Before we do the update on surgeries, I'd love to give thanks for our BOXES from Thursday afternoon. I have always been taught to give thanks. Our FFRCNation always blows me away with the generosity shown. Sometimes it's hard to fully express my sincere thoughts on this. Please know, I am very grateful for your support.
Love3cats--- Blue and Purple Runner Rug
Patty PK - 2 tubs Party Mix, Case of Wellness
SvCathy Our Mod - Hello Kitty Chocolate filled Marshmallows for Vols
jz_nyc - FL - 4 spiral notebooks, Roll of 2" packing tape, Box of Advantage II for Kitties, 3 bags Temptations This was given in memory of her beloved cat, Annie
Dim/Robert D - lots of Peacock Feathers to use for adoptions!
Mr. Whiskers for Spiker 6 Boxes of 16 Creamy Broths, a Kitty egg shaper for Miss Eldora's breakfast.
Elaine & Alan - 4 Cases Fancy Feast Variety, 2 Boxes Appetizers, 2 Cases Sheba Cups, 105 bottles of water, 2 pkg Velveeta, 4 boxes Biscotti, 9 12pks of pop
Bailey Ann & Kevin - UK - 3 bags of Snack Pockets Variety, 6 of 6 each Chicken & Liver Rolls
Victoria S/Pentecostal Church of KY - Donation in memory of Barbara Hull
Mike/sophieandlucysdad - MI - Donation in memory of Lucy
Jane W/Calico17 - Happy Mothers Day Card with Donation
IowaCatLadyMarie & The Magnificent 7 - IA Happy 1st Birthday Ramsay (Robby is 10 yrs older than you!)
CATATHON
SvCathy Food of the Mods: Starbucks Coffee Mug and 2 Bags of Starbucks Coffee Hello Kitty: Choclolate filled Hello Kitty Marshmallows
Sheila J/Sunnie J - Tea Time: Tea infused Jam
Hankygrapvine - Horsin Around: Mini toy horses, Make It& Bake It Horse Sun Catcher, Stickers & Redmans Horse figures to Paint Kit
Scotty our Scotland Mod - Kitty Card Food of the Mods: Scotland & UK Treats: Chocolate & Caramel Wafers, Chocolate Tea Cakes, Snowballs, Edinburgh Castle Rock Candy, Fredo Faces, Cadbury Heroes, Caramel Wafers, Mint Chocolate Candy Bars & a Gift for Shawn/HappyFlame
Gracie - Ty 2-Monkies (one for Lynnette), Leopard & Gorilla Ty Sketch Pad
Jayne M - 5 Piece Hello Kitty: Back Pack, Pencil Case, Water Bottle, Carbiner, Lunch Bag
Debbie & Annie - Texas: Chocolate Cow Patties, Texas Postcard, Big D (Dallas) Mug, Oven Mit, Hot Pad & Kitchen Towel, Texas Boot Mug
Joco - Minnesota Basket: 2 'My Pillows' & a travel pillow, Birch Canoe made by Pat Cruise, Red Wing Pottery Utensil Jar, Watkins Vanilla, 8oz jar Raw Minnesota Honey, 3 Piersons Nut Rolls, 4 melamine plates: Paul Bunyan with Babe the Blue Ox, White Tail Deer, Loons & MN Farm Scene, Spam Lunch Box: 2 Hot Pads, Roasted Wild Rice, Sandra Sams Dakota Tribe, Running Painted Pony, art medallion, Butter Almond Toffee, Book - Highway 61 Re-Visited, Prince card, Can of Spam
Jody626 - Coffee: Mini Moos, 2- Duncan Hines Cup of Coffee Cake, Bareggio set of Coffee Mugs w/4 stir spoons
Mudjie - Food of the Mods: Kitty apron & Texas Bluebonnet, plus a Horse shoe Horsin Around: Bandanna Horse Shoe
Now that we are at the place where the majority of the Catathon items are in, I'd like to say a special thanks to our Catetary, Mudjie. You are wonderful. Many thanks. Now....rest those fingers! We've kept them busy!
We have even more thanks to give too! It's wonderful that saying thanks is a constant renewable thing!!
Dawn N--20 boxes Whiskas chicken packets!
Karen K--donation in honor of Ramsay's 1st birthday!
Billie K--donation in memory of Mama Calico Cat & Swizzle
Wendy C--donation to help with meds for Nyota
JanefromTN--donation to FFRC
The kitten crew is now out and about much of the day time. For night time, we still put them back in Kitty Kabana. They are all doing good. Such energy, big appetites, great flying abilities and super cuddliness!
We took on two new young adults.
Charlie--she's a gray/white female, weight of 6 lbs. Her birthday is 3/19/17, arriving at 14 months of age. She was found alongside a road, barely moving. A neighbor and her friend went back to check on her, especially due to the very heavy rains and brought her inside. A real possibility of being bumped bvy a car. She has a mark on her left hip. She's friendly, no microchip and is of good weight. A rel pretty girl.
Mandela--she's a grey tawny torti female, weight of 7.3 lbs. She was found by herself by a friend of FFRC's. She is about a year old with a birthday of 5/7/17. This is a Name a Cat name. More on her below.
Surgery update!
