Neko is improving slowly now that we know what is actually going on and he is on the right medication. He saw the vet again on Monday and the improvement in the swelling was promising.
He is now allowed to stay just in the bathroom rather than locked up in a crate all the time. He is also allowed outside the bathroom to roam the house in short intervals of time as long as there are no other kittens loose. If there are other kittens around he wants to jump and play with them and that is not good for him just yet.
He is trying to use the leg more and more each day. He puts it down and tries to walk on it, although it is still too weak to hold all his weight. But I have hopes that it will continue to improve as the days go one.
His siblings, Nora, Ranger, Riley and Panda are all almost big enough and old enough to go back to the shelter and be adopted out soon. Although Panda, being the runt is still the smallest and may have to stick around with us a little while longer than the rest of them. All of them miss Neko and meow at the door to the bathroom trying to get me to let him out, but I just can't let them play because Neko can not resist jumping and wrestling with them.
When ever they go up for adoption, they will all find homes in a heart beat. Not only are they adorable and really fun to play with, there are also not a lot of kittens to be found at this time of year.
3/15/10
3/11/10
Poor Neko :o(
This is Neko. He is one of the 5 young kittens I brought home recently. Last Thursday I went down to the foster room around 5 pm to give the kittens their dinner and noticed that Neko seemed unsteady when he was in the litter box. When he crawled out of the litter box I saw that he was not using his right hind leg at all and that the leg was swollen to about two times its normal size. I immediately scooped him up and called the shelter foster coordinator to let her know I was on my way in with Neko. I was very concerned that he had somehow broken his leg.
The foster coordinator and the vet of staff and the time looked at his leg, but we were not really sure what had happened. It was obviously painful to the touch and to use even though he had been fine at about 2pm that same day. The vet prescribed pain medication for the next three days and told me to keep him confined to a cat carrier in the hopes that the swelling would go down. So I took him home with the instructions that if he got any worse at all, or the swelling did not improve over the next few days, to bring him right back in for an x-ray.
I brought him back the next day because it was Friday and there was no improvement. Both the foster coordinator and I were concerned about waiting any longer for x-rays. The vet on staff that day agreed and I took him to a local animal hospital for x-rays. As our vet had thought, the leg was not broken. She was concerned that what he had was a septic joint, so she sedated him and withdrew fluid from the swollen leg to send out for testing. He was also put on multiple antibiotics.
Saturday morning I woke up and got ready to head to the shelter to do an orientation for a new foster family. After checking on Neko, I called in to the shelter and said I was bringing him with me, because I was not comfortable leaving him home alone. His paw was now swollen three times its normal size and I wanted him where I could check on him throughout the day. And it was a good thing I did because midway through the day, he started shaking and breathing hard and stopped eating. We tried to drain the fluid from the foot, but nothing came out. We gave him fluids to help with the fever and the shelter manager called the vet on call who said to give him a shot of prednisone which thankfully seemed to help somewhat.
By Sunday morning the foot was no smaller, but he appeared to be feeling better and acting more normal and was eating again. He still needed to stay in his carrier though. (Just an FYI, a Siamese kitten unhappily confined to a small cat carrier equals sleepless meow filled nights for his foster mom). He went with me to the shelter again that day since I had another orientation to do. Everyone checked on him throughout the day. We repeated the fluids to control the temp again. He appeared in good spirits, but had no improvement in the swelling. The shelter manager told me to bring him back first thing in the morning on Monday to be re-examined by the vet even though they were doing a feral cat spay clinic that day and were not doing exam appointments. He felt that it could not wait until the next day.
The vet looked at him again on Monday and decided to repeat the prednisone shot since it seemed to be helping, at least until the results of the joint tap came back. He continued to feel good and want out of the crate for the next two days. The swelling even seemed to go down just a little bit. And I was so happy because I was really concerned I was going to lose him over the weekend.
