Okay, I just had to do it. I had to include a picture of Cabbages.
The cat lady messaged me with a picture, and I’ve cropped out anything remotely identifying.
Just look at that face!!! Those eyes!!
Apparently, she is very chatty. She’s never been particularly vocal, but with so many other cats around, she probably had no reason to be.
She was like this, when the cat lady took her. Losing weight. Increasingly lethargic. Needing to be fed with a syringe. We had no idea how close to death she was. Thanks to the cat lady, Cabbages is still with us, doing SO much better, and has a forever home waiting for her.
What an amazing woman.
If you would like to read more about Cabbages and our fundraiser to surprise-reimburse her vet expenses, click here. Or, you can go straight to the fundraiser page here.
After doing my morning rounds, I contacted the garage to let him know I wasn’t going to make my appointment with the van today. We are under blizzard conditions right now, which are expected to continue until this evening.
There actually isn’t a lot of snow, but the winds are insane. There is a drift in front of the garage door we will have to dig out before we can go anywhere though, at the moment, the driveway is still mostly clear.
There is supposed to be a path around the back of the kibble house, and a kibble tray at the end. Under the drift. The cat path to under the storage house was also filling in.
Temperature wise, we are at only -17C/1F, but with 50km/31m per hour winds, the wind chill is at -31C/-24F. The winds are coming from the northwest, which we are normally protected from, but at these speeds, it’s just swirling around the house and all the outbuildings.
The path to the compost pile is, once again, mostly gone.
Even right up against the house, the path to the feeding station is mostly filled in.
I opened the gate to check the road, then left it open so that it would not be drifted over in the closed position. Right now, the only thing keeping the end of our driveway from drifting over completely, are the walls of snow made by the front end loader when it was being cleared. They’re acting a bit like a snow fence, for the moment. The road past our place is actually looking quite clear, but it runs from north to south, and the winds are just blowing the snow along. The main gravel road, and the highway I would be taking to get that oil change done, would be drifted over, and the winds would be hitting our van broadsided. I checked the Facebook group for local highway conditions, and some people were reporting that they were in the ditch – and the roads they were on were mostly clear! It was the winds that did them in.
Smart kitties. They came out when I put food and warm water out, ate and drank quickly, then disappeared into their various hidey holes. One is visible in the window, but I think there’s about 5 or 6 in there.
I saw Rolando Moon emerge from the junk pile. She’s a tough one, and has seen many cold winters. She knows how to handle it. She stayed out to eat longer than the other cats, then went into the insulated shelf shelter to get out of the wind. Which, as you can see, is even managing to blow snow into the opening!
We need to build more little shelters like this. Especially when we finally get that junk pile hauled away. They use it for shelter, a lot.
Before heading outside, I treated Butterscotch and Nosencrantz with some wet cat food. Nosencrantz has been staying on the top shelf of the frame the heat bulb is in, which means sitting on top of the board the fixture is attached to. That puts her under the light we’ve got, hanging under the peak. It’s got a full spectrum bulb that we were using for seed starts. It’s incandescent, so it’s also warm, so we’ve been leaving it on. She was there when I came in, and I helped her down so she wouldn’t have to jump and jar her body.
Butterscotch has been using one of the box beds we have set up, and very languidly emerged when I brought the food out. I can see some things knocked about a bit, so I know at least one of them is trying to jump onto shelves and explore a bit, but it’s not too bad.
When I was done my rounds, I paused to spend time with them before going into the house. Nosencrantz quite enjoyed being held and snuggled.
When I put her on the swing bench, she was comfortable enough to roll around and let me see her roly poly belly!
She is such a big sausage!
I was able to pick up Butterscotch and cuddle her a bit, too. She even purred at me!
