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For the kitten's fourth week birthday I decided to be an idiot and scare the crap out of them! Hurrah! I'm learning oh so much about fostering kittens; what to do, not do. Today's lesson is: “DO NOT DO THIS.”
The other day I downloaded some iPhone apps that had to do with cats. Some are educational/ reference material about what is toxic to cats or cat health and others are silly and have to do with painting using photos of cats or adding weird things to existing photos of cats (like laser beam eyes). I also got this app called Cat Sounds. It was FREE. It has all of FOUR (free) cat sounds on it, plus some wild cat sounds. Last night I played a few of the sounds and my cats almost slept through them. One sat up and looked around.
This morning, after playing with the kittens and shooting some video, as a MORONIC ACT I decided to (FAIL!) play the sounds. One sound was of a purring cat and another was was titled: “Happy Cat.” April was sitting next to me on the floor. She heard the sounds and looked around, but was basically bored.
I played the Happy sound again. I think it was a cat in heat. The energy in the room shifted. It got quiet. I looked into the bathtub and the kittens had formed a group and were huddled together-TERRIFIED!
Of course, instead of soothing them, I shot a video. Classy move on my part, I know. Fortunately the kittens don't appear to be adversely effected, but one of them is still giving me a funny look ever time I enter the room to check in on them.
Watch the video! It will explain it in a more entertaining way.
It's Sunday. Time to kick back and relax. April's kittens are one day away from reaching their 4th week birthday. They're starting to look more like cats and less like hamsters. Their wobbly legs are getting more sturdy and this week many of them have figured out what the litter pan is for.
I'm still awkwardly attempting to provide supplemental feedings for the smaller kittens, but they don't eat much and so far only Dahlia, who is one of the biggest kittens, has eaten well for me. The kittens are growing and their mass dwarfs their Mother, April as she rolls over to expose her belly so the kittens can all reach a nipple. Every day I see more of the kittens and less of April. I've got to get these kittens starting on lapping at their milk replacer, but so far it hasn't gone well.
What did surprise me was seeing one of the kittens dash over to April's plate of food and give it a lick! It was canned food so I was surprised and it wasn't enough to cause the kitten any issues. I thought that maybe that kitten was hungry and sure enough I got her to take a few syringes of formula.
The kittens are starting to recognize me. At first it was just Cutie who would scramble over to the side of the tub and cry for me to pick her up. Now Dahlia and Sabrina have joined along. They all purr when I hold them. It's a marvelous feeling to hold a tiny kitten and hear her purr and see her relaxed and inquisitive, not fearful at all.
Every day I spend a few hours with the family. I fuss over how clean their bedding is-which I change out every day. I make sure the kittens pee for me after I feed them and they always oblige by lifting their back right leg when I stimulate them to go! It's a very strange sight. I'm beginning to feel like their co-Mother and April seems to understand that. She “talks” to me and the kittens when she's not in the tub with them. She comes over to be petted and is relaxed if I'm holding or feeding the kittens. She trusts me and I'm very careful to honor that trust and not do anything to upset the balance.
I'm starting to change up the kitten's environment to give them added enrichment and also to challenge them. Yesterday I added a small cat scratching post and they all surrounded it with complete fascination. Two of them managed to climb it! I'll post a video of that later this week. Today they enjoyed romping inside a padded cube. I am completely mesmerized by their antics as they clumsily climb in, then fall back out of the cube. I can tell they're having fun and I know I'm helping them become more confident in the world around them.
I'm very grateful the kittens have survived this long. I've heard that when they cut their teeth between weeks 4 and 5 they can suddenly die. Of course I'm completely paranoid about this happening and am very glad I cancelled a trip I was going to take at the end of the week. I need to be home no matter how badly I'd like to take a break and get away. I don't want to lose a single kitten; not on my watch.
The sun is absent today and it's about 30° cooler than it was yesterday. The rains are coming, at last. It's the perfect day to snuggle up with six squirmy, sweet, impossible-to-photograph kittens and savor this special time in their lives.
Last week, our friend JaneA Kelley, lost her dear cat, Dahlia to atypical large-cell lymphoma. It all seemed to happen so quickly, just moments after JaneA moved into her new apartment, her concerns that something was wrong with her beloved cat, that had nothing to do with the stress of moving, came true. JaneA's blog, Paws & Effect, followed Dahlia's life and sudden passing in moving detail. You can read about Dahlia's passing HERE.
Dahlia, along with her kitty-family, Thomas T. Bombadil & Siouxsie Mew are well known to fans of cat blogs around the world, so we all felt great sadness when JaneA posted the news that Dahlia was gone. We lost one of our own.
As a friend, I just wanted to make it better. I hate to hear about cats passing away. I never want any cat to die-that's why I do cat rescue. I wanted to do more than simply say I was sorry or send a card. So, if you'll watch the video posted here, you'll see what I've done in honor of Dahlia's life and these photos will make more sense.
In this follow-up to my post, “Save Your Cat's Life with a Question”, I wanted to share with you some resources you can use to help guide you in making proper choices for your cat's care. Please note: there are certain situations where you do NOT have time to do research. Please use common sense to determine what is most appropriate. The information below is a partial list of what you can find on the internet. When in doubt, keep looking, the answers are out there.
