

Wednesday, October 4, 2006

Cross contamination


Great. I just start to get Teddy's eyes cleared up, and what do I find.. my own cats are getting sick. My husband just doesn't take hand washing seriously.. and will continue to wear clothes that have had kittens crawling all over them. I just got a good look at Eli's eye, and there seems to be a cloudy film on it. It is weird, though, like a piece of litter got in his eye and "melted" over it. I noticed it earlier and put a few drops of saline in his eye. I just checked it again with no change.

Eli is my tear duct blocked, paranoid because he spent the first six months of his life being medicated and getting his eyes treated.. He just started to trust me to pat him.. this is going to ruin all of that if I have to medicate him.

*sigh*

WE HAVE AN EYEBALL!!!


The vet took one look at Teddy, and prescribed Gentocin for it. He suggested drops, but the shelter only had ointment, so I took that. Put some in both eyes, and in the morning it was obvious it was working. Tuesday night I could start to see his right eye, but this morning I can actually say that his eyeball is obvious and it is there!! WHOO HOO!! His left eye is almost back to normal.

I tried to take pictures, but these kittens are so into getting attention that they do not sit still.

I am thrilled! Teddy had to be miserable because he didn't purr the entire week I was medicating him with tri-optic or terramycin, but after I put in the gentocin, he acted as if it stung for a few minutes, but then he started seeking out attention and wanted to be picked up. I picked him up, he started purring, and wrapped his paws around my neck.

Cruiser is still very very small. Both my hubby and I are falling hard for him. someone help us!

Monday, October 2, 2006

and I thought transporting six cats and rabbit was fun


Saturday I stopped in the shelter to show them Teddy's eye. It is getting worse and worse. I was told, "I've seen worse" and was sent home to continue the current medication that is not helping.

I was so furious, that I didn't get more food, which the grey kitties needed.

So Sunday I had some errands to run, so I stopped by the shelter again and picked up some food. There was no one in the lobby when I first walked through. I went straight to the back room where the food is kept. I collected a box, went out the back door, and on my way to the car I noticed that one of the cans was open and smelled bad.

I was so furious with the shelter, I almost threw the can on the lawn and drove off, but I couldn't do that. So I brought the can inside to throw away. On my way in, I met up with the foster coordinator, and she asked how the kittens were doing. I said "Bad" and kept walking towards the trash can. She asked a few more questions, and I explained what I meant, and my trip on Thursday, and Saturday, and she was concerned and ask that I bring them in to be looked at on Monday (today).

I reminded her for the third time that the grey kittens were ready to be neutered, and she said to bring them in as well.

So I ran down first thing this morning, gave the grey kitties food. I noticed a strong poop smell but just assumed that mom had just used the litter box. I went up, did my morning routine, and went back to pack them up. Well, I noticed poop dribbles all over the room. I checked the kittens as I packed them up, and found Kenny COVERED in poop. Poor thing. So I threw three kittens in one carrier, then got one of my carriers and put mom and Kenny in that one... cause I was pretty sure they wouldn't all fit in one. Brought them up, put them in the car, then went and got the babies, and put them in the car, and drove over to the shelter.

I weighed the greys, and believe it or not, Willie was the biggest of the bunch. a full pound more than he should have been for going up for adoption.. but that is okay. They are cute enough they'll work their charms.

I don't know what is up with Kenny though. I feel so bad for him. I still fear that he will be PTS because no one will want to deal with his issues (not being able to fully evacuate his stool, so it follows him around for a while till it falls off) I don't know why he had the runs last night. it was pretty bad. I just don't know.

The babies are the same. I weighed Cruiser last night, and he hadn't gained any more weight. I don't know why he eats very well. Bruiser put on some. Naomi has always been fine. Poor Teddy's eyes were a freakin mess. I know they can't fix them overnight, but I hope they can give me SOMETHING. I went to the store to get some lysine, but all they had were pills. I need to stop at the health food store and see if they have capsules.

*sigh*

I'm still mad at the shelter, but not so much the shelter as a whole.. just a few staff that didn't take me seriously the first four times I brought kittens in there to them.

Friday, September 29, 2006

kitten update, and trip to the vet


Cru is doing well. Still eating on his own, being OBNOXIOUSLY cute, and making me want to keep him. He's still wheezing a bit, but in general, is back to being his cute kitteny self.

Teddy, on the other hand, his eyes have started to swell up and got so bad on Thursday I brought him in for more help. They gave me a new eye ointment. It is maybe helping, maybe not. it is hard to tell. if I can't tell by tomorrow morning, I am going to bring him back in.

they still very much want to be fed, but they will eat out of a dish if I water it down enough. Quite often I'll have to call my hubby in the kitten room to distract the kitties so they will get off me, so I can leave the room. It is so hard to just get up and leave when they are being so cute!

Yesterday I brought the family to the vet for their very late annual check up. I was waiting for Dr. B to finally open his clinic. I LOVE Dr. B and hated to bring Em anywhere else. He thinks that she has a thyroid issue, and gave her 4 times the dose of thyroid medication that Dr. O had given her. Maybe it will help, maybe not. We'll see. I just can't wrap my brain around WHY her thyroid tests came back normal, but she got a thyroid condition. I know it CAN happen, I just don't get how. Oh well. Hopefully, this will work.

Everyone else is good. Well, Tweedle still has her breathing issues, but there isn't much that can be done about that. Dr. B asked about antibiotics, and since they really don't touch a stuffy nose, and they haven't ever helped her, I declined.

the total for 7 pets, vaccines, bloodwork, and meds, almost $500.

can you see why I really need a job at a vet?

I should go medicate Ted's eye again, then get out to my appointment.

Tuesday, September 26, 2006

He ate, HE ATE!!


I wanted to let all of you know that Cru made it through the night and is all the better for it.

I got home from work and sat with him and his brothers and sister. His sister is a terror. all play and get up and go. The boys wanted to be fed (they CAN eat, they prefer to be fed) so they sat on my lap with Cru and purred. I did what I could to encourage that, since I know purrs have a healing quality.

After an hour or two, my husband who was doing some work at home, came in to visit. All the kittens ran off of me to him (okay Cru walked) so I got up and got ready for bed.

