just a cat

In reply to secretariata (Forum Supporter) :

fair point, Boddington on the left, Welly on the right.

Grace is doing great. She's just reaching the 4-week milestones. https://www.alleycat.org/resources/kitten-progression/ If my friend doesn't adopt her this afternoon, Mrs AAZCD may decide to keep her. The dogs and cats all get along well with her.

Betty let her nurse in two sessions yesterday,  but wouldn't let her this morning. She has not eaten anything while in captivity. I'm concerned about her survival.

I decided to release Betty,  but brought her to the vet to see if she could get some fluids or glucose first. Dr Bill looked at her and said he had a large pen available and would get her to eat. He's keeping her through the weekend and we'll figure out what's next on Monday.

In reply to AAZCD-Jon (Forum Supporter) :

I don't know if you should release her too soon while she is sick and recovering from surgery. I doubt the reason she is lethargic is because she is trapped in a crate. Maybe try putting some straw in her pen.

In reply to VolvoHeretic :

Thanks, A more natural setting is smart. I couldn't release her this morning without knowing that she would be okay, but I could not get her to eat and she had no reaction to Grace at all. If any feral cat deserves a break, SHE does. If she is manageable around my other animals we may try to keep her. She needs to be well and feel safe before we will know.

Grace went to a new home 20 minutes ago. If she had stayed much longer we might not have given her up. It is happy, sad, and a relief. She is in good hands.

EDIT: Just a minor update... Betty started eating on Sunday and is doing much better. I'm going to pick her up on Wednesday expecting her to be angry, scared and healthy.

Betty is looking good. She was generally calm, but clearly wanted to be home and free.

Duke said:

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.

Well, we made the decision to let Fiona go yesterday afternoon.

With twice-daily fluids and potassium citrate, we were able to hydrate her decently and get her electrolyte balance in range.  So she was actually feeling decent and was pretty mobile.  Which was paradoxical, because it made the decision to euthanize her that much harder.

She hadn't eaten in a week, and her BUN and creatinine levels were still literally off the charts.  Her phosphorus had come down but was still in the range where crystallization is a danger.  She didn't have liver problems yet, but a few more days with no food would have brought that on.  We tried to tempt her with anything we could, and we had her on both appetite stimulants and anti-nausea medication, but she was telling us it was time to go.  So we let her.

She was a slow burn cat in the family - she had spent her first 4 years in an out of the shelter, having been adopted and returned not once but twice.  They told us we could bring her back if she was a problem, but she absolutely never was for us.  It took a year before I heard her purr the first time, but once her trust in us developed, she was very loyal and companionable.  She just like to hang out near you, whatever you were doing.  After 13 years in the house with us, I'm ready to say she was maybe the nicest cat we've ever had.

So cheers, Fiona, we'll miss you, old fur.

I'm sorry, Duke. You gave her a good home and a good life.

I'm very sorry for the loss. I understand how difficult it is to make that decision and I hope that you remember all the good times with her. 

In reply to Duke :

So sorry... they are so dependent on us humans that it is near impossible to do the right thing and help let them go. We have personally always waited too long for every pet. It must be over 20 so far. 

Thanks, everyone.  I appreciate the sympathy.

She was a tough choice because outwardly she seemed mostly OK. With all of our previous cats, the answer was clear.

Betty is doing well back in the 'wild'. Initially she disappeared for a few days after being released, but now she is at every feeding and lets me approach closer than before. Her kitten has been named Lilly and is doing great with her adopted family.

Nike...

Nike is the mother of the newborn kitten I tried to save in the end of March. She lives in my neighbor's backyard and stopped coming to my feedings around two weeks ago. My neighbor has been feeding about six cats on their porch every day and I figured that Nike was doing fine over there.

Today they told me they're worried about her. She is acting weak and looks gaunt. I'm watching their house while they are gone through the weekend and I'm going to try to get Nike to the vet.

I had a trap set this afternoon, but it's not feeding time and the only cat interested in it was Bobbie.  I chased Bobbie out. Eventually I slowly walked up to Nike and almost caught her. She ran into poison ivy ...and I didn't.

I have the drop trap on the neighbor's porch now. This evening when I feed cat's, I'll stay for a while and see if I can get Nike. If I can catch her, I'll keep her overnight in a dog crate. Mrs AAZCD will bring her to the vet in the morning while I'm at work. Planning to have her checked and held until she gains strength, then have her spayed.