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One of our friends wrote a comment yesterday about her cat who was mis-diagnosed with liver failure:“On day 7 I heard my cat screaming in my bedroom & ran in to see him in the cat box. He pooped out a poop that was rock solid about 8 or 9 inches long AND it contained a blue wal-mart bag. MY CAT ATE A PLASTIC BAG! OMG!!! I scooped it up into a plastc baggie & Monday morning I took it to the vet office & gave it to the vet & said - here is your liver failure!
The vet did not do any blookwork on my cat, even though his belly was rock hard & solid, they never offered an xray or ultrasound. Had they done an xray or an ultrasound they would have seen the obstruction. I did not know enough to ask for it or even question the hard belly. The Vet did not offer an opinion on it after the physical exam so I assumed it was caused by his being jaundiced. My opinion, the vet never looked past the jaundice & just assumed cuz he was a big cat, he was in liver failure even though he had never had any issues like this ever before. ”
This is why you must exercise due diligence and do the research: ask questions, make phone calls, email friends and colleagues. This poor person thought her cat was going to die of liver failure at any moment, but the symptoms didn't add up. Now she knows better to ASK more questions and be a better cat-vocate!
There are support groups online available for just about any disease or disorder you can think of where you can dig deeper and get even more information. Your Vet can't sit with you for hours and go over every detail. It's up to you to do the leg work so you can understand what your Vet believes is going on and so you can compare those findings with other cats who suffer from the same issues and/or test results. MANY of these groups have a presence on Facebook, so look there, too.
Dr. Louis J. Camuti Memorial Consulation Service via Cornell University. This is a fee-based phone consultation service that can provide you with a second opinion. I've used the service and found it to be very helpful and the Vets on staff are very caring and compassionate.
WINN FELINE FOUNDATION-currently working on Anti-immune evasive therapy for FIP, as well as decontamination of textiles exposed to ringworm (man, do I need that info!).
Doctors Foster & Smith Information Center. This is not a shameless plug for a retail operation, but I include them because their reference area is very good. I've used it specifically to get information on how to read my cat's blood work. I found the information very easy to understand and well written. Just try not to buy something while you're doing research because you'll certainly be tempted.
RESEARCH
A key factor in getting your cat the care she needs is to make sure your Vet is on top of the latest information regarding your cat's issues. All major Universities have research programs, as well as many take on cats as clients just as a “regular” Vet would do. Spending some time looking up what the Universities are researching may lead you to being able to have your cat be part of a study or you may get valuable information that will make a difference in your cat's future.
I will say this until I'm blue in the face-avoid MANY of your cat's health issues by feeding a species appropriate diet!
Feline Nutrition Education Society (MUST READ! Great reference material and insightful articles on many different health issues that are effected by diet)
Cat Info by Dr Lisa Pierson, DVM (she was my inspiration for changing my cat's diet and FNES helped refine my understanding.)
Pardon my use of the word “alternative,” because here in the USA we are so very “western-medicine-centric,” but I'm not sure what would describe these therapies better. There are certain medical issues that benefit greatly from these additional therapies and I encourage you to look into it. I've had great results with homeopathy and kittens with upper respiratory, as well as with reducing anxiety in my cats and I know a few people who swear that acupuncture helps ease their pet's discomfort with joint issues.
That said, as with anything else, do the research, understand the limitations of the type of medicine you're investigating. The thing that's really great about many of these therapies is that they work with the natural order of how the body works. They don't utilize antibiotics, do surgery and, in theory, make your cat feel worse. It doesn't treat all maladies and often times you still need to work with your “Western Vet” depending on the issue. These types of Vets include: Homeopathic Veterinarians, Holistic Veterinarians, Acupuncturists, Vets who specialize in Traditional Chinese & Western Herbal Medicine & Chiropractors. I believe most of these Vets have a “traditional” Veterinary background before they specialize.
Jackson Galaxy said something to me when we were at dinner a few weeks ago. He spoke passionately about the importance of sharing information, whether it be how to give SubQ fluids to a fractious cat or how to medicate a kitten. He has a great deal of respect for people who have been “in the trenches” for years. What they've learned about working with cats needs to be shared. To paraphrase what he meant; “It hurts everyone if there's only one person who really knows every single way to trap a feral cat. We have to share our knowledge. No one should be a gate-keeper.”
So with that in mind, I hope this information helps you and your kitty have a much better, safer, happier and healthier life together.
April and her kittens have been here for a few weeks and every day I enjoy seeing them making progress. It's a slow change, from being blind, to opening their eyes, to struggling to stand, to taking awkward steps. Their tiny, sharp cries alert their mama who attends to them constantly. She's a very small cat and regardless of how attentive she is, as the kittens grow, I grow more concerned about her ability to provide for them.
April has been very fussy about her food. I've even gone against my own better judgement and put down grain free dry food for her in case she'll eat it. Right now she has to eat and eat a lot or the kittens will be adversely effected. I've been trying every sort of food I can find, but few things tempt her. She loves fish based food. I don't love that for her, but at this point, she's got to eat.
A few days ago, I brought three of the kittens to my Vet so they could show me how to bottle feed them. I decided if I supplement the smallest kittens it will help them and help mom, too. The problem is getting the kittens to drink the formula.
