Foster Love!

There's lots and yet not so much to update on Roz. Her eye is still showing the effects of the herpes virus. We were originally going to wait it out to see if the ulcer fell off and healed on its own. It's now getting a little worse and so we've added another prescription eye drop to her regimin. If that doens't work, then we'll try something else. She can still see out of the eye just fine, so there's no blindness there. But it does look less than stellar to anyone who doesn't know what's going on.

All things considered, Roz is handling life just peachey. She's a snuggler to be sure. Sometimes she absolutely monopolizes my lap. And to prove it, here's a selection of recent photos taken entirely from my lap.













Oh except for these ones, they were later. And they are gratuitous examples of those PINK TOES I tease her about.

Long time no post. Toby's still with me. He's hangin' in there. He's now on steroids for his arthritis as well as he has a pain pill he takes when the weather changes drastically and his joints hurt him. I've actually only given him the pain med once. The day he was prescribed it was it and he's done a lot better since. He's also doing ok with the litter box. I just have to remember that he needs small spaces rather than large and he'll be more apt to FIND the litter box to use it. So he stays in the bathroom while I'm at work or sleeping. That's where he was keeping himself anyways, so it worked out brilliantly. The only time we have an accident is when I forget to put him up at night.

Since Toby's a permanent foster and will not go up for adoption, he doesn't have a Petfinder profile. But he's still a handsome little guy when he wants to be, so we had a photoshoot last weekend. Here's the dapper little guy:



Hi there, wha'cha doin'?


trying to figure out what Maizy's up to






Lookit me, ain't I handsome?

Last night I tried out the video option on my camera. There's no sound, but I'm posting my first test movies of Roz and Toby.

Toby's is more informative because it illustrates just how things work in the house. He chooses a place to sit, stand, or lie down and then the rest of the world happens around him while he resolutely stays put.



Unfortunately just before I decided to go get my camera, Roz was being Ridiculously cute rolling around on my lap. I suggested to her that she repeat the show, but she declined.




So how are the foster kids doing?

Well, Toby has had a rough patch the last couple of days and I had to put him back on half raw/half Wellness canned. It seems he just wasn't ready for the full transition. As a result he's lost the weight that he had gained back. But his smooth top fur is still coming in, so I consider that to be a continued improvement. I'm still a little baffled by the sores on his head though. Some of them have gone away and then come back and then gone away again. At this point, I've done as much as I can think of to eliminate allergens getting to him. So we may need to take another trip to the vet. Although I will say that he has stopped shedding Brown dander. So it could be that he just needs more time to get rid of that old damaged skin? I'm actually planning on calling his vet this weekend to see if she wants me to come in or if I'm just not giving him enough time for his skin to clear up.

Roz's weight is Fantastic. If it wasn't for an eye issue that recently cropped up for her, she would be attending Adopt A Pets. She has some sort of a gray spot on her eye that I've been trying to get an appointment for with the Shelter vet. At first, it was just a dot and it wasn't bothering her much, but as of this week, she's definately bothered by it. You can see in the video that her eye is a little red. But it doesn't get her spirits down. Not one bit. She's still the lovey lady that everyone adores.

For the past month I've been boarding a sweet cat named Toby. He's an old guy and he has quirks. His owner decided that she would only take him back if he can be an outside only cat. But according to the vet, that's not a good idea. I'll get into why in a minute. Anyways, Toby is in the process of being turned over to the shelter as we speak. So since that's semi-settled, I figure it's safe for me to go ahead and begin blogging about him now.

Toby was adopted several years ago by a person looking for a playmate for his other cat. He knew Toby was an older cat but didn't know really How old. Toby wouldn't play with the other cat, so he adopted a third cat who would and Toby became his lap cat. Earlier this year, Toby became sick. He was diagnosed with hyper-thyroid disease. He was put on medications and all was well, he thought.

Then his adopter ended up having to move from his home to an apartment. Only two cats could go with him. He tried to keep Toby anyway, but Toby began using the restroom in inappropriate places. His adopter ended up finding a new home for Toby due to the issues. But Toby still continued his inappropriate bathroom behavior at his new home. His new owner had gotten to the end of her rope on the bathroom problems and so while she moved to a new home, she sent Toby to stay with me through the shelter.

At my home, Toby didn't show any signs of this inappropriate behavior. He only showed signs of accidents happening in his sleep. And extremely dry skin. And constant grooming.

I took him to the vet with the permission of his new owner. We had blood tests done to check his thyroid and he was put on antibiotics to get rid of the inflammation of the dry skin. Dry skin is a symptom of hyper-thyroid disease, but it's also a sign of allergies. So I was advised to make sure he was on a flea preventative at all times as well as a hypo-allergenic food and to keep an eye out for anything else he could be having a reaction to. Just in case. And I waited on the test results.

