Wheezie in Surgery

Wheezie is in surgery as I type this. The specialist thinks there is a linear foreign body (ie a string) in her intestines. Keep your fingers crossed that it is something that can be removed (and not a mass or tumor) and that the damage to her intestines is repairable.

Don't know what to do...

Ok, so Wheezie is doing a little bit better. She hasn't vomitted in about 24 hours. Our vet got us an appointment tomorrow to see a veterinary internal medicine specialist. The operate by referral only...and they are putting us into one of their emergency spots, otherwise we couldn't get in until the 9th. Our vet was saying something about having a gastrointestinal endoscopic evulation done on Wheezie (basically, they stick a robotic thing down her throat or up her you know what with a camera). They can also do a biopsy with this device. I just called the specialist office to find out what form of payment they take and also asked how much the endoscopic procedure was... are you sitting down... $1200 - $1400!!! I just don't know if we can do that. That is a lot of money. Our vet also said something about an ultrasound. I know that would have to be cheaper. Hopefully we can go that route. I know the exam alone is probably going to be an arm and a leg. Which, we have already given up an arm and a leg for the testing at our vet. I just don't know what to do. I love Wheezie with all my heart and don't want to see her suffering... but that is a lot of money. I guess I am just really frustrated b/c we have done so much testing already, only to have our vet pretty much say she is stumped and try to send us elsewhere. Plus, this is the second time Wheezie has had one of these vomitting episodes in just over a month. I don't know how much her poor little system can handle.

I have been doing so much praying...asking for guidence. asking both God and Wheezie to tell me what they want me to do, what they want. I tried to have a real heart to heart with Wheezie on Friday night after I had brought her home from the vets and had her set up in the spare bedroom. I was planning on sleeping in there that night, as I lay there I asked her to let me know what she wanted to do. How she wanted to proceed with the situation. She jumped down and walked over to the door and then turned around and looked at me... So, basically all she told me was that she wanted out of the bedroom. I don't think she caught my drift as to what I was asking!!

Please pray for Wheezie

Please pray for Wheezie. She had a rough night. I dropped her off at the vet this morning... after she started throwing up fecal matter. She may need surgery.

Turtle the tiny tortie

Ok... where to begin.

A few weeks ago, the neighbor (Holly) and her cousin were walking the neighborhood with the kids. When they passed the house that we are 99.9% sure Tipsy came from they noticed a bunch of kittens. One little kitten was sitting in the front yard while the others were around back. Bacause it was sitting by itself, they decided to carry the kitten with them for the remainder or their walk. Of course, I happened to drive by them on my way home from picking up dinner. And, of course, they flag me down and practically thrust the kitten into my car for me to see. I held her for a minute and could feel that she was being well fed by her mom. Holly's cousin thought about keeping her, but I she was so tiny that I told her she probably wasn't old enough to be away from her mom yet. They took her back. Because the kitten seemed rather healthy, I wasn't too concerned about them. I hated the fact that there were so many semi-feral cats at that one house and they obviously weren't fixing them. But...if they are healthy...

So this past Sunday, Barbara (my lab boss), came over to meet Stache. She had been needing a kitten fix and she was hoping that by playing with Stache it would get rid of her desire to adopt a kitten. I had previously told my work gang about the kittens down the street. So, she asked if we could go see them. I say sure. We walk down there, but don't really see any of the kittens. As we are standing at the edge of the driveway, a man comes out of the house. Not wanting to look like a stalker or something, I ask if the kittens were out. He said yes and that we could take as many as we wanted. We kind of laughed. I told him I had plenty at home. So...being invited to look at them. We went into the yard and sure enough...there were kittens everywhere. At least a dozen of them on, around and under the deck. This is in addition to the 10+ adult cats living in the yard. The smell of fecal matter was pretty strong. As we kept saying..."look at that one", "oh look, there is another one", etc... we noticed a little tiny tortie laying on the deck. Barbara has a tortie at home, so we went in for a closer look. Her eyes were practically sealed shut with gunk. She had a penny sized bright green ball of snot hanging on her nose. I picked her up and she was so emaciated. She looked half dead. It really made me furious. She was by far the worst off. But, as we looked closer there were quite a few others with eye gunk. We left shortly thereafter b/c Barbara's willpower to was waining!

