KITTY MEDICAL CRISIS

I had to take my dear, sweet Micha to the vet yesterday evening. He's a 10-year old seal point rescue and former foster kitty. Several years ago he was diagnosed with diabetes and very early stage renal failure. Over the years his diabetes has ebbed and flowed as his need for insulin changed. He's been on a "honeymoon" for a while now.

I noticed this week that he was looking kinda ragged and he was dehydrated. I was able to get an appointment with his vet late yesterday afternoon. His blood work showed that he was in acute renal crisis with his numbers way off the charts. The treatment is lots of IV fluids in an attempt to get the numbers down and somewhere close to normal.

Since it was late and his IV usage needed to be monitored, the vet had me take Micha to the Emergency Clinic for the night. He wasn't very happy about it, but that's what we did.

I picked him up early this morning and brought him back to the vet for the day. With a holiday weekend coming up, I'm not sure what's going to happen. It would be nice to have him home for the weekend rather than at the Emergency Clinic again. Or the vet since they don't have anyone there at night.

Micha was his usual (when not feeling well) cranky self when I picked him up and was noticeably heavier in his carrier. He looked good and all his vital signs were normal so he's not in critical condition. I hope we can pull him thru this since he's really a sweetie when he's feeling good.

I remember rescuing Micha and his two sisters 10 years ago. Their mom was a beautiful solid black feral cat. The kittens were in the back yard and I just went out and grabbed them. I can still see their mom on my heels hissing and growling all the way as I ran back to the house. She looked like a miniature panther. I don't know what every happened to her as she disappeared several months after that. Micha's sisters were adopted by a nice lady and I got to keep the little guy.

I have a couple of kitty quilts in my Etsy store that I may switch to Ebay to see if I can raise some funds for his treatment. I'm not sure if my finances can take another major vet bill, but I will see that Micha gets the best treatment.

Anyway, I just wanted to introduce you to Micha and let you know about his situation. He could use all the prayers and healing energy you can send his way.



NEW PATIENTS IN THE HOUSE

Well, we have two new "patients" in the house. A few weeks ago a stray, mostly feral, momma cat brought her three kittens to the yard. They were on the small side for the apparant age, but seemed to be healthy. A couple of weeks ago I started to notice that two of the kittens were having symptoms of upper respiratory infection. That's not too uncommon among feral kittens from my experience. When they started waking up with their eyes stuck together, I tried to clean them so they could see but it happened all over again. Then one disappeared for a day and I was really worried. So, a week ago Sunday, when the missing kitten reappeared seeming even sicker than before, I grabbed both of them and brought them in the house. I installed them in one of the cages I used when fostering and put it in the hall bath so they would be apart from the rest of the household. They weren't in good condition with diarrhea and all snotty and stuffy.

Since Monday was a holiday I didn't get them to the vet til Tuesday. My diagnosis was confirmed and they were put on three different medications - a general antibiotic, antibiotic ointment for the eyes and some meds for the "runs". I've named them Mikey and Fuzzy - brother and sister. They have been very good at taking their meds. They have been eating Fancy Feast and some Eukanuba kitten food. I also got them some milk replacement for added nutrition.

Here's a picture of them taken after they went to the vet. They are about 6 weeks old in that picture and they were on a hot water bottle as Fuzzy's body temp was low and the vet said to keep her warm.

In fact, her diarrhea had been so bad and irritated her little bottom so much it was hard to tell at the time if she was a boy or a girl. That's Fuzzy on the left and Mikey on the right.

The vet bill was not cheap so I'm putting together a couple of kitty themed rag quilts to put on ebay for auction to see if I can raise some money to defray the costs.

They are doing better and I will be posting more pics and keeping y'all updated on their progress. They are very sweet little kittes and will be looking for a home when they are all better and a bit older. I would like to keep them together since they have been thru this together. If anyone knows anyone in the greater Houston area that might be interested in giving these amazing and lucky kitties a home, please let me know.

I'll definitely let you know when the quilts are listed. One is a lap size with more than 25 different cat prints. The other will be a bit bigger with more than 12 different prints.

QUICK UPDATE

I just wanted to report that the rescued puppy, Midnight, has found her forever home! Neighbor ran an ad on Craigslist and, after two weeks, finally got two responses in a row. The first was a lady and her granddaughter, age 11, whose previous dog had died a while back. Neighbor visited with them and decided they would be a good match. Midnight has been with them for about a week and is settling in nicely. Everyone is very happy at the great outcome of this rescue.