Quick Gandolf Update

I have picked up the skinny kitty from the vet, who will call me tomorrow with the test results. His physical exam seems to have gone pretty much fine-- he got normal on:
Coat & Skin
Eyes
Ears
Nose & Throat
Heart
Abdomen
Lungs
Gastrointestinal
Urogenital
Central Nervous System

He was abnormal in Mouth/Teeth/Gums, being listed as having tartar and gingivitis. This is probably not surprising. And I don't think, since nothing else under "mouth" was circled, that this is enough for him to be not eating dry food and therefore losing weight. I will ask about this tomorrow on the phone, though, to be sure.

The only other "abnormal" was Musculoskeletal, which, yeah, we knew. He's Skeletal-Cat.

The vet also wrote, "Gandolf has (I suspect an old) injury to the right hip." I'm not entirely sure what that means, but, since he is not having to hunt his food (given that we feed him), I also don't think that that is the cause of his skinniness. (Although it doesn't help his overall well-being, obviously.)

Also, unsurprisingly, she found flea dirt. (Of course she did.) I would expect nothing less from a stray/semi-feral.

Gandolf is currently still in the carrier, on my porch. The vet tech who brought him to me suggested that he not be released immediately, especially since they couldn't get him to drink any water. AZMom is, wonderfully, willing to take him in for a few hours when she gets home, so we're hanging out waiting for that. They just want him observed for a few hours before he's released, to make sure he's safe from the anesthesia. (EDIT: We're off to AZMom's now.)

So, keep those fingers crossed that whatever's wrong is treatable and that we can help Gandolf. I will report again tomorrow afternoon, once I've heard something from the vet.

Gandolf: 1 Vet Tech: 0

My wonderful Neighbor (AZMom) already had Gandolf safely bundled into a carrier when I arrived at her place. He was lying down in it, calm but shaking. He stayed that way, slightly curious, mostly calm, definitely scared, all the way to vet and into the exam room. I opened up the carrier while waiting for a vet tech, but he remained within it.

The tech came in, and I explained the situation-- that he's semi-feral, part of the colony, that my neighbor has no trouble with him (he cuddles with AZMom and purrs). The tech reached into the box and got hissed and swiped at. I don't know if he bit her or scratched her (it looked like scratched, but given her reaction she at least thought it was teeth), so she grumbled and gretzed and left, saying she had to go wash her hands for 10 minutes as it is policy.

I started taking apart the carrier, and as I did so, Gandolf calmly ambled out of it and started sniffing around. After a moment's hesitation, he jumped to the ground.

Another tech came in, and he started trying to get away by jumping back up to the table, which was just too high for him. He settled for flattening himself on the ground. I explained the situation to the second tech, who immediately left. I could hear her conversation (involving fun band-aids, and Gandolf) with the first vet tech (through the door) who was, indeed, washing her hands for at least a good 5 minutes, if not 10.

I waited with Gandolf. He wandered around, tried to get back into the carrier (which I had closed), sniffed a bit, then settled into a kitty loaf on the floor. I sat a few feet away, also on the floor, trying to be welcoming, supportive and non-threatening.

The vet came in, and calmly stepped around Gandolf who just stayed in his kitty loaf. She also heard the story, took a note or two, then decided that the best way for all involved was to anesthetize Gandolf for an exam and blood draw. She left and returned with an estimate (oh, kitties, why must you all find new and exciting ways to cost me so much money?? anesthetizing a kitty, as it turns out, rather expensive. They are giving me a 20% Good Samaritan discount, which is nice, and new for that matter. Which saved me quite a lot of money. But that just speaks to how expensive it is to begin with, eh?) And then she and another vet tech (#3) herded Gandolf into a clear box (using a towel.) There was no trouble with that last part.

So he is still at the vet and they will be calling me. We won't have the results of the blood test 'til tomorrow, but I'll get a preliminary report today, from the physical examination. They decided to run a comprehensive panel on the blood test, feeling that that way was less expensive than piece-mealing things together, and I'm all right with that. (The blood test wasn't the expensive part anyway.)


