A late update

Logan is growing up!

I know, I know. I don't update enough. For example, the last time I updated, Logan/Hildy was tiny. Ears still folded, eyes barely open...and all alone. Things have changed. We went back to calling her Logan. I just like it better! Who says it has to be a boys name? She has grown! She weighs 1lb. 5oz now. The people that found her have since found a couple of siblings too. I don't have them. Only because I took in 3 others before they showed up.

post bath

We got he call while attending a wedding on October 19th. About the same size, 3 little black kittens. They were all 4 on a bottle, which was a bit challenging, but we made do. When I went to pick them up they had not been named yet! Hurray! I got to name them. Since we were close to Halloween, a friend suggested three names from a child's book about three witches. So we have Ziggy, Zara and Zoe. They were all really sick with URI's but we got them on antibiotics and they are all great now. They have been weaned but they weren't happy about it. Logan was better than the others about it. Now the only issue is they try to suck their food. This of course is quite messy. They have been bathed three times in as many days! Ziggy and Zara are the worst and they have longer hair. It's quite the mess.

So, I will try to do better with updates. I have a phone app now, although it doesn't format very well. I can at least upload photos!

dirty face

Lone Ranger

I just got back from a great vacation in Rehoboth Beach DE on Sunday. Monday, we got another kitten! Initially they thought this little one was a boy, so they called him Logan. Turns out no...he is a she! Another fosterer had her for a couple of days until I got back, and renamed her Hildy. She is adorable! (Shocking, I know...)

She is maybe a week old, so yes, she is a bottle baby. Here eyes are partially open, and she is a really good eater. That's always a great sign. If they don't latch on well, it's always an issue getting enough food in them. She just downed a half an oz, and is sleeping now. I will give her another shot at the bottle in a few hours.

I think her story is someone found her, and waited to see if a mama would come back and get her. After  a while it was apparent she was alone, they took her in, and got her to the shelter. I assume we will eventually get a "friend" for her once she is a little older, as singleton kittens don't do well socially. (That's how we got Bishop...Ripley was a terror as a singleton.)

 So, for now, it's 1:30 AM feedings again. I really don't mind. There is something very soothing about a kitten suckling and purring.

Oops. Looks like she is awake again. Might as well see if she wants another go at that bottle!

Candyland

Two more kittens joined us recently, both boys, both black and white. I understand there were 5 in this litter, but they split them up to make it easier on the foster homes. I have to admit, it is easier. Anyway, welcome York and Nestlé. I don't know the names of the other kittens, but I am gonna take a shot in the dark and say they were candy company names. :)

They both seem pretty healthy, and weigh in at 1.11 and 1.9 pounds. York, the one with more white, is a little bigger, and a little more shy. Nestlé is a purr machine and always wants attention. Lots of it.

They have been out of their room to run around and meet the "staff" already, and an though York is a little fearful, both have been seen rubbing on Bentley and Pancito. It's very cute. Bishop was giving York a bath, and York was hissing the whole time. Bishop didn't seem to notice.

Speaking of Pancito, when we got back from vacation we decided the next step in his medical care was to get a bone marrow biopsy, since his platelets didn't really budge on his meds. We took him in and dropped him off in the morning. They called me back at around 10 am to tell me his platelets had gone up to 175,000! We were all shocked. Pleasantly. So, no biopsy, and Wednesday a recheck. If we are still good, we begin to taper off the prednisone. Fingers crossed!

Pancito watches the kittah action  

Nestlé looking innocent. 

York found the well used kitty condo. 

Empty Nester

Jimmy and Jammie

The last post I told you about Twinkie. He was pretty sick when he came in. By the next day, it was obvious to me he was pretty far gone. I was syringe feeding him, but he was not swallowing it. I was allowed to take him to the vet, and when they examined him, he was hardly able to hold himself up. There was food in his mouth still from the last time I had tried to feed him. There wasn't really anything anyone could do at that point. He passed quietly, in the hands of the foster coordinator. Very sad.

Back at home, Jimmy and Jammy were pretty much oblivious that there was ever another roommate with them at all. They were doing their own kitty thing. Crying every morning for hours, wanting to be let out of their room. It usually started around 5 AM. It got old pretty quickly. I started letting them out before I went to work, and in the evenings to run around. They were never concerned with Jessica's hissing, and they were never concerned with the 4 cats that live here, or the 3 dogs. Those little guys will be ready for anything.

