Broken Hip

[jcribbs]

Very very blessed...... and I do believe all that we do will come back to us somehow so I feel it is important to try and do good. When we give all we can to a creature that has nothing... no home, no trust, no food, no life and no hope we gain so much in return. To only think about survival takes away everything else. When we give hope to something that has no hope or doen't even understand the concept of hope...well that is the ultimate gift. I think we all choose our path consciously or not and mine is somehow connected to the cat creatures.

When an animal can take their lifes comforts for granted and take for granted they will be fed and take for granted that they will never get hurt.............then that is a job well done by some human...

In helping the kitties, they in turn have enriched my life and they touch everything I do. Some of them helped me through some very very dark health times and I will always be there for them.

 

[booktigger]

That is a lovely post Jenn, lots for us to think about there. You seem to have a good way of putting things int words.

 

[jcribbs]

Thank you Book Tigger..... !

I'm off to get ready for work now. The boss is gone today!!!! It is going to be a good day!

 

[xocats]

Hooray...the boss is gone today.

 

[jcribbs]

It was great day!!!!

 

[jcribbs]

Pictures!!!!

Our new toys


JJ after eating macaroni and cheese. He is falling asleep. See how fat he is getting. He does exercise too. He plays hard and eats a lots... He is also doing better with the dogs too. His hormones seem to have settled some. They still avoid him however. They have a mutual fear of him and he likes that so that might be why he is getting along with them a little better. They avoid him at all cost. hehe




And that's some for today. All is well in my household.

Been offline for a couple days but I'm back. Just very tired right now.

Take care all and a special big hello to Miss BTiger, XO and Satai.


Nite, Jenn and the gang

 

[jcribbs]

I'm off work tomorrow too. I am going to take JJ out in the yard to play for a bit in the am while it's cool. I think he would enjoy it. I can't leave him out there but I can sit with him a little while. He is so used to the house now, he NEVER tries to go out. He loves being an indoor cat.

 

[booktigger]

Aww, he is looking really well - do watch his weight though, with only having three legs now he needs to stay on the slimmer side. And I love the pics of the new toys!!

 

[jcribbs]

I try to watch his weight. But right now, I'm just watching it grow.

He's a chunck...... I am thinking of trying to lease train him on a little harness for walks. JJ is much like a dog at times and he really might like it. I don't think I have one other cat that would like going on a walk with me. Oh, they follow me around but they would not like a leash. But maybe JJ...... We will have to see. I know three legged cats can get over weight, but JJ is still smaller than when he was when I first laid eyes on him last year. He was huge then. He is merely chucked out at this point. He looks pretty healthy but I foresee him getting obese if I can't get him on some sort of program for walking. I am hoping he will take to it. This morning after daylight finally gets here, I am taking him out.

And those little canvas holes have three openings and canvas string inside them to play with. 4.00 each. And they love em. Hank slept on one of them last night.

Since they are waterproof, I might have to buy some more of them and put some in their enclosure just to play in. They could be mini caves for shade in their sunny portion.

I think they would like that. Some of the adults are even going inside them, looking around and then stepping out.. They each have three 8" holes for entrances. So I have them together for sort of a tunnel to play in.

But the babies are dashing through them. So it's cool.

 

[xocats]

I love the kitties new toys.

JJ is looking so good.

 

[jcribbs]

Thank you Xo........ JJ looks so different now than when he first straggled up to the door with a broken hip...

He is healthy now. It's hard to believe it is that same cat.

Getting his leg amputated was the only logical possible solution.. Thank god I went ahead and did it.

His leg was holding him back and now it's as if he is just set free and all his personality as a loved pet is shining through.....

It was also a remarkable experience for the humans in his life as well.

 

[jcribbs]

Last night my possum came up to my husband when he was outside. He came in and said "Honey that possum is not scared".. Surely he knew that possum has been eating with our cats for 6-7 months now. Possum girl has a beautiful hair coat. It is shiny and she has really blossomed. Purina cat chow is her favorite food.

Hubby said we are not taking the possum when we move. That poor baby will be missing her kitty food and fresh bowl of water...... She eats several times a day and is quite fat..

Wonder how she would like the enclosure until she got used to her new area???? The only cat who really doesn't like her is cookie. The others eat with her. The young one is the one who came up to hubby. She probably weighs 15-20 lbs. Her mama is very big. Larger than JJ or Muffin combined. Probably tops out at 35-40 lbs. She is about 18" tall across her tallest portion of her back and she is not afraid either. She is the largest fattest possum I have ever seen. And she is also very very healthy looking. I have actually picked her up once. She was heavy.....very heavy. She went limp and played possum games on me. It scared her. So I sat her out of my back yard....

