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My favorite baby, the little fluffy gray one, died sometime last night. My grandma told me that last night he was a little off and was kind of falling asleep when she was holding him to feed him so she put him back to bed. He was snuggled up with the others when she went to bed but when she got up this morning, he had crawled out of the box and was laying there dead. :( This makes me so sad! I really hoped he would do better. He was so tiny and frail and skinny... but I just hoped I could help him. The other four are doing pretty well. They're all tentatively named. Fluff (the fluffy orange boy, he reminds me of dandilion fluff), Ham (the short haired orange tabby boy, he reminds me of a hamster), Minnie (the little tabby with orange girl who looks like a mini version of the mama, plus she's little), and Abilene, or, Abbie (I wanted to name her Stella but my grandma vetoed it right away. Apparently she really hates the name. Too bad. She would have made a fine Stella). Tags: critter tales
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Scruffy showed up at my grandma's sometime in October. For about the last month or so, he's been in the house. It was terribly cold and he wanted in so badly. He behaved himself, used the litter box, didn't fight... so it would have been hard to say no when he just wanted to curl up on a chair or rug and sleep. He seemed to be having some poo issues, straining when going and then diarrhea. So I took a sample in last week but they didn't find anything in it. I set an appointment for him today. I didn't realize until today that he's not neutered. The way he acts, we just assumed he was fixed. But today, I finally looked at his back end and kitty is... well endowed. He has huge balls! Dr. Winter said that Feline Leukemia is more common in unneutered males and recommended I have him tested. I am so glad I did. He's leukemia positive and this is a terrible thing. About 10 years ago, we lost just about every cat we had to leukemia. I didn't know much about the disease and didn't know you could vaccinate against it. It was horrible to see them die from it. They just grew sicker and sicker. It was definitely a slow and unpleasant way to go. It felt like we were running a kitty hospice, making them as comfortable as possible as their disease progressed. I never, ever want to go through that again. It was just heartbreaking. And now I have this threat because Scruffy has been in the house for the last month or so. There are 9 cats at my grandma's that will need testing: Billy, Brother, Margaret, my KittyKitty, Gracie, Little Guy, Jebby, Stranger, Molly. I need to find out how long after possibly contracting the disease one should wait to test. I don't know how long it takes for it to show up on a test. I couldn't find much online to tell me that. I did find one site that said most show up within 28 days. If that's true, we could be waiting and worrying for another month. And that still leaves Scruffy. Who isn't overly sick, aside from an upper respiratory infection. He's not suffering but I can't see any way that he won't have to be euthanized. I feel so guilty about it. But there is nowhere for him to be. No good home for him to have. It sucks. A whole bunch. And it makes me very sad. :( More info about Feline Leukemia (FeLV) here: http://www.vet.cornell.edu/fhc/resources/brochure/felv.htmlTags: critter tales
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I have some critter stuff to catch up on. Monday, that very busy day I had, I forgot to write about the part where I rescued this little bitty chickadee. I think it was a chickadee. I was on my way out, in my car going down the driveway, and I saw Margaret in the grass looking suspicious. I've gotten to know the look of a cat with prey. So I got out and went to see what she had and she ran away, leaving the poor little thing in the grass. I wasn't sure ihe was still alive. He ('it' just feels wrong, though I don't know if it was a he or a she) was just laying there on his back quivering. I saw blood on him but couldn't tell where it was coming from. So I scooped him up in my hand and took him in to my grandma. She found a basket and a couple soft cloths to wrap him in. I found the wound. A little spot on his neck. I dabbed at it with a piece of tissue. She put the basket in her shower. The next day I found out that the bird seemed better later on and was fluttering around in the shower and so my grandma decided to try to see if he could fly. So she took him outside and he took off flying but fell down into the ditch, where a large orange tom cat got after him. She got him back but after that he seemed even more shaken up and she decided to put him back in the shower for the night. The next day he was dead. Alas. It would have been better to have left him in with some food/water and called the bird lady the next day I think. Tuesday, Brother went back to the vet. My grandma said he still smelled like he had an infection and his gums seemed to still have swelling. Maybe even more than before. So I made the appointment and took him. He actually smelled better to me. Way better, actually. So I don't know. Dr. Hegenauer thought his jaw did still look swollen so he gave me liquid antibiotics this time (at my grandma's request, instead of the shot he got last time) and he's getting them twice a day. Monday I'll see what my grandma thinks. The next step is getting him x-rays and checked for immuno diseases. I suspect credit card hell will never end. And then yesterday, Mikale shut Jebby's tail in the door. That's what I heard form Mikale yesterday. Today I hear from my grandma that it's worse than that. He *slammed* the door and Jebby's tail looks pretty jacked up. I couldn't get him in to the vet today so I went over there to play doctor. I'll do in a pinch. I'm pretty competent. He was bleeding quite a bit last night I think but that seems to have stopped. But I can see where it's cut. It looks deep. I couldn't get at it enough to see if there is bone visible or not but I did wash it with warm water and my grandma is going to get some neosporin for it. If we can keep it from getting infected for a couple days, he should be ok until Monday. His appointment is at 3. She's not going to let him out. If she did, the flies would be on him for sure and I really (really really) hate dealing with maggots. Bleah. Mikale and I are going to have a serious talk tonight about why we continue to remind him to be careful and how it would be better for him to listen to us, rather than argue with us. Argue argue argue. He insists that he's being careful and that he's not going to accidentally hurt anyone (hello! that's why it's an accident!) and it's hard to get him to slow down in the house. But we will be working on this. Tags: critter tales
