Monday at the Shelter 16-12-13

Wow, what a weekend. 14 adoptions, yes 14!!  Followed by 2 more today and four pre-adoptions about to be completed too.

That brings the adoption year to an end and what a year its been, a record breaking one in fact.  When the final four planned pre-adoptions go through, that will bring the total this year to 464.

Last year the total was 408 and previously the highest adoption figure was 442 back in 2008.

These numbers would not have been possible without the sheer hard work and determination of the Shelter team.  Manager Shirley, Cat Care Managers Kim and Emma, Judith, Leanne, Hollie, Vicky, Ray and Katy.

Then there is a whole team of volunteers and foster carers, the Shelter could not manage without the time and dedication of these people.  I'll be telling you more about them over the next couple of blog posts.

Lets not forget Highfield Vets who rush cats and kittens into their surgery at a moments notice and consistently offer invaluable, trusted advice and support.

Finally you will find the Committee and Trustees working hard behind the scenes (and often on the front line too!)

All these people come together to make one fantastic team and I'm very proud to be part of it.

Here's a selection of some of the cats and kittens who are going to be spending a happy Christmas in their new homes.

Alec

Daffy

Jamie

Minto

Sukka

Squirrel

The Shelter is now closed for further adoptions until the New Year.  But that certainly doesn't mean the work ends.  With the exception of adoption viewings, its business as usual for the Staff and volunteers.

There will also be time to do additional work like painting, repairs and maintenance.  As there have been such a lot of adoptions it will free up rooms for full deep cleaning.

Rooms won't stay empty for long though.  In addition to the waiting list, there are urgent cases, such as 3 expectant mums out living on the streets.  They will be brought into the Shelter as soon as possible to have their babies in safety.

My final note this week has to be a thank you, a thank you to everyone who has donated to the shelter, to everyone who has taken a cat or kitten into their home, because without you the Shelter could never have reached this fantastic adoption figure.

Sunday at the Shelter 03-11-2013

November!! Oh my this year is going fast.

This weekend I met three young kittens, Jasmine, Jeeves and Jessie, who had just returned from their foster home.

Jasmine, Jeeves and Jessie

They were in room 5 with black kittens Dora, Daloris and Alfie.

Kim explained that she needed to do some routine checks on the new arrivals.  Each one is weighed as sometimes kittens might not eat very well when they are first returned to the Shelter.  Having a baseline weight enables the Shelter staff to monitor any problems.

What a sweetie :)

If they are due for flea or worming treatment, this will be administered now too.

The kittens have all had microchips implanted whilst in foster care so Kim also checks that these can be picked up by the hand held scanner and that the number corresponds to the details given by the Vets.

In addition, Jasmine has her spay scar inspected.  Kim is looking for any sign of infection, such as scabs, swelling, or discharge.  Thankfully the scar is nice, neat, flat and healing well.

All of this is recorded on each kittens information sheet.

Foster carers give the staff information on the temperament of each kitten, how they interact with each other and any other animals in the house.   Sometimes kittens are so close that it's decided they would be better to be re-homed as a pair. (As is the case with Dora and Daloris) Once all this information is collected, the final task is to update the room board with the names and details of the new occupants.

Board ready to be updated!

In Maternity, Mum Chestnut was with her kittens Brazil and Hazel.  Mum was a stray and the kittens were born outside.  Aren't they stunning?

Chestnut with Hazel and Brazil

This little chap was also found living outside with his Mum.  At around 10 weeks old, Heisenberg (don't ask!)  is very frightened and has therefore gone into a foster home.  Hopefully it won't be long before he's feeling much happier and more relaxed.

Heisenberg

Great news to finish the weekend.  You may remember Tia, 17, who had her thyroid removed? 

Tia

Well today she was adopted!  What fantastic news.  She is such a lovely cat, perfectly happy curled up on someone's knee.  To think she could have been put to sleep if it hadn't been for the Shelter.

