kandas-adventures

Bentley and Kangaroo go to Utah

The Humane Society asked me to make a video and shoot some photos of the kittens to send to rescue groups and animal sanctuaries, hoping the kittens would receive a placement at one of them.  The kittens may need costly medical care as they grow, and therefore they are considered unadoptable.  It is unrealistic to assume a potential adopter would be amenable to paying for such care, which could include specialized surgeries costing thousands of dollars.  The chances that an adopter would abandon them or euthanize them were too high.

Here's the video I made:

 

Within a few days of posting the video on Youtube and having the Humane Society share the link, I got a call from the Humane Society that Best Friends, a sanctuary in Kenab, Utah, had accepted them!  The only problem, finding a volunteer to transport them.  After a few more weeks time, another volunteer offered to drive them the 1100 miles to Utah in conjunction with her vacation to the Grand Canyon.  I said good-bye to Bentley and Kangaroo last Friday, and within 24 hours I was given 4 bottle-feeding baby kittens.  I miss Bently and Roo even though I am so busy with the new kittens.  

Kangaroo is much smaller than her brother Bentley.

Kangaroo watches deer grazing in our neighbor's yard.

Kangaroo mid-meow while sitting on the perch in our outdoor cat enclosure.

Bentley suns himself on our back deck (secure in the new cat enclosure so the kitties can get some fresh air and sunshine).

Goodbye sweet kitties.  I'm so happy you are going to be together in life.  Enjoy that sunshine in Utah!

Here's a link to the Facebook album about their journey to Utah, made by the volunteer who delivered them to the sanctuary.

Deformed Kittens

Our first odd-eyed kitten!  One green eye, one blue eye!  And some other special features as well.... 
I've received 2 new foster kittens, about 7 weeks old. Both kittens have front legs with bone and joint deformities. The larger boy kitten is able to stand on his bent front legs, but his tiny sister has almost no control of her front legs, and is learning to hop along on her hind legs. They haven't had any kind of diagnostic screening (the Humane Society clinic has no ultrasound or X-ray equipment). In petting them I can feel what is missing: bones, a shoulder blade, ligaments, muscles. I don't know what the future holds for them.  Despite their deformities, they are typical rolly-polly kittens -- scooting along after toys, cuddling together, and purring loudly when you pick them up.  SO much love from them!  As loving as they are, the Humane Society will be challenged to find the right home for these two, who may have big vet bills as they get older.  As they increase in weight, walking on their bent joints instead of their feet may cause sores and skin infections.

The mother cat didn't reject them, despite their obvious flaws.  And whoever "owned" them didn't kill them when they were first born, as is often done with deformed kittens.  I'll admit it, when I first received them I wondered if keeping the little girl alive was the most humane thing to do.  She struggles with everything, from eating to relieving herself.  She has no control over her front paws, and thus can't wash her face the way cats do, or sharpen her claws.   She can flap her front legs like chicken wings, but they don't go the way her brain tells them to, and certainly don't function like real legs.  The paws dangle lifelessly at odd angles off the end of the elbow joint, and the one leg is often twisted backwards behind her back.  It wasn't long, though, before her loud purr convinced me that she needed to be given a chance at life.

The boy kitten has less deformity and better mobility.  He'll be fine, although he also struggles with grooming.  He has a very thick "double coat," which will need human attention.

The staff vets see no point in splinting to try to correct their deformities.  It may not be the same issue, but this story that my husband found online about a similar case, and it's resolution through splinting, looked promising.  They are growing so fast right now, that it seems a shame to miss a possible "window of opportunity" for therapeutic intervention.  Human babies with club feet can have their joints corrected, if done early enough.  Sometimes it's hard for me not to be an armchair veterinarian as far as the Humane Society's vet department is concerned, especially given some of the cases I've had where the vets made mistakes.  

