I promise to catch everyone up on Henry Co. Kitties. Many of them got the funding they needed and are poised to be rescued. Final paperwork and details still need to be worked out. Not all the kitties are going to be rescued, but a good, big number of them are. I don't like to say-"not all" but no matter how many we pull, there will always be some left behind.

I hate it and so do all the folks involved with this...there aren't enough people to do what is needed. There aren't enough foster homes...etc...we're doing our best and then some.

My little foster, Felixia, who just weighs 2.5lbs at 10 weeks, fell ill last night and was lame on her back right leg this morning. She visited with Dr. Larry a little while ago, who gave her an exam and tried to get some x-rays of her leg but she was in too much pain to allow much of that. We saw most of her leg and it looked good, just not her hip. She has a bit of a temp (104) and he suspects an abscess is brewing so she'll be on Clavamox for 10 days. Hope that does the trick or she goes back for a good look at her hip---which would require a tiny bit of sedation first.

And...super Deb found flea dirt on her so she and the two other fosters just got Advantage treatments and I just had to clean out their room and have fun with flea spray. Hope nothing is brewing in there. I never had a problem with fleas before, but it's gonna happen sooner or later so I better get used to dealing with it.

More soon, I promise and I hope to have FINAL "time to celebrate" news on some of the Henry Co. Cats. Your donations amaze and delight me to no end. You guys KICK ASS and I love you for it!

My little furballs are off to be spayed today. I won't see them again until tomorrow afternoon. I miss them already!

:::Crossing fingers::: Hope they do well!

Due to the generosity and compassion of so many people from all over the world, Winkles will be having her surgery today! I just shot this photo of her while she was getting ready to head to the Specialist for her procedure. Winkles is a real beauty and I just know that once her eye is removed, she'll feel so much more comfortable!

Years ago, I rescued a stray who had a severe eye injury and her eye needed to be removed. I cried when I got the news, thinking of the miserable future for my new foster. My Vet reminded me that cats adjust and don't mourn over such things and that I shouldn't worry. He was right. Sasha did well. I ended up adopting her as she was a geriatric kitty with lots of health problems, but we think she lived to be 21!

I also have more exciting news! We ended up getting more in donations than we needed for Winkles surgery. Normally, these funds would remain in our Angel Fund for the next kitten in need. Just about the same time we rescued Winkles, another kitten was rescued by another group, also needing emergency eye surgery. Sadly, this group could not afford the surgery, so the cat was facing a dire future.

It was decided that we would offer the funds to cover this kitten's eye surgery, as well, even though the kitten was with another rescue group. We feel that we're all in this together and since we were blessed with good fortune, thanks to all of you, we wanted to pay it forward.

So in a sense, with your donations we had a "BOGO" (Buy One, Get One) on cat rescues or rather a RORA? (Rescue One, Rescue Another?).

Regardless of what you call it-THANK YOU!

Friday, late afternoon, I received an email from our Director about Winkle's urgent need for eye surgery. Within an hour, I had the information out to my Tweeps, my FB friends and my dear friends here on CiCH.

Many of you were kind enough to help me get the word out. Some were doubly kind and offered donations, from a few dollars, to much more. That you would take the time out of your day, the money out of your wallet, to help a kitten you don't know and a rescue group you may not be familiar with-well that just humbles me to the core.

I want you ALL to know that The Animal Center is a registered non-profit, 501 (3)c. Your donations go 100 percent to helping kittens. We're all volunteer. No one gets a salary and I design any fundraising materials for gratis. I welcome you to check us out or ask any questions. We don't have a shelter, though we dream of having one some day. We do in-home fostering, so the kittens we can help are based on the number of foster families we have and the financial resources we have.

As you may know, our donations, like most rescue groups, are down from the past years, so having to raise funds for Winkle, was a bit daunting. I'm very GLAD to let you know that in barely a day, we've gotten close to reaching our goal. If we should get any extra monies, those are earmarked for The Angel Fund, so it will ALWAYS go to cats in dire need of medical help. Every year we have kittens in crisis.

