Day 18

Who doesn't love a sleeping kitty picture?

This pretty much sums up the weekend. I wish I could have participated in the festivities.

Spay tomorrow!

I LOVE Lacey's little black nose



And ET :o)

Caught on camera!

Maybe its the hormones flying... but I'm spending the afternoon studying with *2* kitties snuggled up on my lap. They are both catching some zzzz's or grooming each other. As an added bonus, my lap is staying very toasty.

Day 16- When is she getting spayed again?!

Well, I thought miss Lacey was a bit vocal last night. And sure enough, she is in heat. I had a feeling this would happen after we had to push her appointment out, but I'm just grateful she is going on Monday! For the most part she is behaving herself... doing a lot of exploring and lowering herself to the ground when I pat her.

ET's response has been quite entertaining! I didn't know how he would react, given that he wasn't neutered until about 6 months ago (age 3). Well, he is quite annoyed by her rubs and solicitations! I've even seen him pass a couple swats her way!

So, there's some frustration at my house. Definitely looking forward to Monday!

Day 15

Quick update to say that all is well. I am very busy, and haven't been home much. BUT I have been stopping home a few times daily to make sure that Lacey and ET are doing well, and they really are! They seem to have their roles figured out (I think Lacey is on top!) and ET isn't watching her every move. They also were relatively subdued last night, which was good. I have been feeding Lacey 3-4x daily in the bathroom so that she has some time and peace to eat without ET trying to steal her food, although I did see her snatch a bit of ET's raw chicken neck when he wasn't looking!! She still has a tiny sneeze, but her energy is great. I'm super pleased with her progress, and its nice to know that ET has some entertainment when I'm gone long days.

The next big hurdle is her spay, scheduled for Monday!

Day 14 - Snoozing in the sunshine

Last night was ET + Lacey's first night out together, and they were QUITE rambunctious! Lots of bouncing around and pouncing and leaping- or at least that was what it sounded like when I was trying to sleep! ET came to me this morning with a tiny scratch on his nose, and Lacey seemed hissy when he went to play some more- I think she was really, really tired. ET is the epitome of health and athleticism (well, ok, he's a bit chubby too) and Lacey is NOT used to playing, and she still has a ways to go until she is of good weight. I have a feeling ET didn't let her sleep much last night.

Thankfully, today I came home to find them both asleep. I spent much of the afternoon in my bedroom studying while ET slept on the floor in the sun and Lacey snoozed under the bed. After a little while, however, Lacey popped up onto the bed to steal some sun with ET. I can already tell that they are better towards each other as ET doesn't seem to feel the need to watch her constantly. At the moment, ET is still sleeping on the bed and Lacey is roaming around the living room. They are quite a silly duo, and I'm having fun with them!!

The Red Chair

Quick extra post- I have this red chair, and its awesome. Fabulously comfy. Well, I think ET spent the first 2 months I had him in that red chair, and then all of a sudden he decided he'd had enough of it. Now I only see him in it once in a blue moon.

So naturally, Miss Lacey is snoozing away in it. I guess they are both a little tired from all of today's negotiations. ET is napping on my desk, although I swear he has one eye open to keep watch on her. Fingers crossed for a restful night...!

Think she's a happy cat? :)



And for fun, an EARLY shot of ET in the chair, a few days after I adopted him (August '09)

Day 13 - she's out!!

After the rough night sleep, I came back from classes and decided to make the big move. I locked ET in the bedroom and let Lacey explore the living room and kitchen. She moved all around, creeping in corners, investigating. Once she was satisfied, I let ET out. They rumbled for a bit, working out the pecking order. Lacey is now hanging out under my desk and ET is constantly watching and roaming around trying to figure out what is going on.

Both cats in one frame... this was about 2 hours into the intro:



Settling right into the couch... look how beautiful her coat is looking!



But ET is never far away...

Sleep deprived!

