Sunday at the Shelter 13-10-13

Holding was full today, but thankfully Libby was with me to help out.

First out was Lily.  She was previously adopted through the Shelter, but sadly didn't settle in her new home.  It won't be long before she is back in one of the main rooms.  She's a lively little girl, who's happy for some attention.

Lilly

Ruby is currently the Star for 7 Days.  She's still waiting for the right person to come along

Ruby

Next is Tia who I first met a couple of weeks ago.  She had just been admitted and the team needed to get her to take thyroid medication.  

Tia when she was admitted

Trying to give tablets directly was far too stressful for her so medication was instead put into her food.  Unfortunately, the downside to this was the tablet coating broke down within the food rather than in her stomach.  This lead to her getting an 'instant hit' of medicine rather than a slow release as intended.

Given the situation it was decided the best solution was to have her thyroid removed.  The operation was carried out and she is now recovering well. An operation like this costs the Shelter around £300, but it means Tia will no longer need medication, so hopefully she will start to become much more settled.  It just shows you that, regardless of the cost, the Shelter always do what is needed.

Here she is today, enjoying a brush :)

Tia, showing her 'war' wounds

The next little Lady was Doris.  Regular readers may remember her story.  She was living outside with a terrible injury due to her leg being through her collar.  Here's a reminder of the damage.

Doris and her collar wound

Doris is slowly becoming more trusting and her sores are gradually healing. Unfortunately, due to the location of the wound, it can't be stitched so it could take months to heal fully. 

Doris having a little cuddle

Flash has lost his slight limp and after having treatment for ticks there shouldn't be anymore problems, which is good news as he was pre-adopted today!

Flash

Finally to Gordon who was also a stray and thought to be a sibling of Flash. However, once at the shelter, he was obviously bigger so it's likely he's from a previous litter.  He's a little shy, but very sweet.

Gordon

I took the opportunity to visit Maternity where Texas and her kittens, Ohio and Vegas, are doing really well.  

Texas

The kittens are now 7-8 weeks old and are fully weaned. 

Vegas

Ohio

This means that at last Texas can concentrate on feeding herself as Ohio has only just started eating solids!

Ohio playing in the room

Kittens Alice and Archie are also in here.  They were brought in after being found in a box on someone's drive.  They are such lovely little souls.  Look at Alice's little pink nose!

Alice

My final visit today was to see Marmaduke.  He was a stray suffering with very bad teeth and a terribly matted coat.  He's a lot happier now a number of teeth have been removed.  

Marmaduke

Unfortunately, his fur was so badly matted in places, no amount of brushing was going to make a difference.  Instead the worst area's were shaved.  He reminds me of a lion with that tail!  At least this way he has the chance to groom himself and hopefully it won't take too long for the fur to start growing back.

Lions tail?

Marmaduke is isolated from other cats as he has Calicivirus.  The means he is a flu carrier. In times of stress or if he's unwell, flu symptoms are likely to appear and can also be spread to non vaccinated cats.

Just another example of the Shelter doing all they can to help all cats who are admitted no matter what it takes.

Don't forget, if you want to support the fantastic work of the Shelter visit the Donate and Support page to find out how.

Sunday at the Shelter 22-09-13

Ernest was visiting the Shelter today with Emma, he's still losing weight and was scheduled for another visit to the vets.  The reason for his poor progress is proving difficult to diagnose, despite numerous tests, nothing has been conclusive.  He's now just over 8 and half weeks old but is the size of a 4 - 5 week old kitten. As you can see from the photo, he also has no interest in washing himself.  Emma generally needs to clean him up several times a day.

Ernest needs his face washing again!

At the moment it's just a case of looking after him and taking each day as it comes.  It will be some time before we know if he will be available for adoption in the future.

Here's a great picture of him with his big (foster) sister Amber :)

Amber, taking care of Ernest

It was great to see some of little Percy's 'family' have been pre-adopted.  Patrick will be off to his new home shortly.

Patrick

Little Florence and Peanut were taken home today :)

Georgie and Peanut watch the world go by

So that leaves Georgie, who is very friendly and Maisie and Sid, who are a little timid, to find their forever homes.

