more sad news for the kitty who couldn't walk ..

she can't stand either

she has a broken pelvis too - so even post surgery she'll need longer crate rest than would be the norm for this surgery :(

poor honey ...

donations aren't exactly pouring in either - but enough people are giving to restore my faith in humanity ....

Delilah

Delilah needs help. A kind stranger caught her, brought her to a vet clinic who called us. She is skinny, dehydrated and had an obvious hind leg injury.
She has a break consistent with with a bite. The break is bad enough it will require EXPENSIVE orthopedic surgery, then a long period of recovery. She's a young cat under a year old and sweet as can be. I hope we can help her.
She's safe and warm at the clinic while we rally forces to help her.

rumour ...

is just delightful ...
she gives me hickeys regularly
she chases the dogs
she has both black and white hair to shed on us

but she is simply a charming sweet soul


Arley is an angel
handsome, affectionate, great with the dogs and cats

between them they are bring a great deal of happiness into the house

Cats Galore

and finally named the newest infant a week into her arrival

Rumour .. tiny feisty black and white - maybe medium haired kitten .. just hilarious
she has a heart murmur - which we hope she outgrows but there is a rumour she might not... which may mean we have a kitten (a TINY kitten). The last kitten we had from tiny that lives with us is Flopsy - funnily enough another black and white cat! Flopsy is at leats 12 now - and spent much of her formative time in the nursery with her mom. She wasn't very mobile as a kitten so it's a bit of an eye opener having Rumour tearing around, up and over whatever she wants!

Arley looks like he's staying too ... we've never had a grey tabby, a HUGE kittenish, love bug of a cat - he is adorable - nice with the dogs, the kitten, Nando and the witchy cats who try to scare him. He has a strong prey instinct though ... scares me with the bunnies and birds a bit...

Stevie and Thea

little coma kitten has good days and bad days - he still sleeps a LOT, he is still blind and he is still TINY

today was a good day - he is growling and swatting and trying to play with Thea ...

he doesn't eat by himself though and he needs to be put in a litter box to think of using it - he is still pretty tiny though so we haven't given up hope ...

another fabulous picture by Dr Judy Au

oh my ...

Frankie and Lily are up at the store for adoption - so sad to leave my scared little Lily there - but I have been assured and assured that they will call if there is a problem and they can come home that very day ... we missed our kitty thunderstorms last night - as they race around the second floor when we get home

Coma Kitten continues to do well - he's now eating, a little, on his own ... he's still blind and tiny but he surely is a fighter

Kala is doing OK - she doesn't really like canned food - tough for a lady with no teeth but she seems to be starting to eat kibble a little - amazing!

Moved a lovely big polydactal out of the shelter, black and white - he's just a sweetie pie .. he'll be next for the store adoption spot when the siamesers are in a home

also took a mom cat and two little kittens to Shelly - cute and tiny, all three just make you grin

have a new cat coming our way too next week - lovely grey tabby - maybe 9 months old - with mild neurological impairment - probably the same cerebellar hyperplasia Flopsy Mo has - but much much more mild ... as of this moment his name is Arely (means brave)

the never ending cycle of rescue work ...

Nando is still hanging in - he sleeps really hard at times but is still engaged interested and social and able to get to the counter for meals without any help at all most of the time.

Coma Kitten

2 weeks ago - or maybe 3 now the amazing Dr Au had a little kitten dropped off . He was pretty tiny and very flat. He had suffered a brain injury and been put outside in a box (presumably to die). A neighbourhood cat found him and picked him up and brought him home. The people quickly realized they couldn't cope with a kitten in a coma. Dr Au is carefully nursing him back to health. He had a couple of days of scary seizures and is now blind but his disabilities aren't stopping him at all. He needs a good name - I have been calling him Coma Kitten, others call him Dopey, Danny or just plain old Mr Kitten. I'll have to get Tom thinking about it. Please feel free to suggest away as well :)


(here Coma Kitty is mauling Thea in the hopes of getting a game going!)

tote give away ...

http://clayhillfarm.blogspot.com/2009/03/farmers-market-tote-giveaway.html. Pretty dang cool eh?
what generous people think of give aways on their blogs? my blogs are a place to work out things, think out loud, brag a little, cry a little ... giving things away is just such a cool idea ... I may have try it someday

Kala ...

the himi princess has had her surgery (all but 4 teeth had to be removed)
and is doing quite well

she is a dead ringer for Coco - but nice - really really nice - letting me dose her sore mouth with DISGUSTING antirobe (it really does taste awful) - letting Tom and I visit with her - not minding the cats or dogs one little bit...

