Tips needed please - blind and deaf foster coming soon

I'm not feeling quite as positive at the moment, she just keeps sitting staring at my floor, my neighbour popped in earlier, and he is the first person other than the vet to see her, and his first comment was 'she doesnt' look happy', and it just made me realise that at the moment she doesn't, and newbie (named Norman by the vets!!), is so much brighter than her, it has highlighed just how sad, tired and fed up she seems. Hopefully it is just whatever infection she has, and ab's might work. I am going to see how we get on in the next month, with building her up and if she doesn't seem any happier, pts will be discussed with the rescue, as she is pitiful to watch and I wonder what quality of life she has, although it is too soon to say for certain as she has only been here a week, but I think a month should be enough to decide.

Poor Norman is painfully thin, I dont like stroking past his shoulders cos his shoulders, spine, ribs and hips all stick out - his hips are the worst. He has really thin fur, and looks like he needs a good brush, but he doesn't have enough flesh, I am scared of hurting him. he can see certain things and is so different to her. He actually weighs 3.5kg even with being as thin as he is, so he must have been a really big cat in his heyday!! Vet reckons he is 12, he has had 8 teeth out this week, and I have a copy of his blood results - they didn't say anything about them, but about 12 things have asterisks for being either high/low, so will have to discuss that with my own vet and see what, if anything, we need to do. After that, I can decide whether rehoming is an option, although he needs a lot of building up, so it will be the New Year anyway, and I suspect the rescue would prefer to keep him here.

A lot can happen for Jeannie in a month. She may start coming around and being brighter. Maybe if she's built up a bit it might make her feel stronger. and Norman, if he feels love he could also respond well to that and gain some weight, I will keep you all in my Prayers. Your doing such a great job for these little ones.

Thanks, I do hope so, and if not, at least she will have ended her life in a loving home environment rather than on the streets, and that is the most important thing. The other worrying thing bout her is her weak back legs, it doesn't matter how good her organs are if she can't walk!! I think Norman will do well, although that depends on why there are all these levels on his bloods. He has apparently put weight on in the last week, and has eaten so much food since he came at lunch time it is unbelieveable, I probably should have restricted him a bit, but so far only Jeannie has been sick and he does desperately need some weight on him. He is so friendly, must have had a good home at some point. Thank you ever so much for the good wishes, they mean a lot

Yes, no matter what happens, she will have known love, comfort, a feeling of security that she probably hasn't felt in her life, warmth and peace. All due to you. I'm glad to hear Norman is eating good, as long as he's not getting sick on his food, why not let him eat as much as he wants. Thats good news.

He is such a greedy boy, he ate most of his pouch for breakfast, and every time you walk in, he yowls at you for more food. He had a very slightly loose tum overnight, but no way you could restrict his food anyway. He does drink a lot though, his Urea was slightly high, but his creatnine wasn't. Will have to see if the vet can decipher the results for me, there were 17 items that were either high or low.

JEannie has weed on her bed overnight though, so wonder if he bothers her - although they have just been stood next to each other with no sign of knowing he is there. One of my fosters is going to a new placement today, so I shall pop her in the bathroom and see if she is any happier in there.

Pics - apologies for the slight overload!!

Jeannie first, asleep in her bed, you can see on her back end why I Couldnt work out if she was black or tortie



Then the mess her collar made



And finally one of her front on, showing her head on one side



Norman - can't get one of him showing how sunken he is in places, but you can see how poor his fur is

Side View



Face on



The pair of them eating

They are so sweet, poor little loves, what little dolls they are, as the time goes by with good food and care their physical appearance will improve also. Keep up the good work.

Thanks - looking at the pic of them together, Jeannie is looking shinier than a week ago, so hopefully all she needs is time.

She reminds me, in a way, of my RB Damita.

Just give her some time.....age is a nightmare, but she might light up enough to have a few good weeks or months before she goes over the Rainbow Bridge. And poor Norman....I can't imagine letting a cat get that way.

