And now it's a bottle baby kitten... [12/21 And again...]

[fandt94]

So sorry to hear about the loss of your father (estranged or not)...it’s still tough....and the loss of Merlin....you’ve had a lot on your plate obviously...more so than normal.

How the babies have grown!!!! They look like actual little kittens vs little balls of fur! I’m quite partial to all black or mostly black kitties so I am loving these pictures!

How are the rest of the furr animals!?

[GotButterflies]

I'm sorry about your losses! I know we had already chatted about them - but the pain never goes away. Especially over our fur babies!

The babies are growing up so fast! They remind me of yin and yang the way they are laying like that! So adorbs!

How is Bug?

I'm also sorry that your vet decided to "let you go" - but you know - everything happens for a reason - and something good will come from this! I'm positive about this! Well - they kind of have already - your weekly vet visits are already down!

Stay positive and find the comfort through your fur babies and your hubby!

[wodesorel]

I wish the vet visits were down.

Sunday night we were heading to bed around midnight and found Simba collapsed in his litterbox straining to breathe. We rushed to the ER but he was comatose by the time we got in the door. His heart gave out. In the span of just a few hours he went from seeming perfectly fine to having so much fluid around his heart and lungs he couldn't survive. The vet went ahead and euthanized him so he didn't linger, but honestly I'm not sure it mattered at that point as he was unconscious. Hubby and I both pretty shaken up. We knew it was going to be his heart and that it would be sooner rather than later, but neither of us were expecting this to happen nor for him to die 45 minutes after realizing something was wrong. Because they're cats they hide when things are happening until it's too late. I feel horrible about the whole thing, and I'm really missing Simbaba-ombaba.

We're also wondering if his brother Dudley had undiagnosed heart problems because he died the same way a few years ago (sudden fluid in the lungs). They were from a litter of 8 where only 3 survived after 5 weeks, we never found out why but suspected toxoplasmosis. That was also the warble litter, they were all loaded with bot fly larvae. Little Miss & the Brothers Dim is now down to just Little Miss.

On other fronts everyone else seems to be doing okay.

Bug is a monster. In the past week she learned to climb the curtains and knock the rod down, has dug a hole in my bedroom floor (old cork lino that is getting replaced next summer) and she keeps stealing my baby bumpers from the TV stand that keep my thighs from getting bruised. She's also so incredibly sweet, and is so tiny! I tried naming her Tamsen but hubby didn't like Tam-tam. So she's still Tiny Cat and also Tappy Toes. She has the absolute tiniest little feet! She also keeps invading Fran's cage when she's let out for the day.

[GotButterflies]

Oh my Wode. I'm very sorry about Simba. I know heartbreaking that must have been. It is amazing to me how well you explain each of your cat's purrsonalities and then show them in pictures. You are talented with such a beautiful gift. Once, again, I'm sorry. ((HUGS))

Love your pictures!

[fandt94]

Oh no...so very sorry to hear about Simba! I can relate to the situation of them hiding when something is terribly wrong and it’s too late...had this happen to us over the Summer the very night we came home from vacation. Upon us arriving home after a long 14 hour drive ...we were unloading the cars so the door to the garage was open...he went and hid under the stairs leading from garage to the hallway and wasn’t moving. Ironically, this was the location over 10 yrs ago that he used to hide when we first found him and coaxed him indoors & made him a part of our family. We all felt he went there to pass away...we dropped everything and knew we didn’t want him to pass like that and there. Immediately took him to the ER vet to let him go peacefully and with us, not under some stairs in the garage!

Anyways, I’m very sorry for your loss.....

[wodesorel]

Long time with no updates, and unfortunately I have to start with devastating news. The little white kitten - Rascal - died this week. He'd been seen by 6 vets at three different clinics and they all said he had a polyp causing his breathing issues. It wasn't

Monday night he went from running around like a maniac to just not being okay. Tuesday morning we took him to what was supposed to be the good vet clinic and the doc blew us off, said he might have worms. By that evening he was open-mouthed breathing and we rushed him to the ER. They though the polyp was irritating him so sedated him to scope it and find it.

It was exactly what I had feared for months and had been fighting to get a vet to diagnose - it was actually his windpipe collapsing every time he breathed in. Once he was sedated it was too late, this kind of deformity can be deadly once they are anesthetized, and absolutely everything that could go wrong did. They fought as much as they could but between his lungs and heart-stopping, there was no getting him back. The doctors said aftewards that they are trained to look for horses and not zebras, and this was a fricken unicorn. They didn't think any vet would have handled it differently and that I had done all I could for him.

We are both a mess, we've never had a death hit us this hard before. He was such a joyous light and it is empty without him here. He had already become such a part of our lives. His mother and brother are depressed and also struggling. Usually cats bounce right back, but even tonight his mother is wandering aimlessly, and his brother keeps trying to find him.