An hour later, he came into the bedroom and asked if my rabbit could catch what the kittens have. Well, the rabbit lives in a room with a futon. I didn't quite get what he was asking me, but it turned out he wanted to spend the night with the kittens. Since the rabbit is in a cage, I gave him the Ok.(how freakin sweet is this??) I told him he'd have to bring the litter and the food, which he did. He even put up the baby gate in front of the closed door to keep our cats from reaching under the door.

All the attention did Cru really well. He ASKED to be fed, and took 20ccs of food!!! the most I could get in him up to now was 9ccs. I took him to the shelter anyway, and they gave me a stronger antibiotic, zithromax, and I got a bag of fluids, and I took him home. They have seen his condition enough times, and he was perky enough that I was okay with this. I was so okay, I actually left him at home today.

Of course, I am exhausted. Worrying about Cru, and sleeping in an empty bed both took their tolls, but the good news far outweighs it. *knock on wood* Of course, he still needs to get through today.. but I am greatly encouraged.

Monday, September 25, 2006

Did I jinx myself?


I was saying to.. my husband? my blog? I don't really remember, but I do remember saying it has been an easy year fostering, no major URI, no major extended health issues, and no deaths.

Now I have Cruiser. He is miserable, can't breathe, won't eat, and very depressed. Each breath is a lot of work for him, and it is killing me. He's currently sleeping, well I'm not sure he is actually asleep, on my arm. He feels very warm. If he has a fever, he is going to the vet.. but I won't know till I get home tonight..

He is so small..

come on buddy, you can beat this!

Sunday, September 24, 2006

Huge news, funny info, and then kittens


First, for the funny info, I am sitting here at my computer. My printer is right to the left of me, and there is usually room for one cat behind it. At the moment it is Ollie, he blends in so well and he likes it there. Eli LOVES it there too, because he LOVES the printer. Honestly, I think it is his best friend. Every time it goes off, he comes running. Well since Ollie is in the "hang out with the printer" spot, Eli is trying to make room for himself in front of the monitor.. but there really isn't enough room - it is freakin adorable, and I wish I had my camera.

For the huge news.. Emerald now weighs over 12 pounds!!!!!!!!!!! Still don't know why this works, and I hate that I am treating symptoms, but if it is working, then I am going to keep doing it. She gets two or three handfuls of dry food, and half a pepcid AC once per day (in her cosequin capsule) I was doing the happy dance, and Em was just sitting on the scale looking at me waiting for dinner. It was cute.

The grey kittens are ready for adoption. Once again I am worried about Kenny. When he has a BM, the stool doesn't fully fall off him till later. Who is going to want to adopt that? *prays that someone does* Maybe someone with a dog who loves kitty poop..

The black kittens are in the trouble zone. Cruiser is still totally congested, and the others are starting to sneeze more. Cruiser weighs 11 oz to Bruiser's 1lb. I went to the shelter yesterday to get him some help. They only gave him more fluids and told me to force feed him, which is what I have been doing. He is so congested, that he acts as if he is drowning when I feed him. I can't stand torturing him. All I wanted was a feeding tube, but they refused. I was also treated as if this was my first sick kitten ever. It was very disturbing to me personally.

I am down to feeding him one drop at a time. it takes forever to get even 1 cc in him, when he should be eating... well his brother is eating 10 or more two or three times a day.

I'm discouraged.

Thursday, September 21, 2006

kitten at the office


Last night, Cruiser had completely liquid stool, this morning he didn't want to eat, and was very dehydrated. I took the morning off from work and went into the shelter with him.

They gave him some fluids, gave me some more Albon, and some antibiotics since the other cats that came in with them are sneezing and aren't doing well.

I went home, and tried to settle him back in with his sibs, but the little girl started growling heavily.

I was just so concerned about him anyway, and felt uncomfortable leaving him unattended, so I packed him up, put some litter in a tupperware container, brought some KMR and brought him in to work.

Needless to say no one is getting any work done here :D

I spend so much time around kittens, that while I am not immune to their cuteness, I can resist it and work. The other women in the office, are smitten :)

He was playing on my bosses desk, and looked like he needed a litterbox, so I brought him one. They even thought that was cute.

Unfortunately it was still almost completely liquid. This is not good.

But he is playing and happy, and flirting with the girls.. so I am not going to worry (yeah, right, you believe that??)

I just wish he'd be willing to eat a little more.

Wednesday, September 20, 2006

kittens and more kittens


I think Gertrude and her kittens are coming to the realization that they won't be around at my house for much longer. Say what you will, but I think cats KNOW things. I will be sad to see them go. Little Willie is growing up into such an elegant little boy. Bug is such a love. They still love to run, so it will be good for them to get into homes.

The babies are... well Bruiser and Teddy are doing well. Eating like horses.. but in front of me ONLY KMR. I put some canned food in Bruiser's mouth, and he loved it, only if I were hand feeding him If it was on a plate it wasn't food. I know he knows how to eat off a plate, I have previously seen him do it, but not now. Naomi and Cruiser don't really want to eat. They also seem much more sedate. Someone is throwing liquid stool, so I have started them all on Albon. The second dose was this morning, so hopefully they'll perk up. They are eating canned food when I am not in the room, as last night and then again this morning the food was mostly gone, and there was quite a bit pushed on the floor. I believe someone, if not all of them are nursing on Bruiser, as his tummy is ALWAYS soaking wet. I am thinking of getting some baby socks, cutting out the toe and covering his little tummy. I have to run to the store tonight anyway, I'll peek on them after work and if it is still all wet I might just do that.

Em.. well Em is still a mystery. There are days where she looks all raggedy and horrible, and days when she looks amazing. I tried cutting her meds for her upset tummy in half, but she vomited that day. *sigh* she looked down this morning, so I tested her sugars, and they weren't bad considering what she is eating. Her weight was up to 11 lbs, 11oz the other day.. up from the lowest of 11 lbs 3 oz. I'm still hoping for 12. She has another vet appointment next week. I'm going to try to get a urine sample... I think I could handle any diagnosis.. it is the not knowing that hurts.

