More Concerns

Last night, Avis went into high resp.distress. Her fever went up to 104.5 and she was acting erratically. She was removing the kittens from the nest and putting them all in different spots, then she was moving them back again into the main nesting area. I was watching her and she had heavy drool coming from her mouth, she would not open her mouth so I could see inside. She stopped eating and she was choking, coughing and sneezing. I went to give her the clavamox prescribed and she was fighting me tooth and claw. But right after it was finally deposited down her throat, she threw up and about twenty minutes later her face started to swell up! I contacted my feline specialist and let her know what was going on. I did some research and I think Avis is allergic to the drug. I honestly didn’t believe that she was going to make it through the night. I finally left her at 2 a.m. and went to try and catch some sleep. I had done all I could do, subcu’s, alcohol rubdowns, just sitting with her apologizing and trying to give her some cuddle comfort. Through it all- she continued to nurse her young ones. I put a cool mist vaporizer in with her and left her propped against the back wall with her throat arched so she could breathe.

This morning, she is still here. She is not eating yet, she is still having problems breathing and I DON’T want to take her back to the vet and stress her out further. I am waiting for either my feline specialist to advise me or the clinic to open to see if we can find another drug that is safe to give her to fight this URI. Maybe sitting back and doing nothing is the answer here- I don’t know. But I do know, I do need her to eat. She was eating like there was no tomorrow until last night.

So I’m in bed and about to close my eyes when I hear this sound like baby birds chirping in distress? It’s almost 3 by this time and I am bushed. But then BAM I hear a cat moaning (under the house) and then the major stink starts! One of my outside kitties has discovered Cotton the resident skunk and the smell is penetrating the air and it is rank! I grab my clothes, run outside with our strongest flashlight- do a head count and only one cat is missing MK- he is still missing as of this morning and most of the night- I could him moaning under the house.

Years ago, I rescued 5 baby skunks whose mom got hit on the road outside our house. We hand-raised these skunks to release them into the wild and that is what we did. It was the neatest thing to care for them-they had such personalities.

Even though we put them far afield from our home- no one told me that skunks instinctively come back to the place they were born until they die. Would have been nice to have known that back then *G* Anyway, they do return every year and I have even been sprayed in the face by one of these babies when I stumbled on her in the middle of the night. It is not pleasant- it is a thick oil, it stings, it smells, you hurl it’s nasty. So I know MK is in a world of hurt right now and I can’t get to her. Not only is she under a part of the house you have to be a munchkin to reach, but Cotton left her odor behind. I can’t crawl under there- I will toss my cookies for a week, I kid you not. Skunk oil is bad-

Worst case scenario is that she has it in her eyes.I know from experience that it clouds your vision for at least 12 hours before multiple flushings of water takes it away. I need to get to MK and get that started (and I am only guessing it is MK because she is the only kitty missing this morning) it could just be an unlucky stray who stopped by for a bite and got a big surprise instead. That initial noise I heard (the birds chirping) that is the noise skunks make when they feel threatened. Then, they stomp their feet, turn their back and you need to run when they stamp or you are doomed! LOL

So that’s my day. Need to ask you to please pray for both kitties and stay tuned for the next update here at Miller’s Outpost!