The house is settling down some now after the passing of Turner. Three days ago, the remaining survivor kittens were vaccinated and Axle became feverish and lethargic not soon after. I had a moment of panic there, but the other three kittens were fine, so I hoped Axle’s reaction was due to the vaccine and not panleukopenia. His temp peaked at 102.9 and I gave him supportive fluids before heading off to work. When I got home, he was up and eating and drinking and playing with the others and I could breathe again.
One thing I have learned since being exposed to this deadly disease, is there are no “good days” no remissions, no forgiveness. It may take the victims quickly or slowly, but it always takes. If Axle had feline distemper, he would be doing either the same or worse- and right now, he is laying in my lap playing with my fingers as I type.
I have sterilized two rooms of the house as best as I can. I threw out litter pans, bedding, cat condos all cat furniture except for the units I have from one company FelineFurniture.com Because of how innovative the furniture is designed- you can take it apart and put in new inserts and tubing, and wash the hammocks and condos as well. I am not sure what the material is going to look like because I had to use bleach, but hey, I don’t think the cats will care! all the other wooden and carpeted condos got carried off to the dump- because there is no way I can effectively feel that I destroyed any lurking viruses on that equipment. So kudos, Feline Furniture for thinking of replaceable parts and pieces for your cat furniture.
So the house and my heart is settling down now and the kittens are out in general population where all but Riley have decided it’s okay for them to be around. But there will be no more coming through the front door for as each year progresses, I see diseases getting smarter and more sickly kittens being shoved out of homes to live on the streets. Twenty years ago, it was rare to receive a sickly kitten beyond just some with a common cold or a heavy parasite load.
So far — knock on wood! — no one has abandoned their in-heat or pregnant cat on our doorstep this summer. Last summer we got three of them. All our cats are now neutered/spayed, but we need to take them all in for their yearly shots soon. There goes a few hundred bucks — but I can’t let them go without, so we’ll tighten our belts, hitch up our pants, get our nerve up and call for the appointments. A few of the cats seem to sense when this is going to happen and disappear for awhile so we never know who the appointments are for until the day comes!
I’m sorry you’ve had such a run of bad luck this year. It sounds as though your husband is doing a little better lately. Hope you’re through with bad times, at least for the rest of this year 🙂 You deserve a nice long rest.