Friday, June 4, 2010

Brighton Update, and Stray Mama Cat n Kittens...


Here's the Friday update on Brighton, and my thanks again to all of you who are watching his progress and sending your purrayers.

He is still taking a long time to get a silver dollar sized spot o' pee out, but I actually saw him make a 'stream' a time or two and that's an improvement. I still have him confined to the bathroom so I can monitor his litterbox leavings but he seems content and resting.


While I was cleaning up the bathroom this morning, I let him out into the bedroom and all his buddies said hello to him (oh, I gave him a bath, much needed and now that he was feeling better, I wanted to wash the 'hospital' smell off him, as there is no way to stay 'pee free' when one has a catheter in place. A little later, I found him curled up on my bed, happy to be home!


He was a very good patient getting his sub q fluids this morning and ate a whole can of Fancy Feast Medleys, so all's well with his appetite, too. His blood chemistry panel shows improvement over yesterday, too. His BUN is 36, Creatinine 0.9, Phosphorus 4.8.

I took him back into work (aka the vets) for a squeeze and a urinalysis and Dr E was able to squeeze out a stream. OMC, she was excited about that--vet's are funny sometimes! And his u/a showed improvement, too. Still no crystals, and 25% less white blood cells, too. Still sort of iced tea color but that's ok for now. The culture results will be back Sunday and we will know then if he needs to change the antibiotic he's on.

I am pleased with his progress and I dropped the emergency hospital an email with his 'status report' as I know even though they see lots of pets there...they like to hear happy endings! They were very attentive to him and and I both and I felt so good knowing he had 24 hour care, a heated cage, someone monitoring his breathing (because of his heart murmur, being on IV fluids can be risky and can push them into congestive heart failure sometimes) and some extra TLC cuz our previous pet sitter is a vet tech there.

So, now that Brighton is doing better, I can tell you all about the next 'cat-astrophe', which I hope will have a good ending, too.

I live in a townhome community, sort of like condos, with neighbors cheek and jowl together. The neighbor on my right is irresponsible in many ways and the neighbor on my left is kind of a hoarder. I had seen an orange kitty hanging around for a few weeks, and in my neighborhood, you don't see outdoor or feral cats much.

While I was away, my petsitter found that this kitty had made a 'nest' under the neighbors bay window, in the bushes and she saw 3 orange kittens making their way into a burrow underneath my concrete porch. She said they looked about 2 weeks old. I told her I would look into it when I got home and see if I could help.

The mama is feral so will need trapping, but I have handled all 3 kittens, deflea'd them, and given them all a dose of Drontal. I had to put the dewormer in a pill pocket and I think the mama ate it, mixed in with some canned food. The kittens were covered in fleas, and could be anemic from that but otherwise have no URI signs right now, thank goodness! Of course, I disinfect myself after handling the kittens as I don't want to bring anything in to my kitties inside!

A friend who is involved with cat rescue made some phone calls for me and checked with 4 rescue groups in the area and so far no luck in them taking this family. It is the 'kittening' time of year, and I hate to have to make the choice of taking them to a 'kill' shelter, though the kittens would stand a chance of adoption, not so the mama.

This same friend has a humane trap and has offered to help me trap the mama cat next weekend. And my petsitter is coming over tomorrow to help me set up a cage on my patio and I will corral the kittens there, and I have a 'dream' that I can get the mama cat to get into the cage to be with her kittens and I can drop the door shut before she escapes...I know, dream on.

I will have to keep the door shut unless I can watch the cage, or she may move the kittens and then I might not find any of them again! I made a shelter out of a storage box, but so far, none of them has voluntarily entered it...they'd rather sleep in the dirt and leaves, sigh...I thought maybe they'd all hunker down in the storage 'cave' and I could close the 'flap door' and trap them, and that ain't gonna happen it doesn't look like!

Wish me luck tomorrow and then with trying to find homes for them all...anybody close by to me looking for a new gingercat furbaby??


28 comments:

  1. We're so happy Brighton is doing better!

    And we hope you can catch momma cat and she and her babies can all find forever homes!

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  2. Such good news about Brighton! He'll recover much more quickly at home.

    Good luck with the Mama Cat and kittens. You may just have to TNR Mama and feed her outdoors. If your neighbor hoards, chances are you may have mice, and a resident Cat might be handy.

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  3. We're happy to hear the good news about Brighton!

    We sure hope the momma kitty and her babies will be okay. Our purrs are with them!

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  4. Oh good luck with the feral cat family. I hope there is a happy ending to that.

    I am happy that Brighton is doing so well! YEAH!!!

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  5. Whew! It sounds like Brighton is doing much better! Katnip Lounge might be right regarding the mother kitty. If she is skittish, TNR might be the best you can do for her. The kittens sound like they will be adoptable.

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  6. That's it Brighton, a tsunami of pee is what we want. We're so glad you are home again, you look very comfy on that nice pile of blankies.