The entire process of bottle feeding is very daunting to me, but I had to push through my fears. I've never had kids or bottle fed or even seen it been done. I did some research, watched videos. They make it look so easy, but looking down at the 10 ounce lifeform in my hands, wriggling around, not wanting to sit still, realizing she could die if I screw up, is not my idea of a good time.
First problem was getting the formula OUT of the bottle. The rubber nipples are made of some sort of self-healing material so no matter how many times I took a match, heated the tip of a big needle and poked repeated hole after repeated hole into it, I couldn't get the formula OUT. It was VERY ANNOYING. I used a knife, but I could only get a tiny tiny stream out of the nipple if I used both hands to squeeze the bottle.
I was told to try using a syringe, which did end up working a bit better. The problem is it's easy to accidentally shoot a stream of formula into the kitten, which could cause her to aspirate and there's MATH involved..how much does the kitten weigh? How much formula should she have in a day? Her mother is feeding her so she should not be overfed, but what is enough? What if she won't eat it all? The ratio of food to water is 1:2, until they get older than it changes. Weights are in cc's. Syringe is in mL. My scale weighs in ounces! Ugh.
Somehow it worked out kinda…sorta. I started with the littlest kitten. She has bizarre polydactyl toes and has a tiny white spot on her chest. I put her onto a towel on my legs, placing her at an angle so she is sitting up. I tried not to jam the tip of the syringe into her mouth. I almost stabbed her eye. Then I worried I was going to drown her in formula if I pushed the plunger on the syringe too hard. The formula was very warm, but cooling off fast. I had to get this done. She licked at it, then turned her head away from me. I couldn't see where her mouth was because her fur is black and my close up vision is lousy.
I took a breath and relaxed, trying not to panic. She will eat what she will. I'm doing my best. I wiped off her face and tried again. She licked at the syringe, but turned her head again.
I learned how to help her eliminate and I read somewhere that the kitten may not eat because they need to empty out their bladder first. I held her over a few paper towels and lightly rubbed her back end with a warm, most cotton ball. She wriggled and cried, then the pad got a light yellow stain on it and a few drops of urine fell out onto the paper towel. At least I was doing something right. April, alerted to the kitten's distress, sat up and looked at me, ready to pounce. I dried the kitten's behind and showed her that the kitten was fine. The kitten calmed down. I tried feeding her again, but it was like trying to throw a dart into a moving target when you're drunk. Good luck with that.
After what seemed an eternity, the kitten lapped up the contents of a syringe and part of a second one. It comforted me to see her eat. I remembered to tap her back with one finger to help burp her. She obliged me. I gave her a kiss and lifted her wriggling tiny self back into her bathtub home. She joined her sisters who are trying to get fed. Some were struggling to get to a nipple. I grabbed a second kitten who began the process all over again.
I only got three kittens fed before the formula was cold. I decided to make certain I weigh the kittens every day. I have to stay on top of this. With six kittens and a tiny mama, it would be very easy to lose one or more of them. Even at three weeks, they are not out of the woods.
I've been supplementing the feedings for a few days. I'm still not great at it, but some of the kittens will wriggle a bit less and let me feed them. The runt, who I am calling, Cutie, recognizes me when I walk into the room. She runs over to the side of the bathtub and stands up on her hind legs. She furiously scratches her big, clumsy paws on the side of the tub. She's reaching up to me, crying. I lift her into my arms and she quiets down. I think she is bonding with me, her surrogate mother. It melts my heart. Surely she is too young to have any idea who or what I am but I am lost in her expression. Her big round eyes, so dark and sweet, look right into my soul. Her paws, not much bigger than my fingertip, rest on my left hand while I feed her with my right. I am as in love with her as she with me. Here we go again. No foster fail this time. I must remain aloof.
Well…perhaps I'll put off being aloof for a few more weeks and just feel love for this small soul. I'm rooting for her and her sisters (and maybe one brother?). I hope their journey will be a long one, filled with good things and that I'm helping them get off on the right paw, even if it has a crazy number of extra toes of on it.
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Use the ChipIn Widget, below if you'd like to help this family. They'll need vetting (times seven) in the next few weeks and supportive care like cotton balls to help them eliminate, paper towels and cleaning supplies, kitten formula, baby food and new kitten-specific toys. We'd also like to invest in getting a web cam so we can broadcast the kittens on the net! We figure that will add about $200.00 to our fundraising.
If you'd prefer to send a check, please make it out to: Kitten Associates and please note on the check the funds should go to "April's Family" mail it to:
Any funds not used for the care of this family will go into our General Fund.
If you can't make a donation, you can help us by getting the word out. Every dollar helps and every Re-tweet or FB Share does, too. THANK YOU for caring about this very special family!
Yesterday I got a heartbreaking comment on a post I wrote two years ago about the dangers of giving your cat Metacam®. The cat guardian found my post after he had given Metacam to his 13 year old cat because she had hip dysplasia and he wanted her to be comfortable. He noticed his cat became constipated and called the Vet to ask if the Metacam was the culprit and they said it was unlikely. He backed off giving his cat the medication and she got better, but she was still having pain in her hips so he felt obliged to give her the Metacam again.
The constipation returned to the point of her crying and straining when she attempted to defecate. She began vomiting so her guardian took her to the Vet. They determined she was in renal failure (based on blood work). They offered treatment but gave the cat about nine months to live. The guardian, feeling like he wanted to do what was best for his cat, chose to have her humanely euthanized. After she died, he did some research online and found out he could have treated her and she probably would have lived much longer- and clearly, too, it was possible that the Metcam caused her renal failure!