We did 16 surgeries. This breaks down to 6 females and 10 males. This brings our grand total to 431----243 females and 188 males. This time last year, we were at 351.
The spays done were: Gisela, Zoie, Grace O'Malley, Jillian, Mandela and Charlie
The FFRC neuters done were: Thane, Mars, Wellington, Wells, Zino and Zeke
The public neuters were: 4
We then did 11 physicals:
Derecho--a little gingivitis, no more than before, physical good
Marilyn--heart sounds great! Heart murmur--2/6. Dr. Darcy does not feel her heart will be an issue with her at all!!
Spiker--good physical, still has a dental scheduled
Alma--good physical, she then got to climb her tree!
Annetta--good physical--no advancement of her cancer--super news! Dr. Darcy got to see how silly she is when she plays!
Paddy Cake--Needs a dental--probably several teeth removal, otherwise good
Paddy Purr--good physical. heart murmur still 3-4/6, nose is stable
Hilary--good physical
Mitz--needs a dental, otherwise good
Eddie White--needs a dental, otherwise good. He was such a good boy--the best he's been for a physical--wasn't scared! He has come such a long way!
Nyota--all is good! Dr. Darcy is pleased with her healing process. She continues to get two soaks a day (will be one soon) and her special ointment applied. Two of her feet are now pale pink, as the pads continue to heal. She's an awesome cat!
Many thanks to Joyce D for the pizza/breadstick lunch and to Gusti for the drinks for surgery day. So very kind of you both.
And then we had a bit of a surprise yesterday. Our spay of Mandela actually turned into a C-section. While we thought perhaps she was in heat, we did not realize that she was actually pregnant. Her tummy was barely roundish. Her spay began and it soon was apparent that she had a single baby that was full term. Mandela received, for a sedation, a "cocktail" of meds. All normal for an adult. But one of the meds is never given to little kittens as it can depress the respiratory system. There is a reversal to this but we've never had the experience (and don't want to again!) of having a baby receive this med. We had nothing to lose--so a very small dose of the reversal was given. Very quickly, the baby took a better, deeper respiration, then meowed! It truly was a miracle. And then the respirations kicked in! We weighed him--most newborns are 3 to 4 ounces--he weighed 3.7 ounces! A full term kitten! It gave us great joy to have this little one survive. His name is appropriate--he is called Miracle.
Miracle was given to his mama, Mandela. At first, she gave him a lick or two. It took a while but then he did nurse.....once. After that, Mandela made the decision she was not up to motherhood and reacted poorly with him. We were very concerned for his safety. So, Miracle was given to Callisynne. She took him in, gave him a good bath and let him nurse. We are supplementing him too as the other kittens are a few weeks older. This morning though, his tummy was full but we still supplemented. He fits right in with the rest of the kittens, now made up of 3 different litters.
You may wonder---if a mama cat is spayed, can they still nurse? The answer is yes. Many times when a c-section is done, the spay is completed also at that time. The problem here is that Mandela simply didn't want the kitten. And that is ok--all is taken care of.
Sometimes I wish I could hide the sad things. But....I have always promised to be honest with you all. You deserve that and I respect you all too much not to be honest, even when sad things happen. We have lost all 4 kittens of Tina's litter. They have never been thrifty. They have had severe diarrhea and have lost weight. None of the treatments we have done have helped. Over a matter of 3 days, all 4 have passed away. I've talked to Dr. Darcy and we simply do not have an answer as to why. These are one of those things that we just don't know. Now.........Tina needs some special TLC and a decision for her future. Tina is not an indoor cat, really prefers us not to hardly pet her. She was originally found in the big outdoors. Remember my friend from Toledo--she agrees every year to help me with hard to place cats and will do this a couple times a year. She accesses them too and helps to find the perfect home, whether it be inside or outside. Tina will be spayed within the next two weeks. I have asked her to take on Tina for us as this is like a big scary place for her---too many people, too much noise, too much action. I feel in my heart that things will be good for Tina.
Farm Update: we have acquired a few new farm animals. Last week we took on 3 adult Road Island Reds (one of my favorite breeds). And on Friday, we took on 2 more adult Road Island Reds. Mr. Rooster is so very pleased! He now has these 7 plus Checkers, the Barred Rock hen. Plus we took on a new goat--Onyx. She is a Nubian goal. And Pickles (the Alpine goat) is thrilled to have a friend. It's been so sweet to see this friendship!
Got some Jacci and Steve news! We are going to take off for 3 days this week--Tuesday, Weds., Thursday. Need a little break. I use to never ever do this, but sometimes a break is much needed. It's also our anniversary. We enjoy going to Shipshewana and just spend our time, with no rushing, at the flea market, the auction and the downtown quaint little stores. I leave the Rescue Center in very capable hands---the volunteers.
We have two awesome people starting the Description of Catathon Items! They are SonJa and MK. We knew SonJa was coming and was soooo surprised that MK could come too! This 2-some team will take care of this huge job! Later this week, Jen C will be coming to take pictures of all the Baskets and Items--another huge job. Once this is all done, all this info is sent to Vaun and Clay--they organize it into our website at fofrescue.org. You will then be able to view and read about all the magnificent items for Catathon. Many thanks to Jen, SonJa, MK, Vaun and Clay for this big task.
