back on track...I think

For the most part, the cougars and the little 'uns seem to be back on track. They are all still sneezing, and we have a lot of runny eyes and snotty noses, but everyone seems to be eating and gaining for the most part.

I am a little worried, because I am going out of town for the weekend, and a friend is baby sitting my cats, and the itty bitties while I am away. She is a cat lover and owner, and I am sure she won't have any problems, but I always worry when I leave them, since I know them best, and can tell pretty quickly when something starts to go south, before it gets bad. They are all Ok I think and will be fine for a couple of days. (I am sure I will annoy my friend to death texting to make sure all is well. ;)

Diego is doing well, and seems to be getting his old energy back finally. He shoots out the door, along with Sport and Dora whenever I open it. Today, Justine was also at the door, trying to get out. I suppose I will have to let them have the run of the upstairs soon. Maybe when I get back.


Diego was still a bit run down yesterday...


But obviously, he is feeling better today.

Sport has really begun to show a lot of personality, climbing up my back, wanting to get attention. Mowgli is a major spaz, and is constantly running wild. The funny thing is, you can hypnotize him by holding him on his back, and rubbing his head. He immediately goes limp. It's about the only time he is still!


Sport shows off his much cleaner nose.


Justine & Sport play with the paperball.


Mowgli pauses for a split second....


At what time I snag him, and hypnotize him.

The cougars are all snotty. Justine lost a bit of weight from last night, as did John Cougar. Nothing serious, but you can tell they don't feel well. None of them were happy when I put a couple of squirts of saline up their noses, and put eye medicine goop in their runny eyes. I also decided to give both John Cougar and Justine a pill. It has an antihistamine and an appetite stimulant in it, and it must taste horrible. I dissolve it (1/4 pill) in a syringe, and squirt it in their mouth. I didn't get it far enough to the back of Johnny's tongue, and he was drooling for about 5 minutes. I am hoping 1 does will do the trick. I think it only took one dose for Diego.


Johnny is feeling a bit rundown.


Jessica feels well enough to give the paper ball a workout.


And play with the magic wand.


Justine has her way with the paperball.


When I left them this evening, they were all winding down from play. I will check on them before bed, and maybe feed them once more. Hoping they will all feel better in the morning.

growing!

Looks like after 3 vet visits, Diego is better. He was down to 1lb, 1oz on Thursday. Happy to report he is back up to 1lb, 5oz tonight! Yay! He still has a lot of catching up to do, but he is eating now, without me forcing it. I am still keeping a close eye on him, and will go back to the nasty pills if he stops gaining weight, but for now, (knock on wood) he seems to be improving.













On another note, the once skinny scrawny Mowgli has now almost caught up with Johnny Cougar! It's all belly though. He has some skinny little bird legs! He loves to play smackdown with everyone, but he is so much bigger than the rest of his crew, they hide from him.



The Cougars are doing well, but we need to get some other people in there to socialize them. They are fine with me, but Johnny Cougar hissed at Joy today. We still have some work to do on that end.







Everyone else seems to be doing fine. They are all sneezing, but everyone is eating and gaining, and I am adding lysine to their food, so we will just keep chugging along.

nothing's easy

Diego went back to the vet on Monday. He did have a fever (104º) and he got a shot of antibiotic. Unfortunately, he still isn't eating. I have been giving him Nutri-cal, and the appetite stimulant, but he is now down to 1.2 lbs. Today, I started to syringe feed him. He is not pleased with me. I also need to give him fluids. He HATES that. I sure hope the meds kick in soon. He is not doing well. He still has the energy to run out the door if he is nearby when it opens though. I will take that as a good sign.



The rest of the clan seems to be doing OK. I am still watching the cougars, but even though they are still sneezy, they are eating and gaining weight. For that matter, all of the others are sneezy, but gaining, playing and being normal kittens. The Cougars actually reverted back a bit after they started to feel better, and were shying away again, but they seem better now, and are back to climbing on my lap when I sit with them.



On a more positive note, Mowgli has been a great story. He was so skinny when he arrived, but since then, he has actually gotten fat! At least his belly. He still has skinny bird legs, but he has a heck of an appetite. Sport, Mowgli and Dora are always squealing when they play, usually because Mowgli is biting someone. He even overpowers the Cougars. I don't think they like to play with him!

time will tell

So far, the Cougars seem to be getting better. The appetite stimulant is working, and they are all 3 eating, and gaining some weight back. I am still a little worried about Diego. He didn't get a shot, and he is still a bit lethargic, but doing OK otherwise. I will keep an eye on him this week.


Diego has a drink.

The Cougars are doing great in the socialization process. The big boy Johnny Cougar is still the most shy, but does come over for attention when the rest of them climb up. The girls are sweet, and love to be held, and Johnny is happy to sit on my leg and be stroked.


Cougars play.

The Little un's are doing great. The only signs of URI I see in them is the occasional sneeze. No fever, and eating normally. I am giving them Lycine treats, and gel, to make sure they stay healthy.


Dora plays with the string toy.


Mowgli poses for a shot.


Johnny Cougar gets a close up.


Justine takes a swat at Mowgli.


Jessica watches from her perch.


Sport needs his face washed.


