Dr. Steve just called and I have to say that after talking with him, we both came out with a better understanding not only of our relationship, but also about the complexity of cats.

This might go long, so bear with me. Here it goes-

Steve said that left alone, Muggles temperature resolves on it’s own. He found this out because when she was in the cage and only getting her temp checked a few times, it was within normal range. BUT when they took her out, did films, did some poking and prodding- it shot up into the 104 range almost immediately!

So he did a little experiment and allowed her to run around the surgical room while there were girls in there doing their chores. They put a cardboard box in there for her to hide in and when she was hiding- her temp was normal. But when more people came into the room (not paying any attention to her) she started exhibiting the signs I was seeing here at the house: trembling, moaning, anxious, pawing…So they took her temp to find out it was in the higher than it should be range. They returned her back to isolation in her cage and checked her an hour later- her temp was coming down on its own without meds, fluids et al. Took her back out into the surgical room, let her loose and her temp soared.

So she is the type of cat, I haven’t had yet. She has PTSD to the point that it physically manifests itself as an illness. The x-rays were normal, the manipulation he did of her joints were normal- she is just a very timid kitty and sensitive and will have to be placed very carefully into a home as a “special needs” kitty. All the cats and kittens here have some form of PTSD but she is the first one who doesn’t exhibit it by behavior, but by her health suddenly going downhill.

She will be home Monday, and we have a newly insulated cat enclosure just waiting for her to occupy it. She will have peace and quiet as we removed the screen door and put in a solid door and the windows can be blocked if need be.

He also apologized for snapping at me as I apologized for snapping at him, and he admitted he was taken aback when I told him the donation that would have paid off the bill in full had fallen through. Right now the bill stands at $2,648.88 it has been knocked down by $350.00. I told him, I will pay it down as soon as I can, as often as I can and I had no intention of stiffing him for the money. He said he trusts me and then that remark just opened us up to just talking about our business relationship., the work that I do, the role he has to maintain at his clinic (the techs were wondering why he was going to put down a cat that showed no signs of being ill) and the respect he has for me and he hopes I have return respect for him- which I do.

So as Rocky reminded me and convicted me at the same time 🙂 – I did say I was letting go and letting God, but then when God stepped in and took hold of the reins- I pulled back and said- wait a minute, she is suffering, put her to sleep. Thank God, Dr. Steve was also listening to God at the same time a little bit closer than I was and I am humbled by this whole experience and relieved that Muggles is really okay and will be home on either Monday or Tuesday.

I know, what a strange request to ask you to pray for a cat who has passed- but I was mistaken. I dropped her off to the vet’s early this morning asking them to please put her down- but they didn’t. She didn’t present with any symptoms (according to my vet) to validate putting her down and although he saw her three days ago and she has since lost 2 pounds since that visit- that’s apparently not enough to follow my wishes.

I am so sad and angry right now. I promised this sweet girl her suffering would be over soon and I lied to her without knowing it. My vet is going to keep her and “watch her” and see what she does because according to him, he took an oath to “do no harm.” I told him when we met tonight that I assumed he would follow my wishes. He knows that I don’t throw in the towel unless it has to be thrown. So she is alive and I will say she is pissed off right now. She hates cages and she is in isolation so there isn’t anyone going to be with her except for a few hours on Sunday,

I told him I know she doesn’t have a fever now- the fever comes and goes but when it hits, it hits her hard and she suffers. She MOANS for heaven’s sake- MOANS in pain and tries to bite anyone who wants to lift her up or hold her. I told him I thought he would trust me and do what I asked because I had promised her this morning- her suffering would end.

He also does not share the opinion of the feline specialist and says that wet FIP is not the culprit- I reminded him of the dry version-

Please just pray for her. She is all alone, confused, scared and feeling abandoned again. I would have never seen this coming at all- never. I hope they find out what is wrong with her- but I have my doubts. It just sucks for her- she showed me last night that she was ready to leave this earth. I told my vet that had he seen her at 2:00 a.m. lying in my arms like a wet noodle, drooling heavily, groaning and switching her tail, he wouldn’t even hesitate, he would have put her down on the spot.

Her fever is back with a vengeance and we are in a wait-and-see mode now. Her fever is currently 105.6 degrees F which is bake the brain cell zone and no real answers as to what is going on.  She is getting fluids, alcohol rubdowns and lots of love, but no return trip to the vet. Sometimes, you just have to admit defeat and they haven’t been able to pin down why these fevers happen. They just term them “fever of unknown origin.” My hope is she is still alive in the morning. 🙁 She is rigid to the touch and when I pet her, she has tremors going up and down her spine. But she pulls out her claws when she is confined to a cage at the vet and just the stress for this trip there could kill her. We have decided to let go and let God and hope God sees fit for her to spend more time here on earth instead of calling her home.