I could not stop thinking about that poor Tortie. After Barbara left, I called the SPCA, but their voicemail said to call your local animal control. I tried the number that was in the phone book. I was told that the office was closed and to try back after 10am the next day (monday). I then called the Veterinary Emergency Clinic for advice. They gave me some different phone numbers to try. This time, I got a dispatcher for the Hanover County Animal Control. They took down the information and asked if I would like a phone call after the situation had been checked out. I said "yes". By 8pm... I had yet to hear anything from Animal Control. I was so worried about the kitten. I knew that I wouldnt be able to sleep. Mike told me to take a Xanax and go to bed... I knew that wouldn't help. Before I knew it, I was changing out of my PJ's and into some clothes. I asked Mike for directions and off I went. The kitten was still in the same spot as before, except a lot of her siblings had huddled up around her. Without even talking to the people at the house, I grabbed her, put her in a carrier and off I went. On the way to the emergency clinic... I decided that I would call her "Turtle" b/c she has the tortoiseshell shell coloring/markings (I am a firm believer that everything deserves a name!).

They took Turtle to the back shortly after I arrived. I had no idea if they were looking at her or if she was just back there somewhere.

Ok fast forward through lots of waiting at the clinic, a few cell phone calls, a good cry, and a little flirting from the owner of Jackson the guinnea pig...hello...does a ring not mean anything to men!!. side note: The good cry came from a couple that was coming in b/c they had to euthanize their daughter's ailing cat. Their daughter died when she was 10. The lady said "at least now they will be together again."

Ok...back to Turtle. They finally called me into an exam room. It was around 9:30 or so. I waited another 30 minutes or so. A vet finally came in and asked where Turtle was and if she had been seen. I told her that they took her back and I knew nothing. She said sorry for the confusion, and she went off to check on things. She comes back around 10 minutes later with some 2 quotes--one for a conservative approach and one for an aggressive approach. Lets just say that the conservative approach was around $200...and the aggressive was over $600 and the vet said that it sounded like she had pneumonia. If that were the case the prognosis was not the greatest...especially given her size (1 lb 1 oz) We decided to go the conservative route and have Turtle tested for FIV and FeLV and to do a fecal. They sent me back into the lobby to wait for the results.

While I was waiting, Mike called to tell me that the animal control officer had called. He gave me a number to call to leave a message for her. She called me around 10 and had just left the "cat house." She talked to the owner of the house. He said that only 2 of the 20+ cats were his. He said that they were feral and not his. She told him that if they were on his property and he was feeding them, then they were his. He told her he didn't want them anymore. She told him that he needed to call in the morning and surrender them and to keep whatever ones that he wanted inside. The animal control would then trap the rest of the cats. She also told him that if he didn't surrender them, they needed to atleast be vaccinated for rabbies and that failure to do that would result in a summons for each and every cat on the property (the emergency vet later told me that it was a $400 fine per cat if it held up in court!!).

After a little more waiting, I finally got some results. She tested triple positive for round worms. The vet said that she had a hard time getting blood from Turtle b/c of her severe anemia (from fleas and worms). She said her blood was almost like water. She tested negative for FeLV and showed a super faint positive for FIV. However, the vet said that it was most likely due to her poor blood condition or that it could also be from her mom's antibodies. If it were the FeLV that showed a faint positive she would be concerned, as that can be transmitted from mothers to their unborn kittens. They gave Turtle a dose of dewormer and sent me home with a tiny kitten and some antibiotics and some high caloric wet food.

