Aug 19 Maddie Update

A week ago I decided to let Maddie out into the house. It occurred to me that she was continually being cornered by me in any type of cage and that must be terrifying. For the first 4 days she hid, I didn't know where, but I trusted that she was eating at night.

Do you ever have one of those days when you float around the house, doing this and that, and you have this feeling like someone, or something, is watching you? Now granted I have a lot of cats in my house - but lately, it's been different. For the past few days I've realized that there was a little girl watching me. I have started noticing her more and more. It's been Maddie. She is no longer hiding all the time, she's actually out and about - her curiosity getting the better of her. For example; right now I'm sitting at my desk in the living room, the Olympics are on, the cats are lulling around. Behind me there is a cat tree, with a little persian sitting on it. When I turn around she stares at me as if I had no right to stare back. Later I turned back to my computer and when I looked again, she was gone. Now, out of the corner of my eye, I see her sitting on the sofa, then she jumped down and walked (not RAN!) across the floor. As I spied her creep back to the cat tree, I turned around and picked up a four foot cat toy on a pole. The other cats of course came bounding out to play. I shook it in her direction, first fear, then curiosity, then - was it? It was! A paw stretched out to catch a feather. We continued on with this for a few minutes. This is the first time I've ever seen her play and it was with ME!

She really must be relaxing. This is even after I cornered her this afternoon to give her an exam. She had been vomiting and I was concerned she might be down on weight. Nope, she's of good weight and her hair is growing back. While I had her cornered in a cage, I held out a piece of chicken - and she took it out of my fingers and ate it!! Chills ran down my spine, this was progress!

Wow...she is sitting on the floor now, just four feet away from me. Whoops...gone again! To see this girl embracing her freedom is something to behold. Every experience she has is a first. I've seen her sitting by the back screen window, soaking up the smells of the fresh air of the back yard. It has just started to rain, if she sits by the window again tonite, it will be the first time she's seen and smelled rain, can you imagine?

Gymnatics is on...gotta go!!

Dramatails WALL-E

Dramatails Casablanca

Dramatails Legally Blonde

Dazz and her lumps

I left Dazz at home this weekend while I was at the show. I had flushed out her infected tissues a number of times before I left and arranged to have a friend look in on her. My friend called with updates, rather worried, but things were ok, just, well...kind of gross. The infection had to go somewhere. The infection has gone but left some weak and broken skin. There are now holes where the skin and mammary tissue died. I actually have a degree in Animal Science from UC Davis where I was pre-vet, so this stuff is wildly facinating to me. Here are the before and after shots of her day 5 and day 8.

The vet and I have come up with the theory that this particular milk duct must have started backing up pre-partum. When the kittens were born, I encouraged them to nurse on this nipple because I thought it was just very full. During birth, Dazz was not sick and was in good spirits. Likely the duct was blocked and eventually began to become impacted. Bacteria, possibly from the c-section, entered the blocked area and created a septic environment. That led to the fever, lethargy, lack of appetite, and stiffness. The kittens too, were not thriving. Even with strong antibiotics, some of the mammary tissue died. This caused the bruising you see and the infection to surface. I definitely learned from this experience. In hindsight, as soon as I saw these mammaries filling up and becoming larger than the others, I should have made sure that they were freely expressing milk. Dazz is a very large queen who is prone to being overweight. She also has always had a pounch where these glands are, therefore, having sagging mammaries there, did not look unusual. We have the option of surgery, or just keeping it very clean. I have opted to continue to cage Dazz and keep the area clean. Tonight I will glove up and do some serious flushing and try my best to pull out the dead mamary tissue. She is still on baytril. Now that the infection is gone, she is a VERY happy girl. A very good friend of mine is bottle feeding the kittens and they have literally tripled in size since coming off mom and going on the bottle. They should be fine. Dazz should heal in a couple of weeks, and will go on to a new home. For this entire year...I'd like a "do over" please!!!!!!!!!