Tuesday, September 19, 2006

Babies



They like to sleep in the carrier.

Currently named "cruiser" cause of...



"Bruser" who is huge, has a very broad chest, and eats a lot!



Theodor and Naomi. Theodor such named because he looks like a big teddy bear. Naomi because she hates to eat. I think she wants to be a super model.


Wrestling

Insert your own caption here



Cruiser made it outside the door, and it was cute to see how little he looked next to Em.

Monday, September 18, 2006

Too much to do, too little morning


Ok, so this is my first morning to work with my new resolve to exercise every morning (again), and TWO sets of kittens.

Did I not tell you of my second set? shame on me. I took pictures, they are at home (I am currently at work) I'll share later.

I went to the shelter on Friday to pick up supplies, and was suckered in to taking four little black and black and white kittens. I was told they were eating on their own. They so aren't! They are so cute. they probably weigh 3/4 ths of a pound, and they were hissing and spitting at all the upheaval. just too cute. Once they settled down in the back bathroom they were fine. I introduced them to food, which they did actually eat, but they won't eat on their own, and they need to be 'primed' with formula first. I tried using a bottle. I have never had luck with that. I don't know why. Other people do. So I use a syringe. Fortunately they are using the litter box on their own.

So anyway. I have four kittens that need to be fed. Four kittens and a mom that need food put down for them, a rabbit who needs food, and my exercise, and to get out of the house with my breakfast and lunch. doable? somehow I got it all in.

I got dressed before going to feed the babies. Silly? yes, totally. but with little kitten claws totally necessary. Somehow I got through the feeding of four kittens, one of which who HATES to eat with out getting any formula on myself. I put out more food for them, and reintroduced them to it. *crosses fingers they'll eat*

Went out, fed the rabbit, who gets testy when she runs out of pellets, and lunges at them when I refill. I'd use my hopper to feed her, but then she'd have access to too many pellets and would get fat.

Went down to feed the older set. Now they sit at the door and try to escape when I enter, so when I was in the room, and put food down, and only saw three kittens instead of four, I got concerned that one escaped. None of my own cats came down with me, so I started calling them, cause nothing can find a kitten faster than a cat who doesn't want it loose in the house. Eli came down first, followed by Jack. No concern from either of them, so I went back into the room to look again. It was Bug that was missing. There aren't that many places for her to hide. I went back out, again, no concern from the cats, back in, and realize that she is behind me, but she wasn't. although she was, in the rafters. silly kitten. I was just trying to figure out how to reach her, when she finally jumped down on to the scratching pole, and got down on her own.

So that was my fun morning.

Thursday, September 14, 2006

I'm so clever


Sometimes I am so clever I scare myself. Now this is probably not the newest idea on the planet, but it came to me, it works, and works amazingly well, and I'm thrilled.

Emerald should be on 3 medications. 1) for her upset stomach 1/4 to 1/2 a pepcid 2) cosequin and 3) a capsule of herbs for her diabetes. Well, she hasn't gotten them in a while because her stomach has been so upset. I feel I really should be giving her the cosequin, since that is obvious that it works, and so is the pepcid. Well, the tiny tablet occasionally gets knocked out of my hand when I am giving it to her, lands on her tongue, so she spits out the wet icky pill that now sticks to anything and is impossible to give. I watched "How it is made" on the discovery channel a couple of days ago, I saw them making capsules (which the cosequin is in). A light bulb went off today, that I could stick the pepcid IN the cosequin, and now I'm down to one pill instead of two. BINGO! it works. I'm thrilled. A bit of advice, though, if you are going to be opening a capsule, pay attention, and don't open it sidewards. I was so thrilled with my new discovery, I was explaining it to my hubby in the other room, and opened the second one the wrong way. D'OH!

The kittens are so freakingly adorable. Every other thought is oh I want to keep this one, oh I want to keep that one.. *rolls eyes* Kenny made a good solid poop and it didn't seem that hard for him to pass *YEA!* Someone has very liquid stools, though. I KNOW mom does, but someone else does too. I got some more albon the other day, so it SHOULD be clearing up soon *crosses fingers*

Broken heart healed?


Many moons ago, I had to put Kodi to sleep. It was a long battle to save him. he was so young, and he seemed so many times to rally, and for a while I thought I might actually be able to save him, but the day came when it was beyond obvious. His body and his spirit was broken, and he had had enough. (I'm crying typing this, so maybe not fully healed)

I brought him in to the vet, and pleaded with her in a non pathetic way to think of one more thing we could try. There was nothing. She took my darling boy out back, to prepare him for the injection (they put in a catheter to make it easier once you are ready). I sat in the room in broken spirits, and on the radio came one of the popular songs of the time that I really liked. I tried to take comfort in it. Unfortunately, the situation ruined the song for me. Every time afterwards I had to change the station. music can evoke very very strong emotional memories for me - which is probably why I don't listen to a lot of it any more. But I do at work.

The song came on.

I was able to just enjoy the song.

Three years, later.

Me, Emotional? you could say that. And there is nothing wrong with that

Wednesday, September 13, 2006

AN INTERESTING DAY AT THE RAINBOW BRIDGE


AN INTERESTING DAY AT THE RAINBOW BRIDGE
A tribute to Steve Irwin
by drharper on Livejournal