Maisie

Sid

Its been a while since I caught up with Libby.  

Libby

Some of you may remember this little lady had to be trapped not once, but twice, when she managed to escape from her new home too soon after being adopted.

She's currently sharing a room with Shadow, Julie and Tigger.  Thankfully, she is pretty much recovered from flu now, but she's still really timid and looking for that special someone.

The 6 black kittens brought in last week have made really good progress, but are not yet flu free.  They've  been moved from infirmary into a room on their own.  

This leaves infirmary free to have a deep clean ready for any potential occupants.

Sunshine came back from foster care and was pre-adopted today :) Her kittens are still with a foster carer until they are big enough to all be neutered, vaccinated and brought back to the shelter.

Sunshine :)

I also met up with Millie and Josh, who have just come back from foster care.  They are now in one of the main cat rooms, but are still extremely timid.  

Millie and Josh

As you can see they are spending a bit of time in this carrier.  The shelter often use cages or carriers for timid cats within larger rooms.  It helps to make it a little bit better for those frightened ones, as they are able to use it as a place of safety.

Here's Tallulah using a carrier in exactly the same way.

Tallulah

There have been a lot of updates on Twitter about Ernest, but also about Marley, too.  Marley is a kitten who was in foster care and suddenly became very ill.  Since this time he's been in and out of the vet hospital  and there have been a number of touch and go moments.

Due to him being so ill he's recently been back in the care of Kim. This week a diagnosis was finally made and the news is not so good.   Marley is suffering from a blood disorder.  The disorder means his immune system attacks his own red blood cells. He can't ever be vaccinated, and has to be on immune suppressants to survive. Sadly this means if he picks up any infections he won't be able to fight them.  

In view of this prognosis, Marley will stay in Kim's care and won't be available for adoption. 

Marley

It's not certain how long this little chap will have, but you can be assured that Kim will give him plenty of love and care, making every day count.

Sunday at the Shelter 15-09-2013

Its been a sad week, poor little Percy who was first featured a couple of weeks ago, was just too poorly to survive.  It turned out he was actually 7-8 weeks old and should have been around 800grams, not the pitiful 260grams he weighed in at. After fighting sickness and diarrhoea, he then began to have breathing problems.

Little sweetheart Percy

It's soul destroying to think this could have been prevented if only he'd received basic care in his previous home. Proper nutrition, plus flea and worm treatment from the start and his story could have been very different.

A new little family arrived in my home yesterday.  Fluff and her 3 kittens are here for the weekend, while her foster carers have a well earned weekend away.

Fluff and her three kittens

She's a lovely cat and a very good mum.  The kittens are about 2 weeks old.  She's coped really well being in a strange environment, quickly settling down and enjoying our attention. Her foster carers will be picking her up again tomorrow, but I'm hoping to keep in touch so I can get updates on their progress.

So, back to today.  Libby and I started in holding this week.  There were two very shy little girls, Tabatha and Milly sharing one cage. 

Tabatha and Milly hiding in a litter tray

Arriving only yesterday, they are still finding it hard to adapt to going from a home environment to the cage room.  We spent a little time cuddling and talking to them.  I'm sure these little girls will be absolutely fine, they just need a bit of time to adjust.

Ruby was next.  She'd recently been adopted but sadly didn't like being in a home with children so she has been returned to the shelter. 

Ruby

It won't be long before she's back in one of the main rooms and now the shelter have more information about her, it will help to get her the perfect home.

Finally to Mitzy, a petite little lady who enjoyed a fuss :)

Mitzy

Texas is still in Maternity and I managed to get a few new pictures.  This little one looks very sad for some reason but is perfectly ok!

Little sweetie :)

Next was Luke who is now in a room on his own.  If you've been following the blog, you may remember these partners in crime.

Luke

Charlie

So friendly and loving with each other and visitors, it came as no surprise when they were quickly pre-adopted. 

As part of the health checks before re-homing the boys visited the vets.  Charlie needed some dental work but sadly became very unwell after the operation.  Tests revealed that he was suffering from FeLV - Feline Leukaemia Virus, which contributed to his poor recovery. He became so ill that the vet decided the kindest thing was to put him to sleep.

