Sweetie

This picture is worth 1000 words....... On Friday, Sweetie started eating a little on her own. By Sunday, I couldn't feed her enough! She has a wonderful appetite now and her cold is getting better. She still has a runny eye and her nose is a little runny, but nothing like it was. I credit the nebulizer for making her cold better. I purchased supplies to make my own nebulizer for future shelter fosters. Thanks to everyone who has sent Sweetie well wishes!! I really did wonder if she would get passed this and I'm so glad to see her improving every day!

Shea and Butters left for the VA rescue on Saturday. We really miss them.

Reminiscing on Thursday

I was looking through old photos and came across these. These pictures are from our old house. I loved that house. It was built in the 70's and had the coolest retro stove. The house was small, only a two-bedroom, but the rent was only $400.00 per month. We did a lot of work to the house, painting, new floors, removing the orange shag carpeting--yikes! Things seemed so much simpler then. No mortgage, no property taxes, no insurance......those were the days :)
He's the niece, Kayla, dressed up as Dorthy, in front of my retro bistro sets. I decorated my kitchen like a 50's diner. Still have the bistro set, but needed something bigger for the new house, so we stored it. Here's Kayla again, this time dressed up as Shirley Temple. You can kinda see the retro stove. The oven didn't work well at all and I would either burn everything or undercook. But it looked sooooo cool!

Here's Maya lounging in a sea of plastic bags. He was around 5 years old in that photo.

This was our beloved Sylvester. He was probably about 4 years old in this photo. He loved to lounge in the window perch and watch the birds and squirrels eat from the feeder. He died suddenly about a year after we moved to The Creek. He was only 6 years old.

This is our beloved Cal picking out paint colors for our new house. He actually chose the "Spring Bud" green color that adorns our living room, kitchen,hallway and loft. Without his help, the walls would probably still be "contractor white." I had looked at so many paint samples by that point, my head was spinning. He was a big help.

Wednesday with Gretchen

Great news..... Sweetie can stay with us until she is feeling better and then will be transported to VA!

Be sure to pop over to Maggie May's blog for a totally pawsome giveaway!!

Sweetie Update

Sweetie went to the vet yesterday and she is still there now. We now know what is wrong with Sweetie the Persian Princess...... Sweetie is anemic (even though I told them I thought she was on Friday) her hemocrit was 15. A normal hemocrit for a cat is 24-45. Fortunately, it's not severe enough to require a blood transfusion. We know she had a severe flea infestation which could be the cause of the anemia, but a smear of the blood also showed a parasitic disease called Haemabartellosis. It's a tick and sometimes flea transmitted disease that targets the red blood cells. The good news is, it's treatable with a 3 week course of doxycyline.
I have asked the rescue I foster for if I can keep Sweetie until her she finishes her course of antibiotics. I'm sure this will be up to the Persian Rescue that has already adopted her. I am waiting to hear back. If not, she will be transported to the new rescue on Saturday.

All three foster kitties are at the vet today. Sweetie is still there getting treatment, Shea will be fully vetted (already spayed and has the tattoos to prove it) Butters will be fully vetted and spayed.

Sweetie the Foster Update

Sweetie hasn't been eating, so I've been force feeding her which she hates. I've also been loading her up on Nutrical, Liqui-tinic, Lysine and antibiotics. The vet on Friday thought she was just stressed and that's why she wasn't eating and feeling well. In addition to inappetance, she is now sneezing and has runny eyes and nose. It's quite frustrating when a cat won't eat and it's even more frustrating to not know a single thing about her past medical history. Maybe she had a favorite food she would eat or maybe her appetite had started to dwindle a while ago and her owners surrendered her thinking she was sick. I don't know. What I do know is she is only 7lbs and cannot afford to skip meals.
I gave her a second bath and the dead fleas and flea dirt was still coming off of her. She has another vet appointment on Wednesday for her vaccines and deworming. Hopefully, she will be feeling better by then.
A friend who fosters for Siamese Rescue has offered me the use of a nebulizer. I will be picking it up today after work. Hope it helps clear her up so she can smell the food.She has to be one of the cutest kitties ever!!!