He wrote me, broken hearted. His cat was gone. Here he was trying to do the best he could for her and felt he had failed her.
What went wrong?
This brings up a few points I'd like to share about how to work with your Vet during your cat's health crisis. Notice I didn't write; “How to listen to your Vet and do what they tell you and not ask questions.”
If you're NOT someone like me, who has a lot of cats and is always at the Vet or learning about cat health, then it's very easy to put the decisions into your Vet's hands and not take an active roll in your cat's health decisions. The second you do this almost guarantees that later on you'll have a lot of regret. If your cat isn't in an emergency situation, like she was injured in an accident or ate something poisonous, then use common sense. Take the time to find out what the Vet is talking about. Even if it means, as I have done in the past, sitting down with a report in one hand and looking up terms online so you can decipher an ultrasound report, then do it. Here are other things to ask:
• If your vet says to change your cat's diet to a “prescription diet”
or give them an antibiotic ask him or her WHY are they making this recommendation?
What side effects or other issues can this medication cause? Is there something
you can do to help offset the side effects (like give probiotics at a timed interval
after giving an antibiotic). What's in this food that's so good for my cat?
Is it species appropriate or full of grain that will sicken my cat further?
• How will your cat benefit from this treatment or is the Vet simply
not sure what is going on and wants to try something to see if it works?
You'd be surprised at how often that happens.
• Is this medication specifically ok to use in cats or is
this an “off label” use?
• Would my cat benefit from seeing a homeopathic, holistic or
eastern medicine Vet? What about acupuncture? If the cat had
bad hips, she may have done well with that therapy, alone.
Unknowingly, the cat guardian thought it was safe to use Meatcam on his cat because his Vet prescribed it…but Metacam is NOT DESIGNED FOR USE IN CATS. It's used “off-label” because there are no effective NSAIDs (Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs) for cats that wouldn't also cause them more problems or kill them. I wrote about it in more detail in my original post on Metacam that you can read HEREEven back then I wrote: “If you read the insert it clearly says " Do not give in cats" and it has caused renal failure in a number of cats after just one dose.”
To make matters even MORE confusing, lately Metacam is being touted SAFE for cats who are undergoing orthopedic surgery or even a spay/neuter if injected one-time before surgery is done to prevent swelling. In fact, Bobette's surgeon gave her Metacam, which flipped me out because I didn't know it until he had already given it to her. He said it was safe if used along with an IV which would keep the kidneys flushed out. So I did some reading about it and see he was correct, but it's still comes with MANY WARNINGS: “Pets should be evaluated for pre-existing conditions and currently prescribed medications prior to treatment with METACAM. Anesthetic drugs may affect renal perfusion; approach concomitant use of anesthetics and NSAIDs cautiously. Use of parenteral fluids during surgery is recommended. Concurrent use of nephrotoxic medications should be carefully approached. Multiple injections or concurrent or follow up use with an NSAID (including METACAM) or corticosteroid should be avoided.”
This is from the Boehringer Ingelheim Vetmedica, Inc. Metacam data sheet. It states: “Death has been reported as an outcome of the adverse events listed above. Acute renal failure and death have been associated with use of meloxicam in cats.”
Should YOU have to know this information? Should you have to know about every single medication your Vet prescribes? Why can't you just leave it up to them? They're the ones who went to Vet school!
Guess again. There can be more than one way to treat a health issue. Surprisingly, diet alone can help with a number of factors. If you DON'T get involved with understanding what your cat is being prescribed, then you can find yourself in a very sad situation, as our friend was a few days ago. It's not his fault that he trusted his Vet, but there's a point at which you MUST take an ACTIVE ROLL in your cat's health. Partner with your Vet. Don't let them simply dictate to you. Yes, they have more experience and they went to college, but you can read and you can ask questions. What your Vet is telling you may be spot on, perfect, appropriate and safe-and I hope that's always the case, but for the sake of helping your cat live a long and lovely life, please…ASK QUESTIONS!…breathe!…give yourself some time to consider what is going on and take a step back if you have to. I never want to read another comment or get another email from someone who felt like they were backed into a corner and put their cat down far too soon.
Take a moment do some research, ask questions, ask your friends, see another Vet. There's a tremendous amount of information out there. Even simply going to a pharmaceutical company's web site and looking up the information they provide on their drugs may be all you have to do so save your cat's life.
It's time to celebrate, kick back, steam some broccoli and enjoy the fact that the DOOD is part of our lives. He's come a long way-from being an abused four month old kitten who only knew how to attack or chase humans, instead of love them (and who could blame him after being kicked and taunted by the kid in the home he was living in?).
Even before I realized any of his social issues, I had a bad scare last July, right after I rescued Doodlebug. He tested positive for Feline Leukemia. The next two months ticked by so slowly. DOOD had to be confined to the bathroom until he could be re-tested and two tests confirmed he did NOT HAVE FELINE LEUKEMIA! During those months I worked with him, teaching him that hands were not toys or weapons and that he could have fun and feel safe around me. It took many months to get him to overcome his tendency to attack, but eventually he began to relax and not be so aggressive.
