Mattie hasn’t had a fever since coming home and she is eating- not with any great vigor, but she is eating.

My friend Midge came over this morning to take photos- hope you enjoy the family shots

Her bloodwork was alarming. Her WBC is off the charts. It should be between 3.5-19.5 and it is 54! This indicates a massive infection or it can also indicate cancer. If the fever and dehydration and lack of appetite re-occurs they will know it is cancer because she has anti-inflammatory meds on board as well as injectable antibiotics and pain meds. I am to continue with the warm cloths soaks on her belly and give her pain meds every other day. They did not feel a mass or see anything on x-ray that made them take notice. It could also be that the object stuck in her esophagus all that time could have been poisoned or toxic or she got into other garbage that made her this ill. Praying her fever stays away- she is home now.

Had to rush her back to the vet. She spiked a 103.4 fever along with some nasty, vile diarrhea. They gave her an antibiotic shot, and did in-house blood work to see what they might have missed. Her crying constantly isn’t mourning the separation of her from the kittens, they believe she is pain and so they gave her a pain pill as well. I am waiting for them to call me on the results of the bloodwork. Although her nipples aren’t the right color and her milk is clumpy, they have so far ruled out mastitis. Something is up with this girl and I’ve missed something vital. Hoping the bloodwork delivers some answers.

Ms. Mattie has been moved from the deck enclosure to the main introduction cage in the big enclosure. She was going nuts inside the other enclosure, meowing almost non-stop both day and night. I’m sure my one neighbor was not enjoying this noise as the enclosure is close to his bedroom window and she has a very loud meow.

So now, she is sharing her world with the two male cats out of the same car where I found her kittens. She is less vocal unless it is close to feeding time. When the kittens were taken from her she was upset enough at the loss to stop eating. Rather than resort to force feeding her, I opted instead to ask for a few appetite stimulant pills and received four days worth. She is eating now and I just weighed her- she is 8 pounds 10 ounces!

We are also having to soak her belly in warm compresses five times a day and she is on an antibiotic to stave off mastitis. Two of her nipples are looking quite painful and swollen. She leans into the warmth of the cloths pressed against her. We do it while she is eating so it will serve as a distraction against something wet on her belly.

I wish I could take her in to get her spayed, but she is now heavy with milk. Ironic, because when she first arrived here, she only  had on viable nipple the rest of the milk bar had been shut down. We really are on guard against mastitis, the poor girl has been through enough already.

Her babies are growing like weeds. Linda, the kitten food arrived a few days ago. Thank you for sending more MaxKitten our way. Totally appreciate the help.

The personalities are starting to show now on the kittens.

Smokey Joe is the feistiest of the group. He is always wanting to be held and petted. He loves to ride on my shoulders when I am in there doing my chores. He also chews on my ear lobes. Thank God I don’t wear pierced earrings!

Mack Dabby is the largest. He just reached the 2 pound mark and his paws are gigantic. There is Maine Coon lurking inside that boy. He loves the pet fountain and plays in the water most of the time. He has splashed his sister Flash a few times when she gets to close trying to figure out what he is doing.

Flash is quite sweet. She is a lap sitter and likes to be cradled in our arms. Unlike her sister, she is not very vocal. Her sister Foggy likes to play hide-n-seek in the room. One morning, I was panicked because I thought I looked everywhere for her and she was gone. Then I picked up the pillows off the bed and there she was underneath, fast asleep!  They are all now approaching the 2 pound mark- they have fat little bellies and love to have their bellies rubbed.

NAO has taken over the house. It was a gradual take-over. First on his list was to conquer Pop’s lap. He was seeking mine out until he figured out my lap doesn’t have the luxury of sitting for long periods of time. Pop doesn’t go anywhere for long stretches of time, so there you go- he is now Pop’s kitty of which I am glad, for Taylor has been missed by Mike since she had to be put to sleep.

Speaking of putting to sleep- Cooper is gone now. I did not have an opportunity to say goodbye to him- after his last vet visit, he slid downhill quite quickly and she was kind enough to end it for him instead of letting him suffer for another 30 some days. He died at home, I am sure in her arms if not Jim’s. Vets do make house calls out here thankfully.

