Late last night, the dam broke and Shell filled up the litter pan with solid, normal looking poop. I got her off the baby food and back on kitten food as she needs the nutrients according to the FS. Plus I gave her a large teaspoon of plain yogurt with active cultures and let the probiotics do their work. This morning she is active and prowling the room and head-bumping me like crazy. It’s nice to see her back.

I just received the neatest outdoor feral cat house from felinefurniture. It is made pretty simply is completely waterproof and snug against the weather and I have IMMEDIATE response to it with Trump going inside of it right away. It’s completely round, with two entrance/exit holes and carpeted flaps that cover the holes or not. The entire bed is enclosed in hard plastic. I will have to take a photo of it and post it so you can see what I am talking about. But the cats love it and it stays warm and tight against bad weather.

With my boss out of town, I am pulling long hours at work. When I get home at night, the first thing I do is check on Shell. Tonight, when she was eating, the drool was back. It doesn’t look like the original nasty infected drool, but just loops of saliva that gets mixed up with her eating. I try to catch it with a pad of gauze but this just seems to annoy her. Peggy’s blanket is getting baptized now on a regular basis.

She stopped eating the A/D and now just wants babyfood (turkey seems to be her favorite) She goes to the vet in a few days for a work-up and evaluation- so really until the 1st there isn’t much to add.

She seems to be having tummy issues, when I pet or gently rub her tummy she acts agitated. I don’t see any stool in the litter pans though she is peeing in the pans. But last time when I thought she wasn’t passing stool, I found a pile in the corner of the far side of the room, so tomorrow before I go to work, I get to go poop searching- doesn’t that sound like fun? 🙂

I know the road is going to be long before Shell will be restored to what she could be, but I do wish there were shortcuts sometimes. She doesn’t do mornings well at all. Yesterday, she was again hiding under the bed and I picked her up to find her all tight in my arms. Then she crawled up my chest and wrapped her paws around my neck. I carried her over to her bed and laid her down. She didn’t respond until I started her daily massage and then she started reaching into the touching and responding. She took her meds and then ate and while she ate, I moved a thick carpet and put it underneath the bed. Our bedroom is tiled and I don’t want her to get cold should she hide again.

When I returned home from work last night, she had thrown up everywhere poor girl. I don’t think Peggy planned on have her blanket washed as many times as I have washed Shell’s but it is holding up well. Shell was crying and I didn’t want to feed her, but she kept crying (which she doesn’t do much of) I gave her a dab of baby food on my finger and she licked it straight away- so I fed her about a tablespoon of the baby food. She ate it and kept it down.

What a long journey she has ahead of her and I just want to do right by her. She deserves at least that much. She goes in a few days to have more blood work and to be seen by the vet. I hope he sees improvement with her, I am with her all the time and I think I miss the gains we might be making.

Trying to keep Shell on a routine schedule so she doesn’t get stressed out proved difficult today. Mike’s shop was desperately in need of reorganizing and spring cleaning. This put me behind for her bonding sessions with me and she let me know she was annoyed to be left waiting! Although she leaned into every soft groom I gave her, her tail was switching the entire time. She showed how much that time we have together means to her. I apologized, but she just went back up to her cage to sleep.

I had to wash her blanket this morning- her tongue shoveled most of the food off the plate and onto Peggy’s wonderful blanket. Thank heaven they are machine washable. There are two more in the recent auction- if you have kitties, you need these blankets they offer so much comfort.

Today, Miss Shell weighed in at seven pounds! Good going girl! Her mouth? Well, it still looks like a train wreck, but one that the crew has been working on to clear the debris off the track.

We have our routine down now. She likes to eat off of glass saucers for some reason. Maybe it feels better on her tongue. Speaking of her tongue, she seems to be able to get it under control now. It acts less like a snow shovel, shoveling food away from her and more like a real tongue. The dark red rim I saw that was crusted around her tongue when she first got here, is now gone. It looks pink and healthy and happy.

She loves her Zoom Groom. An amazing tool really. It allows me to keep her brushed and deliver a gentle massage at the same time.

Her nose, it should run for office because it drips constantly. But the vets say her lungs are clear and hopefully over time, her sinuses will be too. Maybe she is part Persian? 🙂

I appreciate all the comments you folks leave along the way here- thanks for praying for this amazing kitty and for helping me with your supportive replies along the way.