somewhere I found the name Kala - it means princess in Hawaiian ..

well I like Hawaii
and when we first met Kala her tongue was stuck out (it still is) an irrevant princess suited me fine (himi's kind of look stuck up - their inner persian I guess)
and all are rescues are princesses - at least at our place
and it sounds like Coco enough for a matched set of foster cats
she can only eat wet food - rather princess-like I think

anyhow she's a dear girl with her malformed jaw and sticking out tongue and hardly any teeth ..
her coat needs some work - and brushing but we like her (just all the animals round these parts - sweet or not!

more nando news

Nando is feeling much better today but the news wasn't good. He had an embolism and there is a large blood clot sitting in his aorta waiting to break free and cause another "event". He is, and I quote the much loved Dr Au here, "is a ticking time bomb". Very scary though I'm glad he's feeling better. More sadness in the future it seems - and I don't need a crystal ball for that one.

dear dear Nando

Isis (Nando's's sister), Hank and Nando sitting on Tom's lap ...

collapsed last night - and is still wobbly wobbly

Cardiac ultrasound booked for tomorrow - and I hope we can help him and give him some real quality of life. He is a wonderful cat - social with everybody -easy going, sweet with other animals of all species.


Truly a character. He's 16-17 and an old man - he's seen a lot in his life I think - he carries wisdome with him and the younger animals all look up to him.





think good thoughts for another dear soul ....

cats settling in

the fosterlings are settling in well- really well .. TOO WELL - we don't need cats - especially young happy adoptable purebred cats - but nobody is knocking down the door looking for them either ... I hope you can see how blue Lily and Frankie's eyes are ... Coco let me spend quite awhile (in Coco terms anyhow) grooming her today - was a nice bonding moment.



Coco has taken over a new cushion on a new chair. She lives for Temptations Hairball treats - LIVES for them . very funny to watch her make nice just in the hopes you might shake her out a treat!




boy the camera phone is great - it's quick; it's easy and even on dial up I can get the pictures to the blog but I wish they were better pictures.. however - here are Lil (Lily) and Frankie - both have brilliant blue eyes..

moving cats

turns out moving cats is a little like herding cats. We currently have three cats that live with us full time (Julia, the cerebelar Flopsy Mo, and the ancient Nando) and three foster cats (Coco -aka Beech; and the adorable Siam one and Two aka Frankie and Lil Sis). We boarded most of them for the weekend move; keeping only Flopsy with us as she would have panicked at the vets and brought them to the new house. They are all interested in exploring the space but quite happy to see us as well.

not about cats ... but another legend is gone

how much death; how much cancer; will colour my life?
too much of both recently -that's for sure

bet you never knew a rabbit could be a legend huh? 12 years ago last Labour Day weekend a man was sitting on his lakeside cottage deck reading the paper and absorbed by it when he felt a gentle pat on his legs. He looked down and leaped to his feet in shock as a large white and black rabbit sat back and stared right back at him. He was not an animal person at all but after making inquires at local cottages realized that the bunny had probably been turned loose to fend for herself over winter. This man was most impressed that the rabbit just hung out peacefully in his living room while he tried to find its home. He realized he could not turn her loose to die alone in the woods so he put her in his car and drove her to an animal control near where his city house was. The shelter was ill equipped to handle large rabbits (they use guinea pig pages for all small domestics) and they had 2 large rabbits. They called me. I was able to take both the big bunnies to school with me. They got lots of out time while I went through the process of having them spayed and starting the search for forever homes. While both were wonderful bunnies (Midnight in fact went to a home and learned bunny agility) Pongo's personality was obvious from day 2. I decided that for the short term I would start working with her to be a humane education ambassador. Well truth be told I could not have had a better ambassador. She would patiently sit on a mat on one side of me while I spoke to whole school assemblies (with one of my humane ed dogs on another mat on the other side of me). It was a toss up as to which animal the students enjoyed watching more... all certainly provided entertainment!Her real excellence shone through in smaller settings though. With little children I would have them sit in a circle (knee to knee) and let Pongo hop around at her own pace to visit who she wanted. She NEVER once missed a child. Teachers regularly commented to me that she usually chose the most "special" " angry" "sad" or otherwise exceptional child to spend the most time with. She lived at a shelter I worked at for a couple of years (when when of the staff at my school decided she was allergic to her - despite never coming in my room). She got fed too many treats there though and had to come to live with me at my house. She lived free range for many years (mainly choosing to rule the very large laundry/furnace room). Eventually I gated her downstairs when we weren't home or awake (as she LOVED phone cords and I got sick of replacing them when they weren't put up out of reach). She had a lovely time terrorising any foster bunny and watching the ins and outs of my crazy house. I'd often find her cuddled up to a cat or dog, just one of the gang. She retired from formal humane education work about 4 years when I realized she was much older than most rabbits ever are.She was at least 14.. and quite possibly older. Last summer she came to our weekend place with me and loved being able to be out with her new friend in a huge dog run during nice days - she ate clover and dandelions and just enjoyed life. She was obviously an older girl - she was losing a little weight, she didn't jump or bink as high but her coat was glossy and she loved attention.On Wednesday at 4 I put a load of laundry in - she came up for cuddles - normal - I went down to trade loads at 7 and she came up for cuddles - lame. Eating drinking but a little sore. Rabbits hide things well so I was quite upset. At midnight she was a little more sore. I didn't sleep much and called my clinic first thing in the morning.Xrays revealed the bone was nearly eaten away at the joint by a tumour. A full body xray showed some shadowing in the lungs. The really odd thing is this legend was supposed to be going away for the weekend while we moved. With her usual grace and timing Pongo picked when and how to tell me she was ready to go. Can you imagine if I'd sent her away and the leg had fractured on the poor friend who was taking her for me? I can't imagine how that would have affected our relationship. The big bunny that could.. I will miss her a great deal.


