my trip to the shelter

I stopped by the shelter to see Ginger last night.  I couldn't find her in the front treatment rooms, I totally spaced that they have a sick ward in the back of the shelter so after I looked for her I waited to talk to a staff member to find out where she was.  In the mean time I saw Tina was STILL there so I pulled her out of the cage for some lovin.

After a minute a couple came to my attention.  I usually garner attention when I'm holding a kitten, and they were looking at me, so I smiled and made some sort of conversational comment - I really don't remember what I said.. Turns out they were looking to adopt a kitten and out of all of the kittens in the cages they had already been looking at her.  So I handed her over (I mean what better way to sell a kitten than to have hands on it) and continued to chat with them.  Very nice couple who already has two dogs but they were looking for a cat.  They still really hadn't made up their mind so after a really nice chat they didn't go home with her, but it looks promising.  Paws crossed Tina works her magic on them and they come back.

It was fun because a lot of the transfer kittens were out and up for adoption. They were a bit older - maybe 16 weeks - and they had so much energy to spare it was such a riot watching them try to burn off some energy in a cage.

Finally I was done talking and the staff was free and that duh moment occurred and I went off to see Ginger. She sounded less congested, but she still wasn't eating very well.  She had taken a few bites of the food they had given her, but not much.  She seemed interested in seeing me, but she's not a fan of other cats so she was a little stressed when I picked her up and she saw the other cats.  I tried to shield her, but she also isn't a cuddler, so after a few kisses I put her back.  She sniffed at the food again but than went and settled in the back of the cage.  So not great news, but she isn't worse either so that's something.

There was another pregnant cat that had been turned in, but it was not offered nor did I ask about it.  There were no kittens needing foster care either.  There is something nice about that, but it is a little sad on a personal selfish note.  It was sad to have an empty kitten room in August... DH said I have kitties, they are just bigger.  ha ha ha  (typed out while I have a cat sitting between my face and my laptop - say hi Skippy.. *purr*)

Is there room on Mom for me?? ~Jack

Going back to the shelter

Ok, I can't handle this any more.  The looks, the coughing, the sneezing, the wheezing, the lack of eating.. it is near killing me.  Ginger does NOT believe that my forcing things on her is helping her and that girl has the worst case of guilt eyes you have EVER seen..

I ran out while I was at work today and picked up a few cans of the food she ate last time she ate at the house and when I got home I medicated her first and than offered her food.

Well the medication caused her to cough all over again, and then she started sneezing something fierce. So she didn't eat the food.  DH came in at that point and tried to help..

Nope, she out and out refused.  At least she sniffed and gave it a lick for him.. so I stepped in.. (and no pictures of that mayhem) and force fed her.

I am fairly certain I felt babies move this time, but I can now also feel her entire spine.  I called the shelter to report what was going on and I got "give the antibiotic time" - well she stopped eating before she started sneezing, so I think that is secondary.. and "some kitties stop eating before they give birth" which is true, but not a week before they give birth, and they most certainly do not lose this much weight.  Seeing as I had a sick mother cat who refused to eat abort in my care before, I just can not deal with this emotionally.  As much as I hate the idea of her sitting in a cage at the shelter, I know she sits in her box all day so it isn't like she is using up all the space that she has.. and they will have two people to give her fluids and can get her to the vet if they feel they need to.  I intend to leave her there tomorrow.. possibly even Thursday.. if they feel that they want to put her into another foster home I won't like it because I hate feeling like a failure, but I fully accept that there are things I can't do.. and watching a pregnant mom not eat for days on end is one of them.

Many many purrs Ginger.. I hope this works out and you come back and we get to go through your labor and watch your kittens grow up..

Ginger's day at the shelter

So this morning Ginger was still looking quite miserable to me so I packed her up and brought her to the shelter. When I got there everyone was busy so I put her on the floor, mentioned to a shelter worker that she was there and why and went off to work (there was more to it)

I get an email two hours later saying they put her in a cage with food and she ate it. I seriously considered banging my head on the desk.

After I got out of work I went to the shelter and talked to M. She told me that Ginger ate everything they gave her so they gave her more. They didn't hear her sneeze at all and I was free to take her. I went back to pack her up and she sounded congested to me and after I got her in the carrier she sneezed several times in a row.  I quickly took her out to see M and of course she stopped sneezing.  *rolls eyes*  Seriously!?!? M gave me some meds for her anyway which I totally do not look forward to giving her.. I mean I can give them to her that isn't a problem, but it is her reaction to them and her not trusting me that really gets to me.. but hopefully if this helps her maybe she'll be more accepting of them.