    Props to Teri for sorting out the outdoor Mum & babies. The Mum may not be full feral, just in super protective mode whilst she has her babies with her. TNR is a great outcome, if she can't be tamed or rehomed.

    Big fat purrs to all!

    Whicky Wuudler

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  7. We're so glad that Brighton is continuing to improve. and we hope you find good homes for the little ones. They are very sweet.

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  8. We are so happy to hear that Brighton continues to improve. We will keep up the purrs until he is 100%.
    We hope you can get the mama cat. TNR does sound the best option for her.We hope the babies can find good forever homes.

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  9. so glad Brighton is doing better!!!! Lots of love to Surfer Dude!!Can't wait to see him today!

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  10. We will continue to purr that Brighton continues to improve xxx

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  11. Wonderful to hear the good news about Brighton!
    I hope & purray you can catch Mama & her babies & find them furrever homes! Bless you for taking care of them.

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  12. We are delighted to see Brighton home and feeling more comfy. We are hoping you can catch the kittens and their mom - good luck with that.

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  13. Glad Brighton is doing better. Hope he continues to improve.

    So hope the kitties don't end up at the shelter. Good luck with them.

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  14. So glad to hear that Brighton is on the mend. We'll keep purring for him. You are a good soul for taking care of those baby reds...they must be adorable if they are all like the one you photographed!! Cute. We hope you are able to find good, loving homes for them. Purrs and purrs, Lautrec and Tiny

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  15. Glad Brighton is getting better every day!...TNR sounds like the only way to go with the Mommy Cat; good luck with all of them=the ginger babies are precious!...Hope you have a good weekend.

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  16. Thank goodnedss forecer that Brighton is so much better. It did MY heart good to see him curled on your bed. That means the world as he is feeling well enough to care and to be up there with mommy smells to nest in. He's a happy baby. He's so beautiful too with that gorgeous coat. I may have told you already but I will definitely consider a Rex next kitty. My old lady, the Admiral said "no" for now. :-)

    You are so good..but all of we cat people are responsible so it's no surprise that you are helping the feral mama and her babies. I so hope that they will be trappped easily and helped. We will purrayer for that here at our house, me'n'her and I will expectantly hope to read they are all ready to go and that they will be adopted. Maybe not mm but her babies. We have a good feral cat program in Knoxville that I support though I live in another town.

    Sorry for the blog here.
    MEOW! ♥

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  17. Good to hear Brighton is doing better! And we hope you get those kits a good home.

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  18. The kittens break my heart. Good luck with trapping the mom and finding them all homes.
    I hope brighton continures to improve!
    xoxo

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  19. Glad to hear Brighton has improved. You may want to contact a feral shelter group in NC - Angels and Alley Cats in the center of the state - they may take the kittens. Or at the very least help you figure out what to do. I know from experience - all mine are feral - most shelters will put them down as they are considered unadoptable. Let me know if you need more info on the NC shelter.

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  20. I hope Brighton keeps getting better!

    I hope the babies can all find good homes! Can the mom be TNR'd if she's not friendly?

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  21. I am very happy to hear Brighton is doing so much better.

    The bebbeh kittens are so cute! I'm glad you are looking out for them.

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  22. WOW!!! Sorry to hear about Brighton but, glad he's better....I know that had to be very stressful for both of you! Even though Hope center is great, I'm sure he is doing better just by being home.
    Thinking about if I know anyone who wants an orange kitty.

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  23. We're so happy to hear that Brighton continues to improve. And we are purring for a good outcome for Mama and babies - thank you so much for caring for them!

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  24. Oh Im so happy to ehar the good news terri! LOL@ the picture tooo cute.

    Your are just amazing all you do with kitties and the ones you found too? Wow,All the best to you.

    Happy new week ahead!

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  25. omg soooo cute..yes..its kitten season again :-( It never ends does it? Glad Brighton is doing better..did the vet suggest a change of diet from FF to a hills RX diet? Just curious...i switched all mine to Hills CD and the UTI and crystals arent so often now....also using Cosaquin for Salem...since the bladder is really like cartiledge it helps alot..and helps his old bones! Good luck with the kittens

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  26. Glad to hear that Brighton is doing better!

    Hope you can get the kittens to a safer place, and at least trap mom and get her spayed. You have a big heart...thanks for caring :)

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  27. Happy to hear your baby Brighton is on the way to recovery. It is so dificult to see them sick.
    The outdoor cat situation is exhausting as well.
    For over 2 years I have been working with the TNR with a cat lover friend. We have trapped over 15 cats in my backyard alone! I have 3 females who "live" on my deck. They are neutered and I treat them for ticks and fleas. I even bought them an igloo to live in the winter equipped with a heated pad. They will me pet them but if you go out into the yard they still run away. I tried to find people to foster them but with no luck, so they just live outside and that's the best I can do for them. At least there are no more kittens, and I have not seen any new ferel faces.
    On another note, Nigel is doing a little better after his visit to South Paws, he is beginning to regain his appetite and no more vomiting.
    Keep a stiff upper lip and good luck with your ferels.
    Susan

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