Dora goes "Catzilla"


The Little Un's hear Bentley under the door.

round 2

Well, the first few days with this crew was basically trying to get the Cougars to be less afraid. Every time I went into their room, I made a a point of petting, or picking each of them up. They were not happy about it one bit. Then, day 3, there was a breakthrough. They were all on the kitty condo, and I started to pet Justine. She cowered at first, but I just stood there, and kept it up. I started to get under her chin, and she relaxed a bit, and started to enjoy it...and I heard it. Softly at first, then louder. Yes...a purr! then a miracle happened. They other two heard the purr, and they started to come toward me. Before I left the room, they were all purring, and wanting to get attention. Yeah, we have had some backsliding, but for the most part, they like the attention.


Justine, before we had our breakthrough.


Johnny Cougar still has trust issues.


Jessica is coming along.

The issue now is they are sick! Yep, all 3 Cougars, and Diego. They all stopped eating. I mentioned to the vet I thought they may be getting URIs, as I had heard sneezing from all of them, but alas, all I got was Panacur, and subq fluids. I am waiting to hear when I can get them back, or just pick up some antibiotics. I am sure it will make a huge difference in maybe even 2 doses. Hopefully, I can get this going right away in the morning.

The rest of the Little 'uns are doing great. Mowgli has gained a lot of weight, but is still a scraggly looking cat. Sport has decided he likes to climb on me as much as Dora and Diego do. Already Dora has discovered how to run for the door as soon as it opens. She ran right past Bentley tonight, and never blinked. I have been waiting to introduce Bentley until I know the Cougars are not too afraid. Johnny Cougar still has a ways to go.


Sport.


Mowgli takes a bath.


Dora and Diego look over their kingdom.

All in all, these guys are coming around, and hopefully with a dose or 2 of antibiotics, they will start to feel better.

cougars and undetermined others!

The Workers went back to the shelter Friday afternoon. A little sad for me, but I know I did my job, and they will be adopted right away. There is a lot of competition there, but I am hopeful they will not languish.

Today, we welcomed a new couple of litters. The Cougars, and....well, we haven't quite decided what to call the 4 little ones. Need a little help with them.

All these guys came to us with names...but I don't think any of them will stick. Maybe one. Maybe not.

The cougars are 3 tabbies, but the biggest one, and male, (Formerly known as Jesse) looks like a cougar. He is a good looking guy, but, along with the other cougars, he is very feral, and scared. All 3 of them are probably close to weight for spay neuter, but they are hard cases. Gonna take some work to get them used to people. The other two are more standard tabby looking cats, one with no real distinguishing markings, and one with white feet.


John Cougar. Good looking, and a big boy.



Named Justine, but looking for a new name.


Jessica. Also looking for a new name.

They came with the names Justine and Jessica. Need some new names there! I was thinking Johnny Cougar for the big guy, but I need new names for the girls. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

The little guys are a strange bunch. One black, scraggly boy, came with the name Dallas, which I like, but he is so skinny, and scraggly, I think he is more like a Mowgli. He is very sweet, and loves to be snuggled. I do have a soft spot for black cats. We have our Bishop, and my little girl Pepper was the sweetest cat ever.


Mowgli is a scraggly little guy. Need to fatten him up.

We have another skinny boy, orange tabby. Comes to us with the name Sport. Maybe. He is a nice little guy, hasn't done anything to stand out from the crowd, but hey, it's only day one!


Sport. Might keep his name.

The last 2 are much healthier looking than the skinny boys. We have a calico girl, and a tuxedo boy. Both are small, but not so skinny. The girl came with the name Tippy, and the boy with the name Breeze. I have already got a favorite. The little girl...I have renamed her Dora, after Dora the Explorer. She is a crazy one! She immediately climbed everything in site. She is a tiny little thing, but bold. Then, she climbed me, up the front of my shirt, and onto my shoulder. She is a total love bug, and rubbed her face all over mine while she was on my shoulder.


Dora the Explorer, peeks over the cardboard carrier.


Dora immediately figured out how to get up on the chair.

The little tuxedo boy is cute, and has already catzilled his brother Sport. He is a little shy, but that won't last long. We decided to name him Diego.


Diego.

I have my work cut out for me with the Cougars. The Little un's will be fine, just need to get the skinny boys fattened up.

purgatory

The Workers are hangin' for another week, even though they are all well over the 2 and 1/2 lb weight for spay/neuter. Seems the shelter is filled to the gills with cats and kittens. I don't mind. I am really happy with this batch, and I know I am going to miss them when they go. I hope someone I know adopts them, so I can see them grow up.

Angela is doing great. I was worried to let her run the upstairs with the rest of them, afraid I would never be able to catch her, but she has been fine. When all the others go back in their room for dinner, she just comes out, ready to go backwith the rest of them.

They have already asked me at the shelter if I can take another litter immediately. Of course, I would feel terribly guilty if I didn't take the next batch. Knowing there are kittens in need, I just can't say no. The volunteer coordinator told me she would have cried if I had said no.

If you want to really help, let me know if you are local to the DC metro area, and I will tell you how to find these little guys. They need homes!



Jim smacks the lizard, while Angela looks bored.


Angela gets the lizard.


Pam gets her turn.



Dwight goes all Catzilla on Jim.



Angela hides, unsuccessfully.