Panleukopenia

I guess it had to happen sometime. This litter was my fourth (fifth time fostering if you count Lacey); something bad had to happen eventually :(

On Wednesday, Momma and her baby were euthanized at the shelter :'(

Momma cat had a slow downhill course. She ate ravenously on Saturday, was a bit pickier on Sunday, would only eat baby food on Monday and on Tuesday she wouldn't eat anything, and was vomiting. She went from laying on the plus rug on the top of the crate, to the open window, to the space behind the toilet. I tried syringe feeding her Pedialyte and baby food, but she couldn't keep it down sufficiently enough to stay hydrated. On Wednesday morning, her kitten (Trixie) was limp. She would stand if I picked her up, and she tolerated the fluids and food a bit better than Mom. After a cookout on campus I took them both (along with Diamond, who had been fine) to the shelter to get them checked out, and hopefully for them to get some subQ fluids.

When I got there, the shelter clinic was packed. I got talking to a friend and fellow volunteer about what was going on, and she immediately said "sounds like panleuk." My heart dropped. It did sound like panleukopenia, I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of it.

Panleukopenia (aka. distemper, feline parvo virus) is a virus which attacks the white blood cells and all rapidly-dividing cell lines. It causes vomiting (a nasty mucus, yellow color, which both cats had), life-threatening dehydration, bone marrow failure and gastrointestinal ulceration. Very, very nasty. So nasty, in fact, that there is a vaccination against it: FVRCP (aka "the distemper shot"). The "P" stands for Panleukopenia. Every cat that enters the shelter is vaccinated against it, but it takes some time for immunity to develop and the cat may already may be infected, and in both cases the vaccine doesn't do any good.

The vet tech did a fecal swab on all three kitties to test for the virus; Momma and baby came out very strongly positive, and Diamond completely negative. There really is no treatment for panleuk... you can give supportive fluids and antibiotics, and even blood transfusions, but the success is widely varied. After talking to the tech (who also was a friend) we decided that euthanasia was the fairest course for these two little ones. It was an awful choice to make, and I was bawling my eyes out. Had they been in better condition (both were borderline emaciated to begin with) I may have given it a shot. Regardless, kittens under the age of 8 weeks have only a 5-10% chance of survival, and cats under 1 year (like Momma- she was probably only about 7 months) have only a slightly better chance.

It was very sad, and I was (and still am) devastated. Because of shelter policy I wasn't even able to be there while they put them to sleep. I needed some way to honor their little lives, and once the tech handed me back their paperwork, I noticed Momma's (Karen) rabies tag taped to it; she was the only one over 16 weeks old, so she received a rabies vaccine. I have ET's tag from the PSPCA shelter (he was wearing it when I adopted him) on my key chain, and it occurred to me to do the same with this tag.



On the back, I wrote:



This way I can "carry them with me," a little memorial to two innocent souls. I find comfort in that, and in the fact that they did not have to die an unrecognized or unmourned death, and that they got to spend a few days in a loving home with open windows, high places, and yummy food.

Now on to Diamond, my little negative girl.

The tech advised that I euthanize her; even though she was negative, it was likely she would become infected as well, if she wasn't already. I couldn't bring myself to allow that, Di looked great, was playful, and NEGATIVE. So, I took her home.

It's been 48 hours since we lost Karen and Trixie, and Di still looks great. She's eating, drinking, and playing all normally. Because Di has a different mother, it is very possible that she was born with antibodies, if her mom was vaccinated or otherwise immune. This means that she HAS the ability to fight the infection, which hopefully her shelter vaccination only improved. The vet says it can take 5-7 days for symptoms to show up, so she is not out of the woods yet. I'm going to enjoy her and give her lots of love, and see how far that gets us :)

Here is Diamond, in the window (she can't get up there herself, but I put her up there for a bit yesterday)



This entry is long enough for now. I did take ET to the vet today and will update about that another time. I am excited, though, as tomorrow is my first day back at the Cube!!!

In love with my foster family

My little family is doing GREAT! I was very worried the first night that momma would be loud, but I've hardly heard a peep from her. She is a really great mom and is now letting the singleton nurse on her as well :) . I scheduled momma's spay appointment for 2 weeks from now, so I can get her spayed and recovered separately from the kittens. I'm going to see if I can find her a home and if I have success, I'll adopt her out before the little girls are ready, since mom will be good to go. We'll see- lots to think about! I'm really enjoying them a lot, though. Moms with babies are great!!

