Friday, December 2, 2011

An update on some of the kitties of the Lucky Few

I just had to start with Nipper here...  doing what he does best...  being ever so cute and silly!

He is such a high strung cat don't you think?

Really I wanted to update you on some of our newer charges that I had posted about a while ago.  Nipper was just so cute I figured I would hook you with him first.

Anyway remember the kittens I posted about quite a while ago?
(original picture when we first got them, this is Zeb)

 We had unexpectedly acquired four very sad kittens that were part of a colony of feral cats.  They came to us terrified in cages after they had been fixed.
(Original picture when we first got them, this is Casper in front and Casper Too in back)

Casper Too supposedly had a ripped bladder that had been repaired during the spay surgery and therefore needed antibiotics.  After Casper kept having trouble peeing and blood kept showing up in her urine the vet finally used an ultrasound and thought he saw a stone.  During the surgery to remove the stone, he discovered that the original spay surgery had been botched.  She should of been the one getting the antibiotics, not her sister.  Somewhere along the line someone got confused and by the time the cats got to us the sisters had been mixed up.  However, our vet did a wonderful job of removing the foreign objects from her bladder and she has healed up beautifully, though it was touch and go for awhile.  A different one came down with pneumonia and needed antibiotics too.  Trying to cram pills and liquids down the throats of feral kittens is not fun for either party.  However it was all worth it in the end as they are now happy,
(This is Casper Too enjoying a scratch under her chin...  that is Jabba outside the window)

content,
( This is Zeb, very content)

vying for the position of lap cat (they have a lot of competition!)
(Monkey and casper hoping for more food)

and most importantly healthy and full of beans! (I can hear them banging around in the other room as I write this   : )
(Zeb waiting patiently for his supper, we feed all our cats in carriers or cages so we can get them out in an emergency)

(Casper and Monkey poking around all the nooks and crannies for food they might have missed)

(Casper Too... all healthy and happy!)

The other group of ferals that we are working with is a colony on another part of the ranch we live on. These guys were a mess and needed to be quarantined and heavily treated with medications.  We had to trap each one individually and put them in separate cages (which my dear husband had to build first) Then several times a day we had to give them medications and generally monitor them.  The quarantine required that we would go outside our house, strip off our clothes, change into "traveling" clothes that were kept in an air tight container in our patio, drive to their outpost, strip again outside their kennel and change into "kennel" clothes, go inside, do all the doctoring, strip again and spray ourselves down with alcohol, change back into the "traveling" clothes drive back home, strip again, spay with alcohol and then climb into a shower.  This happen twice a day at minimum.  Unfortunately we lost two of the sweeties even with my wonderful husband staying up all night with one of them.  Now though, I can report that after about two months of that intense routine the remaining 11 are now fat and sassy and mostly tame.
(Kibble time...  That's Gracie on the left, Annabelle in the middle and Chuck on the right)
(Hermione coming through the cat door)

They are loose in the barn areas of the ranch, happily earning their keep as ratters with a comfy tiny barn all their own they come into at night.
(This is Scoop on the left and Taylor on the right)

We go over there once a day now to feed them and see how they are doing.  Seeing all of them are scampering about, tails up, and content is a sight for tired eyes I tell ya!
Whew! but it was a long road to get here!
(This is Chaz)
(This is Paul, for Paula Abdul's mole on her face however this kitty is a he so just plain Paul)
(And lastly this is Sprite)

Just thought you might like a mostly happy couple of cat tales!
I will leave you with another silly picture, this one is of McGonagall draped over one of her boyfriends, Tom on a cold day.



Hope you have someone furry to snuggle with!