Sorry for the lack of update yesterday. Things are really picking up at school, and I was on campus most of the day so I actually didn't spend much time with the kitties all day :(

This introduction has GOT to happen soon. ET is extremely impatient, and its keeping me up at night now. I probably woke up every half hour last night as ET serenaded Lacey from the other side of the door. Before he used to just kind of sit there and call occasionally, now its incessant and often accompanied by banging through the barrier to try to get in. I can't say I blame him (its been 12 days of her in there), but I've had it.

She, on the other hand, is a perfect angel. I did spend some time reading Immunology notes with her in the bathroom. She quickly found a spot on my lap, and then moved to lay on the notes as I put them on the floor. She's a doll, and becoming quite vocal herself, although her meow's are much more muted than ETs shrills, ugh!!

Day 11 - Vet Update

Just got back from the ACCT clinic. It is drop-in, so we had to wait about a half hour before we could be seen. During that time, Lacey was a perfect angel! She took in all the sights from the safety of her carrier on my lap. However, she was approached by a quite excitable pooch, and she was wonderful! Even when the dog stuffed her nose right up to the carrier, Lacey got a bit wide-eyed but didn't hiss or anything, which is great. I know ET would have been backed up and hissing if he were in her position!

A quick photo of Lacey waiting patiently in her carrier, taking in all the sights


The tech who worked with us was very nice. Lacey received her second and final FVRCP (distemper) vaccine and she took it like a champ. She also was dewormed. She was dewormed on intake at the shelter a month ago, and while I don't think she has worms it is a good precaution to take to ensure she is worm-free. Today was day 10 of her medicine, and I explained to the tech that she is still sneezing a bit after waking. So, she recommended that I continue the doxy for another 3-5 days. I figured this might be the case, and it really is no big deal. The greatest implication is that she can't be spayed on Tuesday, as they want to make sure she is as minimally immunocompromised as she can be. So, I just called and rescheduled her spay for 6 days later, on Monday Feb 1. That gives us a window in case her URI still hasn't resolved.

The tech looked at her enlarged mammary gland and then took her back so that the vet could look at it. She is > 1 month without kittens, but the vet said that it can take even longer for everything to dry up, and that it can dry up unevenly. They also aged her at 1-2 years, so the likelihood that it is anything malignant is low. I will keep an eye on it still and hope it goes down soon. Thankfully, it isn't giving her any pain so that is most important!

Oh, the BEST news of all: when Lacey was taken into the shelter on 12/28, she weighed 7.06 lbs. When I picked her up on 1/14, she was not weighed but definitely had lost weight in the shelter, so she was likely < 7 lbs. Today, however, she weighed 7.40 lbs! A half pound is a lot for a cat, so I am thrilled!!

She and ET have to remain separated. I have a feeling that ET is robust enough that he wouldn't get sick, but I will air on the side of caution and give it a few more days. I can't wait until they can finally meet!

Scaredy cat!

Hehe... I was doing a nice cleaning of the bathroom today (well, the whole apartment actually). I didn't want to crate up Lacey for a quick run through with the vacuum, so I let her stay loose. Well, she is VERY afraid of the vacuum! ET isn't a fan, but he really doesn't care ultimately. But this little girl... her eyes got so wide and she made a run for the space behind the toilet. Thankfully it was just a few moments of loudness, and she forgave me for the noise within a few minutes. Just a funny story about Miss Lacey!

Big (yet hopefully boring!) vet update tomorrow :o)

Day 9

Today has been a pretty productive and cat-filled day, although not as much as I would've liked! I volunteered at The Cube (www.phillycats.org) for only a few hours this morning, as I knew I had a lot of studying to do. It was tough to pull myself away from there around noon, but I had enough discipline to do so! I was surprised that we had less than 40 cats there today, given the relatively nice weather we've been having. But after such a crazy time last weekend, I think all the vets and volunteers were grateful for the lower numbers.

While I was there, I asked some of the more seasoned cat caregivers about Lacey's still enlarged mammary gland. I have been palpating it daily, and while she hasn't had any discharge (milk or otherwise) I still think its pretty big, given that she has been away from kittens for about 30 days now. One woman said that it could possibly be a mammary tumor. Surprisingly, this was not something I had considered. FYI, cats are actually very prone to mammary tumors, if the cats are not spayed (more info here). She's such a happy and wonderful cat that I hope that this is all a normal part of being a kitty mom! Regardless, I was already planning on taking her to ACCT Cat Clinic tomorrow. I'm taking her in the morning so I can be sure she can be seen by a vet, and hopefully all will be very well!