After hearing from the vet, what the condition of her uterus was when they removed it, I have a suspicion that Butterscotch is going to undergo a catonality change. She’s always had a bit of a mean streak at times. I now wonder if it was due to physical discomfort. Right now, she’s moving around more slowly (or course!), but while I was holding Nosencrantz, she still came over and wound around my feet. When I picked her up, she was a lot calmer than I normally expect her to be. Even as I was going in and out of the sun room, she made no attempt to escape, though that might have more to do with having just had surgery, yesterday. Perhaps, once she’s healed up more from the surgery, she’ll go back to her more ornery self. However, I have a suspicion she’s going to be a happier and more pleasant cat to be around.
It should be interesting to see how it goes for Beep Beep, next week. We don’t know if she is older or younger than Butterscotch.
So today is a day to stay indoors. We shall see if we can make the trip to the city tomorrow or not. The winds are supposed to die down, but the temperature is supposed to drop quite a bit.
Times like this are exactly why we’ve been working so hard to stay stocked up!!
Having said that, one of the things I was hoping to do while in town getting the oil change, was to come home with some Chinese take-out. Now that it’s no longer an option, I am craving Chinese food like crazy! :-D
We just got back from picking Nosencrantz and Butterscotch up from the vet, a couple of hours earlier than anticipated.
She looks so betrayed!
Nosencrantz looks absolutely miserable! Especially since whatever they used in her ears has a red tinge to it, making the inside of her ears look bloody as well as oily. :-D
I got a call from the cat lady about them, first. She still keeps calling my cell phone instead of our land line, which worked out this time, because the vet called while we were talking! I couldn’t answer a second phone, so I let it go to machine, and we both got to listen to the message being left. :-D
The cats were just waking up from surgery, and were doing well, so they were good to be picked up between 2:30 and 3 instead of between 4 and 5. The cat lady informed us that they also had fleas, which was a surprise. We’ve never seen fleas on the outside cats, but of course, that doesn’t mean much, since most of them don’t let us look too close. She asked us to keep an eye out on the other outside cats for things like bald patches, and to let her know; she would come to our place and treat them for fleas herself.
I don’t see that happening.
Before we got off the phone, I asked how Cabbages was doing. I was so happy to hear that she is starting to jump around in the kennel they are keeping her in, and that she has gained almost a pound. This morning, the dry bowl was empty, which means she’s been eating on her own – and she really loves roasted drumsticks best!
I am so thankful for the cat lady and her vet. Cabbages would not be alive right now, if not for them.
If you would like to read more about Cabbages and our fundraiser to surprise-reimburse her for vet expenses, click here. Or, you can go straight to the fundraiser page here.
When it was time to pick up Butterscotch and Nosencrantz, my daughter went in to get them and got more information.
Those fleas the cats had?
It was one flea.
On Nosencrantz.
That’s all they saw.
The tech was a bit concerned, saying she’d heard something about the cats going back outside. She was GREATLY relieved when my daughter explained we had a room set up for them to recover in. She was equally relieved to know that they did not go inside the house, either. Otherwise, we’d be having to treat the remaining 15 cats for fleas and ear mites – and treat the entire house for fleas, too!
I am so glad to have that sun room to use as a buffer zone!
Because of the ear mites and the flea, Nosencrantz needs to stay in the sun room for at least three days before we can consider bringing her indoors. That will give her time to get used to using a litter box, too. We are to keep a close eye on her for fleas and ear mites. The de-worming pill she got should also take care of those, but if it still seems to be an issue, we can come back and get another pill.
Butterscotch had a surprise for the vet during surgery. As they removed her uterus, they found it was “tattery and falling apart.” Yes, that’s an exact quote!!!
No wonder she was such an unhappy brood mother!
Apparently this is a reflection of age. We don’t know how old Butterscotch is. Just that she is more than 7 years old.
Everything else seemed to be fine, but we have been asked to keep an eye on her. In particular, on her gums. If they start looking white and anemic, we are to bring her back.
Not that she’s going to make that easy for us. As soon as we let her out of the carrier at home, she disappeared behind the swing bench. We can’t get at her without moving a lot of stuff. We’ll be coming in regularly to check on them, of course.
Butterscotch will be in the sun room for at least 7 days. Preferably 10, before going back outside.