Luke was also tested for FeLV and has been found to be positive too. He must remain isolated from the other cats (which fortunately, he has been) as the infection can be passed on through saliva.

The shelter are now desperate to find a home for Luke.  He will need to be either an only cat, or be with another cat who is also FeLV positive.  FeLV positive cats should be kept indoor only to prevent spreading infection to other cats in the area. 

So this little guy found himself at the shelter when his owner passed away and has now lost his lifelong buddy.  If you can help to promote Luke and his sad situation, it would be greatly appreciated.  He still has so much to give.

Luke

Finally, Libby and I tried to clean up this mucky pup.

Ernest

Ernest is one of the kittens currently being looked after by Emma and he likes to stand in his food bowl as you can see.  He's not been doing so well this week either and will be spending sometime with the vet on Monday for them to try and work out why his tummy has suddenly become very swollen.

The Shelter do an amazing job looking after all these cats and kittens.  Check out the Donate & Support page and see how you can help too.

Sunday at the Shelter 08-09-2013

I was working in Infirmary again today.

I was part way through cleaning out Texas and her kittens when she started to feed, so I left her alone for a while and finished the rest off later.

Texas and her kittens

And here's a little video I took of them.  There was such a lot of purring going on, its a real shame the mic on my phone didn't pick it up!

While Texas took care of her babies I tackled a nice mess left behind by Lego and Cuebec who were moved into another room.

What a mucky mess!

The Shelter were expecting to admit 6 kittens during the afternoon, so I was to set up cages ready to receive them.  Normally, depending on their age, they would go into Holding or Maternity, but these 2 rooms are still trying to fully get rid of the last of the flu.

Next up was Amy, a 3 month old kitten.  The Shelter were desperate to find her a home as quickly as possible as she was now all on her own.  She's a lovely playful little girl.

Amy

Back to Texas and her babies, here are their close ups!

Texas

 Here are her 2 week old kittens.

If you read the blog last week you'll remember Percy who came in full of fleas.  He spent a couple of days in foster care gaining weight and then took a turn for the worse.

Percy in foster care

He was so poorly he ended up receiving IV fluids at the vets and staying there during the day.  He returned to his foster home with his little bandage.

Percy with his little bandage

Sadly he then started with diarrhoea and keeping his weight stable became a real issue.  At the moment he is back in the Vet Hospital receiving 24 hour care.  The Shelter regularly post updates on their Twitter page. You can follow them @CatsShelter


I met two people today of whom I'd heard lots of good things!  The first was Maggie of Friends of Ferals she is a real unsung hero.  This is the lady who gives up her own time to feed feral cats and trap strays and ferals.  She is so modest about what she does!  I'd love to go and spend some time out trapping or feeding with her so I can bring you the full story behind this amazing lady.

The second person I met today was Miki.  She's the lady you have to thank for all the amazing photos displayed by the Cats Shelter. I really don't know how she manages it!  Beautiful photos :)

Pixie - Photo by Miki

My morning was almost at a close.  Then the 6 expected kittens arrived, but they came with an unexpected problem.  They all had terrible cat flu.

The staff put their heads together to work out how to accommodate the new arrivals and not risk any other cats or rooms in the Shelter.  The kittens couldn't go in rooms with a current infection as there is a chance that the flu strain could be different.  This could result in re-infecting those cats almost over the flu.

The decision was made and everyone was moved out of infirmary.  The 6 kittens were brought down and I helped to get them settled.


To begin with all 6 needed health checks.  These are done for every cat or kitten when they first arrive at the shelter.  Their sex is checked, their weight is recorded and then it's eyes, ears, nose, mouth, fleas and visual check to see if there is anything to be concerned about.

Out of the 6 kittens 3 had their eyes stuck shut with puss, several had crusty noses and all had filthy ears as a result of mites.

Such sore eyes

Each kitten was given a name, these were Boston, Houston, Phoenix, Georgia, Dakota and Michigan.  It's possible they are from two litters as some weigh more than others.


