New fosters - Medley & Moby - Advice welcome

[Lyzzie]

Thanks. All of these are more expensive than Natural Factors, even FortiFlora, which surprised me. So I'm going ahead and ordering this one :
[product="18864"]Natural Factors Double Strength Acidophilus Bifidus 10 Billion  [/product]
Shadow needs it, she does have diarrhea as of this morning, even tho she's not on any med. Medley's poop is less soft, but still not right.

 

[Lyzzie]

I was giving treats to Sparrow, and I saw him hacking/coughing before eating them. I checked his mouth, and sure enough, two sores, like Shadow : tongue and roof of the mouth. There's no way I'll be able to take his temp, but I know he ate his wet this morning. I gave him half the dose he should get of Metacam, and took notes of everything. I'm keeping en eye on him too.

 

[Lyzzie]

Meal time tonight went very well, the 3 kittens ate their wet food, even Moby! He prefers eating on the floor for now, instead of on the little table with the others. I was able to get Sparrow to eat a little wet by topping it with tuna. I think he has problem swallowing, it's probably painful. I'll see tomorrow but there's a good chance I'm taking him to the vet.

 

[Lyzzie]

I didn't see this coming, but I probably should have : Shadow now has a runny nose. I just called the vet, and I need to monitor her, take her temp, and get her back on her antibiotics. Same for Sparrow, monitor, TRY and take his temp, and I can give him Metacam for 2 more days.

 

[catwoman707]

The upper resiratory infection (URI) calici strain does have the typical cold symptoms as well, but with the added feature of those lovely mouth sores. Kittens even will pop up with blisters on their toes and lips sometimes.

Calici uri also has a tendency to turn in to pneumonia, but mainly young kittens with immature immune systems.

When their immature or weak systems start focusing on healing themselves of the virus, which keeps it well occupied, bacteria sees it's chance to slip in and cause infection/pneumonia.

So the antibiotic will do the work keeping the bacteria out allowing their systems to work on the viral part again.

It's okay that you are unable to take temps, you would know if the temp went very high by the behavior.

Limp ragdoll, sleeping non stop, no eating/drinking or interest at all.

You can feel the ears and paw pads for heat too, they should feel close to your finger temp, slightly warmer but not very warm or obvious immediately, then there is a temp elevation that's more prominent.

They don't need metacam for a uri, but it's very helpful for mouth sores for sure.

 

[Lyzzie]

Okay, so Medley is done with his treatment as of this morning. He's such a cuddle bug, and full of energy now that he's feeling good! No drool!! Shadow's doxy treatment is going good, no vomiting. No runny nose as of this morning, I hope it last. Moby is good health wise, he probably has an amazing immune system. But he's still wary of me. I think it's because I'm the cat nurse around here. He has no problem taking food or pets from SO.

Sparrow has a vet appointment this afternoon. He lost his voice, is still hacking, and vomited this morning. The vet tech is thinking laryngitis. We'll see.

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• Lyzzie
• Dec 20, 2016

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• Lyzzie
• Dec 20, 2016

 

[Lyzzie]

So, Sparrow likely has laryngitis brought on by a URI. He's 5.950 Kg, and his temp was 39.4°C (102.2°F). He got a doxy injection, and is on RONAXAN (doxy) 60 mg/day for 7 days. He's also on METACAM for 4 more days. I asked the vet to draw blood and test his renal functions, which he was happy to do. This is important to me, considering I think METACAM contributed to the renal failure and subsequent euthanasia of my RB Kyran. Anyway, all values were normal for Sparrow, here's a pic :

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• Lyzzie
• Dec 20, 2016

From what I understand, we don't have the same system of values as the US, can someone confirm this?

 

[Lyzzie]

So, Shadow went in for her vaccines today. She's well, and got them in two injections, Coryza & Typhus on one leg, FeLV on the other. She's also going to be on Forti Flora (given by the vet) for 10 days to help with her diarrhea. We are supposed to stop giving her wet food while her stool get better, but I'm not going to do it, I don't see the point. She needs the extra hydration. I'm still waiting on my probiotic order, so the forti flora is great. We will bring her in next month to be spayed and micro-chipped.

Sparrow has been vomiting 1/2 hour after getting his Ronaxan for the last two days (that's when we began giving it to him). The vet told SO that we should stop it, but give him Metacam for two additional days. If he's not better in 3 days, we need to bring him back and they will give us another antibiotic for him.

