Whatever had her yesterday has released its hold on her and she is back this morning. She is active and eating on her own and wanted out of her cage. When I released her, she came over to me and demanded we spend time together. LOL I groomed her lightly- boy I love that Zoom Groom and we had a petting fest. When I left the room she was lying on top of her cage surveying her kingdom.

I’m praying her meds arrive today and they will start to help her feel better.

Rachel, if you are reading this, I put Shell’s sweater up for emergencies. But what a sweet gift to give this kitty and I know she would thank you if she could.

Had to run Shell to the vet today. In the afternoon, she started looking really punky. Stopped eating, pooped out of the box, hid when I came in the room. I picked her up and she was tight against my arms, almost rock-hard. No relaxing at all. Worried, I called the vet. They were booked solid, but I was told I could drop her off and they would work her in somehow.

Fast forward to now, just returned from the vet with Shell. He took films, gave sub q’s and agreed she doesn’t look right- but he doesn’t know why. The films worry him. Her liver is bigger than it should be, yet her enzyme values are good. He sees “something” in the films that bother him, but because she doesn’t have any fat, there is really no defined shapes on anything other than the lungs and the heart, which look good.

She has gained weight she is 6.3 pounds now. He said he would like to be able to see her internal organs better and could with an ultrasound- but for now, we decided just to wait for the meds to arrive (hopefully tomorrow) and then see how she does.

He said with a cat like Shell where she is really a train wreck, he doesn’t expect this to be a smooth journey. They did assist feed her and she ate, but they couldn’t get her to move much- she remained in one spot until they picked her up and put her back to bed.

On the way to the vet, she laid across my lap the entire trip without moving. I didn’t want to put her into the carrier because she was wheezing pretty bad.

She got another gift today- a wonderful soft, furry blanket from Carolina, Bugsy, KC, ML, Gracie, and Peggy’s Place. It couldn’t have arrived at a better time. She is confined in her cage for now and could use your prayers.

Haley’s Tip-
Shell wasn’t eating and a dear friend of mine who used to be a vet tech called and we were talking about assist feeding and how hard it is on poor Shell’s mouth. She suggested that I use the Zoom Groom and do a soft grooming process with Shell to see if the stimulation would convince her to eat. It worked! Shell just ate a whole jar of baby food on her own! She is back on her new blanket still confined to her cage, more active than she was before. Thank You Lord-

Today in the mail, Shell received a wonderful gift from a ten year old girl in Wisconsin.

Rachel discovered Shell’s story online and is worried that Shell can’t keep warm right now.

So Rachel, thank you for this warm, fuzzy sweater you sent us- Now Shell is sure to be warm!

Rachel’s gift:

I remember seeing her in that dinky carrier, lying in her litter pan. Her eyes were bleary, thick nasty drool pouring out of her mouth and her tongue hanging off to the side as if she had just run a great race and couldn’t catch her breath. You could smell the infection before you even arrived at her carrier.

When I peered in at her, she didn’t move except to lift her head for a brief moment. Her eyes followed me- they sent me a message: “Get me out of here.”

My vet when he first saw her mouth, his comment threw me. “Wow, that’s a mess!” And she was a mess. Her skin was paper-thin, there were open, bleeding wounds on her body. Enough so that the person who initially took her said she had been attacked by coyotes. They were wrong- coyotes don’t leave anything behind but a few tufts of fur. She’d been through a war, reminded me of the those photos I saw long ago in History class, or the concentration camp victims during WWII.

Her battle was just beginning and the war hasn’t been won…..not yet.

This morning, there was poop on the floor. The litterpans are cleaned and refilled daily. Her eyes are bright, her tongue is making its appearance and she isn’t really keen on eating. When her tongue hangs off the side, it acts like a snow shovel and the food actually gets pushed off the plate instead of going into her mouth. I wonder if in the process of her putting pressure on her tongue, she has lost some of the sensation and the ability to control it during her bad days.

But she wants to be loved. She can’t get enough attention, enough pets, enough confirmation that her life does indeed matter. Neglected for so many years, hanging on to something, she has perservered and now, all over the Internet, people are coming together and showing her that they too care.

I just emailed a vet friend of mine about her, and I was telling Deb that Shell isn’t just a cat, she is a missionary. She has inspired a middle-aged woman to stop ignoring the homeless man she sees in the streets daily in Manhatten. She has inspired a school teacher in Iowa to share my blog with his middle-grade students.

She brings out the best in people, this Shell of a cat by having endured neglect and apathy. By staying alive when others would have shriveled up and died.

We will have more bad days ahead I am sure along with some great days- and we’ll celebrate the small victories she makes along the way and know that her spirit will just keep giving people hope during a time where it seems little hope exists in the world.

