At 2:00 a.m. her temp climbed to 105.4!  I did something I have never done before but I was desperate, I gave her an alcohol bath and then cuddled her in warming towels until she stopped shivering. She is however trembling now all the time. She is now with MY vet and I am awaiting their verdict. I told them if it seems that she is suffering beyond measure to please just let her go- but if they can find an answer and offer her some hope then please do all they can to keep her here.

It breaks my heart because when the pain hits her- she immediately will crouch down as if she is being attacked. Her ears go flat, she starts to growl and if I try to pick her up, she will snarl and strike. When the pain goes away, she wants to be held- she head-bumps really hard and purrs and trembles and just wants love. Last night when I was doing the saline treatment on her infected incision, a white milky substance started draining out of her. It wasn’t puss, it almost looked like milk? I left her at my vet’s at 8:00 this morning and am waiting to hear what they find.

Dr. Steve just called. He did a cytology of the incision and found red and white blood cells that he doesn’t like seeing. He is not happy with her constant fever (105.2 about 10 minutes ago). He wants to put her on a strong antibiotic- a pain killer and an anti inflammatory. If these don’t help her then he said his last option will be to open her up, clean out all the dead tissue, try to get the other tissue pink and happy and close her back up. He is hesitant to do this right now, based on what he saw under the microscope. He wants her on either clindymycin or Baytril but he wants her home because he says she goes nuts in the cage there.

 My concern is night time when it seems to escalate the pain she is in- I asked him if he just wanted to cut to the chase and open her up and get rid of all the mess inside, but he said this is a bit premature. I am on my way to go and get her right now- but would appreciate your prayers as we try and get through this latest crisis.

4:41- She is home and I just took her temp- 101.8!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Cautious Happy Dance! My vet says and I agree, her belly looks like someone hit her with a baseball bat. 🙁

The only thing that has been determined is that Muddy had roundworms but I am not buying it that roundworms have caused all this commotion. They are home now because the vet over there decided since they weren’t eating- they would eat better here. They were given several shots and two of the vet students are interested in adopting Muddy and Brambles but I told them I am not comfortable adopting out sickly kittens even if it is to nice vet students! They have my business card and they will be in touch.

It is now 8:00 p.m. and brambles is slipping away. I am doing all I can to keep her here: fluids, meds, supportive care, TLC but if I go to pick her up- she reverts to her full feral state and so I am leaving her be. Her incision is now infected (it wasn’t when she left here). If she is alive in the morning, I will be very surprised. All the worry, all the prayers, all the work that went into rescuing her and saving her in the first place will all be for naught if she can’t overcome whatever it is that is claiming this sweet mackerel tabby. right now. Her temp as of 8:00 was 104.9 and it is climbing. I gave her an alcohol bath and more fluids but nothing seems to be working. Please pray that she can stay in the fight-

Both kittens are spiking 104 degree temps 🙁 They have drawn blood on both of them and are waiting for the results. They will call when they get the results said they are looking for parasites but I de-worm and de-flea so it won’t be a typical parasite if they do find one.

Both of the kittens are now in ICU where they will treated and hopefully some answers will emerge about what the heck is going on. Muddy started exhibiting explosive diarrhea last night and has continued on to today with no relief. It is quite stinky and I hope it is just her body getting rid of the anesthesia but traditionally that is not what happens after a spay. It has been a crazy day of running around and trying to get some answers. I will welcome a few nights of rest without worry and hope to have some answers in the coming days.

Brambles fever is down but her personality is puzzling. She will flip from being a sweet, loving kitty into a sabre tooth tiger in less than a second and I never know when the change is coming. I cannot put her with more than one kitten and not with any of the girls she traveled with last week or there is a major fighting. Her incision looks messy and almost herniated so it will be another trip to the vet today to see what he thinks.

This weekend, I encountered an abuse case that cost a beautiful kitty and the litter she was carrying her life. The teenager who hurt this cat is now in the system and his life is changed forever. It cost CATS several hundred dollars to try and save Angel but the damage had been done. What I find the saddest of all of this beside the loss of the lives (and I am talking about this teenager as well because life as he once knew it is now over) is he found out how to hurt this kitty on the Internet. When I look at all the websites dedicated to saving cats and kittens and helping people to understand, care for and nurture these animals, I cannot grasp the fact that there exists websites that do the opposite. But they are out there.