The test results came back and to everyone's surprise Everything was good. Except his white blood count which could be explained by his skin condition flare up. So the vet and I stuck with the original allergy course of action. And then I asked her about him being an outside cat. See, not only is Toby elderly, but he's also declawed and slow moving because of age and he also has a sensitive mouth. Put all that together with his allergies and resulting/recurring skin condition, and he just can't be expected to live well as an outside cat. When I told his new owner all of this, she opted not to bring him back home. Especially in light that he was doing so well in my home with the bathroom issues. She believed that he should have a chance at a home that will allow him to be indoors.

So Toby stays with me and in the process of him staying with me, I'm changing his entire diet and learning all I can about feline skin conditions and allergies. I was already feeding him a grain free canned Wellness diet, which is pretty darned good quality stuff. But I've been hearing a lot of good things about raw diets, so I am trying him out on that. I've started him on Nature's Variety brand frozen raw food in Lamb flavor. He LOVES it!! I'm also adding some fish oil in for his skin soon.

I'll be using this blog to write down his progress and what I learn, so it'll be a good learning tool for me as well as a good writing outlet.

Anyhow, here's Toby.


One day I went crazy looking for Toby. And then I found him. Crazy guy.




When Toby wants to sit or lay down in a place, he does. No matter how little room there is, or who he has to push out of the way.

Today I was lucky (hmmm, never thought I'd say this) enough to witness Roz poop. She has Finally gotten back to a firm consistency. I'm very proud of her. I tell ya, yogurt really does do the trick to put the digestive system back in order again after antibiotics.

I'm still working on getting her weight up. Now that she has firm regular poop, it should be easier. The next trick is to get her eye cleared up. It's still just a teensy bit weepey. However, that could possibly be because I'm having work done on my apt and she gets stressed out over being locked in my bathroom with the other 4 cats. She much prefers her space. I can't say that I blame her.

But hopefully I can get her on track to be ready for Adopt A Pets at PetSmart by either this week or next. I'm very excited.

It's been a while since I've updated on Roz. All in all, she's doing well. She finished her last bit of antibiotics last week, so I'm waiting on her stool to firm up again. She's also developed a bit of a weepy eye, so I've got to get some eye meds, but that's easily cleared up. And she's definately put on some weight, which is Awesome! In fact, if it wasn't for her loose stool and weepy eye, I would have ventured to take her to the Adopt A Pet yesterday. She's still skinny, but not alarmingly so anymore. She would have put the weight on faster if it wasn't for the loose stool from the antibiotics.

( Here's some progress pictures: )

Oh Roz. She's such a lover! She's been my shadow over the last couple of nights. And tonight she laid down on my stomach and rolled over so I could pet her tummy. And then she kneaded the bread and purrred and purrred and purrred.

I was hoping I would be able to show some progress pictures today. But other than her demeanor and trust, there's not been much progress on the weight gain. She is eating well. But she developed a respiratory infection from the stress of changing homes and her antibiotics gave her severe diarrhea. I have been christened a couple of times with the runny poo. But now I've got some meds to get her diarrhea under control and hopefully once that stops, the weight will start coming on. She feels really good, so that's at least some progress.

Today I learned a little bit about what kind of condition she was in once they were able to catch her in the shelter to get her to a foster. Once she got to the foster's home she would eat, but wasn't able to keep any food down. It took several weeks of syringe feeding to get her to where she was when I got her. A big thanks goes out to her previous foster for doing all the truely hard work and bringing her around from a truely terrible state. When people drop their cats off at a shelter, they just don't realize that in a matter of days their cat can go from healthy to near death simply from the stress of the abandonment and it takes longer to rehab the cat than it does for the cat to deteriorate.

Roz is settling in better and better every day. In fact, yesterday was the last day I'll be locking her in the bathroom with Toby at all. She and Taquita still have their hissy fits every so often, but she likes nibbling on dry food better than the wet food and since I can't leave dry food out with Toby and she's generally doing ok out on her own with my cats, there's no reasonto lock her up anymore.





She likes to sit on me at night when I'm on the couch. I'm working on getting her to let me cut her nails when she's sitting with me.

Roz can't seem to decide whether she wants to trust me or not. It's kind of funny. If I come to her, she freaks out and runs under the bed and we do this "catch me" dance for a while before I finally catch her and put her in the bathroom with Toby. But sometimes she remembers that if she lets me catch her, there's going to be lots of pettings and attention. And she LOVES that, so she'll come right to me.