Please be sure to vote for our friend, Hansel!! He is trying to raise money for the shelter where he came from! *CLICK HERE*

Sweetie the Persian

Well, there was a change of plans and Butters and Shea will be with us until next Saturday. Which is fine because they are such great, well behaved cats. Thinking they were going to leave tomorrow, I committed to taking on a Persian who would be going to a Persian rescue in VA on Saturday, the 28th. So, now we have Butters, Shea and Sweetie! Yes, it's a mad house around here :)Sweetie is just about as precious as any kitty could be. However, when she was brought to me after being pulled from the shelter this morning, she was COVERED in flea dirt! Completely and totally covered. I kept her at work with me and brought her straight home after work and gave her a good bath. She was wonderful. But, soon into the bath, I started to get quite disturbed.......

***WARNING***

Some of you may find these pictures to be graphic and disturbing. Proceed with caution. These pictures were taken after Sweetie's bath. Apparently, she was brought to the shelter in this condition by her dis-0wners and wasn't there long before her rescue...... all I know is, she doesn't have to worry about ever being neglected like that again.

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OK, I WARNED YOU!
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This was the tub after the bath. That's blood-tinged water from the major flea infestation.This is the towel I dried her off with. She needs another bath. Of course, I applied a dose of Advantage to kill the fleas and gave her some iron drops and pedialyte.I will be dropping her off at the vet first thing this morning. I hope they can help her!I hope the bath made her feel better, poor girl.

Shea and Butters

Meet Shea and Butters! They are our newest foster kitties from the local shelter. Shea has been at the shelter since May and looks like a Maine Coon mix and has some pretty bad flea dermatitis. Her head and neck is very scabby. She also seems to have a bit of a cold. She is set up in a large crate in the loft and the gate is up at the bottom of the stairs to keep the other kitties downstairs. I let her out and hang out with her often. She loves to sleep behind my head on the love seat.Butters is a Siamese mix who was dumped at the shelter gate, after hours, in a box with 2 litters of kittens. She is set up in the master bathroom for now. Who can resist a pair of blue eyes? With Necklace using the foster room, we've seemed to run out of room for fosters. We were only supposed to get Butters, but I couldn't turn down helping another kitty escape death and have a second chance at a great life, so we're making do with what room we have. Luckily, it's only for a short time, so we will all manage!

Happy Monday!

You can tell in these pictures, but Gretchen was making muffins........and purring!!

Formerly Feral Friday

Yep, that's Gretchen.....in the house!

She came in Wednesday night. Bringing her in the house was not in my plans, but my husband had other ideas. We lured her with fried chicken. She really didn't freak out too much and we managed to get her into the foster room. She's been under the bed ever since, but we know she will come around once she settles in. We are able to rub her, but she is still quite skittish. Once she gets settled we plan to take her to the vet to get tested and then introduce her to the rest of the family.

Happy Friday the 13th everyone!!

On The Catwalk

Don't worry, I'm a professional!

Rambler

The Versatile Blogger

We were given this award by Pikku Punapippuri! Thanks so much, friends! They live in Finland and just took in 3 kitties who were left homeless when their owner died. They are great and Maggie May has a special place in her heart for Punapippuri.

The rules of this award are simple. I have to tell 7 things about myself. Here goes:

1. I grew up in the MTV generation, but that TV channel was completely off limits to me. I was only allowed to listen to oldies or country music. No rock 'n roll!! Now, 80's rock is my favorite :)

2. I turn the big 3-0 in October and I'm not even freaking out about it.......yet.

3. Last week, my hubby and I became victims of credit card fraud. A lady (and I use that term loosely because ladies don't steal) that I've known since I was young, stole my husbands wallet off of his tool box at work. She was there getting her car worked on by another mechanic. Luckily, he noticed it was stolen before she did too much damage to our bank account. She was arrested Tuesday and the bank credited our account the charges she incurred on the card.

4. I'm a reality TV nut. My favorite shows are Top Chef, Deadliest Catch, Cake Boss, Holmes on Homes, Flipping Out and The Real Housewives (all of them).