Last but not least there is Solo. He’s the funniest boy. When I am petting him and I stop, he will sit up on his haunches and wave his paws in the air until he catches my hand. Then he will move my hand back to his chest so I can continue to pet him. LOL  It’s the cutest YOUTUBE moment ever- if I could ever catch it on video. I bring out the camera and he loses interest and lays back down.

Also can’t forget Pigeon and Pita and a group shot of all the kittens but except Foggie who was busy at the time.

Even though it is a bit early I have pulled the kittens off of Mattie so she can just relax and not have them further depleting her resources. She’s not relaxed. She wants back with them and has no intention of listening to doctor’s orders. I finally had to just put her into the deck enclosure (after scrubbing it upside down and sideways. If she could even hear her kittens crying, she went into automatic attack mode.

She has everything she needs out there (except her babies). She has not thrown up since coming back home, but she still has watery stool.As soon as her milk dries up, I will take her in and get her spayed and into a loving home.

Yesterday, I learned that Cooper (the dog I rescued over 2 years ago) has been diagnosed with cancer. We had to rehome this beautiful three- legged dog after he unexpectedly attacked the plumber a little over a year ago. The plumber had to jump into the well house to avoid being bitten! To this day, I do not know what provoked the attack but we were given two options at the time: either put the dog down or rehome him. My pet sitter ended up taking him in to her home. I missed him so much,  My friend and her husband has had Cooper for over a year.

I knew he wasn’t feeling good as we have kept in touch with each other. But I was not prepared for the vet to find a massive growth in his liver and multiple growths throughout his body. He has been given less than  one to two months to live. 🙁  I did ask that I be allowed to stop by before the end so I could say goodbye to this brave dog.) I hope they grant my request, but they are both so devastated at this news, they may not remember that I asked. Right now, she just doesn’t want to talk about it. I can understand that well.

Here is a picture of Coop the dog that has been through so much in his life- more than most really should have to endure. He was with me when my Dad died and also went back to California for my last visit with my mother before she also passed. He has always loved me and I never stopped loving him. He and Kota used to get together for some rambunctious playdates. I’m so sad for his new challenge before him and sad for Deanna and Jim who have loved him from the beginning. I used to laugh, when I was over there and we were going places. Dee would put her socks on and Cooper would very gently pull them off before she could get her shoes on. LOL

Aww Cooper, I am so sorry. You don’t deserve this. You really don’t

I will pick her up late afternoon (Pita has to get his drains out at 3:00) so I will be bringing everyone home tonight. The babies are now completely on canned kitten food- which is relief for Mattie I am sure. Please if you can send us some canned kitten food- I just updated our wish list

Mattie has taken a turn for the worst. She had only about a 24 hour reprieve from her vomiting, thanks to a shot of Serenia, but this morning when I went in there to feed, she had coated the floor with her emesis. 🙁

They are suspicious of a bacterial or parasitical infection so they are keeping her and the kittens until Monday to chase this. She has been getting regular fluids here- but she runs through them so fast. She had 200 ml at 8:00 last night, and this morning, she is once again super dehydrated. They did run an x-ray and other than a lot of gas in her colin and an empty stomach- nothing jumped out at them. They are waiting for a fecal from her- plus they want to see how quickly she vomits after eating.

Through  it all, she was the sweetest of kitties with them. As long as her kittens are close, she is temperament wise, loving and forgiving. Please send prayers that they find answers as to why she can’t keep nutrition down.

12:21 p.m.

The vet just called, they did a barium study and it revealed something stuck in the esophagus. The vet said it had the pattern of a herring bone. I don’t feed cats bones at all, and the vet said that it even could possibly be a snake? They are looking for the right tool that is long enough to reach down and take this item out, if not, they will put her under and open her up to take it out. Poor Mama kitty

Oh My Heavens! The vet just sent me this- this is what is inside her esophagus! No wonder she can’t keep anything down!

Yesterday, I saw Baker laying the grass and he just looked “off.” I couldn’t put my finger on it, just a feeling. I went over to him and he raised his head, but he didn’t move at all. I petted him and he meowed his hello to me. I thought maybe he was just taking advantage of the sunshine. Turns out he wasn’t.

