Tim

Tim had been not quite right for a few days....stuffed up, not eating much, laying around more than normal.

Wednesday morning he really wasn't acting like himself. Mom called the vet and got an appointment for Tuesday.

However, when she got home Wednesday night after doing Nashville's adoption, Tim seemed worse. Mom decided to call the vet Thursday morning.

Unfortunately, around midnight on Wednesday, Tim threw up and was just laying on the floor. Mom grabbed him up and headed for the ER vet.

They did an ultrasound and found fluid in his abdomen. Blood work showed anemia and very high liver and kidney values. The vet couldn't say definitely what was going on but thought end stage kidney failure or cancer. Mom broke down. Could they keep him stable to get him to our vet on Thursday? The vet said she was concerned he wouldn't make it that long. Mom knew she had been hoping our vet could give her a "better" answer but she knew then it was time to make that awful decision and let him go.

At 4am on March 24, 2016, our sweet Tim, brother of our boy Tommy (who seems to be OK....but then he probably knew something was wrong before mom did), our resident Uncle Tim to foster kittens, feral kitten tamer and sweet cuddled, crossed Rainbow Bridge.

Mom was looking at pictures and even two weeks ago he looked good and was acting like his normal self. If his numbers were that bad, she knows that even testing a few months ago (senior blood work) probably wouldn't have changed anything except giving us and her more time to come to grips with this. Right now the suddenness of the whole thing is making it worse.

Rest in peace sweet Tim....you were very loved.

Random Fridays

That house gets some action. It comes off the foundation occasionally, but there is usually at least one occupant if not more. Poor Tim never seems to get a chance to sleep in there by himself. Someone (in this case Tostada) will end up climbing in with him.

aww - sleepy Tostada recharging in the sun

she is feeling so much better

Hey look - tiny kittens. The gray is the boy Cortland and the black is his sister Gala. They are eating and howling and (mostly) using the litter box. Mom set up baby jail and they are allowed to run around in there a couple of times per day while mom is cleaning the tower or feeding them.

Their sister Fuji however isn't doing so well. Mom got home from work on Monday and Fuji was cold and howling. Mom ran to a nearby v-e-t and ended up at the 24 hour clinic. They are giving her fluids and she is eating some on her own, but her temperature and blood sugar seem to go up and down, so she will be at the vet until they get her stable.

As for the rest of us, we are taking a cue from Nashville and plan to snooze the weekend. Though there is rumor of a kitten heading to an offsite adoption center and adoption events all weekend, so we suspect some kittens won't be getting much peace this weekend.

wordless Wednesday

(mom put the house back together and used some duct tape on the inside joints. Tim loves it - and there is usually more than one cat jammed in there)

look what we got

You may remember last year at Christmas, Target had a gingerbread house that was for cats. Lots of bloggers and cat people bought them and there were pictures all over. There was also commentary that there should be houses for other holidays.

Seems someone was paying attention because there is a haunted house that is available. Mom got ours and set it up over the weekend.

 

Tim got in first

Mozart checked it out right after

 

Almond wanted in on the action

 

Tommy stuck his head in the house, but it was occupied

Tim spent quite a bit of time in it and when he came out, Mozart moved in. The Christmas house was kind of plain but this one is decorated and pretty fun. It took mom just a couple of minutes to put it together. We suspect that toy won't stay in the doorway very long. As for the bottom, that is a good thick scratcher - we still have the one from the gingerbread house (the house survived until about February until a kitten disaster squad went through).

This house came apart by Sunday night. Mom is going to get some packing tape and put it back together. The toy is MIA. We do wish there were windows in this one - the Christmas house had windows and the kittens loved climbing in and out and whapping each other through them. Someone suggested cutting windows into the house and mom may do that.

weekend report

Mom got the laptop back and it seems to be running ok.....thank cod she didn't lose any files.

Nashville was neutered on Thursday. He is doing very well - as most boy cats do. Mom took him and London to an adoption event on Sunday.

We had VERY nice weather this weekend....mom opened the windows Thursday night and it has been getting cool enough overnight to keep us cool during the day. Sunday warmed up some so mom turned the a/c back on - remember we live on the second floor so it warms up here a little bit. But this coming week should be nice too, so back to open windows!!

Nashville and Topeka take a break from weekend kitten games. It has been some serious fun and games around here with this many kittens all about the same age. London is probably 4 weeks older than the spice kittens who are probably only 2 weeks older than the TNR kittens. It is interesting to see how much bigger London is than everyone else. Presuming London stays not snotty, he and Nashville will most likely go up to the adoption center this week.