I'd like to catch you up on Winkle. Right now he's comfortable and happy in foster care. In a few days he's being taken to a specialist to have his eye removed. Though the Vet feels his condition is due to a "blunt force trauma" to his head, there is a SMALL chance that Winkles has juvenile cancer. Winke's eye will be biopsied to determine if he has cancer. We'll still get him a great home-but his new family needs to know that Winkle's life may not be as long as other kitten's.

With any luck, Winkle will just be a one-eyed kitty and the rest of his life will be long, healthy and filled with love.

I'll get some photos of Winkle posted and more updates as soon as they're available.

Again, my deepest thanks to all of you.

I love you, BOB! (He looks like Puss in Boots from Shrek!)

Bob had a re-check after his dental procedure, tooth extraction and adventure with Metacam (see back a few posts). Looks like the old fella is doing well. His toothie holes have closed up and healed nicely. Considering Bob is FIV+ this is pretty darn good news!

Bob's had this weird head-shaking thing for a few years and I thought the dental would stop the problem. Bob shakes his head and his tongue comes out and sort of licks sort of doesn't lick his mouth. Hard to describe. I thought one of his teeth was the culprit. Now that the dental is over, he does it less, but still does it. Dr. Larry gave me some drops to put in his ears. He assures me they are 20 times more poisonous than Metacam is, so we should be in good shape.

That was a joke.

Ever since I "yelled" at Dr. Larry about prescribing Metacam, every chance he gets Dr. Larry tells me how he's sure I'll be using it again and that it's just fine for short term and then..tease...tease...Metacam.

Well Poop on your Metacam, Dr. Larry! Hmpf! Glad my Bob survived your prescription!

5AM, once again, almost as though a vengeful alarm clock went off, I wake up, hearing one of the blasted cats puking. I dragged myself downstairs to discover Cricket leaving a trail of puke from the kitchen to the basement stairs. Nice.

Before I can even reach the paper towel dispenser, I smell something awful. I look, and, of course, I find Nicky (most likely) dropped a few "friends off" on the bathroom floor.

I'm so tired and so tired of these 5AM puke up calls. I reach down to clean up another mess and all of a sudden I get horrible pains in my abdomen, then my chest. I slowly stand and shuffle over to the sofa and just sit down. I'm so woozy from the lousy sleep, it's really effecting me.

After I finish cleaning everything up, I slowly drag back to bed. My legs are heavy. It's too hot in the house. Ugh.

I finally get to sleep after an hour and I drop off deeply for awhile. Then, guess what? Yep. Bob pukes. 9am. He is hungry. I should have been up by now to feed him. I think he pukes when he's super empty because all he vomited was some water. I get the cats fed and figure I'm up for the day.

I get the food ready for the kittens and make my way back upstairs to feed them. I open the door to "The Ladies Room" (which is my guest room where Gabby and her 3 girls are) to find little Pixie laying on the floor, looking rather odd. Something is wrong, but I go about getting them fed. I see her on the bed, where I feed the kittens. She's not bearing weight on her front left leg. She looks like she's shaking. Oh no.

I feel her leg. It feels normal, though what do I know from normal? It doesn't feel massively broken. She doesn't want to eat much, if anything. I call our Director. I'm frantic, but it's because I'm not used to this stuff yet. She assures me she will get me a Vet app't and to not worry. Maybe the kitten is sick or she has had a bad reaction to the FCRVP shot she got a few days ago.

Longer story, shorter-I end up taking Pixie and her sisters to visit Super Deb and Dr. Larry. It just worked out better for all and I was glad to have them see the kittens.

Super Deb gives Twinkles and Sprinkles a nail trim. Ooo la la!

Later that same morning, about 5:06AM:

I realize I never bothered to look at the insert in the box the pain meds came in. I only had to medicate Bob for four days, so why get involved with reading miniscule type with my old people eyeballs?

Really, how bad could it be?

Then I went online and saw THIS.

WHAT

THE

#^#$!?!

Apparently Metacam is NOT approved for use in

CATS

Last I checked, BOB IS A

CAT!

And WHY didn't anyone bother to tell me it has known side effects of

ACUTE (horrible terms since it's far from CUTE) RENAL FAILURE!