Yesterday, the results of the joint tap came back and it turns out that he has a bacterial infection in his leg. His medication has been changed to a different antibiotic and he will be weaned off the prednisone over the next few days. The vet told me that we will probably not be able to figure out how he got this infection. The most likely reason is that he was bitten by one of his litter mates during play, but she had not found a puncture or bite wound when she examined him. So we may never know how this happened, but at least we know what is wrong and how to treat it.
He will been seen by the vet again tomorrow as a follow up to be sure that he is continuing to improve. And hopefully as time goes on he will start to move the leg and regain function. I am just glad that he is feeling well and wanting to run and jump and play even if I can not let him.
So that was my week. How was yours?
Oh, and somewhere during this stressful week, I brought home two new semi-social foster kittens (Yes I know I am crazy). They are named Spider Monkey (just Monkey in our house because Paige does not like spiders) and Tiana (after Tatiana from Disney's Princess and the Frog). They are cute but scared. I will have more on them later, but for now I think I need a nap.
3/4/10
The kittens are coming, the kittens are coming!
That's right folks, kitten season is bearing down on us with alarming speed. If you haven't done so yet, please get your pets spayed or neutered right away since breeding season is upon us. Even though it is still cold out, the shelter is starting to take in quite a few pregnant cats and even some young kittens. I know of at least two foster homes that have just recently had a mother cat give birth, the shelter has a dog that just had puppies and I myself currently have 5 kittens that are about 7 weeks old right now. And boy are they cute!
I took these kittens home the first week in February. They were born to a feral mother and caught by a good Samaritan who brought them to us. That person also arranged for a feral cat rescue to trap, spay and release the mom cat to avoid any more kittens in the future. Since they were so young, they needed to learn to eat solid food which they have done, although they are quite messy about it. I have one girl and four boys and they are all part Siamese. There colorings are black, black and white, and cream colored with chocolate points. There names are Ranger, Riley, Panda, Neko, and Nora.
Of course, we apparently can't have a foster without at least some drama and this litter is no exception. This time it was our fault and an accident. Riley, one of the black and white kittens is very social and wants to be with you at all times. Unfortunately, this led to him jumping up underneath my roommate as she was sitting down. So Riley got sat on. I rushed him right to the shelter because he appeared to be bleeding from the mouth and I was concerned about internal injuries. Thankfully, it turns out it was most likely a bloody nose and other than being sore for a day or two he had no lasting effects from being sat on. (Except for getting the nickname of "Splat" from my roommate's husband).
So here are our current babies:
This is Riley right after he came back from the shelter to get checked out after being sat on. Doesn't he look so small? But don't let this picture fool you. Once he recovered from this incident, he became a high energy, feisty kitten who is in to every thing.
This is Neko. He climbed into Paige's dollhouse one day and sat down like he was coming over for tea. He is one of the most timid of the kittens. He tends to hang back and let the more outgoing ones check things out before he ventures near. He is also the most vocal, with the typical Siamese meow.
This is Nora. She is the only girl in the group and she likes to sit in my laundry basket. She may be the only girl, but she is a tough chick who definitely holds her own with her brothers. She, like Neko, has kept her blue eyes as she has gotten older and looks very Siamese.
This is Panda. He is the smallest of the group and very clingy. He is at the top of a cat climbing tower in my room in this picture. Even though he is the smallest, he was one of the first to figure out how to get down from the climbing tree because as soon as a person comes in the room, he wants to rush down to climb on the person and either sit on their lap or on their shoulder. He also needs lost of cuddles and foster "mom cat" attention.
The other kitten is named Ranger. He is often off on his own and is the bravest in the bunch. When the other four were just deciding if it was safe to step out of the room they spent the first week in, Ranger was already off exploring the bottom floor of the house. He seems to have no fear, gets into everything and seems to be able to handle himself in most situations. And for those of you who are fans, he is named after a character in Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels. The Ranger from the books is the mystery man, always dressed in black, often off on his own and eating healthy food while everyone else is eating junk. My Ranger is all black, often off on his own, does not sit still long enough to get a picture that is more than just a blur of long black hair and eats the healthy dry kibble while all the others chow on the high calorie wet food. He is a bit of a bad boy, but does like to cuddle from time to time and I must admit I have a bit of a soft spot for my little bad boy (and the Ranger from the books too)!
