This morning, the little mackeral tabby gave his last breath. Whatever this is that is taking Onion’s kitties, it is blood born. At the very end of their fight, the roof of their mouth turns completely white and they stop eating, drinking and fight supportive fluids. Any meds given to help them is automatically regurgiated back into my lap. Even bottle water when gently syringed into thirsty mouths is given back in a slurry of white foam.
There is one remaining kitten, and orange boy. I do not know if he will live or not. I can only hope he doesn’t follow his 11 siblings although I am sure the world they left treated them more cruely than the one awaiting them now.
I have been reading your blog for months now and have been rejoicing at your triumphs and crying for your losses. My husband and I have been feeding an extended family of cats for over a year now. The family has grown from a single pregnant queen to her descendants — we now have nine outside cats. I have not found a vet who will do low-cost spaying/neutering in our area. We lost the original mama, Patches, but we have one of her original litter, Princess, and two litters from her. We recently lost one 4-month-old kitten — the vet couldn’t diagnose him and he just disappeared one day. I intend to have all the cats spayed/neutered as I can “socialize” them enough to take them to our local vet who refuses to treat feral cats.
As the local economy worsens in our area (western Tennessee), we expect to see more cats dumped out here in the country and I appreciate any and all tips you can give me regarding socializing and recognizing signs of incipient illnesses. Hang in there! You give me inspiration!
Classof65