I queried as to how safe the anesthesia was, given that we don't know what's wrong with him, and the vet understood my concerns, and admitted some small risk, but also that it's very safe, easily and quickly reversible, and far less stress for Gandolf as they examine him. So he'll get a physical examination while asleep (I hope they look at his teeth-- I worry that that's the answer, given the situation with Bozo over the summer. Gandolf eats wet food-- maybe he can't eat the dry.) She'll treat anything she finds physical. She'll draw blood and send it to the lab.

So, I'll hear something today (and pick him up today, too, barring unforeseen circumstances) and we'll get test results tomorrow.

Fingers crossed, please. He's a sweet boy (when he's not attacking presumptuous vet techs).

The Plan

Quick heads up, in case you're stopping by to check in on Gandolf. He is apparently turning into a love-bug, wanting snuggles from AZMom, so we aren't too worried about getting him to the vet. She also reports that he's filling out a bit, which is great news. The vet appointment is made for 8:30am Thursday, so keep your fingers crossed for him, that he's just malnourished, or has something easily treatable.

And until then, enjoy this picture of Beatrice, finally sans cone-collar:

Her mom reports that as soon as she got the collar off, in typical Beatrice fashion, she promptly bit her mom on the arm, then ran around the house a few times.

Her belly, which you can kinda see in this picture, looks normal. Hurrah!

No news, have some pictures...

I spoke with my Neighbor yesterday. She has progressed to the point where she's sure she can pick up Gandolf, so I'm going to call the vet for an appointment today. (That's call today, appointment for tomorrow or Thursday.) Apparently Gandolf is now willing to be patient to get his food, which I think is a good sign. Also, she says his belly is slightly less concave now. So, we're hopeful. All right, all right, mostly I'm scared, but you know what I mean. I will, of course, keep you updated.But since that's not really news, I will give you PICTURES. I think Mal's dad was jealous of the attention Zoe got in the last post, because last night I suddenly had these in my inbox. The kitty with Malcolm is his brother, Fritz. They look startled, don't they? And look! Mal is big enough to *almost* fill a drawer!And lastly, but definitely not leastly, a major sooper hyooge thank you to everyone who has donated (ever, but especially recently) in order to help pay for Gandolf's upcoming vet bills. This poor graduate student (do you have any idea how little they pay us for how much work we do?) really really appreciates it, especially since I know that times are hard for everyone and no one just has a few extra dollars to burn. I sincerely, greatly appreciate it.

Zoe pix!!!

Imagine my delight upon opening my email today and finding these two pictures from V! My little fuzzy baby has gotten bigger, and she looks so happy and healthy!

Oh! And apparently she and Wembley (the family's large dog) are now playing with each other! And she's busily investigating the pet bird-- Zoe apparently seems very disgruntled that there is a bird living in her house!

I'm so happy that this little baby is so happy!!

Gandolf Needs Your Help

So... Remember me saying that DNL kept pulling me aside to show me how skinny Gandolf is? (Not that she calls him Gandolf, but you know what I mean.) Well, I hadn't seen him in a few days, but it turns out that's because he's been hanging out one block of buildings down, where my neighbor (the one who called me about Bozo/Waffles)) lives, and is feeding him wet food. She called to ask about him (She thought at first it was Walsingham.) I said that I knew about his plight but couldn't get anywhere near him. She said she'd keep an eye on him and keep me up to date.


Tonight she's called to say that while he's still skittish, he comes up to her and lets her pet him. (This was a message she left.) This means that he's friendly enough to go to the vet and get checked out. I'm ... really quite nervous about this, knowing that both FIV and FeLV run in the colony, and if the vets test him for those and he has either then the only real answer is to put him to sleep, which sucks. But there's no way to treat a cat who is semi-feral, and I certainly can't bring him in with my cats, or ask my neighbor to do that with her cats. (She had to put James to sleep a bit ago, because his kidneys had failed, but she still has two others.)