Otherwise we spent most of the weekend relaxing....

it sure does seem to be something we are good at.

one word Wednesday

Toes

new tower

Mom bought the playpen several years ago and it certainly served a great purpose. However, it is an odd shape, takes up a serious amount of space and it kind of hard to clean. So mom decided it was time to upgrade. She found a 2 story tower (and bought it using Amazon Smile so part of the money goes back to the rescue too...heehee) and decided to bite the bullet. It wasn't cheap, but for the amount of use it will get, mom decided the cost was worth it. Of course, once it was delivered, she had to get it UP the stairs....

Topeka is the assembly inspector

It took mom probably longer than normal to get it together. Due to the construction, it would have gone together much easier with two people - you stand up a wall, connect the front and back and the hope nothing comes undone. It did - a couple of times before mom managed to get it to stay together long enough to get up the second wall.  :) The shelves were included and so was the puffy bed.

Mom bought the hammock separate. Right now it is attached to the ceiling of the tower, but she is thinking about moving it a little lower. You can't see the doors, but there are double doors at the top and the bottom making it much easier to get in to clean and everything else. Tim has discovered he can stick his paw in to steal food, so mom is going to try to devise a way to block the sides of the tower so he can't get access.

Daiquiri has discovered she can get up on top. Mom says she may consider getting a flat bed or something to put up there to keep toes from going through the bars.

Mom was looking at the tower and realized that the kittens may not be able to get all the way up. After seeing baskets attached to the cage over at The Itty Bitty Kitty Committee, mom decided to borrow the idea. We haven't seen the kittens in the baskets yet, but it gives them an added step. She got the baskets cheap and they are just zip tied to the back of the tower.

It has been a hit. The kittens have figured it out. Yesterday morning mom got up to find Topeka sleeping on the shelf with the bed, so they can get all the way up there.

wordless Wednesday

London and Uncle Tim

weekend report

Not much going on here this weekend. Laundry, the evil dyson....and TNR kittens all over the living room.

We could use some purrs for the spice kittens. As mom says, they are a hot mess. Mom has given them a couple of meds, but they have the runs in a bad way. Once everything gets cleared up, they are so getting a bath. Mom cleaned the bathroom once but it is still kinda messy. Not sure what is up with them, but we are working on it.

 

Nashville on the move

 

Topeka - checking out the living room

 

Nashville checking out London

London goes tomorrow to be neutered. His snot cleared up pretty quick this time.

He will come back here Tuesday night and then to the adoption center on Wednesday.

 

We're pretty sure Ivy didn't know Reno was that close.

Random Thursdays

We have a special post for tomorrow, so we are doing our random post today....

Morocco is now available for adoption with one of our local partners

Mom dropped her off this morning....paws crossed 

she gets adopted quick!

seriously, every kitten LURVS them some Uncle Tim

Ivy contemplates

If you live near us in central Ohio, mom will be out on Saturday at our vet's office in Grandview for an ice cream social and yard sale benefiting the rescue. There will be fun stuff to buy and ICE CREAM!! (though rumor has it mom has said she isn't bringing any home to us)

Mom mentioned something about a slobbery dog run on Saturday too.

Daiquiri and Tim

No matter how old the kitten, no one seems to be able to resist Tim's charm

OK - and for some reason she was biting his collar.....

random Fridays

We bid on a bed made by the mom over at Celestial Kitties

It came in the mail and has been of HIGH interest

(more for its ability to be hauled all over the house rather than sleeping on it)

Tim....the cat laundry was clean

but the lid wouldn't close (mom doesn't always fold)

So he knocked the lid off and climbed inside

Mom is thinking about going with a fiesta theme for the foster kitts and mom: mom cat would be Margarita, the orange kittens would be Salsa and Queso, the black kitten Blanco (cause if you are going to name kittens, why not be contrary as well), and the tabbies Taquito and Tostada. What do you think???

random Fridays

Mom took the handle off this basket and put a blanket in it and put in under an end table. It has become a very popular spot - especially since mom moved the table next to the sliding door, so we can snooze here and look out the window. We don't think Tim and Daiquiri are both going to fit in there together much longer though.