I brought her home and opened up a can of food for her..

Yes, she refused to eat it.  *headdesk*  so I opened up something different and she ignored that too.. hopefully she's just full from the food that she ate at the shelter and she'll eat it overnight. If not I'll stop at the local pet store and pick up a few cans of the stuff she ate the other night.

My husband came home and asked after her.  I told him what happened, how she ate as soon as she got to the shelter, and what did my sweet mild mannered never swears DH say?  "Wench!" *giggle* at least I wasn't alone in the feeling..

So paws crossed that this is over and when I go down in the AM to take care of her she is feeling better and has eaten everything in sight.  A foster mom can hope can't she??




I also wanted to share a few other photos I took at the shelter..

Tina is still up for adoption.  I think she is starting to realize she needs to sell herself because this evening she came right up to me and purred at me.. where as this morning she wanted to get away from me.  She has a really cute boy kitten in the cage with her "Vixen"

They also had three cages full of kittens from a transport - at least that is what the post-its said on the cages. They were cute and outgoing so I am sure they'll find homes right quick. I meant to ask where they came from, but I forgot and it really doesn't matter. Some place in the south no doubt..

this is the good side of the shelter.. the bad side of my visit.. there are two different 20+ yr old cats that were turned in.. talk about your headdesk..

Headed to the shelter

So last I left you on the story of Ginger was Thursday and she had slowed down her eating.  Well she also developed liquid diarrhea.  Friday I went into the shelter and spoke to K and she gave me some Albon for her.

I gave her the first dose which went semi OK.. she swallowed what I gave her, but the remnants drooled out of her mouth and all over her.  She looked at me like I had broken her tiny trust and it broke my heart.  I tried to explain to her it was to help her, but she wasn't taking any chances.  It took quite some time and a lot of open hands (see no meds) to get her to allow me to pat her again.

Saturday we had solid stools, but she wasn't eating much at all.  She lost quite a bit of weight (any weight loss is quite a bit when you are pregnant and should be gaining) and I was concerned, so I called the shelter and was told that we could get her in to a vet on Monday if needed.  Saturday night I stumbled upon a can of food she would eat.. BFF Tuna.. so I gave her the second can of it and she ate that too.  After the first can of food I attempted to give her the second dose of Albon.. this went worse than the first dose and the drool was MUCH worse and the looks of disdain cut right through me.  I explained that if she ate well, kept solid stool and started cleaning up the drool off her fur from yesterday that I wouldn't need to force anything on her.  I gave her a good belly rub which she loved quite a bit and I felt a lot of fluttering in her belly.. it felt a bit like her kittens were having a little swim meet.. :)

Sunday I didn't have another can of BFF, so I offered FF whitefish and tuna, and that was a no go.  I found another can of stinky fish food and she licked maybe a quarter of the gravy off.  She sneezed a few times, so I attempted to give her fluids.  It all went well - until a point.  She didn't care that I brought the fluid bag in the room.  She didn't care when I swapped out needles.  She didn't care when I put her on the couch, and she mostly didn't care when the needle pierced her skin.. but once the fluids started flowing she started running.  She bolted so fast it seriously was the blink of an eye.. at one point I had a cat getting fluids, the next nanosecond I had fluids shooting all over the floor. *shakes head*

I tried again a bit later on, and the same thing happened.. and again the look of distrust.. *sigh*

Last night she was sneezing quite a bit and breathing open mouthed. She also felt quite warm to the touch... her belly and her ears but not her feet.  I attempted to rub her belly but she didn't want to lay down so I tried to feel for kitten movement while she stood and let me rub her belly.  It was hard, and I am not sure I felt anything at all... there might have been something.. it might have just been her stomach or intestines and gas..  I haven't felt movement in there every day since she has been here, so not feeling movement at this point is not necessarily a bad thing, but considering the lack of food and now the congestion.. I'm concerned.  So at 8am I'll be bringing her to the shelter and letting them decide what they want to do with her.  If nothing else they will have a second pair of hands there that are trained in giving medication.  While I can do more, that look of distrust was something I can not deal with.. I want to be her safe space.. not her jailer..

Since I do not know what is going on with her, I do not know what the future holds.  She might come right back, she might stay at the shelter for a while.. she might stay at the vets for a while (more first and last options are more likely than the middle one)   So we'll see.  I'll keep you updated as I know more.