But, it's even more unfair to not take him to a vet if we can, especially if the answer is something treatable like worms. (That's a best case scenario, of course, but that's a single pill and poof, he'd be better in a few days.) He's eating, eating constantly in fact, and the neighbor says he's getting a bit of a belly.

Anyway, looks like there's a vet trip in the future, and where there's a vet trip, there's a vet bill. I know times are tight for everyone but feel free to hit the donation button on the left if you have a few extra dollars. Or take a look at my Etsy site, should you be in the market for handspun yarn.
(pictures are from earlier-- I don't have more recent ones, unfortunately.)

EDIT TO ADD: Just talked to the Neighbor. He lets her pet him when he's eating, but is still, understandably skittish. The plan is that she'll keep feeding him through the weekend (and being there with him and getting him used to her/people.) Then we'll chat again on Sunday to see 1) how he's doing and 2) make a plan for taking him to the vet (she doesn't drive, so that's on me.) It could be that he just doesn't know how to survive out there, that he was obviously a family pet and dropped off, but since he's been eating a lot-- here and at the Neighbor's, I fear it's something more than that. So, even if you can't donate to defray the vet cost, please keep Gandolf (or Skinny Kitty, as the Neighbor calls him!) in your thoughts.

Kitty Toys for a Good Cause

I have never seen cats clamor for toys the way they do for Madame Morgana's Sovereign Catnip Mice. I know a lot of cats-- my own, my friends', random strangers', and none of them have disliked these mice, and all of them have gone bananas for them. Seriously, it's the most fun a cat can have-- and they're a heck of a lot of fun for the humans watching, too!

So why am I mentioning them here? Well, not only are they awesome, but Lizbet is having a special on them-- 5 for the price of 4, and free shipping!! It doesn't get any better than that.

But wait! There's more! Not only do you receive the most amazing catnip mice known to mankind-- a perfect (purrfect?) holiday gift for anyone with a cat, but! 20% of the sales goes to non-kill cat shelters! It does *not* get any better than this!

To see the current offer and how to order, go here.

For more information in general, go here.

Good News for Beatrice!

Miss Bea still looks pretty pathetic in the above picture, but there's actually quite a lot of good news about the widdle fuzzy. Her mom called me yesterday to tell me how good her wound is looking (which is to say, how healed.) So that's the immediate good news. (Especially for her mom because, as you can see in the picture, they had to put her in a hard plastic cone in order to keep her from licking, which meant a lot of middle-of-the-night bumps in the face by a certain kitten seeking attention.)

The even better news? While at the vet having her wound looked at, Miss Bea also got her snap test for Feline Leukemia-- and it came back NEGATIVE. Wooot!!! Hurrah!!

Poor widdle Baby B

Poor little Beatrice's tummy is still all red and oozy. She seemed to have basically managed to pull all of her stitches out (before they went to the vet yesterday) her mom reported. She's still acting her normal-Beatrice self, but now she has to wear the dreaded collar.

The Ferals

Police at my door yesterday (this time they were the ones stealing my license plate) necessitated that I get up far earlier than I wanted to on a Saturday, but it did mean that when I looked outside from my balcony I discovered Walsingham (the pictures were all blurry of him, though) and Agatha hanging out in the shade.

Then, later in the day, Little Grey And Amaranth posed for a few shots. The cooler weather has been helping me to spy more kitties.


Later still, at a grocery store 2 blocks away, I spied this little guy. He's definitely not tame (he ran from me.) I had stopped, thinking it might be Gremlin, but he's definitely not. He's pretty young looking, too. He seems to be living under the building before which he's standing in the picture (I saw him go into a hole beside it.) I'm obviously not looking for another project, but I'll be keeping an eye out over there, to see if it's a colony or a single cat or what's going on.