Back to the fosters :

Medley is doing great! He's feeling more and more at ease with us, and is really acting like a pet. He's not hiding when we come to him, he's beginning to ask for pets by rubbing against our legs, and he's sleeping by my feet every night. He loves to play with us, and with his bro and Shadow. He keeps trying to rub against Sparrow, but he get growled at every time. That's doesn't stop him from trying. He's not drooling, but gets a little cough about once or twice a day. I'm hoping he gets rid of it by himself.

Moby is still very wary of me. I can't approach him at all. He spends his days hiding to sleep, but comes out in the evening and at night to eat and wreck havoc with Shadow and his bro. But SO is having more luck, and he can get close and pet him. It's going to take a long time for him to trust us. I don't know how he will react if/when medley is adopted on his own. they really are bonded.

 

[catwoman707]

How's everyone doing?

Yes it does appear that blood result values are different.

For instance the normal range for creatinine is 0.6-2.4 MG/DL

But regardless, these results are well within normal range.

 

[Lyzzie]

 
How's everyone doing?

Yes it does appear that blood result values are different.

For instance the normal range for creatinine is 0.6-2.4 MG/DL

But regardless, these results are well within normal range.

Yeah, we measure Creatinine in MG/L, and not DL, so that's normal.

Everybody is doing very well! Medley still cough, about once a day. We thought Moby was coughing too, turns out it was probably a hairball. As of tonight everyone is done with their treatments. Shadow is back to normal, even after her vaccines she went right back to crazy kitten. Sparrow got his voice back, not all the way but he's getting there. He sounds like a frog!

Since everyone is now healthy and full of energy, we began big play sessions twice a day, with everybody at the same time. Sparrow doesn't participate, he's a grumpy cat, we call him grandpa now. But he watches everyone having fun.

John is on the floor with a wand toy, I'm sitting on a stool opposite him with a wand toy with feathers. The first one to play is always Shadow. She's followed by Medley, and Moby right after him. We've been doing that since yesterday, and Moby made such great progress already! I was able to get him to chase the feathers between my legs, and he even stopped on my feet to stalked them. He's doing the same thing with John. Medley doesn't have any problems getting on us to catch his prey, and neither does Shadow.

Tonight, Moby played with the feathers next to my hand, and touched it. He's not so quick to hide when we're in the same space as him, and he's eating whether we're here or not.

This morning, I found all 4 cats upstairs sleeping! Sparrow on the bed, Shadow, Medley and Moby on the couch.

These three are beginning to be really good friends. This has prompted yet another conversation with John. And we decided to adopt both brothers. They're clearly bonded, we don't want them to be separated. Shadow also bonded with them both, and Medley and Moby keep trying to get close to Sparrow. It just feels right.

So that's our Christmas gift to these sweeties! That, and balls and mouses, I couldn't resist buying them some yesterday. Instant hit, especially the brown paper bag for the groceries. I cut the handles of course, and two holes at the bottom. We take it back at night, they make such a racket with it!

 

[Lyzzie]

I'm excited, I was able to pet Moby! Twice! He's still on the fence I think, but seeing me petting Medley right next to him has to help. And he didn't ran away! I'm so happy he's relaxing around me. Since he's starting to come out during the day, we will be able to take pics, and probably videos of the 3 kittens playing with us.

In the meantime, here's Medley again :

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• Lyzzie
• Dec 25, 2016

And Sparrow getting curious while waiting for the blood results at the vet :

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• Lyzzie
• Dec 25, 2016

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• Lyzzie
• Dec 25, 2016

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• Lyzzie
• Dec 25, 2016

 

[catwoman707]

Breakthrough at last!!  

  

  

        

      

    

 

[Lyzzie]

Here's Moby, 2 meters away from me, sleeping, in broad daylight. Are you kidding me??!!

I looked to the right, and here's Sparrow, grooming on the bed, again, 2 meters away from Moby :

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• Lyzzie
• Dec 26, 2016

And then there's Medley, on the floor at the foot of the bed :

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• Lyzzie
• Dec 26, 2016

These guys made my day.

 

 

[Lyzzie]

I called the rescue, and it's done, I'm waiting on some paperwork, but we are now Medley and Moby's humans!

 

[catwoman707]

 
I called the rescue, and it's done, I'm waiting on some paperwork, but we are now Medley and Moby's humans!

Oh my gosh I LOVE this!!

What a heartwarming story, you have so much warmth and love in your home now! Spilling over with love and harmony.

Perfect...

 

[Lyzzie]

We are so happy! The only downside is that we can't foster anymore, we're full. But there are lots of things I can do with both rescues, as they are both involved in TNR.

