Everyday we leave the door to the Welcome Room Office open, to encourage Paul's 6 cats and Faraday to mingle with the rest of the crew. Also mama Shiloah is getting more use to the other cats too, which will make her transition into the Main Area much easier. Her kittens are running around like crazy. I love seeing kittens laying on their backs with their feet playing with a toy! So cute. The 3 "arkeys" Markie, Barky and Zarkey are so so tiny, yet so strong and silly. They zoom around like big kittens. Their appetites are good and they love their little friend Pasha.
We had BOXES last night! We are a very grateful Rescue Center for these gifts.
Sandy S/allanimals from Iowa--for Pania and friends--case of Sheeba salmon, and a 2014 365 kitten day calendar
Mayumi from Japan--2 cases of Tulle food and a "Socks" stuffed Zelda!
Oilsandsgirl/Sheila--2 boxes/12 packages of Dixie Cup Hot cups for our Keurig--we love our Keurig!
Kate & Roger C (Venus's new mom/dad!) from Tenn--gift bag for Kathy and girls, 2 gift bags for Pat, beautiful yarn for Pat. Gift bag for Janet and one for Jacci. 2 Walmart gift cards--one for Paul's kitties and one for Jacci to use for her kitties! A creepy crawler spider, peanut brittle. Also 2 afghans for future auction. One is in memory of Paul (multi colored hexagon) and one is in memory of Pat (cat on a fence).
Pat L--case of baby cat food, case of kitten cat food, case of adult gravy sensations
Holly W from MI--card with donation in memory of Minto, donation for Paul's medical needs
Jatcat--an awesome LED flashlight!
Jean S from WI--card for volunteers and Jacci & Zelda. Donation for Feliz Navidad fund and one for our crafters too. 2 flashlights with D batteries and 2 ball cap flashlights. Crackle tunnel, packing tape, postie notes, doggie snackers, cat nip/cat nip seeds, BIG bags of cat snackers, 5 bags of volunteer candy snacks, bag of Truffles for Janet, movie popcorn, 8 cans of Fancy Feast Kitten food, kitty toys
Mudjie--some scrumptious, delicious good food box from Lou Malnati's "taste of Chicago Pizza" in honor of Janet's birthday. (Steve will cook this on Friday for her!)
Diana--pizza lunch for Janet's birthday. Also a beautiful fisherman's design garden bench in memory of Paul
Anonymous Friend--a wonderful new Palm Kitty Tree. The cats love these palm trees and use them heavily. The used one will go into Kitty City for the Covies who will enjoy it.
Joan N--donation for FFRC thru PayPal
Kim K from MI--PayPal donation in honor of Janet's birthday
Almost 100% of last week's Day Sale items have been sent out! We're almost there! If, as you receive you orders, there is a mistake, please let us know. We truly aim to get the orders correct.
This week has been oh, so busy. We are individually giving meds to each cat here at the Rescue Center. As you know, we started with the tapeworm injection. They have now also individually received (including today) 5 days of antibiotics.We have 2 more days, then will go every other day for a few more doses. Today our new vaccines should arrive. We've never given Bordatella before to our cats. This is more commonly known as a dog vaccine, but to help prevent specific upper respiratory infections, each cat/kitten will receive a feline intrnasal bordatella vaccine. This and the tapewormer is now added to our protocol for each incoming cat. These meds take a tremendous amount of time daily to give. So, what was going to be my week of playing "catch up" now has given way to top priority--the cats and their meds. Someday.............maybe...........I'll catch up! So, in the meantime, please be patient with me!
I'd like everyone to realize something--you will, once we give these intranasal vaccines, WILL notice some coughing and sneezing for a few days. This is NORMAL and NOT cause for worry. Normally we use a killed virus for our vaccinations, but not so with the Bordatella vaccine. This is a live virus and will quickly spark their immune. They will be fine and this will give us a greater scope of protection against some of the URI's.
Now--on to Minto. I'd like to dedicate some explanation now of his necropsy. His necropsy represents a huge thing to FFRC. While very expensive (thanks to our donor friend for footing this bill) we have learned a lot. It is a very valuable tool to me. I am extremely devoted to the health of these cats and kittens. I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we do much more than most rescues and shelters. But, we are now adding more to our protocol as mentioned above. Let's begin with Minto's findings. First, and the least cause for worry is Cestodiasis--a fancy word for tapeworms. As we've said before, this worm is NOT transferable cat to cat. They only get it from ingesting a flea or a rodent. This of course was not the cause of death, but could cause his body to be somewhat compromised. He also had a viral and bacterial rhinitis and bronchopneumonia. Viruses are difficult to fight--they do not respond to antibiotics. But we can do supportive care. Bacterial things we can fight--with antibiotics. Another thing we learned is that the normal antibiotics (the one that is normally the first "go-to" med) is resistant to his particular strain of bacteria. Very important to know. We now know that the medicine we are giving daily right now IS sensitive to this particular bacteria. So, this is very good news for us to know. Because he was immune-suppressed and had an overwhelming infection, he also became septicemic (having a deadly blood infection) from the bacteria and this then attacked his heart muscles, which further compromised things. Bordetella bronchiseptica and pneumonia are the "bronchopneumonia" part of the picture.
So.....what do we do? We learn from this and continue on. I know this all sounds scary and chilling. But, NOT knowing is more scary. We have resources we can use to fight these health problems! Our cleaning protocol is excellent and our vets are pleased with what we do. Many of our kittens and cats arrive with fleas. From now on, all incoming kittens (age permitting) and cats will receive the one-time injection for killing tapeworms, along with the already strong wormer protocol that we do. The bronchopneumonia we can fight by giving the intranasal Bordatella vaccine. This is a huge plus for us. It's expensive but do-able! We also know which antibiotic to use--this is extremely important. This is just a matter of switching meds. So, we now have a new package deal--we have ammunition to fight these darn infections. When we started this Rescue Center many years ago, I made it clear--we would give the best possible medical care that we could and I aim to continue doing this. Sometimes I feel overwhelmed with the day to day care, but I know with the support that is shown to FFRC, we can do this.
Our lazy boy Snappy!