Ode to a Pre-Loved Pet How can it be that Someone else didn't want you? What an idiot. --- Melanie Lee Chang

no word pro available ..

so what do I do - I blog.. at least that way I get a spell checker ;)

When cats are raised in a multi-cat household, do they develop a hierarchy like dogs? And, if so, is it important for the humans in the house to take on the leader role? Or do cats care about any of this?

This question provoked a great deal of discussion, even within my own home. Cats mostly certainly are aware of relationships both between each other and with humans. Their hierarchy is looser than dogs seemingly. Cats change their place depending on the moment. In the same group of cats one might get the "preferred seating" while another may eat first and a third may drink first.

There can be some positioning around the use of litter boxes as well. The easiest way to prevent problems is to provide plenty of boxes (at least one more than there are cats) and use whatever litter the cats prefer most. Dumont was our fussiest cat and controlled the type of litter we used quite effectively!

When cats are stressed by overpopulation there can be problems. Aggression, inappropriate toileting, drastic changes in behaviour or eating are not uncommon. One cat may find living in a large group easy, another may find the addition of a third cat stressful. One way to reduce stress is to provide lots of vertical space. Cats at the top of the order in the house will often sit up high and survey the rest of the house. A multilevel cat tree can help keep peace in a multi cat home. I have lived with two cats who enjoyed the top of the fridge as their vantage point. One reason cats often knock things off mantels and shelves may be they are seeking some height and status; providing them cat appropriate seating may reduce that problem.

Cats generally seem quite able to differentiate between cat/cat relationships and human/cat relationships. Humans don't really need to assume an alpha role with cats but can focus on a positive relationship of whatever sort they desire. (In fact many positive dog trainers would say dogs don't either!) Cats are much more more trainable than most people realize!

Felines certainly can adapt to multi species relationships well. Dogs and cats, cats and rabbits will enjoy each others company and seek it out. Julia, one of our permanent cats prefers the company of dogs to the other cats and certainly chooses to play chase and chase me games with the dogs over any game with a cat. A friend of mine swears her hamster likes giving her Siamese a massage by clambering around on his back (she does supervise this interaction carefully mind you!)

The final question "do cats care about any of this" really depends on the cat. Some cats, just like some people, value and seek out more numerous and more in depth relationships than others. Some cats are loners - quite content to spend time alone - perhaps watching the world go by. Other cats thrive on attention .. Nando is only content if he is in contact with someone feline, canine or human!

Living in a multi cat house provides a great opportunity for observation and pleasure. It should be thoughtfully done though with provision for a slow gradual introduction and for plenty of space for each cat. Watching the changing nature of cat relationships is often quite entertaining!

Dear J...

