Here they are, now without Mom. I am going to pick them up ASAP as the vet wants them to be with someone all the time (now that Sarah is gone). I hope to get them into foster care immediately. But if not, they will stay here.

I just gave permission for Sarah to be put to sleep. The last two options we tried 2 injections of B-12 and the appetite stimulant did not work. Sweet Kitty who deserved so much better was just put to sleep and is now out of her pain and confusion and her altered state of mind. We will never really know what claimed her- but her babies are doing okay for now and I hope that continues

Here is Sarah looking slightly more than hammered. She had just been given a face bath because she had been licking up some tuna juice and fell asleep in the plate. 🙁  You can tell there just isn’t something right about this beautiful girl. Again we are going to do a B-12 shot and an appetite stimulant if those fail- Sarah will go to the Bridge. 🙁

Here are her babies

Bless her heart- she WANTS to be a good mom!

Right when I was getting ready to jump into my jammies and call it a day- the phone rings. It’s the Sweet Home Police Department telling me of a call they just got about a cat hit by car and stuck on fence! The location was 10 minutes from my home so off I flew.

When I got there the witnesses had taken the cat off the fence and laid him in a field. I gently picked him up and saw that he was barely breathing- both back legs were broke. They said that is what caught in the fence after he was flung off the road. 🙁 I called my vet and off I went to see if we could save this boy. he started having seizures 15 minutes into the drive, but he was still alive when the vet got there.

But we were too late. He was too broken and damaged to be put back together so we stamped his Bridge Pass. At least he didn’t die on the road- the person who ran him over didn’t stop- but two other cars did- so he at least gained death with dignity. He looked from all appearances like a stray or someone’s cat who didn’t care about him. He was neutered but he was covered in fleas. I wanted him to be okay, I wanted him to live- but it was not meant to be. I think I have enough in the overflow of the donations to cover the bloodwork and this unexpected late night call/euthanasia which was $130.00

Goodbye Sweet Boy who has no name. I was going to call you Brash because that is how you looked even in your agony. I am glad I got the call about you. I’m sorry it was to late to save you-

Just spoke to the vet. They have done bloodwork in house in order to find a quicker answer. kidney and liver values are not alarming. I hope I made the right call- blood work over a feeding tube? The decision haunts me a bit as I know that Sarah is entering the one week mark since she has voluntarily tried to eat food. But not only is she at risk if we don’t get answers- but her four babies who are right now doing great- are at risk as well. They are keeping Sarah supplemented by sub cu fluids and forced feedings. They tell me she acts like she has checked out- her body is present, her mind is not.

Thank you to those of you who have donated either prayers of money on her behalf. Her situation reminds me a lot of what Shell had to go through in her private hell before we got to her. Let’s just hope it isn’t to late that we arrived.

I’ve been so busy trying to save her and the babies, that no photos were even taken of them yet. I hope to have photos by Weds of next week- but not sure at this point. All concentration is going on getting this family healthy and back together again in one piece!

The new mom- the one I wrote about yesterday is just hanging on by a slim thread. The vets say she is “just out of it.” Pupils wide and dilated, won’t rest, can’t nurse, no interest in her babies. Really sad for her age. They discussed some options and for right now, I am going to authorize blood work so we know what we are working with here. They want to put a feeding tube in her because of her inability to eat- but they want to see what the blood work reveals first. Really sad for her- she should have NEVER had these babies.  I need to come up with at least $225.00 for the complete bloodwork necessary to try and find out if we can save her. If you can help- God Bless you- if you can’t please send prayers. I have named her Sara because she needs a name of strength facing what she is currently facing.

Thank you for anything you can send-

Had a new rescue this morning, a 6 month old kitty with four babies! The story behind them is that she showed up as a stray a few weeks ago, had babies in a place that she should have never been at- and about four days ago stopped eating and caring about much of anything. So I rushed over to get her and get her and the family to the vet ASAP. She is still there by the way- she is highly anemic (crawling with fleas) and dehydrated to the point of exhaustion. She looks so much like Turner- because her care was so labor intensive after I dropped her off as an emergency- one of the vets  has said she will foster the family for us! They are going to continue to give mom sub cutaneous fluids in an attempt to revive her and see if she can actually give milk to her babies. The four day stall in not eating concerns me because of feline hepatic lipidosis and her already being depleted as the four little ones sucked on her breasts. But, she is giving minimal milk at this time. The fact that the vet wants to take over her care makes me rest easier at night. I wouldn’t put her in a foster home right because of how bad off she is at the moment. I would put her babies into care so they can receive round-the-clock care. So this is ideal. The person surrendered her over to us, but called later and said he wants her back.