Day 8

Thank goodness it's Friday!

Quick pic of the E-man. He's been quite lazy, curled up in a ball all day today. He sat on my lap for a while when I snapped this cute pic.

Lacey is doing wonderfully, of course!

Day 7

I can't believe I've had her a week already!

Here she is practicing being a lap cat while I review some Physiology :)

Day 6

She's doing so well. In fact, I can her her meowing from the bathroom right now, which isn't something she normally does! I think she is starting to really feel good and is looking to explore!

Today I met the girls to go to class and Laura had a surprise goodie bag for the little lady:



Enclosed were a half dozen beautiful red "hand-me-down" toys from Laura + Alex's cat, Moo! Moo isn't much for other cats, so it was very kind of her to share these toys with Miss Lacey. I haven't given them to her yet as there isn't much room in the bathroom, but she certainly will get some playtime with them once she emerges from quarantine!

I'm so excited to take her to ACCT on Sunday for a checkup. She's doing SO well, I can't wait to show her off! I really hope the super nice coordinator who facilitated her fostering is there so she can see her. To me it feels like she is the only foster cat in Philadelphia, but I know that the PSPCA/ACCT deals with so many animals that Lacey is just one of many, albeit one of the lucky ones.

Day 5

Today was a rather big day! Firstly, I scheduled Lacey's spay appointment. She is going in to ACCT on Sunday to get her second FVRCP, perhaps a dewormer, and to be followed-up for her URI. If she gets a clean bill of health and handles the FVRCP well, she will be spayed on Tuesday, Jan 26th- that's next Tuesday! I'm looking forward to it. She hasn't gone into heat yet, but it will be great to just have her completely done with veterinary things (hopefully!) and then she can continue to focus on recovery and putting weight on, which I think she may have started doing!

A second big thing is that she PLAYED! I brought a cardboard scratching post into the bathroom today to affix to the door. I had originally bought it for ET, but he is more of a horizontal surface scratcher so he didn't really enjoy it. Well, part of the assembly involved stringing a rope from under the door to the door handle. Well, as I was putting it together, she started wildly playing with the string! I dangled it for her for a little while and she was having a ball. She has also become quite talkative, especially in the morning. Its amazing how these little steps mean so much.

I can't wait until she is out of quarantine and snuggling with ET and I on the couch.

Day 4

Happy MLK Day! I spent the day lounging around and didn't do a single piece of school work, which was fabulous. I love days like this, and they are so rare that I really try to savor them.

I think I am going to name the foster kitty "Lacey." I just think it suits her. She is very delicate, ladylike, and her pattern is kind of random and lace-like. For now I will call her that, and maybe if her personality changes her name will too! She was great today, as always. It seems that her stools are getting better and better with each one. I have her eating ET's old dry food (Iams) mixed with some high quality grain-free, 95% protein dry food (Wellness CORE). I think the higher quality stuff is helping her stools, and its much more nutrient-dense which is perfect for her while she is trying to put on some weight. Her sneezing is also LOTS better. She also let me trim her nails. They were quite sharp, and when she kneads/does "happy feet" lovingly into my legs, it was hurting, so now they are nice and blunted. She couldn't spend enough time in my lap, she is so sweet. I'm excited!



I also would like to have her spayed soon. I'm going to contact ACCT to see if they think she would be ready this weekend, after she finishes her medicine (provided her URI is improved). She still needs quite a bit more TLC and loving before she finds her permanent home, but I am concerned she will go into heat, and females are extremely obnoxious when they are in heat, and I'd like to avoid that! Best case scenario is she can be spayed on Sunday, and if not then then hopefully sometime next week.