Today, the DOOD only jumps in my lap, instead of attacking me. He gives me microdermabrasion treatments to my face with his enthusiastic licking, and likes to lie upside down in the crook of my arm when it's time to go to sleep. He often reaches out his front paws and rests them on my cheek. Some times he does it when I'm asleep. It always makes me laugh. He's never extended his claws-ever. He seems to like to touch his paws to my skin. In fact, I checked to make sure I didn't miss that he was declawed he's so careful with me.
the DOOD has blossomed in more ways than one. He weighs 14 pounds, 3 ounces! He runs like a drunk rabbit. He “hog piles” onto Blitzen, then attack-licks him. He climbs into the kitchen sink and he chases after the other cats for pure sport. He's not perfect in every way, but my he's my perfect little brat.
Happy, Happy Birthday DOOD. Now go, eat your birthday broccoli.
AUTHOR'S NOTE: The intention of this post is to help educate, not sensationalize an event that was personally very disturbing to me. I've given it a lot of thought and I feel it could help others if I share what happened yesterday to our cat, Nicky. The video, below, shows puddles of urine that are very bloody. In fact, it looks more like puddles of blood. If this is disturbing to you, PLEASE do not watch the video. There is also a single photo of a second area of urine, below, as well.
It's been very challenging to take care of Nicky since we found out he has renal disease, a mass on his spleen (not cancer), and possibly, lymphoma. Nicky gets sub q (under the skin) fluids every other day. We monitor that he's eating well, but he's losing weight. He frequently urinates a great deal of urine, outside the litter pan. We've studied his habits, made certain the pans were spotlessly clean and had to stand “guard” next to him while he urinates in case he feels stressed. We've worked on keeping the stress down. It wasn't possible with kittens running around, but now that Jakey and Teddy are adopted, things are fairly quiet.
Thursday the 12th Nicky peed on one of the rugs. I caught him doing it. As usual, there was a huge puddle to clean up. There was nothing unusual about it. I battle with myself not to get angry, to just clean it up and move on. It's very difficult to watch my belongings and my home get ruined, but I know I'm not alone and that so many other people have far worse situations.
Friday the 13th, I was doing my usual routine of sitting with April and the kittens, getting mama fed, cleaning up the litter pan in her room and so on. Everyone was doing fine. Sam had to step out to run an errand. I said goodbye to him through the closed door of the foster room.
A few minutes later, I heard Bobette get into it with another cat. I've been allowing her the option to come out of her room, hoping she would get acclimated to my cats so I could use her room to foster more kittens. So far the experiment isn't going very well and she screeches at the other cats, then chase them away. So far she is not physical with them. The altercations last a second, tops. I finished up with April and got out of the room to see what had happened.
I went to Bobette's room. She was sitting on the bed. She looked fine. I walked down the hallway into my bedroom. I didn't see any cats. I thought I should take a shower and get ready for the day. I walked to the doorway of the bathroom and something caught my eye. There was a puddle of what I thought was blood on the floor.
I looked at it closely, then cleaned it up. It didn't smell like urine, but I know Petunia will some times mark near that spot.I thought it was her since she's had crystals in her urine in the past, but how was I going to figure out which of eight cats was doing this? I scanned the floor near the first spot and I saw small drops of bloody urine. There's only one cat who would drop urine and that was Nicky. Nicky had “PU” surgery years ago to remove his penis because he was getting blocked up so often. I didn't know about the importance of removing grain from a cat's diet at the time and if I did, we could have cured him without spending $8,000.00 to have surgery done. After the surgery we were told that Nicky may have some incontinence issues. I've never seen much from him, but seeing these drops made me realize it had to be him.
For some reason, I looked on the bed. We have a PawsOff® cover on it, but it wasn't covering next to my pillow, which was exactly where I found a small puddle of bloody urine. HE PEED ON THE BED!!!!!!
I ripped the sheets off the bed and put them into the laundry, then continued my search for both Nicky and for more puddles.
There were two bloody puddles on the landing between the first and second floors. There were droplets on the floor headed towards the bathroom. There was a puddle next to the dishwasher. I saw Nicky, he was straining on the carpet. I grabbed him and tossed him into the litter pan, blocking his escape. I was freaked out. I was angry. I knew I shouldn't be either, but I couldn't help it. Nicky ran out of the litter pan and started straining again. I grabbed him and tossed him into the downstairs bathroom and shut the door. At least if he peed on the floor it was tile and I could clean it up. I needed a few minutes to calm down and get things clean.
Then I realized my phone must have rung during all the commotion. There was a voicemail. It was Sam. He got a speeding ticket on the way to the Apple Store where he was going to try to get his dead PowerBook sent out for service! Great! I called him back, but only got his voicemail. I told him what was going on with Nicky. I called the Vet and told them I was pretty sure it was Nicky and they gave me an appointment for 12:30pm
Sam called back and told me Nicky had been vomiting earlier that morning. This not good. Clearly something is terribly wrong. Nicky was furiously scratching at the door to be let out. I opened the door.
What I saw took my breath away. The bathroom looked like a scene out of a horror movie. There were puddles of bloody urine scattered all over the room, on the counter, and the floor.
Nicky ran out of the room and vanished. I made myself shoot some video of it because I wanted Dr Larry to see it later, but I was so upset I could barely get any footage. I was certain that this was a sign that Nicky was going to die and soon. I thought that perhaps something had ruptured inside him or that had had a mass in his bladder on top of everything else.