My aim is a month, although it is heartbreaking to watch her. She has a good appetite though, as long as it doesn't come out of the tin -guess what the rescue brought with her!! I might have to do a quick trip there to pick up some mushier food for her, as she doesn't have a lot of teeth left. She has a nice blanket in front of the washing machine now, she likes it there, although Norman has pinched the radiator, so might give her a heated pad. I dont think she will have that long, but even if I can only give her a good few months, at least the end of her life will have been nice. Norman is heartbreaking to feel and I dont even think the pics I posted show just how sunken his back end is, and I checked his blood results again - they tested 26 things, and only 9 weren't abnormal, yet he is so much brighter and better than she is, and her bloods were relatively fine. If I didn't have blood results though, I would be convinced he had kidney issues, I cannot believe how much he drinks, am sure it is more than Rosie (similar level in the bowl in a day, except his is a dog bowl, not a cat bowl). One thing that is concerning me is that his URea was slightly up, and if this is pre-anaesthetic, his kidneys could be worse now than on those results, although now he is 8 teeth down, some of his other levels should be lower.

I think you really are doing a wonderful thing giving these two poor mites the quality of life they deserve. You must be beside yourself with worry, i can only imagine as i get totally worried over the smallest problem with my cat and i am lucky he is in good health. You should feel extremly proud of yourself, as what you are doing is not easy but it makes all the difference to the lives of the cats that other people have selfishly given up on. My thoughts are with you all, give them a cuddle from me.

Thanks - I spoke to the rescue for the first time since getting Norman and mentioned how bad his results were - she had already been told, and her response to the vet was that even if he can only have a few months of happiness, he deserves it than letting him go now, we are going to redo them in a few months to see if they are any better, and my vet is looking at them tomorrow for me. So, I have inadvertantly agreed to 2 cats that quite possibly wont have more than a few months. There goes my chances of not going through the loss of any cats next year (my own cats are 16 and 18.5 though, so might have been optimistic anyway!!) I would so love a year where I didn't have to lose at least one cat though, think the only way that will happen is if I stop taking in oldies, and I Can't do that, there are precious few people who take them in, at least this way a few will get teh chance of a home life to end up in, so I know I do a good thing for them, even if it is hard at times for me.

My most sincerest Prayers that you are given the strength and courage to go on with this noblest of causes.

Thank you - I do have a good support network, so hopefully that will be enough to help me continue helping cats like these. Vet is looking over the blood results this pm, although I have just done a bit of research, and they really are indicative of liver problems - I have had cats with liver problems though, so not too fazed by that, I think I prefer them to kidney issues. Some of his others could be that he had such a bad mouth, so they might look a bit better in a few months. I do need to try and keep my cat numbers down now, as these needs lots of time and TLC.

Both cats have dodgy tums still, but they are both on a/b's, so not overly worried, although neither can really afford it.

Your posts made me cry! Bless you for taking on these two pitilful babies!

Vet has said that we can't rehome him, he definitely has liver issues and she is concerned over his white blood count and urine as well - FIV, FeLV, FIP were mentioned, but it doesnt look like they tested for anything like that. Like me, she was amazed that they did a dental, but as he is still alive, it is a good sign!! Just need to see how he gets on, but as i suspected, it is going to be hard for him to gain weight with the liver issues, and he might have chronic diarrhea due to it, in which case we might need to evaluate again. I am not convinced he will still be here in 3 months to retest, but we will have to see how he gets on.

Here is a product I use on my cats all the time. Although I got it from my vet, you don't need a prescription for it. It looks specifically designed for cats like Norman and Jeannie. It certainly couldn't hurt. What an awesome thing you are doing.

Prozyme
http://www.prozymeproducts.com/faqs/...yme%C3%86%20do

Use Prozyme as a food supplement to enhance the caloric and nutritional efficiency of food. ProzymeÆ is especially helpful for all geriatric pets.

What does Prozyme help?
Skin problems, dry or scaly hair coat, digestive disorders, weight problems, hairballs, excessive shedding, flatulence.

Thanks - I wonder if that would be available in the UK? Norman's poo seemed fine this morning, so the natural yoghurt helped, but Jeannie isn't right yet - although she is on different ab's which are twice a day rather than once and I had to change her food as she didn't like what the rescue gave me.

I don't know but here is the link to a free sample. You have to pay shipping but they obviously ship to you. Listed under contact on top is there phone number and email address.

http://www.smartcart.com/prozyme/cgi...num=FREESAMPLE

We had a bad day yesterday, she has weed in the bed again (despite the fact the litter tray had been used) and to show me, she slept in the litter tray (I had just cleaned it fortunately), then when I moved her from there, she slept on the floor instead. She has also gone back to slumping staring at the floor, and i am not sure if it is due to her ear mites or whether she is just completely fed up with life, as she can't see or hear anything, doesn't respond to catnip, and sometimes has to be shown where the food is so her sense of smell isn't that great. Just need to speak to the rescue now.