You asked me if I could write the story of the last couple of months of losing dear friends. I'm honestly not sure. But if I don't try I'll never know. It's a very personal story so I'm giving up all pretense at writing in the third person and just telling you what happened.
Last year, in November of 2008, Tom and I had the rather horrific experience of having two much loved cats diagnosed with cancer in the space of 24 hours. One cat was 18 and elegant and settled; one was only 8 and a character filled rabble rouser. One was black and white; one was white with little splotches of colour. One male; one female. You see how it is going I'm sure - one Ying and one Yang. Tom has written about Kali - our troubled little street kitty at length - he wrote about her life not so much about her struggles over the last year.

Dumont has a pretty neat story all in his whole right. He was part of an epic - a piece of 36 years of loving individual cats for me. We adopted him the day after my first cat Rum died - I was in university and had gone to the clinic to pay the bill. The vet asked if we were looking for another pet and I said no. I was told the sad tale of this adorable four month old who had been abandoned when the owners couldn't pay for the needed surgery to remove a coin from his throat. The humane society arrived to pick him up and they were sent away. I left the clinic empty handed and when I got home Tom asked how it had gone. I told him the story of the abandoned soul and he looked behind me for a new addition.

When I realized he was serious we raced back to the clinic to pick up Dumont. Dumont lived with us for 18 years - more or less a few days - he was the picture of health - right up to a crisis last fall. He had surgery to remove a tumour on his mid line at that time - our vet was sure it would be a mammary tumour but it turned out to be another tumour - a tumour common to dogs but rather unusual in domestic short haired cats. The surgery went well and he blossomed quickly - gaining weight and going back to sleek and active until the very end of September 2008. He had a bad episode of digestive upset and when I took him to the vet the blood results showed he had critical renal failure.

We did aggressive fluid and antibiotic therapy which he responded well too then I took him home - he happily accepted occasional sub q fluids til for over a month then he started resisting. This was a cat who didn't resist anything so I felt very strongly he had put up with enough. I honoured his request and he continued to eat, purr and sleep on my head.

Eventually he crashed: he lost interest in eating and drinking. I contemplated calling for a mobile vet for euthanasia - or taking him to our much loved vet for the procedure but he seemed quite determined to lie on the bed I set up for him in the kitchen and hold court. He wasn't in pain and he derived great comfort from having his family around him. I sat (and lay) with him non stop from 10 pm on ... he would fall asleep and wake up to find one of the cats gently touching him - licking his head, laying a paw over him or his sniffing his face gently. If his head slipped off my hand he'd carefully lift his head and wait til my hand was cradling his head again. He dozed quite peacefully. It was an oddly beautiful thing. The patriarch of the house - who had greeted each and every one of the animals in the house now said goodbye to all. He took his last breaths around 1:30 am or so and his heart stopped beating a short time later. The change in energy in the room when he left was eerie. He seemed very quiet and laid back in life but he carried an enormous life force.

Kali was very interested in his death. She sat right with us and watched quietly often curled up beside Dumont or on me. She battled her cancer for well over a year - and probably longer - her indomitable spirit kept her jumping on the fridge, telling off cats, batting little fake mice around the house, insisting on her nightly cuddles long after her blood values suggested she should be unable to walk let alone play. It was a bone marrow cancer of some sort - being Kali once we had a diagnosis we didn't do too much invasive stuff - she was not a fan of being handled on terms other than her own. We did a home course of chemo, and she was on two medications but apart from those daily medications we let her be. We did do two transfusions - one was for her in September as she so clearly wasn't ready to go and one was just before Christmas which, truth be told, was for me - losing two souls I loved dearly in far too short a time was more than I could bear. The first transfusion gave her excellent quality of life for nearly 4 months. The second did the same for three weeks. I would do both again in the same circumstances. A third transfusion simply wasn't feasible; she was far too weak and the time the tranfusion worked for was radically shorter the second time around.

Unlike Dumont, Kali was not mentally ready to go - she fought death with every action -even trying to walk away from her carrier as I prepared it for the drive to the vets. She had refused to eat for a day and was visibly weakening, she had done very deliberate rounds and the dogs had been particularly gentle and attentive with her. Her spirit was strong but her body was letting her down. Waiting would have been cruel as she was obviously confused and a little frightened by what her body was going through. The fabulous vet and her amazing tech and I considered all options - it was hard for all of us to accept that the end really had come. However there wasn't much we hadn't tried to extend her quality and quantity of life and we all realized that anything we could do short term might result in suffering or pain. To imagine Kali suffering was impossible. She lay peacefully in my arms for her final injection. Once the euthanol hit her vein her weak body gratefully drifted away even as she puffed her breath into my face as hard as she could. What a funny, spiritual, spirited girl she was.