I called Dr. Larry's office and Super-Deb answered the phone. Deb is my comfort, my friend. She always has a way to help me calm down and take a breath, but Super-Deb just lost her most dear cat in the world, Pete Puma, to lymphoma. Pete was a big orange Maine Coon. He lived through so many challenges it was amazing he lived into his teens. Here was Debbie, being her usual calm self and I am bawling my head off. I told her I had an emergency and that we couldn't wait until 12:30 to come it and that I was bringing Nicky in NOW. Deb was great and said to come in and they would fit us in. I reached Sam and told him what was going on. He would meet me at the Vet. I just had to FIND Nicky, pack him up and go…oh and put some clothes on! I was still in my jammies.
Nicky was hiding in the closet. Not a good sign. I managed to pack him up and get us in the car fairly quickly, but once I got on the road, it was another nightmare. I didn't get more than 200 yards out of my driveway when I got stuck behind a driver going 30 mph in a 40 mph zone. I waited for the passing zone to come up and I shot past him, cursing the whole way. I didn't get very far because the traffic came to a dead stop. It was 10:30am! What was going on? A semi-truck got STUCK making a turn onto the state road, so the traffic was limping along. It was really only moving because the cars ahead of me were turning around and going the other direction.
I got onto a back road, then got stuck, again behind a driver crawling at abnormally low speed. If they were doing the speed limit I would have just followed along, but I couldn't tolerate these slow drivers. Nicky was crying. I smelled urine. I thought he could be dying. I passed a few cars and just did what I needed to do. I finally got to the Vet. They told us to wait a few minutes. Sam was there already. We both looked pale and miserable. I started to cry again, the sound of it mingled with Nicky's own cries.
Dr. Larry was in the middle of a difficult case regarding a dog. He had his partner take over so he could see Nicky, who he calls; “my boy.” Dr. Larry loves Nicky and would do anything for us. We're very lucky to have such a caring Vet.
Nicky's back end was bloody. They checked to make sure Bobette hadn't bitten him in the butt-which we were all hoping was the case. He had no visible injury so they took him in the back and did blood work and x-rays. We were sent home to wait.
Around 3pm we got the call to come get Nicky. X-rays did not show any mass. The ultrasound guy-Dr Kearns, was not available to come in, but from looking at Nicky's blood work it was clear something was going on. His white blood count was very high. His kidney function, as expected was not great, but not terrible. Nicky has lost over a pound in a month. With only those few things to go on and that Dr. Larry felt nothing on the physical exam, they decided to get Nick on antibiotics. They also gave him Reglan to keep him from vomiting and Buprenex(now that I look up a link for this medication, I see it should not be given to cats with kidney disease!!!!) to make him more comfortable.
We were to wait and see how he does over the next few days.
It's Saturday the 14th. Nicky didn't eat well and paced a bit. As soon as my head hit the pillow last night, he started to cry. I called to him and he came up to bed and was fairly quiet. This morning I haven't found any urine puddles, but I'm not sure Nicky has peed. He did vomit and he may be having problems with the antibiotics or the buprenex or both. Was this a simple urinary tract infection or is something else going on?
Looking back on it, I believe the urinating out of the box may have been a brewing infection. We were so locked onto the fact that his kidneys are losing function that we assumed that was the case. Perhaps we had two issues going on that needed to be handled differently?
At this point only time will tell if we're treating Nicky appropriately. We'll keep things quiet and hope Nicky improves or we may find out we missed something (again). For now, Nicky's home and that's what counts.
It's been quite the roller coaster over the past 48 hours since I found out that Amberly had bolted out the front door of her family's home and hadn't been seen again. After her family, myself and many of you worked on getting the word out, the call I made to my friend, Katherine, ended up being the one thing that turned this story around. Katherine met with the family and searched for Amberly. Not finding anything, she left to trap another cat who needed to have his tail amputated. She picked up Leo, who we worked together to rescue last week, and got him to the shelter. [If you recall, Leo is 13 years old. His owners dumped him outside when he peed out of the pan. Then they had premie twin babies which made them decide (due to Doctor's orders!) to get rid of the cat for good!]
Leo.
Leo is better off. Once I saw him, filthy, thin, with bad teeth, I knew he was a diamond in the rough. I got him his initial vetting, then AID covered the cost to have a dental done, some blood work (which was surprisingly perfect!) and an EKG! Leo also got a bath. I can't wait to see him again. I hear he's looking just lovely now.
After Katherine got everything settled, she could have just gone home. It was about 7pm, but something was bothering her. She just HAD to go back and look for Amberly again.
The second time was the charm. She called out to Amberly and heard her meow back! Amberly had somehow got locked in some sort of weird, storage thing, which I still can't understand what it was based on Katherine's description. All I know is Amberly went in, a door got shut behind her and she was trapped. For two days she was across the street from her own home!
Needless to say Amberly's family was thrilled to get her back. I have to admit I considered telling Katherine NOT to let Amberly return home, but to bring her to me. The family had let her get out a few times before and the area they live in is NOT safe for a cat. I was going to think it over overnight, but by the time I reached Katherine to speak with her about it, Amberly was already with her family.
