Happy Birthday to our Seymour (and to Schinn and Cita). Seymour arrived here on 1/17/14 from BENCH--Blue Earth Nicollet Humane Society in MN. He was only 6 months old and is now a year. He arrived with his mama who has been adopted. We love our Seymour boy!
Happy June, which is Adopt-A-Shelter (Rescue)-Cat Month. Adopt a shelter/rescue cat! If you can't, you can still help. Put on your facebook page to check out rescues/shelters for a potential adoption. Contact your local shelter/rescue and ask if you can help. Share an adoptable cat on your blog. Sign up to foster kittens. Donate to your local shelter/rescue in honor of Adopt-a-Shelter/Rescue-Cat Month. Pass on an understanding of the importance of pet adoption to the next generation and also the importance of spaying/neutering your pets.
Please, if you could and you don't use them yourselves, we would love to have you send the weight circle from Purina products to us. Thank you.
We had BOXES on Friday night. My thanks given to you.
Loretta B from NY--a note and pop tabs for Kellen
Betz--for Catathon: iWorld Sound Capsule speaker
Aunty Fi--for the Catathon: A rainbow plaque: we will meet at the rainbow bridge and a pet frame with Meet you at the bridge
Schinn (she and Vaun are our visitors this week!)--card for Amy, kitty snackers, Fancy Feast, big spring toys, ring reinforcements and coupons
Autumn and mama Anna--for Catathon--3 pawprint snacker containers, various sizes, lots of great dog snackers, paw sticker, pet alert sticker for window
Widdletigger/Elizabeth--case of 24 paper towels specifically for Tabitha!
Halos mom and dad/Peggy & Bernie from NY--card with donation, Reeses minis from Halo, lg jug of Maple Syrup (yum!), rocks for garden from Lake Champlain (already on rock garden/in memory of Paul, Putter and Magenta), stationary cards/envelopes/kitty note cards, kitty chalkboard, Books!, puzzle of kitties among the peonies, Welcome bird hanger (is hanging up at our entrance!), shirt This is my happy face with Grumpy Cat
Joy and Don from NY--card and donation to be used as needed
Sandra T from OH--donation
Neuromom/Sherri and David from NY--card for Magenta and a donation in memory of Magenta from David
Jennifer/jacksmom--donation in memory of Putter, Magenta and Riika.
Deb--a donation in memory of Riika and in honor of her dear sister Melanie
Lynda S from MN--donation in memory of Magenta
Special thanks to Kathy R. Kathy made a wonderful gift of Magenta's stool. She painted the top of it. It has now received a few coats of protective paint so it's ready to come back to the Rescue Center. It's perfect and will always be Magenta's Stool. Thank you, Kathy.
Yesterday was our surgery day. Wow--what a very long day. I give big thanks to all involved that helped us: Dr. Darcy, Bonnie, Lynnette, Sue, Dr. Darcy's daughter, Schinn, Vaun and Beth. Many hands help make a productive day. We did 12 spays and 9 neuters. Dr. Darcy did 9 physicals for a volunteer's cats. She also did physicals for some of our FFRC cats.
Freemont, Kerri Kat, Navi, Ratchet, Whisk, Oriah, Preakness and Kizzie -- physicals all were good
Luigie--yes, he probably has a fractured pelvis or femoral head fracture. X-rays are not needed. Treatment is the same--let him do as he wants now that he's had a bit of R/R. It will heal just fine.
Walter--our sweet boy has been going thru a few problems lately and also circling. This is something that "is within himself". We now have him on meds to see if we can help "straighten him out"! A sweet boy.
Brandywine--mama to the 5 little kittens. Appears to have had a blunt force injury to her spinal cord. There's no nerve damage, she can walk, anal area is good, no numbness, so no x-rays are required but does display response to pain. So, she is on two kinds of soreness meds and also an antibiotic for her anemia. Her kittens are doing great--we are syringe feeding them 5-6 times a day, but she is cuddling them now.
Alma--poor baby, she has a bite wound abscess on her neck and chin. I had drained these abscesses several times, but it was decided we need to lance these "spots" and leave drainage holes. So, Dr. Darcy advised me to sedate her and lance this. She is also on an antibiotic and soreness meds. Feeling much better today and is eating again. This is only our 3rd bite wound in all these years. A real wonderful sport!
Karula--all I can say is she is old! We have had a difficult time determining her age. Bottom line---it doesn't matter. She is showing signs of decline. So, we will love her, dote on her and feed her whatever she wants and be thankful she is here.
Dr. Darcy also examined Nobbin, a new cat. He arrived on Friday, a probable victim of a cat bite injury and we suspect was caught in an engine. His bite wound is shaved and is on antibiotics for this. He also has multiple contusions and lacerations from the car. These are very sore, so he is also on a soreness med. He looks pretty scraggly right now, but we can help with that. He's a long hair gold/white sweet, purring boy. His left eye is non-functioning and is perforated. We will schedule this eye removal at some point. He is 10 months old and weighs only 4.12. Very very thin, but has a good appetite--just didn't have food to beef him up. We can help with that too. He's an easy boy to love!
Our bit of sad news now. We lost our sweet Riika after her surgery and while she was in recovery. Such a sadness this caused. I dread when this happens. First, the loss of a wonderful kitten, but also the hard part is knowing it was out of our control. This was a true medicine reaction. We have a wonderful monitor during surgery and all vital signs were normal. Physical was normal. A typical reaction to this particular drug is pulmonary edema. It took her very quickly. We tried to resuscitate but was unable to. Now, the question is: why? And how can we prevent it. The why--good question. We feel very strongly it was this drug reaction. What can we do? We will continue to monitor closely all of our surgeries. We have people hold them after surgery to monitor them. We watch for breathing, warmth, how they are reacting. We give good post-op care. Someone asked if we were to have waited till she was bigger, would that change? The answer is still no. The reason is that no matter what size she would be, the reaction would still be there. She was one of those rare rare ones that her body didn't like that drug. It also reinforces--never take for granted the medicines we use. I am extremely respectful of the meds that we use here. It's been said--Never ever get nonchalant about meds--they have a purpose and can be extremely helpful but they can have potential problems too. Always use caution. We will miss our Riika. May she be a reminder that all pets need to be cherished while they are here.
People ask me--isn't it just too hard to lose cats? It's not "too hard", but it's terribly difficult. I mourn for each loss. It hurts. And then to have to tell volunteers and our FFRCNation is terribly hard. But, the other side of this is to not have had them here, to have never known them. So, I'll take them, love them and cherish them while here. I am sad when we lose them but ready to carry on to the next ones that need help. Remember--this is a Rescue. We work with large volumes of cats. Death will happen. I ask people, don't keep track of how many have passed. Keep track of the living, the adoptions, the cats and kittens that are here. They are the ones that need us now. I thank you all for the love you feel for our FFRC cats. So....life will continue. . Let's keep focused on what we can do, not about what we can't change. Go hug your pet today--brush them, kiss them, hug them, give extra snackers and love them.