They were amazing friends to us and a very special part of our family. We will miss them enormously. They have left holes that no one will be able to fill. (Why oh why do we keep loving them when losing them is inevitable?)I told Dumont to take care of all our friends (yours and mine) who await us at the bridge - and I can assure you that no matter the species he'll do his thing - in his gentle loving way. I asked Kali not to cause too much trouble and entertain everybody who is so patiently waiting. Patience is not in her vocabulary! The rainbow bridge is a better place now that they are there even as it is impossible to imagine life here without them.

Anyhow, thanks for asking for the whole story. I tell it not to be self absorbed nor to seek pity but to share the tale of two very different, much loved cats and how they continued to teach me even in death.
All my best,

Andrea

She was no Queen ..

Kali, Kaylie, KCat is gone
Dead and gone and stirring up the rainbow bridge something fierce if I know her.
Wednesday night she was a little quiet - unhappy about something she sat on my lap and the computer but didn't really want to eat her extra canned food at bedtime. Thursday morning I could see something was seriously wrong- she was checking out. She was cold and accepted blankets and a hot pack for quite awhile but more seriously there was nothing I could do to tempt her to eat. Even her much favoured Pill Pockets didn't even provoke a sniff. Poached chicken, warmed baby food, ad - nothing - she simply didn't want to eat. She was happy enough to have company: dogs, cats and people. She wasn't pushy though .. and that is not like her.

She battled her cancer for well over a year - and probably longer - her indomitable spirit kept her jumping on the fridge, telling off cats, batting little fake mice around the house, insisting on her nightly cuddles long after her blood values suggested she should be unable to walk let alone play. It was a bone marrow cancer of some sort - being Kali once we had a diagnosis we didn't do much invasive stuff - she was not a fan of being handled on terms other than her own. We did a home course of chemo, and she was on pred and fortekor (she developed a heart murmur somewhere in the last year of her life) but apart from those daily meds we let her be. We did do two transfusions - one was for her in September as she so clearly wasn't ready to go and one was just before Christmas which, truth be told, was for me - losing two souls I loved dearly in the space of a week was more than I could bear. The first transfusion gave her excellent quality of life for nearly 4 months. The second did the same for three weeks. I would do both again in the same circumstances. A third transfusion simply wasn't feasible today though - Kali's body was SO WEAK it just wouldn't have been fair. I think more was going on as well - the lack of appetite was not typical at all of the last 8 months with her.
Unlike Dumont Kali was not ready to go - she fought death with every action -even trying to walk away from her carrier as I prepared it for the drive to Danforth. Dr Au, Debbie and I considered all options - it was hard for all of us to accept that the end really had come. However there wasn't much we hadn't tried to extend her quality and quantity of life and we all realized that anything we could do short term might result in suffering or pain. To imagine Kali suffering was impossible to us all.
I held her for the catheter - no other cat would have needed it if as weak as she was but she was Kali - and I was glad we had. She was very restless afterwards and took some time to settle back down. Once the euthanol hit her vein her weak body gratefully drifted away even as she puffed her breath into my face as hard as she could. What a funny, spiritual, spirited girl she was.
Impossible to imagine life without our funny tricoloured cat. She is a force to be reckoned with!

There is a poem I often find small comfort in in times like this - it could have been written for our girl

Do not stand at my grave and weep,

I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds that blow.

I am the diamond glint on snow.

I am the sunlight on ripened grain.

I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you wake in the morning hush,

I am the swift, uplifting rush

Of quiet birds in circling flight.

I am the soft starlight at night.

Do not stand at my grave and weep.

I am not there, I do not sleep.

Do not stand at my grave and cry.

I am not there, I did not die!
Do not stand at my grave and weep.

I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am the song that will never end.

I am the love of family and friend.

I am the child who has come to rest

In the arms of the Father who knows him best.

When you see the sunset fair,

I am the scented evening air.

I am the joy of a task well done.

I am the glow of the setting sun.

Do not stand at my grave and weep.

I am not there, I do not sleep.

Do not stand at my grave and cry.

I am not there, I did not die!
~ Mary E. Frye ~

transfusion time again

Kaylie cat needed a second blood transfusion just before Christmas
this time with dear Sherbert already a match it went very smoothly ..
much quicker and she really didn't mind another day at the spa much at all - except she truly doesn't like poor Jacqui - too funny but not for Jaqui!
The results of the transfusions are truly amazing - she still only half the red blood blood cells of a normal cat but she's jumping to the top of the fridge and leaping about..