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starcrost

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Tracey here.

My husband and I are owned by two cats. Nibbles is a DSH and my husbands cat. He got his name because he chews on any body part within reach when he is feeling ignored. Moggie is an equal opportunity snuggler but usually pretends to be my cat. She is a completely tailless Tortoishell colored Manx. She runs our home with an iron paw.

We also are looking after my daughter's two cats, half brothers Orlie and Jethro.

Looking forward to making new friends.
 

-_aj_-

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Welcome to TCS, you have one pretty kitty there :)

If you have any questions about the site please just click my user name and send me a private message and I will be happy to help :) 
 

pushylady

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Hi Tracey and welcome to TCS! :wavey:
That's quite the fur family you have there. Do your cats get along well with your daughter's?
 
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starcrost

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Hi Tracey and welcome to TCS!

That's quite the fur family you have there. Do your cats get along well with your daughter's?
The younger one, Orlie was taken into the house when he was a 1 wk old kitten. The mother was a feral who kept coming back to us when she had her kittens. We'd tried for 6 years to catch and get her fixed but she was always pregnant when we could find her and we are both opposed to aborting a litter. This last time she had the kitten on our porch in March during a snowstorm. She stayed the first week and then vanished. We haven't seen her since.

My daughter and I brought them inside and raised the litter of 5 by hand. I used a PET milk recipe I had raised rabbit litters on when I used to be a breeder. They tolerated it very and thrived on it. At 6 weeks we found homes for the other 4. They were incredibly sweet, sociable and well adjusted kitties. We still get thanks from their new humans whenever we see them. I guess the unusual babyhood made a difference. Orlie had an issue that made him hard to place. He has a herneated naval. A small loop of intestine is bulged through his belly button area where the muscle didn't quite close off. I check him frequently and he seems to be fine. I do have concern for it possibly healing shut on his intestine one day so it will need to be repaired. My daughter took him and as he was raised here, he seems to get along with the herd just fine. Her other kitty Jethro was and is still an issue. He was raised in her home and though he and Orlie seem to be inseparable, (they have the same mother but from Boo's first and last litter), the other cats do not accept him and there was much drama. I finally had to move both of them to the summer porch where they are quite content.

I keep a good eye on him as well, as his father Jake died at two years old of renal failure due to a long severe problem with crystals. Jake had been under vets care for 4 months for crystal impactions before he died. She had just given him a clean bill of health after a urinalysis when he collapsed on me two days later. I told her when I picked him up from her after that lst test he didn't seem right. I called every day until he finally collapsed to say he was eating and drinking very little and was very lethargic. She told me that she was tired of people with a little training thinking thy knew everything and he was just fine.When I called to tell her we were coming in (45 min drive) she actually argued with me he was ok already and they had a full day and couldn't see him. I won't repeat my response to her but we were at her clinic door in 20 minutes.

The office staff rushed him to her and she tried without success to remove the impactions. She finally referred us to a Vet Hospital where they performed the surgery to remove his penis to make the opening larger and less prone to blockage (yes it sounded like a sex change to me too). He survived the surgery but passed 36 hours later from kidney failure. They were just too damaged to recover. We were left with a $1500 bill and broken hearts.

It has been 2 years now since Jake passed. I have not gotten over it nor have I forgiven that vet. I trained as a Vet Tech myself and know it was impossible for a blockage of that severity to occur two days after a clear urinalysis. She complicated the issue by trying for two days to clear it before referring him to better care. It cost him his kidneys and his life. I have not gone back to her nor will I recommend her to anyone else. We take our cats now to the Hosp Jake died at for care. It's an hour drive and more expensive but I trust the level of care they receive there. I monitor all 4 closely for signs of poor health. The biggest thing I have taken away from all of this is, trust your instincts. You know your cat best and can tell when they do not feel well. Trust that, and make the vet listen. I don't want to see anyone else have to live with the regret I do. My husband came home from his 1 year tour in Iraq the same day Jake collapsed. I left him at the airport to take Jake to the hospital in the opposite direction. He got to see Jake during us transporting a very groggy cat to the Hospital 2 days later and that was the last any of us saw him alive.

Sorry, putting the soapbox away now.

Tracey
 
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hobo08

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Hello and Welcome! How did Jethro get his name? Could it be from NCIS and the actor Mark Harmon AKA Leroy Jethro Gibbs? I love that show! Watching it right now actually.

Really sorry for your loss of Jake and the horrible way the vet handled it.
 
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starcrost

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Hobo08,

You are absolutely right! Kaity named him Leroy Jethro Gibbs. :-) His Daddy, also named by her, was Jake Clawson aka Razer, after her favorite cartoon, SWAT Cats.

Tracey
 
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