Saturday, April 6, 2013

Silver and Gold


Make new friends.. but keep the old.. one is Silver and the other Gold..

This song has been rattling around in my head for a bit now.. Figured it would make a good blog title :)

Esmay, my dear sweet Esmay is failing.  She went to the vet and had her ear cleaned and I was told to reduce her antibiotic to once a day which I did, but I was much more conscious of her lack of eating after realizing how much weight she had lost.  Well she was not eating well at all, so I started force feeding her. I hated to do it because it obviously annoyed her, but I could not let her continue to watch her not eat..   Especially with the complete lack of stool in the litter box :(

I even started giving her fluids hoping it would help.

After the second day of force feeding she didn't eat anything additional at all.  I wrote to the shelter to let them know and they decided to bring her back to the vet.  I packed her up on Thursday and brought her in, giving her another dose of antibiotic and force fed her a little more than half of the remaining third of the can that I had been feeding her.  She got upset much faster than she had been at home.. it totally broke my heart.

The staff member actually asked me if I thought she was worth saving.  That hurt.  It is a hard hard place to be in, caring for an elderly kitty with a myriad of health issues, starting with the urinary issues, the low blood sugar, then the hematoma, the ear discharge, now the not eating and the swallowing hard..   at 15, how much longer does she reasonably have?  But she's so quirky and loving and loves a belly rub and still expects her humans to come to her to pat her.. how on earth could I possibly say no.  Although part of me has been an absolute mess fearing that she is dealing with something more complicated than a polyp or ear infection.. She displayed a lot of the symptoms that Em did when she had cancer... which of course means that I was an emotional wreck all week anyway..

While I was setting her up in the shelter, I was called to by a young kitty who was very vocal.  She would not be ignored, and so once I had Esmay settled I went and said hello.  She was very active and looked like she was very people orientated, but her intake card said they couldn't vaccinate her, so I wasn't about to open the cage.. I looked in some of the other cages, and noticed a large number of kitties all with the same location - meaning they came from the same town.  Could have been a co-incidence, or it could have been a surrender from an over crowding situation.. no idea really and I didn't ask.. I did however see five little balls of fluff that were just killing me dead with their adorableness..


Can you not understand why I had to have them?  I asked after them and they weren't tested so I couldn't take them, but I put my name on them and went home.

I got a call on Friday saying they were negative and I could get them any time.  When I stopped in I was told I could only take three of them because the shelter manager was going to take two.  I was a little bothered by this because there was no notation of that when I put my name on them, so I assumed (and it is only an assumption) that she decided to take them after I expressed interest.  I expressed my unhappiness at it and I was told to take it up with her.  I was going to, and then I wasn't, and then I was, and then I wasn't... but darn it she took the two fluffies, which I had been really wanting to have for a while, so I finally did.  Turns out the manager's young daughter had put an order in for kittens, and I felt quite like a heal for "taking them away' from her, but when the guilt gets to me too much I remember that the manager is there every day and can get her pick of the next set that comes in.. I am rarely there and might not have gotten kittens for a while.. yup, I'm justifying.  Go ahead, call me a heal.

But really, can you blame me?



They are about seven weeks.. I was trying to decide if I thought they were 6 or 7, and the paperwork says 7.  No idea if whomever turned them in knows for sure or not..  Two girls - Smokey the gray tiger and Miss Priss the dilute brown patched tabby according to the paperwork.. dilute torbie to me - and three boys - Tigger DSH orange, Bashful DLH orange, and Buffy DSH buff/cream.  Yup, such original names.. :) I so don't see me using them.  They are robust, round active adorable little balls of fluff.  They are currently a little easily freaked out, but I don't see that lasting very long.  I also don't see them hanging out very long either :(  They'll probably make weight by the end of the week..

Although I do want to say that "Buffy" is quite an artist.  Twice he has made me casts of his foot print.. it has been very adorable (aka he pees in the scoopable litter then steps right in it)

I feel bad that the room is such a mess.  Esmay would totally freak when I would sweep up debris, so I tended not to do that while she was with me, and I couldn't face the room with out her there.  So that is on the agenda..   I don't want to change it too much because I want Esmay to feel comfortable if she comes back, so the kittens are in the cage

20 comments:

  1. Such cute little furballs!

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  2. I am so sorry about Esme... Will keep her in my thoughts! What a sweet gold bunch! "Tigger" (agree... The names are not terribly original!) and "Bashful" are my picks! Now to convince the hubby! ;-)

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    1. easiest way to do that is to put them in his hand :)

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    2. :-) that is what I am hoping for!