The Rainbow Bridge is a place of both peace and anticipation as
departed pets await their beloved owners.
There are plenty of things to keep them contented while they
wait: trees you can't get stuck in, endless meadows, splashing
streams, thickets perfect to hide in for pouncing games.
But one day the residents noticed some rather unusual newcomers arrive.
The koalas and the kangaroos slipped in rather quietly, but then
came the bearded dragons, the skinks and the goannas. The influx of
snakes startled an entire family of cats up a tree. Pythons, cobras,
tiger snakes, brown snakes and even fierce snakes. There were so
many at one point, it seemed the ground itself was alive with
writhing.
A burly wombat shouldered his way through the crowd and plopped
down in a shady spot, barely missing a Jack Russell terrier who
yapped indignantly as he abandoned his position
And then the crocodiles showed up.
Finally, a Great Dane managed to get up enough nerve to approach
one of the reptillian giants.
"Um.... excuse me," he said hesitantly. "But why are you all here?"
The croc dropped her jaw and laughed. "Same as you, mate," she
said. "Waitin' for someone who loved us."
The dogs, cats, gerbils and other "typical pets" looked at each
other in confusion, then at the plethora of weird, ugly and downright
deadly creatures assembled.
Who on Earth could possibly love some of those faces?
"I see him!" shouted a green mamba from his vantage point in one
of the trees. A cacophony of squeeks, hisses, bellows and roars
erupted as the mob surged forward toward a lone human walking across
the field toward the bridge. The other animals managed to catch a
glimpse of him before he was overwhelmed by the crowd.
"CRIKEY!" he shouted joyously right before he was bowled over by
the wombat.
"Well I'll be," said a Persian as she tidied up her fur. "It's
that Aussie my human liked to watch on TV. Had to be the craziest
human on the whole planet."
"Oh, please," remarked an echidna as he hurried by. "Is it
really that crazy to passionately love something God made?"

escaping kittens


The kittens are so ready to explore the rest of the house. Every time I go down there they have their little faces pressed against the door, so when I open it, there is NO corralling kittens. I have taken to using a piece of cardboard, making a crack in the door, slipping it in, and pushing them back. Sometimes I am successful, sometimes I'm not.

The little girl without a tail "Bug" is an absolute love bug. However, she has one very odd quirk. She insists on pushing her little head in your armpit. It is very bizarre.

Willie (boy with a tail; the runt; the one with white) got stuck again. Hubby was upstairs right above their room and could hear a kitten meowing very clearly. Willie climbed up the post, and got into the unfinished ceiling.

I'm still concerned about Kenny. He spends a lot of his time looking at me with a very intense look. Maybe that is just his face. His belly is huge. I haven't seen him have a BM in a while... not a huge shock since I don't spend all day in the room.

A couple of the cats also have very loose stools, so back on albon they all go.

Update on Emerald too. Since she was doing so well and gaining weight, I thought I'd see if she could come off the pepcid. Nope. She quickly started losing and vomiting. So back on it she went, and she's gained some of the loss back. Why on earth is her stomach upset all the time???

One of my kitties got a fright this morning. I had a couple of plastic bags I threw down the stairs (I have an open staircase to the basement) to bring to the kitten room to clean out litter boxes with. Well someone investigated them, then couldn't get themselves out. There is no helping a freaked out cat in a plastic bag, cause you can't get near them. I just had to hold still and not make any noise so that whoever it was could calm themselves down enough to get out. Well eventually after running through the house, the bag caught on something and the kitty was freed. I THINK it was Muffin. But I have no proof. They were all completely freaked by the noise.

Sunday, September 10, 2006

Emerald


I THINK I have come across the right combination to put weight back on Em. We'll have to wait and see if it fully pans out. So far, it appears that if we feed her four times a day, with canned food, and then give her handfuls of dry, and keep her on pepcid, it works. Last weight was 11lbs 13 oz!! I almost wanted to take a picture of the scale... lol She just sat on it all proud like. Hopefully, when she gets back up to a decent weight, we can go back to two times per day.

However, her blood sugars have been running VERY high. When she's on just a high protein low carb food, her highest bgs were in the low 200s. Now she's getting the 'kitty crack' the lowest high reading is 350ish. I can compensate with more insulin, but I have to imagine the swing in the sugars during the day can NOT be good. But then again, she used to eat exclusively dry food for years, and was getting up to 7 units twice a day at the time, so maybe she's just used to it? (which totally doesn't make sense, but I don't really care, she's gaining weight!!!)

Zoe asked about dry food, science diet, and mentioned how her vet said dry food is better for the cat's teeth. I want to address these issues. I was going to write to her directly, but then thought maybe I should post this cause it is kinda important.

First off, unfortunately, science diet is not a good quality food. It is actually one of the lower quality foods out there. So is Eukanuba and Iams. I know they are often recommended by vets and are touted as being the "leading" brands. Unfortunately, they are the leading brands because they promote themselves and give their product at very low cost to vets so that they push them. To see this, look at the first ingredient listed in the food. If the first couple of ingredients are not meat, or worse some sort of grain product, then it is a low-quality food. Cats are not designed to get energy from carbohydrates. Why are they in all the cat foods then? Cause they are cheap and drive up profits for the food companies. The same with wheat gluten. It is a protein derivative from wheat that a lot of cats have problems with.

As for the dental aspect of dry food, that is a myth. The teeth are designed for the tearing and ripping of flesh. When a cat chews kibble, it breaks it into smaller pieces and then eats it. More often than not the cat will eat the kibble whole, not even bothering to chew it, and later when it drinks some water, it will expand in the stomach, causing the cat to have to regurgitate the food. Check out this written by a vet.

A vet who has studied the effects of dry food on cats, and hundreds of owners who have diabetic cats, have seen the effect of dry food on a cat's blood sugars. Many diabetic cats are actually able to come off daily insulin if they are direct to a species appropriate food. A high protein, low carb diet, which is impossible to get in a dry food.

So from all the new research, experts are now equating dry food to a McDonald's type diet to humans. It has some nutritional value, but not a whole heck of a lot, and it has a lot of bad calories to go along with it. This means your cat has to eat more of it to get out of it what it needs, which in the long run taxes your cat's system and another side effect is that you have a lot more waste in the litter box. Cats also do not have a high thirst drive, so most cats who are on a dry diet tend to be slightly dehydrated. Many cats live nice long healthy lives on dry food, I won't deny that. But it is a very low-quality food.