Mr. ET has been a bit of a handful today. Either he is being super sweet, cuddled up with me, or he is reaping havoc somewhere in my apartment. I keep finding him trying to get into weird places, up on shelves where he isn't usually, and knocking things down. I think he's rebelling a bit and trying to make sense of all that is happening. Thankfully, he responds well to a verbal correction. He did REALLY enjoy the sunshine today. It was about 50 deg outside, and the sun was nice and warm coming through the windows, so he spent a good bit of the afternoon basking in the triangle of sun on my floor.

Day 3

Today was cleaning day. After a quick trip to refill the cat litter bucket, I came back to do some major disinfecting. The bathroom where the foster kitty is staying doesn't have a vent/fan. I run the shower daily, so I figured that all that humidity must be prime for the proliferation of germs. So, I plopped her in a carrier, stuck her in the tub, locked ET in the bedroom, and went to work scrubbing!! I also did a little bit of reorganizing. Once the room was adequately dried and aired out with fans and windows opened, I let her back out. Even though she wasn't in the crate for too long, she was quite pleased to eat some wet food and ask for pets. She's fabulous. Her stools are getting much better which hopefully means her digestive tract is used to receiving daily foods. I can't wait until she starts packing on some weight!

Her digs for the next... 10 days! Note the comfy bed in the corner, and dangling Cat Teaser toy (which she hasn't figured out quite yet)! Note, the carrier does not normally live in the tub!

Day 2

Well, today was quite a busy and cat-filled day for me, which usually means it was a good day! As is the case most Saturdays, I assisted with the spaying/neutering of 85 cats today at "The Cube" (www.phillycats.org) at the Philadelphia SPCA. It was chaotic, but good work.

I was quite anxious to get home and feed the critters. This morning, I was awoken around 7am by lots of banging. ET had been chirping at the little lady for quite some time, but I wasn't sure what was going on. I got up and opened the bathroom door to find a very irritated kitty: she was out of food, and she wanted me to do something about it! I was quite surprised as I thought I had left sufficient food, but apparently not. I won't complain at all because it is SO great that she is this interested in eating. As a result I was concerned that she would be hungry when I arrived back at home. ET certainly was happy for his late lunch, but the little girl still had some food left so I'm guessing she slept most of the day. I fed them both and then had 2 very happy cats. She is doing great with eating wet food, dry food, and drinking. Her stools also are getting better, too. She is still sneezing a bit, but I think she is moving in the right direction!

I spent about a half hour with her in the bathroom today. I was doing some work, and then we had some fun with the webcam. So, new pics!

Sorry for the blurryness, I currently can't find my charger so these are off my phone.



She loves being cuddled. Here you can see a bit of her mommy mammary glands. She still has some milk (although none is coming out) even though she has been away from her kittens for over three weeks. Hopefully she will start drying up soon!

Wet food = victory

I spent most of the afternoon today worrying whether or not I'd have to force feed her more. She's been grazing on crunchies all day, but no where near the calories she should be getting. Well, I have been leaving wet food down for her that she hadn't touched, until this evening! I popped into the bathroom to find her wet food bowl licked clean!

Cats naturally have a pretty poor thirst drive- in nature, they get most of their water from their food. Wet food is a great (and important) way to keep kitties hydrated, which is why I'm so excited she is up for some wet food. ET actually eats nearly all raw (yes, uncooked) food that satisfies the prey-model (muscle meat, heart, kidney, liver, bone). Not sure this kitty will be ready for that, but wet food will do for now. And thankfully, she is doing a great job of drinking water.

I spent quite a bit of time with her today. She LOVES to sit on my lap and purrs and purrs. She also is the queen of what I call "happy feet" where she kneads towels, blankets, my pants, or where she opens and closes her toes, all while making a very pleased face.



ET is still very jealous, but he just plopped himself down on my lap. I think he's feeling smug as he's out here with me and she's in the bathroom!

Day 1

ET wants in - Day 1

ET is fully aware of the gorgeous girl on the other side of the door and REALLY wants in, even when I'm not in there. He's soliciting her with little mews and chirps. As you can see, he's doing his best to bypass my pillow/board/laundry basket/towel barrier. Sorry E, 13 more days to go!

