Received a call tonight from a lady wanting to adopt both Sierra and Rocky but not until Feb. She lives in Washington and won’t be in Oregon until the middle of next month. BUT after letting her talk for awhile, she let it slip that she would declaw both cats! Not if I can help it. I was polite, but told her that I didn’t think the cats would be a good fit for her home. Besides, adoptions are currently closed until I can get a handle on whatever is running amok with my group.

I really want these two cats adopted out together, but only in the best home I can possibly find. There is no way I would put them into a place where they were going to remove their claws.

Some of the cats now have uncontrollable diarrhea. 🙁 I have some of the cats on Albon to see if it makes a difference.

multiple piles of sick greet me every morning. cats are splayed out on couches, chairs, cat posts and tables not willing to move. snow is falling outside but they can’t be bothered to join in a game of chase the snowflakes on the window. at night, sleep is broken as cats get sick and i scramble up out of the fog of sleep to take care of the mess before one of us steps on it with bare feet. no, sickness is not pretty nor that cheerful to write about.

it takes a good 45 minutes to medicate everyone. neuter appointments have been cancelled because i am not going to compromise the kittens further by subjecting them to the stress of an elective surgery. i still have no answer as to what i am facing here. the cats are still actively hungry, some can keep their food down others sacrifice it to the gods of the carpet or tiles.

last night the vet called inquiring about charlie. the lab results aren’t back yet (typical) so she had nothing to add about what this might be. later on, i doused the lights and turned on the black light. i was sorry i did. i cleaned up all the stains i could find.

this must be what it is like when you have young children who can’t communicate but they just feel bad. when medicines given, are iffy at best and prayers are the only support holding you together. when worry gives way to screaming at loved ones, not because you no longer love, but because you love to much and they are an easy target for your stress.

food has been tossed out, replaced without much effect. well water has been taken in to be analyzed; i even emailed the litter company asking them if they changed their formula. it’s worth a shot, even it’s a long-shot. they haven’t answered me though. probably think i am some sort of mental case.

i feel like chicken little and the sky is falling. only this time, the sky (or the roof) is really falling. part of the bedroom ceiling that collapsed recently is still leaking. the roofers came out yesterday (finally) to give us an estimate. the highest bid, $5,000.00 the lowest just under $3,000.00 either way; they will be taking up part of the roof, putting a bit of a pitch in it so that the flat part is gone. apparently it is leaking where the joints come together. when it rains it pours, no pun intended.

i am not unhappy, it could be so much worse. kitties could be worse off, and the whole roof could have collapsed. according to one roofer, he is surprised it didn’t what with all the rain. i am just exhausted and out of ideas as to help this group. whatever is wrong will just have to run its course. i just hope they all come out healthy in the end.

charlie’s eye is swollen this morning. i am not sure why, suspect one of the older cats must have scratched him. i put some ointment in it, but he hates that so much. i had to do it four times a day when he first arrived here and he grew to dislike anything near his face or eyes. the cloudiness that exists there now is the scarring of the ulcer and will be there for life.

i have a couple articles i still need to finish, but until this swelling goes down on my finger, upper case is still a challenge.

all meds given for the night. i pray it is a quiet one.

the kitties are still sick, but no one is suffering. In a few hours they will all get their injections again (that was not fun). At least the needle is small enough not to be so obtrusive. But the medication must sting because they start jumping around when the plunger is pressed. they are all still actively hungry but some of them are still unable to keep any food down for a long period of time. I have started blending up a mixture of A/D kitten milk replacer and some probiotics. I will try this mixture and see if it helps. i hate this virus, whatever it is.

riley and charlie went to the vet this morning. charlie is still passing blood and his stool doesn’t look like normal stool at all. the vet sent some out to the lab and i should have the results backing within 48 hours.

riley even though he is vomiting blood has good pink and happy gums, no swollen glands, no dehydration or other noticeable problems. the vets are leaning towards a strain of the calicivirus or a form of the feline version of canine hemorrhagic gastroenteritis.

i have new meds to give everyone even the healthy ones just as a safeguard. panacur for all, metclopramide (injectable not oral) and metronidazole. holding my breath that the lab might give me some answers because right now, there are only more questions.

as of this morning two more kitties are ill, charlie being one of them. i’m just tapped out here. took trump in to have blood drawn. but the vet doesn’t think it will reveal much because there isn’t anything remarkable going on- no swollen glands, plugged systems- still insists it is virile. i am tired and going to bed early.