If she stays on pattern, once she’s outside, she’s going to be avoiding us for at least a couple of months, so the longer we can keep her indoors to monitor her, the better.
It will be a while before her belly fur grows back, so if it gets cold again after she’s outside, we’re supposed to try and bring her back in again. Ha! I doubt she’d let us!
We still haven’t seen the surgical sites on either of them. Butterscotch disappeared as soon as the carrier was opened. Nosencrantz had to be poured out of the soft sided carrier; she would not leave on her own! She then immediately went under the heat bulb. She had a bandage for the IV on her leg that she was trying to shake off. We were told it could be taken off after half an hour, which had passed in the time it took to get them home, so I did manage to get that off. She didn’t make it easy, though at least she didn’t try to run away.
We will have to visit them frequently over the next while. That will be mostly on the girls, since tomorrow I’ll be going to town to finally get a much needed oil change for the van, and will most likely be heading to the city to do our Costco trip the day after.
Hopefully.
Our storm warnings have become blizzard warnings, but for the south of the province. We’ve seen no sign of the system in our area, yet. It still doesn’t look like we’ll be getting much snow, but the main concern will be high winds. From the weather radar, it looks like the most severe weather we’ll be getting won’t happen until 8 or 9pm tonight, with blowing snow tomorrow, plus several colder days.
Whatever ends up hitting us, I’m glad we were able to get the cats done first.
This morning, we got Butterscotch and Nosencrantz in to the vet.
There’s a storm on the way that’s supposed to start with sleet, then 6-10cm (2-4in) of snow. It was supposed to start about 8am, and drop off time was 8:20, so we headed out early, just in case. Not that these forecasts are accurate for where we are, most of the time, but why take a chance?
When I came into the sun room, I found Butterscotch and Nosencrantz had been using the swing bench, completely ignoring the beds we made for them, and even the space under the heater bulb. Clearly, it never got cold enough for them to give up those soft cushions! :-D
Butterscotch was not a happy camper when I put her in the carrier! I’m actually surprised she let me put her in so easily, considering she’s had this ride before, to get stitches on a gash we found on one of her back legs.
Nosencrantz was much, much calmer about going into the soft sided carrier. She is a much more easy going cat, and I think she will transition into an indoor cat very easily.
Once they were safely tucked away, I could quickly take care of the outside cats.
It’s been a while since this was done while it’s still dark out!
Tuxedo Mask is looking at the water, and the water is looking back! :-D
Once the critters were taken care of, my younger daughter and I headed out. We got to the clinic quite early, but they were okay with an early drop off. We’re expecting a pick up between 4 and 5pm, but they will phone us if the cats are ready earlier.
Once at home, I finished my rounds before heading back in. Things are still looking good out there, and we’re only at -12C/10F. We are expected to reach a high of -3C/27F by late this evening. Looking at the weather radar, the Alberta Clipper heading our way looks like it has already dissipated a fair bit. We should get bit of snow this afternoon, but it will likely have passed over us by the time we have to go pick up the cats. The rest of the system is looking like it will hit us in the evening and overnight. Where we are, I don’t think we’ll get any sleet at all, but who knows. We tend to have a strange climactic bubble over us that seems to push away a lot of these systems. I think it’s part of the lake effect where we are.
As long as we can get the kitties safely home today, we’re good with whatever the weather throws at us. :-)
I just wanted to make a quick update post, before writing the post I intended to. :-D
I have been in contact with the cat lady. I let her know that Butterscotch and Nosencrantz are snagged for their trip to the vet tomorrow. I had gone to spend some time with them, just before I contected her. They were both loafed on the swing bench and, to my surprise, Butterscotch was all over me, purring her heart out, wanting pets and skritches. So much so, she was bowling right over Nosencrantz, who was looking pretty stunned. :-D
I was able to give Nosencrantz some attention. This is the first time we’ve been able to do more than just pet her and occasionally pick her up, outside. I was noticing her behaviour while skritching her ears and gave them a closer look.
She has ear mites.
