Okay---so I panicked Twice yesterday I counted the Porchies, the Fire Cats and the Barnies. I kept coming up short. I was missing 1 Barnie, 1 Fire Cat and 7 Porchies. Where could they be? Steve went and checked the back of the farm property and the backwater---no cats. I checked the main farm property, across the road and all the sheds. By near-nighttime I was worried---where could they all be? I know it was very hot yesterday and very humid. Just worry, worry, worry. I decided one more trip outside to check. Here comes Mew, right behind was Whiskers. I sat down to pet them and up came Olaf. Then I saw JJ coming out of the woods. And there was Gwendolyn too. Walking to the Fire Cat area, I then saw Blake. They all ended up being accounted for. We have extra smart cats---they must've all taken cover in the cool woods for the day! All is well, all are safe and all ate a good breakfast this morning!
This morning has been busy. After breakfast we did treatments, made up more gruel and refilled the flea prevention basket. The Porchies and Barnies got their monthly flea prevention. The Covies will get theirs later today.
Today is a special day. Steve, two daughters and a granddaughter and I are going to have some fun! We are going to Cabela's -- a store we will all enjoy! It's a camping, hunting, fishing store and mighty big! So, I'll see you all later today
Froggy was up in the Main Area a bit today. That boy is amazing. We put him in the litterbox periodically during the day--rarely does he miss. He's a good eater too---a bit messy, but then....he's a boy! lol He loves to play and makes friends with the other cats. And he's growing!
The main purpose of this blog is to give you an update on Grizzle. It's been a very very tough weekend. A weekend that our vet has been helping us with, to keep Grizzle going. Saturday morning I noticed his head had grown quite a bit over night.and that he wasn't feeling so good. At that time, we only had 1 dose of his meds in him. He received his second dose of meds. But during the day Saturday, his head continued to swell. After talking to Dr. Darcy, it was decided we would have to give a diuretic. This is something we didn't want to do---it's hard on a young one's kidneys, but at that point, we had no choice. He could no longer stand or walk or swallow. He was going down hill fast. And his poor head--so much bigger and mis-shaped. The diuretic started working and he peed alot and even then some more. We also had to work so he wouldn't get dehydrated since he couldn't swallow, as he was so weak. He was also experiencing pain--this is a big no-no here. We don't want any pain to any of our cats. Because of his smallness and problems, we started with small amounts of pain meds. And it worked! It was noticeable the difference in him. Saturday night I was able to also syringe him a bit but he was still obviously very weak, but alive. Sunday morning his head was back down to the size it was Friday when he arrived. It swelled a tiny bit more Sunday morning. By this time he had more meds on board and the swelling stopped. We continued the pain meds though as it was needed. Last night, he was hungry! He let me syringe feed him a whole meal. Then he napped and slept a sleep that was comfortable. Late last night when he woke up, he was hungry again and ate half of another meal all by himself. This morning he started walking around, clumsy as he was, it was wonderful to see! So, he is now back in the Back Thumper's Room. Even though I will be gone today, we have eagle-eyes on him and he is being cared for.
Our vet has been conferring with a vet neurologist in Michigan who is very familiar with pet hydrocephalus. This particular vet is the one who will do his future surgery. We won't know all the details on this until later. This is the vet who has started us on the correct meds for Grizzle, under Dr. Darcy's supervision. Tomorrow, Grizzle will have his ultrasound. There will be another conference with the MI. vet today. Please keep Grizzle in your good thoughts and prayers. He's a terrific kitten, obviously with a huge will to survive.