We got them settled into two cages and encouraged them to eat.

Tucking into some food

It was so upsetting to see how sore their little eyes were.  Yet another reminder to make sure cats and kittens are vaccinated as soon as possible.  The ears were no better, cleaning these loosened huge chunks of dirt.

They will all have a visit to the vets tomorrow and I hope they will soon be looking and feeling much better.

Good news by the end of visiting time.  Little Amy left with her new family and so did Tilly, who'd been at the Shelter for a number of months.

The lovely pair, Charlie and Luke were pre- adopted and will go to their new home once they've had their second vaccination. 

A second opinion

The more I thought about it the more I wasn't happy. If there was a chance the diagnosis was wrong, that could mean Millie's eye might be saved, but not if no one paid attention and gave her a chance.

The next check up was a week later and it was to be with one of the practice partners. This would be make or break for the surgery as far as I'm concerned. But then I started to mull it over, what if waiting a week meant she could no longer be helped?

Willow and Millie on my knee

Another vet at another practice was recommended to me. So on Friday 19th July, we went for a second opinion. The vet had done his homework. He'd had all the test results faxed over and had read the diagnosis.

He checked Millie's eye with dye and had a good look inside. He explained he was checking for any ulceration as the steroid drops we were using are good for swelling but can make an ulcer worse. He saw no ulcer, but did say there was starting to be a build up in her eye.

After further examination he concluded that, based on the evidence, he would come to the same diagnosis. Most likely FIP, but like the other vet, he could not say for absolutely certain.

I talked to him about the contradictory 'plague scenario'. He was cautious, but agreed that the information and advice I'd been given was a little extreme.  He went on to say that he would not consider euthanasia necessary as she was so well in all other respects, but there might be a point when  her eye needed removing.

The way he said it made me think euthanasia had been indicated in her records and he disagreed. Well I also disagreed in the strongest terms. If I had taken their information and accepted it, they would have advised me to put her to sleep and maybe even her sister too.

Everything we'd read was supported, if not a little cautiously, by the new vet who, unlike mine, had done some research or had existing knowledge. He mentioned the name Dr Diane Addie from Glasgow University and told me to look up her findings if I wanted to know the real deal with FIP.  It just so happened this was one of the sites of information we'd come across already.

For the first time I felt a little better. I accepted that Millie could have a killer disease, but there was a slim chance that she might not. That way there was still hope. In addition all the information we'd read about not needing to isolate meant we didn't have to keep the kittens locked away. We just needed to manage ways to reduce the risk of cross infection.  It meant that whatever time she had could be spent with us and that was a big deal.

We carried on with Millie's medication for the next few days. There used to be a hint of a pupil showing, but this was slowly starting to be obscured by the white substance creeping higher everyday like silt.

Millie

By the time of our next appointment on Thursday 25th the eye was full. The senior vet told us it was puss. I discussed the incorrect information given out and he suggested this was down to the previous vet being 'over cautious'. I'm still not sure how I feel about this as being 'over cautious' could have lead to euthanasia. I set this to one side for the moment as my priority is Millie.

Through talking to him it became clear he was willing to consider other treatment. The eye, he said, was redundant and posed a risk that infection could travel down the optic nerve to her brain. 

In his words we had 'a window of opportunity' and I should think about having her eye removed. There was no need to think, I agreed. Looking at her eye I wanted it gone. It was her best chance.

Eye is full of puss

We starved her overnight and I dropped her into the surgery at 8.30am. The senior vet was performing the surgery himself and he had given me confidence in his ability.

When I collected her later that day the sight of her was a bit of a shock. She had to wear a lampshade to make sure she couldn't scratch her stitches. 

Millie with her stitches and 'lampshade'

I was told it was normal if blood came out of her nose and to only feed her plain food to begin with.

Today she's eaten well but other than that she's very dozy and is sleeping or snoozing a lot. 

I suppose it will give her time to heal and maybe the meds have induced it, but I always worry when they are quiet.

Millie the day after her operation

There is no way of knowing if I've bought her any extra time, but I know I've done my best for her.

Pop over to the Corona Virus and FIP page if you want to know more.