*sigh*
It’s not a surprise, but with all the yard cats we’ve brought inside, we’ve never seen ear mites before. We have been very fortunate, that way. I called the vet clinic to let them know, and it turns out treatment for ear mites is on the list, along with deworming and vaccinations. All of that, plus getting them fixed, for only $75 a cat!! Oh, how I appreciate connecting with this organization. After all this is done, I plan to continue donating to them, as we are able.
We’ve got these two booked for tomorrow, then Beep Beep and Fenrir on Feb. 7. Talking with the cat lady, we confirmed Feb. 23 for two more inside cats for adoption; we will need to decide which ones go first.
She also passed on the e-transfer information, which is to the organization that is covering the rest of the vet bill. Since my husband’s disability payment came in early, I was able to make a payment in advance. I can make payments as I am able, as long as it’s paid off by the end of the year. She has a budget from this organization, and I know any payments made allows her to have more budget to help more cats, so I was happy to make a payment now. That, and I don’t like unresolved line items in my budget.
The payment for my PAL is driving me nuts. I have no idea when my license will be processed and the payment will come out. All I know it that is should be within 4 months, and I’ve got about 3 more months to go.
Anyhow.
She also updated me a little about Cabbages. She is eating roast beef!
She sent pictures, which I am not asking permission to use right now, but the difference in her is amazing! She has quite clearly regained some weight. In one of the pictures, she was eating shredded pieces of beef. The last pictures we saw, she was eating meat mush. So that is another encouraging sign!
Cabbages and Turmeric
The photo above was taken just after New Year’s. According to the vet, she would have been already starting to get sick, but we saw no signs of that at the time. She’s isn’t back to how she looked then, but being such a little cat to begin with, even this little weight gain makes for a very dramatic difference.
She is set to visit the vet again, soon. I really look forward to hearing what he has to say!!
If you would like to read more about Cabbages and our fundraiser to surprise-reimburse her for vet expenses, click here. Or, you can go straight to the fundraiser page here.
I am so very happy and encouraged by how she is doing. What a fighter!
We had not heard from the cat lady about Cabbages for a little while, which was a “no news is good news” situation. Today I had to run errands with my mother, so I sent a quick text to let her know that, if she needed to call us, to please call the land line.
I didn’t even get a chance to tell the rest of the household to keep a handset near them, when I got a call.
So here we have a very encouraging, do we dare say hopeful? update.
Cabbages is still a very sick kitty, but she is not in the hospital anymore. She is back at home with the cat lady and her family.
Cabbages has been eating, though only while being actively fed. If the food is just left with her, she doesn’t eat. She didn’t like the baby food they tried, but she will eat roasted drumsticks that have been chopped fine for her.
She is being given an antibiotic in pill form, once every three hours.
Yes, you read that right. Every three hours. They have alarms set to go off every three hours. The vet even texted her at 2:30 am to make sure Cabbages got her pill!
Her entire family is in on this one. Even her 5 yr old son is spending hours with Cabbages. *melt* This sort of thing is old hat for their oldest, who is right in there with helping with the treatments and feeding. They’ve done this a few times, it seems!
Cabbages is fighting off the pills, which is understandable to begin with, but these are apparently huge pills that have to be shoved down her throat, and they can’t be broken up (they become too bitter).
I was told Cabbages was “still” doing the head pressing thing against their hands; something which is a warning symptom. This surprised me, because Cabbages had never done that at all, when she was still with us.
She is on valerian as a preventative for seizures. She has never had a seizure, but as she became sicker, it was something she became more at-risk for.
A panel of vets got together to talk about her. She is quite the unicorn, and they are all flummoxed by her condition. The notion that she was born with some sort of congenital defect has now been rejected. Other vets thought that she absolutely had to have come in contact with, or ingested, anti-flea substances, but we have never, ever, had anything like that in our household. We don’t do the collars. Fleas aren’t a problem here.
The other vets also brought up the possibility of Cabbages ingesting some sort of narcotic but, again, that’s just not possible. We don’t have the kinds of drugs they were talking about in the household, and even with the prescription drugs, great care is taken to make sure none get dropped, etc. Standard stuff, really.