This morning, my old vet called me telling me about a client that had brought in a kitten to be euthanized for “being naughty!” By the telling of the story, it turned out the client was recently homeless and living in a truck camper with his mom. The kitten (bored out of his skull) had torn up pillows, chewed electrical cords and also chewed the tubing for his mom’s oxygen tank. My old vet convinced him to instead release the kitten to me and so we have a new kitty here. He reminds a lot of a Siamese we had here a few years ago, so in honor of that- I have named the new kitten Foggy.

He is not “naughty” he is scared and unsure of himself and right now has taken up residence in the bedroom with another kitty. I keep finding him hiding in my luggage that is stacked on the floor of the closet- but when I put my hands on him, he loves to be petted and hopefully in a few days time, he will find a new loving home where he has room to run around in and just be a kitten.

Here we are learning to get along with each other:

Here is Miggs, healthy and looking for adventure in his new home:

Here is Bumbles:

And now Star:

They had to wait awhile to get adopted thanks to a really persistent case of ringworm. Thankfully, they are now healthy and are learning what it is to be with loving people!

He was worth saving, but we couldn’t although we gave it a good try. Hobbs took his last breath about an hour ago. He was gone before the needle even hit its mark and he left on a flood of my tears.

Of all the hoarder’s load, he was the most loving, falling asleep night after night, wrapped up in Mike’s beard or snuggled on my lap. About a week ago, he started fading away from us- he was running high temps just like Hamilton. His heart was racing furiously fast, so fast the vet couldn’t even track it. He was having trouble breathing some days and his abdomen became flaccid and loose. He was passing odd color stool, either it was a pale yellow or bright yellow (never a good sign). His fever fluxed between 103.6 and 104.8 and today it hit 105.8 and to hell with the huge vet bill- I raced him back to the vets.

They ran an x-ray to discover his stomach was full of fluid- they did an aspiration and drew out thick yellow fluid and I burst into tears, because I knew what they meant. We wasted no more time and this kitty who had been fighting FIP (wet version) is fighting no more.

Saying Goodbye-

If you happen to read this and you are in a good spot in your life and you have $5.00 you can send our way. I can’t emphasize enough how much it is needed right now. Our vet debt has never been higher. But he was worth fighting for- every ounce of me knows this and at least- he died in my arms and not on the cold floor of the hoarder’s home where no one gave a tinker’s damn about him.

Getting calls daily from people who want us to take their stray and feral cats. It does not feel good to tell them that right now, we can’t take anymore cats. We are in the process of working on the deck enclosure and insulating it- but that is already spoken for with the arrival of Betsy at the end of this month. I find it sad that most of the people lay the blame of their situation and their cats at our feet as if it is our fault that they have suddenly become homeless, or have to move due to circumstances. One gentleman who just called us has had 7 cats living inside his car for 8 months! I asked him if they were in carriers- and he said no- they “roam free” inside his car. I can’t even imagine that scenario. Our larger enclosure is un-usable at this time due to storm damage. Big limb went into the roof and water is pouring in. Thankfully, that enclosure has only been used for storage for quite awhile because it is also not insulated and therefore not safe.

One of the hoarder’s kittens passed away last night. He had a “fever of unknown origin” and they couldn’t get him to stabilize. He died, alone in a cage in isolation at the clinic with no one around. 🙁

Geez another call about a stray cat as I was typing this. I hate how this makes me feel. So hopeless and frustrated when there is such a need and not enough funds to cover all that is required to help these people. I can only do what I can, and right now, there is little I can do for these cats.

Today, I met with Dorothy and Phil. They came down from Portland to meet with me, see the possible place that their Betsy will spend her remainder of her days in and then they took me to lunch. I found them to be very down to earth, strong Christians and just all around lovely people. We have decided to provide Betsy with a second catio- this one on the second floor right above the first so she can have somewhere to observe the outside cats and wildlife without them being able to touch noses with her. They would like the enclosure to be fully insulated, the new catio in place and the new entryway ready to go by Feb. 22nd. George is agreeable, and tomorrow we make a dump run (George and I) to get rid of the cat litter and free-up our trailer.

I was quite impressed with the measures these two have gone to in order to make Betsy’s life as best as possible while under their care. I promised to blog about all the progress she makes and keep in touch with them in the future.