And so we start again...

Okay, I actually, for once, had things I wanted to say here. I got pictures, I have links, I have Update Worthy Material.

But it's all been preempted. Upon my return home from campus today I ran into Downstairs Neighbor Lady. She has just renewed her lease. And in the lease was a clause which declares that if you feed the cats you will be fined $400.

::blink::

I pointed out that I have permission to feed the cats and otherwise manage the colony. DNL pointed out that the manager with whom I had made all the arrangements is no longer here at the apartment complex.

Fudgesicles.

Now, technically, my agreement went higher than this, with the company who actually manages this property as opposed to the manager of the property (if that's clear.) But DNL had a good point-- since I have not heard anything about this directly (and my lease doesn't need to be renewed until August), I'm not going to say anything about it yet. I'm going to continue to feed the cats.

This does, however, explain why my box (ie: cardboard food dish) has been removed. I'm grateful that the water dish is still there.

I know times are tight, but if anyone would like to chip in a few bucks towards a Fine Protection Fund, please feel free to hit the button on the left. (Likewise, I'll be taking another cat for altering sometime in the next week or so, and a donation towards that would rock. But that's for another post-- see? I told you I actually have interesting things to say, but noooooo, management's gotta go be all stoopid. Which just angers me greatly-- the colony has not grown at all with the exception of one stray left by !@#$!@#$ residents, and that is through my work, and The Volunteer's work, and the incredible donations of all of you. So they should shut up and be glad. The cats aren't doing anything wrong. )

I wonder if this explains why I found the tunnels all blocked with rocks last week. (I promptly unblocked them, of course.)

Time Just Keeps on Slippin'

Here it is, the moment you've all been waiting for-- pictures of the kitties taken with my new camera! Wooo! (To see them all thus far, go here. 20 new pictures in that set, Project-Cat 2009.)

I've discovered that I am overprotective of the kitties. Several times now in the week I've been back, I've been leaving my flat only to find people talking about the cats. I tend to stand around and talk to them (or at least listen and watch and make sure they're not doing anything a bad to the cats...) In this way I've met one very nice neighbor who was walking her 7 week old labrador puppy (even the cats-- who were universally bigger than this puppy-- were not afraid of her), and one, um, ignorant fellow who was trying to convince a cat who had followed him from the other side of the complex (I haven't decided if this is a stray or a cat with a home but who is allowed to roam) to go inside the tunnels and meet the feral cats.

The cats were well cared for while I was gone, but they seemed, in their own feral ways, to be sort of glad to see me upon my return. (Perhaps I give them more food than my house-sitter did? Heh.) And, for a feral, Little Grey has become almost friendly, meowing at me once in a while, and letting me get about 4 feet away with my camera.

Also, while I haven't any photographs to prove it, I've seen Gandolf twice, and he's looking better. Anyone who didn't know him would still see him and think, Great Bast, that's a skinny cat! but I can tell he's put on some weight. Just as importantly, he just seems better somehow, more energetic, brighter. I hope it's not just wishful thinking. I haven't seen AzMum since right before I left, but she's obviously been taking very good care of Meester Gandolf.

And a quick update on the no-longer-wild-kittens-- Miss Beatrice flew to Tennessee with her mom, but will be returning in a few days. Her flight out was uneventful-- turns out she's a champion traveler. And she has won hearts-- despite a fierce no-pets-in-the-house rule, Miss Bea had full run of the house in roughly 24 hours of her arrival (she'd originally been consigned to a breezeway area, but this exile could not last in the face of such cuteness.) Zoe should be on her way to CA very soon, and her family sent me some adorable pictures, one of which you can see here. Looks like Arwen will also be missing Zoe when she goes!

First 2009 Update

So, I planned on going outside with my new camera (!!) and looking for kitties today, now that I'm back to my colony after a trip to the Family Homestead. Alas, it is raining. Figures. So, no pictures today.

But I do want to mention, and I think you should pass it along to everyone you know, especially people in Florida or who may be visiting Florida...

Big Cat Rescue in Tampa, FL supports Spay and Neuter, and therefore has as really cool program called Spay & Play. If you bring an original receipt from your vet showing that you have spayed/neutered your pet, or bring a receipt from an animal shelter, showing that you have adopted a spayed/neutered pet, within the past year, you'll get a free pass to their day tour (which normally costs $25.) I think this is awesome. Granted, I doubt I'll be in FL in the near future (but when I next am, I so want to visit Big Cat Rescue!) Learn more about Spay & Play and more about Big Cat Rescue in general. You should consider donating your used printer ink cartridges to them, as well as sending them a donation (or two, or three...) You can even sponsor a (big) kitty!

We'll return to our regularly, domestic sized updates soon. :)

Zoe Update!

So, Miss Zoe-kins, or Zo-Zo, or what-have-you, saw her Permanent Vet for the first time today. Apparently she behaved wonderfully, was quiet in her carrier, and everything (even though she was accompanied by a shaking doggie, and a howling kitty.) She got a micro-chip and a clean bill of health.

A completely clean bill of health.

Yes, that's right-- her snap test for FIV/FeLeuk came back NEGATIVE.