Fanta....smug little monkey

Rootbeer - we hope his family shows up quick

~~~~~~~~~~~
GREAT NEWS.....Faygo was adopted on Sunday after about an hour at the adoption center. He lives with a nice young couple. He will be an only cat (a couple of people tried to convince them to take Rootbeer too but they are sure they want only one). Concats sweet boy!  Mom got to meet his new dad on Sunday and gave him her card, so maybe we will get an update.

what you need - a post by the mom

Daiquiri checking out what mom is posting on Twitter

I have a confession to make. This isn't easy to admit and it won't be easy to read. But here goes:

I didn't want to keep Daiquiri.

There, I said it.

Now, let me back up....and I will warn you, this is a long post.

When I first started to foster, I made a commitment, both to myself and to the cats and kittens I fostered. I would always be there for them. I have been lucky in that not many have been returned (at least that I know of). Chex and Milano came back, and they stayed with me until I could get them adopted again. And there have been foster failures along the way (a foster failure for those new to this is: fostered, failed to return - also known as adopted by the foster family). In fact, now that I think about it, technically everyone here is a foster failure. :)

Last year was hard. Maestro died in May from cancer at 19 years old. I had kittens at the time....and Coral ended up working her way into my heart. So she stayed. And then she got so sick and died from FIP at 6 months old in October. I wasn't ready. While Maestro leaving was hard, it was expected and I had time to prepare. Coral was so young and it took everything I had to admit that I couldn't fix her and had to let her go. And to be honest, I still have problems seeing her picture.

At that same time, Daiquiri was tested and came back faintly FeLV positive. I could have moved her to another foster home, but committed to her and rearranged some things at the house. By the time we got the weird test results, and then the final test results, she was over 5 months old and had been here since she was about 3 weeks old. I was afraid she wouldn't get adopted as a teenager. And honestly, as much as I wouldn't commit my heart, I knew on some level that she was staying.

But I wasn't ready. Daiquiri is the POLAR opposite of Coral. While she is slowly beginning to appreciate a good cuddle, it is by far not her favorite thing. Coral on the other hand was always in my lap. Even when she was feeling good, she would play but then when it was time for a nap, she was with me. Daiquiri will happily nap by herself or with Tim. Yes, she decidedly loves Tim more than she loves me. haha

I thought long and hard. I knew I couldn't give her up. But I also knew I had to make some changes to ME in order to be fair to HER. I just didn't know where to start or what to do.

Fortunately, this was right about the time of the last painting session, and I met up with my friend Kelly. Sitting at a table painting for 6 hours, you talk about all sorts of things. And Daiquiri and Coral were among the topics. I hadn't spoken about it to anyone at that point. I wasn't even sure I could get the words together, no less finding someone who wasn't going to judge me and take it all the wrong way. Kelly was a saint!

6 hours of painting and lots of revelations

And putting it out there helped.

The other thing that helped....getting Mae West adopted. I know, sounds strange. But the woman who adopted her was asking me - how do you choose? And after walking her through the process, it made me think.

Miss Mae West

Over that next weekend, I came to a few realizations:

1. Sometimes you don't choose. Sometimes it happens. I was prepared to keep the numbers at 6 after losing Coral. Apparently, my plans were ignored. And I had to accept that.

2. Maybe what I thought I wanted, wasn't in fact what I needed. And it certainly wasn't what that household needed. See, for those of you who have followed for a while, you know about Junior and Ivy and Spud. They have a....hate-hate relationship. However, Daiquiri LOVES Junior. She doesn't know his background - he has always just been her dorky older brother. While Spud and Ivy think Junior is weird and annoying, Daiquiri just sees Junior. And heavens she plays with him to no end. Surprisingly, it has made a difference....while he doesn't entirely leave the other two alone, and while the other two still take him at face value and find him annoying, having someone else to chase around who loves the game is much more fun. And a tired Junior is a very good thing.

In fact, the other evening, Daiquiri was down in the entry way to the condo, singing about something (or testing the acoustics - who knows with that girl). Junior looked over the edge, then snuck down the stairs. A couple of minutes later.....pounding herds of elephants up the steps and down the hall...Junior in the lead with Daiquiri hot on his tail!!!

3. I needed to let go. Losing Maestro was hard. Losing Coral broke my heart. But trying to force Daiquiri into a mold where she was never going to fit wasn't fair to her....or to me. I had to learn to love her for who she is....a nutty loveable goofy kitten.

Now if I could only get her to like me as much as she likes Tim.....  Or maybe that really IS wishful thinking.

By the way.....hard as it is to believe - the nut is 6 months old now. Happy Half Birthday Daiquiri!!
(oh - and she is going to be a big girl....not fat, but tall and sturdy)

Pet Dental Health Month

The nice people at Chewy.com asked if we would like to review the Feline Greenies this month. Since it is Pet Dental Health month, we though that was a grand idea.

Some of you may remember back in January 2013, Tim had his teeth cleaned, then was diagnosed with stomatitis and had most of his teeth extracted. (this is a great article from over on Catster.com)

Anyhow, if you have been around here much, you know that there are very few things we won't eat.

Though Ivy didn't seem to be a big fan this time around. Tim wasn't either, but since he doesn't have many teeth left, mom wasn't too worried. MOL

But, speaking of Tim, when he was at the v-e-t the last time, she noticed that the teeth he has left (his fangs basically) were also getting inflamed.

In honor of Pet Dental Health Month, Tim may end up being toothless.

Mom knows she should be brushing teeth around here, but honestly, she has this weird thing about keeping her fingers attached to her hand. Far be it from us to deny her the right to feed us more treats for a good cause.