This morning I got an update from the family and a few photos. Once I saw Amberly with her son, Jack, I realized she needed to stay where she was. The family said she was following everyone around, purring, eating like a champ. Clearly she was happy to be home, but I fear she will forget this happiness and try to get out again. I plan on speaking with the family about building her a “catio” or leash train her and take her for a walk. Amberly needs more stimulation, play time, cat grass. All of this can help soothe her desire to get outside.
Bobette has healed from her surgery and Dr. Mixon believes she may always limp, but her leg is now straight when she walks, instead of curved outwards. She seems to get along very well, but after playing for a time, stops wanting to jump. I'm sure she's bored, sitting in her room, alone for most of the day now that Jakey and Teddy are adopted. I only got one application for her so far and it fell through.
There's a lot of pressure to find her a new home. With kitten season here and King and Miss FP waiting in the wings, I need the space. Two days ago I started to leave the foster room door open. Bobette has NOT been thrilled seeing my cats. Though her tail pouffs comically, her growling and hissing is no joke. She hasn't been violent, but she puts on a good show and my cats are giving her space. So far she just stays upstairs. Seeing her outside her room makes me laugh because she's so excited by having room to run. She stops and plays with every toy she sees even though she's nervous about running into my cats. I'm taking it slowly with her, but I hope we can let her mingle my cats so that room can be freed up for the SIX ADDITIONAL kittens I'd like to rescue! (wait 'till you see them!)
I have a lot of guilt about Miss Fluffy Pants. She's in Maria's foster room all by herself. I need to get her out of there, but not sure where to put her. Miss FP's western blot test came back positive for FIV. The only thing we don't know is if she really has FIV or was immunized against FIV, which would show up positive as a test result. Miss FP is in good spirits and Maria tells me she is VERY affectionate. She may be ok with another cat or not, but since King has been moved out of the room, Miss FP has come out of her shell.
I've got to find an additional foster home for her in CT so we can bring her up here and start looking for her forever home. I hate that she's just waiting, but with no room at my home, I'm stuck for now.
King continues to shine bright. He's hanging out with Maria's cats and is loving life. He gets to sleep on a real bed, get good food and is in a loving home. I can't wait to meet King and I hope we can move him north soon. He's already on Petfinder and I've had one or two inquiries, but so far nothing solid.
I'm so glad he's off the streets. King's rescuer, Bobby Stanford, sent me some sobering photos of the palette factory where King and Miss FP were living. The folks who work there asked after the cats and Bobby gave them an update. I think if they could see how gorgeous the cats are they'd be very happy. Though they were kind enough to give the cats what they could. It wasn't ideal for them and they wouldn't have survived much longer in that location-especially King. There was no way he could get around very comfortably or safely.
The good news is there's no need to be sad for King or MissFP. They're in good hands. From the looks of it, King is starting to get a little bit feisty with Maria's cats now that he feels safe. The video below is a hoot! Make sure you watch it to the end!
I forgot how much I worry about kittens! It's been a very long time since I've had kittens this young. Lately I've been fostering them after Maria does all the tough work and the kittens are old enough to be spayed/neutered. Now I get to fret every morning. Will I walk into the bathroom, where the kittens are living, and find one of them gone? Today is day 17 and I still have six kittens. They are all gaining weight. I'm still confused as to which one is which. I believe I have ALL GIRLS, but after using a 8x magnifying lens to look at their private parts, either they ARE all female or I just can't tell one sex from the other.
The kittens all have their eyes open and are starting to look more like cats than hamsters. I think they can sort of see me and I've caught a few looking up at me. It melts my heart. I can't believe in another week or so they will be wobbling about even more and starting to play.
I believe that three of the kittens are polydactyls; one has bizarre shaped paws! The only tuxedo kitten has very cute markings, pink & black toes and likes to squawk when I pick her up. Another kitten has big paws like a bear and always seems to be belly-up. It's about time to name the kittens. I think I may ask for help with that, but first I'm going to get photos of each one to help us with the naming. I've named their mother, April.
Today I noticed that April was dwarfed by her kittens. She's a small cat and with six kittens who are about 11 oz each, it's getting crowded around her belly. She's clearly exhausted and I feel both terrible and worried about her. I feed her many times a day, but some times she just doesn't eat very well for me. I've opted to leave her grain-free dry food so she has something to eat 24/7 even if I'm not a fan of kibble. I hold a plate out to her to eat because most often she's got kittens nursing on her and the poor thing won't get up to feed herself.
Clearly April is devoted to her babies because she still gives me these short little growls when she's not sure about something I'm doing. I don't worry any more that she's going to attack me. She's been nothing but friendly. Some times I rub her neck or scratch her cheeks. She purrs right away and her body relaxes for a moment. I want to take her away from the babies so she can rest, but it's not possible right now. I'm half tempted to start bottle feeding the kittens, but I don't see any of them losing weight or crying. If they are ok and she is just tired, then it will only be another week and a half and I can start weaning them off her. I just hope she can endure this stress. I'm doing everything I can think of to support her.
As Day 17 for the kittens draws to a close, I got the news that our friend Janea from Paws & Effect has to make the difficult decision to put her cat Dahlia to sleep. Dahlia has atypical large t-cell lymphoma that is not responding to treatment and Dahlia has fluid building up around her heart that has to be drained every so often or she will pass away in a lot of pain. It's the most difficult choice any cat-parent has to make. We send Janea all our love and support and ask Dahlia to Fly Free to the Rainbow Bridge when it's time to go, but not a moment sooner.