And for those of you who are wondering, so far so good with Hope's relaunch into her forever home. She is eating this time and slowly adjusting. I will keep my fingers crossed that her good luck continues. Here she is right before she left for her second attempt at moving to her forever home.
I took these kittens home the first week in February. They were born to a feral mother and caught by a good Samaritan who brought them to us. That person also arranged for a feral cat rescue to trap, spay and release the mom cat to avoid any more kittens in the future. Since they were so young, they needed to learn to eat solid food which they have done, although they are quite messy about it. I have one girl and four boys and they are all part Siamese. There colorings are black, black and white, and cream colored with chocolate points. There names are Ranger, Riley, Panda, Neko, and Nora.
Of course, we apparently can't have a foster without at least some drama and this litter is no exception. This time it was our fault and an accident. Riley, one of the black and white kittens is very social and wants to be with you at all times. Unfortunately, this led to him jumping up underneath my roommate as she was sitting down. So Riley got sat on. I rushed him right to the shelter because he appeared to be bleeding from the mouth and I was concerned about internal injuries. Thankfully, it turns out it was most likely a bloody nose and other than being sore for a day or two he had no lasting effects from being sat on. (Except for getting the nickname of "Splat" from my roommate's husband).
So here are our current babies:
This is Riley right after he came back from the shelter to get checked out after being sat on. Doesn't he look so small? But don't let this picture fool you. Once he recovered from this incident, he became a high energy, feisty kitten who is in to every thing.
This is Neko. He climbed into Paige's dollhouse one day and sat down like he was coming over for tea. He is one of the most timid of the kittens. He tends to hang back and let the more outgoing ones check things out before he ventures near. He is also the most vocal, with the typical Siamese meow.
This is Nora. She is the only girl in the group and she likes to sit in my laundry basket. She may be the only girl, but she is a tough chick who definitely holds her own with her brothers. She, like Neko, has kept her blue eyes as she has gotten older and looks very Siamese.
This is Panda. He is the smallest of the group and very clingy. He is at the top of a cat climbing tower in my room in this picture. Even though he is the smallest, he was one of the first to figure out how to get down from the climbing tree because as soon as a person comes in the room, he wants to rush down to climb on the person and either sit on their lap or on their shoulder. He also needs lost of cuddles and foster "mom cat" attention.
The other kitten is named Ranger. He is often off on his own and is the bravest in the bunch. When the other four were just deciding if it was safe to step out of the room they spent the first week in, Ranger was already off exploring the bottom floor of the house. He seems to have no fear, gets into everything and seems to be able to handle himself in most situations. And for those of you who are fans, he is named after a character in Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum novels. The Ranger from the books is the mystery man, always dressed in black, often off on his own and eating healthy food while everyone else is eating junk. My Ranger is all black, often off on his own, does not sit still long enough to get a picture that is more than just a blur of long black hair and eats the healthy dry kibble while all the others chow on the high calorie wet food. He is a bit of a bad boy, but does like to cuddle from time to time and I must admit I have a bit of a soft spot for my little bad boy (and the Ranger from the books too)!
And for those of you who are wondering, so far so good with Hope's relaunch into her forever home. She is eating this time and slowly adjusting. I will keep my fingers crossed that her good luck continues. Here she is right before she left for her second attempt at moving to her forever home.
2/25/10
Hope Returns
Normally having hope return to your home is a good thing. Every body needs hope right? I would agree - except for when Hope is a foster cat that you sent on her way to a forever home. That is right folks...Hope is now back in my foster room.
She went to her forever home and for some reason stopped eating - at all. At first we thought it was because she was accidentally sent home with the wrong type of food. (And I learned not to use certain abbreviations). But I got a call from the shelter foster coordinator yesterday to say that Hope had been returned to the shelter the day before because she would not eat anything and had not eaten anything in the 24 hours she was at the shelter either. We were all kind of mystified.
