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..
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