The other vets actually recommended euthanizing Cabbages, but the vet that’s caring for her said he would work with the client some more. The cat lady is willing to keep trying, as Cabbages is showing signs of improvement.
Cabbages is moving around more, and her balance is getting better. Her vision is also improving. She has even had a bowel movement in the litter box; the first since they’ve had her. With all the medications she’s on, it was a real mess, but it shows her system is still working.
The conclusion remains that this is toxoplasmosis and a related bacterial infection that has crossed into her brain, however they haven’t ruled out that she might have a brain tumor. Her blood tests show no signs of cancer, but with all the meds she’s on, it’s possible that affected the test results. The only way to know 100% is with an MRI. There is only one MRI in the city available for cats, and it costs $3000 to use it, so that’s not going to happen. Especially when that is far less likely to be the cause of her illness.
So they will continue to treat her with these rare antibiotics (now in pill form, rather than IV) that can cross the blood/brain barrier, valerian, etc., and keep hoping. Even as we were talking on the phone, the cat lady mentioned she had drumsticks in the oven to spoon feed Cabbages.
She also mentioned in passing that all this has now cost them $1200 in vet bills. If Cabbages pulls through, she is still looking at months of treatments before she is in the clear. The organization that the cat lady is connected with covers the vet and food bills for cats that are with fosters, all funded by donations, but the vet services they provide is typically for things like vaccinations, deworming, and discounted spay and neutering. They balked at taking in such a severely sick cat and adding more to their vet bills – but they did offer to help cover some of the cost of euthanasia. :-/ I understand why they would have to draw the line, but sheesh!!
So the cat lady continues to pay for all this out of pocket.
She is not at all asking for money; in fact, she regaled me with stories of how she has a terrible kitchen because the money intended for renovating it went to treating their own two cats that had gotten so sick, she actually sent them in to be euthanized, but with the help of this vet, they found a way to treat them. There is a reason he gets called “Jesus”! The kitchen renovation money got all used up, but the cats are now recovered and thriving, and her family feels it was worth every bit of it.
As I was thinking about it today, I decided to start a fundraiser for her, as a thank you surprise. With that in mind, I have started a fundraising goal on our ko-fi account for Cdn$1500. It is set to accept as little as Cdn$1.
The final vet bill will probably be more than that goal, but it’s above what she has already spent, and there’s no way to know right now how much it will be.
We will be paying her for getting the other cats fixed, of course, but that is through her, to the organization. This would be completely separate from that. She’s paying out of her and her family’s own personal income, and she is the one that will be the recipient of the fundraiser, not the organization.
With that in mind, if you would like to contribute towards Cabbages’ vet bills the cat lady is paying for out of pocket, you can click on the donation link at the top, right of this post, or click here.
Oh, my goodness. The stuff going on with Cabbages leaves me feeling like I’ve got mental and emotional whiplash!
When we got the call this morning, we were fully prepared to be told that Cabbages had either passed during the night, or was euthanized.
Neither happened!
She is not out of the woods yet, by any means, but she is apparently a real fighter!
One of the things they were trying with her was a new and rare antibiotic that can cross the blood/brain barrier. There is only one, it’s administered through IV, and it seems to be helping. Cabbages’ vision is starting to come back, and she is eating from a spoon. She is also wanting to eat which, to me, is the major sign of progress. This vet is not one to make animals suffer for extended periods just to do different things, so he would not have decided to keep trying to help her if he didn’t think she had a chance to make it. At this point, she will be staying at the hospital for two more days, with the staff spoon feeding her.
Also, they have figured out what’s wrong with her.
It’s toxoplasmosis. Which basically all cats have, but rarely get sick from. The way the vet apparently put it, it’s like a unicorn in a sea of zebras. She was likely already weak, and somehow, it made its way from her gut to her bloodstream, her spine and finally her brain, causing the neurological problems they were seeing. It was compared to meningitis in humans.