So I said that I would come in and visit with her and see if I could interest her in food. When I got there she was terrified and curled up in my arms, stuck her head in my sweatshirt and shivered. I decided to take her back into foster to see if I could get her to eat again in the hopes that it was a reaction to stress. She was also started on some antibiotics in case there was an illness brewing that we could not yet see.
After about an hour at my home she started eating. Not well, but at least she did at least try to eat something which is more than she had done since she went to her forever home. We are all still a little mystified because she went home with wonderful people, but we will just keep her here with us and try to get her to eat more regularly so she can return to her forever home who is anxious to have her back. I will keep you posted on her progress.
Of course, because she is back and does not care for other cats, I now have five 6 week old kittens running around my house like crazy. More on them later.
She went to her forever home and for some reason stopped eating - at all. At first we thought it was because she was accidentally sent home with the wrong type of food. (And I learned not to use certain abbreviations). But I got a call from the shelter foster coordinator yesterday to say that Hope had been returned to the shelter the day before because she would not eat anything and had not eaten anything in the 24 hours she was at the shelter either. We were all kind of mystified.
So I said that I would come in and visit with her and see if I could interest her in food. When I got there she was terrified and curled up in my arms, stuck her head in my sweatshirt and shivered. I decided to take her back into foster to see if I could get her to eat again in the hopes that it was a reaction to stress. She was also started on some antibiotics in case there was an illness brewing that we could not yet see.
After about an hour at my home she started eating. Not well, but at least she did at least try to eat something which is more than she had done since she went to her forever home. We are all still a little mystified because she went home with wonderful people, but we will just keep her here with us and try to get her to eat more regularly so she can return to her forever home who is anxious to have her back. I will keep you posted on her progress.
Of course, because she is back and does not care for other cats, I now have five 6 week old kittens running around my house like crazy. More on them later.
2/20/10
A Return to Home
I am happy to say that as I type this Hope is probably on her way to her forever home. I took her in for a check up with the shelter recently and although she was doing well health wise, she still looked funny with her skinny legs and missing hair. So we decided to keep her in foster for a little while longer. While I was there, the people who rescued her emailed one of the supervisors to see if they could visit her.
These people were very nice people who found Hope hiding under their porch who, even though they were dealing with a terminally ill cat of their own and it was a few days before a holiday, took the time to catch her and bring her to us for the care she needed. So, I was happy to say that they could pick a time and I would bring Hope in to the shelter so they could see how she was doing. I know that if I had brought a sick cat some where I would want to see how she was doing.
They came to see her last Saturday and were thrilled with how well she was doing. Hope seemed to love them right away. And since they saw her at her worst, they did not think she looked bad at all. I mentioned to them that Hope occasionally poops over the side of the litter box and they said that their cat had done that most of its life and it was no big deal. By the time the visit was over, they had decided to bring Hope back into their home permanently. It seemed like Fate had a hand in Hope's life.
So, Hope was spayed yesterday and will go home with her new forever parents sometime today and I am thrilled for them all.
These people were very nice people who found Hope hiding under their porch who, even though they were dealing with a terminally ill cat of their own and it was a few days before a holiday, took the time to catch her and bring her to us for the care she needed. So, I was happy to say that they could pick a time and I would bring Hope in to the shelter so they could see how she was doing. I know that if I had brought a sick cat some where I would want to see how she was doing.
They came to see her last Saturday and were thrilled with how well she was doing. Hope seemed to love them right away. And since they saw her at her worst, they did not think she looked bad at all. I mentioned to them that Hope occasionally poops over the side of the litter box and they said that their cat had done that most of its life and it was no big deal. By the time the visit was over, they had decided to bring Hope back into their home permanently. It seemed like Fate had a hand in Hope's life.
So, Hope was spayed yesterday and will go home with her new forever parents sometime today and I am thrilled for them all.