Then today, around late afternoon, we receive a call from an elderly woman about a stray cat severely injured. She said she had gone online and gotten all the names of local rescues and called them all. No one had gotten back to her. She said she was panicked because this stray cat was so injured and he smelled horribly. Said his neck looked like it had been ripped open or something. She was in another town about 25 minutes away and she was crying. So off I went.

When I got there, she had put the stray into a carrier for me and when I went to lift off the towel, I reeled back. The stench of necrotic tissue was so strong. It is an older tomcat (shorthair tuxedo) I couldn’t really tell until I got him home, but he had been in a fight and a huge abscess had formed and split open from one ear to the next. His whole throat and neck was covered in wounds. Poor kitty-

Too late in the day to get him to my vet, and to take him to an ER you have to have $300.00 before you get to the door, so I laid a warm damp cloth gently on his neck to lift off any debris and crud. He didn’t tolerate that very well, so I finally just ended up spraying him with diluted Betadine, giving him an antibiotic, feeding him and giving him fluids. He will be at the vet first thing in the morning. Thankfully he isn’t feral. He only growled at me twice, so I gave him a pain pill and left him alone in the deck enclosure to decompress.

When I went back in the house, I had to feed the outside kitties, but I couldn’t find Baker. Unusual; because always at food times, he is inside the one enclosure waiting to eat. I called and called and nothing- everybody came but him.

Next to the feeding area, there is a covered cat condo. I happened to look over into the hole in the bottom and I saw him lying there. Then I saw the blood covering his rear legs! A lot of blood. You can reach into the top of this condo and remove cats, which is what I did. I picked him up, wrapped a towel around him and laid him on the couch. He tried to get up but his legs collapsed under him and he couldn’t move.:) It was 9:00 p.m. by this time, so I called another vet and he agreed to meet me at the clinic.

Turns out, Baker had been attacked by something. He had a 105.6 fever, his limbs were weak and he had lost a lot of blood. He was also leaking stool and bloody urine. He was a real mess. What the heck is attacking our cats all of a sudden? They have all gotten along until that new stray appeared recently, now they are getting torn up.

Baker is home after getting a pain shot, an anti-inflammatory shot, an antibiotic shot and his abscesses drained and left open. I had to chase the other cats out of the patio enclosure, because he is supposed to be quiet and to himself for at least 4 days. He can’t come in the house because he sprays like a firehose. That’s why he has never been successfully adopted out. Even neutered, he has sprayed ever since the operation.

I’m going to have to do something I detest and catch that tom with a catch pole. Nothing else seems to be working to get him captured. Our cats don’t deserve to be torn up like this- the wounds on both Baker and Pita are deep and infected.

Tomorrow is another day, when I will drop Glover in the morning to be evaluated and treated accordingly. I hope it isn’t as bad as it looks- but there is so much blood and tissue torn on this poor boy- in the photo below you can see the swelling on the one side of his face- the abscess is in the center of his neck and worked from one ear to the next. Never seen anything quite like it before. Just looking at it breaks my heart. He’s been a in pain for a long time.

12:40 SAD UPDATE- Glover could not withstand his injuries. He was put to sleep an hour ago. At least, now, he is out of pain. RIP Sweet Gent-

Graphic Image click at your own risk:

Much to  my dismay this morning, when I went into the bedroom to check on everybody, I discovered four big piles of emesis, courtesy of Mattie. I decided not to feed her and because she has been vomiting since the beginning of her time here (just little bits not like her offerings this morning) I placed a call to the vet and was told to bring her in. I took her babies with me and off we went.

She has a motility problem so she got a shot, we de-wormed her and they gave me a shot to go in case her stomach upheaves again. The anti-emetic we gave her was said to be safe for lactating and nursing moms but I am still keeping a sharp eye on her kittens for any warning signs that it has emoted through her milk.

I was so proud of her though. She was so easy to handle, she is almost 8 pounds now and one of the vets (I think) flipped for Mack Dabby and wants him badly. She has to talk to her husband, because they already have five cats. I think the selling point came when she lifted him up and held him to her face and he lightly bit her nose. LOL  He has such purrsonality for one so young. She agrees Mattie is around 5 months old and the kittens barely over three weeks.

Mattie is on a special diet now IE canned from Royal Canin with a bit of cooked white rice thrown in. They did not find anything majorly wrong with her other than she is way too thin. We will see how it goes- but everyone is  home now and safe.