I got home around 11pm (which you all know if very very late for me!!) I had been instructed not to bring her in the house b/c of all her gunk and that b/c she was so tiny it would be ok to leave her in the carrier overnight (with food, water and a litter box of course!) under our house in Mike's workshop. Luckily our kitchen is all torn up, so I was easily able to convert a small kitchen drawer organizer to a litter box (a good excuse to buy new stuff for the kitten!). I gave her some of the yummy food and some water and called it a night. However... I didn't sleep much. I was too worked up.

The next morning, I went down to check on her and give her the antibiotics. She hadn't eaten a thing over night. She hadn't gone potty either. I poured some of Stache's leftover Kitten Milk Replacer in a bowl for her. Unfortunately, I had to go to work. But, on the way home, I stopped at Home Depot for some kitchen stuff and picked up some wood and wire screen to build her a bigger enclosure. I just didn't feel comfortable leaving her in the carrier for so long. Monday night was a busy one, not only did I give her a bath but I built an enclosure for her around a previously made cat house (the one I constructed for Tipsy when we thought that she was going to be an outdoor kitty). I had Mike help me carry the enclosure up to our side porch. I decided I would be able to keep better tabs on her and she would probably enjoy the natural light and the warmth of the sun (and she is used to being outdoors). I gave her about 15 to 20 mls of sc fluids and her meds. She still didn't eat anything or go potty.

I took off work on Tuesday to take care of little Turtle. I was worried that a decision was going to have to be made. After giving Tipsy and Wheezie their meds and Turtle her the antibiotic in the morning... I headed to Wally World for some kitten formula and a bottle. I was able to get her to drink from the bottle!!! I was very excited. I also gave her some laxatone in case she was constipated. I knew that she should be going potty...especially after being dewormed. I bottle fed her a couple of times throughout the day.

I also called some places to see if they would take Turtle. Because of her sad state...noone would take her. The Hanover Animal Control lady told me that she would most likely be euthanized if I surrendered her with the other animals from the property. I couldn't do that. Looked like I was in for some more bottle feeding and rehab.

After dinner, I went out to bottle feed the little girl...to my surprise there was poopy in the litter box and she was ravenously eating away at the dry food!!!! I was so excited. Who knew that a good poop was all she needed to start eating!!!!

In all, she is still not out of the woods. Her congestion has cleared up a good bit since starting her on the antibiotics. But, she still sneezes out a good bit of goop. She has pooped out more round worms than I can count. and I am sure that there will be more to come. Things are definitely looking brighter for little Turtle. She is such a sweet girl and I think she will make someone a great pet (mike already said no!) She is very content to just cuddle up on your lap and sleep. I will try and post some pictures tomorrow.

The vet must love me!

So the last week or so has been a busy one as far as vets go! Milo and Tipsy had appoinments! All was good with both of them. Lydia had her yearly check up--all good! Stache had a check-up yesterday. He is up to 2lbs and 14oz! Such a big boy! He has such long legs too! I think he is going to be a very tall kitty! He is really trying to get Tipsy to play with him. She gave in a little last night and was romping with him some when I was trying to fall asleep. I really hope that she bonds with him, I think it would do her wonders to have a friend. Milo and Gilbert have also started playing with Stache some! He also has a lot of fun playing by himself! He is really good at entertaining himself!

ok...back to the topic of going to the vets. I spent a couple of hours at the emergency clinic on sunday night with a kitten from down the street. I will do a seperate post about that incident!

Wheezie has started throwing up again. I am going to give her some fluids tonight. Hopefully I don't have to take her to the vets again. I am sure she would want to do more bloodwork on Wheezie. Poor little thing. I am thinking that her eating Stache's kitten chow may have caused her IBD to flair up again. Keep your fingers crossed for her!

Miss Lydia goes to the vet today

So Miss Lydia has her yearly checkup today! Because she is technically still a foster kitty, I have to drive her to a vet on the other side of town. I don't really mind though...the vets there are great. If I lived a little closer, I would definitely take the rest of the gang there.