Right now she's sitting behind me in the computer chair. Just chillin'. She's also eating ok as well. She seems to want to eat in small quantities throughout the day. And that's ok because she can have wet or dry food and my cats are free fed dry food all day and then I take it up at night so Toby can't get to it. During the day she and Toby are left with wet food and I think she rations that. I'm ok with that as well. I'm just glad that she IS eating consistantly. But since she eats so little at a time, I've begun adding canola oil to her breakfast to add calories and hopefully put some weight on her. Actually, Toby could use to gain some as well, so he get's the oil as well in his breakfast.

I've only had her for 3 nights now, so she's far from showing any weight gain. But her coat looks good and other than a respiratory infection which I'm sure is caused by the stress of changing locations again, she's bright eyed and bushy tailed. She was already getting some personal care at a foster home before I got her, so the Really hard part was already done, actually.

Awww, she's lovin'm me up right now. She is Such a sweetie! And Taquita is gradually coming around and slowing down the hissing. Maybe by next week they'll be completely ok with one another.

Today I brought home a new foster. She was brought to the shelter with her sister Daphne some time ago. They were being fostered by their original parents for a while, but eventually they couldn't stay at the home anymore. A family member apparently developed an allergy.

( Roz and Daphne were both pretty big girls when they came in. Not fat at all, just big girls. Here's some pictures for reference at the beginning. )

Today was the ending of a big Adopt a Thon weekend. The shelter has been doing some adopt a thon's here and there since Friday. I didn't get the skinny on how many were adopted before today, but our Petsmart adoption count for today was 11. That's just Fantastic! It matches one of our record adoption days. We're very thankful for all the new kitty parents out there who adopted from us!

And one of those adopted today was our little Cricket! Before I left Petsmart, I gave him his little pep talk and told him to put his cutest face on. Well, it worked. Because he was adopted by a lovely couple who doted over him quite a lot during the adoption process. I am assured by the folks who screened them that they are going to be Fantastic parents and that Cricket will be spoiled rotten. Yay!!!

Cricket is acclimating into the household very well. He's stopped being afraid of Maizy except for when she gets really excited and jumps around. Then he gets out of her way. Which I can't say I blame him one bit. Having Maizy stomp on MY toe hurts like the dickens, I can't imagine how it would feel for a little kitten.

He's also making peace with Taquita. They've stopped hissing at one another. And just now I caught him trying to play with Nabisco. It was very cute. He tried to swat her tail and he hopped about a bit.

Speaking of hopping about. His name is becoming even more fitting. Today I was deconstructing a costume mock-up and he got excited about something. So he started hopping around. Hop hop hop! Just like a little Cricket. Very cute!

Tomorrow will be his second adopt a pet. But his first day to really be up for adoption. I'm crossing my fingers that someone falls in love with him and he gets a home quickly. He's just a love and will be a Very lovable addition to anyone's home. He has quite the purring motor.

Cricket is my latest foster. Isn't he a doll?! He was found by one of our regular rescuers trapped in a dumpster. She believes he's part of a feral colony that she's been caring for and attempting to spay/neuter over many years as he looks a lot like his supposed grandfather. She said she never would have known he was there except she kept hearing this little cry. It kind of reminded her of looking for a Cricket since she could hear him, but it took forever to actually Find him, so she named him Cricket. The name is very fitting. He's very much a talker.

He's also very much a cuddler. He wants to be with you all the time and he likes to rub his head on you, just like my Dunbar.

( The first day was a little stressful for the little guy as he hadn't been in contact with a big dog before. )

Foster kitty Flo got adopted today!!!!! Yaaaay!!!!! I'm so happy! I am not a transporter for the shelter anymore, but our other transporter's son had a birthday today and so I transported To the Adopt A Pet. I made sure to pack up Flo as I know she hasn't been getting any Adopt A Pet love lately. And boy was I right on target! She was super lovey today and several people commented on her before I finished set up and left.

At about 6:30 the shelter director called and told me the good news. And I got to talk to her new family. They're lovely! They originally just wanted to adopt Zoe, but in the process of adopting her, the wife fell absolutely in Love with Flo, so they took them both home.

I wish someone would fall in love with Heide like that. She is a love and deserves just as good of a story. But for now, I'll settle with Flo getting a feel good story. And my work with Flo and her litter is completely finished. Yay! *claps*

The director of Texas Pawprints forwarded a message to me from Draco and Lyra's new parents. I thought I should share it. All identifying information has been removed just in case their new parents would rather not be broadcast on my public blog.

"...my husband and I...adopted Draco and Lyra (renamed to Maya). They have a wonderfully supportive extended family of aunts, uncles, cousins and even a grandma who have all showered them with pets and hugs and new play toys. They and we are VERY happy. They run and play and makes us laugh and we love them very much."

