just a cat

He's alive and feisty this morning. I didn't sleep much. Feedings were very small and difficult with a plain syringe - fed about once an hour. I'm going to get some kind of nipple this morning. Still a very fragile small life with a hard road ahead for a couple weeks if he makes it.

Back to napping after a tiny poop.

Through the day, 'Tiny' was doing well. This evening when I picked him up for a 5:30 feeding he was dead. Rest in peace little guy.

So sorry.  Rest in peace, Tiny.

Sorry Tiny.  Thanks for trying to give them a chance. 

So sad. At least he didn't die alone.

That's heart breaking.

That's horrible.  I was hoping that he would make it.

Thank you. That was tough. A very intense 24 hours and then loss.

A little photo therapy today with my three house-cats and the colony:

I was worried about little Nike. She looked weak and rough after the delivery. She appears cleaned up and recovered now.

Peace.

Oh man, this page has been a roller coaster. Thanks for trying to save Tiny.

St Francis would be proud of you.

There's a new white-black cat coming to eat. Until yesterday it ran away from me on sight and I couldn't get closer than 50'. Last night there was leftover salmon in the bowl and we got a lot closer. Still not sure of sex.

From the front I see Mickey Mouse ears. He could be Groucho or Mickey. She could be Mini.

The goal this week is to trap Nike for a trip to the vet.

I have not seen Bobbie for a couple weeks. I'm sure that she has had her kittens by now. Her range is generally north of the main colony and she probably has a food source besides mine. I don't expect to see her again until the kittens are a couple weeks older.

A Sylvester was dead in one of my cat shelters last week. It looked like it was a peaceful death.

As if on cue from my previous post, Bobbie showed up tonight. Hungry, but looking good. The other girls let her through and waited 'till she had her fill.

I took a picture of Scout and Miso on the bench this morning. It's been a little over a year since we adopted Scout. When I went outside I saw Scout's sister Tanya catching bugs. Tanya has a good life for a feral and I see her almost every day at feeding time. I now have neighbors on both sides of us feeding and providing some shelter for the ferals.

In reply to AAZCD-Jon (Forum Supporter) :

Thanks for trying your best for Tiny.  I'm sorry he didn't make it, but at least he was comfortable and cared for.

Our oldest, Fiona, looks to be on short time.  We nearly lost her to pneumonia last year, but got her back from the edge.  She had put on a little weight (thanks to an appetite stimulant) and seemed decently healthy.

Recently, though, she's lost the weight again.  Over the weekend she suddenly went pretty lethargic and lost some strength.  Got her into the vet first thing this morning and blood work shows end-stage kidney failure - phosphorus and calcium are off the charts.  April 2023's blood work showed normal levels.  We didn't have her chart from October at home, but the vet had said during this morning's visit that they were up a bit then, but still in range.

We're going to give subcutaneous fluids and potassium citrate, though the vet isn't hopeful.  But we owe her a try first.

Duke, I hope Fiona improves and you have more good times together. We have a dog that was in failing health a year ago and after blood work, put her on daily meds (Soloxene). It has brought her back to a happy normal life for the past year.

Driving past a neighbor's house today I saw a cluster of kittens under their truck with the momma. I had never talked with these neighbors before other than waving to eachother, but know that they have been feeding a cat outside for the last year. We just talked. Mrs Neighbor is allergic to cats, so they can't have any indoors. They have been caring for the mother and kittens with shelter, food, and toys on their porch. Kittens were born March 5th and can be handled if you catch them while they are eating.

Thomas, the Alpha cat of my neighborhood was limping this morning. Apparently he tried to kill those kittens yesterday and got beat. I'm not so sympathetic to him now.

Betty (Formerly 'Black Tail') has been much more approachable in the last couple weeks. She used to run away from me on sight from 50 yards away. Now I can be within six feet. She has been a kitten machine as long as I have been aware of her. Today I found her den and More Kittens. They are deep in poisin ivy so I didn't get a good look yet, but what I saw looked about 7 weeks old (very rough estimate). Tomorrow and Friday I am going to do what I can to trap her and the kittens. I have one co-worker that wants a female kitten and I am sure that I can find homes for a few others.

More details later. Betty is at the vet being spayed.  I have searched and searched,  but only found one kitten. I'm pretty sure that's all there was now and it's younger than I expected. Kitten is in a small studio apartment for the day.

AAZCD-Jon (Forum Supporter) said:

Duke, I hope Fiona improves and you have more good times together. We have a dog that was in failing health a year ago and after blood work, put her on daily meds (Soloxene). It has brought her back to a happy normal life for the past year.

Thanks very much.  We've dealt with kidney failure before - our last cat with it lived with us giving her sub-cu fluids for probably 4 years.  But this came on pretty quickly and immediately went Code Red.

We've been giving her sub-cu twice a day, plus potassium citrate to help stop the calcium and phosphorus from mineralizing in her organs.  She's been feeling better, but I really think her time is shorter rather than longer.  She's almost 18.  We'll make it as comfortable as we can for as long as we can.

I tried trapping this morning for an hour. Callie and Allie hung around, but Betty didn't come out until I was ready to quit. It worked out perfectly. The others were done eating and she was the only one at the trap when I triggered it.

With her secured in the trap, I went to the den. Lots of poison ivy had to be cut to get a good view. There was one kitten. I had expected three to five. It's a hard world for ferals. She was easy to grab and we all went to the vet.

Betty spent the day getting spayed. Kitten 'Grace' spent the day in a carrier or being doted on by our nanny dog Lilo.

Betty is in a large dog crate recovering now. I took Grace back out after a while because Betty can't handle her yet. Not sure how long they will stay with us. Grace is still a bit young to adopt out.

Betty will probably need a couple days to gain strength. She was not healthy, but has been treated for parasites and should be much better soon.

So far Betty is not nursing Grace at all. She is impassive and laying in the cat litter.

Since she was not being aggressive or attempting to escape, I reached back and petted her head and neck to see her reaction. She relaxed more. Her ears have always looked odd; short and rounded. I had assumed it was genetic. After touching them and seeing up close, I'm pretty sure that she was burned.

If she starts nursing Gracie again I'm willing to keep her around for a while. Otherwise I'll probably release her at feeding time tomorrow morning.

I just stumbled across this post, and figured I'd share my 3 furry housemates.

Boddington is the normally looking one, Wellington is the not-so-normal one.

And this is Poppins. She's lost some weight since this pic (intentionally, as the vet described her as morbidly obese).

The 10th time that I set them together, Grace found a spot and started to feed. Betty is still staying on the litter. I realized that her normal bedding is rocks and packed dirt - at best the interior of a hollow tree. A soft pet bed is foreign to her.

P5Racer said:

I just stumbled across this post, and figured I'd share my 3 furry housemates.

Boddington is the normally looking one, Wellington is the not-so-normal one.

And this is Poppins. She's lost some weight since this pic (intentionally, as the vet described her as morbidly obese).

So, Welly on the left and Boddy on the right? I mean they are cats...

Thanks for being so kind to Betty.  She has loved a tough life.  Good that she will have a break from being a kitten factory after all that she has been through.  Hopefully Grace finds a good home.