 

First Foster Kitten of 2012

The call came on Saturday.  Someone had found a kitten in the snow by their garage.  It was feral and scared of people.  It's mother was likey in the process of relocating the litter and got spooked and dropped it.

Like so many of the kittens I receive, it was filthy, so first up was a warm bath.  The vet had had trouble determining the gender given all the fur, and first marked the chart as "male," but it's obvious now that this is a little girl.  This kitten has the longest fur of any kitten I've seen, so it was especially difficult to get clean, and had lots of knotty mats in the fur.  I had to cut some of it off from around her backside, which was caked with dried tapeworms.  She is a "high-maintenance" kitty, the kind that needs daily grooming from her person.

She is probably 5 or 6 weeks old.  She has enromous round eyes and is terrified of everything.  Instead of purring, she hisses and hides.  When I pick her up she either goes stiff, or limp, and her heart races.  I'm giving her a couple of high-calorie kitten milk bottles a day, because believe it or not beneath all that fur she is terribly emaciated.  The foster-care coordinator at the shelter named her "Stellar."  I hope she grows into the name.

It's OK, little girl.  You're going to come to like it here, and one day before you know it, you'll be purring.

Kittens Again

I am happy to report that we have kittens again!  Last Sunday, 9/11, the Humane Society called, desperate for someone to take these 3 week old feral kittens.  The black and white one is a runt.  All 3 came complete with fleas, eye infections, and disdended abdomens full of parasites.  Luckily there hasn't been any diarrhea yet, but I'm sure once the worming medicine kicks in, the fun will really begin.  Flea bath -- and look at that poor swollen belly!   She was terribly constipated.  The kittens are still at the age where they depend on mama cat to help them pass their stool, and without her stimulation, they can't go on their own.  I'm not sure how long they'd been without their mama, and who may have fed them without realizing that they needed help on the other end as well.  It had obviously been some time.  Over the next few days they all passed HUGE amounts of poop, with my help, of course.  Sorry, no photos of that fun process.  Just rest assured that it did not involve my tongue like a real mama cat uses!

They go perfectly with my early fall decor!  This is when I first got them, before I even brought them into the house, and they were still covered with canned food from the shelter and dirt from their life in the wild.  This is their official "before" photo from the day I got them.

And here's our little runt 4 days later, all clean and healthy (mostly).  How fun it is to have babies again!

Kitten Update

The four kittens we had March through May went back to the Humane Society.  Two were adopted straightaway, and the other two were being held in the marketing department until their "spot" aired on local TV.  
Yes, Sarah and Kelsey became "media stars" and were being shown on TV to promote adoptions at the Humane Society. 

My little babies on TV!

Hi Kelsey!  Oh, how big you are!  I think this will likely be her LAST television appearance as there was a lot of squirming and meowing, and even some hissing.

Later that day we were on our way downtown and decided to stop by the Humane Society to see if the girls were adopted after being featured on television.  There had been some calls from interested adopters, but the girls weren't at the shelter, they were out on the "Maxmobile," the mobile adoption bus.  It was spending the afternoon on Queen Anne Hill in Seattle next to the Farmer's Market.  It was 4:30 and we got back in the car and headed to Seattle, hoping to get to the Maxmobile before they headed back to the shelter at 6pm.  Traffic was heavy.  It was rush hour.  We had to pass through downtown Seattle.  But we made it, arriving at 5:30 to find them still there.

 We went inside and shortly after we entered a man rushed in saying his wife had called the shelter looking for the kittens from TV, and she had sent him to see if they were still available.  We got to tell him all about how we hand-raised the kittens from the time they were tiny, and all about their personalities.  In the photo above, the girls are giving the kittens one last loving while the man adopting them is in the background filling out the reams of paperwork to adopt them. 

We were so happy that the girls were going to be adopted together, it's something we always hope for.

Eventually it was time to say good-bye forever.  Have a nice life little ones!

