Sunday, August 21, 2016

Sunday, August 21

What a day yesterday was.  Very long, very productive, good things and yes, some sad things too.  

First, I would like to say thanks to the people who sent BOXES for Friday evening.  Thanks! 
Billie K--13 beautiful towels---so fluffy--the cats will love them!
Julie & David--cute card, kitty pillow & 2 travel mugs (for flash sale or fun-raiser)
Annette20 from CA--donation to FFRC
Macncheesendoodlesmom--donation for FFRC & a donation for spay/neuter program
Clark, Jessie and the Rest--Happy 2nd birthday to Hensley & the chicken $5
ColleenMP--coupons and box tops
Gusti--donation to FFRC for Janna & siblings for flea meds and as a welcome!
Christina H from IN--donation for taking in the kitten they found--Woodrow

Gem--our moderator--a beautiful hand glass etched bottle/2 glasses for FFRC
SonJa--our moderator & visitor--cat toys, cat blankies, pillowcases & pads

Jenny and Brent from Canada--is visiting this weekend, with SonJa, to celebrate Joey's birthday! Joey received a donation for chicken to share with his friends and a beautiful big soft bed and blanket with his name on it! And his 4th birthday card is awesome! Jenny and Brent also brought a truck load of goodies for FFRC--a super big help to us.  There were bug sprays, big/little plates, laundry soap, Mr. Clean, snackers for the vols, furnace tape, vinegar, bleach, K-cup coffee, Scrubbing Bubbles, Lysol wipes and much more.  We are so very grateful.

We've heard back from some of the families that adopted from us!
Anthony---he is doing fabulous and is an absolute joy. He gives the family fun and laughter and sleeps with their daughter. They love him!

Mittens/now known as Ozzie--a beautiful kitten. Mittens is growing and now is almost 4 lbs. He is the sweetest thing and likes to tear through the house at 100 MPH! They are happy he is part of their family.   The pictures sent are wonderful!

Many thanks to Goss who manages our FFRCNation page.  There are 1377 registered users. The forum has 986 topics with a total of 4,970 posts. Lots of info and good friends there. Thanks, Goss!  Check it out at:  ffrcnation.com

We took in a new kitten yesterday. His name is Zun, a Name a Cat name. He is all black with a big purr.  He's only 6 weeks old and his birthday is 7/9/16.  Whenever our vets office calls with a need, we certainly want to help.  This little kitten took a ride in a car--approx. a 15 minute drive under the hood. He was yowling his head off when someone heard him and told the driver.  He could not be retrieved so she then drove to Dr. P's office where the staff was able to get him out. He was overheated due to the motor and the temperature. He also had major lice infestation--all gone now! He has a little sore on his chin too.  All he wants is to be held and loved on.

Okay--info from yesterday.

Now, we need to talk about this.  Giving sad info is one of the hardest parts for me.  Not only dealing with this myself, but letting others know is hard.  First, about 10 days ago, we lost one of the black kittens---Cathy.  The day before she passed, she was "off" but nothing in any way showed a serious problem. That next morning we found her already gone, looking like she was sleeping. We do not know what happened but caused great concern. I did not mention it before as I wanted to do a major watching of all the kittens to make sure nothing "big" was out there lurking in the kittens. She was the only one. This could've been something "within" herself physically, something that we will never know.  But....I feel the other kittens are safe. Very sad to have lost her.

And we also lost 2 other kittens yesterday. Schinn and Amelia.  Foster Peggy has had them for almost their entire lives. They went back and forth from her to here twice. They were never ever well kittens. We have truly worked with both of these kittens every day of their lives--have tried different antibiotics, meds to build immune systems, meds for soreness, vet checks, 1f`meds in combination. Nothing worked. I had asked Peggy to bring them back yesterday so we could make a decision on them. Dr. Darcy looked at them again. One had lost significant weight again the other hadn't gained any weight in 3 weeks. Both had multiple problems and some of the problems caused great discomfort. I felt we could no longer ask any more of these kittens. They tried so hard, we tried so hard---nothing helped and the kindest thing was to end their suffering.  It's been a difficult time for them as they struggled to survive but it wasn't to be. We will never know why their immune systems were so extremely poor---they had so many different viruses during their lifetime. Peggy and I both talked and it was decided that it was no longer fair to ask more of them. They both passed peacefully beside each other and being told they were loved. 

We cancelled Woodie's surgery. Dr. Darcy and I was both concerned with a bit of diarrhea that he has. Chucky was neutered but then he too developed a tad bit of diarrhea.  They probably have a little intestinal bug but we want to watch them. They are both in the double condo in the back Thumper's Room for observation. They both are on medications and we expect a full recovery. Both are active and playing in their big condo pen.

We also cancelled Tiyani's surgery.  He's just a bit small and still has a tiny bit of congestion. There is no reason to hurry this surgery and so he will continue his antibiotics. He's eating good and running around and playing. 

The males that we did do were:  Todd--he also sports a fairly large abdominal incision to repair that hernia. Chuckie was neutered as was Wolfman Jack and Saul.

The females that we did were: Roberta and Christine, Lucia and Mandisa.

The extra surgeries we did was:  Puma--a cat of a volunteer--had a degloved tail and was repaired.  Looks good now!  Two other volunteers trapped 2 females which we spayed! 

Here's our new total!  We have now done a total of 366 spays/neuters.  215 spays and 151 neuters. I hope to do many many more of these!

And then we had many physicals that we did. Those that were done were: Stevie, Merlee Jo, Winston, Coralie, Elsie, Felicity, Felix, Hensley, Jessie, Paddy Cake, Pania, Sea Turtle and Seymour.  All physicals were good with just a few notes.  Sea Turtle's kidneys are very small and she's drinking more--we already knew this so will continue to watch her.  Seymour's side wound is healing nicely. Paddy Cakes still has a 3,4 our of 6 sternal heart murmur--causes no problems. 

Livingston gives us cause to worry.  He had another bout of peeing problems.  Here's the thing with Livingston---his penis is not visible on the outside of him.  It's tucked somewhere inside him and could not be found when he had his surgery a few weeks ago.  So, the urine leaks thru an opening that his body has created. But, if he gets a kink or the urethra becomes constricted enough that he cannot urinate, then we're in trouble. He's still too small for the PU surgery.  He needs more "grow up time".  

The 3 little new babies are doing great. I just checked on them a bit ago and they were all three on the plate of food gobbling it up! The sores from the maggots on Sindel are healing nicely. 

And tomorrow starts the August Fun-Raiser! This total fun-raiser is to help our spay/neuter program as the funds are depleted.  Check out the cam video and the info on our fb pages.  Wonderful event!  The drawing will be Thursday evening. 

So.........a busy time here for us.  As you all know, rescue work is not always all packing smiles. It's hard, heart breaking work at times. But, overall, it's extremely rewarding and is in our hearts. Thank you for being a part of what we do.  I appreciate you all out there.