Mancat Monday

The boys have had a good week...trying to make sure everyone gets the attention they need!

Rusty and Regina will be going to have their surgeries this week and Regina will be staying at the shelter.  Fingers crossed she gets adopted quickly.  She is a sweet girl.  I feel bad that she won't have a friend to help her feel comfortable in the shelter since Rusty won't be there.  I'm sure she will make friends with the other kittens though.

Harrison is trying his best to get the kittens to play with him!  He has been talking and chirping more.

Oliver has now been with me for 4 years.  He isn't too fond of the babies, but it takes him longer than anyone to adjust to new things.  He is starting to play more and talk.  He is my sensitive diva!

Rusty and Regina don't mind playing and having fun!  Rusty weighs 3 pounds now and Regina is just a couple of ounces behind. They seem to be growing by the day, getting taller and longer.  Slow down and stay babies as long as you can!!

Definitely a favorite toy!

Harrison acts hungry all the time these days.  Here he has stolen some kale from Aunties salad and is chowing down.  I don't think he is losing weight, but I need to double check the weight chart.

Rusty loves to eat too, and is trying to see what Harrison has.  He wasn't too impressed with this choice of snack!

Poor Flynn missed out on getting his picture taken this week, but he is doing well.

Foster Friday

Our house is a bit quieter right now...

These four babies went back to the shelter on Tuesday to have their surgeries and go to the adoption floor.  It was hard to see them go because they are such a snuggly group.  It was a purr fest in the carrier while we waited! 

Regina and Rusty stayed behind because they are getting over their colds.  They have to wait two weeks from the end of symptoms before going in for surgery.  They are both improved and ate like pigs last night! 

Rusty came to get a snuggle and sleep off his food coma!  He is a sweet boy and will be joining the panthers once he has his surgery.

Mancat Monday

The mancats are starting to feel better.

Oliver has been out and about since early last week.  He was able to stop taking his medicine on Thursday.  He still flicks his head some, so I wonder if there are a few remaining ulcers but he is eating well and not hiding, so I think he is fine.

Foster kitten Charlie's necropsy results came back showing Panleukopenia.  The vet feels this is what the boys have at the moment too, but since they have been vaccinated they will be fine, but still have to feel bad for a while as they fight off the virus.

I've been doing a lot of reading on panleuk and while most common symptoms are diarrhea, vomiting and not eating, there are others like congestion, ulcers, sneezing and symptoms like an upper respiratory infection.  Thankfully, my crew is continuing to eat pretty well.

Rusty is starting to act like one of the big cats too.  Oliver isn't sure what to think about him trying to get his night snack!  

The kittens have had the worst time with the panleuk.  Rusty has been super congested but still eating.  From what I have read and the vet has said, there are different strains of the virus, like the flu.  Some are very deadly and others not so much.  Although we have lost two kittens, it seems that the rest are either not coming down with it, or are fighting it off.  Rusty is improving daily, but now Regina has it.  Hoping she will be like Rusty and feeling better in about three days.

Harrison is hard to see, but look for the eyes in the cat ball.  This  ball/bed is Oliver's birthday present, but so far, Harrison has claimed it!

Flynn spent yesterday hiding and last night sneezing...so I think he is coming down with something again.  He is still eating so I will just continue to monitor him.

Fingers crossed that by next week we will all be at 100%!

Foster Friday

The kittens are all doing well this week!!

Regina and Monte are exploring more and more...

Madeline just loves to snuggle!  She wants to sit with you all the time and will scream until you pick her up.

Rusty loves to have a nest to sleep in, although he wont seek it out, but will stay if you put him there.

Josie is already spoken for...we are just not sure which other kitten will be going with her yet.

Another cute one of Rusty...he was nursing away with his mouth while he slept!

Harrison and Rusty...thankfully the panthers don't mind the kittens.

Received preliminary report from the state lab, but it doesn't really shed any light on the problem.  I'm waiting for my vet to call so we can talk it over.  Maybe the full report will be back next week.  Everyone seems healthy though and they all eat well and are playing more and more.  Fingers crossed we are out of the woods!

Foster Friday

We have been doing some better in the foster world this week, but still had a sad moment...

Sweet Charlie passed away Sunday morning.  He has been the weakest of the crew, but still eating well and walking around to seek out snuggles.  Auntie and I dropped him off at the State Vet Lab to have a full necropsy done so we can hopefully get some answers as to what is going on with this group.  For those that have lost count, that is three cats (1 adult, 2 kittens) that have passed away from our house this week!  Needless to say, its been a rough one.

This little stinker, Rusty, has made himself at home.  He is the first one to come downstairs and prefers to hang out with us over the other kittens.  I wonder if Tanner is telling him something?

He loves to snuggle and sleep in your arms...

What a cutie pie...wish they could stay this size!

Checking out all the hiding places...we can still see you Rusty!

The other kittens are all doing well.  Josie has a potential adopter once she gets big enough.  She and Regina and Rusty are from the same litter as the ones that have died, so I'd like to be able to tell adopters what happened to their brothers.

Madeline and Zoe each weigh one pound and a half!!  They look so good these days and play hard.  Monte is almost at two pounds and is looking more like a cat these days.  He shouldn't have any trouble finding a home.

Foster Friday and a Tanner Update

It's been another busy and crazy week at our house, so hang on...

Monday morning we woke up to find Caleb had passed away in the night.  We are not sure what happened, as he was eating and playing before going to bed.  No reason to think something was wrong with him! 