Meanwhile the other 3, who had been found in a garbage can, are now 2.  After a day of struggle, the littlest one started passing lots of blood, indicating internal injuries.  Below is a photo of the little one before she passed away.  Her eyes were facing two different directions and the vet believes she had brain damage from the abuse.  I held and comforted her as much as I could while she was with us.Miraculously the other two seem fine, although one has reflux and aspiration with every feed.  These kittens were more emotionally traumatized than any I have received before.  The first few days they would spit and hiss, and shake with fear.  Now they are purring, but tentatively.  It takes awhile to warm them up, and if startled the purr turns off like a switch and they stiffen up in terror.  I hope I can turn them into affectionate lovebugs like I have all the others, but these little ones have a lot more to overcome.

 

I took them outside briefly during a rare sunbreak so I could take their photo.  They are charcoal tabbies, so we're naming them "Char" and "Cole." 

This week I'm introducing solid food and the litterpan.  By late next week I will be able to leave kibble food out at all times, and then I can sleep through the night again!  Kittens grow so quickly.

 

Kitten Season Has Arrived

It's that time again!  This time I received FOUR kittens, out of a litter of 7.  The mother had been hit by a car and killed.  By the time the kittens were found, 3 of them were near death from cold and hunger.  I took the 3 weak ones, and one healthy one, and another foster family took the 3 strongest of the litter.  I'm now one of the most experienced foster parents, so the Humane Society calls me for the tough ones.

This photo is of them a few days after I received them.  They were about 10 days old here.

This was one of the weaker kittens.  Look at those pitiful little ears!  They were so sad for the first few days.  I could tell they were missing their mama cat by the way they cried and cried.  Even stroking them with a toothbrush (the mama cat tongue simulator!), they didn't calm.  They had no interest in eating and had to be force fed.  I even had to inject them with fluids subcutaenously, which I hate to do.  It's painful for them, but dehydration is deadly.  One kitten in particular was just bones and fur.  A picked her up and yelped, "Mommy, this kitten has NO ORGANS!"  Of course it did, however when you held the limp kitten in your hand, all you could feel was it's skeleton beneath the fur.

After 8 feedings daily, for the past 2 weeks, here they are at 3 weeks old, fat and happy!

 
I'm still bottle feeding them around the clock, but the next weeks will bring big changes as they learn to use a litter pan, eat meat cat food from a bowl, lap water, jump, hunt, and play.

The kittens get lots of loving from everyone.

Even our Milkman took a break from deliveries to cuddle and feed a kitten when he delivered our milk today.  I think he was impressed by the tiny bottle of milk!

Kittens are growing!

The kittens are now 2 pounds, which is TEN TIMES larger than when I got them at just a few days old.
Look at the difference!  Above, 1 week old (and just opening eyes), and below, 6 weeks old.

What's amazing is that some days it is almost as if I can "see" them growing, it's that rapid.  Some things change, like little Colby's nose was pink at first, and then he got two little freckles, and over just a week's time the freckles expanded, growing together and darkening to make his nose brown.  The greatest transformation in the early weeks is the ears, which at birth are simply tiny flaps of skin without much of a canal, and no hearing.  Then all of a sudden these triangular protrusions grow forth, and the inner ear gets all these intricate folds within.

The kittens are fully independent now, weaned from the bottle, using the litter pan, and bathing themselves meticulously after each meal.  It's such a relief for the mama cat (me) after those early weeks of intensive every 2 hour feeds and constant cleaning of poopy bottoms.
The kittens will only be with us a few more weeks, and they will be so hard for me to part with.  These three are extremely affectionate and sociable, perhaps because of all the love I poured into them during those 12am, 2am, 4am, 6am, 8am, 10am, 12pm, 2pm, 4pm, 6pm, 8pm, and 10pm feedings!
They'd be perfectly happy to hang out "on" you at all times!  And they do.