Exhibitor support for Maddy

I attended a show this weekend in Portland with my alter - I was truly not prepared for the number of people who came up to me to wish me well with Maddy. The support was overwhelming and the stories that were shared really hit home. I met people who knew Judy - these were not friends of hers. The feedback I've received regarding the owner of the 22 Persian cats was grim. Granted, so far as I know this is a "he said, she said" issue without concrete proof, but it is not pretty. I won't go into details about the character of the owner of this cat in regards to her conduct in CFA - it is opinion and I prefer not to pass judgement on hearsay of others. HOWEVER - I think people need to be reminded that how they treat others will be reflected on how they treat you. "Do unto others as you would have them, do unto you." When this woman told authorities that "she could not get anyone to help her"; I wonder how many times she had gone out of her way to help others. What do they call it...kharma?

I guess this could explain why Maddie acts like she does. She's giving back to humans, the same as she's received. I don't think her previous owner should be put in jail. I think she should be made to live in her garage with a toilet that doesn't work, no running water, no soap...you get the idea. Oh..and no visitors, no love, no kind words, no gentle hands. Sorry, a little bitter today.

Maddie is still very scared. She makes a mess of her cage every day. She's lost her dignity. She does not work very hard to clean herself. I suppose when she was caged, there was no point in keeping herself clean. That must be torture for a cat. She is eating well, but not a lot. I'm wondering if the food I'm feeding her is too high quality. Sometimes when cats have been raised on cheap crap food, its hard for them to convert to the good stuff. She loves treats, that's cute to see. I've had to isolate her from Grissom because he was getting tired of her torti-tude. I don't like caging her, I wish she could be free. I can't set her loose in the house as I still want to run a lab fecal on her and besides, she would most certainly find some hiding places in my house that I'd never known existed. I really don't like keeping her caged though. I don't think it is good for her not to have anywhere to escape to. Sometimes when I come and open the door to this newer cage, she starts jumping up against the back corner of the cage under the shelf. There is no where to go so all she does is whack her head on the ceiling with her jumps. So along with being scared to death...she's rather an idiot. She is a persian, after all...

My New Kitten!

Meet Woolibaar Edyta Sliwoolska - newly of Dramatails! I was at a show this weekend and had seen this girl before. I am not a tortie fan AT ALL, but I got to meet this girl and she is so sweet. She also has behind her Pamacs Alacurlzam and Castlekatz Harry Potter, two outstanding sires. I made a deal with Donna Bass her breeder, that I would grand this cat for her and help her to gain the title of "Distinguished Merit" on her dam. This will be just the second DM for the Selkirk Rex breed in CFA! I'm going to call this cat "Fire" as her call name. In TICA I will register her as "Woolibaar Firestarter of Dramatails." She has some very sweet cats behind her and with her own great personality, she should make some very sweet tempered babies.

Devil Persian

Maddy likes the hammock! Usually only little kittens like the hammock, but Maddie loves it. I must say, she lives up to the look she's giving in this photo. She is the classic tortie, rather bipolar. I can go into the cage (it is a walk in) and pet her, but I have to be careful. I can't scruff her because, as my arm scratches attest, she's a mad rabbit kicker and ignores the scruff. You know the type! So I have to wrap her in a towel or a pillow case to handle her. I had her in a pillow case the other evening. She wiggled up near my ear. In some other story I might write: "I could feel her soft sweet breath in my ear..." But this time, I was thinking..."Holy shit I hope she does not take my ear off!"

Even Grissom is getting tired of her temper. He gave her a warning growl tonite, she'd better listen, he outweighs her 3 to 1. She had just drawn blood from me, I wasn't going to defend her. I swear she was playing with the feather toy earlier this evening - could have been she was eating the feathers, imagining it was me - but one can hope.

Bedazzled is doing well. Her fever finally broke today. I had her at the vets every morning for the last 3 days getting her IV fluid therapy. At one point her temp was 104.7 for two days. She's now down to 101 and she ate for the first time today since Sunday. I gave her some mirtazapine to help stimulate her appetite. She's in with Lacey and together they are sleeping with and pottying the kittens. Neither has milk (unfortunately) - so I will be up again in 4 hours. Labor of love...labor of love...