1/11/10
Hope is a big word (and a little cat)
Hope is a big word in animal shelters and in fostering. We use it all the time in many different situations and for many reasons. I can't count the number of times I have heard that word while volunteering at a local shelter or when talking with other foster families. We hope for many things like:
She is a dilute tortoiseshell kitten who we are guessing is about a year old. I was actually volunteering on Christmas Eve when she was brought in to the shelter by a good samaritan who found her under a porch in the cold and I was the one to put her in her cage in holding. She was skin and bones and missing patches of fur. Being the sucker that I am, my heart went right out to her.
After about a week in the shelter she was doing better but really needed to be in a home to rest, recover from a mild cold and gain whole lot of weight. She was slightly less than four pounds when she was surrendered to us and should have been a whole lot more. Her hair was thin or missing in parts, most likely due to lack of nutrition. By this date I had been without a foster for slightly less than a week. But when she curled into a little ball in my arms, I just could not walk away from her. Thankfully, by that time, I had been without Simon just long enough to let him go and be emotionally ready for another foster.
Since Hope just needs TLC and to gain weight and I was looking for a slightly easier foster than last time, we were a good fit. And the staff was glad to send her home with someone who could give her lots of love, but would know what to do if she suddenly took a turn for the worse especially since I still had the supplies and knowledge on how to give her IV fluids if she suddenly needed it.
She is still doing well here with me. I brought her in today for a check up because she was scratching at her ears. Her ears are clean and mite free so we are trying her on a prescription allergy diet, just in case her hair loss and ear scratching is an allergy. Other than that, she is happy to be back at home with us and settled into the foster room again. And we are happy to have her.
- We hope that no new cats will be surrendered that day
- We hope that our many talks about spaying and neutering cuts down on unwanted litters of kittens
- We hope that our words against declawing don't fall on deaf ears
- We hope our fosters will not get sick.
- We hope that the medicines we are forcing on them will get them through their illnesses.
- We hope that they will know how to use the litter box.
- We hope that the crate training will teach them how to use the litter box.
- We hope that they will eat to gain back their lost weight.
- We hope that their hair will grow back and that the hair loss is not permanent.
- We hope that they will overcome the abuse or neglect they have suffered
- We hope they will learn to trust us and long for our attention.
- And most of all, we hope that they will find loving forever homes.
She is a dilute tortoiseshell kitten who we are guessing is about a year old. I was actually volunteering on Christmas Eve when she was brought in to the shelter by a good samaritan who found her under a porch in the cold and I was the one to put her in her cage in holding. She was skin and bones and missing patches of fur. Being the sucker that I am, my heart went right out to her.
After about a week in the shelter she was doing better but really needed to be in a home to rest, recover from a mild cold and gain whole lot of weight. She was slightly less than four pounds when she was surrendered to us and should have been a whole lot more. Her hair was thin or missing in parts, most likely due to lack of nutrition. By this date I had been without a foster for slightly less than a week. But when she curled into a little ball in my arms, I just could not walk away from her. Thankfully, by that time, I had been without Simon just long enough to let him go and be emotionally ready for another foster.
Since Hope just needs TLC and to gain weight and I was looking for a slightly easier foster than last time, we were a good fit. And the staff was glad to send her home with someone who could give her lots of love, but would know what to do if she suddenly took a turn for the worse especially since I still had the supplies and knowledge on how to give her IV fluids if she suddenly needed it.
She is still doing well here with me. I brought her in today for a check up because she was scratching at her ears. Her ears are clean and mite free so we are trying her on a prescription allergy diet, just in case her hair loss and ear scratching is an allergy. Other than that, she is happy to be back at home with us and settled into the foster room again. And we are happy to have her.
12/31/09
Happy New Year
I am pleased to be able to end my first year of fostering will all of our 35 fosters in loving forever homes. That is right, everyone is adopted. Simon, the last of my four feral kittens that I almost lost to two different bouts of pneumonia was adopted by a wonderful lady yesterday. That means that I am foster free for the first time since early March. I have really enjoyed fostering and after a short break in the new year, I will be back with more stories from the crazy animal house. Happy New Year.
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