Not so Happy Happenings, or a Rough Start to December

My computer is 5 years old and getting sluggish.  I took advantage of the new Microsoft retail store opening special, where they'd give your PC a free diagnostic.  Going into the Microsoft store was eerily familiar, as it's nearly an exact replica of the Apple store.  Microsoft shamelessly copied every detail, from the employee uniform and computer name tags, to the design and layout.  They even stole some Apple employees.  For all their showy enthusiasm, they were totally stumped by the pop-up error messages I was getting on my PC. They had to keep it for several days to perform advanced diagnostics, and while some of the error messages were eliminated, others remain.  The PC is on its last legs and could die any day.
While I was getting the grave news about my geriatric computer, the girls were taking part in a Girl Scout Internet safety and computer learning class hosted by the store.  Part of it involved playing the new motion detecting "Kinect" for Wii, something the girls have been involved with for the last 2 years through product development sessions at Microsoft.  Both girls are "playtesters" and called in to troubleshoot and attempt to learn to play (with no instruction) new games and hardware.  It's a lot of fun to watch a product evolve through the months, and really exciting to see it finally hit the market.  However, our family remains old fashioned and does not own a game system, so the only chance the girls have to play these things is at product development trials, friend's homes, and at in-store demos.  It's amazing how quickly they pick up where they left off, and figure out exactly what they need to do.
December started out beautifully, with this lovely rainbow greeting us one morning.
The walk to school was especially lovely that day, even though the rain increased and we got a bit wetter than we'd anticipated.
But Little A has not had such a good time recently.   She took a bad fall at school on the asphalt playground and knocked one of her front (permanent) teeth.  She had a bit of a concussion, too, and spent a day throwing up and having a visit to the Children's Hospital ER.  We won't know for another week if tooth will survive, as currently there is little nerve activity in it.  It's all soft foods for her: applesauce, soup, scrambled eggs, mashed potatoes, and yogurt.
The weekend came and we made the trek to the tree farm, which was all frosty and sparkling.  A was feeling better, the sun was shining, and things were looking up for us.
We quickly found a tree we liked and chopped it down, but not before Little K went stomping off in tears because it wasn't one that SHE chose.  She threw such a crying fit that we almost had to leave her behind at the farm because she wouldn't get into the car.  If her current moodiness is a preview of impending adolescence, I have to admit that I'm scared. Saturday evening we went to a Magical Strings concert, one of two that we plan to attend this year.  Beside A here is her harp teacher, the patriarch of the Magical Strings Family, and his wife.  Both girls dressed in costume and joined the musicians and dancers on stage. 
On Sunday the girls had a Girl Scout gingerbread house decorating party.  Seemed like fun until one of the moms mentioned that her daughter had been throwing up the day before.  I looked over at the table where the girls were gathered, licking frosting off their fingers and passing candy back and forth.  I cringed.  I hoped we'd be lucky this time.
But alas, the virus spread like wildfire.  Both my girls woke in the night about 40 hours later, vomiting uncontrollably.  In the morning the phone rang, and word of two more Girl Scout families experiencing the same sickness, right on schedule.  Oh joy.
Meanwhile, I continue round-the-clock care of our 6 foster kittens.  Three of them require meds twice a day as they have upper respiratory illness. My husband, who is allergic to cats, has happily taken on the task of giving them love so that I don't get their germs on me, and transfer the sickness to the newborn kittens...

The other three are now 2 weeks old but still require 8 bottle feedings a day (2 to 3 during night).
So, the laundry piles up, the Christmas tree is half decorated, holiday cards may not even go out this year, there is vomit and urine in the carpet (from the girls not making it to the bathroom in time), my eyes are bloodshot, and my hands are raw from constant washing.  I think I better go to bed now... after I feed the kittens and check on my ailing daughters who are passed out on the couch with puke buckets beside them.  I sure hope I'm not next on the sickness schedule.  I have too much to catch up on to be out of commission.