Jimmy & Buck Chillin'

The boys find a warm place to snuggle

And speaking of ready, they both made weight and were neutered on Monday, and BOTH of them have already been adopted! Jammie went home with a friend of a friend, so hopefully we will get updates. They adopted another kitten from us about 3 years ago. Jake was a tuxedo cat. They adored him. One morning they got up, and Jake had passed away. No idea what happened, and they were heartbroken. They decided they were finally ready for another one, so they chose Jammie. We tried to talk them into taking both of the boys, but Jimmy looked too much like Jake, and they just felt like it was too much. They also have an older cat at home. I am sure he will be sleeping with her soon enough.  Jimmy went home with another kitten from the shelter, so they will both have playmates.

Jammie hides in the crock

Boz is still the king

That wasn't a typo about having 3 dogs here. We have had a friend staying here while he worked through a divorce, and his dog Kobe came to stay for a few weeks. He was a gentle giant, and fit in just fine while he was here. He left Tuesday, and will be heading to Texas. We will miss him, but the house was starting to get pretty small!

Pancito's platelets finally started to come back up! Yay! Still have a ways to go, but at least we are moving in the right direction. It's been a scary time (not to mention expensive!). We should have some more information back soon. Hopefully we can start to taper off those steroids soon.

So, right now we are at a normal level of animals:humans in this tiny little house. Our friend will be back on Sunday nigh, but he has his eye on a condo, so he will probably be heading out soon. I guess it isn't really like empty nesters. We still have 6 animals here full time.

"I know I heard a car door shut."

Beggars

  

Bye-bye Jessica, hello Twinkie.

Jessica get's one more shoestring chew before she goes.

On Tuesday Jessica went back to the shelter to prepare for her spay on Wednesday. As usual she was full of vim and vigor. They all got to run the hallway before she left, and they had a fine time with Bentley and Pancito. Jessica's favorite game was to run as fast as she could possibly go, jump up in the air in front of Bentley and swat him in the face. It was all great fun since she did not use her claws.

I did manage to catch some video of Bentley and Pancito interacting with Jammie. Oh yeah, and I can't forget Buck! I will try to get it loaded today.

Finally today Jimmy ended up gaining a little bit of weight. Jammie maybe gained half an ounce...not enough but at least they're moving up in the right direction.

I also got a call this afternoon asking me if I could take another kitten...a very skinny little boy who really needs some extra special TLC. His name is Twinkie. He is a beautiful little guy, but really skin and bones. Hopefully we can turn him around.

Twinkie

When I got him home, he had already made quite the mess in his carrier. He can hardly walk he is so weak. I went ahead and gave him 10 cc's of fluids both in the evening, and again this morning. I managed to give him some AD mixed with water and some Nutri-cal. He fights it, but I will syringe feed him all day every few hours. I didn't even bother to weigh him...but he is larger than Jimmy and Jammie, but really, he feels like a rag doll in your hands. He purrs a lot, but I know that is how some cats try to comfort themselves. I will try to spend some time just holding him today, and hope he understands I am trying to help him. When he gets stronger I will try to clean him up, but for now I will just wipe him off with some kitty wipes I found.

Pancito went back for another blood check and although his platelets are up to 52, they still have a ways to go. He will be on the steroid for a while, and they added another medication. We are hoping it works quickly. Another recheck next week.

Pancito hams for the camera while Bentley keeps an eye on Kittahs

Jammie attacking the unknown under the bed

The monster (Jimmy) emerges from under the bed

Bye Bye to Jolie and Kanya

At the shelter, before heading home

Jolie and Kanya went back to the shelter yesterday to be spayed today! My niece is still interested in adopting 2 kittens, but I am going to try to convince them that they should get boy cats instead of girls.

I know, I know. That's not fair to girl kittahs. And one of the best cats in the world was my little girl Pepper. But we have 4 staff cats now, and all but one are boy cats. And all but one are loving, sweet cats. Guess which one has ugly mood swings? ;) Ripley has her moments where she will take a swipe at you. Never have I had this issue with my boy cats.

Jessica in mid hiss at Jammy

My niece had a bad experience as a child with a cat. Miss Kitty was similar to Ripley in that she would attack at any given moment. You might think that would scar her for life, but she still wants a couple of kittens. ;).

The boys look around

In case you are worried about Jessica being all alone, don't. She is still here, but she now has 2 little roommates. Jimmy and Jammy. (No, I did NOT name them.)

Jimmy checks out the new digs

They are pretty cute little guys and happily ignoring all of Jessica's hissing. She occasionally forgets they are interlopers and plays a little before she remembers she doesn't like them and hisses again. I figure by tomorrow the hissing will be all done.

Pancito update: Pancito went back Monday for a retest and his platelets went from a low of 28000 up to 52000. Not near where they need to be, but moving in the right direction! Another test on Saturday, hopefully with good results and we can wean him off the steroids. Yay!