It happened so fast that the photo of my husband holding him was just a few hours before he went downhill. I'm still sort of in shock.

[aussieJJDude]

Oh Wod, my heart goes out not only to you and your other half, but also the kitties as well.

I totally understand what you're going through, when my second cat died, my dog use to cry all the time, and since she was buried in the yard, would dig up her grave to sleep next to her.

Animals have just as complex emotions as we do, and its something I know I forget on occasion. Hopefully the little guy had a good life in the very short window he got, and I'm certain he's looking down on you (and his family) full of energy!

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[wodesorel]

Thanks JJ, it's been a rough month. We've never had one hit as hard as Rascal, but then we never had a heartsick brother like Sparks to constantly remind us. He's doing better though and has started playing with Bug.

A whole lot of photos to catch up on!!

I'll start with Sparks, who is growing up too fast.

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[wodesorel]

Bug was fixed mid-December. We waited too long and she went into heat a few times, the vet was kind enough to call us in on a cancellation last minute. He said she has unusual valves in her veins, so they had a heck of a time getting an IV in, because they couldn't advance it. She had track marks on both front legs and they eventually had to use a rear leg instead. Her hair is still growing back!

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[wodesorel]

Fat cat Fran has no sign of cancer right now! She had a big mass under her tongue removed on the 2nd that turned out to be just inflammation. Doc thought he would be pulling one or two bad teeth while he was in there and ended up taking 16! I just about died when he called to tell us surgery would be running two hours late. She actually had roots rotting in her skull and big pockets of pus. Thank heavens for dental xrays! He cleaned her mouth out really well and she's doing incredible. Climbed to the top of our 7 foot cat tree today. She has two teeth left now!

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[wodesorel]

Miss Mao is doing great even if her diet isn't working.

Sarah had two giant masses under her tongue that were so large she was chewing on them. Dodged another bullet as hers were also just inflammation once they were removed and biopsied. We thought she had gingivostomatitis and were all ready for another expensive massive mouth surgery, but it apparently was just calici as her mouth was perfect by the time she saw our dental doc.

Sumo looking dashing. He has a permanent head tilt from vestibular damage.

Pudd's Christmas picture.

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[wodesorel]

Oh, and we got another cat.

New Year's Eve, lady a block down posts on the local Facebook group that this cat had shown up wounded and couldn't anyone help it.

Yeah, we're suckers. He did have a very bad open bite wound his shoulder and his eyes were glued shut with infection. Thought we could run him through the shelter program but noooooo he had to be FIV+ which they can't take.

So, we have another cat. Meet Mr. Tibs (Tiberius).

He is a VERY stinky male who just got fixed on Thursday. He also had entropion, which is where his eyelids were turned inwards and scratching his eye, so he needed surgery for that. (Oy, these bills.) They think he's around 5 years old and is super friendly.

He's still filthy and we'll have him groomed as soon as his cone comes off in two weeks. I finally have my Siamese though! He's a flame snowshoe Himalayan and he has ice blue eyes.

So long as he gets along with other cats he can stay. Since he has FIV we have to be worried about him biting the other cats. He'll be in isolation for 6 months though since he got bit by something unknown.

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[Hermiesguardian]

Wow. Sweet kitties. Great pics.

[GotButterflies]

I have missed these updates! I am very sorry to hear about Rascal. Absolutely heartbreaking. He was a beautiful kitty.

I cannot believe how long Bug looks!! Crazy!

Your pictures are amazing as always! Love what you do for the animals!

[wodesorel]

Resurrecting because we did it again. Two weeks ago my friend messaged me at 10pm about a lone kitten found in a barn earlier in the day. The finders had reached out to several rescues and hadn't heard back. I honestly waffled, but ultimately the thought of letting a newborn go overnight without food was too much, and one of her friends picked up the kitten and dropped it off here around midnight. The kitten still had its umbilical cord and was so tiny that we figure it was 48 hours old at the most.

I did not have high hopes, abandoned kittens in that age range rarely make it in the best of circumstances, let alone ones that had been abandoned and unfed for at least 12 hours. We managed to get two meals into it and it went on a hunger strike and refused to wake up for another 12 hours. I didn't sleep at all that first day! But my husband worked some kitty daddy magic and got her eating on schedule.

So for the last two weeks we've been doing bottle feedings every two hours. I'm sleeping opposite my husband so one of us is always home and up to take care of her. My mother rescheduled Thanksgiving for us. I realized the other day that we'll be bottle feeding past new years now. I'm too old for this.

She seems to be doing well. Vet check for bloating showed a lot of gas, but otherwise heart and lungs check out so far. Some weirdness with poos but it may just be age related. So we wait and see, lots of hurdles yet to overcome before we can fully relax. No name. I'm shell shocked from the last foster, so I ended up being really reserved this time. We aren't even sure of her gender either, it's like Bug all over again, the pros can't tell so far. I don't know if I have to hustle to come up with money for a neuter or a spay.

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