More Sadness, but There Are Kittens.

The six kittens we took from the home with the cats we were fixing for free came home with us, and that very day, were on the verge of death.  All of them had faces sealed shut with eye goo.  I made an appointment, and in the three hours it took to get them there, they had developed fevers and were extremely lethargic.  I honestly thought they were all going to die, and so did the vet.

He gave them SQ fluids, which they HATED, and clavamox.  He says he's thinking an immune deficiency disease, like feleuk, but I've seen this plenty before and I can bet you $100 it's rhino or calici.  My own cat had rhino when she was a kitten, and it took us a year before we figured out why she had developed such horrible fevers as a kitten (so bad she couldn't walk without being in pain), and since she grew up she would periodically get majorly snotty.  I wanna say the kittens have rhino, but they are in such strong quarantine (exit only by window, change clothes on entering, separate air system, betadine scrubs before going in or out, and about five showers a day, easy) and it developed so very quickly (plus all of their siblings out of three huge litters had already died), it could very well be something else.  Still thinking rhino or calici.  At least I know I didn't expose them to it, as was my initial terror.

I've gotten pretty good at quarantine, though.  Since their vet visit the babies have really perked up.  I learned a new trick, too - if you can't get stubborn, solidified, serious eye bogies out, try rubbing neosporin or other oil-based antibiotic ointment into them.  It dissolves right out and they clean it away.  I think we managed to avoid tear duct damage in all six!

They have names now, too.  Freddy is the biggest and definitely a boy.  He was originally named Fraidy because he was practically feral, but he adjusted quickly and now ALL he wants to do is snuggle, cuddle, and purr.  He's from a separate litter from everyone else, and at least 2 weeks older, despite what coked-out-bitch insisted.  The Kitty System is a seal point siamese, the next biggest, and also from a separate litter.  He is the trouble-maker!  If there's a wrestling match, you can bet KS was involved and probably started it!  Pickles is the next biggest trouble-maker, getting into pickles every play time.  He's grey and white spotted.  Traveller is a grey, white-socked well...traveller!  He goes where no kitten has gone before, and exploring is his thing (and so is talking, oh my goodness).  Dove looks just like Traveller but runted.  Dove is the only one I'm still a little worried about, but she's doin' her darndest to keep up with the big kids.  :)  Last is Cowbell.  Cowbell is sweet enough to easily medicate, love on, snuggle with, and catch, but balances his people skills perfectly with that classic kitten playfulness.

I'll post photos as they grow up - right now it's still all very hush-hush.



Meanwhile, down the street from me, I finally managed to get some photos of a trio of horses I've been concerned about.  There's not enough info right now, and they aren't on death's doorstep, so no one will do anything about it.  Yet.  Photos are the first step, though.  Click on any of the pictures to enlarge them.

Yeah...that's totally a ball of wire and debris fucking everywhere.

And right across the street from them is this poor little guy and his loose-running yippy chihuahua:

He stays chained like that all day every day, and crawls under the tractor when the weather is harsh.  That would be extremely illegal.  But, you have to go about these things carefully, or the animal winds up dead, "lost," or tossed in the high-kill shelter to be killed anyways.

NEVER.  CHAIN.  YOUR DOG.  TO A FUCKING TREE.



-Mouse

Radiation Therapy for Hypothyroidism

Gah, that last post was so catty (punny...) that I couldn't just leave it at that.  Yeah, it bugged me, but I'd rather post something a little more interesting to balance it out.  For the record, I feel it's incredibly important to hear all sides of an argument, especially if they tick you off, because people who disagree with you still have says.  It's most important when you feel strongly about something, because you may be less inclined to notice when they actually have points.

It just sucks and makes your blood boil a little bit.

ANYhoo...


The cat I posted for today's Texan Shelter Pet-of-the-Day has hyperthyroidism.  Until today, I didn't even know what that was.  I mean, I knew about the thyroid gland, but had no idea what hyperthyroidism in cats meant.  It sounds scary, like having a diabetic cat, where you have to give them two shots a day at very specific times.  Only in the case of hyperthyroidism, unless you can afford surgery, it's giving them multiple pills a day.

Have you ever given a cat a pill?  Goes something like this:

From Married to the Sea

That sounds horrible to me.  I mean sure, you could probably hide them in food, but some cats (ahem...mine) will just eat around the pill and leave it for you, untouched or perhaps licked clean of food, sitting right in the middle of the food bowl.  It's like they just know.

Well, someone linked to an extremely interesting site in the comments on that cat.  It explains what hyperthyroidism is and pitches a radiation therapy treatment they claim completely cures the problem 98-99% of the time - no blood tests, no pills, just a single treatment.

They don't say anywhere on the site what that treatment costs, but if it's that amazing I am sure it'll catch on, leading to competition and better prices.  I imagine it would be difficult to save up for a more expensive procedure while also buying your cat multiple pills per day.  I also imagine they are exaggerating the hassle of handling a cat with the condition in order to sell their treatment, of course, and one person mentioned they have a cat affected by hyperthyroidism and don't find it to be terribly inconvenient.


Needless to say, this is extremely interesting to me and I'll almost certainly be doing a lot more reading on it over the next few days!  In between studying for my week 8 exams, socializing the kittens, and training/fostering Lanie, of course.

Oh my goodness, that dog pulls like none other.  That is NOT a puppy that can go in an apartment, she needs a yard.

She has also taken to ONLY using the restroom in our bath tub, rather than behaving like the house-trained little girl I was told she was.  Oh well, better than the carpet!!

-Mouse