Selkirk Stress

NiteWind Bedazzled went into labor last Friday, she had been due that previous Wednesday. She had two live babies, then one dead one and then labor came to a screeching halt. Rather, the delivery of kittens did. $1800 later and an emergency c-section, we have 3 live babies out of the original 5. This is my catteries second c-section in one year and I tell you, I'm seriously thinking that this might not be the hobby for me. My first litter produced two live kittens out of 3, with a $1300 c-section. The next litter came when I had run to work, and my maiden queen did nothing to take care of her babies and they all died before I even had the chance to get home. The next litter of one (Lacey's litter), produced one kitten with physical challenges that died shortly after birth. Now Bedazzled. Bedazzled spent today at the veterinarian's office on IV fluids and antibiotics for a nasty case of mastitis. Lucky for me Lacey is a very good wet nurse and at the very least has kept the kittens clean. It is clear, after seeing how clean the kittens are today, that Bedazzled has not felt right since she gave birth to these babies. The babies had been fed up until now, but not very clean. Between Lacey and I, we will raise these babies together - with what little milk she can produce and supplemental bottle feeding.

I've only had whole cats since last year. And nobody told me then about the number of c-sections and the high mortality rate that this breed, as well as others, have experienced. At first I was shocked, then when I thought about it from a scientific standpoint, it made sense. The mongrel, mutt cats of this world - reproduce by natural selection, survival of the fittest. We don't breed the fittest reproducing cats, we breed the ones who conform or will lead to the correct type for our breeds. As a result, reproductive fitness has been reduced to a case of chance. I'm happy to be working with cross breeds, but right now I would give anything to be able to outcross with domestic cats. I bet the LaPerms are doing well.

Bedazzled's temp is 104 right now and has been all day. She's on baytril and clavamox, plus buprenex and fluids. Her days of being a mom are over. I just want to get her through this so she can start the rest of her life as a wonderful pet.

A Soft Bed to Lie on

First it appears I need to change Angels name. A wise person has said that perhaps it is not a good idea to name a cat like this "angel", she might become one. Which was not the entire reason I decided to change her name, but partly. I really like the name Madeline, or "Maddy" for short. It really suits her and she was the youngest one rescued. She is Maddy.

As I've watched Maddy move about her cage, I really have to wonder if she has ever actually slept in a soft bed before. She continually ended up in the litterbox, which, if you think about it, must smell like home. Even when I took the top off the litterbox, she would sit in it. As I went about my daily routine of scooping litterboxes, I thought to myself, "is this really so hard?" Most people I know have at least 20 cats in their programs if you include the pets, kittens and alters. They seem to in most cases single handedly scoop daily, sometimes twice a day! I have a feral boy called Charlie who I get to pet once or twice a month. When I do, I will gently cut off the little matts of furr that gather on his hind end. I just can't imagine someone who loves cats, letting these little balls of fur, grow to the size of a baseball.

I finally went down to Costco yesterday and brought home a variety of boxes. If you've been to Costco you know they have great kitty boxes that used to be baked bean boxes or the like. I set up a box in the cat run and put in some bedding. Grissom quickly claimed it. Since Grissom had hogged the cool box, I put a bed next to it, hoping it would look like a good hiding place to Maddy.

We had another petting session in the bathroom before I went to bed last night. This time I brought out some babyfood and a plastic spoon. The spoon was brutalized but in the end, she ate the entire jar. Glad I did not use my fingers on this first try. She still needs to be picked up with a towel if I want to avoid being rabbit kicked and she is very wiggly and flashes her teeth from time to time. I put her in a pillow case and turned her on her back to rub her tummy. I think she enjoyed it, but I'm sure would never admit it. Apparently torties must have their secrets.