I went in earlier to take a much-needed nap. The minute I laid down-pitter patter of tiny feet comes running up the pet stairs and Shell is in my face. “Hello Mom, I’m feeling much better! Can I nap with you?” I settle on my side, she climbs on my hip…I THINK she is gaining weight! LOL It felt a bit heavy on the spot she chose. I wiggled a bit to see if she would get down. Nope, she wanted my hip. An hour later I wake up, she is still on my hip. I turned my head ever so slightly and told her “This isn’t going to work.” I turned as slowly and as far away from her as I could, so not to squish her, and turned on my other side. Okay, that’s fine with her- the other hip needs warming up now!

I laid on my back- she laid on my chest. On my tummy, no problem, the small of my back, a perfect place for a shell! She is nothing if not persistent.

I finally gave up and went out to the living room to catch some z’s in the recliner. If this keeps up, Mike is going to have to build us a second bedroom!

She is eating but just barely. Lots of sneezing and her tongue is coming out more. I had hoped her meds would be here by now, but I stopped by the vet this morning and they haven’t arrived yet.

I had to work most of the day today which was unexpected. Mike said he checked on her several times and fed her and she ate, it just took awhile. We are still having some pretty wild weather so I am hoping that might be part of it. There are two photos below, one a thumb and the other a link that will show her as I found her when I came home tonight.

Shell Girl

She still looks at me like I am going to pop her back into a carrier, but at least she rises up to greet me when I go into the room. It’s going to take a few days for her to forgive me, but at least she is starting the process.

Per the vet, I’ve stopped the clavamox for now because her sneezing is getting more frequent. We are trying Baytril right now to see if that will work.

I’m such a slob, I don’t want to go to work tonight, I want to stay home and love on her. I guess, I am really a sap.

Hope is back home after receiving a full exam and some meds. Although she looks bad, she isn’t in bad weight, her mouth is a bit of mess, but not as bad as Shell. My concern centered around her ears as they are starting to show precancerous changes. I’ve been though squamous cell with white cats before and it is very hard on everyone. But these changes are in the beginning stages, no open sores, no weepy discharge, no smell. He does see her earless in her future, but for right now- we just wait.

Gadget, the tortie female is relentless in her pursuit of being loved on. She almost bumped the vet over as he was examining her. She makes me laugh. Her rear injury he believes was caused by being hit by a car. He said he couldn’t even feel her patella. He gave me some instructions on how to help alleviate her pain and told me to take her home.

Rigby is the youngest of the group- and besides parasites and a bit of gingivitis, he is in fine shape.

Shell stayed home. The vet is still waiting for instructions on her from Texas and hopes to have them later today- but until then, I didn’t want to stress her out further.especially after last night.

So Hope, Rigby and Gadget now join us here. They will live in seclusion for awhile except if I find the right home for them- but they are upstairs and are hiding from me now because they have been seen “by the Vet Monster.” 🙂

Just her close confinement last night plus the wild weather. I can see where she is off this morning. I let her out early as soon as the power went back on, but still, especially with her health issues, it is imperative that I keep her stress level down. She is huddled on the bed, with her tail tucked around her- last night was a bit to much for her.

I take her and others into the vet in about an hour. Another stress for her. A friend is coming to take the three new ones so we can keep them apart and she can travel with me alone in my car.

Yesterday, 3:00 p.m. at the store, the wind suddenly kicked up viciously. Shopping carts (empty and some with groceries in them) were rushing all over the parking lot, poles were bending! The store’s doors flew open inward and tons of debris and even a little dog came flying in- then SNAP the power went off. I ran over to get the poodle mix who was shivering just inside the store and a little girl and her mom came rushing in to claim him. It was wild! Using a customer’s cell phone, I called my boss. Her instructions stay open- wait for the power to be restored- well at 6:00 it wasn’t- so I called it a day and left for home.

Shell, bless her heart was freezing when I got home. Cold to the touch, all things keeping her warm shut down. The house was cold-so I took a run to Wal-Mart in the next town and got some of those pocket warmers. I put her into a small carrier with the warmers all around her and draped her with soft bedding wrapped my winter coat around the entire carrier and hoped it would keep her warm. It did, and now it is 4:00 a.m. and the power was just restored. I’ve bumped up the heaters in the bedroom and opened the door of the carrier, and she is warm and toasty with the pocket warmers doing their magic. I don’t think she wants to move.

The rain was coming down in sheets on the way to Wally-world. It was just nuts. I get out my car at the parking lot, the wind is just whipping. I set up my umbrella- and BOOM out of my hands it goes, knocking my glasses off under the car parked next to mine. So here I am, drenched to the skin on my knees in great rivers of rainwater, fishing for my glasses, when they suddenly float past and I grab them. My umbrella? I guess Mary Poppins needed another one- it’s in space by this time! LOL Anyone out there spotting a purple- striped umbrella sailing past their house- that’s mine! Wow what a wild day, but Shell is safe. A bit miffed at confinement, but warm as toast and wondering why in the world, I decided to wake her up at four in the morning.