Still no babies

I have a bit of a concern in that she has stopped eating as well as she had been.  At first I was hopeful it meant it was her time, even though I can't feel babies in there... but now she is having liquid diarrhea and she has lost a couple of ounces last night so I'll be writing to the shelter and see what they want me to do..

but she is still happy and active and hiding behind the couch unless I'm sitting in the room.  We ended up moving the couch away from the heating register so if she happens to give birth on the floor we won't have to deal with that..

I put the box I intended to be a birthing box back there as well as a cardboard box and some towels.. I think she likes it better... but I could be wrong but this morning she was in the cardboard box instead of on the floor.

Kitten watch 2013

So "Ginger" is still not birthing those babies.  She does love it when I pat her belly, and I think I might feel a flutter.. if so we are going to be doing this for a while - and OMG I bet she is going to have a huge litter because she's already quite large belly wise.

She is doing better in her fear / trust issues.  The first few times I went in it took forever for her to come out and she had to see my face first.  Last night she came out pretty much on her own.  She mewed at me first, and I called to her and she came out.

She really likes sitting on the couch, so I decided to put a tarp on the couch under the covering so if she does happen to give birth on the couch it won't ruin it.  I tried to re-introduce her to the box I bought in hopes that it would be used as a birthing box, but she still doesn't like it.  Maybe she just wants to avoid it until it is time to keep the smell of her to a minimum.. (if her scent builds up it is like a calling card to predators.. it is also why they eat their placenta and the waste of the kittens)

Looking at her I noticed she looks a bit like a Sphynx.  Since I know some times Sphynx kitties have hair.. since it was a genetic mutation that took it way, I'm guessing a genetic mutation might put it back?  I don't know, I'm sure someone much more versed in these things can tell me I'm way off course..

from http://hairlesscatblog.com/cute-mexican-hairless-cats

OK fine, I have crappy photos of her,
but she does have that Bull Terrier look about her

Seriously, tell me you can't see the resemblance.. check out this photo of a Sphynx with hair.. it's at a stock image agency.  Oddly enough finding another photo was near impossible.. (OK fine, it was impossible because I don't want to look beyond the first page of google results) I have to say I REALLY hope there aren't hairless kittens growing in there.  I know people think they are really cute, but I have absolutely NO idea what to do with them.. I suppose I can learn..

New additions to the Foster Room

So at BlogPaws Bernadette drew a photo of Odilia and raised some funds for the shelter.  Bernadette provided me with a copy of the image and I had it printed on canvas.  I ran across a buy one get one free sale so I had two made and Amy Jo bought one and here hangs the other..

I also hung the painting I won at the shelter's kitten shower as well.  I think they look really nice there..

Speaking of things in the kitten room, I couldn't really face seeing Trevor in there with out Odi, and since he and The Spitters were of size...

and so I brought them back to the shelter.. They will be neutered and will go up for adoption if they haven't already.  Good lucky sweet kitties..

and since this is a post about new additions..

Um.. hello?

what?

Yup, it is official, we are on Kitten Watch..  Kitten Watch 2013 officially started on Friday when I met her.. but didn't move to the house until Saturday. Her paperwork says she is a year and a half.  She was an owner surrender not a stray and the profile they filled out said she came from "Tulum Mexico". She must have one interesting story.. She was surrendered because she didn't get along with the dog. She also shows signs that this is not her first litter since ALL of her nipples are distended and some of them show signs of having been nursed on before. She also has a scab on the back of her head and one behind her whiskers on the side of her mouth, so I'm guessing that the 'not getting along' got violent at some point.

Her given name is Ginger which fits as she is ginger colored under her stripes, but I don't think I'm going to keep it.  We'll see what happens.

I am guessing her story was that someone was vacationing in Mexico and saw a pregnant kitty and wanted to rescue her and brought her home but once they got here it didn't work out with the dog.  I can't imagine they had her any length of time.. but who knows.  Maybe they took home a kitten and then got a dog?  or maybe they brought home a kitten and she only got aggressive with the dog when she got pregnant.. but that doesn't explain the first pregnancy.. *shrug*  suppose it don't rightly matter.  She is here now..

She is thin, but I think she's just willowy. She hides until she sees me and then after a bit of conversation she will come out and eat and then very very much wants attention. She likes sitting on the couch and having her belly rubbed.  She let me trim her claws.  There are times I can't tell if she is playing or if I ticked her off, but as soon as I stop moving she stops trying to bite or rabbit kick me so she has very good manners..

If she is a first time mom and has fewer kittens I suspect we will have kittens by the end of the week. If she has already had a litter and has more kittens we could be looking at several weeks.  I'm hoping for the former and not the latter.

Anyone want to take bets?

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