Poor boy, he has staples in his feet and pain in his eyes. They gave me three days of Robenacoxib to give him. He has a bad URI so they gave him a shot of Covenia and he is all snuggled down in the cat enclosure. No feral bone in this boy’s body. I believe he was lashing out because he was in such incredible pain and had no idea what was coming next. The vet said the reason he looks like he has mange (which is rare for cats here in Oregon) is because of the lice. They gave him revolution for both the fleas and the lice and told me to keep him on Revolution from here on in.  I am to brush him out daily as he tolerates, keep groceries in front of him and monitor his feet for unusual bleeding or swelling. he was doing roll overs earlier when I started petting him. he is only four years old even though he looks ancient. My friend Midge came by to take photos and they can be seen below. He looks so much better!  am blessed just by him being here. He loves belly rubs and head rubs. I haven’t heard him purr yet- give it time, I think there is a purr or two around the corner. I just have to be patient.

If this works, this is the growth coming from his front paw- his back paws, were also affected and he would become unbalanced when he sat or stood. I can’t wait to see him tomorrow and get him home and comfortable. I am using the pine litter for his pans- and adding water to it. Once it sits overnight, the litter will become the consistency of sawdust and be less hurtful for his poor feet. I also laid down some leftover linoleum in the cat enclosure. He will have a few dog beds (pillows) to sleep on, one that is heated which will also help soothe his owies. His lice is going to be an issue because I can’t bathe him so soon after surgery. I know the lice won’t transfer to me and as he will be alone without another cat nearby- we will just have to wait for the stitches to be removed before bathing him.

Surprisingly this beat up Tom has tested negative for the nasties. The vets believe he has been hit by a car- three of this pads have been split wide open and his back paw is devoid of claws whatsoever, they have ripped completely out of their socket! He is crawling with fleas and lice- thankfully the lice is species specific. They have sedated him and are trying to repair all the damage done to him.

Rocky, I read your comment and I agree. The police here, they have little to do with cats. They move quickly for dogs and livestock- but cats are another matter. The other day I determined that I am indeed done with rescue. I took down my logos off my truck, changed my message on my machine and prepared to walk away. Had anyone else called me about this cat, I wouldn’t have responded but I keep hoping the police especially will get a clue someday that these cats matter.

I want to just settle the vet debt and go off into the sunset. Work on my ongoing book and help folks that way once it is published. Now I will have several hundreds of dollars to add to the debt- but the only other option for this old boy was to leave him on the streets and let him die slowly. I can’t do it. I thought he just had a bad case of pillow paws but that isn’t the case. The impact of the trauma he suffered split his paws completely in two. How he managed to get along as long as he has is a testament to the stray’s ability to fight off pain and trauma. I won’t let him down and just pull the plug because it is “easier or cheaper.” He is a fighter, and I will stay in his corner for as long as I see him fighting for his life.

I took a drive back to the location where I found him- near a dam and a park. I was cruising the area looking for signs of a hoarder but I didn’t see anyone. I knocked on a few doors but no one claims him as theirs. I didn’t expect them to- as I told you- he is bone skinny- dehydrated and no one has loved him for a very long time. More than likely someone dumped this boy in this out of the way park and just drove off.

I can’t walk away from him or the responsibility to cover this added cost. It’s not in my DNA.

1:00 update- with the extent of his injuries- they are keeping him until Monday on continuous drip of fluids painkillers and anti inflammatories. They had to knock him out to treat him so they also neutered him today. Poor kitty is not going to know what hit him! But I know what hit him: Love- love hit him, square in the nose~

If anyone wants to make a direct payment to the clinic:
Faithful Friends Animal Clinic
185 N. Santiam Highway
Lebanon OR 97355
541-451-1319
Account is under my personal name Mary Anne Miller DBA Cats Inc.,

Ouince has simmered down a lot. I left him with plenty of food and water overnight and it is quiet out there as most of the cats hang out in the house. This morning, he allowed me to pet him and somewhat examine him. His wounds are grievious. He has an abscess on the bottom of his left front paw that has completely split his paw wide open and left it to infection. Although, I know how to debride such wounds, he will not allow me to touch it. Putting my hand just over the paw which he keeps high in the air- I can feel the fierce heat radiating from it. I started him on antibiotics. The only thing I can do for him is leave him alone except to take the meds and get him to the vet first thing in the morning. I fear he has more wounds than what I can easily see and this paw is as swollen as an apple. Under his chin it looks like another wound is festering and he is sneezing with discharge coming out of his nose and eyes- poor boy. He looks to be about 4 years old but OMG he is so rail skinny. I feel every bone on his spine, his ribs are pronounced. This kitty is unloved (until now) and a real mess. Of course, he is black too.