I also got in a kitty this weekend who was crawling with fleas and loaded with worms and the people didn’t want him anymore because his blue eyes changed to green! All kittens are born with blue eyes, they change (sometimes) when they start to develop and grow. He is a very needy kitty and I have de-wormed and de-flead him. He goes to the vet to be neutered today. Right now- looking for no-cost spays and neuters is off the table. Seems like every time I try that- I end up losing a kitten. I’ll just swallow the cost and try to come up with creative ways to raise money for a very good cause. Stopping all these stray kittens from coming into the world is a VERY good cause. I just hope one kitten,Brambles will straighten out in time.

This sweet brown mackerel tabby had a bad reaction to the meds used on her during the spay. She turned within seconds from a loving, head-bumping lap seeking kitty to a full feral aggressive state. I had to toss a shirt over her just to pick her up. I rushed her to the vet where they found that she not only had bruised and bloody front claws but she also had a fever of 103.8. By the time I got her into the room, she had flipped back into her normal loving state. They fear she has an infection so we have put her on antibiotics. They wanted to give her something for pain because her sides seem to be really painful, her belly is swollen and hot to touch and the incision is a mess, but she has already had morphine and other drugs so they told me to take her home, keep her fever down and her activity level low. I put her in with her sisters and she once again turned into an aggressive angry kitty. I think it is because her sisters smell like that place and Brambles (by the look of her battered front claws) did not have a good time of it at all. The other girls are doing great thank the good Lord.

Not only has kitten food (canned) and cat food (canned) been arriving almost non-stop for the last few days, but earlier today I get an unexpected phone call from a vet school who had heard about us and our work and they want to know if I have 5 cats to spay and could I bring them up tomorrow and pick them up Saturday? Boy what an answered prayer. My spays are way behind schedule (generally do them when the kittens reach 3 pounds) because of the ringworm and other health issues, but there are so many this year, I was really praying about how to cover the cost. The vet school calls it a teaching aid for students and it is no charge. They just want the females but I am talking with them to see if they would also do the males in the coming weeks- because the males are just as guilty at adding to the cat population then the unsprayed females are- so we are still talking.

And thank you ALL of our cat food angels who reached out and helped out in a mighty way. With the cold weather fast approaching, you have no idea how many lives you are going to save with your gift.

Back in June, I was tricked into taking four older cats for someone for “two weeks.” Well it is now October and the cats are still here and the people did finally sign the owner surrender forms on them in late July. The problem is the son keeps showing up at the house asking to see “his” cats and telling me their latest “woe is me” story. I do feel sorry for the family but I have told the son not to come by and expect to see these cats because “legally” they are now the property of the sanctuary.

Dimitri came by a few days ago and one of his cats a big old gray and white male has been living outside. He is outside, because when he is inside, he is a bully and he beats the buggars out of my cats. I have several hundred dollars added to the vet bill thanks to this cat. He is fine outside, he doesn’t fight. He hangs out in the back pasture and as luck would have it, as I was talking to the son in the driveway, Buddy (renamed Bugsby) walks up to see me. The son was in the car and asked if he could get out and against my better judgement, I told him okay. They visited for a bit and then the son started getting all upset that this cat was outside (although he was an outside cat when he was living with them). He demanded, I put him in the house and I told him I would but I also told him that if Bugsby started another fight or dashed for the door, he was going outside where he was happiest. I told the son that I had no problem putting this cat into a carrier and putting him in his car and he could take him with him- but he doesn’t have anyplace to keep him. I find it a bit odd that this kid can keep a pitbull where he is living now, but he can’t even have one cat? At any rate, the son left and about an hour later, Bugs jumped my oldest boy and had him by the neck. I was in the enclosure with the cats when it happened, and had just come through the door when the fight started.

I reached for Bugs to scruff him and was carrying him outside when he launched on to my chest and shredded my shirt along with some skin. The attack threw me off balance, I fell over landing on my back and shoulder and in the chaos, Bugs got loose and took off for the creek. Next time Dimitri shows up, I have to forget my sympathy and just flat tell him that he cannot keep showing up and to stay away until he and his mom have an actual place where they can keep their cats for the rest of their days. I personally do not see this happening- but you never know. All I know is when they see their past owners these cats go nuts and no pun intended- they bug out and go crazy.

We have two eyes this morning peeking out at me from underneath the bottle. His eye very well may be dead, but at least for now, it is opened instead of swollen shut. The kitties are outgrowing their nesting box but the only other place to put them is a tri level cage where if they fell down the ladders, they could get hurt. So they will stay inside the nesting box for now. But Linus has two eyes this morning and I couldn’t be more pleased.

They will have him on a super antibiotic for awhile but they are finally going to release him and let him come home. His youngest son will bring him home saving me a trip to Portland. They did find out that Mike has a larger than normal heart but have also after multiple tests deduced that the heart is large because the man is large. It should not impact him in any way down the road.