5. We have no biological children. Just the four-legged, furry kind.

6. I love gangster movies, "Goodfellas" being my favorite.

7. Growing up, both of my parents worked on the water for a living...shrimping, clamming, crabbing... We didn't have a lot of money and we ate a lot of seafood.

We'd like to pass this award along to......The Kool~Kitty~Krew's Mom and Hannah and Lucy's Mom

Great news! Whiskers made it through his surgery just fine. Once he was fully over the anesthesia, we let him and Ramber (our FIV kitty) meet. They did a lot of talking back and forth and touched noses, but Rambler was hissing a bit, so the meeting only lasted about 10 minutes. We didn't want to stress either of them out.

Whiskers and Glinda will be leaving for transport this afternoon. Safe travels, cuties. We'll certainly miss you.

Happy Friday!

Whiskers

Yesterday, Whiskers was supposed to be neutered. Well, he ended up testing positive for FIV. Ugh! I found out around lunch time and ran over to the vet to see him. I have zero control over what the shelter and the accepting rescue decides, I am only a foster. I don't like having no control, it makes me very uncomfortable. I'm a bit of a control freak, actually.When I saw him in the cage at the vet's office, I got very emotional just thinking it might be the last time I saw him. Waiting on word from the rescue about whether or not they would still accept him was rough. If not, he would be returned to the shelter. Although, I would have done anything in my power to adopt him myself and find him a home. About two hours later they gave the decision......The rescue in VA was going to take him and find him a great home! I don't know the last time I've felt such relief.
Because it was so late in the day, they had to postpone the neuter until today. He had to stay at the vet overnight and will be neutered this morning. Please everyone purr and pray for smooth surgery with no complications!

It's Showtime - Starring Gretchen!!

Whiskers and Glinda - The New Fosters!

Meet our new foster cats, Whiskers and Glinda. Whiskers is a 3 year old, long-haired gray boy. He's quite stinky right now because he hasn't been neutered yet. He will be neutered tomorrow. He has been at our local shelter since March 2010. Glinda is a 1 1/2 year old black, long-haired beauty. She has been at our shelter since May 2010. She is very playful, but quite camera shy. They will both be transported to a rescue in Virginia on Saturday, August 7 2010.
The strong, pungent odor from Whiskers urine nearly drove us out of the house. It was horrible and it permeated throughout the entire house. I have really gotten it under control and bearable, thank goodness! I purchased a small window fan to draw the smell out for the room. Secondly, I got bought 2 Fabreeze Air Purifiers and found a product at Bed, Bath and Beyond called Freshwave Odor Neutralizing Gel. This gel is quite amazing!! It seriously works to absorb the odor and doesn't mask it. I highly recommend it for pet odors. I just opened the jar and put it in the room. It is non-toxic and uses natural ingredients that are safe for pets and humans.

Thanks to everyone who stopped by to wish Saylor a Happy 1st Gotcha Day yesterday!! She got some really big news on her special day.....She and Maggie May were chosen to be in the 10th Anniversary, 2011 Marley Fund calendar! There were over 300 entries and they were both chosen. Maggie May will be January and Saylor will be September. You can check out the facebook link HERE. Of course, we will let everyone know when the calendars go on sale! The calendar raises money to educate the public and raise awareness about FIV and FeLV.

Happy 1st Gotcha Day, Saylor!

I remember it all very well..... it was this time one year ago, Jr woke me up and told me to come downstairs and see something. He was doing one of his marathon trapping sessions, trying to trap the momma kitty at our work. He set the trap and checked it every hour. At 1:30am he came home with this sweet little black kitten. When I walked out onto the porch and saw her in the trap, I got pretty weak and actually had to go back inside and lay down to gain my composure. I really thought I was going to pass out. Another kitten?!?! We already had Sebastian and Reilly to foster, but I knew we couldn't just release her back. She was too young to spay and I knew we'd probably never catch her again. So to the master bathroom she went and well......the rest as they say..... is history!There are times I look at Saylor and think she is a female Cal with longhair. She acts so much like him it's scary. Ya know what? It's pretty comforting too. She is truly a gift and I wouldn't trade her for anything in this world.