I have culled this research from many different sources, but one of the main sites that helped me realize that the dry food had to go was http://www.catinfo.org it is created and run by a vet. She has stated that most vets don't even take nutritional classes, that it is an elective in school, and if they do it is only a very short class. Most of the vets training on good nutrition comes from (wait for it....) the companies that provide them food for sale... Mainly Science Diet, Eukanuba, and Iams. (which btw, all make kitten foods that almost none of my 200 foster kittens would eat)

Check out http://www.catinfo.org and http://www.littlebigcat.com and http://www.felinediabetes.com/diabetic-cat-diets.htm (and just because they talk about diets for diabetic cats does not mean it is an inappropriate diet for non-diabetic cats)

Saturday, September 9, 2006

Foster update


Just a reminder, this is where they started at the end of July,

and this is them yesterday :)

Their bellies are big and round, they RUN, oh man do they run like the wind.. two pounds two ounces, so maybe two more weeks? Little Kenny still strains when he passes stool. Ends up on his two front feet.. but it is getting out, and he doesn't seem in pain. Discomfort, yes, but pain, no.

Mom, Gertrude, she is ready for them to be gone!




Willie getting "stuck" on the climbing pole






Kenny. I am starting to be able to tell them apart. It isn't easy!!



Shirley




DINNER!!

Sunday, September 3, 2006

Dry food


I have come to the conclusion (after much reading of other's research on the matter) that dry food for cats is like McDonald's food for humans. Basically made up of nutrients needed, but doctored in such a way as to make it fast, convenient, and tasty.

I have kept it around the house for treats for the kitties. When I feel the need to gather them all up in one place, I just shake a container or throw a handful down on the ground. They LOVE it.

Even Emerald.. Who totally shouldn't have it as it throws her blood glucose way off. Who also has completely messed up teeth and can't eat it very well.. she ends up chasing it all around the floor or pushing it all off the plate.

Well last night I woke up and went to the bathroom (where her food is being kept since she eats differently from the rest of the crew because she refuses to eat what they eat, and they would eat all of her food before she could finish her first bite) and she was in there looking at me with those big huge "I'm starving and haven't eaten in weeks!" eyes. I didn't feel like going across the house in the middle of the night and finding her food, so I put down a plate full of dry.

You should have seen her try to eat it.. she was SO excited.. but she ended up pushing most of it off the plate trying to get it. she eventually pushed the plate out of the way so she could get to the bits on the other side.

I know it made her BG numbers climb because it ALWAYS makes her bgs climb.. but she actually was satiated this morning. Ate some of her breakfast but not all of it - where she usually licks the plate clean and begs for more.

So now the question becomes, do I give her junk food because she loves it and it makes her full even though it is dangerous for her to have? Not that it is exactly the same, but there are people out there who feed their kids high-fat foods like pure butter because their burning fat helps with whatever physical condition they have (I don't remember off the top of my head, but I remember seeing a number of shows on it many years ago) but I don't even think that is the same.. to me, I only see feeding a diabetic sugar. which is wrong.

then why does this feel like the thing to do??

Saturday, September 2, 2006

Updates


Notice the new domain.. cool hun? Not sure what I am going to do with webwmn.com at this point.. I really should deal with that.. but I don't know what I want to do with it, so I'll leave it as it is for now.

The kittens are doing much better. They have been on Albon for a while now, and they are now eating 6 cans of food per day, along with the dry that is out.

The little boy without a tail (Kenny) is still having problems passing poop though. It is now solid, but he pushes so hard, that he often ends up on his front two feet. Poor thing.

I haven't weighed them in a bit, but they do seem to be gaining, and if they keep eating at this rate, they should be headed for adoption soon.. which is a good thing, because Willie is TOO CUTE and TOO SWEET.. it is freakin adorable!!

They don't seem to sleep as much now too.. so I guess the trip to the vet was a good thing even though they didn't come up with anything. It was the stool sample I was able to collect because they spent the entire day at the shelter and half of them went poop once they got home. Dr found coccidia, and put them on Albon.

Em is back to losing weight. I took her off zantac, and she went right back to vomiting often. So I put her back on that but took her off the thyroid meds. She seemed to gain, but then started to lose again. She was only off it for a few days, so I put her back on it, and she stabilized, but then started losing. This has been her pattern to begin with. So I took her back off the thyroid meds.. still no change. She is constantly nauseous, though, so I am constantly feeding her.. she loves it..

Thursday, August 24, 2006

Trip to the vet


So I finally broke down and told the foster coordinator my concerns about the kittens...

*eating, but not eating as well as previous fosters at this age
*extremely small anuses and almost no kitten poop in litter box.
*sleeping a LOT. Not lethargic, just sleeping way more than I am used to with kittens at this age.

So she thought they should be seen. Having previously worked at the vet clinic that they were being seen, I knew without some obvious symptom, they weren't going to find anything, and they didn't. But the one good thing about the trip to the vet was that they didn't use the litter box all day, so they had to when they got home.

There are the two with tails, a boy and a girl, and the two without tails, a boy and a girl, names are still very fluid at this point, except Willie, the runt boy with a tail.

Willy has shown me he can produce very normal poop, so I wasn't worried about him.
The girl with a tail went pee, but didn't poop.
The girl without a tail pooped just fine!! YEA!!
and the boy without a tail produced a very thin, VERY yellow and mucus filled poop which is going back to the clinic to be looked at.

Mom also ate up a storm... which is encouraging. It may be that she didn't get breakfast at home, and didn't eat that much in such a strange place, but I'll take my victories where I can get them.

So at this point, it is a wait and see kind of deal. Hopefully, everything will enlarge as they do and things will flow well.

Saturday, August 12, 2006

Just call me paranoid


So, I went in to feed mom today (these cats soo need names) and there were no kittens in site. I called, but nothing. They were in the carrier sleeping, but paranoid me starts thinking something went very wrong and they didn't make it through the night.

No reason to think this.. everyone was happy and healthy last night.

But I didn't have the strength to reach in the carrier and possibly find dead kittens, so I asked my hubby to check in on them later (as I am trying to find a way to leave to get some errands done this morning)

well a few minutes later I opened the door to where the kittens are, and see the little boy with leg issues. I grab him for a hug, and walk in to see my hubby and say look, this kitten isn't dead.. and my husband knowing how silly I feel over all this says "Yeah, we like not dead kittens"

This is all too true.

When I put him back, I saw the other "not dead kittens" wrestling..

Everyone is fine, and apparently, I need to chill just a little.