If our angel cat lady hadn’t taken Cabbages to the vet the very day she got her, where Cabbages got that initial dose of antibiotics, she probably would have died by the weekend. If the cat lady hadn’t taken Cabbages back to the vet so quickly on Monday morning, where they started her on this rare antibiotic, she would have probably died that day. Had Cabbages not been in the city for care, she would not have gotten that rare antibiotic, because the local vet – or any rural vets, really – simply don’t have it.
As it is, it is so rare for cats to get sick from this, the rest of our cats are just fine. It’s actually more of a danger to us. We were advised to completely empty the litter boxes, wash and bleach them, once a week, along with the scoops. And, of course, wash our hands after changing the litter. We regularly clean the litter boxes, but we don’t bleach them. With so many litter boxes, that’s going to have to take some organization, and probably doing it on a rotation. It’s not like we can have all the litter boxed out of commission for washing and bleaching at the same time.
I’m going to have to buy more bleach.
It’s too bad we have to keep the two basements blocked off. The old basement is where taps are, and it would be much easier to clean the litter boxes, there. We made the wire mesh “door” between the basements in such a way that it could be slid to one side to get through, but the cats were so determined to get through, we’ve had to rig things on both sides of door to stop them from pushing through. The old basement is where we are storing the more breakable stuff, but it’s also where the sump pump reservoir is. Yes, there is a cover (of sorts) over it, but we still don’t want to risk a cat getting into there, not to mention the other things they could get into.
We’ll figure it out.
Anyhow.
So that’s the news we got, this morning! Cabbages is still fighting!
She will be staying the night with the vet, as they try another antibiotic on her. The vet is saying he’s treating her as if she were his own cat.
They still don’t know what’s wrong with her. A full blood workup is actually showing her blood is really good. There is something neurological going on, and she can no longer see. Unless something dramatically changes overnight, she will be put down at noon.
With the blood work they’ve done, we at least know that this is nothing that the other cats may have “caught”. The vet thinks she probably started to fail at least a month ago – since before Christmas, for sure. We saw no sign of this in her, that far back.
He also thinks it is most likely a a neurological defect she was probably born with. What we were doing to try and help her – force feeding her and keeping her hydrated – was basically the only thing anyone could do for her. Though they are trying medications, they really aren’t able to do much more than that, either.
Poor little thing.
It now makes me wonder how she would have fared, if we had never managed to snag her and bring her indoors. She likely would have had a couple of litters by now or, more likely, would have been another one of those outdoor cats that just disappeared, and we’d never know what happened.
At least she had those couple of years of a pampered life indoors.
I had been so encouraged after the last communication we had with the woman who took in Cabbages for us.
Last night, things changed for the worse.
She found Cabbages barely able to lift her head, and rushed her to the vet, where she remains now.
They can’t find what’s wrong with her!
The vet even asked if it was possible Cabbages had ingested something – which is something I’ve been wracking my brains about, too. When she told me she had replied by saying she didn’t think we were the sort of household to have that around, I realized the vet meant more illicit substances. Which, no, we don’t. I did mention my husband’s medications, but most of them are in bubble packs. It’s a rare thing for us to drop pills, and when it does happen, we don’t stop searching until we find and dispose of them. She asked about plants and started listing some off. I mentioned the Jade trees, but she didn’t know about them being a problem. The cats have been leaving the Jade trees alone now, anyhow, other than trying to claw through the cage around the one, to get at the dirt.
The vet also said that it could be she was born with some sort of congenital defect, and it’s just showing up as a problem now. Which is more of a possibility that anything else I can think of.
At one point, she mentioned that she’s already spent $800 on Cabbages, though she quickly added that this was not a concern, before continuing. I had not realized she was paying out of pocket. I know this organization covers all costs of cats for fosters, but I guess she’s not a foster!
She is heading from the city to the town our vet is in today, to pick up some frozen cats. Cabbages remains with the vet as they try to figure out what is wrong with her. It’s hard to treat an illness when you don’t know what the illness is! She assured me that this is the best vet in the province. He’s been nicknamed “Jesus” for all the animals he’s been able to bring back to life. Still, there is only so much he can do, and they will not go beyond the reasonable and cause her more suffering.