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  3. I am sending lots of purrs to Esmay! I too think the girl has some life left in her.

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  4. Sending lots of purrs and purrayers to Esmay! We hope she'll be home with you soon.
    Those kittens are adorable! Love that picture of them climbing the tree. :)

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  5. Poor Esmay - you have to do what you think is best......if you think she has a chance then you need to take a stand for her.

    Those kittens are certainly cute. I don't blame you for being a little annoyed at the manager though.... but what can you do? :)

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  6. I am sorry about Esmay. You have done so much for her! Those kittens know they are cute!!!! mol

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  7. Poor Emsay. We're sending purrs and universal Light to her for her Highest Good, whatever that turns out to be.

    The kittens are beyond precious, of course.

    Purrs and peace to all.

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  8. get well soon Esmay!love the new fluffys!

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  9. Sorry to hear about Esmay. We hope she gets well soon. The new kittens are a delight! Lee and Phod

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  10. Oh noes...we'll be sending positive thoughts and prayers for Esmay.

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  11. Oh the little red ones just slay me... The darker furrier one - sigh.... love him.

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  12. Purrrrss for Esmay. We hope she rallies and starts eating like a little pig.

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  13. Anonymous3:25 AM

    Connie, I have been reading your blog for nearly 8 hours today. I found it by googling something about Sun Chlorella. Anyway, somehow I landed where you had just taken in a very tiny gray and white kitten and his brother. I was so concerned about his health and ups and downs that I read every single blog up until the day you released him and his brother to forever homes. Simon & Shuster held me in suspense, laughter, worry, and joy for several hours today, better than a couple top movies I watched last night. (I'm a book designer so I love their names.) And of course I got to meet the rest of the balls of fur that you had at the time. I did stick around for several more posts, and was very happy to see them go to good homes. Especially Simon going to live with his girlfriend Aggie! That of course took me to the adventures of that very special Nario. He seemed so sick, and then I guess his ear all cleared up because he was adopted.
    Well, I just had to find out who you were, offering such a wonderful foster home to all these little furballs, especially taking in the sick ones and restoring their health. I couldn't find a formal "about" so I decided to go to your first blog post. 2002! You've been fostering and blogging for over 10 years? Incredible! So I started reading your posts from the very first one, and oh they were so heartbreaking. Especially the one that simply said "The kittens are gone" and nothing else. How do you do it? But you do keep on giving hope and health to kitten after kitten. You, Connie, are a saint.
    So it's only fitting, discovering your blog on this particular day as you are suffering the devastating hurt about your own precious Esmay, that I say you are one of God's greatest gifts to our precious feline families. Your account of each kitten is priceless. Your experience and advice on health and medicines is so very helpful. And you are a treasure to those of us who relive through your relentless writing the frolics and cuteness and overabundant joy -- and underabundant -- sleep of having tiny little squeeking kittens...as I, for one, hold my former kitten, now a magnificent full-grown black cat, Jeepers Creepers. Together we'll say a prayer for Esmay. I mean that, for when I pray Jeepers purrs.

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  14. Poor sweet Esmay. I totally get what you're going through with her. And the swallowing...our almost-20 year old kitty had that and it seemed to me to be a form of kitty ALS. So very hard to see them failing as they age.

    Glad you have the kitties now. And hoping Esmay rallies....

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  15. Oh Esmay, I feel so bad. You did everything you could and she still didn't flourish. I can totally see why you needed those kittens.

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  16. Kittens do a lot of healing, and someday they'll be gold as well. I hope they find something with Esmay and she can come back and regain her health, or perhaps she is just enjoying your affection in the time she has left.

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  17. Hoping Esmay is going to be ok? I hope she can come back to stay with you where she can be more comfortable. Sending many purrs to her.

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  18. I am so sure these five babies are glad to have stayed together, especially for now while they are still so young. They sure look as if they are having some fun. Purrs and hugs from the kitties at The Cat on My Head, Lily Olivia, Mauricio, Misty May, Giulietta, Fiona, Astrid, Lisbet and Calista Josette

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