While typing this, Emerald JUMPED from the floor to my lap. Something she has not done in a long time. She put on a little weight the other day. Since I don't know if it is the thyroid meds or the zantac doing it, I stopped giving her zantac. We'll know by tonight tomorrow at the latest, if she's still nauseous. She is still EXTREMELY hungry all the time.

Dr. B is opening his doors Sept 25th.. Thank goodness!!

Thursday, August 10, 2006

Well this is odd.


I just added a new map thingie to the bottom of the page to show where people are visiting my website from. While doing that I visited my current statistics. I like to see what people are searching for. Someone did a search on kitten enema and my site came up (from the time I had to do one ages ago). Sometimes I view the searches that others have done to see where I land, and to see what others have to say on the subject - I have learned some very interesting things that way.

So I viewed the search on kitten enemas, and came across the story of little bit, who had a rectum that was too small to pass stool, and how his owner took extensive measures to save him (and was successful.. with two surgeries to expand the rectum)

I was just starting to think that one of my tailless kittens has a VERY small rectum. I am hoping I am wrong, but this kinda freaks me out. Well not freak as in bad.. just weird.. you know what I mean?

Maybe I'll take him in this weekend for a second opinion.. Or maybe I'll wait till we have an official problem.

Unexpected Heartache


Well I went in yesterday to see Sara and Sampson.. but they had been adopted (and no, I had not been told)

They went to different homes. The manager could only find the paperwork for Sara. She went into a home with three cats and a dog.

I should be thrilled, but I am heartbroken over this. Actually cried while leaving the clinic. I have NO idea why.

Sunday, August 6, 2006

Adoption day


This one was hard on me. The shelter wasn't as busy on a Sunday than it is on Saturday. I should have brought them back then.

Sasha went first. A nice older couple who just lost their cat of 19 years. Indoors, willing to listen to ideas on food.

Sebastian and Suzie Q went next. An elderly woman came in with her kids. She wanted a new cat since hers just died. I'm not as thrilled with this adoption because I think Suzie is going to be too much for her.. but she was insistent that she only wanted one and she only wanted a kitten. Suzie is a sweetheart, but she is a spit fire, and without another kitten to play with, I think she'll overwhelm the woman. I hope I am wrong. One of her children ended up adopting two kittens. Jerico a kitten that was thrown from a car, and Sebastian. They did say they were going to let the cats out, and they said declaw.. they were talked out of both.. (I hope, you never know what people will say when they just want you to stop talking about something) I explained why Sebastian shouldn't be let out.. again, they seemed to understand. *prays*

Sara and Sampson are still left.

The whole crew did exceedingly well there today. I was so certain that they were going to revert to their feral ways. Sampson was very shy and overwhelmed with it all, and spent most of the day shaking. The biggest brute of a kitten, it was odd. Wasn't expecting him to be the baby.

I can't keep them all, and I have to trust in the world to take care of them.. (Only problem with that is that it is the world that created too many kittens in the first place)

Saturday, August 5, 2006

A victory and a defeat


Well, I was so worried about the little gray kittens, and today when I went to see them, one of them actually made it into the litter box and left a deposit!! It is so fun to watch them run around.. they are still getting used to their feet, so their front feet and back feet don't always match up.

The littlest boy with the bad legs is still behind, but he was walking so much better yesterday. I am hopeful.

The defeat? Emerald. She vomited this afternoon. She won't eat her dinner. Her bg was almost 400.. she vomited again this evening. I had stopped giving her zantac thinking the thyroid meds were working. Apparently, the zantac was helping. Why on earth is that?!?!?!

I just noticed I didn't give you an update on the vet visit. $300 later, and there is 'nothing' wrong with her. Blood work is fine, fructosamine is fine, xrays were fine. Dr thought maybe just possibly her thyroid needed help, so she's been on thyroid meds for a week now, and she seemed to be holding her own.. but I think it was the zantac I was giving with it that was doing the most good.

The older set was neutered on Thursday, came home Friday morning. Friday night they were into cuddling. Sat morning a little, and tonight they had so much energy they had NO idea what to do with it. There was wrestling, and surprise attacks, and running full tilt around the room. They are going to be soo lonely if they are separated tomorrow. I was thinking I could convince people to take pairs, but that still leaves an odd kitten out since I have five. I KNOW I can't keep them, but I do NOT want to let them go.

Tuesday, August 1, 2006

update on the babies


Well, last night when I went in the bathroom where the little gray kittens are, I noticed they were feeling thin and 'scrawny'.. not that they were, but I could tell they were losing something.

Mom is eating, but not all that well. She would go 12 hours without producing anything in the litterbox.

I had to wonder if she was losing her milk. So I broke out the KMR. They ate 5 ccs before giving up. They all had to pee pretty badly too. Not sure if mom is taking care of that at all.

This morning they only took 4ccs before giving up. I left them outside of the box they were in so they could get to mom even if she was across the room..

I came home to a huge pile of poop.. So mom isn't taking care of that. I cleaned it up and gave them some lunch.. only 2 ccs this time.. so they aren't starving...

Tonight when I checked on them, one of them walked off the nest area, and started pooping.. walking and crying and pooping, So I helped it along.. very watery. Someone else had pooped on another one, this one was like toothpaste..

I am very concerned.. I stopped by the shelter after lunch time, and picked up some new food.. stinky stuff.. and some clavamox. Hopefully, this will help.

Two of them are missing tails and a third has swimmers legs.. that he MIGHT be able to control in a few weeks.. once he gets control over his claws.. they all have very odd looking feet too.

Please don't let me loose any of them!!

The older set is going to be altered on Thursday.. I am going to miss them horribly.

Saturday, July 29, 2006

I am officially a "super hero"


Why? you ask? What is my super power? The ability to hear distressed kittens from across the house.

Te first time it happened was when my last foster mom gave birth. Out of a sound sleep, I awoke and immediately went downstairs.

Today, the smallest mew emanated from the bathroom.. One of the kittens had left the carrier and was stuck behind it.

Now.. to design my costume..