Mom (Karen) is so sweet, and loves any bit of affection you give her.




Trixie biting on Di's tail while mom watches from a safe place atop the crate


Nursing kittens!


Trixie (mom's baby) was full so she snuggled with mom while Diamond (singleton) nursed happily :)

We're back!

Yesterday my "traveling circus" and I made the drive from Boston to Philadelphia. Thankfully my apartment wasn't hot so ET and Lacey went up with the first load. They immediately found their favorite spots and it was like they'd never left.

The situation at ACCT is always so desperate, and it was tough for me to be unable to help while I was out of the city. So, I headed over after about 2 hours of unpacking to meet my new dog Pen Pal and pick up some fosters. Shawn had strongly suggested I only get one cat, to minimize mess and hassle to me. I should've listened to him! I made a compromise in my head to just get 2 (a mom and baby, or 2 babies) but of course when I got there I couldn't just take 2. Thankfully, I didn't deviate too far... I pulled a mom with one baby, and a single baby around the baby's same age. So, I have a mom and 2 babies, one of which is hers.

I brought the family home and put them in my bathroom, and mom howled for about 15 minutes. I already was emotional from being overtired and just the general transition of going back to Philly, and I was pretty upset for a while, convinced I'd made the wrong choice or acted too quickly. I don't mind having my bathroom slightly "out of commission" while I have kittens- I don't even mind giving meds- but I can't have a screaming cat or kitten in my apartment. It makes me way too anxious to think about a neighbor hearing and complaining and making a big hassle.

Thankfully, mom seemed to settle down after that initial period. I worry she might be in heat, so I'm going to try to schedule her for a spay in a week or so. Her baby is still nursing, but she is eating on her own too so milk is not critical (most mommas lose their milk supply after they are spayed). Then I can try to find mom a home or have her placed in an adoption center, bringing my foster household down to 2. The kittens are both about 4-5 weeks, and as soon as they reach 2lbs they can go in for spay surgery.

Everyone did great last night. I was very worried about mom howling, but I only heard a few squeaks and squeals from the kittens as they wrestled! Mom found a great spot to lounge- on the top of the crate on the fluffy bath mat. The kittens can't get to her when she is up there! When I went in this morning to feed everyone the momma was so happy and purring and making "happy feet" (opening and closing their toes, sometimes kneading into a surface or just into the air) all over the mat. She did great eating as did the kittens.

Mom's name is "Karen," which I kind of like and I think I will keep. The babies both have crazy names, but I think the daughter is going to be "Trixie" and the singleton "Diamond." We'll see :)

Below are some pics of them on their first day with me.

Singleton:



Mom and Baby:




Thanks for reading! I have a new cat Pen Pal too. I'm hoping to meet her today and will post about her later :)

"Love a Philly Cat"

Just wanted to share an OUTSTANDING new website dedicated to Philadelphia's homeless cats, launched by the PSPCA. It's a beautiful site and appears to be updated regularly. The PSPCA and ACCT have done really great things for the cats, most recently a $1 adoption special, where you can adopt a altered, vaccinated, microchipped, flea-free cat or kitten for just $1. This adoption special will run for just a few more days until July 31. I can't wait to hear how successful this event has been.



Click here to be directed to the site =^.^=

Everyone is doing great

We have reached a pretty reasonable level of peace... and as I predicted, just in time for me to head back to Philly. Well, I still have about 2 weeks but it feels like no time at all.

I've discovered that a big way to avoid evening/early morning roughhousing is to ensure that my cats (basically ET) receive a big enough dinner so that they just slip into a food coma and sleep most of the night. This seems to work. Baby cat also has adjusted nicely and now spends all of the evening out from under the bed, usually sleeping up by my head for some reason, and other times lying on the bedside table. She's very good at growling to alert/wake us up when ET is starting to get some bad ideas and tries to come bother her!

Despite these successes I know that my cats (especially ET) can't wait to get back to Philly. While I wish the time never had to come, I'm at least glad to know that SOMEONE will be happy about our return.