More Kittens (and more sleepless nights)

I now have 3 kittens in one bathroom, 3 kittens in another, and 2 resident cats.  It's begining to feel like an animal shelter around here.
I'm a bit tired.  The lack of sleep is catching up with me.
They are so helpless, so tiny, so needy.  how could I not take them in?  The kittens are starting to open their eyes.

Meanwhile I can barely keep my eyes open.

The feeding chart, so I don't lose my mind, and forget to feed one of them.

I managed to get out of hosting Thanksgiving dinner this year (had my turn last year), but since the kittens needed feeding every 2 - 3 hours, I had to bring them with me to my in-law's.  Here I am, feeding the kittens at the dinner table.  I think my in-laws may have been almost as offended as when I whipped out my breast to feed my human babies at the dinner table 9 and 11 years ago.  Oh well, when a baby is hungry, you need to feed it, no matter where you are!
And here are the other three kittens, who are suffering from upper respiratory infections.  Lots of sneezing, wheezing, coughing, and heaving.  I have to be EXTREMELY diligent about not carrying their illness to the newborn kittens, so I'm constantly washing my hands and changing my clothes.
This little one is so shy, but very sweet.  The girls named her "Sugar Toes."
This is "Tabitha."  She's extremely social and wants to be with you at all times, preferably on you.  If you're not sitting down to provide a lap, she'll take a running leap and climb you until she reaches your shoulder, where she'll happily perch while purring in your ear and rubbing her head under your chin.  Then she does a big snotty sneeze in your face.  Then, in order to keep the newborn kittens from getting sick, I have to strip and take another shower to wash all the germs off of me.
Well, I'm exhausted.  I think I'll catch a catnap until the next feeding, which is due in one hour.  ZZZzzzz......

When everything isn't enough

For the past two weeks it's been touch and go.  Near daily visits to the clinic for tests, meds, subQ fluids, and oxygen.  There were moments of hope, like above, when little kitten had enough energy that I could let him play for a few minutes with his brother.  But most of the time I had to keep them apart, to conserve the energy of the little one so he could get well and grow.
In two weeks time one thrived, and the other barely hung on, plagued with diarrhea, lack of appetite, worms (of all kinds), anemia, and then respiratory distress.  Little brown tabby gained 10 ounces.  Little grey lost an ounce, then slowly gained 2 ounces through force feeding.  His growth retardation grew more apparent each day when put beside his brother.
Hours were spent at the clinic.  Several different vets and a half dozen techs saw him, and we all went back and forth with "could be this, could be that."   From the beginning I suspected something structural, a birth defect perhaps.  The "third-world" shelter clinic didn't have an xray machine, didn't have ultrasound equipment, and had limited resources to do testing.  Thick veterinary texts were pulled from the shelves, clinical signs compared to broad descriptions of various feline afflictions.
We finally got the diarrhea under control by depriving the GI tract of fluid, giving daily injections of fluid under the skin.  Things were looking up.  He started eating on his own, purring, and even playing a little.  But he was still weak and tired easily.
Saturday night he started hyperventilating.  His eyes were dilated, his chest heaving, his mouth open, gasping for breath.  I held him for an hour, trying to calm and comfort him.  Even in sleep, he labored furiously to breathe.  He was unable to eat, so I had to resume the syringe feeding.  The next day the clinic was slammed with surgery cases and they couldn't see him until nearly closing time.  I set him in a patch of sunshine by the window, pet him, and he got a little better, but was still struggling.  At the clinic it was "wait and see" and we were sent home with some new drugs.  Another rough night followed, with me sitting up with him, holding him close, willing him to get better.
The next day I didn't call the clinic and ask when they could fit us in.  I wrapped his limp body in a knit blankie and took him directly in.  They put him on oxygen, but his breathing never regulated.  I went home without him.  They don't have the funds to do the testing necessary to discover what his challenges were: genetic, viral, or bacterial.  We'll never know why everything was not enough, why he wasn't meant to grow.