*giggle*

Wednesday, July 26, 2006

MORE kittens


Yes, I'm a sap. The shelter is overwhelmed, and I saw these guys and couldn't resist.
Turns out they are even more special since two of them don't have tails!! One boy and one girl have tails, and one boy and one girl don't. This will make identification easy :)


On a side note, this morning we looked out on the deck and saw Tweedle. Somehow she had gotten out. We have no idea. The only thing we can think of is that she squeezed out of the cat room we have set up for them outside and was outside all night. Scares me to think that as she isn't the brightest cat on the face of the planet. If she hadn't thought to sit on the deck, we might not have noticed she was missing till later tonight, when all kinds of nasty could have happened to her!! Her picked up paranoia (from Eli) made it hard to get her inside, but she finally made it. She ran around the house for a while like she didn't recognize it. But she is home and she's safe..

Em is still losing weight and is going to the vet tomorrow for xrays. I'll keep you updated.

Thursday, July 13, 2006

More kittens


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"HEY!" purred Suzie Q

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"you say I have fans? let me strike a pose"

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"and they like Sebastian too? oh all right"

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"Hey Suzie, where'd ya go?" Sebastian

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"She went this way!" Sara

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"Enough with the photos already!!!" Suzie Q

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"I have things to do!!"

Monday, July 10, 2006

Okay then


Popular title line I see :)

Back to Em. Frustrating how this is the KITTEN blog, and all I can do is talk about the oldest "kitten" in the house ;)

So I contemplated the next steps I should take with her. The blood test I was sure wasn't going to show what it needed to show. It shows an average of the BG's for two weeks. Previously I have thought that I might be overdosing her on insulin. But I test her every couple of days and her starting BGs are pretty good. Well, I started testing her every time before giving a shot. one PS (pre-shot) was in the 90s. The next was over 300. So yes.. I was still overdosing her. I was going to cut it from 1.5 units BID (twice a day) to 1 unit BID. Well her next PS was so low that I decided to do .5 instead. Well, tonight her PS was 171. Yup. .5 SEEMS to be the magic number.

In case you don't know.. Rebound happens when you over does insulin. there is a major release of stored glucose to help combat the excess insulin. This keeps her BG from going too low and keeps her from dying. However what seemed to be happening was I was overdosing her, then the next shot helped get rid of the excess, then I was testing.

Amazing that she went over 5 years without ANY testing of her sugars.. now I apparently can't go 12 hours without testing.

Hopefully, this will be the cause of the weight loss and she'll start plumping back up (but I am not holding my breath)

As for the kittens, they are so amazingly LOUD when it comes to purring now. They like to sit on your shoulders and purr in stereo. They are up to two pounds now. Amazingly Suzie Q (the runt) is only 2 oz behind the others. She looks like she's 1/2 a pound behind them. She also eats till I swear she is going to explode. Makes her tummy almost twice the size of her head!

Friday, July 7, 2006

Sara's Trip to the Store, and Em's Trip to the Vet


So I had to go out and get Emmy food (She's the only one left on commercial food) so I thought I would bring Sara with me. She is the only foster still easily freaked out. She wasn't bad during the trip. Even got her to purr. At the pet food store, I introduced her to a dog, and two kids. She hissed at the dog, she was fine with the kids. She cuddled with me the whole ride home (I know I know.. she should have been in a carrier!)

I'm trying to decide what type of home she'll be happiest in. Adult only? Or maybe a nice busy household to keep her interacting with other beings so they are no longer scary. Whenever I pick her up, she's fine, she just doesn't like being picked up. Who knows. Just would have to insist she never go out (probably not a good idea for any of them - my feelings on the matter aside) because she's so freaked by stuff she hasn't seen for an hour or two, she'd probably never make it home.


As you may or may not be aware, my Em has had me concerned since Jan. Her weight loss was getting even more pronounced, and I couldn't wait for Dr. B to open anymore, so I made an appointment with Dr. Ken at another vet hospital. He said he didn't feel anything odd in her stomach area, but could feel her thyroid, so he recommend a thyroid test. I was sure it was either a mass in her stomach or her thyroid. Well her thyroid tests just came back and she's fine (possibly a little on the low side). PUCK! She's losing weight, she's constantly hungry, there IS something wrong. Next round of tests includes a test to see where her sugar levels are on a constant basis for the past two weeks (I can't spell the name of the test) and x-rays of her to see if there is anything out of the norm. If her blood sugars are out of control, it would explain the weight loss.. but I monitor them regularly (not excessively though) and I can't fathom those are out of control. So now we are back to a mass of some sort in her.

I can't face that.

I can't face any of this!!

Em is thrilled, cause it means she keeps getting food - her all-time favorite activity. You should see her RUN down the hall when I break out the treats (which she doesn't get that often because they make her sugars run a little high.)

I forgot how hard having a sick cat is on the soul. I don't know how I'm going to handle this.

Friday, June 30, 2006

more names


I was thinking along the s theme.. so Sasha for the long haired black and white, and Sampson for the darker tiger. This just leaves the short haired black and white.

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

more on OT and then back to the kittens


Ok, I suppose I was ranting yesterday, so most of that needs to be taken with a grain of salt.

I can't imagine that anyone I was referring to reads this blog, so if you were wondering then the answer is NO! (unless you are one of those friends with a busy life then yes... but in a good way :D)

So anyway.. ignore the outburst. I guess I'm just sick of people on boards feeling that either no one can have an opinion, or that everyone has to have the group opinion (then what is the point of getting together to discuss things??) There are a few places that are pretty open about the whole thing, and I have learned so much from them.

Moving on. The kittens are OBNOXIOUS!! I have names for the twins, Sebastian and Samantha. So that leaves the dark tiger boy, and the two black and white females, the runt with short hair and the beefy long haired one. I was thinking how much piss and vinegar the little one has (short haired b&w) She is one determined little kitten. She's cute but full of it. So I was thinking of naming her PV.. or maybe Peevee.. pevey? peavey? Not a very girly name, though.