If she does pull through, there is already someone lined up to adopt her. Someone who works for the city humane society.
As much as I hope she makes it, a got a sense that this is very unlikely.
Damn. She really did seem to be improving for a while, there. :-(
Aside from this, we confirmed a few other things. We still have Butterscotch and Nosencrantz slated to be fixed at the end of the month. On Feb. 7, we have Beep Beep and Fenrir now booked. After that, she wants to focus on the adoptable indoor cats, two at a time. We would drop them off for the surgery, and she would bring them back with her at the end of the day to go to the waiting fosters, where they will recover before being adopted out. I asked about when, and she said she hoped to start on Feb. 21. I told her we will work with her schedule, whatever it happens to be.
*sigh*
What a rough way to start the day.
I am so incredibly grateful that she has been willing to take Cabbages on and able to get her into a vet so quickly. We’d still be feeding her with a syringe right now, of course. And we’d have no idea what was wrong with her, and no resources to get her to the local vet ourselves. The fact that the city vet also has no idea what’s wrong with her actually helps, if that makes sense. They really want to figure it out, because if it turns out to be something contagious, we need to know when it comes to the other cats. None of whom are showing any signs of it. Cabbages did have that brief period where she was throwing up more, before she stopped eating and drinking. Another reason I wonder if she ate something that did this to her.
As I write this, Cabbages should still be on the road to the city.
Last night, we tried her on some of the cat milk we picked up. She wouldn’t do it while I was close by, but once I stepped away, she did drink from the little bowl. Which was adorable, with her snout completely hidden, but no chance of a photo!
We also fed her food goo, thinned with the cat milk, using the syringe. She definitely liked it better than thinned with plain water.
So did Turmeric. While the girls were feeding Cabbages, Turmeric tried to eat the food goo right out of her mouth!!
Once she had a full belly, she got to enjoy some cuddles and grooming.
I think Beep Beep is going to miss Cabbages!
Here she is, getting some post-breakfast cuddles from “grandma”. :-)
I got texts this morning from the woman that is helping us with the cats. She was going from town to town, so we arranged to be her last stop before returning to the city, to reduce the amount of time Cabbages would be in a vehicle. She had a kennel for Cabbages, and was also picking up six (!!!) other cats along the way.
Then I got a text saying they had an unexpected extra cat, and were using the kennel intended for Cabbages. She was wondering if we had one they could borrow, though she might be able to borrow one from the vet clinic. We have three carriers in total, but won’t need all three until they start taking more cats in, so we’re okay with lending one of them. We’ll still have enough to bring Butterscotch and Nutmeg in to get fixed, at the end of the month, and can get it back then. Plus, it meant not having to transfer Cabbages from one carrier to another, while in a parking lot! I’m good with that.
I had an awesome surprise when I headed out early to meet them with Cabbages, and an even bigger one when I got back, but I’ll share about those in my next post.
I left early with Cabbages, because I expected to have snow issues. I didn’t, but I didn’t mind being early. They got to the place we arranged to meet early, too. We got two big bags of donated dry cat food and a case of wet cat food they couldn’t use (the wet cat food had no labels on the cans!).
She let us know that Cabbages would first be tested for Feline Leukemia – she made an appointment for her at the vet this afternoon, and it’s a quick test, so she will be able to let us know by this evening. If she does test positive for that, all the cats will need to be tested. !!!
She was happy to hear that Cabbages has been doing better and starting to eat and drink on her own. She hasn’t been throwing up anymore, and there has been no blood in her stools, which are other positive signs. Hopefully, the blood tests they will be doing will answer some questions.
So there we are. One cat, already gone. She is hoping, over the next few weeks, to be able to take 3 cats at a time. Including Cabbages, we have a total of 8 cats to be adopted out, so that should work out to 3 trips.
The house is going to feel pretty empty with “just” eight cats left in the house!
The main thing is that Cabbages is now going to get the vet care she needs, and that makes us happy.
The Re-Farmer 