Notes like this make me Goosh with Glee! I'm so happy that my babies are happy and playing and bringing smiles and laughter to other people. And Maya is a very sweet name for Lyra. It's just as fitting as the LooLoo I was affectionately calling her. Hehe, and I'm just tickled that they kept Draco's name! Mighty little warlord that he is deserves a tough name. Now if only we could entice someone to take their mama, Flo, home I would feel like my work with that bunch is finally done. Flo's still at the shelter and has plumped up quite a bit. She's still just as lovey as ever though. I finally found time to add her to our Petfinder listings, so hopefully she'll find a forever home soon just like her babies did.

*beams*

The last of Flo's litter found homes today. A lovely couple who fell in love with Lyra on Petfinder decided that they wanted to adopt a pair of kittens. The wife fell in love with Draco and the husband loved Lyra, so it was Perfect!

I'm a little misty eyed at seeing them both finally go. Especially Lyra. I worried that she wouldn't find the right home very quickly. But I think this family is really going to be wonderful for them both.

And most importantly, they both get to spend their lives Together!

*sigh*

Today was a good day.

I'll miss you my little Lyra Loo Loo! And I'll miss you Draco, my little Warlord! But you have a perfect home now. I wish you happiness and much spoilage, my little babies!!!!

Lyra and Draco are getting bigger. They're growing up. Yeah, they're smaller than most kittens their age, but that just makes them even all the cuter. So does Lyra's little tilted head. You know, I don't think I've officially come out and said anything about Lyra's little head tilt.

First we thought it was an ear infection from when the kids caught ear mites. But ear drops didn't clear it up. Then we thought it might be a virus or a bacteria, so we put her on a very strong antibiotic. Nothing. Then we all sat down and discussed other possibilities. And we all settled on the fact that Lyra's mother, Flo, had been exposed to a virus at a key moment in her pregnancy and that had caused a small neurological disorder in Lyra.

Lucky for Lyra, she isn't affected much except for her petite size and her tilted horizon. She functions just fine and has adapted to the world being tilted as well. Dr. Huskey is sure that she'll lead a very healthy obsticle free life with no degeneration in condition until she's old and decrepid. This, of course, is wonderful news since she's just about the sweetest girl ever.

Tonight she's been hanging out on my knee as I've been doing some work and purring and licking and occasionally love nipping my wrist. She's a doll. A few minutes ago, she and Draco engaged in some high flying acrobatic chases all over the apartment. I'm fully expecting them to crash hard just about the time I'm ready to crash myself. Lyra will assume her usual position on my tummy and Draco next to my left side. Then we'll start the day all over with them watching the bath water rise in wonder. I just don't get why that's so interesting EVERY single day!

( Ok, enough with my sappiness, here's the pictures I promised. )

Yes, our little Trooper has gained some Metroplex media exposure. It's nice to know that there's a network of people out there wanting to work together for animals in need. Ya know?

Today I would like to take a moment to say a special Thank You to Katherine. She and her family donated quite a bit of money for Trooper's surgery costs. We often receive donations on Adopt A Pet days for the shelter, but never have we received such a generous donation as was given by Katherine and her family. Thank you so much!

And now, I'd like to share with everyone a picture of the cutest, dopiest, most cuddly dog we've ever had in our possession at the shelter.

( Meet Max )

Well, our little Trooper is still an adventurous one. She's been pretty consistant in loving me up anytime I'm in the sequester room to sew. It's just so darned cute! And sometimes I let her out to visit the other kitties. I have to supervise the playtime, though as Lyra and Draco like to play rough and Trooper's legs aren't supposed to be getting any vigorous exercise. So I'll have to step in and calm everybody down here and there. But I did get some pictures of one day's attempt at play between the three. Usually around 8 pm my house becomes a nut house with all the cats deciding its Spazz time. ( Lyra wanted Trooper to join in. )

Trooper has just upped the ante on the old "love me love me I'm so cute" - o - meter.

I'm in the sequester room sewing as the sequester room is actually my sewing room. And Trooper figures out how to climb on top of the sewing desk and investigate my machine stitching. She then proceeds to waltz right up to my face and rub all over me in an effort for me to turn my attentions to her instead of the garment I'm sewing. My cats often like to sit on the fabric I'm sewing. Trooper goes for the gold - to stop production all together. Of course she's purring ferociously all the while.

So then I decide to take time out and scratch her a bit. I place her on my lap and stroke her and then tickle her tummy. She loves it. In fact, she wiggled in such an unhibited manner that she passed gas.

Somebody please take this kitten home! The cuteness is just too much!