Jump to this morning and guess who was sitting on a soft bed - yup! Grissom was still hogging the cool box, but little Maddy was lying on the soft bed next to the box. It gave me a warm feeling just thinking about how it must have felt to her. Before I left for work, she had moved up onto the shelf and was watching the world go by - baby steps!

Still calm waters

This morning (ok, I slept in until 1pm)...ahem...This afternoon I wasn't sure what to expect from (enter new name here). I don't know if we can go on without a name for this little spitfire of a girl. I thought of "Madeline" from my favorite book series as a young girl. "The smallest one, was Madeline." There have been some great suggestions emailed to me; Beauty, Angel, Autumn Leaves. As I sat here thinking of a name, the blue angels kept flying over. That name has stuck in my mind as well, Angel. I googled "angel beauty" and ended up on Amazon.com. There is an album of inspirational songs referred to as "Healing Harp Music." The songs include: Shining Ones, Angel Beauty, Soaring Wings, Angels Of Mercy, Angel Light, and Lord, Come And Heal The World. I'm not a terribly religous person but you have to admit, these songs sound very inspirational and positive. I've decided to call her Angel. If she bites me, she might have another name temporarily, but Angel will be her real name.

Angel likes to hide, no surprise there. But hiding in the litterbox while sharing a pen with a whole male is not my idea of an ideal hiding spot. I've pulled the top off the litterbox and given her a kitty cave. But first I picked her up with a cat bed and placed her on the bench in the walk in cage. She is letting me pet her and has yet to strike out or hiss at me. Her eyes are completely dialated though, she's very scared. I'm being very careful to move slowly around her, lets face it, I'm a big girl, and my presence must be mighty scary.

We did have a little breakthrough though. I left the cage and came back with some freeze dried chicken. As I reached out to place it in front of Angel, I half expected this to be the time I got a warning shot. But NO! She sniffed the chicken and stayed still while I placed it in front of her. Another baby step.

She needs a name

How do you tell a cat that she matters? How do you persuade a cat that she's worth being loved? Can you imagine the confused and messed up mind a child would have, locked up for the first couple years of its life, completely ignored, wait...not ignored, treated like vermin? I don't know what this little girl thinks I'm going to do, and that must be it, she has no idea, so she thinks the worst. Every interaction she has had with humans, has been painful. This little girl was forgotten early. Apparently she showed her shyness early in her life, and was put into one of the tiny wire cages in the cattery. The plan had been to euthanize her, but the "deed" kept getting put off. Did I mention that her previous owners answer to how things got this bad was "I could not get anyone to help me!!" Somehow I don't think that is going to mean anything in court.

So into this little wire cage, was thrown food from time to time, and water. Her feet are yellow and blistered from urine scald and stain. After her time in cat hell, this little girl was then pulled out and taken to the shelter. There was no way for her to understand that she was safe. She struck out at every hand that approached her. She was put under anesthesia, spayed, and her matts were shaved off of her back and tail. She was also tested for PKD and put back in a carrier. She's negative for PKD, not the case for at least half of the other cats who were rescued. Back to the shelter she went, and into a stainless steel cage. This must have seemed like a little bit of paradise to her in comparison to what she had been in before. But this was, for this little feral, a slightly different kind of hell, just not as bad as the first. The shelter is full of people, something she was not used to seeing. There were dogs barking, and strange cats meowing. And her friends and family, were gone.

My friends tell me that I am crazy when it comes to ferals. I take chances that most people would not. When we have what we call "hissy spittys" at the shelter, I get very excited and will reach in and pick one up. Granted, I have had 3 trips to the emergency room in the past 8 years, but I think that's pretty good considering! So of course, while driving home with this little girl, down I5, at 65 miles an hour, where was my hand? In the carrier of course. This little cat has never actually been petted before, and I was eager to show her how nice it was. Now, I'm not completely stupid, I put a little towel around my hand and gently covered her head with it before I started petting her. I won't say she enjoyed it, but I still have my hand, so it could not be all that bad.