The following comes from my foster mom Karen who is bottle feeding 9 at this time for us. I haven’t seen Surro-Kitty in action and it sounds like it needs to be beta tested on a more extensive basis to get the bugs out.

At any rate, here are Karen’s thoughts on the subject:

So… SURRO-KITTY!

This product is going to be a hit with larger rescues who take in a lot of teenie beenies. My four older ones had no interest at all – probably because they have lost the “rooting” stage. The four I have that are a week old show interest and have used it. However…

There are some procedural issues and some design flaws:

Procedural issues:

It is time consuming to set it up – fill the bottles, heat the bottles, pre-heat the pad. large surface to place it and be able to work with it (it needs a place big enough to set up permanently)

Then afterward: disassembling, cleaning bottles, cleaning fur (problematic), drying fur, etc.

By the time all the clean up is done it is almost time to start setting up for the next 2 to 2-1/2 hour feeding (no sleep allowed)

Design issues:

They put fake legs and tail on it but no head. Just leave the legs and tail off – not needed. It kind of freaks the older cats out when it is just laying on the table with no head.

The velcro on the bottles does not hold if you don’t get it attached just perfect.

The bottle nipples are all cut differently (ok really) but difficult if kittens are used to using the same nipple cut all the time. (a couple of the nipples are not cut)

Turning the Surro-Kitty on its side to feed (to get milk to flow through the nipple is problematic if the nipples leak a bit.  Messy. It also has to be propped up to keep it from rolling and disturbing the kittens as they find their way with it.

Constant supervision for the babies to keep them near and at the nipples to feed.  (takes at least 20 to 30 minutes to get them fully fed instead of the 10 to 15 by hand.

Suggestions:

Is it machine washable?  – possibly put a removable/replaceable cover over the base unit to save wear and tear on the complete unit.

Use vacuum bags (like platex baby bottles) for the milk so it can be sucked up at any angle.

Leave off the appendages – not useful and get in the way

Use snaps instead of velcro for the closing. No worries about keeping fur out of velcro, or making sure it is exactly placed (especially when you have screaming kittens)

Offer a selection of types of nipples – long, short, round, pointy, etc

add a feature to keep it from tipping/rolling

That’s pretty much what I have come up with so far.  I believe it is going to be a hit once it is thoroughly beta tested and openly marketed. Especially for facilities like PAWS in Sherwood.

Ebby’s babies are too cute for school! I went and visited them today but we couldn’t test drive surro-kitty because of the storm and power outages. We were out 18 hours without power. Mike was stuck in his lift chair most of the day- poor man. He’s out now.

Enjoy Ebby’s babies:

Also here is one of the construction kittens-

Last one, picking up donations in 35 mph winds!

Hanna, the sweet 11 year old mackerel tabby who survived one bout of skin cancer, is back at the vet this morning. When I was petting her earlier, I felt another mass growing off her shoulder on the same side as the other mass that was taken off. I ran her in as a drop-off because today is a mike appointment day and I will be gone with him as they start to carve on his legs and find some answers. Please pray for Hanna. She did nothing to deserve this other than being owned by someone who is a complete ass. Because he kept her unprotected from the elements in that cage- I fear her cancer has come back with a vengenance. I hope I am wrong and this is just swollen lymph nodes- but I don’t think it is.

Getting ready to head out with Mike and the vet has called. The news is not good. The mass is deeper than the initial mass before it. They put a needle into it and it is a sacroid  tumor. They aren’t sure about removing it because it is close to the jugular vein which means that they can’t compromise the blood vessels and possibly get it all.  My gut instinct is telling me to let her go to the Bridge, but they want to do one thing first and take a film and see if her lungs are involved.

I am not a hard-hearted rescuer but sometimes, you just have to make some tough choices and this is one of those times. If they try to remove it- and can’t get it all, when it comes back it will do so with a vengenance and then Hanna’s goose is cooked. I have seen it before in cats and it is heartbreaking. I don’t want her to deal with that type of pain and stress. I just authorized that she is to go to the Bridge- dammit all anyway!

Godspeed Hanna~~~~~~~~~~~~