A FEW MINUTES AFTER I POSTED THIS I GOT A CALL FROM KATHERINE. SHE JUST HAD TO GO BACK AND LOOK FOR AMBERLY AGAIN AND SHE FOUND HER! AMBERLY WAS ACROSS THE STREET SHUT INSIDE A NEIGHBOR'S STORAGE AREA! HURRAH!
Now we just have to find a way to KEEP her inside!
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Last night I checked my email. I got a notice from Home Again, the microchip provider my rescue uses (we also use 24PetWatch). I get alerts about lost dogs and cats in my area and I'm signed up to be notified for any lost animal up to 50 miles from my home. For a few months I've been meaning to change my preferences to a smaller range. The thought was why see lost animal alerts if I'm too far away to do anything about it? Once I read the email, I was very glad I didn't change anything.
I opened the email. It read: “There's a Cat Missing In Your Area Named…” The name of the lost animal was too familiar. I looked at the photo showing a black cat with long fur and golden eyes. She's sitting on a bed. The bed is in my foster room. I took the photo. It was Amberly. MY AMBERLY and she was LOST!
There's a link to download this flyer at the end of this post.
I felt like I got kicked in the chest. It was pure luck that I saw the notice about her being lost! First, I thought, why didn't the adopters call me to tell me she was lost? What happened? Then I realized that Amberly was registered to them, but my rescue wasn't listed as the Emergency Contact. There are a few cases where that is true with some of our first rescues. Now we are the ER contact for all our adopted animals. I was angry, sad, freaked out. Amberly was and is a very special cat. Her story, really Maria's story of rescuing this cat and her five kittens was one I will never forget. Amberly's transformation once she came here was amazing. She went from an emaciated mama to a filled out, gorgeous cat, ready to find her forever home. It was a great day when she and her son, Jack LiLac were adopted together. How quickly that joy turned to sorrow. (You can read more about her story here and here).
I thought about Maria, who rescued Amberly and spent two days searching for her kittens. I knew that the thought of Amberly being lost and lost in Connecticut, not Georgia, where she was originally from, would make it even worse. It still gets very cold here at night. Amberly isn't used to being out in the cold. She would find somewhere warm, but there's a very busy road not far from where her home is located. There's also a tidal pond that reaches the Long Island Sound. At least there hasn't been any rain or snow, but with so many places to hide and dangerous traffic around every corner, it's not hard to fear for the worst if Amberly isn't found or comes home soon.
I called the family and got very few details. Amberly got out. They are looking everywhere. They're putting up flyers. I told them about FindToto but the owner sounded very panicked and said they couldn't afford it. She sounded very grim. Long gone was the cheerful, upbeat person I'd met a few months ago. I didn't push. I offered to help. I sent her a lot of info on how to find a lost cat. I included some tricks, like:
• Put food and water outside during the day
• Put some clothing outside that smells like you
• Sprinkle her cat litter near the door or put out her litter pan
• I told her I could get someone to put out a trap, but we should do it soon
• Call everyone in the area, put up flyers, talk to neighbors
and look every place they could think of and look in weird places.
Odds are she wasn't too far from home-yet. But time was wasting.
The more they did now the better
• Call the Animal Control Officer. Call the local Vets.
Call the local cat rescues
I did some of the leg work for her and got her phone numbers and contact info. I posted the news everywhere online I could, then I emailed the local rescuers because we share a mailing list to get news about cats in need. I called my friend and cat-rescuing cohort, Katherine, from AID. She lives in Norwalk, CT, where Amberly had gone missing. I live about an hour away, so it made sense for Katherine to investigate. I offered to buy her French Toast or take another six kittens and their mama to foster if she could help. She didn't hesitate to jump in even though she is overloaded with other rescues.
It was only through Katherine that I got much information about Amberly. Apparently since the weather got a bit milder, Amberly has been trying to get outside. The family put a collar on her after she DID get out a few times, but each time she escaped she ran back inside the house after a minute. They did try to keep her away from the door. I don't know the details and I'm not going to criticize what they did or didn't do. However it happened, Monday night, Amberly took off out the front door, heading for some homes and the busy streets and that was the last anyone has seen of her.
The family has put up bright orange flyers and are canvasing the neighborhood. Katherine went there this afternoon and looked, but no luck. She offered to set a trap and the family declined. I don't know why. In a few days I hope they will reconsider. If Amberly isn't home by Saturday we have to put out a trap. I wish we had a few of those motion-sensor night vision wildlife cameras to loan them. Other than that, I'm not sure what more we can do other than to say here:
AMBERLY IS A DOMESTIC MEDIUM HAIRED BLACK CAT WITH LOVELY GOLDEN EYES. SHE IS FRIENDLY AND SMALL FOR HER AGE. SHE IS ABOUT A YEAR OLD. AMBERLY WAS LOST IN THE AREA OF BRANDFORD STREET IN NORWALK, CT. IF YOU SEE OR FIND AMBERLY, PLEASE CALL 1-888-466-3242 RIGHT AWAY.
©2012 Robin A.F. Olson. Baby belly! Squeeeee!
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