I love a happy ending :)

Sunday at the Shelter 29-09-13

I worked in Holding today and met some new cats.  

First there were Mum and Daughter,  Sophie and Sheba.  Sadly their owner could no longer afford to keep them.  Both were a little frightened to start with, but it wasn't long before Sophie was enjoying a bit of a fuss with me.  

Sophie enjoying some attention

Daughter Sheba, on the other hand, was much more timid.  Eventually she plucked up enough courage to play with the bottom of my trousers but that was as close as she wanted to be.  

Sheba

When it came to putting them back into their cage Sheba tried her best to keep on the move so I couldn't catch her!  Once she was in my arms though she was happy for a tickle.  A pair of lovely cats, I'm sure in the right environment Sheba will soon become more confident.

Flash was brought into holding while I was cleaning.  Emma started to give him his health check and fill out his record sheet. At around 4 months old, he's only ever know life on the street, no surprise then to find him covered in ticks and fleas.  

Flash

I held Flash while Emma got to work on the tick problem.  She used a special little plastic tool to remove them.  If they're not removed correctly the head of the tick will be left in the skin which will lead to infection.  Poor flash had a lot, all over his face and ears.  As you can see, some of them were quite big! 

Ticks!!! yuck

It also looks like Flash doesn't want to put weight on one of his front paws.  There is no obvious sign of injury so we'll see what the vet makes of it.

Ruby is still in holding, she is shown to potential adopters,  even though she isn't in one of the main cat rooms.

Ruby

The last cat in holding today is Tia.  She's 17 and is suffering from a thyroid problem. Her owners were considering putting her to sleep.  Now she is in the care of the Shelter where she can receive the medication she needs to make her feel better. 

Tia

Unfortunately, she is struggling to adjust to her change in circumstances and hasn't yet been tempted with any food.  I spent some time with her and found that she enjoyed being brushed but couldn't encourage her to eat.  She doesn't like to be handled and isn't keen on medical intervention which is going to make treating her difficult.  

The Staff will do everything they can to try and gain her trust and get her medical needs under control.  It might be difficult to find someone willing to adopt an older cat with medical needs, but it may be that a foster place can be found instead.  Long term foster placements can be used so that medical treatment is paid for by the shelter but the cat benefits from having a loving home.  If you are experienced in giving medication and could offer a long term foster home to Tia, please call the Shelter to discuss.

I also had a peek in Maternity.  

Texas and her kittens

 Texas and her two kittens are still here, it won't be long before they go out to a foster carer. 

Little cutie

A stray and her kittens were trapped by Maggie a few days ago and they are now at the Shelter.

Dora

Dora was in a very poor state and had her front leg through the collar she was wearing.  The collar had to be cut off as it had gone into the flesh and left deep awful sores  

Dora's collar wound

Poor Dora

The collar was one with an elasticated section, it's supposed to allow the cat to wriggle its head out should the collar become caught on anything.  Sadly, what often happens is that the cat manages to get it's front leg through and there is no way it can free itself.  One of my own cats had this experience and I haven't used these types of collars since.  

Living outside with a injury like this, she's done well to look after her kittens, the fact she had the collar shows she was owned, so life on the streets must have been awful for her.  She originally had four kittens but sadly two didn't make it. 

 

Dora's kitten

Thank goodness Maggie was able to get her and her babies to the Shelter.

There are also a number of feral kittens at the Shelter.  They are now looking for experienced cat owners to become foster carers to help these frightened animals adjust to life in a home.

Could you foster a feral??

If this is a challenge you could rise to, please give the Shelter a call any day between 1pm and 4pm.

And finally, little Ernest was at the Shelter today. Still fighting a big battle, he's underweight and has periods when his temperature goes far too low.

Ernest

I got to have a lovely cuddle before I left :)

Visit the Donate & Support page if you'd like to know how you can help.

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.

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.