What am I saying??? I can't move a possum........

 

[satai]

Hey Jenn, just caught up! I think you could move the possum.

 

[laureen227]

i have some of those 'cat cubes' for my cats - they're all adults & they love them... well, Java & Cable love them, anyway - they're my young adults.

and, no, - you can't move the possum - i agree with your husband on that one!

 

[jcribbs]

Well, her name is Katie. I named her today since hubby would not. I told husband that Katie sure was cute. And he just looked at me and said who is Katie. I replied "Why your little possum, dear".........! He just shook his head.... hehe

I don't know if the possum is moving or not. I have read you can litter train a possum. When they first started hanging out, I did some reading on them and everyone said, you cannot domesticate a possum. Then I read an article about a woman who found a hurt possum that she could not touch but slowly gained it's trust. The doctored the possum and kept her in her house for a few days to recover and the possum thrived. She had a two story house and after the possum would eat his food "outside", it waited at the door and the woman would open it and he would come inside, lumber up the stairs and get on it's bed......... This was a non-fiction article by the way. I'll see if I can find it. I had a pet armadillo once name Prisilla when I was about 10. She lived in our hay barn. We had her for years. This was back when I had a pet cow named tarbaby that I rode. We even had a pet rooster named Henry. We had a horse that would come in our hard and open our door. We came home once and she was in the living room.. My mother about flipped. The others were in the dogs yard eating their grass.

I have lots of animal stories about our home when I was a youngster. We had em all.

I am about ready for bed or I would get a pic of Katie tonight. She mostly eats at night. I never see her during the day. I suspect she sleeps under my porch during the daylight hours. It has huge rocks and crevices underneath it to hide in.

Until I was working I was a night owl and would sit on our porch and star gaze and talk to the cats and Katie. She was scared at first but now she is comfortable in my presence and will eat and drink with me only a few feet away. I have never touch Katie. Only her mama.

Katie, katie, katie....... What am I going to do with you?

Jenn

p.s. Possums have the strangest toes and feet. They are so fragile looking but still cute. But in reality, they are very rugged and tough little critters.

 

[jcribbs]

Did you know opossums are the only marsupial living in north america? Marsupials are considered very ancient forms of mammals.

I just read that.

http://www.backyardnature.net/opossums.htm

 

[sarahp]

I don't know if American possums are like Australian possums, but a friend of mine has a bunch of friendly possums (and birds, cats and dogs) in her house. One of the possums pretty much lives inside now, and when it's feeding time, the possum sits on the chair with the cats and waits for dinner

Jenn, do you think you could take a picture of JJ's "stump" now, so I can see how it's healing? I'd love to see how well it's doing!

 

[jcribbs]

I will take a pic of JJ's stump tonight. It looks great. It is totally healed and hair is growing back. It will be just a bit. He is asleep on that side and when he wakes I will take a pic.......

Tame possums..........hummmmmm... That's what I had in mind!!!

 

[oneteapot]

I have been reading about JJ. It is a very touching story. I am living my own version of that now.
I found this site a couple of weeks ago while trying to find help for my cat Chipper. She still is eating, drinking and trying to use the litter box (doesn't always make it inside though). She drags her hind legs. Xrays have been taken and nothing was found wrong. She has the vet perplexed. We even changed from one vet to another. She is being treated with antibiotics and predneson. I keep praying for her healing.The vet said to keep her quiet so she has been spending her time in her favorite place, our enclosed patio. But I feel sorry for her because she isn't in with us. So I try to spend alot of time with her there.Has anyone else had a cat that suddenly can't walk, dragsther hind legs and has a droopy belly? We are at a loss as to the problem. The vet suggested a test of some sort but it would be between $1300 and $1800 just for the test.If they would find something it could be twice as much or more. Sorry to have rattled on there. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
oneteapot

 

[jcribbs]

I bet she has some sort of nerve damage. I pray she gets ok...... It is so hard on the caregiver watching your animal drag their legs.

Please keep up updated. And for financial help, contact imom.org. Without that organization, JJ would not be well today...... They can help you. It is a quick process to get approved. Less than 24 hrs after you fax them the paperwork.

And also post a new post saying the same things in the health area which is were this post is, so you can get specific replies to this. Someone might know something you can do.

But when JJ first came to us with the nerve damage it was due to it being severed by the bone and so he dragged his legs. Hopefully your baby will heal and believe me when I say I am rooting for you both.

I willl watch for your post and the replies.

Good luck sweetie...........Jenn

p.s. There is also a tick paralysis. Have you checked her for ticks??
http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/e...cle/001359.htm
http://www.merckvetmanual.com/mvm/in.../bc/102600.htm