After we came home we went and sat in the bathroom together. I opened the door a crack to let Seamus, Gato, and any other purr monster come in who were curious. The goal was to have this cats first real look at me, be with ambient purring and very positive cat:person interaction. She was petrified, but it was not bad. Like the crazy person I am, I picked her up from the corner of the room where she sat and placed her in my lap - 1,2,3...10 yes, all fingers still there. Her body language made it clear she wanted to run, but I held her in my lap for just a moment, then let her go. We repeated this a few times, then I put her in with Grissom, my selkirk male. He said hello to her, noticed she was spayed, and then ignored her - PERFECT!

We had another petting session in the bathroom an hour or so ago. Same deal. Seamus gave her a bath and then sat on her, purring all the while. I was able to pick her up, being careful not to look at her. She clearly did not want to be in my lap, but she didn't try to kill me. She clearly needs a name, but it hasn't come to me yet. Baby steps.

She is so beautiful, I really hope this works.

CFA Email: There are no words

Hello AllI just got home from Animal Control in Olympia where I was able to see 13 ofthe 22 persians rescued earlier this year in the Northwest. First of all,this city shelter is an example of what I wish all of the city shelterscould be. They are so lucky to have this state of the art facility. When Iwalked in, the place did not smell of litterboxes and dog poop, it was likewalking into an office. There were tons of people there looking to adoptpets and a wealth of volunteers and staff waiting on them, I was soimpressed. The main reason I had gone there was to meet one of the Persianswho was too feral to handle.

I first met the three ferals from the original22. Two had started to come around and the shelter staff was working onthem. Their eyes were bright and their hair was growing back in. Theirtummies were nice and round from being well fed, and their cages were clean.The feral girl I went to see, a tiny calico they called "Feralina", tried tocharge at me through the bars, she was petrified of humans, with no place tohide.

I next went to see the 10 persians who were up for adoption. They hadtheir own room and each had their own cage. They had special litter fortheir sore paws, soft beds to lie in, and fresh food and water. The sheltervolunteers work with these cats daily, helping their atrophied limbs learnto walk again. All had excellent medical care and were learning to lovebeing loved by humans. I think I spent most of the visit crying. Theyshowed me some of the case photos. Truly, there are no words to describethe conditions as shown up close in these photos. After seeing thesephotos, I no longer have an ounce of sympathy for the previous owner. Thepain and suffering these cats experienced is something I cannot imagine andsomething I hope never to see again in my life. In most of the photos, whatI saw was a yellow mound of fecal matter. I thought I was looking at a moundof hair that had been shaved off of a cat, until I saw one eye in the photoand realized, it was a cat. On this particular cat, the nails had grown tonearly an inch and a half, the toes had begun to slough off, the tail wasfull of infection, his testicles were swollen to three times their normalsize. Next to that photo was a professional photo taken of this black andwhite bicolor, in his competitive prime. Then another photo of the shadowof that cat as he is now. He will get a new home today, and the love he sorichly deserves.

I brought Feralina home with me. She definitely needs a new name. Sheappears to be about 10 months old, and scared to death. I put her in a largecat run with one of my sweet males as she was housed with a male before. Heis gentle and loving with me and with other cats. This is more room in therethan she's ever had in her life. And it is right next to a window, I doubtshe's ever seen what the outdoors looks like either, much less felt thewarmth of sunshine on her face. I'm hoping that she'll see how I interactwith my boy Grissom and she'll learn that people are OK. I think I'll starta blog for her, with photos of her progress. She may never "turn" as we hopeferals do, but it will be a long time before we give up on her. My fondestwish is to at least get her to a point where I can handle her enough to combher. She cannot go to a feral colony or be an untouchable indoor feral, asshe would have to be caught, put under, and shaved once a year - that is toomuch for a feral to handle.

The shelter was very appreciative of the support from CFA - they received agood chunk of funds to help pay the medical bills of these cats. To allthose who donated, THANK YOU.