Sebastian has taken to rubbing himself around my ankles. He cries and cries. So I pick him up, and he cries and cries, so I put him down in front of food, and he cries and cries. That boy has no idea what he wants, but he wants to be with me when he is doing it. When I try to leave the room I have a trail of kitties following me now, with Sebastian right there at my feet. He got out of the kitten room and was so proud of himself till he saw Jack walking down the hall. He stopped in his tracks as if to say "WHAT THE HECK IS THAT!!" even though he's seen Jack before. Samantha has taken a turn for the antisocial. She's the teen in the black clothing with the spiky hair and the piercings that wants nothing to do with people (cause there are teens like that that do like people). I tried to put her back in the cage this morning, and she hissed and gave me the meanest look.. Guess I'll have to carry her around for a while.

Oh yes, one more personal thing. I have to take a road trip tomorrow. Somehow I agreed to go pick up my boss from Logan airport. It's about a 2 hour drive. I met him once (okay technically 3 times) then he promptly left for Europe. He rescued another dog while there, so now he needs some help getting home. arrrgh. I do not travel well, I travel worse in big cities, and what on earth am I supposed to talk about for the two hours!! *sigh* I guess the oddest part is the dog he rescued is a hunting dog, so he wanted me to find birds for him to train with. That just didn't sit well with me. But being honest with myself, I eat meat, and I feed it to my cats... so how much further different is that? (well, the horrible end as you are seeing a dog come running at you? But I'm sure it is short) He did ask me if I had a problem with it, and I said I was uncomfortable, and he tried to justify it - with the whole eating meat thing. You know what, when I think about that I'm uncomfortable with that too. But not so much as to not do it. (what a horribly worded sentence) I just hope they don't make me resign my membership from the animal welfare societies I belong to :)

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

OT - personal life


I guess I have come to the conclusion that I don't fit into life with "regular people". Or should I say, regular net people. I'm not allowed to have an OPINION (meaning something I say I believe, not something I say is fact) nor am I allowed to say I've read a lot about this, and this is what I have found and here is the info that led me to these conclusions.

Well maybe this isn't just on line life.. I mean I was fired from a previous job for having an opinion. (and I did not offer it, it was asked of me by the client)

I spent most of my life being teased and taunted by people so for the most part I don't have much use for "people" but I know that isn't healthy. Human beings need a social network. It's just so freakin hard when I come to the realization that in order to have a social network, I have to be less of who I am.

So do I cave? Do I sit around as a (oh I hate to say this, but you'll understand the reference immediately) blond? or do I continue to be who I am and wait till I finally find someone who doesn't have the baggage to be able to take an opinion?

Not to say I don't have ANY friends.. I have several, but they all have full lives at this point. I guess I'm just stressing over the fact that several BB I joined to find new contacts that are so uptight.. When I first got on line I made lots of friends in chat rooms, but over time we've all grown apart. Finding new online friends is hard. Yahoo chats are now just sex rooms - no matter where you go, and I can't seem to find anyplace else.

Oh well. Guess I just really needed to rant.
Thanks for listening (that is if you are still reading - if you gave up then I guess I didn't thank you in the first place :D)

kitten energy and mayhem!


Oh my goodness.. I so need to move the kittens downstairs.. really I do. They are sick and tired of staying in the cage all the time, so I let them out in my computer room. They climb the chairs, they surf the net, they taste the wires, they knock things to the ground.. arrgh

But I'd miss them so much if they were down there. Here I get to see them when I check in on the computer and when I give them time..

I should make it a point not to foster fluffy tiger kittens. I fall in love WAY too easily.

Sunday, June 25, 2006

one parasite is not the same as the other!!


Last Sunday I took the kits to the shelter and had a fecal done because their stools were so loose. The result - I was told - was round worm. So they went on dewormer. I did a double normal dose to start (it's safe according to the vet) and then was supposed to do it for three days. Well, it didn't make a bit of difference, so I kept doing it. Still no chance. after two days I put them back on Albon (which they had been on at least a week prior to the fecal). Saturday I took the kittens back in with another stool sample (on a plastic spoon since it was so loose and everyone laughed at me thinking I was going to feed it to someone)

The head medical tech / co-manager looked at it and immediately said it was coccidia. Since they had been on albon, and it was still wall to wall (she was amazed/stunned at how many there were) I asked if there was anything else I could give them since they had been on albon, and their gums were getting pale and this just wasn't working. She said yes there was but that the shelter didn't have it. The dr that the shelter works with (the one I used to work for and who is a JERK) has no experience with this particular drug so he said they couldn't have it. Since they order their meds through him, they have to keep their relationship a positive one. I offered to try to buy it elsewhere since it is a horse dewormer. Yup. A horse dewormer - Marquis Paste. She warned me it would be expensive, around $200 - $300. Which I don't mind if it is going to work. I suppose I would mind if it was $200 for a single dose, but it isn't. (not that $200 would stop me - would be worth it not to lose the kittens) But unfortunately, I couldn't find it anywhere local. I asked her a bit more about it, and apparently, the other local shelter uses it with good success. I asked if maybe I might be able to buy a few doses from them - which the manager thought was a good idea, so she called them up. They gave it to us. I gave it to the kittens yesterday, and it looks like it is the miracle that the other shelter said it was.

I'm pretty amazed at the turnaround! They dilute the paste quite a bit, but it still has the consistency of toothpaste. after 24 hours their stools look normal, and they are doing much better. They are on a supplement to help them regain their coloring.. but at this point, I would say not only are they out of the woods, they are out in the field hunting mice :D




Thursday, June 22, 2006

awww


I took a stool sample to the shelter on Sunday. They were LOADED with roundworm, so they have been on meds for that. Most are doing better. The girl twin is still not 100% but is doing much better.

I have all of them purring now. They are still a little more skittish and wary than non-feral kittens would be at this point, but they have made HUGE strides. The boy twin SCREAMS to be held and patted..

I've noticed that they aren't 100% in using the litter box (understandable seeing how uncomfortable they must be) so at this point, there is nothing in their cage but a small piece of bedding. I feel horrible about it, but if I give them anything bigger they are just going to throw it in the litter box and poop on it. In a couple of days, I'm sure I can fix that... but right now they are all piled up on the small bed. Talk about your kitten pile :)



and on a side note; Happy Birthday to me :)

Sunday, June 18, 2006

Picts



I can sleep harder than you!


No you can't!


You can't see us, we are hiding!



PAT ME!!


Sleepy kittens
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