These are nobody's cats and nobody is responsible for them. ...call me Nobody.

Almost trapped her. I'll try again early in the morning. She doesn't look terrible, but her movements are labored.

While I was watching the trap, Fluffy walked up and checked out my trip-cord. His right eye isn't looking good. I may bring him to the vet soon to have it checked.

Most of the cats are doing well. I think that two females that are fairly new to me are pregnant. Definitely Minnie and probably Sasha. Minnie looks like she'll have them any day now.

Oops. That's not a cat!

Went back to make sure the traps were 'safe' for the night.

Thursday Morning Edit: There was no sign of Nike this morning. I'll try again tonight. I've been trying to catch her off and on for a few months and she is very aware of the presence of traps.

Until I started trying to trap her, Nike spent a lot of time in a pet bed on the neighbor's porch. Yesterday evening Nike was nowhere around the yard. I finally spotted her in a pasture where another neighbor has cattle. She was absent this morning. I'm giving it a break and plan to try again Saturday morning.

Still not trapped. I talked with the vet. It could be cat leukemia or just parasites. I will start the whole colony on de-worming medicine this evening; Liquid dose on canned food.

Big Tom has fleas and is grumpy at everyone.

The Cat Distribution Network seems to have calculated that it is time for us to get a new cat.

Normally we would wait a few months after a loss before considering a new addition. However, SIL in Tennessee has a semi-feral barn cat that was resident at her new place. She just had a litter a month ago and we're probably going to make space for the only female. The mama has been trapped and spayed.

Deal isn't done yet (let alone transport) but it sounds like it will happen within a month.

Mr. Noodle had cancer for a while now. He was eating, drinking and being active... until he took a rapid turn for the worse.

It was time for him to cross the rainbow bridge.

Thanks for everything, Noodle. You were always very interested in the GRM NYG boxes. 

In reply to Brett_Murphy (Agent of Chaos) :

I'm so sorry to hear that, Brett.  My deepest condolences - Mr. Noodle looks like a sweet guy.

We managed to have Nike and the other feral cats that dine on my neighbor's porch complete three once-daily doses of Valbazen de-wormer. Nike is looking better and hopefully she will gain some weight now. I have some 'chewable' flea pills for Thomas and whoever else needs them. Callie got one this morning and Thomas should get his tomorrow morning.

I'm still trying to trap Nike, but have shifted focus to Bobbie. I delayed trapping Bobbie for spaying because she was pregnant, then nursing kittens in an area that I don't have access to. Today my neighbor called me over when she saw Bobbie in her yard with two kittens. I barely got to see the kittens as they darted from one hiding place to another, but they look ten to twelve weeks old in my estimate. Still within the threshold of easy domestication. I'm going to attempt to trap them all together - Bobbie and both kittens in the morning. Take Bobbie for spaying and foster the kittens while I find homes for them.

One black, one white with gray:

Trapped Bobbie easily. No kittens in sight this morning.

Dropped her at the vet and went back looking for kittens. When I got there Nike was perfectly positioned to drop the trap.. Boom, done.

Nike will probably stay at the vet through the weekend and be spayed Monday.

Now it's my nap time (night shift last night). Kitten hunting in the afternoon.

All of the ferals that I tend are doing well. Nike came home Monday afternoon in much better shape than she was the week before. She was calm in her carrier and easy to handle. If I had an assured home for her, I might not have released her to the wild. Mrs AAZCD pointed out to me that there are kittens that we may foster any day and more that will show up in the months ahead. Nike has an established home and place in the cat colony. Best to return her. With the carrier sitting open near her den, she took her time exiting then calmly walked out, sniffed the air and vanished into a hole in the brush.

Bobbie was released the same day I trapped her. She is a bit more wary of me now at feeding times, but is still bolder than the other ferals. We have not seen her kittens again, but she seems to be tending them in the same inaccessible spot where she originally had them.

Minnie had her kittens about a week ago. I have not seen them and don't know where her den is, but she has lost the huge belly. She looks healthy and is socializing well with the other cats.

A new cat showed up today. I'm calling it 'Rusty Brown' for now. It appears to be less than a year old and did not eat with the other cats. I'm curious to see if it becomes a regular or was just passing through.

This morning when Bobbie left breakfast, she met two kittens across the street at another neighbor's house. I got my camera while she nursed them briefly, then they headed back to their den area. It looks like the one I thought was black is actually striped like her. ...or are there more?