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The party was a success! It was a pretty good time. Friday I shopped for the party and Friday night I started preparing things. With Steve helping on many tasks, I stuffed 80 biscuits with ham and cheese, made tuna salad, put together the party favor gift bags, made frozen juice cubes (with swedish fish in them) for the punch, made Jello shots... and maybe that was it for that night. Stuffing all those biscuits took a really long time. Saturday before the party I decorated (I put up lots of crepe paper streamers), tidied up the kitchen a bit, put up the mini kitty story board, baked 2 cakes, assembled the kitty litter cake, set up the table, assembled the big prize, made the punch. When people started to arrive it was all pretty much ready. Everyone seemed to have a good time, enjoyed the food, played games, and thought the kitty litter cake looked disgusting (which was a good thing given what it was). It was the usual family crowd, plus I invited Sarah. I think we even managed to not scare her off since she said she'd be willing to do it again. The birthday kitties received presents - cat nip and assorted toys - and birthday wishes and pettins. They were nice enough to share with the rest too. Mr. Baby Cat pretty much hid all day so he didn't get to enjoy them until later in the evening when everyone was gone. I have pictures to come. I may spend tomorrow working on pictures so if I do, I might get to some of those. Hopefully! Tags: critter tales
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Today was hard. It sucked, but it went as well as it could have. I went to my grandma's after I got out of work, changed out of my work clothes, had a little something to eat. While I was eating, CK noticed I was there and came out to the kitchen, looked up at me and meowed a little. I gave him a bowl of formula in case he wanted to eat but he just sniffed it a little but didn't drink any. I got stuff set up next to my grandma's arm chair - water, tissues, a book in case I decided to read for a bit - and then sat CK on a blanket on my lap. I petted him and he purred and when I rubbed his front feet he'd work his paws. He rearranged himself to be snuggled even closer to me and slept. I sat there holding him and cried. I watched reruns of 7th Heaven while I held him and petted him. At 2:30 I put him in the cat carrier, blanket and all I just set it all in and he didn't object. He didn't try to jump out. I scratched his head and rubbed under his chin and he purred. I carried him out to the car, trying to bounce him about as little as possible and he still didn't really try moving around. For the most part he just lay there and purred when I'd rub him under his chin, which I did the whole drive there. He only tried to get up once. He stood but I rubbed his head and chin and got him to settle back down. When I walked in the office a man held the door for me. He looked at CK in the carrier and seemed pleased to see him. He must have liked cats. He or the woman he was with asked what was wrong with him and I didn't tell them why he was there. I just said he was old. I started crying when I talked to the girl at the desk. I had to take him out of the carrier separate from the blanket when I got him in the room. He wasn't coming out the same way he went in. But when I picked him up he just rested against my chest and purred, happy to be held. I set him on the blanket and did some more petting on his head and chin. He struggled a little when his arm was shaved but settled down again. The vet tech and assistant brought in the shot and I didn't get to really pet him while they did it. The assistant did though, and he knew I was there. He had been looking at me and I talked to him. I don't know if he even know it wasn't me stroking his chin. He kept on purring until the end. It was fast but looked peaceful. He only struggled a tiny bit when she put the needle in his leg. But resumed his purring while he was stroked. She put him in a bag and then in a box and wrapped it all in a blanket. She carried him out while I carried the carrier he had come in. They will send me a bill. When the vet tech asked Suzann at the counter if I should pay then she said something like God no, and waved me through. They're nice like that. At that stupid emergency place they make you sign things and pay before they do it. Here I just had to sign a card and that was it. I cried as I drove him home. My head had hurt since this morning, worsening throughout the day. On the drive it hurt terribly and I felt like I was going to throw up. When I got to my grandma's, after I put CK's box in the shed for later burial, I took two Excedrin and lay down in my grandma's room for a while. I think I must have slept some. When I got up, more than an hour had passed. We talked about CK and how it had all gone after I got up. Then my grandma went to lay down. She got up early today to wash her hair before her eye appointment. She was tired. I brought home another load of towels to wash and dry for her. My head still hurts.    Tags: critter tales
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It didn't start out too badly. I woke up early because of the cats. I accomplished a few things before I went to work. It was one of those mornings that things just kept frustrating me. Little things going wrong. But little enough things that they were quickly forgotten. Work was work. After I got out, I came home to get picnic stuff together and hauled it all to g-ma's. We fixed our lunches and went out to the picnic table under the pine trees to eat them. For dessert there were strawberries and vanilla ice cream. The day was pretty hot and I didn't feel much like doing anything. I watched some little house on the prairie, had some tea, read a little, walked around the yard taking a few pictures. I was behind the house and head mr grandma say something to CK about flies all over him and when I looked, I saw bunches of flies that were depositing bunches of eggs on him. Ugh. So I scooped him up and took him in the bathroom for a bath. I had to put him in the bath tub and washed