It is absolutely amazing how much Lydia has changed since we brought her home in September of 2006. She was so shy and leary of people when we brought her home... she has gradually turned into quite the social butterfly. She loves to romp and cuddle with her two brothers-Milo and Gilbert. Both of which we adopted from Second Chance Animal Shelter. Lydia was actually a kitten there when we adopted Milo (I had a hard time chosing between her and Milo). She was still there when we adopted Gilbert (as a first birthday present for Milo). A year and a half later, when the shelter was closing their facilities and looking for foster families... Lydia was still there. Because of her age and hesitance around people, they doubted that she would ever be adopted. I knew that I had to bring her home. Milo was smitten with her as soon as we opened the carrier door. It took about a week or two...but she won Gilbert's heart too. The three are practically inseperable. We call them the triplets or the three amigos. While none are true siblings, there is only 3 months seperating all of them. I think the three of them were meant to be together.

You won't believe the treats that she can sucker people into giving her! Wow! She follows you all over the house, looking up at you with these big pitiful eyes and does a barely audible meow. We were able to teach her to wave for treats. That may have backfired some... While Milo, Lexi and Wheezie gently wave or tap your hand for treats and nicely take it out of your hand or request you put it on the floor... Lydia smacks the crap out of your hand and practically bites your finger off for the treat!!! We did manage to teach her to be gentle...that lasted for about a day. If you are giving the rest of the gang treats, she will either try and steal it from them or she just keeps smacking at you until it is her turn again. Her new favorites are the freeze dried cod nuggets (think astronaut food!). She absolutely loves them and Daddy is such a softy for her big eyes and silent meows that she is quickly running out of those!

When she isn't begging for treats, Lydia enjoys napping in the kitty veranda and getting her belly rubbed! We have been working hard on getting her to let us hold her while we rub her belly. Each time, she lets us hold her longer and longer. I have a feeling that one day she will be a lap kitty! She is also becoming a social eater like Wheezie and likes for you to pet her while she eats (crazy cats!).

Jabba the Hutt....oops, I mean Lexi!

Ok... so I had to post this picture of Lexi. She is such a chunky monkey (that is actually one of her nicknames)!! She has started sitting like this on a fairly regular basis... I think it make her look like Jabba the Hutt! Crazy cat! She is also really really enjoying the kitty veranda! She spends most of the day out in it (especially since I put some water out there for her).

As for the rest of the gang... Little Mustachio is growing like a weed. It has been 2 weeks since I found him and I think that he has doubled in size! Wheezie is doing really well. She hasn't gotten sick in quite a while and she is down to taking medicine just once a day now! The boys and Lydia are as crazy as ever. Lydia is so spoiled, everytime we pick anything up now, she thinks it is a treat and she looks up with you with those big eyes and gives you a silent meow. of course...being the suckers that we are...we reward her with a treat! She is due for her vaccinations this month, I need to find time to take her across town (b/c she is technically a foster her vet is across time). Milo and Tipsy go to the vet today. Milo for his shots, and Tipsy for a follow up from her latest bladder infection. She hasn't been quite herself lately--not that I truely know what that is... she has had so many ups and downs since we got her. All I know is that she seems more skittish lately and isn't playing nearly as much as she used to. I don't know if it is due to her not feeling well or due to the craziness at our house (with the remodel and the addition of Mustachio). Plus, she only likes to use the litter box when she is confined to our bedroom/bathroom. If she has free run of the house...she prefers to crap on the carpet. I don't enoy that too much. I just really want her to be the friendly playful kitty that she was early on. I don't want to resent her--giving medicine twice a day is a huge commitment. especially for a cat that can't stand to be around you! and... then there is the $$ that we have put into trying to get her healthy. I am sure she can pick up on my frustrations. I try to clear my head and have nothing but positive thoughts when I am around her, but it can be hard. I do really love her, and just want her to be happy it. I just really hurts to have her run under the bed as soon as I walk in the room. She just seems so miserable sometimes. I wish she could understand that I am giving her this medicine to help her.

well...I better get back to work! Wish me luck this afternoon at the vets!