Another positive to my return is that I'm going to foster again :) I'm not sure what situation would be best... it was pretty tough to have those short-term litters as I wasn't able to keep up with the cleaning as well as I should've been, and it was difficult to keep meeting new personalities. Having short term kitten stints definitely is the best way to make a difference, as it keeps open a "revolving door" but I'm thinking about a different situation now. For several months I've wanted to have a momma cat with babies. Right now I'm thinking I may get a mom with just one kitten. The tough part about that is that takes me "out of commission" to take in more animals for several weeks... but it would enable me to help out an incredibly high-risk population. Another thought is to just take in 2 tiny, maybe 4-week old kittens. We'll see!

Despite the looming start of MS-2, I am looking forward to getting back to Philly and getting myself settled. I think I developed a formula for my own success by the end of last year and I'm anxious to get started, and get it over with!

Below are some pics of the critchers over the past few weeks :)

Lacey passed out across my waist


ET and Lacey "snuggled up" on the bed


Baby snuggling up with me while I'm passed out and Shawn is playing the Sims!!


Shawn likes to play with the cats and sometimes he will "force interactions" by sticking ET and Lacey together... it often results in a very entertaining battle, haha. My cats are so tolerant :)

Diego Summer Update

It has been a while since I contacted Diego's new parents, so I sent them an email last night. I got an amazing reply, as I expected :)

"Diego is awesome and we love him more and more all the time. He's started fetching toys on our stairs! He's endlessly entertaining. He has so many little games he plays, like getting in a mood where he very gently wrestles with our hands, or playing with a penny or water bottle cap on the floor. He has a strip of paper he likes to carry from room to room for whatever reason. You know, logical cat games. It's so much fun!

He has a lot of nicknames. "Little Dickens," "Pajama Ninja," "Little Tiger," "Little Man," "Prowser," "Little Prince," "Jerk," things like that. He's got a mischievous streak with my boyfriend - he jumps up on his messy desk, makes eye contact with him, and then slowly bats small objects off one by one. It's hilarious. They are so cute together, my boyfriend is very fatherly with him and Diego seems to like confusing him. Diego definitely acts like I'm his mommy, follows me everywhere and always wants love and petting and he chirps and pyows at me much more, and he's more playful and silly and rammy with my boyfriend. And his parents consider themselves Diego's grandparents :) We take him to visit pretty often, and he loves it there, since their house is full of windows with birds and squirrels and chipmunks outside. We're about to go on a 3-week road trip, and he'll be staying with my boyfriend's parents then.

Everyone who meets Diego loves him. He's really such a great cat! So handsome and charming and fun :) And never any bad behavior habits besides teasing my boyfriend every once in a while. We can't even fathom how we got along without him anymore, he's such a vital part of our lives now. Thanks so much for introducing us!"

So, I'm thrilled. Diego sure won the jackpot. Below are some pictures of him that his parents included :)





(I love this one!)


I will update soon with new photos of my crew- we've gotten some great shots recently I just haven't remembered to upload them!

Summer is halfway over :(

I have been having such a wonderful time living in Boston and I can't believe the summer is nearly halfway over :(

I can tell you that both ET and Baby are ready for summer to be done. For the most part, tension has cooled in the apartment, but definitely is still there. Thankfully, Baby and Lacey are doing GREAT together, so Baby is getting a lot better in general with other cats. ET is doing a bit better with leaving her alone, but sometimes he does go after her. Lacey is just perfect, Shawn is trying to convince me to let her stay, but I told him that if I left her here that means I need to get another cat ;)

So, below are some photos from the recent weeks.

One of Shawn's and my projects is to build a cat tree. My mom works in retail and always tries to grab the old displays before they can be thrown out. A few months back she managed to grab 4 very nice, sturdy cubes. I haven't quite decided how I'm going to lay them out yet, but here is a photo of ET in one of the possible layouts.



We recently won several items from a local auction. Shawn really enjoys restoring furniture so he bought a very large lot of lots of miscellaneous hardware. We spent one morning photographing, bagging, and cataloging what he won for future use. Here is Lacey lending a helping hand.



Here is one of miss Baby sitting pretty! She's spending most of her time out from under the bed now. Here she is playing with a new catnip fish toy (thanks Mom!) in the "safe space" between the bed and the wall.



And even though ET is her arch enemy, Baby and I still make time for snuggles :)