and washed. He didn't want to be in there but he didn't even struggle much. It made me so sad to see him so weakened. He hooked his claws over the side of the bath tub a couple times but I just unhooked his claws and put them back down and he just didn't have it in him to fight me. He lay down in the bottom of the tub and meowed a little. I just felt so sad to see him like that. It was especially noticeable how bony he is when he was wet. And he just looked so pitiful. I had a hard time washing him because there is so little meat on him and I had to lather him several times. Finally I thought I had pretty much gotten them and I wrapped him up in a couple big dry towels and took him to the living room to dry him with the gentle hair dryer. When I had him on his lap he purred and purred and sometimes he would knead a little. He seemed like he would be content to stay on my lap as long as I would have him. I tried combing him a bit to help with the drying and realized that I had missed a bunch of the eggs. They were on his back legs and feet and belly/butt area. So I combed and combed and got as many as I could off little by little. It was such slow going that eventually I washed his back end a little more in the sink and that got a lot more off but not all. I took him back to the living room with more fresh towels to dry him again/more. I think I finally got him mostly dry but there were still remaining eggs. I hope they won't hatch on him. For a long time I sat with him on my lap in towels at first until he was pretty much dry and then on blankets and drying him gently with the hair dryer. He really just wanted to be by someone. As long as I was willing to hold him on my lap he would stay there and purr and be still and quiet. When I set him and the blankets down he got up and didn't seem to be able to get comfortable. He went to use the litter box once. Ran for it with more energy than I thought he had. I offered him formula and he drank a little tiny bit but that was it. When I left, he was on the blankets but I don't know if he stayed there. I told my grandma to baby him and make his last night as comfortable as possible. I was crying when I had him in the tub and realized that he was really doing badly. He had lost some of that pluck that had helped me decide not to have him put down the last time I had him to the vet. He has lost even more weight, which I didn't think was even possible. Today, this morning, I will make the call and get him an appointment to be euthanized. I hate that it has come to this but I don't want him to suffer and I think his quality of life has gone down. And I will not have him eaten by maggots. Those flies were like vultures. I'll bring him home to be buried. We have a spot in the back. I cried all the drive home, tried calling Steve but he didn't answer his phone. I just felt very sad and alone and didn't have any real way of talking it out. When I got home I took a shower and put the clothes I had been wearing in my dirty clothes bin. I tried to brush all the eggs off of me when I was outside but it all needed to be washed anyway. I brought home a load of towels to do for my grandma. I put them in the washer. Steve came home after that. He had been talking to Pat outside but didn't tell me what was said. I wanted to know but didn't feel like forming the sentences it would have taken to get him to tell me so I just asked him to put the towels in the dryer for me and then into the clean trash bag I had put down there. Then I went to bed. I didn't sleep quickly or easily and the night was filled with troubling dreams I don't remember. I don't expect good things out of today either. Tags: critter tales
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My head hurts terribly so I'm going to make this as concise as possible I think. Kitty had his vet appointment at 2 today. I was a few minutes late. As I was driving away from the house I saw a bird flapping in the road so I called my grandma and picked him up and took him to her. She put him in my former bedroom until she could get out her bird cage. She thinks it's a grackle. He's really pretty. Black with purple iridescence and dark blue on his head and neck. Then we were held up with some construction on the highway. Stupid construction. We finally got there, and were shown to a room. We saw the lady doctor. Dr. Winters. I like her more than Dr. Peters. She said she thinks it's a head injury. He shows signs of it. He turns in circles. His brain kind of gets stuck on it somehow I think. He may have some vision impairment. If he does, it could be temporary or permanent. She said it was good that his seizures had been less frequent and less severe and that it was good that I hadn't seen any today. I didn't see any for the rest of the afternoon while I was with him either but at that point I had only been with him about 40 minutes. Still that was better, even then, than the previous day and the evening before that. She is putting him on a daily steroid shot for the time being. I'll bring him in to get it in the afternoon. It's supposed to help reduce swelling further and promote the start of healing in the brain. She said that in a very young kitten, since the brain is still growing and developing, there is more possibility of the brain repairing some of the damage. But there is also risk of some serious long term damage. Aside form seizures, which could be a lifelong problem, there is also a possibility of blindness, memory problems, mobility problems. All sorts of things and you can't really predict it because head injuries can be so mysterious and unpredictable. She said it will have to be a take it day by day kind of thing. He's still at a 50-50 kind of chances at this point. But she did note the good things. He had his shot today and will go back tomorrow at 2:45 for his next one. He ate a bunch. When we got back from the vet's, he had a bunch of formula and then later he had some tuna and cat food and then some more formula. He had some water too. When he was done eating and drinking (all with aid from me) he mewed and mewed and mewed and just kept walking in circles over and over and over. And then he peed on me. But I had him on my lap at the time, so it makes sense. Then after a bit, he calmed down and went to sleep. My grandma said he did that earlier when he had to pee too. Cried and circled, then squatted, peed, quieted, slept. He sleeps a lot. Tags: critter tales
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