Goodnight

I just peeked in on the little girl for the last time tonight. The shelter recommended steaming up the bathroom to try to help clear her sinuses. Well, I took a shower and she sat on the edge of the tub watching me the whole time, occasionally giving out a soft meow. After I got out I left her and heated up some Meow Mix (nice and stinky!) as I thought she might be interested. Well, she gave it a sniff, and then proceeded to CHOW DOWN on her dry food!!! I know its not optimal, but I was so pleased I was nearly crying. She ate about 2/3 small jar (not including what got on the floor, ha!) of baby food via syringe today, and she was drinking from the faucet/tub. So maybe she was feeling better with some food in her stomach, and with the steam, that she decided to munch on her own. Oh, and I think she is a calico?

I just can't believe she would've been euthanized tonight, and here is she eating crunchies and trying to purr through a stuffed up nose.

12 hours in

She's doing great :)

I really had no idea how skinny she was, but now that she is rubbing all over me and asking for pets, I can't overestimate her weight. She has no significant interest in food right now, but I discovered that she greatly prefers drinking water from the bathtub! She jumps right up on the ledge and leans over to drink from the spout. To try to get some food in her I've been syringe-feeding chicken baby food to her. She's a champ, and has had nearly a whole jar so far (minus what ended up on the floor)!

She is always right behind the door when I enter, and I've heard a few very soft meows from her, and she's nearly constantly purring over her stuffed up nose. Hopefully she feels better, and tomorrow will bring an even sweeter kitty.

ET definitely knows something is going on. He made a few serious attempts to get into the bathroom, but he seems to have given up trying. He also is VERY jealous... whenever I'm in there with the kitty he gives these pitiful meows. I'm giving him lots of extra attention to thank him for his partnership in this endeavor :)

It amazes me that if I didn't pick her up this morning, she would likely have been put to sleep by now. I can only hope that other foster parents came to the aid of the other cats there. Regardless, there is always another one who isn't so lucky.

She's here! Day 0

I am so excited. After much discussion, debate, and thought, I picked up a foster kitty this morning. Yesterday I made all the necessary purchases (new LB, scooper, bowl set) and this morning I set up the bathroom before I head over to the SPCA to choose a cat. I'd gone a few times since, but I wasn't really settled on any one particular cat. When I visited last night I asked the coordinator which cats were the most urgent, and she wasn't really sure. Well this morning I went in and there was someone on the shelter staff there, and she pointed five cats out to me who were in the ISO room (sick with URI) that were going to be put to sleep tonight. I almost broke into tears trying to choose one.

There was a beautiful gray and white female there who had such a nasty cold that her third eyelids were over her eyes. She was crying and crying, and I almost took her. I ultimately decided, however, on a tortie female! She wasn't eating or drinking and had recently had kittens. She was picked up as a stray, and the kittens were never found.I have to give her doxy once a day. She is all set up in the bathroom and doing a bit of exploring now. I got the room all steamed up for her to try to help her clear her sinuses. Her eyes look great, but her nose is nasty, which is probably part of the reason why she isn't eating well. She is nothing but skin and bones... and, well, mammary glands. But she seems to have a heart of gold and is very sweet.

ET has no idea that there is another kitty in the house at this point. The bathroom is normally off limits to him, so that aspect is not a huge change. I am happy too that she is quiet (at least for now!) so hopefully ET will stay calm.

Just to add, I have already designated an "outfit" that will be my quarantine clothes. I CERTAINLY do not want to bring any bug to ET (she did test neg/neg for FIV/FeLV). I also have the door well blocked off. I think we are ready for action!!

Twas the night before...

The decision to foster was not one that I'd taken lightly... ever since I adopted ET, I've wanted to give another cat the chance to have as great of a life as I think ET does. The fall was filled with holidays, trips, and family concerns, but now that all the hum has slowed down a bit, I've decided to take in a foster. I'm not sure what ET will think of it, though. It is no secret that he loves other cats... I just hope he can give this new guy some peace and quiet while s/he gets settled.

I completed all my paperwork at ACCT today and tomorrow morning I can go and pick out my foster cat. I have one in mind... but we will see who I really connect with when I get there. There are so many amazing cats there that deserve to be saved, I wish I could take them all.