Pancito and Bentley (and Buck)

Aliens grown up

Bishop heads for the sink while Jessica watches

It's been a while since I posted about the aliens. They are doing great. They are healthy and it totally sounds like the elephants are running daily.


They now rush the door and love to escape and explore the bathroom and hallway. Bentley and Pancito like to run up and stand at the door whenever I head upstairs.

Kanya is over two pounds now, and so is Jolie. Jessica is close, but not quite. They will probably be heading back to the shelter soon to be spayed and go in view.

We had quite a scare last week with Pancito. He started vomiting Sunday evening. Nothing big, but he vomited 4 or 5 times in the evening. At 10 pm he threw up again, so I decided we should run him over to the Hope Center emergency vet in Vienna just to be safe. He got an X-ray, and blood drawn but everything seemed ok. We got some nausea medicine and they sent us home.

Jolie watches the dogs

When we got home (2:30 am now) I took the little guy for a quick spin to go potty. He did his thing, and then vomited again on the sidewalk. It was dark out, but the vomit looked odd to me. I got a flashlight and paper towel and went out to look. Bloody vomit. We jumped back in the car and sped back to the Hope Center.

Turns out his platelets were very low. 30,000, as opposed to a normal of 150-200,000! They kept him overnight. We were pretty freaked out by now. We went home and went to bed. (3:30 am)

At 6:00 am we got a call from the vet. Pancito was fine, but they ran a tick panel on him and he tested a strong positive for anaplasma, hence the low platelets.

Bentley and Pancito missed each other while Pancito was in the hospital

So, long story short, he stayed there until Wednesday evening, on an antibiotic and steroid waiting for his numbers to come up. They never did. So, we took him home with his medicine regiment to manage from home, since it is VERY expensive to stay there. The vet was great, and was comfortable with him coming home. We have to keep him from rough housing with Bentley, which has been hard, but he is doing fine. He goes for another blood draw on Monday. Fingers crossed that his platelets are coming back up!

Jessica

Pancito at the vet

Kanya still looks like an alien! A hungry one.

Pancito, happy to be home

Aliens chow on some alien looking dinner

Rolling thunder

The remaining Aliens are rolling along now. Seems whatever was causing all the gastric issues is on its way out, and all 3 are now over a pound each. Jessica is still smaller, but she is the kittah that wants to be in your lap. Between that and the fact that she is never still, it's hard to get a good photo of her.

Close up!

Moving target

Jessica in a still moment.

Jolie is less kitten-like of the three, but she has her playful moments....snoozing is still her speciality though.

Jolie is a couch potato

Kanya is the crazy one. He loves the fleece string toy the most and does his catzilla impression when he plays with it.

Getting into something...

My niece and her husband are considering adopting 2 kittens, maybe 2 of the aliens. Question is, which 2? They are all adorable so how do you choose? Good luck with that!

Kanya STILL has alien eyes

sad news...

RIP Leela

Always sad to post about a loss. On Thursday, Leela took a turn for the worst. Vomiting, liquid stool, dehydration. Never a good thing in any kitten, but one as small as Leela, and who was already compromised, it was a death sentence. She passed peacefully in the hands of the foster coordinator at the shelter.

RIP Rosemary

On Saturday morning, as I was getting ready to hand over kitten duty to my house mate, Rosemary, AKA Cartman, was having similar symptoms. I opted to drive her back to the shelter to get some vet care, and not leave her with a rookie to contend with. (not to mention, the litterbox was a hit or miss situation...mostly miss). I was hoping to pick her back up Monday, but spoke to the foster coordinator and found out she didn't make it. I was a little surprised, but I had a bad feeling when I left her. She was very sweet.


The rest of the Aliens seem to be doing OK. Jessica has lost a bit of weight, but seems to be OK. Kanya and Jolie are both gaining, and playful. (Jessica is plenty playful, just dropped a bit in weight)

They still look like aliens to me, and they just discovered the fleecy string. They love it. Kanya loves a belly rub. Jessica loves non stop back rubs, and the purr motor revs up to high gear when she gets stroked.  Jolie likes to roll on her back and grab your fingers. (gently, no biting)

They are very quiet...no squawking, which is a little weird. They are still young though, so I suspect it will happen sooner or later..and the Elephants will start running.


I am hoping my Niece and her husband will adopt 2 of them. They have been married for almost 3 years now, and are talking about a pet. They like the fact that cats are a bit more independent, and 2 will keep themselves occupied. The hardest part will be deciding which 2 it will be.