Remember Mom Bella?  She had been at the shelter for over two months, but was adopted this past weekend!  Woo Hoo for her!!

The roundworms have gone, but we started seeing some tapeworms...remember the fleas from the other week? 

Everyone had to go to the shelter on Tuesday for vaccines and a new dewormer.  We also took in a poop sample to make sure Caleb didn't have panleukapenia...negative thank goodness!  The shelter has seen a lot of kittens with the deadly disease this year unfortunately.  Because we were "suspect" the kittens had their exams in the parking lot!  Better safe than sorry.

The kittens took their dewormer and vaccines like champs and have been more perky since then.

They are all starting to play more and eat like piggies!

Regina is our most rambunctious one and loves to try and escape from her room!

Now on to Tanner.  I'm writing this on Thursday and he is currently at the vet and will be spending the night.  He is so dehydrated that we all felt some IV fluids would be beneficial to him.  The vet took some x-rays as well and noticed he has a kidney stone..which seems to be new.  He also peed blood while there, but no infection was present, so not real sure why so much blood.  He is starting on a different antibiotic to try and help the cold and also now a possible kidney infection.  This has me concerned because before his lymphoma last time, he had unexplained blood in his urine then too.  Wonder if it is a stone or a tumor?  Will ask the vet today when I talk with him.

His blood values looked good still.

We discussed a feeding tube, but that would require a trip to the vet school.  We also have to be mindful of sedating him at this point.

The vet is impressed with how "well" he is acting given all that is going on.  Now, if only he would eat!!

I hope my boy can pull out another miracle, but he definitely has me worried.  We appreciate all the purrs for healing and comfort!

Foster Friday and Tanner Update

This has been a crazy week for sure and I have to say that I am tired!  One kitten, Madeline was having trouble eating and doing something funny with her mouth.  When I looked inside, there was a large ulcer...so off to the shelter she went to be looked at...home with medicine.  After a couple of doses she started eating better again, and has now reached the 1 pound mark!  She was the smallest girl at 8 ounces when we got her, so she has now doubled her weight!!

Later, I was washing the behind of Josie and noticed the water was turning a brownish color...fleas! So that meant every kitten needed a good bath!

Caleb and all the rest were wrapped as burritos when they finished to help them stay warm, and of course for a photo opp!  We combed a few fleas off of each of them, but not too many.

Rusty was not really impressed with the whole bath idea.  He is a cutie and reminds me a lot of a young Tanner. 

Charlie just takes things in stride.

   

Finally, the whole group was finished and back upstairs we went.  They gathered around on the heating pads in their cage.  We took turns holding them and rubbing their fur dry so they would warm back up.  Most would fall asleep in our arms!

Sunday, Caleb started vomiting some.  We thought, well maybe the food just didn't agree with him.  Then Regina started.  Eventually, we noticed stringy stuff in the vomit...round worms!  A call went in to the shelter...we need de-wormer!  Picked that up on Monday and dosed all the kittens.  Then the excitement really started!  Worms in their vomit, worms in their poop, worms out their bottoms...nasty worms everywhere!

How can something this cute be so gross??

After a day, the worms were all dying and we were seeing fewer of them.  A few good scrubs of litter boxes and carpet and we are back to our normal, fun, sweet and cute selves!

This is the video Auntie sent me one night while I was working.  Tanner eating on his own!!  He still isn't up to a full meal but it is a start.  I called the vet yesterday about him, and we have switched to a different appetite stimulant.  We are to continue supporting him but feel he has turned a corner for the better.  It is so good to see him eating!

Here it is on YouTube.

So there you have it...a quick happy update on Tanner and the kittens!  Enjoy your weekend!!

Foster Friday

We turned in our 4 black and white kittens on August 8th, and picked up three small babies with a mom.  The black and whites have all been adopted now!

This is Madeline, she is the smallest of the three.  She and her sister Zoe appear to be from the same litter.  In looking at their teeth, they should be 4 weeks old...but only weighed 8 and 9 ounces respectively...very underweight! 

This is Monte...he was with the group, but I'm thinking he isn't a biological brother.  He weighs 14 ounces. 

This is the mom Sadie.  She isn't their mom, but was dropped off and seemed to have been nursing so she was put with these kittens.  She has very little, if any, milk, so while the kittens were getting comfort and learning how to be cats, they were not receiving the nourishment they needed.

I worked from home on Thursday and Friday and syringe fed them every three hours to get them going...The small girls gained about an ounce a day.  They started playing more and looking less like pterodactyls and more like kittens!  Their back legs gained strength.

Monte looking proud on himself.  After a couple of days of syringing, the kittens would go to the food on their own and eat...definite progress! 

Zoe is plumping up nicely! 

Wednesday of this week, we got a call about some new kittens that had come in.  They are about the same age as our current crew, so we agreed to take them.  We traded them for Sadie, because if she isn't producing for the kittens, she should go and try to find a home.  She should be spayed today.  There is a large "Clear the Shelter" event going on this weekend at all the local shelters, so lots of people should be out looking! 

We got 5 new babies, which brings our total to 8 kittens.  This is Charlie.

Josie was so tired she was falling asleep while drinking! 

There are three orange and white babies named Regina, Caleb and Rusty.  They loved the heating pad in the cage.  Madeline was NOT happy about them taking over! 

They are all getting along better now.  Everyone enjoys a bowl of milk/food slurry. 

Seeing these new healthy babies really shows how underweight my original three are.   The new 5 are super sweet and social.  They were clearly raised in a home environment.  I hope their former home with spay the mom so more unwanted kittens are born.