And guess what? We heard and felt Moby purring for the very first time

 

[catwoman707]

Aww!  

 

[Lyzzie]

Happy New Year!

A little update on "the crew" :

Medley is getting more and more affectionate, he will come and rub against my legs in the morning. He loves to play, his favorite is the Kickeroo right now, but Da Bird is not far behind.

Play time really got Moby trusting us more, his favorites are anything that rolls, and wand toys with feathers, but dragged. Anything higher than his head is scaring him. We also have to watch our hands, he's still afraid of them. BUT we can pet him, and he loves it! He's purring every time now.

They both have their vaccines boosters on Thursday.

Shadow is more and more playful, and she's "Da Boss"! She likes sleeping with Moby, and will groom his ears, even if he doesn't want her to. And then they will wrestle, and go back to sleep. She's doing really well, but still have really soft poop. She's scheduled for her spay and microchip next Monday.

Sparrow scared us to death last Friday. He's the only one to be indoor/outdoor. I used to walk him on a harness for the last 6 months, but since we foster, he's been redirecting his frustration of not being able to go out whenever he wants on whoever is near him. At first it was just growling, but then he's been swatting at the other cats, and even begun to attack us. So we decided to let him outside on his own, twice a day, with a collar and a medal. He's never been gone more than two hours, and we usually see him from the window, he's just chilling right on the other side of the road. I struggled a lot with this, and cried a lot, because I know how dangerous it is outside. But we saw an immediate change in his behavior, he was back to being sweet, and was looking for pets again. He stopped swatting at the cats, he would just growl if they were in the way.

But last Friday, at noon he still wasn't back. At around 2 PM I went to look for him. He was in his usual spot, and came to me when I called him, but he was limping. I checked him out but didn't see any wounds. First thing Saturday morning I booked an appointment for him. He would not get in his carrier, and was so aggressive that we just let him be. I've never seen him like that, and he's 6 Kg, all muscle, he was scary. I called the vet back, and we decided to put him on metacam and ronaxan again, and see how he does over the week end. Needless to say I didn't sleep very much. I didn't want him to go out in the first place. John gave him his meds because Sparrow would growl AND hiss at me every time I approached him. He doesn't limp now, there wasn't any change in his diet and litterbox habit, he was just limping. He didn't ask to go out until this morning. I don't want him outside again. John is not OK with that. He wants him to be able to go back out when we finish with his meds. I'm pretty sure he got in a fight, I found two little round crusted spots on his upper front leg, the one he was limping from. I think they're bite or claw marks. He also had a very light cut above his eye.

I ordered some Bach Flower essence to try. The Feliway was a bust and made him more restless, I hope I can help him with this until he feels comfortable in the house again. I don't know what else to do.

 

[Lyzzie]

Update!

Sparrow did fine on his meds, and 2 days later he wasn't limping any more and kept asking to go out. I hate this, but he's back on his new routine. I give him this three to four times a day in his wet food :
[product="20689"]Bach Rescue Remedy Pet 0 35fl Oz  [/product]
And this morning Sparrow ate his wet with Shadow and Medley without a hitch. I don't know if he's warming up to them on his own or if the Bach is helping, but I'll take it! We still gave him his own food "place" on top of the fridge, and he's happy to eat there, the others haven't been bothering him yet. I think it helps too.

Yesterday was vaccine booster day for "the M's", Medley and Moby. They're in good health, and I'm to wait a week before worming them. We were making a lot of progress with Moby, and I was afraid that getting to the vet and back was going to put us back. To our surprise, the opposite happened! Something clicked in Moby's head I guess, and he's now with us most of the time. He even slept at the foot of the bed, on my feet last night! He doesn't try to go hide, and he loves to be petted. I even introduced him to light brushing with a baby brush.

I'm amazed at these cats. And keeping them was the right move, they are so bonded. And with Shadow now too! She sleeps with either of them, and play with them both. The only problem we have right now is getting her spayed. I had to cancel her appointment, because we can't pay for it yet. Sparrow gets his boosters next month, so we need to pay for that too, and since he's going outside, he needs them. For now she's fine, and hasn't gotten in heat that we know of. We need to find a way to pay for her tho, but we will.

 

[Lyzzie]

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• Lyzzie
• Jan 6, 2017

Late this afternoon, I turned around and found this :

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• Lyzzie
• Jan 6, 2017

Everyone was sleeping, even SO and Sparrow.

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• Lyzzie
• Jan 6, 2017

As you can see, all 4 cats are on MY side of the bed. I hope they don't do that tonight. Sparrow even stole my pillow.