roll call for sick kitties-

trump
shimmer
mercedes
sierra
everest
riley
madison
rocky
baker
panic
cole
chappy
oliver
matuse
taylor

who is healthy (knock on wood)
charlie
squirrel
mckinley
dash
wk
twirl
guinevere
livingston
cyclone

i have various degrees of sick kitties here. some are vomiting, some have fevers. there are no uri, i have mouth lesions or ulcers in some, in others their mouths are fine? no one is dehydrated, only a few are lethargic. i have disinfected the entire house today, switched litter pans and litter containers, washed bowls in bleach and water….i’m stumped. sickest are trump, taylor, sierra, shimmer, oliver, and riley. riley is no longer throwing up blood. if this is calici it isn’t the “normal” strain by any means.

people in times square will be waiting for the ball to drop tonight. for me, i am waiting for the shoe to drop.

Spent the morning and part of the afternoon at the vet’s office with four cats. I now have 14 cats vomiting. Riley is vomiting what looks to be blood. After a thorough exam on all cats, the vet thinks that this is a virus. She said calici, but I don’t think so. Trump was diagnosed with the calicivirus when he first arrived here and I was so careful to keep him away from all the other cats. Plus, the symptoms aren’t there. Not one cat has URI. The main thing is the vomitting, fevers and diarrhea. The four cats got shots to stop the vomitting. I was given some cherry flavored sulcrafate suspension liquid to give all the cats and some clavamox. I am also not feeding dry foods because most of the cats do have ulcers in their mouths. Two of them have stomitis, two of the kittens. They are to young to have stomitis, so that is why the vet is leaning toward a virus. No bloodwork was drawn as it would just sit in the frig for a few days before they could send it. If the cats get worse in the course of the next few days, they will draw blood then. I wish I could stop adding to the vet debt here- but apparently not.

Yesterday, I went to Costco and bought cat food. Kirkland dry and Fancy Feast canned. I opened up the new bag and poured some out in the food trays. Two hours later, four cats began vomiting. By the end of the day, I have nine cats vomiting! I called the vet and they supplied meds: metoclopramide, sulcrafate, and barium. The emesis consists of a rusty colored liquid, but it isn’t blood. I checked the expiration date on the bag, it is way in advance of today’s date. So far we have Trump, Baker, Everest, Riley, Sierra, Rocky, Charlie, Cole and Taylor vomiting. 🙁 Color me concerned and very frightened. I have bagged all the food into another bag and removed food from the entire group. They will be on a 24 hour fast with liquids only. I have fresh dry food that I bought today ready for them. It is not Kirkland, it is Purina. I have no clue what is going on. It is going to be a long night.

Make it ten- Mercedes just started. I might have a virus here. God, I hope not!

The spoils of Christmas this year brought a huge smile to my face. I received from good friends a lot of goodies to bring kittens into good health. 473 ml of Albon, bacterial ointment and antibiotics for wounds, bandages, syringes, thermal heat blankets and kitten formula. Mike said my friends must know what I really want and he would be right.

Mike and I will be purchasing a new roof when the weather gets better, as our old roof has developed a leak from all this rain. Last estimate we got from a roofer was between $5,000.00-$7,000.00 For a LEAK? Come on! We have two more roofers coming out after the holidays to give us their estimates.

Merry Ho Ho!

I really try not to have favorites among the group, but I suppose that is unrealistic. Charlie has endeared himself to me from the beginning. He was so weak and almost lifeless when he arrived here, and now he is this spitfire of energy who loves my lap and loves life.

His latest trick is to curl up in my lap when I am typing. Not a big deal, many of the cats and kittens do this. But he lays when his head on my keyboard and chases my fingers. Makes for some interesting typos, let me tell you. He doesn’t use his claws, but he paws my fingers as if to say “Hey Mom, can’t you type any faster?” He is still so small though, and by all estimations he should be around 6 months old, and he should be at least 6 pounds but he is holding steady at 4. Mike made the comment last night that he and Panic would throw some beautiful kittens. I told him to bite his tongue! Charlie’s neuter is just weeks away, and Panic although just as small as Charlie, should be entering her first heat cycle any day now. If that happens, the girls will go into one room, the boys into another.