This is for a CAT who is at least 15. It would be one thing if Bob was young, maybe he would have better odds of surviving this stuff, but GEEZUS. Maybe we should have let him suffer for a few days with a sore tooth hole and not risk

KILLING HIM!!!!!

Just makes sense to me and ever more so at about 5:37 am.

So let's be calm. It's just one web site with about 30 horror stories of cats on Metacam. I found another web site that said, hey, it's not THAT bad and since cats can't handle pain killers, this is about the best that can be done for them and the benefits outweigh the risks.

This is like the time I took VIOXX. Wow, did I feel good, but luckily I didn't take it for very long because it could have DIED from it. Oops! Guess the FDA missed that one. Oh and when I took "Yaz---that fun and funky birth control pill that's supposed to make your periods like a blissful day at the spa? Well, I was on it for four months. I didn't SLEEP. I got PMDD, instead of PMS and I was violent and suicidal, but hey, I'm just one dumb person. Probably was something else that did this to me though oddly enough, I slept like a rock and didn't try to off myself when I stopped taking it. Now there's a lawsuit claiming increased numbers of women having Heart Attacks, Strokes and Blood Clots from this crap. Huh. Guess it wasn't just me having problems.

This reminds me of the saying; "That which doesn't kill you, makes you stronger (or more pissed off or have not-cute renal failure)."

I'm thinking I have to call Dr. Larry and YELL at him, then ask him if I need to bring Bob to the ER. Bob's breathing seems heavy. I'm trying not to flip out. I wake Sam up, because why should I have to have all the fun, alone? I ask him if he remembers seeing Bob use the litter pan or drink water. He remembers one, but not the other, I remember the opposite. Good, so he must have done both? I get Bob to drink warm water mixed with tuna water so I know he's got some fluids on board. I lay down on the hardwood floor, while he sits in the "cat loaf" position on a comfy cat bed. Fat as I may be, I have not nearly enough padding to be comfortable at this point, but I love Bob and I want to watch him. I'm waiting for a sign, telling me I need to get dressed, rush him to VREC in Norwalk and drop about $1,000.00.

Nothing. No sign. My right shoulder and hip are complaining. I'm really tired. Fuck it. I go back to bed, knowing I have to get up in less than two hours because we're signed up to do a dog transport. Ugh.

Of course, I can't get to sleep. I think about the nice lady's web site. She says Metacam is ok. She has complex math that makes my head spin. How many KG's is Bob? How many mL/KG dose did he get? I need my Parents. They did math!

My alarm goes off. What sleep? I get up to check on Bob. Somehow, while I was lying in bed worrying, one of the cats blew this hairball.

I really like how there's a little swooshy tail at the right tip of the hairball. That's classy.

I can't believe I'm going to confess this, but I got two forceps out and "teased" apart the hairball, to see if I could get any idea of what color the fur was. Sure enough, it was Bob's.

He puked up his food because this Mother of a hairball was ready to blast out. Bob's breathing has always been a bit heavy, but he's had ultrasounds done. He should be fine. All that pissing and moaning for nothing?

Maybe yes, maybe no. I'm still going to have a TALK with Dr. Larry about this.

and no, Bob did not get any more Metacam. Nor will he. He ate well, had a nice long nap on the deck. I have yet to see him drink or use the pan, but I will be watching. I WILL BE WATCHING!

Wow. Bob is a new cat!

Was the dental surgery, which included removing two of his few teeth, the reason for his almost joyful expression when I saw him this morning? Or was it the fact that his anal glands had been emptied of "Thick, Pasty, Yuck...a double-glover for sure;" according to Super Deb, who either watched Dr. Larry do the deed, or was stuck having to do it herself.

What I don't understand is that of the three cats who've "been expressed," only ONE of them showed any symptoms of needed anything done. This bothers me. How am I to know if they're feeling uncomfortable, walking around with big, fat, gooey glands? I read that high fiber diets help clean them out, but that would only be due to making heavy duty turds that would push against the glands and clean them out as the poop passes.

Once again I will say, CATS ARE OBLIGATE CARNIVORES so FIBER is OUT. I guess I'm going to have to invest in rubber gloves or get used to paying an extra $28 for every wellness visit at the Vet.