“If truth be told, and however impossible the idea, I would like to have known, every cat that lived.”

For myself, I am grateful to be knowing Shell even on her bad days.

She’s had a few of those lately and between her and Hope (the white senior kitty who also lived within that colony) they both have kept me on the seat of concern.

For Hope, her ears, once only blackened with pre-cancerous growth have now started showing signs of lesions and oozing. I’ve seen this before and it puts dread into my heart.

Shell has had some bad days recently. I was talking to a fellow rescuer yesterday and telling her about the roller coaster of symptoms that come and go. She said to me- “MA, if this rescue were easy to do, more people would attempt it.”

She’s right, you take the good along with the bad, mix in hope, prayers, TLC and use the guidance given to you by the professionals in the field who also want to help. It’s all you can do. But it’s on the really bad mornings where the drool has appeared, the poop is again on the floor and the kitty is distant from you that you just find yourself wishing for that magic cure which would undo all the harm caused by ignorance and/or neglect. A wish for no more stressful vet visits, no more poking prodding, testing, exploring to find answers when sometimes all you are left with is more questions.

But on the good days when she wants to be touched, can’t get enough lovin, headbumps so hard they would knock you over then you know it is all worth it. One day gained in her life is a triumph. Two is a blessing and Three would be wonderful. And so it goes, the roller coaster of rescue when you hope and pray you have done enough that day to reinforce to her that her presence in this world really does matter. That she is a special as that spot of sun on the bed she seeks out to sleep in. You just hope that God gives you one more day with her, with Hope and with Gadget all from the same colony and all of them suffering from the result of being with someone who didn’t have the capacity or the energy to care about them.

Gadget is another treat- a short haired tortie girl who just wants and needs your lap, your love, your affection. Her uneven gimp from a collision with a car months ago (according to the vet’s best guesstimate) just adds to her charm. When I walk up the stairs, her head peeks out of the canning cupboard and she can’t wait for me to get upstairs and pet her and love on her. All these beautiful cats who somehow landed here teach me every day to be grateful for small things. They also impress upon me how important it is to show people around you that you love them and care about them regardless if you might be deep in a blue funk. Because, life is short and life needs to be treasured every moment.

So although I know, I will never have the pleasure to have known every cat that has existed. I am grateful to at least have met these three courageous felines.

She loves her head rubs!

Thanks Mom!

Her list of favorite things just got a tad longer. The handmade blanket made by Peggy is now her favorite possession. She loves it and I really have to agree. It is warm for her and yet thin enough that even the heating pad on low will get through the layers. I’d encourage anyone reading this who has cats to buy one of these wonderful comfort zones for kitties. Peggy’s Blankets
Click the link below to see Shell in her favorite spot-and thanks again to the cat lovers who sent her this last week.

Shells Comfort Zone

Look how far she has come in just 27 days-

Shell’s First Day

Dr. Steve calls her a bit of a train-wreck. I think she is a cute derailment personally. She loves to be brushed so gently and she lays on her back and stretches those legs so far out. But, if I brush back by her rear legs, she will bite me, her legs must still be tender, even with a soft bristle baby brush. I don’t feel her backbone so pronounced these days. Her gaining over a pound is such a great sign for her. I would be worried if she was losing weight.

I am giving her mystery meds. It is compounded so they have just labeled it JS 827-LPS TX Syrup. It looks like castor oil, tastes a bit bitter, yes, I tasted a drop of it to see what she has to deal with. She gets a reduced dose
due to the calici- so she gets 1 ML daily.

Dr. Steve wants to wait until the second set of bloodwork is drawn before putting her on Interferon. I think he wants her a bit stronger. he underestimates this tortie girl- she gets stronger by the day. She still looks like I am starving her- and she has a lot of vet visits to deal with in the future- but she’s still here and she has found that she can trust me to help her and that makes me feel like a million bucks.

Her compounded meds have arrived and she doesn’t seem to mind the taste of the stuff. It doesn’t smell all that great, but at least she doesn’t foam up when I give it to her. In 15 days she goes back to the vet for a second round of bloodwork.Hopefully not before then- the vet visits appear to stress her out.