Happy dance! All three foster kitties from this summer are now officially negative for those evil diseases. This is wooooonderful news! :D

To the Vet and Back

So this afternoon AZMom, Gandolf and I piled into my car and went to see the vet.

Gandolf is not a big boy-- he should be an average sized male cat, but right now he is 5.56 pounds, all skin, bones and rounded tummy (as he's been eating well, thanks to AZMom.) But after last time, when one of the Vet Techs got 'attacked', everyone was taking no chances. Ooooh, fierce tiger!

But really, he was just a nervous cuddle-bug today. He curled up in AZMom's arms, and was fine with getting put on the scale. When it came time for his temperature, the vet tech had both of us hold him, but Gandolf barely made a noise. A different vet tech and AZMom held him while the vet took a urine sample (directly from the bladder-- I imagine that in most cases it's rather hard to get a cat to pee in a cup...)

The urine sample, however, did confirm diabetes, although not actually a terrible case, it seems. The vet showed us how to give Gandolf his insulin, which meant he was stabbed several times (twice with water, to show us how to do it (I did one of those), once with actual insulin to start his treatment.)

Then he was stabbed many many times because they wanted to give him sub-cutaneous fluids-- but he was so dehydrated, and so skinny that the vet tech kept stabbing right through his skin so that she'd start giving him fluids and it would just drizzle onto the table. After several tries, during which Gandolf didn't once so much as complain, she got it in-- but even then the poor baby boy was a bit leaky from where he'd been stabbed before. We joked, sadly, that he was a pincushion and a leaky balloon. But he was also a very good and calm boy.

He let me hold him, too! He really loves AZMom, but he was fine with huddling in my arms for a bit.

Since his white blood cell count was up (but no fever), he's also being put on antibiotics, but thankfully those can be crushed and put in his food.

The vet gave us a little biohazard container to dispose of the sharps, heh. Sorry, the idea of my very own biohazard container makes me giggle. (It's not, of course, mine. AZMom is the saint who is taking care of Gandolf most of the time. But it still makes me giggle a little.)

Anyway, Gandolf starts his twice daily insulin injections tomorrow (he had one this afternoon), and I know how to do it now so if/when AZMom goes out of town I can help. He's also going to have his very own litter box so that his urine out-flow can be monitored. If we get him feeling better, he should be putting on weight-- the vet said she'd expect him to weight 7 or 8 pounds in a few months.

The downside is, of course, that this is long term care. If you'd like to help take with purchases of insulin and needles, as always, your donation is much appreciated.

I see mto have misplaced my camera, but when I find it, now that my life isn't quite so stressful (this was the most stressful semester ever), I'll go out and about and try to find Mr Gandolf for a picture or two.

The other kitties are eating and hanging out and seem to be doing pretty well. The only other cat I'm currently worried about is Agatha (Little Crooked)-- she can only carry her head tilted to one side. The gossip grapevine via DNL is that someone tried to strangle Agatha, but a) I don't trust anything DNL says b) I doubt anyone could have gotten that close to her and c) I don't think that's the damage that would have been left.

Agatha eats and runs and suns herself and such, but she does it all with her head tilted at a 45 degree angle. So, I worry. :(

But, let's focus on Gandolf, and how well he did today. At the end, the vet reconsidered his last visit, wondering how the vet tech could possibly have gotten bit. She asked if she'd reached for him in his box (yes) and said that a bit of employee reeducation was necessary! So, Gandolf was vindicated!

Gandolf Update!

So, you might be thinking, what is the deal with Gandolf? And you'd be right to think that.

I actually heard from the vet first thing on Friday morning, but didn't want to post here until I'd talk to AZMom. Now I feel I can update you all on the situation.

First, the good news-- he is negative for FIV and FeLV. Hurrah! Happy dance!

The bad news-- he is probably diabetic. (The probably is because apparently sugar levels can spike when cats are nervous. But the vet is pretty sure.) So he'll need insulin injections every day. She thinks we can get away with just one injection a day (normally you'd go with two, but given that he's semi-feral and outdoors, that would be even harder.)

As I said, I just spoke with AZMom, and apparently she has had some experience with treating a diabetic cat in the past, so she already knows how to inject him, etc. So I'll call the vet tomorrow and find out whatever we still need to find out in order to start treating him.

Apparently, though, Gandolf suffered no ill effects that we know of from his recent trip to the vet. He's still cuddly and loving, and calmly waited with AZMom 'til he was un-groggy enough to go back outside.

It's really hard to find a family for a kitten. It's 10-times as hard to find a family for an adult cat. The odds of finding a family for a semi-feral diabetic orange tabby... I don't even want to contemplate them. But he's really loving, with the people who feed him (as opposed to the people who jab at him) and would, actually, make a really sweet and loving companion. So if you know of anyone who wants beautiful, skinny, needs-help tabby cat...

But of course AZMom and I will keep doing the best we can for him. (Really, AZMom gets all the credit for Mr Gandolf's care so far!!)

Please keep him in your thoughts, too, as we start to treat him. He can't be feeling too good just now, or, really, for a while now. We'll do the best we can.

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.