Bob's got that "I just got my glands emptied, faraway look."

So, where was I? Oh yes, Bob's glands. They're empty. He's happy. I swear he was smiling, but that may be due to the fact that I was about to feed him. He had a brightness in his eyes, almost a sparkle. For such an old fella, it's remarkable to see. Regardless of what's making him look so un-Bob-like, it's worth it.

And no, I have NO plans of doing "home anal gland expression." I draw the line at washing their asses when they have "chocolate chips" (my term for bits of shit) stuck to their behind.

If you're nuts and want to know more about anal glands, check this nifty, rather obvious link: Anal Glands, The Movie It needs a 3D animation and some whoooshing sound effects, but you'll get the idea, anyway.

And if that didn't satisfy your hunger, you can read this article which has a sneaky plug for a product that's supposed to help clean out the not-Fun-bags. Not sure I believe it works or is necessary, but the rest is helpful. More Anal Gland Fun

So when in doubt, SQUEEZE THOSE BAD BOYS & EMPTY THEM OUT...

...By a PROFESSIONAL and please don't do this at home and if you do, don't tell me, especially if I'm ever invited over to eat dinner.

I got the call from my Vet that Bob would be ready to go home around 6 pm tonight. I had no other details, save for "Dr. Larry wants to talk to you." Okay. Sure. Does this mean "have a talk" or just "talk to me about how things went?" I've had both types of talks and the former is not one I'm fond of having.

Bob had a rather long procedure. He had "fun" at both ends. Since he was sedated, I figured they better check his anal glands (see my article about the horror of anal gland expression!), so they did that, then he had his remaining teeth cleaned. With FIV+, Bob has crappy gums and teeth. Until he started living with me, he had NO Vet care at all and his diet was pretty bad, too. Needless to say, this is why I've had to spend so much time and money on Bob. He's come a heck of a long way in three years and I know he would be long dead by now, if I hadn't taken him in when my Mother died in 2006.

I spoke with Dr. Larry and he showed me two of Bob's teeth. They were no longer in Bob's mouth. One was broken, the other whole. They both showed signs of disintegrating near the gum line. They must have been VERY painful. Dr. Larry said that Bob reacted to him touching the teeth, even though he was unconscious. Poor Bob.

I asked how many teeth Bob has left. He's almost down to none, but he has a few, just for fun. He can start off eating mooshie food (which he already gets, then he can eat whatever he likes after a few days. He's on Metacam, a short dose, to keep him comfortable.

All that was left was for me to pay the $450. bill (anal gland expression went up $4 since last time I noticed!), hide my pedicured toes from Dr. Larry (he HATES seeing bare feet for some reason! What is so wrong about toes? Maybe he got ambushed by naked feet when he was a little kid or something?) and get Bob home.

Bob's already eaten, but his back legs are very weak. I see he got a butt shave, oo la la! Tomorrow it's pain meds and observation. Hopefully in a few days he'll be like his old self, only not in pain.

I dread tomorrow. Bob Dole has to go in for a dental procedure. Normally, this wouldn't be a big deal, but since Bob is who-knows-how-old and he has FIV+ and he has bad gums and worse teeth, that I flat out worry he won't even get through the surgery.

I must have the dental done. Since Bob's immune system is compromised, infected gums could kill him. He also has a mysterious head shake. He's had it since he came to live here 3 years ago, but it's worse now. I wonder if it's a dental issue? We can't seem to figure it out.

Bob may lose the rest of his teeth tomorrow, too. I hope not. For his sake, but that said, the food he likes is mooshy so he should be able to manage it all right. I guess we'll see.

The other thing on my mind is that Nicky flared up with a URI. Not too bad, just juicy sneezes. Now Spencer may be sick and Bob, too. It's hard to tell. I guess I'm so worried about him I want to be extra safe. I got him a shot of a new antibotic called Convenia on Tuesday as a precaution to help him fend off any URI secondary issues and to help him with the aftereffects of the dental.

Bob's three year anniversary living with me approaches. I'm so glad he's here. I sure hope he'll be here lots longer. I love you, Bob! Hope you have a great day tomorrow and all goes smoothly.