Mr. Mustachio

Ok... Just as I wasn't looking for a 6th kitty... I wasn't looking for a 7th kitty either! But, when I was driving to work on Tuesday (July 3rd, 2007) I found a kitten! He was sitting on the sidewalk (at a bus stop!) near a busy intersection in the cities 2nd worst neighborhood. (what was I doing there... it is close to my work, and going through there is the quickest way for me to get to work!). Well... of course, I pulled over and got the kitten. It took a few minutes, he would run up to me then back into the grass (there is a vacant lot behind the bus stop) and then back to me. He finally let me grab him... I got him in the car, where he proceded to climb up onto my shoulder. He rode on my shoulder for the 20 minute ride to our vet's office back on my side of town. Poor little baby was nothing but skin and bones...so tiny. He cried for a few minutes in the car, and then the purring started. He kept nuzzling up against my head and hand.

I dropped him off at the vet's office. They tested him (negative for both FIV and FeLV), de-wormed him, and gave him his first distemper shot. The say he is about 8 weeks old...but the size of a 4 or 5 week old. I was able to pick him up that afternoon. His new home is in our master bathroom...the kitty infirmery. He is not allowed to be around the other cats for 10 days...b/c the vet thinks he might have coccidia (I say 'thinks' b/c they weren't able to get a fecal sample from him. Poor little thing had a horrible case of round worms too. I've never seen so many shed from such a tiny thing (he weighed in at 1 lb 6 oz). Not to mention that when he finally did go potty...it looked like mulch. nothing but grassy material and bug exoskeletons. He is eating like a champ now and loves to cuddle on our laps when we sit in the bathroom. We are calling him Mustachio b/c he has a teeny tiny little white mustache. (although Mike wanted to call him Dr. Dre or Tupak...b/c of where I found him)

My mom is worried that I am going to become a cat hoarder... I know that won't happen. Anyway...I think that there is a greater power involved in Tipsy finding us and me finding Mustachio. I have never seen a cat in the area where I found him... usually all you see are large dogs running loose. A lot of pit-mixes. I have even seen someone training a pit for fighting in that neighborhood! Little Musi I lucky to have surrived there for 8 weeks! Given his condition, I don't think he would have lasted much longer.

Ode to Wheezie

Poor Wheezie got seriously ill while we were in Ohio. She pretty much threw up for two weeks straight and lost about 2 of her 9 pounds. She spent two nights in the kitty hospital. Luckily... she is a stubborn little girl and wouldn't let her ailment get the best of her. We are not 100% sure what happened to her... we think that she ate something she wasn't suppose to eat at Uncle Clifford's house (she is sooooo nosy) and that it caused her to get sick (with kidney and liver issues). Then... by the time what ever it was worked itself out of her system, her digestive track was so irritated that it turned into Inflammatory Bowel Disease. It has been just over 2 1/2 weeks since she got sick.... and her vomiting is down to once every couple of days. Yay! I think that the worst is behind us and that Wheezie will be with us until she is 22!! (or atleast that is what I keep telling her!!)

Tipsy Update

Ok... I am terribly sorry that I have not updated lately. The last few months have been really crazy. But...I am happy to report that Tipsy has been seizure free for 3 months now!! She, of course, is still on her medicine (and not liking it that much). She has also had some bouts of bladder infections and round worms.... but is doing ok otherwise! The pacing that we witnessed for the first month is gone! That must have been due to the hormones from being in heat, rather than the epilepsy. She has gotten rather skittish lately, but I think that is due to the most recent bladder infection. And... our house is all torn up due to the remodeling of the kitchen. so I am sure that doesn't help either.