The problem is, although the vet debt is being slowly paid down- there is no extra money to treat him. I will have to take him in, get him evaluated and figure out how to pay for it later. I feel great guilt at doing this- adding to the already high vet debt, but the only other choice is to leave him in the streets to die. I can’t do that- and if tomorrow my vet gives me grief about the bill- I will just have to tell him I will do all I can to cover it. As far as automatic once a month donations go- we get in every month we get $155.00 a month and that is it. When you consider we take the cats no one else will touch- that money doesn’t go that far. So Quince (who is really quite sweet despite his display of fear last night in the bathroom) will have to wait until tomorrow to be helped by hands much more experienced than mine.

30 minutes ago,received a call from Sweet Home Police about a cat found lying by the side of the road. I went to the location and found a black tomcat whose paws are really messed up (split and nasty infected) I wrapped him in a towel and he didn’t complain when I popped him into a carrier and raced home.

So much for being sweet- I took him into the bathroom to clean out his wounds and access him and he went full feral on me, hissing and spitting, tearing up the shower curtain- crashing  into the slick shower walls as he tried to escape. I couldn’t even put my hands on him- so I wrapped him up in a towel, put him back in the carrier and put him inside the cage in the cat enclosure. He is rail skinny and boney- he looks like he hasn’t seen a decent meal in months and he needs this wounds cleaned out- but I can’t touch him. So Plan B is to just provide him food, water, shelter until Monday and call the vet and get him in to be tested before we proceed any further with him. I call him Quince after the street I found him on- he has massive hair loss but I couldn’t even put flea treatment on him. Food and water will hopefully calm him down and perhaps tomorrow he will allow me to examine him and debride his wounds. If not- Monday isn’t that far away. He looks like he has mange, but mange in Oregon in cats is pretty rare. He’s seen better days that’s for sure-

Pirna has been still losing weight and so another trip to the vet had to be endured. She has been diagnosed with PKD Polycistic Kidney Disease a disease common in Persians and Persian crosses. She crossed over this morning peacefully being put down with all the dignity that she lacked in her life. She was in kidney failure which is why two prescriptions of appetite stimulants failed to jump-start her into eating- and why she was missing the box and flooding the underside of the litterboxes with her urine. It is also why she was losing weight at an alarming rate.

Goodbye beautiful Princess- you were loved while you were here with us and won’t be forgotten any time soon.

Here was another Persian cat we rescued years ago with very different results!

Starlight

They are now eating on their own, even Hooty. He is still on his antibiotics and although they are three months old now, they only weigh in at about 2 pounds. I am going to wait to have them spayed until they weigh 4 pounds just to be safe. They have gone through so much together- and they are all silly, wonderful, beautiful kittens. I am grateful they survived the ordeal, I am having to clean up the kitten room about three times a day because they are 5 little terrors! LOL

They did a few tests today bumping up the cost of the visit to $221.00 but now we just wait until the results are in. She is still not eating and has only gained a few ounces. No fever, she doesn’t present as sick so this is a wait and see time. I will call tomorrow to get the results of the preliminary bloodwork and go from there. Thank you for giving of time, prayer and monies for her cause. I have to say she is worth every penny spent to try and figure this out.

Here she is and not easily amused- LOL

Foster Mom reports Pirna is shutting down. Needs to run bloodwork for $68.00 if you can help us out- please do. She only ate one time despite the appetite stimulants given. Suspicion rests on cancer. 🙁 $22.50 in Kitty)

I am pleased to say that four of the five kittens with the burns and lesions in their mouths are now able to eat cat food gruel. Apparently, they decided that after what they went through, they grew up a great deal because they are shunning the kitten food and going for the adult food instead. Hooty is back from foster care and he misses his foster mama a lot. She loved to nap with him in the afternoon. I don’t have that pleasure. His tongue is still shredded and nasty and he still goes for the ham Gerber baby food over all else. But the thick, gooey saliva that used to hang from his mouth and get all over his chest and front legs is gone. They went through their medications both the pain and antibiotic so hopefully from here on in- it will be an up hill battle-